Los Angeles Well, we had that opportunity. Four days in LA, the city of my birth, to do a bunch of "behind-the-scenes" stories at Wheel of Fortune, General Hospital, the Lakers vs. the Cavs, the Hollywood Walk of Stars, and the Kodak theatre where the Oscars are held.
Yeah...what a horrible gig, right. I know you are feeling bad for me now. Well how about I show you a couple pictures...
While I recover from this grueling experience...
On the plus side, I did shoot several hours of footage which can be made into stills by my news department's web mistress.
Los Angeles...likely the best work assignment I have ever had...the perfect work vacation with an all-access pass. Thanks to Lasalle for setting it up and 13News for approving his vision, financially.
It would never had happened otherwise...
I started writing pieces while on the trip, but I promise a finished version of the experience sometime soon. I hope you enjoyed these pictures. More to come and words to follow...
Last changes to this site were:
(2006)
work...work...work...sometimes it just is horrible to go to work...unless of course, you happen to be flying to Los Angeles with an all access pass to everything and the bill is on the company. Then, work becomes not so much of a drag.
a view of the mountains of Los Angeles...
Venice Beach: Looking towards the Santa Monica Pier and the mountains that roll to Malibu.
The station did pay for the trip so of course they get a plug...
Venice Beach looking towards the infamous Venice Pier.
Into the jungles of Venice...
This is my favorite shot from the trip...It was sunset and the sky was a bright red, but in this picture the tree splits the sun and changed the colors. I think this picture just screams "Venice" -ghetto paradise...
On the way out of Venice, I found the famous building where Jim Morrison slept on the roof and wrote some of the early Doors songs like "Moonlight Drive."
Yeah...LaSalle the overanxious producer was like put your arm here...turn that way. I just wanted a picture in front of the building, not try and start some damn modeling career? you can see I'm kind of like "what the???"
Saw this place on Sunset Strip and thought "American Grafitti," this has to be that restaurant from the early Lucas film. However we found out the original is up near San Francisco and this was just a replica. They had good burgers though. The new camera isn't great at night and with limited space on the memory card for this trip, I thought this shot was cleaner...oh well...
I liked this picture...we were on our way to the Hollywood Walk of Stars story on Hollywood Blvd. and I just saw this and snapped a picture. I really like how this one turned out.
Grauman's Chinese Theater
On the way to General Hospital I saw the Flynt Building...Haha...Larry Flynt's castle...god knows what has gone on in that building!!!
The Capitol Records Building. Lasalle snapped this picture while heading down Hollywood
The Hollywood Hills from Mulholland Drive
View of the city in smog from Mulholland Drive. Down the hill, in the foreground you can see the Hollywood Bowl.
Lasalle Blanks, my reporter and the guy who put this crazed adventure together.
Rodeo Drive. I didn't buy a thing, I couldn't believe the price tags...it was unbelievable. I got my daughter Katryn a dress and some shirts a block over on Beverly Street just so I could say I bought her clothes in Beverly Hills. She's a girl, she gets it...
On the lot of Sony Pictures Studios for Wheel of Fortune. They were shooting Spiderman 3 while we were there and I so wanted to sneak on that set. Oh well...with great access comes great responsibility...maybe next time.
Outside Sony Pictures Studios, my first time in a movie studio...yet not a great pictrure, huh...hahaha
and then the sun rose over the buildings and blinded me...
Lasalle...see his picture came out way better. I wonder why?!?
And speaking of bad pictures...the "professional" photographer on the set of "Wheel" took these 2 pictures...notice they are both out of focus and you can't see the wheel!!! I mean, c'mon, what's up with that?!?
Well, you live and learn. I got some good pictures but I got some bad ones as well.
This DXG camera I got as a Christmas bonus from the station is kind of hit or miss..and I've had issues with it being compatible with memory cards so I have to use the limited space sparingly. I can't really complain. It was free. I just need to get a better digital camera some day when I actually have some extra money.
Oh...and did I mention on the last night I got to meet my two brothers, Jason and Kyle, for the first time. We all met on the last night at the Santa Monica pier for dinner and along with meeting them, seeing my natural mother, Meredith, I also got to meet my niece and nephew, the boys' significant others, and Meredith's husband, Woody.
It was definitely the most bizarre moments in my life. After thirty something years we all finally met...it was great and I look forward to continuing to keep in contact with them.
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