March 2010 – Page 2 – IAMNOTASTALKER

March 17, 2010March 16, 2010

Millions of Milkshakes

Thanks to the earthquake which jolted me awake at around 4 O’clock this morning after which I was not able to fall back asleep, I am currently feeling a bit off my game. So, I have to apologize in advance if today’s particular blog post isn’t exactly up to par. Anyway, on with the stalking! Back in November, fellow stalker Lavonna tipped me off to a little milkshake stand in West Hollywood named Millions of Milkshakes which has become quite the celebrity hot spot as of late. The shop, which opened up in 2008, is basically a make your own milkshake bar featuring a virtual smorgasbord of over one hundred different ingredients (consisting of everything from chocolate chip cookie dough and Toblerone chocolate bars to fresh blueberries and protein powder), that customers can mix together in over 75 million different combinations – and yes, they actually paid a mathematician to calculate the number of milkshake possibilities – with either regular ice cream, non-fat frozen yogurt, or non-dairy ice cream. If you’re not brave enough to invent your own concoction, or don’t have the time to peruse the shop’s extensive menu of toppings – and believe me, it is overwhelming! – you can order up one of the many varieties created by and named after your favorite celebrity. Of course, once Lavonna told me about the place I immediately added it to my long list of “To Stalk” locations, but since I don’t get out to WeHo very often, I had yet to actually visit it. But since we were in the area two Saturdays ago eating at the nearby Marix Tex Mex Cafe, I just had to drag my fiancé a few blocks to the west to finally stalk the famous milkshake stand. And, let me tell you, the place was well worth the wait!

Millions of Milkshakes is an absolutely adorable little spot that was first opened up on Halloween day of 2008 by a British restaurateur named Sheeraz Hasan. At the tender age of 16 in his hometown of London, Sheeraz came up with the inspired idea of converting his family’s then-failing restaurant into a Hollywood themed eatery named the Tinseltown Cafe. His cafe became an immediate success and a few years later Sheeraz headed out to Hollywood, with stars in his eyes. He ended up becoming friends with Creative Artists’ Agency founder Roland Perkins and creating his very own Los Angeles news show entitled Hollywood TV. After the show took off, Sheeraz set his sights on opening up a milkshake stand. Using his Hollywood connections, he invited tween queen Miley Cyrus to make an appearance at his newly opened eatery which set off an immediate publicity storm. Shortly thereafter, the place became insanely popular with celebrities and non-celebrities alike. Just a few of the stars who have created their own signature shake at the now-famous milkshake bar include LaToya Jackson, Vivica A. Fox, Donny Osmond, Ben Stein, Aaron Carter, John Gosselin (UGH!), Leonardo DiCaprio, Lindsay Lohan, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Stephanie Pratt, Antonio Sabato, Jr., Gwen Stefani, Adam Sandler, Tim Allen, Paris Hilton, all three Kardashian sisters, and fellow stalker Owen’s main gal Jennifer Love Hewitt. In fact, Millions of Milkshakes has become such a celebrity hotspot that Good Day L.A. recently dubbed the place “the new red carpet”. Love it! Also adding to the stand’s popularity (at least in my eyes) is the fact that they are almost always playing Michael Jackson music on the stereo. 😉

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Because my girl Jen Aniston has yet to create a Millions of Milkshakes signature shake, my fiancé and I opted instead to order Miley Cyrus’ creation. And even though I really can’t stand the singer/actress, I have to say that the girl’s got some good taste in shakes! The Hannah Montana star’s drink is made up of vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, and Reese’s peanut butter cups and I have to say that it was simply A-MA-ZING. Like quite possibly one of the best things I have ever tasted in my entire life! Sadly, because I am diabetic, I could only sample two small sips of the drink, but OMG you can bet I’m running straight to Millions of Milkshakes the next time my blood sugar is low. 😉

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for tipping me off to this location and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of my fellow stalkers! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Millions of Milkshakes is located at 8910 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit their website here.

March 16, 2010June 16, 2011

Marix Tex Mex Cafe – Jennifer Aniston’s Favorite Restaurant

Two weeks ago, while out doing some Oscar Weekend stalking, I dragged my fiancé to Marix Tex Mex Cafe in West Hollywood, a restaurant which has long been one of my girl Jen Aniston’s favorite places to dine. And while Jen has always been pretty vocal about her love of Mexican food and margaritas, I had never actually heard of the eatery until last year when a woman in one of my acting classes mentioned that she had spotted the actress there on numerous occasions. Well, let me tell you, I just about died upon hearing that! For whatever reason, though, I had yet to stalk the restaurant. So, when I realized that my fiancé and I were in the West Hollywood vicinity this past Oscar Weekend, I begged him to make a little lunchtime pit stop at the Tex Mex hot spot. It should come as no surprise that the Grim Cheaper was not AT ALL keen on the idea of grabbing a bite to eat at a place frequented by a famous actress, as he thought the prices would be outrageously expensive. I am happy to report, though, that Marix was EXTREMELY reasonable and that even the Grim Cheaper enjoyed himself while there! 🙂

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Marix is an absolutely ADORABLE little restaurant tucked away off of Santa Monica Boulevard on a tree-lined side street in uber-hip West Hollywood. The eatery is small, casual, and intimate and it’s not at all hard to see why Jen frequents the place. Not to mention the fact that it serves up some fabulous food! Like FABULOUS! The chicken fajitas were A-MA-ZING, as were the tortilla chips and fresh salsa. I literally gorged myself while there. The Marix staff also could NOT have been more friendly and I am happy to report that the place lacks any of the pretentiousness that is usually prevalent in L.A. area restaurants. I literally cannot say enough good things about the place and wish I lived closer so that I could frequent it more often.

Marix Tex Mex Cafe has actually been a long time favorite of Jen’s and was even mentioned way back in December of 2001 in this People Magazine article about the star. According to my friend from acting class, Jen can usually be spotted on the restaurant’s SUPER CUTE front patio which is pictured above. I hear Jen doesn’t frequent the place as much as she used to, though, thanks to the paparazzi who discovered the celebrity hot spot a few years ago and have been a constant presence ever since. Other stars who have dined at the eatery include Jessica Simpson and her BFF/hair stylist Ken Paves, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and their daughter Coco, Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, Ian Ziering, Brad Pitt, Angie Everhart, Dexter’s Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter, Ron Livingston, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, Pamela Anderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Wanda Sykes, The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper, and Wilson Cruz of My So-Called Life fame.

And while we didn’t run into Jen while dining there, we did spot former Bachelorette contestant Jerry Ferris at the table directly in front of us. I noticed Jerry pretty much immediately upon sitting down, but, while I knew he was famous, neither my fiancé nor I could place who he was. I asked our waitress if she recognized him and she in turn asked the other servers on duty, but no one seemed to have any idea whether or not he was even famous. Am I the only person who watched Season Three of The Bachelorette???? LOL Anyway, by that time I was going absolutely crazy because I KNEW I recognized Jerry, but could not for the life of me figure out from where. Then all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks – sitting in front of me was the man who had stolen America’s heart (or at least mine) on Jen Schefft’s season of The Bachelorette. I had absolutely LOVED Jerry on the series and was actually lucky enough to have met him shortly after his reality TV stint ended just about five years ago. Well, as soon as I figured out it was him, I told my fiancé I wanted to ask for a photograph, but that I felt bad since he was eating at the time, to which the Grim Cheaper said, “You ALREADY have a photograph with the guy (pictured above) – please do NOT bother him again.” LOL Sadly, I listened to the GC and did not go up to Jerry (HMPH!), but I really regret doing so as he had been a TOTAL sweetheart to me when I met him back in 2005. Ah well! Maybe I’ll run into Jerry during my next Marix stalk. 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Marix Tex Mex Cafe is located at 1108 North Flores Street in West Hollywood. They also have a second location which can be found at 118 Entrada Drive in Santa Monica. You can visit the Marix website here.

March 15, 2010March 15, 2018

The Bar from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” Video

UPDATE: While I originally thought that the video’s pool hall scenes were also shot at this location, that is not the case. The pool segments were actually shot at the Brunswick Billiard Academy, which was formerly located in the basement of the San Fernando Building at 400 South Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. I’ve amended the post to reflect this. Special thanks to Michael Scaglione for the information!

This past week, after I tracked down the (probable) “Beat It” diner, I asked fellow stalker Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, for his help in locating the bar that also appeared in the iconic 1983 Michael Jackson music video. Chas, who, unlike me, is not afraid of using the telephone ;), immediately called up “Beat It” director Bob Giraldi’s production company in New York City to inquire about the location. Amazingly enough, he got through to an EXTREMELY nice woman who said that she had never been asked that question before, which I find mind boggling! I mean, does no one besides us care about this stuff??? Anyway, the woman looked up the information on her computer and then confirmed with someone in the production office who had worked on the video before telling Chas that the bar scene had been filmed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles. When Chas told me the news I was elated that I finally had a definitive answer, but was thoroughly confused as the bar in the video did not look at all like any of the Hard Rock Cafes I had ever visited. So, I, of course, got to cyberstalking and quickly discovered that back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, there was, in fact, a dive bar located smack dab in the middle of Skid Row that bore the name “Hard Rock Cafe”. The bar is, sadly, no longer in operation, but, as fate would have it, is quite well known in the music industry for reasons having nothing to do with Michael Jackson! On a side note, after I started having doubts about the Monte Carlo Restaurant being the cafe featured in “Beat It”, I asked Chas to once again call up Bob Giraldi’s production company to see if someone could confirm whether or not I had tracked down the right place. Unfortunately, though, a very rude woman answered the phone and told him she could not give out that information. UGH!

According to what I was able to dig up online – and it’s quite a story – back in December of 1969, after The Doors photographer Henry Diltz took his now-famous photograph of the band standing inside of the Morrison Hotel, lead singer Jim Morrison announced that he wanted to grab a drink. So, the group headed a few blocks north to nearby Skid Row, saw an establishment named the “Hard Rock Cafe”, which Diltz described as “a little wino bar on the corner”, and pulled over. While the group sipped on beers, Diltz decided he liked the feel of the place and ended up taking a series of photographs of the band hanging out there. Those shots ended up not only being featured on the back cover of the band’s Morrison Hotel album in 1970, but they even named the A-side of that album “Hard Rock Cafe” in honor of the establishment. But the story doesn’t end there. The following year, a restaurateur named Peter Morton decided to open up a dining establishment in London and because he was such a huge Doors fan, contacted Jim Morrison and asked if he could name his restaurant “Hard Rock Cafe” after their recent album. Jim agreed and Morton’s restaurant quickly became a hit with Londoners. Shortly thereafter, the “Hard Rock Cafe” became a wildly popular worldwide chain, not to mention a household name. And to think the whole thing came about because Jim Morrison was thirsty!

Fourteen years later, the Hard Rock Cafe again made music history when it appeared in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” music video, in the scene in which a group of gang members is shown leaving a bar to head to a fight.

As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, the front doors which appeared in the Doors photographs from 1969 are a perfect match to those which appeared fourteen years later in “Beat It”.

Also a perfect match are the bar area . . .

. . . and the wall fan seen in the upper right corner of the front of the Cafe.

Sadly, the original Hard Rock Cafe closed its doors about twenty or so years ago and a grocery store named Green Apple Market now stands in its place. But even though the bar is long gone, I still had to run right out to stalk its former location! 🙂 So, this past Friday, on the way home from taking my dad to a doctor appointment in Downtown Los Angeles, the two of us made a little stop in Skid Row at Green Apple Market. Because the market is located in a pretty sketchy area, I was too scared to actually venture inside and instead sent my dad to snap photographs for me, while I waited behind in the car with my doors locked. 😉 As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, the exterior of the grocery store bears little resemblance to the exterior of the Hard Rock Cafe which once occupied the same space. The location of the front doors and front windows are about the only two things that remain the same.

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The owner of the store confirmed for my dad that a bar had once occupied the space about twenty years prior and that after it closed a salon had moved in. That salon went out of business just recently at which point the Green Apple Market took over. For whatever reason, though, the store is only using a portion of the premises, which, according to my dad measures a good 6000 – 7000 square feet. And while the owner seemed to know quite a bit about the location’s history, she had no idea whatsoever that Michael Jackson had filmed “Beat It” on the premises some 27 years prior! And, sadly, there are no remnants whatsoever of the former Hard Rock Cafe left on the property. I was hoping for some small piece of the bar – i.e. the paint on the walls, the flooring, the shape of the ceiling, etc – to still be visible, but, alas, that was not to be. The owner was apparently very nice, though, and told my dad to feel free to take as many pictures as he wanted. YAY! The above two pictures were taken from the back of the store looking forward towards the market’s left wall. The front door is located just to the right and center of the main counter pictured above.

The above photograph shows the view from the back of the store looking forward towards the front doors. The cashier counter is located to the left of this picture.

The above pictured view was taken from the front of the store, looking towards the back. Because the space is not very deep, my dad believes the back wall is actually a false wall that was added after the Hard Rock Cafe closed its doors.

My dad snapped the picture of this particular wall because I had told him that the “Beat It” bar was partially painted green, but alas it was not the same shade of green that colors the store now. 🙁 The ice machine pictured above is located at the very back, right hand side of the store.

Most of that space where the Green Apple Market is now located is currently empty. The vacant room pictured above is situated to the right of the store’s front doors.

The empty deli case pictured above is located on the back side of that vacant room . . .

. . . and pictured above is what is located just around the corner from the empty deli case in the rear area of the store. I soooo regret not going inside the market with my dad and am seriously thinking of going back to re-stalk the place. He did tell me something that gives me reservations about doing so, though. Apparently while he was inside the store, a man came up to him and asked if he was the owner. My dad said no, but pointed out the real owner to the man, who then took off running towards her screaming, “So, you’re the $%#@ &$@#! I talked to on the phone!” See what I mean – it’s not in the greatest of areas. 🙁 It’s hard to believe Michael Jackson once spent a few days there, especially considering the area was a lot rougher during the 80s, but I guess he wanted “Beat It” to be as authentic as possible, and you can’t get more authentic than actually filming on Skid Row.

On a side note – The photographs of The Doors which appear in this post do not belong to me, but remain the sole property of the band and photographer Henry Diltz.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, for finding this location and to The Doors, without whom there would be no existing photographs of the place.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The old Hard Rock Cafe site, aka the bar from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” music video, is located at 300 East 5th Street in Downtown Los Angeles, just two blocks east of the Monte Carlo Restaurant, aka the (probable) “Beat It” diner. The old Hard Rock Cafe is currently a Green Apple Market grocery store and is unfortunately not located in the safest of areas, so, if you do choose to stalk it, please exercise caution.

March 12, 2010September 6, 2017

The (Possible) Cafe from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” Video

[UPDATE – The Monte Carlo Restaurant is NOT where “Beat It” was filmed. The iconic video was actually shot at the Special Café, located just a few blocks away. You can read all about it here. Even though this post contains erroneous information, I am leaving it up as it chronicles an important part of the long, arduous journey my fellow stalkers and I embarked upon to track the locale down.]

For months now, it seems, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I have been trying to track down the diner which briefly appeared in Michael Jackson’s iconic music video for his 1983 hit song “Beat It”. Being that the video was produced well over 25 years ago in a part of L.A. that is rapidly changing, this proved to be one rather difficult stalking venture. Even though we knew that “Beat It” was filmed in its entirety in Los Angeles’ Skid Row area, finding the exact locations used so long after the fact was literally like trying to locate a needle in a haystack. At one point I even went so far as to email Bob Giraldi, who directed the video, to see if he could provide me with any location information, but he, unfortunately, never wrote back. Not usually one to give up, I actually thought our hunt was pretty much dead in the water, until last week when I mentioned the quest to my friend and fellow stalked David who lives in Spain. David is a huge, longtime MJ fan and I thought he might be able to provide some insider insight as to where the video was filmed. And, as fate would have it, he did! David mentioned that he had just purchased a book named Michael Jackson: Before He Was King written by photographer Todd King. At the very end of the book there is a photograph of MJ inside of the “Beat It” cafe, the caption of which states that it was taken at a real life diner on Fifth Street in what David said was the “Five Cents” area of Los Angeles. Well, I mentioned that info to Mike while we were out stalking this past Friday and, after first stopping by the set of CSI: Miami and then the Academy Awards red carpet, the two of us immediately headed over to Downtown L.A. in search of that cafe!

Even though Mike was born and raised in Los Angeles, he was unfamiliar with the area which David had described as being called “Five Cents”. I, too, had never heard that term used before. Mike eventually called up one of his friends who works for the LAPD to see if he could point us in the direction of Five Cents, L.A., but he, too, was at a loss. It was at that point that I figured out that something might have gotten lost in David’s translation of the photo’s caption and so I got to Googling on my blackberry. As it turns out, the place the caption had been referring to is a small section of Fifth Street in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, a part of town which has long been dubbed “The Nickel”, or in other words five cents. 🙂 Once that little mystery was solved, Mike and I headed over to Skid Row and proceeded to walk around the area. I should mention here that I have always been a bit of a skittish person. I don’t like venturing into “bad” or dangerous parts of town and I am literally afraid of my own shadow. So, because it was already getting dark when we arrived in Skid Row, an area which can be a bit sketchy even during the day, I told Mike that as much as I wanted to find the cafe, we’d have to come back at a later date – preferably during daylight hours. I was highly disappointed that we had to turn around after coming so close to locating the restaurant, so when I arrived home I immediately got to cyberstalking Skid Row. Well, let me tell you, I just about had a heart attack when I saw the above pictured Google Street View image of the Monte Carlo Restaurant appear on my screen. With its curved countertop and half green/half cream colored walls, I was fairly certain that I had found the “Beat It” cafe. And, of course, the very next day I dragged my fiancé right out to stalk the place.

As soon as I walked through the doors of the Monte Carlo Restaurant, with my camera in hand, one of the patrons asked if I was visiting the place because it had been featured in “Beat It”. Well, let me tell you, I just about fell over! I asked her how she knew it had been used in the video and she said it was pretty common knowledge in the neighborhood. I couldn’t believe that here I had spent MONTHS searching for the location and all the time it had been “common knowledge” to some. She then called the owner over so that I could ask a few questions. And while the owner hardly spoke English, she did confirm to me that Michael Jackson had filmed a video there “over twenty years ago”. Twenty-seven, to be exact. The owner told me she has had the restaurant for over thirty years and that she was there the day filming took place, but said she didn’t get to meet Michael. 🙁

While I had always hoped that I would someday be able to track the “Beat It” cafe down, never in my wildest dreams did I EVER think that twenty seven-years later the place would still look EXACTLY the same. So, you can imagine how floored I was to discover how little of the restaurant had actually been changed since 1983 when the video was filmed. There are, of course, some differences, such as the fact that the front doors have changed, the counter has been cut in half lengthwise, and a false wall has been added to the back of the cafe, hiding the kitchen area. Other than those minor alterations, though, the Monte Carlo Restaurant still looks almost exactly as it did in “Beat It”. YAY!

When I got home, though, and started to watch “Beat It” more closely, some doubts about the location were raised in my mind. The video, or short film as Michael liked to call it, opens up in the diner where two gang members, while eating, hear word of a scuffle and immediately head out the door so that they can join in the fight.

Later on in the video, Michael enters the diner, which is now empty, and does a little dance before the scene cuts to him getting jiggy with it in a pool hall.

As you can see in the above screen captures, though, what started to confuse me was the fact that building which appears in the background when the gang members are shown exiting the cafe does not match the building which appears in the background when Michael is shown entering it.

And neither building matches the one that is located across the street from the diner in real life.

It also appears that the window which the gang members walk by on their way to the diner’s front door is flat, while the window that appears behind Michael is popped out.

And, there is also an address number of “416” visible in the background behind Michael in the above screen capture, which doesn’t match the 109 address number of the Monte Carlo Restaurant. So now, it seems, I am even more thoroughly confused than I was before I tracked the place down. LOL I thought of a few different explanations, though, which might clear up the contradictions. One – it might just be a coincidence that the Monte Carlo Restaurant bears such a strong resemblance to the “Beat It” cafe and the owner and patrons were simply lying to me about it being used in the video. Although, I am not sure what reason the owner would have for lying, other than to drum up business, which seems unlikely to me. If she really wanted to do that, why not just hang a sign in the window touting the restaurant’s famous history? Another option is that the Monte Carlo moved from one location on Fifth Street in Downtown L.A. to another and that the original dwelling was where the video was shot, which would account for both the change in address numbers and the difference in buildings located across the street. That scenario also seems highly implausible, though. Another explanation still – fellow stalker Chas from the ItsFilmedThere website recently tracked down the pool hall which appeared in “Beat It” [that will be Monday’s post :)], which, as fate would have it, was also a cafe located on Fifth Street in Downtown Los Angeles, so it’s entirely possible that photographer Todd King was mistakenly talking about that location when describing the photograph he had taken in the diner. Which would mean that the diner might not actually be located on Fifth Street at all and that I am right back at square one. I am really hoping that option is not true. A fourth possibility is that part of the video was filmed at the actual Monte Carlo Restaurant and then the interior was later recreated on a soundstage for some re-shoots, which would explain the differing buildings seen in the background behind the gang members and Michael. And yet another option still is that the owner of the Monte Carlo Restaurant was such a fan of MJ that she opened up a diner on the same street where “Beat It” was shot and then modeled her cafe after the one in the video. But being that there wasn’t a single solitary MJ photograph on the wall or a piece of MJ memorabilia in the place, that last scenario is also pretty doubtful. And finally, it’s entirely possible that director Bob Giraldi had set dressers add the “416” to the front window as decoration, but somehow that just doesn’t seem likely. So, if I’m so unsure about the Monte Carlo Restaurant, why write this post at all, you ask? Well, I just can’t get past the fact that the restaurant looks so incredibly similar to the “Beat It” cafe or the fact that both the patrons and the owner told me that it was, in fact, the diner used in the video. I am hoping that someone out there will know more about the filming of “Beat It” and will either be able to confirm where it was shot or at least point me in the right direction. So, I am putting it to you, dear readers. What are your thoughts on the matter? Am I right to be in doubt or am I just seriously over-thinking the issue?

And whether the Monte Carlo Restaurant was the actual “Beat It” cafe or not, I just had to do a little MJ dance while there. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Monte Carlo Restaurant, aka the probable “Beat It” cafe, is located at 109 East Fifth Street in Downtown Los Angeles. The cafe is just on the outskirts of skid row, so while it is safe to stalk it during daylight hours, I can’t really recommend going there at night.

March 11, 2010March 11, 2010

The Omega Beta Zeta House from “Scream 2”

This past Saturday, while I was out stalking the Oscars, fellow stalker Tony spent his day trying to track down the large Victorian mansion which appeared as both the Omega Beta Zeta sorority house in Scream 2 and the Strong residence in Catch Me If You Can. Tony knew that the house was located somewhere in the Altadena area and, since I live in the vicinity, was hoping I could help him find it. We spent quite a bit of time emailing back and forth that day – me on my blackberry while out and about in Hollywood and Tony on his computer at home. I am sad to say that I was unable to provide him with any help whatsoever in this particular hunt, though, as I had long been under the incorrect assumption that the Woodbury Story House on Madison Avenue in Altadena was the residence used as the Strong mansion in Catch Me If You Can. Tony proved me wrong, though, and, as it turns out, didn’t need my help after all. He managed to track down the correct location fairly quickly, first using Google to make a list of all of the large Victorian-style houses in the Altadena area and then viewing each one using aerial maps. YAY! Thank you, Tony! So, once Tony gave me the address, I, of course, had to run right out to immediately stalk the place.

The Scream 2/Catch Me If You Can estate is actually known as both the Crank House and Fair Oaks Ranch and is something of a historical residence. The vacant property was first owned by a wealthy landowner named Dr. John S. Griffin. In 1862, Griffin sold the lot to his sister, Eliza Griffin Johnston, for $1000 after her husband, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, passed away during the Civil War. Eliza built a small abode on the property and dubbed her new home “Fair Oaks Ranch”, after the city of Fair Oaks in Virginia where she was born. In 1864, following the death of her son in a steamship accident, Eliza sold the property to Benjamin Eaton, one of Pasadena’s first founders. Eaton ended up splitting the land in half and in 1876 sold one of the halves to a New Yorker named James F. Crank. Crank had Eliza’s original home moved off of the property (it is currently located at 2072 Oakwood Avenue in Altadena) and in 1882 built a much larger, two and a half story, Victorian-style abode, named the Crank House, in its place. In 1910, after investing and subsequently losing his fortune in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroads, Crank was forced to sell the residence. And while his property was further subdivided after the sale, I am happy to report that his former house still stands and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The seven bedroom, four bathroom home measures a whopping 6,450 square feet and currently sits on over one and a half acres of land. Sadly, though, the residence is situated behind a large gate and is not very visible from the street.

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But, as luck would have it, when I showed up to stalk the place yesterday, not only was the property’s back gate standing open . . .

. . . but, the front gate was, as well! So, I just had to stick my arm around the open gate and snap the above pictures! YAY! 🙂

And, being that the house is not visible from the street, I can’t really recommend visiting it in person. But if you are absolutely dying to catch a glimpse of it, I am happy to report that parts of it can actually be seen from the streets surrounding the property. 🙂

In Scream 2, the Crank House stood in for the Omega Beta Zeta sorority house located on the campus of the fictional Windsor College in Ohio.

The house is where sorority girl CiCi Cooper (aka Sarah Michelle Gellar) meets her untimely end thanks to a push off the mansion’s second floor balcony. In the movie, the house is supposedly situated within walking distance of the Delta Lambda Zeta house, where the “Martini Mixer” fraternity party was held, but in actuality it is located a good six miles away from that residence. On a side note – I have to admit that I must have jumped out of my chair at least ten times while making the above screen captures! LOL

In Catch Me If You Can, the Crank House stood in for the New Orleans residence belonging to Roger (aka Martin Sheen) and Carol Strong (aka Nancy Lenehan) and their daughter Brenda (aka Amy Adams). The house showed up in several scenes in the movie, most notably as the location of Frank Abagnale (aka Leonardo DiCaprio) and Brenda’s engagement party.

Both the interior and the exterior of the Crank House were used extensively in the filming of Scream 2 and Catch Me If You Can. As you can in the above screen captures, which were taken from both films, the interiors match almost exactly. Love it!

Big THANK YOU to Tony for finding this location! 🙂 And be sure to check out Tony’s Flickr site, as it features some fabulous photographs of filming locations in and around the L.A. area.

On a very sad side note – I was heartbroken today to learn of the untimely death of actor Corey Haim. Corey was one of my very first movie star crushes. I was eleven years old when I first layed eyes on him in 1988’s License to Drive and I think it’s safe to save I’ve been smitten ever since. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones at this difficult time. I hope that in death Corey has finally found the peace that he never seemed to have in life. Rest in peace, sweet Corey.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Crank Estate, aka Fair Oaks Ranch, is located at 2186 East Crary Street in Altadena. The property’s front gate is located around the corner, at the end of Layton Street. Remember, this is a private residence, so please do not trespass. To see the best views of the house, drive on Crary Street just a bit east of the property and look backwards or drive a block south to Garfias Drive and look north. I’ve marked the areas with the best views of the house on the map above.

March 10, 2010March 11, 2018

On The Set of “CSI: Miami”

This past Friday, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took the day off from work so that the two of us could do a little stalking. For whatever reason, though, for the first time ever we didn’t come up with any sort of plan or itinerary beforehand of where we were going to go or what we going to stalk. And it’s a good thing we didn’t, either, because fate stepped in and the two of us wound up stumbling upon the cast and crew of CSI: Miami filming on location in Altadena. YAY! Earlier that morning, Mike and I had stopped by my parents’ house to ask my dad to accompany us to Altadena Drive so that he could take a few pictures of us in front of Casa Walsh from Beverly Hills, 90210. I am in the process of creating a slideshow for my wedding in August and because Mike is one of my groomsmen :), I wanted to get a picture of the two of us together in front of our very favorite stalking location. Anyway, while driving to the Walsh residence we passed by a very large production crew and, of course, just had to pull over to find out what was being filmed. Amazingly enough, it turned out to be my dad’s very favorite show, CSI: Miami. I should explain here that I, too, love me some CSI: Miami. Like LOVE it, never miss an episode, was screaming in delight when Calleigh and Eric finally got together last season. But I think it’s safe to say that my love for the show greatly pales in comparison to my dad’s. As I mentioned the last time we stumbled upon the filming of the show back in January of ‘09, my father is absolutely, one hundred percent obsessed with the series – it is his favorite show of all time. CSI: Miami is his Beverly Hills, 90210. So, it goes without saying that he was ABSOLUTELY THRILLED when we stumbled upon it being filmed yet again. Anyway, as Mike, my dad, and I made our way to the set we passed by a security guard and asked him if it would be OK if we watched the filming. He not only told us to make ourselves at home (YAY!), but also pointed out the fact that Jonathan Togo, who plays Ryan Wolfe on the series, was standing about two feet in front of us. So, we immediately walked up to him and asked if he’d be willing to snap a picture. Well, let me tell you, Jonathan was SO INCREDIBLY NICE and not only posed for pics, but marched us right over to the set, introduced us to everyone, and gave us our own personal tour of the place!!!!! He literally could NOT have been more sweet, more upbeat, more friendly, or more charming and was EASILY one of the NICEST celebrities I have ever had the pleasure of meeting! I so heart Jonathan Togo! 😉 He even came over to check up on us several times while we were on the set to make sure we were having a good time. At one point I mentioned to him how I had chosen my wedding photographer based on the fact that an episode of CSI: Miami had been filmed in his studio (yes, Rob Greer, the photographer whose studio was featured in the “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs” episode of CSI: Miami is photographing our wedding!) and Jonathan laughed and said, “WOW, you guys really are fans!” 😉

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The scene that was being filmed on Friday centered around the investigation of a fire at a “Miami” area home. While we were watching the filming, I happened to comment on how realistic the fire damage was. Well, one of the crew members started laughing and told me that movie magic wasn’t responsible for the burn marks, but that the house had actually been involved in a real life fire last April! I thought he was pulling my leg at first, but as it turns out there really was a fire at the residence just about ten months ago. You can see photographs of it on fave website Altadenablog here. Apparently, the CSI: Miami location manager was in Altadena scouting homes to be used in the episode, when he spotted the charred remains of above pictured house and realized it would be perfect for the show! I mean, honestly, what are the odds of that?

The makeup in the episode was also incredibly realistic. Pictured above is one of the guest stars, whose hands were supposed to have been burned in the fire. Even close up his injuries looked incredibly real! It was unbelievable!

While we were watching the filming, my dad happened to spot actor John Beasley who played Coach Warren in one of his all time favorite movies, 1993’s Rudy. I mean, honestly, could the day have gotten any better for my dad?? John, who was guest starring in the episode being filmed, also could NOT have been nicer and happily posed for photographs with all of us. 🙂

Also on hand filming on Friday was Emily Procter, who plays Calleigh Duquesne on the show, but we unfortunately did not get a photograph with her, and actress Robin Bartlett, who played Debbie Buchman on Mad About You.

Unfortunately, David Caruso was not on the set on Friday, but one of the crew members mentioned that he would be there the following Monday and that we were welcome to come back if we wanted to. IF we wanted to???? Duh! Of course we did! So, bright and early Monday morning, I headed up to Altadena once again to do a bit more CSI: Miami stalking. 🙂

On the set on Monday was Eddie Cibrian, who is SUPER cute in person! Those dimples! Sigh!

And Eve LaRue, who remembered us from our last set visit and who, just like last time, was as sweet as could be. 🙂

And, of course, the man himself, David Caruso! My dad had actually had a bad night this past Sunday – as I’ve mentioned before, he suffers from pancreatitis – and when I went to pick him up on Monday morning to go to the set, he was still not feeling well. So, I had to venture over to the filming by myself. Before I left, though, my dad asked me to bring the photograph we took last January with Mr. Caruso to the set. The now-framed photograph is a prized possession of my dad’s and it inhabits prime real estate on his desk at home and he was hoping that Mr. Caruso would sign it for him. And I am happy to report that, much like what happened back in January, when I got to the set on Monday, David Caruso immediately walked up to me to introduce himself and shake my hand, which is such a rare occasion on a film set. In most instances, fans have to seek the stars out during breaks from filming, but on CSI: Miami, the opposite is true – the stars often walk up to the fans to introduce themselves and say hi. It is AMAZING! Anyway, I explained to DC that we had met him about a year ago and that my dad is a HUGE fan of his and asked if he’d be willing to sign the photo.

Mr. Caruso not only happily obliged, but also gave me some autographed photographs of himself, a Horatio bobble head, and the above pictured Lance Armstrong-style “Horatio” bracelet. LOVE IT! That bracelet is now prominently placed around the gearshift in my car. 🙂 Anyway, later on in the afternoon I returned to my parents’ house to see if my dad was feeling any better, which he was, so I brought him back to the set. Well, as soon as Mr. Caruso saw my dad, he walked right up and gave him a HUGE hug. From that point on, he came over to talk to us pretty much between every single take and was so incredibly nice and down to earth that it was almost unbelievable! I honestly can’t say this enough – David Caruso has got to be the NICEST guy in show business!

Jonathan Togo was also on the set on Monday and remembered me from the previous Friday. I think he thought I was a little nutso to have returned to the set to watch MORE of the filming, because at one point he walked up and said, “You HAVE to be at least a little bored! Just a little bit! Come on, admit it!” But I could honestly sit for HOURS and watch productions being filmed. The entire process and everything that goes into it – from the hundreds of crew members and extensive camera equipment . . .

. . . to the actual filming – absolutely fascinates me, especially if it’s for a show I watch regularly. I honestly can’t get enough of it!

As I mentioned last January, the entire cast and crew of CSI: Miami is fun and friendly, almost unbelievably so. Mike also said that in all his years of living in Los Angeles and of all the sets he had visited in the past, he had NEVER seen one quite like theirs. As you can see in the above pictures, there is definitely a very jovial feeling on set and you’d be hard pressed to find a time when the cast and crew is not laughing or cracking jokes with each other, even during difficult scenes. At one point yesterday, they were trying to film a scene which involved a tricky camera maneuver that just didn’t seem to be working. They had to film the scene numerous times and even through the frustration of it all, they were STILL laughing and kidding each other between takes! LOVE IT!

Both Friday and Monday were absolutely incredible days for me and my dad. I literally could not drag him away from the set yesterday, and he typically hates that sort of thing, so it was very cool for me to see him enjoying himself at a filming. Especially when he has been so sick lately. As I said after our last set visit, being with the cast and crew CSI: Miami provided him with the kind of healing that just can’t be found in a doctor’s office or a hospital building. 🙂 I honestly can’t thank them all enough. When we left the set yesterday, David Caruso said, “I hope to see you guys again the next time we are in Pasadena.” H – you can count on it! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: CSI: Miami was filmed at 1838 East Braeburn Road in Altadena, just down the street from the Walsh’s Minnesota house from Beverly Hills, 90210, which is located at 1640 Braeburn Rd. Look for the CSI: Miami episode to air sometime in April.

March 9, 2010March 8, 2010

Bun ‘N Burger Restaurant from “An American Summer”

I must apologize in advance for today’s fairly short blog post as I just got back from spending pretty much the entire day (over seven hours – not kidding!) on the set of CSI: Miami yet again. And while I promise to write a detailed post about my experiences there in the very near future, I’ve unfortunately gotta keep this particular column short and sweet. So, without further ado . . . a few weeks ago Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took the day off from work so that the two of us could do some stalking in the Malibu area. But before heading over to the ‘Bu, Mike told me that he was taking me out to breakfast – at a filming location, of course. That filming location turned out to be a little place named Bun ‘N Burger restaurant that was featured very briefly in a movie called An American Summer. Before that day a few weeks ago I had never actually heard of An American Summer, which premiered in 1991, but as fate would have it, the flick starred a very young actor by the name of Brian Austin Green, aka David Silver from Beverly Hills, 90210. So, of course, once I learned that little tidbit of information, I just had to run right out and buy myself a copy of the movie.

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Bun ‘N Burger restaurant shows up in one very brief scene in An American Summer, the very cheesy (but in a good way) and very 80’s plot of which revolves around a young Chicagoan named Tom (aka Michael Landes) who is begrudgingly sent to live with his aunt in California for the summer while his parents go through a divorce. While in Los Angeles, Tom ends up befriending a young surfer named Fin (aka Brian Austin Green) who not only teaches him how to sell sunglasses, deliver newspapers, and surf, but also how to pick up girls. At the very beginning of the movie, right after the boys first meet, Fin takes Tom to Bun ‘N Burger restaurant for some “java”, because as he says, “Every grown-up drinks java!” LOL

Amazingly enough, Bun ‘N Burger restaurant still looks very much the same today as it did back in 1991 when An American Summer was filmed. As you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, even the signs that appeared in the background behind Tom and Fin in the movie are still there in real life over 19 years later! A few more signs have been added since that time, but still so darn cool!

Mike found this location thanks to the fact that he used to work directly across the street from it in the late 80s and would frequently take his lunch breaks there. So, when he saw An American Summer for the first time in the movie theatre he recognized the place immediately. 🙂

Bun ‘N Burger restaurant, which was first established in 1941, is a super cute little roadside diner which features red leather booths, authentic ‘50s style furniture, a sit-down countertop, black-and-white checkered flooring, and countless old time photographs papering the walls. It is such an adorable little spot, in fact, that I am actually quite shocked it hasn’t been featured in more productions over the years. And despite what some online reviews have stated, the place serves up some fabulous food, including Mike’s personal favorite – the famous Bun ‘N Burger breakfast burrito. Unfortunately, though, because I am still on my new low carb diabetic diet, I didn’t get to sample the breakfast burrito, but instead opted for three hardboiled eggs. Mike was a bit flabbergasted over my menu selection and, after I ordered, said , “I take you out to breakfast and you order three hardboiled eggs?????” LOL What can I say – diets are absolutely NO fun. But, let me tell you, his burrito looked fabulous and if I ever get the urge to cheat, you know where I’m heading. 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Bun ‘N Burger restaurant from An American Summer is located at 1000 East Main Street in Alhambra.

March 8, 2010March 7, 2010

Oscar Weekend 2010

The celebrity sightings during Oscar Weekend 2010 started a bit early for me this year when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I accidentally stumbled upon the filming of CSI: Miami in Altadena on Friday morning. But I’ll save that story for tomorrow’s blog post. Today, it’s strictly all about Oscar, Oscar, Oscar! And, let me tell you, it was another amazing Oscar Weekend for me. Man, I love awards season!!!! 🙂

Anyway, after hanging out on the CSI: Miami set for a few hours this past Friday, Mike and I made our way over to the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood to check out the Academy Awards preparations at the Kodak Theatre and to take a little walk on the most famous carpet in the entire world. My fiancé and I usually hit up the Kodak Theatre each year on the Saturday morning before the Oscar ceremony is held and, amazingly enough, the place is usually not all that crowded. But when Mike and I showed up early Friday afternoon, the Hollywood & Highland Center was absolutely JAM PACKED. So much so that they actually had to CLOSE the parking garage there as it was completely full! If you’ve ever been to that parking garage, you know what I mean when I say it is absolutely GINOURMOUS, so the fact that it was FULL was mind-boggling to me! Even with all the traffic and throngs of people, though, we finally managed to make it to the Kodak. And I can’t even tell you how exciting it was to be standing there in the middle of it all! Being that this was my fourth year stalking the Oscars, you would think that I’d be at least a little tired of it by now. But nothing could be further from the truth. I was absolutely ESCTATIC to be seeing it all in person once again. I still have to pinch myself every time I am there. Unbelievably, this was actually Mike’s very first Oscar stalk, though! For whatever reason, even though he grew up in the Los Angeles area, he had yet to ever visit the Academy Awards red carpet in person, so it was extremely exciting for me to be sharing that experience with him. And it got the Grim Cheaper off the hook of having to take me there on Saturday morning. So, it was definitely a win-win situation for all of us. 😉

I have to say that it was very cool to be stalking the Oscars a day earlier than usual, as Mike and I got to see quite a bit of the red carpet set-up taking place, including one of the Oscar statuettes being brought into the theater on a golf cart . . .

. . . and part of the red carpet being rolled out.

Thanks to the massive rain-storms that have been plaguing Southern California as of late, many of the Oscars were actually covered over with plastic tarps;

and there was also a rain tent set up over the red carpet. Which got me to thinking, why does it always seem to rain on Oscar Night?

As usual, the actual carpet was also covered over in tarping to prevent the awards crew from trampling on it pre-show.

And, even with the tarping, I, of course, just had to get a picture of myself standing on it. 🙂

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For those who have never visited the Kodak Theatre, it is located inside of the Hollywood & Highland Center, which is, for all intents and purposes, a mall. So, when the stars walk down the red carpet on Oscar Night, they are actually walking right through a bunch of shops. It’s pretty hard to imagine, I know, but you can kind of see the set-up in the above photographs. The windows to the right and left of the carpet area are actually stores. Whenever I take out-of-towners to the Kodak Theatre and explain that it is where the Oscar Ceremony is held each year, I invariably hear the following sentence, “But this is a mall!” LOL Anyway, the red carpet goes right through a stretch of the mall which houses such stores as MAC, Louis Vuitton (sigh!), Sanrio, Sun’s Up sunglasses store, the Gateway Newstand, and Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge. I swear, if I was an actor walking the red carpet, I would so be tempted to stop into Kelly’s Coffee for a quick latte before making my way into the theatre. 😉 To prevent this, though, the stores are actually required to close during Oscar Weekend, beginning on the Friday evening before the ceremony. Mike and I happened to stop into one of the stores on the red carpet to do some shopping while we were there and the clerk told us that she was getting ready to close for the next few days and that security was just about to do their final check of the premises, along with their bomb-sniffing dogs who roam each store to make sure that no explosive devices have been left inside. How crazy is that?

EXTREMELY bright (like absolutely BLINDINGLY so) lights were set up all along the perimeter of the red carpet. One is pictured above and even via photograph you can tell how darn bright it is.

Some of the Oscar statues are unbelievably HUGE, especially the one located at the corner of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, which is where the red carpet begins. As you can see in the above photograph, even the base of that statue is taller than me!

I was just itching to jump up on the above pictured press stage to snap a quick picture, but the security guard standing in that vicinity did not look at all friendly so I didn’t want to risk it. He probably would have ended up banning me from the Hollywood & Highland Center for life. 😉

While hanging out on the red carpet on Friday, Mike and I ran into this enterprising young woman who was holding up a homemade sign asking Matt Damon to be her date to the Oscars. 😉 Love it!

While walking around Hollywood, we also spotted this gigantic movie poster for Sex and the City 2 on the side of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and I just had to snap a pic of it! Love it! Love it! Love it!

As much fun as Mike and I had on Friday, I must say that there was even more fun in store for me on Saturday. Beginning early Saturday morning and ending very late Saturday night, I dragged my fiancé from one end of Los Angeles to the other to do some major star-gazing. Sadly, though, due to the rain and the Independent Spirit Awards’ change in venue (while they are usually held on the beach in Santa Monica each Saturday before the Oscars, this year they took place on Friday evening at the much less accessible Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles), my celeb sightings weren’t as numerous this year as they were last, but I still managed to have an ABSOLUTE BLAST. In fact, I am still pinching myself this morning. I even got to meet up with one of my readers, a super sweet fellow stalker named Kendall, at one point during the evening. And while I didn’t spot my girl Jen or crooner Michael Buble (whose sightings were the highlights of my Oscar Weekend last year), I did manage to stalk quite a few celebs. But because hotel security is very tight during Oscar Weekend, I, unfortunately, didn’t get to snap any pictures of them. 🙁

So, without further ado, here is “The List” of celebrity sightings from Oscar Weekend 2010.

1. Jerry Ferris – from Jen Schefft’s season of The Bachelorette

2. Jamie Foxx

3. Lenny Kravitz

4. Aaron Eckhart

5. Benjamin McKenzie – At one point in the evening, I noticed Ben standing next to my fiancé at a valet stand, so I leaned over and said “Hi, Ben!” He looked over expecting me to be someone he knew, got a blank expression on his face, and then smiled a big smile when he realized I was just a fan and said “Hey, how are you doing?” SIGH!

6. Elizabeth Banks

7. Dennis Haysbert (from 24)

8. Ben Stiller

9. J.J. Abrams (the producer of Lost)

10. will.i.am (from the Black Eyed Peas) – He seemed super nice and waved at us.

11. Ed Westwick

12. Jessica Szohr

13. Jake Gyllenhaal

14. Maggie Gyllenhaal – She is extremely taaaaaaaaall in person.

15. Rashida Jones

16. Katie Couric

17. Zachary Quinto

18. Morgan Freeman

19. Jason Reitman

20. Steven Spielberg

21. David Spade

22. Leonardo DiCaprio

23. Halle Berry

24. B.J. Novak

25. Kevin Connolly

26. Sofia Vergara (Gloria from Modern Family)

27. Jesse James

28. Sandra Bullock

29. Ryan Reynolds

30. Ryan Seacrest – He is so not as short as everyone makes him out to be.

31. Jon Hamm

32. Jennifer Westfeldt

33. Jimmy Kimmel

34. Anna Kendrick

35. Christian Slater – Was super friendly and waved at us. 🙂

36. Meg Ryan

37. Ron Livingston

38. Jemaine Clement (from The Flight of the Conchords)

39. Colin Firth

40. Taylor Lautner – He looks VERY young in person, but is VERY cute.

41. Fred Savage

42. Kristin Davis

43. Kate Beckinsale

44. Eddie Murphy

45. Matt Damon

46. Luciana Barrosa

47. Tina Fey

48. Jeanne Tripplehorn

49. Gina Gershon

50. Stanley Tucci

51. Robert Downey Jr.

52. Susan Downey (Robert’s wife, who is a big time producer)

53. Jeff Bridges

54. Winona Ryder

55. Mariska Hargitay – She is STRIKINGLY beautiful in person!

56. Rich Ross – The new chairman of Walt Disney Studios, who I actually served on jury duty with once. 😉

57. Julie Bowen (Claire from Modern Family)

58. Ty Burrell (Phil from Modern Family)

59. Elton John – We ate dinner just a few tables away from him and in what was an absolutely surreal moment, the musician working at the restaurant started playing Elton’s 1970 hit “Your Song” with him sitting just a few feet away.

60. George Takei and his husband Brad Altman – My fiancé said he was actually star struck for what was probably the first time in his life over seeing the two of them, not because he is a Trekkie, but because he is a fan of “The Howard Stern Show” on which George is a frequent announcer.

61. Carrie Underwood

62. Eric Nies

63. Brian Grazer

64. Felicity Huffman

65. Eric McCormack from Will and Grace

66. Jeff Prettyman

67. Dianna Agron (Quinn from Glee)

68. Mark Salling (Puck from Glee) – He is SUPER cute in person and also waved to us.

69. Vera Farmiga

70. Amy Adams

71. Carey Mulligan

72. Peter Sarsgaard

But the highlight of the evening for me had to be when I got to see my latest celebrity crush, Mr. Schuester himself, Matthew Morrison from Glee! Sigh! Ironically, earlier in the day, I had told my fiancé that of all the people I was hoping to see this Oscar Weekend, Matthew Morrison was number 1! And then it happened! I got to see him – and better yet, he even did a little Glee-style spin and turn in front of us when he walked by. SIGH! I literally almost had a heart attack right there on the spot! Truth be told, though, I was SO completely starstruck over seeing him in person that I didn’t even notice his little dance routine. I must have blacked out from excitement or something, but it wasn’t until fellow stalker Kendall mentioned something about it that I even realized he had done it. LOL Anyway, Oscar Weekend 2010 was INCREDIBLY exciting and I CANNOT wait to do it all again next year!!!!! But for now, I am absolutely exhausted, so I am going to go park myself on the couch and spend the next few hours recuperating. 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: I stalked so many hotels and bars this Oscar Weekend, that there are far too many to name here. For a detailed list of places to go to see movie stars on Oscar Weekend – or any weekend, for that matter – check out this blog post that I wrote last year.

March 5, 2010March 4, 2010

Sierra Towers – Brody Jenner’s Building on “The Hills”

A few weeks ago, while out doing some stalking with my fiancé in West Hollywood, I made a little pit stop at the place where Brody Jenner is shown to reside on fave reality show The Hills, a West Hollywood building which is known as the Sierra Towers. I found this location once again thanks to fellow stalker Virginie who, being that she also managed to track down Spencer and Heidi’s new house and Kristin Cavallari’s beach abode, has proven to possess some absolutely mad Hills stalking skills! My hat is most definitely off to you, Virginie! 🙂 As us die hard Hills stalkers are well aware of, though, MTV has been known to pull the wool over its viewers eyes when it comes to the various cast residences shown on the series. So, while the Sierra Towers building is definitely the place shown for the establishing shots of Brody’s residence on The Hills, I can’t say for certain that the reality star actually lives there. According to this Los Angeles Times article, in March of 2007 Brody leased an apartment in the Villa Malibu complex in Malibu, so its quite possible he may still live there. But regardless of whether Mr. Jenner is a resident of Sierra Towers or not almost seems to be entirely beside the point, since the building’s registry reads like a who’s who of Hollywood. Pretty much anyone who’s anyone in this town has called the place home at one time or another.

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The 32-story Sierra Towers, which was built in 1964 by architect Jack A. Charney, originally consisted of apartments and was called the Spoon Apartment Building. The complex was converted into condominium units at some point thereafter – I am unsure of the exact date – and, due to its exclusivity, proximity to Hollywood, and many upscale amenities, became an almost immediate celebrity magnet. In fact, so many notables currently live in the building that paparazzi are pretty much a constant presence there. In recent years, the Sierra Towers has been given a new hipster image thanks to a savvy real estate agent named Russ Filice. Just a few of the amenities that the building currently boasts include maids quarters, a ballroom, a catering kitchen, a gym and a spa with his and her locker rooms, a swimming pool, and a 24 hour support staff made up of porters, valets, doormen, and security guards. And I can personally attest to the fact that the Sierra Towers security is pretty darn tight, as they were keeping a VERY close eye on my fiancé and I while we were snapping pictures of the place from across the street. There are currently 148 separate units in the building, six to a floor, each of which features its own eight foot wide balcony, floor to ceiling windows, and sweeping views of the Los Angeles skyline.

As you can see from the above photographs which were taken from a lookout point on North Doheny Drive, Sierra Towers is the tallest building in its vicinity, so its views are pretty much unparalleled. Can you even imagine living in a place like that? Sigh!

The exterior of the Sierra Towers building pops up pretty much weekly on The Hills,

but if you compare the interior of Brody’s apartment, which is shown above, to these photographs of a real life Sierra Towers unit, the two don’t seem to match. From what I’ve been able to discern by looking at photographs of various Sierra Towers units online, most of the condos boast floor to ceiling glass walls, a feature which Brody’s apartment doesn’t seem to have. So, I am fairly certain that the interior shots of his residence were filmed at another location altogether. Besides The Hills, the Sierra Towers building has also appeared in several episodes of the reality show Million Dollar Listing.

And now on to the Sierra’s famous celebrity residents! 😉 Just a few of the notables who have called the building home over the years include Matthew Perry, Elton John (you can see pictures of his unit here), Kate Moss, Joan Collins, George Hamilton, David Janssen, Diahann Carroll, Nino Tempo, fashion designer Edith Flagg, Julian Burke, PJ Harvey, Peter Morton, Jim Morris, Rachel Zoe, Fred Durst, Evander Holyfield, David Geffen, Peter Lawford, Jack Webb, Lindsay Lohan, Vincent Gallo, Patty Duke, Rhonda Fleming, Donald Ayres, Michael Milken, Vickie Morgan, Sidney Poitier, Tawney Kitaen, Bill Shoemaker, and Cher. Phew! That’s quite a list! The building is so famous, in fact, that there is not only a Wikipedia page dedicated to it and its many famous residents, but a Facebook page, as well! And being that in 2006 Variety Magazine proclaimed the building to be one of the most expensive in all of Los Angeles, costing a whopping $2,000 per square foot, you pretty much have to be a celebrity to live there! You can see a more detailed list of the building’s residents, both past and present, on my good friend and fellow stalker E.J.’s website, The Movieland Directory.

Big THANK YOU to Virginie for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Sierra Towers, aka Brody Jenner’s condo from The Hills, is located at 9255 Doheny Road in West Hollywood. You can visit the building’s website here.

March 4, 2010March 3, 2010

The “13 Going On 30” Thriller Dance Location

A few months ago, I enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen in tracking down the location from fave movie 13 Going On 30 where Jenna Rink (aka Jennifer Garner) saved the Poise Magazine party by performing her rendition of the Zombie Dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which, not surprisingly, just so happens to be my very favorite scene in the flick. From the beginning, I was absolutely convinced that the “Thriller” scene had been filmed in a building located somewhere in New York, but Owen had a hunch that it had actually taken place right here in Los Angeles. And, as usual, Owen was right. After doing a bit of cyber-stalking, he somehow managed to track down one of the movie’s location managers who told him that Jenna’s “Thriller” dance had actually been performed inside of an oft-used filming location in Downtown Los Angeles, one that I am ashamed to admit I was already very familiar with – the former Bank of American building located on the corner of 7th and South Spring Streets. The building has been used in COUNTLESS productions over the years, but I am sad to say that, for whatever reason, I somehow failed to recognize it.

Being that the former bank’s big ol’ safe is clearly visible in the background of the “Thriller” scene, I really should have figured this one out. Man, I’m such a blonde sometimes!

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Once Owen had tracked down the location for me, I put the former bank building on my very long “To-Stalk” list and finally managed to visit the place in person while out doing some stalking in the Downtown Los Angeles area a couple of weeks ago. The Spring Street Tower, as it is sometimes called, which was built in 1912 by the architectural firm of Schultze and Weaver, served as the Los Angeles headquarters for the Bank of America Corporation from 1930 to 1972. After Bank of America vacated the twelve story high Beaux Arts style building, the upper floors served as offices for various companies throughout the years, while the marble clad lobby became an extremely popular filming location. In recent years, SB Properties, a building development company, took over the building and converted the former offices into lofts. And while the lobby area still looks much the same as it did during the time when it was operating as a bank, there are currently plans in the works for a restaurant and club to open up in that space, which is both good news and bad news. Bad news because I am guessing that once the space becomes a restaurant, it will cease to be a filming location and will most likely be heavily remodeled and good news because if it does eventually become a restaurant that means that someday in the near future I will be able to stalk the area where Jennifer Garner danced, a place which is currently off limits to the public. YAY! 🙂

When we first arrived to stalk the former Bank of America building, I did not actually have high hopes that I would be able to see any of the interior. So, let me tell you, I just about passed out from excitement when I discovered that the lobby area, where the “Thriller” dance scene took place, was thoroughly visible through the former bank’s front windows. From the windows you can see the vault;

the main staircase;

the second floor balcony;

and several of the wood-paneled main offices. You can also see some fabulous interior photographs of the bank building here.

In 13 Going On 30, the former Bank of America building was the location of the Poise Magazine “Girls Night Out” party, during which Jenna’s boss, Richard (aka Andy Serkis) complains that the guests are leaving far too early and if someone doesn’t do something to liven up the joint – and quick – then the entire magazine might go down the drain. So, Jenna immediately heads over to the DJ booth where she requests Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and then proceeds to lead the entire party in the famous Zombie Dance. Oh, how I would love to do that dance at my wedding! 😉

So I, of course, just had to imitate Jenna doing the “Thriller” dance while I was at the building. 🙂 I think it goes without saying that my fiancé was HIGHLY embarrassed while taking the above photographs of me.

The former bank is also where Robbie (aka Adam Sandler) tries to get a job to impress Julia (aka Drew Barrymore) in 1998’s The Wedding Singer. When the bank’s manager, who was played by Kevin Nealon, turns him down, Robbie says, “You don’t even have to give me the job. If you could just give me some business cards with my name on it, I think that might help. How ‘bout this – I’ll give you ten singing lessons for one business card. Please?” LOL

In 1995’s Se7en, the bank building was dressed to look like a library and appeared in the scene in which Detective Lt. William Somerset (aka Morgan Freeman) researches the Seven Deadly Sins.

In L.A. Story, the bank stood in for the Fourth Reich Bank of Hamburg where Steve Martin is forced to show his financial records to the owner of the impossible-to-get-into L’Idiot Restaurant in order to secure a dinner reservation there.

In 1994’s The Mask, the bank was used as Edge City Savings and Loan where Stanley Ipkiss (aka Jim Carrey) worked.

In Spiderman 2, the bank appeared up as the spot where Peter Parker (aka Tobey Maguire) takes his Aunt May (aka Rosemary Harris) to apply for a loan from a bank teller played by none other than The Soup’s Joel McHale. 🙂 While the two are in the bank, Doc Ock shows up to rob the place and almost succeeds until Spiderman steps in and, of course, saves the day.

In Ghost, the bank was used as the place where Sam Wheat (aka Patrick Swayze) takes Oda Mae Brown (aka Whoopi Goldberg) to fill out a signature card under the false name of Rita Miller.

In Blow, the former Bank of America building stood in for the Bank of Panama in one very brief scene.

In The Prestige, the building shows up twice. First, the bank lobby appeared as the courtroom where Alfred Borden’s (aka Christian Bale’s) murder trial is held.

And second, the bank’s second floor mezzanine area stood in for the bar where Robert Angier (aka Hugh Jackman) shared a drink with Cutter (aka Michael Caine).

The bank also appeared in the movies Marathon Man, Traffic, Fatal Vision, Prizzi’s Honor, St. Elmo’s Fire, All of Me, and in episodes of 24, Cagney & Lacey, Hill Street Blues, Matlock, and Hardcastle & McCormick.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The old Bank of America building is located at 650 South Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles. The best place to catch a glimpse of the interior of the property is through the windows located on either side of the building’s front doors, which are pictured above.