Poetic Shutterbug

Grauman's Chinese Theatre located on Hollywood Boulevard is the premier theatre and center of attraction on this busy street. It opened in May of 1927 and was THE spot for movie goers. It has been renovated since the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake and was declared and given historical landmark status in 1968. The forecourt is a tourist friendly hub for shutterbugs. It is where the stars have their hand and footprints etched into the sidewalk along with drawings and notes. The theatre hosts inside tours during the day about every half hour. I did not take a tour during this visit but definitely will during the next visit. The artwork and architecture of this theatre is just stunning. It is as authentic, colorful and rich in tradition as any of the temples I have seen in China yet with a more modern feel. I was just in awe of the intricate artwork as is obvious by all the photos I took. The photos you see below are just a small sampling and really do not do justice to the beau...

Click Photos To Enlarge. One of the things I wanted to do while in Hollywood was to get a photo of Michael Jackson's star which you can see below. I also took a few shots of some of my favorite entertainers which are also shown below. The stars are located along a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard with some of the major stars located in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Right in front of the theatre are autographs and footprints along with notes, artwork etc... by some stars etched into the cement. I didn't take any photos of those because of the lighting situation. I have to say it was fun seeing these stars until I found Michael Jackson's star and something just clicked. I stood there looking at his star deeply saddened that especially on this particular day, October 28 th - the day his "This Is It" was opening in theatres across the country, his star lay etched into the ground, alone and with people just mindlessly walking over it oblivious to...

Me and my Superhero :) Click photos to enlarge the image The cast of characters roaming Hollywood Boulevard is really quite a novelty. I first thought that maybe these people were just dressed up for Halloween but when talking to my superhero in the above photo, I found out that these people are actually out there on a daily basis and make their living taking photos with and receiving tips from tourists. Some are more popular than others and some are also more aggressive than others. Elvis was one of those aggressive ones. When I snapped the photo of him which you'll see below, he came over to me, put his arm through mine and asked some guy to take our photo with my camera. While I love Elvis, I did not like his particular aggressive nature and pulled away. However, superman was much more sweet, charming, young and flirty, not to mention those huge muscles so of course I posed with him and slipped him a few bucks. From then on I tried to be sly getting photos without having t...