Today, I walked the entire length of Hollywood Blvd., from Laurel Canyon to the Sunset merger (roughly 10 miles round trip).

I now possess bragging rights and a sunburn for my efforts.

This past week saw a series of Trayvon Martin protests and a “flash mob” looting group hit Hollywood Blvd.(hopefully, the two were unrelated).

As a result of the nightly “incidents”, the Blvd was also swarming with law enforcement all week; an LAPD helicopter hovering overhead almost becoming as common a sight as the moon.

I attended the red carpet premiere of “Pacific Rim”; sat in the last row of the mezzanine level, but I was there.

A planned short stroll down Sunset ended up taking me all the way down to Beverly Hills.

In addition to adding an extra ten miles to my planned walk, the trip also resulted in a pleasant encounter with a celebrity. While waiting to cross an intersection, I looked up to see Richard Simmons sitting in the passenger seat of a car that was stopped about five feet in front of me. Surprisingly, my instinctive response was to smile and say hello. In response, Mr. Simmons returned my greeting and informed me “You have beautiful hair”, before driving off. A simple kind gesture that brightened my day.

I should have known from the sizzle and crackle sounds, I had wandered on to Crispy Pork Gang turf.

A collection of independent theater groups and a liquor store line a block of Santa Monica Blvd.

A less than subtle commentary on the “struggling artist” lifestyle?

The assorted characters, who work tourists in front of the Hollywood & Highland Center, had their thunder stolen the other day; via an elaborate “Transformers” costumed individual (who wasn’t demanding “tips”) .

I found this “Captain Jack Sparrow” character’s reaction particularly amusing, as he and his partner found themselves upstaged and ignored by the crowd.

An extra long walk brought me to the La Brea Tar Pits today.

My visit was relatively brief, as my lone white male status, amidst a sea of grade school field trip groups, made for an awkward scenario.

The Mystery Machine driving past Spider Man. Just your run of the mill street scene.

I’m not sure if it would have been more odd for them to be somehow related, but they weren’t. Spider Man was on his way to work the tourists on Hollywood Blvd. and this incredibly accurate tribute to Scooby Doo just happened to be cruising through my neighborhood at the same time.

Going the extra mile in my exploration of Hollywood, I tried a vegan cheeseburger today. About the only thing discovered was one more reason why I could never be a true Hollywood hipster.