Hollywood Star Boulevard

I went to Hollywood, California not too long ago. Of course, if you want sight seeing, you can have sight seeing. Take a bus tour of the stars' homes. I happened to take a bus tour in which they drove past certain stars homes, and also gave us a tour of Hollywood Boulevard. You can take a minibus tour for about 2 hours, fully narrated. Or you could take a grand tour of LA, for about 5 or 6 hours. Of course there's a lot more tours.

There's Universal Studios. You can find out how sound effects are created for movies. Do you know that when a person gets punched in the movies, that squishing sound is not from an actual hit, but a sound effect, like something being hit against a chair. You also can take tours of Universal Studios and look at the film sets; the buildings and also you might get to see the creepy and scary looking house that was created for the original old time classic thriller, Psycho. You can take a splashy ride through Jurassic Park. And the list goes on.

I think one of the best ways to see Hollywood is to walk around Hollywood Boulevard. Yes, walk around and look at the sights, the buildings, and the stars on the sidewalk. The stars are immortalized here with their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The stars go down Hollywood Boulevard and also on Vine Street.

I've got a star pic of Jackie Chan here, folks. Of course, I could talk about Jackie Chan in a whole other blog, I love his movies! I especially like his movie with the tux that had a mind of its own; it's like a bionic or robotic suit. And yes, it's named The Tuxedo.

Also, there are tours in the Hollywood Wax Museum and Hollywood Guinness Museum, which, yes, I took while I was there. When I went to Hollywood, I was struck with how compact and efficient the buildings looked on the street and how the streets were well manicured and lined with trees.

The other perk about Hollywood Boulevard are the shops. Some wild and crazy shops that have things that you might never have seen before! Check out the picture of these platform shoes. Can you imagine walking down the street in one of those shoes!
Actually, if I had the guts, I would walk around in them, except that I sprained an ankle in high school and ever since, my ankle sometime suddenly gives way, so I don't think wearing one of those platforms would be a good idea! Well, maybe I would consider putting on one of these platforms on only when sitting!

Also, there's other shops that have wild and crazy boots, thigh high, leather, white, red, blue, plastic, you name it. Not something you normally would wear to your company cocktail party, but who knows; you might want to go incognito to a wild party, don a wig and pretend you come from out of state!

To me, looking at the stars on the sidewalk was the best part of the trip; knowing that each star was created with the star there.

Michael Jackson

I will miss Michael Jackson and his music, his larger than life persona, and all the melodrama that comes with being a great musical superstar. Michael Jackson appealed across the board to all age groups. Not only was I was interested in Michael Jackson's music and what I could read about him in the tabloids, but my late grandmother was too. I have fond memories of my grandmother and I sitting at the kitchen table, looking at the tabloids together, and remembering her commenting about what she read in the magazines. She was fascinated with Michael Jackson's friendship with Elizabeth Taylor, and also the hyperbolic chamber, chimpanzee, and other gossip items that were written about Michael Jackson from that time period. Of course, we didn't believe the tabloids, but we loved to read anything about Michael Jackson!

Michael Jackson was an incredible entertainer, dancer and singer. He had a special quality to his voice, and even though there will be Michael Jackson impersonators now, I don't think anyone will ever be able to fully emulate Michael Jackson's unique voice and style of singing.

He is a mysterious and unique legend, along with Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis Presley.

Alaska revisited

I love to travel throughout the country and there are so many beautiful places that you can go right here in the United States. From the lush vineyards of California to the forests of Colorado, tropical scenery of Florida, and the stark beauty of the mountains in Alaska, there are many, many places to see and enjoy all over the country. I plan on sharing some of my experiences and photos with you as I go. I more recently went to Hollywood, California, to take pictures of Hollywood Boulevard and to Alaska, Texas, Kansas, and other places where I have taken photos. As I continue to write in my blog, I will post pictures from my trips.

This particular piece is dedicated to my trip to Alaska. Sarah Palin just now retired from being Alaska's governor. The media's attention on Alaska has brought back fond memories of the trip that we took to that state not too long ago. I would like to now share some of my impressions of that trip with you.

We traveled by air to Anchorage, Alaska and rented a car for the rest of our trip in Anchorage. Anchorage is a colorful city, with lots of stores that sell clothing, jewelry, and sporting goods. There are furriers that have interesting jackets in seal, raccoon, mink and more.

Our first day was spent shopping in Anchorage. On our second day, we drove to the Kenai peninsula and decided to take an all day boat excursion that traveled through glacial waters and the Kenai Fjord National Park. We started out in Seward, to board the boat for the trip, the Kenai Star. We saw whales in the water, and a large glacier. It got chilly when we got near this glacier, and extremely windy. We had to bundle up even though we took our trip at the end of May.

We also took a trip up to Fairbanks, Alaska. We noted that the trees are thinner, and pointed, looking like needles that go up into the sky. We also went to Denali National Park, and that could be another entire entry, since there is a lot to see there. While we were in Denali National Park, we took a tour of the entire park via a large bus. I remember that it happened to be particularly dusty on that day, and the wind blew debris across the bus, making it harder to see. Also, we did see some mountain goats that were perched elusively up on the higher mounds and hills.

My family likes to watch Ice Road Truckers, which is a show centered around truck drivers that have the special skill of driving up the Dalton highway in Alaska up to the uppermost part of the state, and also on ice. I personally would hate to have to drive a large semi on trecherous ice but there is a certain amount of respect, awe and fascination in watching truck drivers that have the guts to travel on the stark Dalton highway and then on to ice! During our trip, we wanted to travel the Dalton highway, but we did not travel past Fairbanks, and if you are looking to get gas, you need to do it before starting on the highway. We wanted to go up to the Arctic Circle, but that is being saved for another trip, in which we plan to go and view the Aurora Borealis winter lights near the Arctic Circle. We also would like to see the polar bears, and there are places in northern Alaska that we are looking to visit.