Cleaning Out My Camera...

Just be glad this isn't the 70's... you'd have to come over and watch a slide show of our California pictures! This post, and the next few that follow, are pictures from this weekends trip to Hollywood. Enjoy!






I'll start off with pics from the Kodak Theater. The Academy Awards are broadcast from the Kodak. We didn't take the tour, but there was plenty to see outside!


The Kodak Theater is HUGE!!! It takes up an entire block. There is actually a full-sized mall inside the building that houses the theater. Outside of the theater is a winding walkway that is embedded with mosaic tiles. Amongst the tiles are quotes from anonymous actors/actresses. The walkway reminded me of the Yellow Brick Road-- it wasn't yellow, but it was winding and I was entranced to follow it to the end. I was rewarded when we got to the end-- first I noticed a huge statue of a casting couch... beside it was a mosaic message that read "The Road to Hollywood- how some of us got here".

Speaking of the Academy Awards-- the first ceremony was held in the ballroom of the hotel where we stayed-- the Roosevelt. The Blossom Ballroom is pictured here-- it's a small space and I can't imagine the awards being held in that small of a venue. But, it was 1929! On our first night at the hotel there was a red carpet event going on in the Blossom Ballroom. We didn't see any celebrities, but we did see the red carpet... in hindsight we should have had our picture taken on the red carpet-- I wish I had thought of that at the time!







Next door to the Kodak is the Graumann's Chinese Theater. In front of the theater is the walkway where every major celebrity had left their hand prints, feet prints and autograph in the wet cement. The first set of footprints belongs to actress Norma Talmadge-- she accidentally stepped in the wet cement while visiting the construction site of the Theater in 1927. In order to cover up her misstep, she signed her autograph and the tradition began.







Now that whole block is taken up by tourists and celeb impersonators. For a $1 tip, you can have your picture taken with the likes of Batman, Superman, the Joker, a Gladiator, Captain Jack Sparrow, the Hulk, Cat Woman, Tigger, the cast of "Nightmare Before Christmas", Marilyn Monroe, Zoro, Marilyn Monroe, Dora the Explorer or Captain America.