Welcome to Hollywood. What’s your dream?

Hope you’re ready for a long (hopefully not too boring) blog.

I begrudgingly managed to get out of bed; I think tiredness is still creeping up on me. I made my way to the Greyhound bus station loathing the idea of another bus trip, but at least I know this will be the last one. I luckily get onto the bus after my bus group being told that we wont all fit onto the scheduled bus. Phew. I got into downtown LA slightly late due to the morning peak traffic on the massive freeways across SoCal. Grabbed a taxi to the hotel in Hollywood Hills and scored another early check in at 9.30am.

The hotel is pretty trendy and ‘very Hollywood’. I likey. I was strapped for time due to being the owner of a ticket to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 4pm, in which I would have to be at NBC studios at 3pm or earlier. I was also concerned about the fact that no public transport went to the studios, so another taxi it would be.

I decided to just wander and familiarize myself with Hollywood. I headed past Capitol Records towards Hollywood. What first struck me was the grimy look of the area and all the barred shop fronts. So I got to the corner of Vine & Hollywood Bvld and noticed a crowd of paparazzi so I decided to check it out. I scored. Susan St James (I don’t know either) was being inducted into the Walk of Fame. Whilst waiting for her to show I got to talking to ‘Dodger Dave’, a paparazzo for Time & Life. Or so he said, I’m not all that sure he was the full quid, particularly given he couldn’t get into the gated area. None the less, he was rather funny. Jamie Lee Curtis soon showed up, which I was buzzing about, and then Maria Shriver (Mrs Terminator) showed up to. I’d only been in Hollywood for half an hour and had seen more celebrities than ever! I watched the somewhat boring ceremony and moved on along Hollywood Bvld. Passing MANY wig shops, fetish shops, and bong shops I wasn’t feeling all that good about Hollywood, but I speak to soon. One thing’s for sure, despite the seediness of some of it, there is definitely a celebrity buzz to the culture. I even got a heads up about a premiere to occur that night at Grauman’s Chinese theatre if I want to catch more celebs; this from one celeb fan to another.

Checked out a few stores near by; American Apparel & Fredericks of Hollywood, which was cooler than I thought. I was quickly running out of time, so I headed back to the hotel and ordered to taxi to Jay Leno.

I was super excited for Leno, so imagine my disappointment when I showed up and saw a line about 100 meters long. My mailed tickets were not guaranteed seating. Still waiting & waiting to get in. Some folks from Mississippi had one extra guaranteed ticket, and for me, a benefit of being here by myself, I scored it. Yeah! The Mississippi brother and sister told me I had a really pretty accent (said in their super Southern accent) and offered to drive me back to my hotel to save the taxi. Score again! We filed into Jay Leno and the show quickly got underway. Jay came out to let us know they tape totally live and don’t re-record mistakes so we’d be out within the hour. Jay was freakin’ funny as he chatted with the audience and it was awesome seeing the set for real.

The show got underway and what struck me was how professional it was and how good Jay is at his job. He makes Rove look rubbish (sorry Rove fans). Jay’s openers were hilarious. Dana Carvey was on the show (it’s Wayne’s World, party time, excellent). Dana was surprisingly really funny, as I had never seen him live. Then Spencer Breslin was on, and the singer Priscilla Ahn. Overall, it was an awesome experience to see.

Got my lift to the hotel and got myself ready to head back to Hollywood Bvld. Walked the whole waaaay down to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with a touch of shopping on the way. ;) The premiere for The Love Guru was underway at the theatre just as the guy said. Even more celebs to see – Mike Myers, Justin Timberlake, & Mariska Hargitay. Loving the celeb buzz of this place! Left the premiere soon after and decided to go to Pink’s Hot Dogs for dinner. This place does very famous hot dogs. To give you an idea, there was a queue when I arrived and it took me one hour before I got the dam dog. Was it good? Yes, it was. Would I wait one hour for it again? No chance. I’ve never waited longer for food. I was close to eating my own arm.

Time for bed after all the excitement of the day…

Things I learnt about Hollywood:

• It reminded me a bit of Phuket – sleazy with heaps of rip off brand clothing stores.
• People dress super cool compared to where I had come from. Finally some style.
• Scientology is big over here. I’ve already been asked if I want a free personality test. Ron Hubbard appears all over Hollywood Bvld.
• Celebs really are all over the place.
  

Me with Dodger Dave waiting for the Walk of Fame ceremony to begin for Susan St James.

Jamie Lee Curtis waiting for the ceremony to start. Pretty stoked to see her, loved her in A Fish Called Wanda and True Lies.

Maria Shriver and Susan St James speaking at her Walk of Fame ceremony on the corner of Vine St & Hollywood Bvld.

Susan St James with NBC Universal Studios President & CEO Ron Meyer. Now that guy would be worth a pretty penny.

A blurry shot of Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order at the Love Guru premiere at Grauman's Chinese theater. She's the one waiving to my side of the road. Interestingly, they don't shut down the street for premieres so trucks kept getting in the way.