WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?

This theater marquee that has seen better days represents the last gasps of what started in 1940 as the Monica Theater at 7734 Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood (before it became West Hollywood, of course). A neighborhood theater showing 2nd run major motion pictures, it was briefly an arthouse, showing foreign films before, in 1968, it changed its name to the Left Bank Theater and went into the nudies game.

In 1970 it became the flagship theater of the adult film Pussycat Theater chain and remained so until the '90s when it became a gay adult theater and changed its name (appropriately enough) to the Tom Kat. 2006 saw Mr. Tom Kat make way for STUDS, and after that, it just seemed a slow but inexorable slide to obsolescence. The above photo, post-COVID, reflects the theater's 2022 fate.

Whatever lies in store for the empty space now, I hope someone holds on to the "celebrity" footprints of the deceased legends of the "porno chic" '70s that grace the front courtyard. 

John Holmes / nee John Curtis Estes (1944 -1988)

Linda Lovelace / nee Linda Susan Boreman (1949 - 2002)

Harry Reems / nee Herbert John Streicher ( 1947 - 2013)

Marilyn Chambers / nee Marilyn Ann Taylor (1952 - 2009)

HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

The Hollywood and Highland Shopping Center (mall) with its design inspired by the Gates of Babylon set from D.W. Griffith's 1916 film "Intolerance." Built in 2001, the elephants, pillars and archway - towering minimally some three stories high - are identical in scale to the sets of the original classic silent film.

The "Intolerance" Babylon set. Built in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles (today, the site of the Vista Theater).

WHO NEEDS OSCAR?

The Four Ladies of Hollywood statues creating the Hollywood Gateway on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea. A stainless steel gazebo structure was created by Catherine Hardwicke, and unveiled in 1993. Atop the structure of these female forms reminiscent of the Academy Award Oscar, is a weathervane Marilyn Monroe.

Mae West

Dorothy Dandridge

Anna May Wong

Dolores Del Rio

SUMMER IN THE CITY

West Hollywood interactive art installation titled "Kalidoscope" by Daveed Kapoor & Rob Barry is composed of color mirrored acrylic squares. It's one of a series of  micro-parks throughout the city

An enormous "Rosemary's Baby"-inspired banner poster for the film "Mother!" overlooks Wilshire Blvd

Halloween came early to Hollywood when late August 2017 saw the materialization of the dreaded Neilbolt Street house from Stephen King's "IT" on the corner of Hollywood & Vine. A haunted house tour called "The IT Experience," it's a promotional attraction for the September release of the theatrical motion picture remake of  "IT."  King's book was initially made into a TV movie in 1990.

Orange You Glad?

The Wonderful Halos Citrus Storage building in Delano, CA.

Along California's Highway 99, the packing plant for Wonderful Halos mandarin oranges converted its building into the world's largest Halos orange carton. It's said to be 80 feet high and 11, 00 square feet.

  

ON A CAROUSEL

Located near the Griffith Park Zoo and said to have been Walt Disney's inspiration for building Disneyland, the Griffith Park merry-go-round was built in 1926 (it was originally located at the Mission Beach Amusement Center in San Diego, but was moved to Griffith Park in 1937). The ornate carousel has 68 horses and contains a Military Band Organ that plays more than 1,500 songs. 

THE MAGIC KINGDOM

I haven't visited in ages, but no blog devoted to California Koo Koo would be complete without a trip to Anaheim's primary attraction, Disneyland.

THE DOCTOR IS IN

Located in Brand Park in Glendale, Doctors House Museum and Gazebo is a Victorian house built in 1888 that was home to four different families of physicians. Originally located on Wilson Avenue, the house was moved in 1979 to Brand Park where it was renovated and opened as a museum in 1984. Tours are held, and the museum features displays of Victorian era artifacts. 

The house was the home of silent screen star Nell Shipman from 1970 to 1920

RAINBOW CONNECTION

In October 2015,  Sony Pictures  in Culver City, CA (formerly MGM studios) erected this 94-high, steel rainbow. The $1.6 million installation by artist Tony Tasset graces the studio where "The Wizard of Oz" (source of the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow") was made in 1930, and overlooks a billboard announcing the return of Judy Garland's 60s TV show (titled The Judy Garland Show, appropriately enough) to Get-TV, a Sony Pictures Entertainment network.subsidiary.

To get the whole view, here's a photo Sony Pictures posted on Twitter

SAY CHEESE

Bravo Farms in Traver, California. 

Off Highway 99, Bravo Farms is part rest stop, restaurant, Old-West tourist attraction, petting zoo, gift shop, and cheese-lovers paradise.

AND THERE YOU ARE, A SHOOTING STAR

Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) frontman, producer, songwriter, and all-around music legend Jeff Lynne was awarded his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 23, 2015. 

Located in front of the Capitol Records building on Vine St., the star was kissed by the muse Kira (aka, Terpsichore) from the 1980 film "Xanadu" (for which Lynne composed many of the songs, including the hit title track) who put in a welcome, if self-promoting appearance.