Academy Awards preparation, seven days out.

This evening, Hollywood Blvd. was shut down for the red carpet (or yellow in this case) premiere of “Oz the Great & Powerful” at the El Capitan Theatre.

I also managed to catch them setting up for the event this afternoon.

Activity around the Dolby Theater looks to be picking up, as the Academy Awards approach.

The lot beside my complex, which is normally home to tourist buses, is now filled with trailers and busy technicians. In the Dolby Theater loading dock area, a truck with some form of props arrived this afternoon.

The “big” work should be starting this weekend, as I noticed a street closure sign on Hollywood Blvd. today; the entire block scheduled to be shut down from 2/17 through 2/24.

A planned short walk down Sunset ended up turning in to a more substantial trek to the Farmer’s Market.

I hadn’t been to the Farmer’s Market since a late 1980’s family vacation. The original market looked about the same as I remembered, with even the pizza stand I once favored still being in place. Sadly, the Chinese food vendor, whom my parents had frequented before I was even born, was no longer there.

Naturally, the greatest change was found in the Grove lifestyle center addition. While the Grove has become an L.A. hotspot and garnered a great deal of attention, I walked away rather unimpressed. An upscale outdoor shopping center; in Southern California, that’s almost as common as seeing a row of palm trees (yes, that does sound a bit jaded). Perhaps, the one truly unique feature found here is the “Extra” television set. They weren’t filming, but it was interesting to see, none the less.

All in all, I think I prefer the classic Farmer’s Market over the Grove addition; I’m sure that viewpoint places me in the minority.

Tonight, Grauman’s hosted the red carpet premiere for “Safe Haven”. Tomorrow, they are having another red carpet, for “Beautiful Creatures”, and, next week, “Oz the Great and Powerful” will premiere across the street at the El Capitan. Perhaps, most interesting, was this viewing spot I found beside Grauman’s (that’s not a zoom shot, I was really that close). While the crowd was piled up across the street, behind a barrier, I accidentally discovered you can stand about fifteen feet away from where the limos drop off (that red square in the street).

Behind Grauman’s and the Hollywood & Highland Center, looking down from my balcony, I’ve also been able to see work begin on the Academy Awards. Today, they looked to be assembling a stage.

I ran across this, uniquely named, food truck today. So, what kind of cuisine does “Slap Yo Mama” serve up? Appeared to be soul food, of the stratospherically heart stressing ilk. A prime example of their gastrointestinal genre being the Snoop Dog Cristo; fried chicken and mac n’ cheese, sandwiched between two waffles, then batter dipped and deep fried (all topped with maple syrup and powdered sugar).

While the truck looked to be extremely popular, I thought it best I step away.

This morning I decided to check out the Hollywood Farmers’ Market.

While the farmers’ market was certainly interesting, populated with the organic, natural, and exotic one would expect to find, a point of greater interest (perhaps novelty) was located just around the corner; namely, the Mark Twain Hotel.

In passing, the Mark Twain looks to be another “Golden Era” remnant which has seen better days. Perhaps, a former boarding house to the stars, turned transient flop house. Well, after returning home to do a little research, I discovered this is only partially true.

The Twain is rooted in Hollywood’s “Golden Era” (opened in 1923) and has seen its’ share of stars, but there never truly were “better days” in the hotel’s history. A first stop for those aspiring and last stop for those descending, the hotel has always existed on the lower fringe. Reflecting on his early days in Hollywood, Joe Barbera (of Hanna & Barbara fame) described the Mark Twain Hotel of 1937 as being modeled after a “not particularly enlightened penitentiary”.  Other historic accounts utilize descriptive language, such as “down on his luck” and “penniless drunkard” in reference to Twain guests of yore.

Sometimes, dilapidated wonders aren’t as removed from their glory days as one would expect.

After an unexpectedly long day at work, I ended the evening in a more enjoyable fashion; catching a late movie at the Cinerama Dome.

Yesterday, I just sort of wandered, until I found myself pondering the all important question, “Where the hell am I?”  That’s not to say I was lost; more that I wasn’t quite sure where I was (the difference being that I knew how to return home). Since moving to Hollywood, “Where the hell am I?” has become a psychological boundary line to my exploration; i.e. I generally walk until the question comes to mind. The interesting facet to this being how quickly that border of insecurity has expanded. Where, a few weeks ago, a couple of miles in any direction brought me to the point of return, I now find myself journeying near the realm of double digit mileage. Perhaps, there is something metaphoric to my ever expanding walking world?

On the bizarre/humorous front: I ran across one of the worst names for a menswear store yesterday, “Moist Men”. I’m sure this is some ultra sheik and “happening” store (I’m not really in tune with such things), but I find the name so unbelievably unappealing; bringing to mind some clammy looking guy or a man who has applied far too much lotion. Maybe it’s just me, but I really wouldn’t care to be described as “moist”.