I caught a good night’s sleep and got up early. I’m now organized enough to bang out the final post from this four-day trip. I’m rejuvenated from the picture-taking adventures and ready for another week of job hunting. It was shocking to see how much L.A. has changed — and not changed — since I lived here 30-something years ago. So much development (some people have money — or at least they did!); so much more traffic; so many more homeless people. This economy blows. Hope it gets better soon for all of us!
Let’s start with a couple of shots from Chinatown:
And some downtown shots. Because of the tall buildings, it’s very hard to get any decent light unless you’re there right around noon and scamper about like mad. I was there much too early and didn’t feel like waiting:
Lots more L.A. The Gem Motel sign is across the street from the motel itself. I don’t know why:
Well-preserved storefront — a REAL rarity anywhere in L.A.:
I stumbled upon this Lenin sculpture in front of the Ace Museum. This page explains the piece:
http://www.fairfaxbynight.com/lenin-sculpture-at-ace-museum-on-la-brea-ave/
I’m stumped by this one on La Brea. A Chihuahua and a cowboy’s shadow? Does anyone know the story here? While desperately Google-ing for info, I came upon another great wall painting that was (maybe it still is?) on La Brea:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ikj3GuzBfuU/TGGIpL9L4cI/AAAAAAAAEm0/009iFRKgoeM/s1600/La+Brea,+west+hollywood.jpg
These are news to me. Back in NYC, we had those big double-decker tour buses. Here in Hollywood-ish today, I saw lots of these stretch-Sparkles — some with canopies over the seating area:
I don’t know if the “Ice Cream” part of the sign was always affiliated with Baskin-Robbins. It appears to be:
And speaking of sweets…. Back in Ventura, I was reminiscing about one of my favorite places. We would often go there for my birthday since I’m not big on cake. I decided to check on-line to see if there were any House of Pies left. Sure enough — there are a few: two in Houston — and one in Los Angeles. Yes! The “Original” is no longer part of the name — and is missing from the sign:
The sun was not in my favor, nor was the parking lot & other stuff — but you can see the building is basically original. Here’s a vintage photo of another one for comparison:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25082963@N02/2840367572
And more about the chain here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Original_House_of_Pies
Just some of the selections:
I got two slices: a peach — and brought home a chocolate cream. Only photo-ed the peach and it got a little manged in Sparkle’s cubby. The choc. cream piece was HUGE. They were superb — highly recommend when you’re in L.A. It’s a very vintage-y coffee shop interior and feel as well. The crust was very buttery — very cookie-ish — just perfect:
Continuing the food theme. I went to the Universal Studios CityWalk since I had missed shooting some of the signs there on loan from MONA. This one’s not vintage but still fun. The popcorn pieces flash independently:
Lots of palm tree cellphone towers around — but I hadn’t seen a pineapple until this one in the Valley:
This sign is at the Valley Beverage Company in Sherman Oaks — a three-sided one:
Better yet, they have a giant (maybe three feet tall?) bottle of Patrón tequila on the roof:
From the Premier Car Wash in Encino:
Nearly “home” (Ventura, where I’m hoping to find a job) — this one from Camarillo:
OK — back to the grind for me. If I’m still unemployed at Christmas, which is my birthday, I’m gonna treat myself to a little Vegas trip. So it’ll be a win-win situation. Til then…
