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…