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

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. 

UP ON THE ROOF

On the occasion of the 88th Annual Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood & Highland on February 28, 2016, the iconic dinosaur perched atop the roof of Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium  donned a top hat and tie. Since 2014 the popular curiosity museum has been dressing the rooftop dinosaur in seasonal attire (surfboard and sunglasses for summer, Santa Suit, horns and pitchfork for Halloween).

The enormous marquee at the Highland/Hollywood complex housing the Dolby Theater. Chris Rock was the Oscar host that year

 This is what comes of taking photos and leaving them in your camera for six months.  A Hollywood restaurant whose name escapes me features a swordfish (shark?) crashed through its roof .

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.

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.

A DIFFERENT HOLLYWOOD SIGN

2011 Replica of the Schwab's Drugstore sign on Vine and Selma in Hollywood.
The original Schwab's Drugstore was a part of Hollywood folklore since the 1930s. Located on Sunset Blvd at the start of the famous Sunset Strip, the site was featured famously in the films television, and the stuff of movie star discovery legend. It closed in 1988.

CRUISING ON SUNSET BLVD

Crossroads of the World - Hollywood's first Shopping Mall
Located at 6671 Sunset Blvd and extending north to Selma, the Disney-esque outdoor shopping mall, Crossroads of the World, is an collection of buildings (retail stores and studios) recreating the architecture of various parts of the world, all surrounding the center structure/building, which resembles an ocean liner.
In May of 2015, plans were announced for an extensive redevelopment of Crossroads and the surrounding area.

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.

 

HOLLYWOOD SIGNS

The famed Hollywood Sign, atop Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills

Sign on the Home Depot retail store on Sunset Blvd. near Western in Hollywood, Ca.

Hollywood and Highland 

BRIDGE WORK

The New San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge

 

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Little Old Ladies, Welcome!

The Pasadena, California City Hall

Built in 1927