Vacations Blog

There’s something about November 7 that’s bringing celebrities out to make appearances in Los Angeles.  In the space of half an hour I read about two that I share with you now:

Pink's hot dog stand

Bill Cosby and Jason Alexander are among the notables who will be dishing up famous franks at Pink’s Hot Dogs at the corner of La Brea and Melrose.  The dog stand is celebrating its 70th year in Los Angeles by selling its wares for 70 cents, during 7 days, 7 hours, and 7 minutes – with proceeds to go to the charity of each daily celeb’s choice.  Pink’s is a landmark food stand in a town that has a lot of landmark food stands, and if you’re in Hollywood during this promotion it’s a sure chance to get a star sighting.  For me the only thing legendary about Pink’s is the line outside every time I drive by.  I have yet to sample the dogs, being an impatient Angeleno who hates to pay for parking.  But if you stop on by, let me know how the hot dogs taste.  I’ll bet they’re much more tasty at 70 cents a pop.

Also next Sunday (on that day only; sadly, this one doesn’t last all week) the cast of “Glee” will appear at the Barnes & Noble location at The Grove, adjacent to The Farmer’s Market at Third and Fairfax.  The show is releasing an album of cast recordings from the show on November 3.  The event begins at 4:00 PM, but I would advise getting there early.  If the trending topic on Twitter during any airing of this show is any indicator, I’d say this one’s gonna be mobbed.

Glee cast members at a mall appearance in Boston

[photos from pinkshollywood.com and myspace.com/musicfromglee]

This one seems to good to be true, but it seems to be true nonetheless.  In a promotion with the Aussie offshoot of Virgin Airlines, V Australia, the popular rock band JET is inviting fans to join them on the Los Angeles to Sydney leg of their current world tour, leaving Los Angeles on December 2.

For $1,099 per person, double occupancy, this is what you get:

• Roundtrip International Economy airfare – on the same plane as the band
• 4 nights at the Vibe Sydney
• Return Airport Transfers
• Tickets to the legendary Sydney Homebake Festival
• Commemorative “Jet with JET” t-shirt
• Tickets to a separate intimate performance on Dec. 6
• Meet and greet with the band
• A copy of the band’s latest album – Shaka Rock

Come party with us, mates.

[Photo by Beatrice Neumann]

*Stop looking at me like that.  NOW I know who they are.

As mentioned previously, we were on our way to do a whole lotta nothin’ in the town of Ojai, an hour or so outside of Los Angeles.

Before leaving, I had done a quick Google to see what it was known for and here’s a few that caught my eye:

From the cities main website, I discovered that they were making a big push for artists to help out renovating something in town – what it was escapes me now, but I liked that the lead story reached out to the right-brainers in town. Below that, however was a phone glitch affecting city hall’s runnings and that intrigued me even more – a $40,000 purse for whomever had the best eye for making the town better, but in the office of those who ran it, the voicemail wasn’t working properly. Read More »

It should come as no surprise that women are much, much smarter than men. But with that being said, my attempts at making my girlfriend drive me all over the greater Los Angeles area to find locations from my favorite films backfired yesterday.

It was mean.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As I mentioned earlier, I have begun this ‘entitled’ project all over the area, finding the places that I feel like I deserve to see while I’m here. We’ve covered Swingers and True Romance, and I plan on finding a few more.

But when I found out that not far from where I lived was a school that was the local for a handful of my favorite films, I had to go.

When you first get to Marshall High School, you can immediately tell why it was constantly popping up in the cinema, what with its massive entryway and tree-lined yards. But a quick walk around the premises and you’ll start to remember the scenes that were shot here: Read More »

There really is nothing to do in the towns of Santa Paula and Ojai – and that’s exactly why we went. We could have driven 3 hours to Joshua Tree, sure, or gone down to Tijuana simply so we could write ‘…is in Mexico!’ on our Facebook profile and then hightail it back to San Diego – there’s enough to do outside of Los Angeles, but it all seemed so – goal orientated.

If you go to a National Park, you feel the need to hike and that’s just silly and in no way relaxing. If we went to a museum, I’d have to act like I know what my girlfriend was talking about all the while wondering if the café would give me a beer.

See – too many road trips out of town come with immense amounts of pressure. So when I asked ‘what’s there to do there?’ when she suggested it, she came back with ‘not a lot – there are some shops in Santa Paula and a cool little Mexican restaurant’, I was sold. Shops meant she had something to do and tequila meant I did as well. Read More »

There is no better movie in the history of movies than True Romance.

I think that should be repeated…a few times – both for confirmation’s sake and to up my word count.

There is no better movie in the history of movies than True Romance.

There is no better movie in the history of movies than True Romance.

I mean, sure, you’ve seen it and loved it, but let’s recap very quickly some of its finer attributes before getting into the locations around Los Angeles you can visit and pay homage. Read More »

Look, I – as well as most guys – can understand the need to run things by our significant others before acting on them. Yes, a call from Blockbuster before renting True Romance and Bladerunner for ‘date night’ would be nice. No, not everyone appreciates bourbon being on sale when told to run out and grab some wine for the dinner party. Michael Jordan posters do not make for a proper engagement gift, etc.

I understand. We all should.

Which is what makes this quirky little story even better. Read More »

The first time I was offered a ticket to San Juan Capistrano’s Mission, it was by my Mother. Who was with her Sister. It was a nice gesture, but being single and broke, I chose to go ahead and let them go, less that be the final straw in the crumbling fortress that was originally my self-confidence.

7 years later, I found myself slightly better and decided to take the trip down from Los Angeles as a statement of my healing.

I was 33, making ridiculous money from blogging articles like these and was ready. Read More »