This Ugly Beautiful City

One of the reasons I haven't been writing is that I have been working on a new blog. I have done a lot in my almost nine years here and want to switch focus to a blog about things to do in Los Angeles. So many people ask me for ideas. In the last few weeks of sharing my ideas to friends and friends of friends, I wish that I would have started this type of blog a long time ago.

This year's New Year's resolution, instead of making promises I can't keep like losing weight or something to do with finances is to do a project. Last year it was read a book a month about Los Angeles, this year it is to write about things to do in Los Angeles.

I hope you will take a look and share this with people.  It also has an accompanying instagram account.

www.thisuglybeautifulcity.com

The big day

Our call time was a very early 9:30. Gaga and I left dressed to the nines, you know incase we got some screen time or anyone asked us to accept an award because George Clooney was not attending. I had wanted to take a before picture, but someone had their galloshes on before I could get the soap out of my hair.

I have to say that this was a very surreal experience, yes, it was a lot of waiting, waiting made better with coffee, pastries, free make overs, massages, and photo booths. It was weird to actually be there, It felt sometimes unreal. 

We did have a lot of time with the foreign press before the main event, who had some pretty amazing dresses themselves. When the magic hour hit, it was a flood of movie stars, and fortunately we had a front and center seat to all of the interviews, therefore a lot of great pictures. If.... the woman in front of me didn't have her mall hair bangs waving in the wind. Non bang hair cameo photos to follow with a link to flickr. We saw everybody. Brangelina, Cate Blanchet, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawerence, Bette, Lupita, Bradley. Yes, we are now on a first name basis.

After the red carpet was over we headed over to the El Capitan to watch the broadcast, but after a few awards we decided that our magical day had come to an end. We loaded up our 2 ton gift bags and walked to the Roosevelt to take a cab back to the house. Sadly all the cabs were too far away, and with some academy award winning acting of our own, we ended up taking the hotel's towncar back. Truly a magical day.

Link to flickr set here

drowned out plans

In keeping with the Hollywood/Oscars theme, I had really great things planned for Saturday. I haven't really taken my family to downtown L.A. before and since living so close for two plus years I had really grown to love it. Downtown Los Angeles has a lot of hidden gems and a lot of history to tell.

At 10:00 a.m. I had planned for us to go on the Art Deco tour that the L.A. Consevancy gives and see great architecture and pass by theaters that used to have grand Hollywood premiers. I had planned for us to visit a French cafe and sipped lattes and snacked on macarons while people watching.Then wander over to the Fashion Distict to the FIDM museum where they had all of the costumes on display from the films nominated in the best costume category.

It would have ended with The Chanel or a McQueen at the Pattern Bar, but instead it rained and we did none of these things.

 

Lunching with "the people"

Another item on the Hollywood list was lunching where "the people" do lunch. Although that can be many places in L.A. There is only one original, the only one inside a hotel a town was named after. The Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

This was the day it started to pour, and luckily for us, a little rain there, a little shuffle here, and a rogue hostess got us the best table in the house. A green leather booth with a panorama of the entire dining room. We even had our own private piano player. People actually thought we were part of "the people" with that booth. Everytime people passed they looked us up and down, we looked them up and down to see who is who. We actually saw many on "them"

Spike Lee, Sophia Coppola, Catherine O'Hara, Frannie Lebowitz, others that may have been "people" and people difinitely thought Brian was "people."(I may have forgotten some, feel free to leave the people I forgot in the comment section)

Best place to see celebrities hands down is the Polo Lounge on Oscar weekend. Save up, because lunch can cost an arm and a leg, and the food was meh. You are paying for the atmosphere for sure.  I think my arnold palmer was $11. Breakfast on a weekday is a much better buy and you can take the jams home as door prizes.

It was nice to feel like you were part of the scene for the day.

 

Somewhere under the rainbow

If you drive a little south from the Getty, you will start to see a rainbow appear, not because of some atmospheric change, but because of the public art piece at Sony Studios, of the Wizard of Oz rainbow. (pictured) I though to myself  "Self, this would be an excellent place to start the 2014 Oscar tour, since the theme of this year's Oscars was The Wizard of Oz."

TWOOZ (lazy for the wizard of oz) was filmed at nearby Culver Studios/MGM lot located in Culver City. Culver City is a young town, incorporated in 1917 and established by Harry Culver, a real estate man from Nebraska.  His first item on his agenda was to lure movie studios there to Culver City. The Cotton Club and Howard Hughes's aircraft business once called it home. TWOOZ was filmed 22 years after Culver City was born. I live just a hop, skip, and a jump from the studio.

Since I have lived here, I hadn't done a studio tour. I was secretly happy that my family was so into it, because I love being a tourist in my own city.  I really didn't know what to expect, I was ready for something really cheezy, punny, and groan worthy.  I don't know why I set my expectations so low.

And so began our tour with Tony, rhymes with Sony. Who is the best tour guide ever, he remembered every single one of our names, those who gave it, nudge nudge, "the mysterious source". We started with a movie of the history of the studio, from its humble beginnings to what it is now. (That studio made such great movies, ahem robocop redo)

"And we're moving" 

We walked across the street to the lot for a tour that was 2 and a half hours long, filled
with set tours, historical information, and trivia. "The mysterious source" was of course on fire with all of her trivia knowledge, they wouldn't let her take an Oscar home as a prize although she tried.

A friend of mine hooked us up with a walk on after which included a lunch where the power people lunch and some of the best scallops I have ever had.

Again the photos from this day are in mom's camera, which I wasn't able to download when I was in MN.

Celebrities they are just like us-boys night out

A couple weeks ago I was out with a friend at the martini bar were we usually get up to no good at, Nic's in Beverly Hills. You may remember it from early blog posts of me wearing a fur coat in a vodka freezer.

We sitting there, getting chatted up my our waiter, which we probably gave a good tip and in walks in Danny Devito with some guys for a night of martini's.

Celebrities, they are just like us.

Setting the stage

To say that this was a last minute trip for everyone was a bit of an understatement. Tickets to buy, lodging to figure out, days off to request. From notification that I had a guest to them landing was maybe 6 weeks.

The above photo collage was from the place we rented on vrbo (a site I love, especially after recent run ins with airbnb) I am glad that I took those pictures then, because that was before the suitcases unfurled and really the only time it was dry. The rest of the weekend, except for the Sony Picture Tour, it  poured.

The house we rented was just a couple blocks off of Sunset and La Brea, close to Hollywood and Highland. It was cute, from the 1920s with builtin bookshelves and buffets, a gourmet kitchen, and great details. There are more photos of it on my mom's camera, but I couldn't load them onto my ipad, so on her camera they will stay.

A couple interesting facts is that the coffee table book in the house was written by the owner of the house that I stayed in for my 35th birthday, also through vrbo. (ok, maybe I just find that interesting) and secondly the owner said that Phillip Seymour Hoffman would stay there when he would film in Los Angeles. He had just passed recently when we stayed in the house.

BTW California is currently experiencing a drought so if any of you want to come visit, maybe we can get Jerry Brown to cover the ticket.