Millions of Milkshakes

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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!

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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.  😉

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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.

The Omega Beta Zeta House from “Scream 2”

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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.

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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 . . . 

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. . . 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!  🙂 

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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.  🙂   

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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.

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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

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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.

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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!  🙂

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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.

Bullocks Wilshire – The Department Store from “Christmas Vacation”

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One location that I have been dying to stalk for months now is the former Bullocks Wilshire department store located just outside of Downtown Los Angeles  – a spot which has been featured in countless productions since its grand opening way back in 1929.  And, even though I am usually a big fan of immediate gratification, I waited to stalk this location until just recently as I wanted to blog about it in December, along with my other Christmas movie posts.  So, what holiday movie was the building featured in, you ask?  One of my very favorite Christmas flicks of all time – the 1989 holiday classic Christmas Vacation.   In the movie, Bullocks Wilshire stood in for the Chicago area department store where Clark Griswold (aka Chevy Chase), accompanied by his son, Rusty (aka The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki), shopped for lingerie.  I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who, as luck would have it, just happened to be driving right by the department store on the day filming took place way back in 1989.  Once Mike noticed the production trucks, he, of course, immediately pulled over to inquire about what was being filmed and to watch some of the action.  And, let me tell you, when Mike told me about the location a few months back, I just about passed out from excitement as I had always wanted to know where that scene had taken place!  Thank you, Mike!  🙂

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The Bullocks Wilshire building was originally built in 1929 by the father and son architecture firm of John and Donald Parkinson, a team who was also responsible for designing the Continental Building, which is better known as Los Angeles’ first skyscraper, Union Station, L.A.’s City Hall and the Memorial Coliseum.  Department store magnate John G. Bullock commissioned the building in the hopes of creating the most luxurious and upscale shopping experience Angelinos had ever seen. The interior, which was designed by Eleanor Lemaire and Jock Peters, was the utmost in splendor, featuring travertine flooring, marble walls, ornate elevators, and rosewood display cases.  

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For the design of the relief located above the department store’s Wilshire Boulevard entrance, which reads, “To build a business that will never known completion”, Bullock looked to MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, who is best known for designing the first ever Oscar statue.

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Because Bullock wanted to cater to the growing number of motorists in the L.A. area, the department store was the first in Los Angeles ever to feature a porte cochere, aka a covered driveway under which shoppers could hand over their vehicles to waiting valets.

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  The building’s most remarkable feature – in my mind, at least – has to be the highly elaborate mural painted on the ceiling of the porte cochere.  Romanian painter Herman Sachs designed the brightly colored fresco secco as a tribute to Mercury, the god of travel.  The painting features renderings of different forms of modern-day transportation, including airplanes, trains, and ships. 

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Upon its opening on September 26, 1929, the 241 foot tall Bullocks Wilshire encompassed over 230,000 square feet of retail space which included a perfume hall, a penthouse tea room, a “doggery” which sold trinkets for shoppers’ furry companions, a saddle shop, a Louis XVI room, a furrier, live mannequins, a salon, and a private suite where the truly elite could shop in complete privacy, all the while sipping martinis and snacking on the finest hors d’oeuvres.  Years later, Bullock added a Chanel Room, a photography studio operated by celebrity photographer Neil Gittings, and a Ladies Custom Salon, run by future Hollywood costume designer Irene Lentz.  Thanks to Bullock’s incredible attention to detail, the department store quickly became the place to see and be seen in Los Angeles.  Such stars as Mae West, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne, and Marlene Dietrich all visited Bullocks Wilshire at one time or another.  And actresses June Lockhart and Angela Lansbury and former First Lady Patricia Nixon even worked there in their early years.  Thanks to the building’s architectural detail and rich history, Bullocks Wilshire was added to the National Registry of Historic Places on May 25, 1978.  Sadly, in the late 80s, the store began a precipitous decline, eventually being sold to the Macy’s chain.  A few years later, the historic building was heavily vandalized both inside and out during the riots of 1992, with looters destroying display cases, prized artifacts, and even setting fire to the property.  Bullocks Wilshire ended up closing its doors for the last time in 1993.  But its story doesn’t end there.    About a year later, the property was purchased by Southwestern Law School, which had long occupied a neighboring building.  The school then set out on a ten year, $29 million restoration project which completely restored the historic building back to its original state.  For this endeavor, Southwestern Law School received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.   Today, Bullocks Wilshire is used as a part of the Southwestern Law School campus, where, coincidentally, actor Jerry O’Connell (husband of Rebecca Romijn) is currently a student.  🙂

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And, while the building is not actually opened to the public, while stalking the place, I ventured inside and asked the security guard on duty if I might be allowed to take a quick peek.  The guard truly could NOT have been nicer and allowed my fiancé and me to walk around the school.  Unfortunately, though, photography is not allowed indoors, so I couldn’t take any pictures, other than the two pictured above, which I snapped through the building’s front window.  But, take my word for it, the interior – which you can see photographs of here – is nothing short of magnificent.  Walking into Bullocks Wilshire is like stepping back in time to a more glamorous era.  The cafe, the lounge area, even the bathrooms have all been restored to their original state and I couldn’t have been more excited to be seeing it all with my own two eyes.  And, even though the building is now technically a college campus, the interior still looks much as it did when it operated as an upscale department store.  I was so mesmerized with the place, in fact, that I am just dying to get my hands on a copy of this book to learn more about the building’s rich history!

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Bullocks Wilshire shows up just briefly in Christmas Vacation in the very memorable scene in which, while out shopping with his son Rusty, Clark Griswold meets and flirts with a lingerie saleswoman named Mary and utters that famous line, “It’s a bit nipply out”.  LOL LOL LOL When I was a Senior in high school – and I should mention here that I went to a Catholic high school – one of my classmates, Marcus, came up with the inspired idea of reading a surf report to the entire school each morning during our daily announcements.  Marcus’ little experiment was going well, too, until one particularly cold morning, when he announced to the student body that the ocean “was a bit nipply” that day.  Needless to say, that was the end of that morning’s announcements – and our daily surf report.  But, ever since that fateful day, even all these years later, I can’t help but think of Marcus and laugh every time I watch the Christmas Vacation shopping scene.  🙂

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Bullocks Wilshire was also the store where Benjamin Siegel shopped at the beginning of the movie Bugsy;

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its La Directoire room was the site of the ”Romantic Dinner” Taco Bell commercial featuring Gidget, the talking Chihuahua;

it was where Angela Chase (aka Claire Danes) shopped with her mother Patty (aka Bess Armstrong) in the Season 1 episode of My So-Called Life titled “The Zit”;

and the Louis XVI Room was where the Mother/Daughter Fashion Show was filmed in that same episode.

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it was the location of the eponymous elevator in Aerosmith’s “Love in an Elevator” music video

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the exterior was featured briefly in Public Enemy’s “By The Time I Get to Arizona” music video;

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and in The Aviator, it stood in for the nightclub where Howard Hughes and Ava Gardner got attacked by Hughes’ former girlfriend.

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Supposedly, the final scene in Ghostbusters was filmed on the roof of Bullocks Wilshire, but as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the Ghostbusters roof and the Bullocks Wilshire roof look nothing alike.  And, while it’s entirely possible that some close-up filming for that scene did take place on top of the Bullocks Wilshire tower, my best guess is that the entire scene was filmed on a studio soundstage somewhere in Hollywood.  Bullocks Wilshire has also been featured in the movies Topper (where it stood in for the luxurious Connecticut area Seabreeze Hotel), Tarzan’s New York Adventure (where it was used as a New York hotel), Dunston Checks In (where it again stood in for a New York hotel), Fist of the North Star, On Deadly Ground, Family Plot, The Tie That Binds, Rough Magic, and in episodes of Murder, She Wrote, Judging Amy, and The Agency.

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Big THANK YOU to Mike for finding this location!  🙂

On a very sad side note – My thoughts and prayers go out to Brittany Murphy’s friends and loved ones today.  I can’t even imagine losing someone so young, especially this close to the holidays.  🙁    Rest in peace, Brittany.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Bullocks Wilshire is located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.  You can visit the building’s official website and see interior photographs of it here.  Because Bullocks Wilshire is part of the Southwestern Law School campus, it is not open to the public. Once a year, though, tours of the property are given.  You can check the Southwestern Law School website for further tour information.