Walk of Fame, Hollywood Boulevard

Posted on March 27, 2007 by JoeDuck

Originally uploaded by JoeDuck.
This was Sunday, Monday was Disneyland, and today we spent the morning over at a BIG sound stage built for the film “Semi Pro”. Mostly just sitting around while the director reviewed and set up scenes, but luckily we got placed right behind the basket for some shooting so we might actually be in the picture cheering on “our” team (out in 2008). I’m sworn to secrecy about the score and the shot with 17 seconds left in the game. We had to say we’d not talk about the scenes or take any pictures.

Graumann’s is big and impressive – the hand and foot prints in front
are neat. There’s a tour of Grauman’s Chinese Theater aka Mann Theatres but we did not do that or the Kodak Theatre tour which seemed too expensive at about $15 for a half hour.

As we arrived in Hollywood on Sunday, “Meet The Robinsons” was premiering across the street at the El Capitan but we couldn’t make out any stars as they walked down a red carpet past some media.

It was cool today though to be “close” to Will and Woody as they
filmed for Semi Pro.

Overall I get the idea LA is NOT really very glamorous unless you go eat at the fancy restaurants. Hollywood and Vine is much improved with Kodak Theater and a big shopping mall structure, but Hollywood
Boulevard is still pretty dumpy with Tattoo places and such. Funny
how the big rich stars and the grimy mean streets along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards seem to coexist so comfortably here in the smoggy sun of Southern California.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

Posted on March 25, 2007 by JoeDuck

Manns Chinese Theatre

Originally uploaded by Jon_W.
Hey, you won’t see us in this picture because I *erased* about 50 pix I took here and along the walk of fame today. Thanks to Jon_W for taking a better pic than mine anyway!

However we really were hanging near Hollywood and Vine today at the Mann Theater complex, where people dressed up as movie characters are walking around. It’s near the middle of the “Walk of Fame” with hundreds of sidewalk stars for stars of stage, screen, TV, and music.
In the courtyard of Mann’s are the hand and footprints of Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, the cast of Star Trek, and many more.

Across the street is the El Capitan theater. Today was the premier of Disney’s “Meet The Robinsons” and there was a red carpet and a lot of press but we couldn’t recognize any of the people going in, though I’m SURE they were, like, like, so famous!

We’re Going to Hollywood!

Posted on March 20, 2007 by JoeDuck

I’m going to use this post to collect helpful info for our trip to Southern California. I just ordered Disney Tickets from Ares Travel for a bit less than Disney itself. 3 day passes for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure were $127 (each)+15 for overnight. That was a quick $500 for the family but I’m sure it’ll be worth it.

I was planning to get tickets to a TV show because that’s a really interesting glimpse into the action of Hollywood, but instead we are going to be *in a movie*! Well, technically we are though it’s just as part of a big crowd watching a basketball game in the new Will Ferrell / Woody Harrelson / Andre Benjamin film “Semi-Pro” about basketballers in the 1970’s. Here’s the website for tickets to many TV shows and also this company handles some films. This looks like a lot of fun and you can’t beat the price = free. NOTE: TV tickets are always free. If you are vacationing in Hollywood and offered TV show tickets for money they are probably bogus.

1000 places to see before you die lists only a few Hollywood items, namely:
Hollywood Hollywood Website
Walt Disney Concert Hall | Disney Concert Hall website
Mann’s Chinese Theatre | Mann’s Theatre Website
Universal Studios Hollywood
Musso & Frank Grill
Spago Beverly Hills
Hotel Bel Air | Hotel Bel Air Website
Hollywood Bowl | Hollywood Bowl

We’ll head to Mann’s Chinese Theatre (formerly Graumann’s Chinese Theatre) to see all the star’s prints in the cement. Hey, here’s the webcam – look for us next week!

Betsy at About.com has this advice for Hollywood Boulevard, which is apparently a lot nicer than the last time I was down there:

Hollywood Boulevard between Vine Street and Fairfax Avenue is the stuff of legends. Attractions here include the Walk of Fame, footprints at Mann’s Theatre and Hollywood at Highland complex.

Parking advice from Answerla website:

Near Hollywood and Vine
There is plenty of parking conveniently located near Hollywood and Vine. Street parking is available on Hollywood and on many side streets to the east of Vine.

Near Hollywood and Highland

You can also park near Hollywood and Highland and walk or take the Metro back to Vine. There are pay lots on most streets between Vine and Highland, just\nnorth\nof Hollywood Blvd. A large lot is on Las Palmas (1 blk east of Highland) just north of Hollywood Blvd.

Parking at Highland is very easy and cheap ($2.00 for 4 hours with validation). There are also pay lots north of Hollywood on Highland. Parking there runs from $5 to $10 for the whole day. After parking at any of those spots, you can walk back to Vine (15 min) or take the Hollywood and Highland Metro one stop east to Hollywood and Vine.

There are open-air pay parking lots south of Hollywood Blvd. near Argyle. More pay lots are on Vine, just north of Hollywood Blvd. Parking runs from $5 to $10 for the whole day.

Several enclosed lots are reasonably priced. The Arclight Cinema lot on Sunset, just west of Vine is only several dollars with validation. The small shopping mall on the northwest corner of Sunset and Vine is also only several dollars with validation from the nearby Borders book store or Baja Fresh. Hollywood and Vine is just two blocks north of both of those lots.

Near Hollywood and Highland

You can also park near Hollywood and Highland and walk or take the Metro back to Vine. There are pay lots on most streets between Vine and Highland, just north of Hollywood Blvd. A large lot is on Las Palmas (1 blk east of Highland) just north of Hollywood Blvd.

Parking in the Highland mall is very easy and cheap ($2.00 for 4 hours with validation). There are also pay lots north of Hollywood on Highland. Parking there runs from $5 to $10 for the whole day. After parking at any of those spots, you can walk back to Vine (15 min) or take the Hollywood and Highland Metro one stop east to Hollywood and Vine. Map of the area around Hollywood and Vine.

Tickets for TV series and game show tapings at many studios, including CBS Studio Center, Culver Studios, and Universal Studios, can be obtained through Audiences Unlimited by calling

818- 506-0067. Paramount Television also tapes a number of hit shows. To obtain tickets, call (323) 956-1777. “The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno” is taped at NBC Television. Call 818-840-3537 to obtain tickets for NBC. Warner Bros. Studios (4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank) offers a two-hour working studio tour, which involves some walking. Reservations are required. Call 818-954-1744 at least one week in advance to reserve a spot. Mann’s Chinese Theatre (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) is open to the public and features the famous cement-hand and foot prints. The Hollywood Sign, one of Southern California’s most recognized icons, can clearly be seen throughout most of Hollywood, while the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors show business immortals along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. At the new Hollywood and Highland Complex, you can enjoy shopping, movies, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, and the Kodak Theatrethe new and permanent home of the Academy Awards, concerts, live theatre, and special events. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (333 S. La Cinema Blvd., Beverly Hills) is responsible for the Academy Awards every year. The library is open to the public but space is limited. Call (310) 247-3000 to make reservations. The Museum of Television & Radio (465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills) features a collection of more than 95,000 television and radio programs. Call (310) 786-1000 for details.

Some Disneyland tips

Poli techs may rule the 2008 election?

Posted on March 17, 2007 by JoeDuck

In 2004 the internet was credited with much of the early success, and even the later flame out, of the Howard Dean Campaign, though it was not considered a major factor in the Kerry or Bush campaigns.

Fast forward to the already hopping 2008 presidential campaigns where most observers, including the New York Times are suggesting the internet will play a significant strategic and marketing role for most if not all candidates vying for the US Presidency.

Who would benefit most from a “web centric” campaign system? Hard to say since onliners, especially those who blog regularly, are a curious blend of outspoken conservatives and liberals (I’d say more conservative banter on average).

At first glance it seems Barack Obama would have the online edge as he is arguably the most charismatic, young, and hip candidate and should play well with the young internet audience. However in an election the blog banter will probably drive the discussion of the candidates and it’s hard to predict how well prominent blogs like DailyKos or Drudge will process candidate information.

The transparent right wing bias of Fox News pales in comparison to bloggers like Anne Coulter or Michelle Malkin whose “frothing at the mouth” style is fun too read but hardly generates the intelligent reflection that best serves the democratic process.

However, elections aren’t won on deep reflection or discussion of issues. They are now based largely on careful modelling of primary states combined with targeted negative campaign ads on television combined with superficial media analysis of small gaffs or personality quirks.

Maybe a political technology injection is just what Doctor Democracy has ordered.

Travelers Advantage is a Traveler’s DIS advantage

Posted on March 15, 2007 by JoeDuck

161

It should be called Traveler’s DisAdvantage

I’ve had really bad results with Travelers Advantage over many years of membership. The only reason I stick with this horrible service are the “bribe” rebate coupons they send each year when I threaten to cancel. These roughly cover the cost of this horrible travel service but it’s time to get rid of it. I think the “hotels at half price” may still be about the same as online pricing if you have the time to mess with it and make a lot of calls but their call in reservations system is scandalously expensive given that you are *paying them* to find deals. I’d like a *single example* of TA beating Hotwire pricing for comparable hotels or a few examples of them beating out a Kayak.com hotel search.

Example: Booking for a specific Days Inn in CA today I was getting many different rates. I called TA and asked them to match the online price. Nope, they said, and suggested deceitfully that they were using “real time” rates and probably I could not get the lower rate. Travelers Advantage had $75 plus taxes where my initial search gave me $67 including taxes. I pulled up their “low price guarantee” and read it to the customer servicer who just kept insisting on the high rate. Although it’s possible they would have eventually refunded the difference I’ve seen such “guarantees” before and they often try to take advantage of loopholes and BS. I didn’t want to book and then hope to get justice months later.

So… back to Days Inn website which had even lower rates than earlier (or I missed an option there), so I went ahead and booked at 204+tax for the 4 nights vs the 300+tax I would have paid Travelers disAdvantage.

But here’s the funny part: After I booked at Days a chat box came up saying ‘hey, would you like to save $30 on today’s reservation? Sure I said. Up came this: “JOIN TRAVELER’S ADVANTAGE!”

I explained I’d already joined and they gave me a higher rate than I’d got -literally- one second ago from this website and asked why.

She never answered me, just disconnected. Sad, but at least I got my good rate in spite of all the wasted time with 1) My existing Travelers Advantage Membership and 2) Another prospective Travelers Advantage Membership.

PT Barnum would be proud of you, Travelers disAdvantage, because you, like he, act on the knowledge that a sucker is born every minute.

San Diego, California

Posted on March 11, 2007 by JoeDuck

We are heading down to So. California in a few weeks so I’m pulling together information about what we’ll try to do during our week in the area. Southern California is one of the world’s top travel destinations so there are literally thousands of attractions. The challenge there is not finding things to do, rather it’s focusing on the “best” of many great attractions and experiences that are suited to your tastes.

The Travel Channel just had a nice feature on San Diego and I’ve sketched some of their advice below. I’ll flesh this out and add links later.

With 1.2 Million people San Diego is the USA’s 7th largest city.

Mission San Diego de Alcala

Balboa Park

San Diego Zoo

Sea World, San Diego. You can dine with Shamu. Trainer for a da.

La Hoya. “Beverly Hills on the Beach” Exclusive shopping.

Surfing. South Coast Surf Shop is the place for gear. Surf Diva Surf School is all girls but they also have guys class.

History

Weather

Navy Town USA. Principle port for the Pacific Fleet of US Navy. 1846. Maritime Museum of San Diego, home to HMS Surprise of “Master and Commander” fame, and Star of India 1863, the oldest active sailing ship in the world.

USS Midway operated for 47 years 1992 is the US’s longest serving Aircraft Carrier. at total of 225,000 sailors served on this ship at some point in the history of the USS Midway.

Port of San Diego is huge, and supports both Cruise lines and shipping.

Hotel del Coronado. “Hotel Del”. This lavish hotel, inspired by railroad architecture, 1958 “Some Like it Hot” was filmed here.

Mexico!

Old Town

Bazaar del Mundo in Old Town

Dining: 6400 restaurants in San Diego and surrounding cities. Point Loma Sea Food on San Diego Bay is among the most famous Seafood Restaurants in the world, and arguably one of the finest. Their smoking process and tartar sauces are secret recipes are guarded carefully.

The Marine Room in La Hoya. On the beach since 1941 offering some of the most elegant seafood dining in California.

Casa de Pico is one of the best Hispanic restaurants in the USA, offering famous, and huge, Margaritas. El Agave Tequileria offers a Tequila Museum as well as one of the finest collections of Tequila in the world. 1500 types of Tequila are here and you can sniff and sample El Agave’s spectacular selection in special Tequila glasses.

Fish Tacos: deep fried pollock in corn tortilla with lime and cabbage?. Ralph Rubio may be the guy who brought the Fish Taco to America. He opened Rubios Fresh Mexican Grille, with 150 restaurants all over the country. The very first Rubios is still open in San Diego.

Gaslamp district

East Village Neigborhood. 108 redevelopment projects are underway. Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres is making this one of the key new hotspots for the city.

Mobile Muppet Laboratory at Disneyland’s California Adventure

Posted on March 3, 2007 by JoeDuck

The Mobile Muppet Laboratory is roaming Disney’s California Adventure this spring. I’m glad our family is heading down their in a few weeks for spring break. We’ll be able to see how this advanced animatronics display is interacting with people all over the park.

Engadget and the LA Times seem to approach this using the “will this put Mickey Mouse out of work” angle which is unfortunate because the big story on robotics is 1) Robots are here to stay and as AI improves they’ll be taking over more and more jobs, allowing humans to blossom in creative rather than mundane physical tasks. 2) Robots have been helping us for decades – they’ve just been in “boring” jobs like car assembly. 3) Robots are cool.

Jobs to bad teachers: You should be out of JOBS!

Posted on February 18, 2007 by JoeDuck

I’m still digesting Steve Jobs comments about educational reform that will likely prove to be controversial. My first reaction is to say amen – he’s talking good stuff and I can only hope educators listen up. Jobs is suggesting two key pieces of educational reform. One is the elimination of textbooks in favor of free online content, regularly updated by experts in the field. Gee, I’d have to say that one is pretty much a no brainer, though I’m worried this won’t be clear to many teachers, too many of whom fear the online educational cornucopia rather than embracing it. This idea is more provocative than it appears at first. Textbooks are part of the insulation we have between the “real world” and school. Online interactive instruction would break this down in very positive ways, not to mention save money and bring unprecedented levels of expertise to students. Textbook: $55. Getting nobel prize winners to interact in real time with high school students across the country? Priceless. I say bring it on, Steve!

The second suggestion is to make it easier to fire bad teachers. I certainly and strongly agree with this in principle, though I’m not sure in practice this style works well in the public sector because it can reduce the morale and productivity of the good teachers and I’m not convinced there are a lot of “bad teachers” out there, especially in the K-12 programs. I’m the son of two teachers, the spouse of a teacher, and friend and relative to perhaps a hundred teachers across the country (I have a very large extended family). Teachers, in my extensive experience, are a good group of hard working folks who almost to a person are primarily and overwhelmingly interested in helping kids.

So, will firing the few bad apples help or hurt? In my talks with teachers it is always striking to me how different the perceptions are of good, hard working folks in the public sector compared to those of us in the private sector. Like Steve Jobs I’m gung ho on the benefits of kicking some major ass when needed. Incompetence should be “rewarded” with a swift boot out the door. However the private sector has this expectation where the public sector does not. Bringing the fear of firing to the education sector could bring unintended consequences such as forcing the good teachers to process more paperwork to “prove” their worth and thus diminishing their ability to teach. I’d want to see proof that “firing bad teachers” will do a lot of good before we go to far in this direction, though clearly we should help put pressure on *all* systems to allow for dealing with incompetence swiftly and mercilessly. That is not ruthless at all because the alternative is far worse as it lets a single bad worker ruin hundreds of children’s lives or thousands of products.

Consciousness is cool … and Qualey?

Posted on February 2, 2007 by JoeDuck

This USA Today article is a great summary of some of the latest thinking about …. thinking.

I had not realized how much research was going on down in La Jolla, California. Sounds like La Jolla is the consciousness capital of the world.

My favorite insight from the article suggests that consciousness may spring from the interactions of a bunch of cell assemblies which together form something the researchers call a Quale. The quale then is a “scene of consciousness”.

How long before computers catch up and become conscious? About 2020 say most researchers. I predict that the machines will be able to articulate the concept of consciousness better than we, and I’m looking forward to that conversation.

Joe Duck

Have Blog. Will Travel. Vaccinate!

Category Archives: california