Posts Tagged ‘venice’

USA 2009 – Day Twenty-One

September 24th, 2009 - 11:54pm - No Comments »

Day Twenty-One – 24th September 2009
Los Angeles (sort of)
23:54 – Over the Ocean

We got up early since LA is a few hours behind New York it wasn’t so bad – and had the one and only free breakfast of out trip.

A taxi ride to Burbank and we arrived at the Warner Bros tour for our tour. After a short and boring video, and lecture about not recording anything or feeling their wrath, we were herded into a long golf cart.

The tour’s locations are determinded by which areas are in use, our first stop was the “Jungle” which has been used for many things: Jurassic Park, Fantasy Island, ER, True Blood and more I already can’t recall.

We headed to an “inner city” area where “Cold Case” was being filmed. Mostly background stuff but it was easy to see how unused sections are totally “stripped”, even doorknobs and locks are removed!

Next up was the “suburbs”, used for many things such as The Drew Carey Show, the “Buffay” house in friends, Gilmore Girls and again even more. Here was also a courthouse and town hall section currently dressed for “Eastwick” but had seen use in “The Waters”, “Seinfeld” (the small town in the final episode), etc.

Just around the corner was a section used for the “Paris” flashbacks in “Casablanca” and some of “Rick’s Cafe”. That was what I found most intresting there. Justine “oohed” at the Gilmore Girls references.

The guide got on the radio and headed to a “Museum” of sorts which had the original Batmobile (from the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman movie) and the most recent one (Christian Bale/Heath Ledger). Here was also the General Lee, a Ford Anglia (Harry Potter), “Shaguar” (Austin Powers), “Nerd Herd” car (Chuck) and Lincoln Contentenal (The Matrix).

We whizzed among some of the sound stages, stopping at the carpentary section. Hidden away is the original “Central Perk” set from “Friends” in its original configuration. We were allowed to sit on the famous couch and have our photos snapped, which Justine seemed to to enjoy a lot.

As filming on “Chuck” (a show we enjoy) was taking place we were able to tour the “Buy More” sound stage, since it wasn’t scheduled today. It’s an entire, full-sized electronics store, but not, at the same time. Pretty cool and the guys there showed us some in-jokes and stuff you’d never notice watching the show. It’s obvious these people are here for the love of it; not everyone wants to be a celebrity.

The tour over, we walked to a nearby bus stop and saw the bus pull away. We waited for a bus or taxi to come, all the while dodging wasps hovering around a bin and managed to hail a taxi back to Hollywood.

We hopped on another tour bus and rode it down to Santa Monica. The weather getting cooler (though still extremely nice) as we got down to the beach.

From the Santa Monica Pier (itself a famous movie location – there is still a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co here) we walked along the beach (Baywatch), stopping only for a taco break. I had chicken taco s—which the girl didn’t even know was on their menu—after they realised they were out of steak.

We made it all the way to Venice Beach, where the feel changed completely into a seedier place. Not that it was bad. Just… eclectic. People who want to be themselves when that’s not what everyone else wants to be.

We strolled for a while, brought some original art from someone (John Gary Art) who very obviously gets influnced from something illegal, and headed back to Santa Monica. Next, the bus back to Hollywood.

It must be possible to see a premiere every night in LA; there was one for Bruce Willis “Surrogates” tonight. We stood for a while hoping to get a glimpse of someone famous.

Justine decided to fit in some last minute shopping at H&M. I decided I’d rather not so stayed put. Moments later, screams announced Bruce Willis’s arrival. Obviously feeling plucky, he stopped traffic (or rather had it stopped for him) and made his way over to great some fans. He stopped six or seven feet from where I was standing and thanked the crowed for coming out. Quick as a flash he was off saying “hi” to others.

We had a good sampling of LA’s traffic on the way to the airport, terrible. As the airport is undergoing renovations, there is virtually no shopping to be had, so we hunted for some food. Finding nothing, we headed to our gate. We passed a couple and the lady gave me a odd look. It turns out it was the couple we were chatting with when our first flight were delayed at the start of the trip! What an odd coincidence but not the first time.

I bought a couple of bags of Cheetos Flamin’ Hot to cap off our trip. If the seat in the front wasn’t broken causing the guy to lean way, way back, I’d try to get some much needed sleep. Maybe I’ll add Qantas to the same list as Delta.

Tweets from today:

  • 7:34 AM – Heading to the Warner Bros lot for a “VIP” tour. I feel very important.
  • 7:40 AM – On Mullholland Dve. The crappy part.
  • 10:34 AM – Just popped into Central Perk and shopped at the Buy More.
  • 10:44 AM – Unfortunately no @zacharylevi or @wilw floating about at the Warner lots.
  • 1:56 PM – Delicious tacos at Santa Monica.
  • 6:47 PM – Just caught Bruce Willis pimping “Surrogates” at the El Capitan.
  • 10:31 PM – OK, we’re boarding. See you early Saturday, Melbourne.

Photo statistics:

Where we went:

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