For July 4th, Lou and I were invited to a bar-b-que at a the house of a friend and co-worker.  The group broke up about dusk so we decided to see how close we could get to the fireworks in Redondo Beach. 

Last year it was a mob-scene there, so we didn't want to get too close.  We drove around a bit and ended up about 1/3 mile away sitting in our car in a commercial parking lot near the power-plant.  We enjoyed the show (along with about 30 others standing around), then headed back home before the traffic started streaming from the beach.

As we were driving up a fairly steep hill towards our home, Lou looked at the horizon to our south east and saw 4 or 5 other fireworks shows going on.  We crested the hill and found a bunch of people standing around the road.  We paused and saw even more fireworks off in the distance in this direction (east).

We were struck by the number of "small" communities that make up LA, each with their own fireworks shows.  Also, it's pretty cool to see fireworks in the distance against city lights.  It reminds you how vast the area is.

Little earthquake

Wednesday night, just after falling asleep we were awoken by a small jolt, and then a few seconds of our bedroom door creaking.  There was a 2.7 earthquake just east of Hawthorne, which is just a few miles northeast us.

USGS site:

Description of the quake that woke us:

Jazz at the A Frame

Lou found a Jazz venue called "Jazz at the A Frame".  It's an individual's house in the hills above LA.  Apparently about once a month the owner invites people into her home to listen to known names from the Jazz community play.  This week she had The Jeff Hamilton Trio. 

As we frequently do (Lou!), we got there a little late.  The house is way up in the hills overlooking LA and don't really have any parking on the small, twisty little road.  So we had to park about 1/4 mile away and walk up the steep hill.  When we got there (out of breath) we took the only 2 remaining seats we could see as the trio started up.  I was sitting with the back legs of my folding chair out the front door to the house.

We chatted briefly with the owner of the house during the break (see the link above).  She's a charming older woman who clearly loves Jazz, and has been doing this for 11 years now.  I was chatting with another guest and realized most of the attendees were enthusiasts.  Further evidence:  When the host or band mentioned another artist, everybody always recognized the names (except Lou and I, who tried to look nonchalant). We also quickly realized the average fan in attendance was significantly older than us. 

I’m sure we’ll go back occasionally.  The music was great and the setting was very attractive.



Our view from the doorway.



We're Back!

It's been some time since I added a blog entry, and there's been a lot going on.  I'm going to try to make shorter, more frequent entries now.

Over the last few weeks, 2 couples from Annapolis came to visit us.  First, Sam and Angela flew in and spent one evening with us before going up to Santa Barbara, about 2 hours north along the coast where they were meeting Sam's brother.  We took them to our favorite restaurants, and showed them a few sites before they left.  We recommended they drive up the coast (not the highway) to Santa Barbara and they told us it was a beautiful drive.

Later in the week Bruce and Heidi flew in for a few days before they go to Palm Springs.  We had more time with Bruce and Heidi so did more together.  Lou and Heidi visited some of the downtown attractions, including the hollywood stars walk, Graumans Chinese Theater (where movie stars imprint their hands in the sidewalk), the Kodak Theater (home of the Oscars), La Brea Tar Pits and Rodeo Drive (where they were charmmed by a salesman at an art gallery trying to sell them Picassos and Chigals).

Earthquake!

We finally experienced our first LA earthquake.  It woke us up just after midnight.  We felt it as a gentle shaking of the bed, looked at each other and said "Earthquake!" then promptly fell back asleep!

It was a magnitude 3.3 quake, almost directly under our feet (or backsides, since we were laying down).  Here's some info.  Literally, almost right under us, but about 10 miles down.

The site also lists all earthquakes within the last week (see here). When I looked at it, there were 34 earthquakes listed in the last week in Southern California within about 150 miles from here.

Hollywood and Baseball

For their last day here, we took Jim, Jo, AJ and Zach on the Warner Brothers Studio tour.  It was very similar to the one Lou and I did a few weeks ago (even got the same tour guide).  She covered some slightly different territory, but I didn't hear her repeat any of the same jokes!



Our guide explained how they shoot a scene using Jo and Zach as actors.  She had them recite a simple couple of lines, then pretended to move the camera, and say the lines again, and again.  Each time they move the camera it takes about 45 minutes to set up.  During that time stand-ins stand in place for the actors who go off to their rooms to practice and get ready.  Apparently it can take hours to get one short scene taped.

The famous Warner Brothers water tower.  Apparently it's empty now, but it's a historic landmark.

 Some of the "city" sets:

 This little store is in the TV show Shameless:

This fake movie theater was in a lot of films.  Currently it can be seen in the introduction to films at AMC theaters.

 The prop shop - acres and acres of props.

 The telephone room:

The put plaques up at each stage listing when it was build and what major shows were recorded there.  Here's one.  We walked onto the set of the Ellen Degeneres Show.

Bugs and friends:

Next:  La Brea Tar Pits. (we've written about them before - so look further down for more details)

Grauman's Chinese Theater:


 
The courtyard has hundreds of blocks with actors names, hand prints and foot prints.  You can see everybody milling around looking at them in the picture above.  Here are a few.  Click on them to enlarge.
 


 
 
 
The Hollywood Walk of Fame!  Jo's first pic:

Some of the local "color" on the walk.  Who knows what sights you might see?  There are a lot of people dressed up as characters, apparently shilling for tours or for tips once we tourists take pictures.

If anybody is curious, I DID NOT take this picture!

Rodeo Drive!  It was a little after hours, and everything had shutdown. 

Jo, Jim and the boys are notching their belts every time they go to a new ball park.  On the 6th, they all went to a game at Angels stadium.

 Then drove back north to our house

Another random sight in LA

 Picked me up at home, and we drove into LA to go to a Dodger's game!

 The view of LA from Dodger's Field:

July 4th

Happy Birthday America!  Happy July 4th!

We had a lazy morning around the house, playing games, watching TV.  We had planned to head to Redondo Beach around noon, but we didn't get out till about 5:00.  We've been told it will be mobbed, and it was.  First order of business:  Find a place to park.  The first couple of lots were full, but we eventually found on with a short line waiting so we got in line.  Lou walked up to ask and found they were letting about 20 cars in at a time as people left.  Within about 15 minutes, we were in.  There were actually quite a few spaces in the garage - it seems like they could have let in a lot more people.


The boys wanted to hit the water while Lou went to check on the boat.  We're scheduled for n 8:30 boat ride to be near the fireworks dock.  The boat usually gives short sightseeing rides and longer whale watching rides into the Pacific.  Follow the link for a description.

So Lou went off while the remaining 5 of us looked for open beach.  We had to walk through the dock and pier areas to find this:

View of the beach from the strand

It was really mobbed and chaotic.  I waited on the strand while the 4 of 'em went down to the water, picking their way through bodies, blankets and beach umbrellas.  You can't see it here, but the water was blocked off with "Hazardous Material" tape because (Jo later learned) the reported levels of bacteria were over the limit.

The strand, just south of the pier

View of the pier from the same spot

Some time was spent finding and changing in bathrooms, while Lou settled into the line for the boat.  She wanted to be the first to get on.  The rest of us wandered around and "spelled" Lou occasionally.  They got a few hand-seafood platters like popcorn shrimp, fried shrimp, fried clams and fries (sensing a theme?).

Jo, AJ and Zach found the pedal boats.

From this picture, looking across a short span of water at the boat shake selling tickets.  You can see the line of people waiting to buy tickets.  Lou was behind them, first in line to board.  If you play "Where's Waldo" you can see Lou with Jim (arms crossed) waiting.  Click on the picture to get a larger version.

Jo and the boys, about to board the pedal boats

  

A bit before 8:00 we all congregated back with Lou at the front of the line.  We had picked a spot at the back of the boat and got there as the crowd of about 150 surged on.

A rare picture including Jay

From the boat towards the pier.  Just a little crowded.

We motored out a short way past the barge the city was using to launch fireworks.  We passed close enough that people were talking to the workers on the barge.  Another interesting point - once we got underway we could quickly smell marijuana.  The captain came on and warned that it was illegal to smoke marijuana on federal waters, even if you hold "a card".  He had to give us the warning a few times.

We docked about 1 hundred yards off the barge, blocking the view of several smaller boats, who all swarmed around.  Police boats patrolled the area, keeping boats back from the barge.  As we sat there, sea lions swam around the boat, watching us as we watched them.  Sadly those pictures didn't have enough light to see anything.  

At 9:00  the fireworks started.  The boat played a local radio station that had music timed to the show.  One thing unique about this display, the shapes displayed were pretty cool and clear.  We saw "U" then "S" then "A" a few times and smiley faces.  It was a nice show with the lights reflecting off the water, the city in the background and the beatiful temperature.  Lou thought it sitting in our seats on the boat, with a small crowd around us felt a lot more private and personal then sitting in a large field.  The only negative was a man on a date right next to us who kept yelling pointlessly. 

After the first show, the boat motored south for a few minutes and caught another show just north of Palos Verdes, then returned to port.  By the time we got back, the traffic had mostly cleared, and our ride home wasn't too bad.

Here's a map of the area we were in:
A - Where they had the fireworks barge.  We were docked to a small floating pier about 100 yards north west of there
B - I took pictures of the beach, strand and pier from B
C - Where the tour boat docked.  We (mostly Lou) spent 2 hours in line just north of the round building
D - Where Jo, Zach and AJ picked up the pedal boats


Interestingly, this was all right next to the apartment where we stayed for a few months before we bought our house.  The apartment was immediately east of the "D" location, just north of the pool.