Josua Tree National Park

To make our drive home more interesting, we took  detour and drove through Joshua Tree National Park. It was just going dusk and the light was beautiful. My photos don't even come close to conveying how beautiful it was.

I have always thought Joshua trees were cool. I hadn't been through here since I was a kid. It was fun.

Skull rock

Hollywood and Homes of the Stars

 

 

Just across the street

Cindy and I were talking about how neither of us had ever been on one of those tours where they take you by the homes of the stars. So why don't we go? Sure lets!

This theatre in Hollywood shows Disney movies only. It's where all Disney movies premiere.

There were some characters available for photo ops:  for a price.

We were in an open top van. It was nice, but since it was overcast, a bit on the cold side.

The Chinese Theatre. Cindy and I saw a movie there last year.

This is where the academy awards are presented.

 

Spider man just hanging out.

So when Michael Jackson was in 6th grade, he went to school here for 7 months, before he was really famous. Therefore, they named an auditorium after him.

 

As we drove down Sunset we passed many famous landmarks.

 House of Blues. Apparently it is being torn down for developers to put up more apartments.

You would be surprised how many homes of the stars looked just like this! A gate and lots of tall trees.

 Or maybe like this. Still, even if you didn't get to see much detail of the homes, we heard lots of interesting stories. Like Beyoncé and Jay Z pay 200,000$ a month for the home they are renting in Beverly Hills.

This gate to Graystone Manor has been in many movies.

 The Beverly Hills hotel. The little park where George Michael disgraced himself is just across the street. Not a seedy place at all, but quite nice.

Very windblown selie

Palm lined streets in Beverly Hills.

 This house was rented by Justin Beiber  just back in December. He and his buddies were kicked out for trashing the place and breaking windows. Such an idiot.

View from up on Mulholland drive.

Justin Timberlake's gate and guardhouse. The only place we saw a guardhouse.

This was Lucille Ball's home for many years up to her death.

Jimmy Stewart lived just across the street from her.

This was Bruno Mar's modest home on Mulholland drive. Our guide said he drives a white Prius and it's often parked out on the street. His restraint helped him rise in my estimation.

This is Beyoncé and JayZ's gate. We also saw Al Pacino's satellite dish nailed to a palm tree on the street. We saw the house Michael Jackson was living in when he passed away. Larry King's house, Aaron Spelling's home and many others. It was a fun thing to do.

This is the home Ellen DeGeneres recently flipped making millions of dollars. She and Portia are now living in a penthouse down the street.

 

Alton Brown Live!

The main reason Cindy and I went to LA recently was because we had purchased tickets to the Alton Brown Live! Show at the Pantages Theatre. I love the Pantages and would see most anything there. We weren't quite sure what kind of a show we were going to see. We had enjoyed his show Good Eats! and his appearances on other Food Network programs, but still didn't quite know what we were in for.

 He was much like he was on Good Eats. He said this show let him do things that they wouldn't let him do on TV. It was a series of sketches, songs and demonstrations.

They started with a silly rap.

 There was a sketch that included a prop cow that was always on Good Eats. This time they got chocolate milk out of it for a demonstration of how to make instant ice cream using two fire extinguishers.

 Audience participation was fun. They got some funny folks from the audience.

 He played some silly songs he wrote about food.

Another sketch was about how he always wanted an easy bake oven as a kid. And then recently built his own souped up version.

 The Mega Bake, a souped up easy bake oven was used to make Pizza in less than 10 seconds.

Again with a member from the audience. It was lots of fun!