February 2010 – IAMNOTASTALKER

February 26, 2010June 16, 2011

Jennifer Aniston’s Former Beach House

While out stalking the ‘Bu with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, a couple of weeks ago, I just about had a complete heart attack as the two of us passed by my girl Jen Aniston’s former beach house and I noticed that the door to the front gate was standing WIDE OPEN! Let me tell you, I must have screamed for a good sixty seconds over that one! Once Mike regained his hearing ;), he made an immediate U-turn across Pacific Coast Highway so that the two of us could head over to the house to get a peek behind the gates. I’ve actually stalked Jen’s former Malibu bungalow a few times in the past – and have even blogged about it once before – but being that this was the first time I was catching a glimpse of her front courtyard area, I figured the place was worth a re-post. And let me tell you, I was pretty much dying the whole time I was there. I mean never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d get to see past that front gate!

As we walked up to the house we noticed some workers standing out front, so I, of course, struck up a conversation with them. The workers told us that they were doing some landscaping in the front courtyard area of the residence, which is why the gate was open. When I asked one of them if he knew that Jennifer Aniston used to live on the property, he looked at me like he had absolutely no idea who Jennifer Aniston even was. LOL

I didn’t want to overstep my bounds or get the landscapers in any sort of trouble while I was stalking the place, so I stayed on the sidewalk area while taking the above pictures, but believe me I was absolutely dying to venture in for a closer look!

I did manage to catch a glimpse of the glass front door, though, which you can just barely see in the above pictures.

While there, I was so focused on seeing Jen’s former courtyard area that I didn’t even realize the garage door to the house was open. It wasn’t until Mike elbowed me and whispered really loudly in my ear, “GET A PICTURE OF THE GARAGE! GET A PICTURE OF THE GARAGE! That’s where Jen did her laundry!” that I even noticed it. LOL I so wanted Mike to ask the landscaping guys if we could peek inside the house, but he refused as he felt like that would definitely be crossing a line. And I have to admit I agree with him – which is why I didn’t want to ask the workers myself. 😉 But, oh, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that house!

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During the time Jen rented the home, the glass walls of the back patio area were actually covered over with some sort of black paneling which shielded the star from the prying eyes of not only the paparazzi, but stalkers such as myself. So, I was beyond floored when Mike and I traveled to the back side of the property and noticed that those panels were no longer there, which meant that Jen’s former “backyard” was visible. YAY! It’s actually very surprising to me that the notoriously press-shy Aniston ever lived in this house – especially during her divorce, when the media frenzy was at an all-time high – being that the public beach access walkway is located just a few feet to the east of the property. Because the area was so easily accessible, the paparazzi used to supposedly camp out night and day on the beach directly behind her house. Ugh!

Jen moved into her wood-shingled Malibu beach bungalow in early 2005, immediately following her separation from now ex-husband Brad Pitt. She leased the property, which is supposedly owned by Oracle C.E.O Larry Ellison, through the end of 2007 for a reported $30,000 a month. Despite the fact that it is located right on the sand, thisclose to the ocean, Jen’s former beach house is fairly modest by celebrity standards. The residence, which was built in 1945, boasts two bedrooms, three bathrooms, and measures a scant 1,531 square feet. And I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the place. The house is incredibly charming and so very, for lack of a better word, cute and I would give anything to live in something similar. I am so enamored of the place in fact that I would consider it my dream pad, even if it hadn’t been previously lived in by Jen. 😉 The two-story bungalow is actually the place where the actress conducted her infamous first post-split interview which ran in the September 2005 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. According to several other interviews which also took place at the home, Jen decorated her bachelorette pad with mostly white furnishings adorned with white candles, white flowers, and quite a bit of Asian-inspired decor. She also reportedly kept a little vase filled with loose Merit brand cigarettes on an end table next to the couch for her guests to partake of. Apparently Jen remodeled the home a bit, even though it was a rental, before moving in. Vanity Fair author Leslie Bennetts says, “Although the bungalow was dark and depressing when she first saw it, a quickie makeover has transformed it into a cozy sanctuary that’s far more representative of Aniston’s personal taste than the showplace she and Pitt shared, where the decor seemed all hard edges and unforgiving materials.” Bennetts goes on to ask Jen what she likes best about being separated from Brad, to which the actress responds, “I can have a comfortable couch.” LOL

On a side note – Early last year fave website Big Time Listings reported on another (possible) former rental of Aniston’s in the Laurel Canyon area. And while Big Time Listings can’t actually verify that the actress ever lived in the home, according to the September 2009 issue of Elle Magazine, Jen did rent a house in Laurel Canyon during her pre-Friends days, so it’s a definite possibility.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Jennifer Aniston’s former beach rental is located at 22164 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

February 25, 2010March 1, 2010

Cup ‘N Cakes Cafe from “Modern Family”

A few weeks back, a fellow stalker who identified himself as “Stepick” left a comment on my Step by Step house post informing me that a coffee shop in nearby South Pasadena had been featured in the recent episode of fave show Modern Family entitled “Moon Landing”. Unfortunately though, Stepick did not specify exactly which South Pasadena coffee house it was. So, I decided to do a little bit of digging to see if I could figure it out. I came up empty-handed at first, until this past weekend when a blog named “Greetings from LA” published a post about Modern Family filming locations along with a link to this article about the coffee shop that had been used on the show. Thank you, Greetings from L.A.! In real life, that coffee shop is named Kaldi Coffee & Tea and, amazingly enough, I had never before heard of the place. So, I, of course, had to run right out and stalk it, not just because I love Modern Family, but because, as those of you who read my site regularly know, I absolutely love coffee. Like LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT. Oh, what I won’t do for a good cup o’ joe. But I digress.

Kaldi Coffee & Tea, which has been in operation for over 15 years, is an incredibly charming little coffee house located inside of an old bank building. With its brick walls, mismatched chairs, large couch, and chalk board menu, the place evokes memories of the Central Perk set from Friends. So, needless to say, I loved it! And, amazingly enough, when I walked through the front doors I immediately recognized the shop from another production besides Modern Family! But more on that later. Despite what some internet reviews have stated, I am very happy to report that Kaldi’s serves up some FABULOUS coffee. I also indulged in a little veggie sandwich while there and I am happy to report that it, too, was fabulous! The staff at Kaldi’s was EXTREMELY nice and not only answered all of my silly questions about the filming of Modern Family, but also let me take all the photographs I wanted. Yay! I loved the place so much, in fact, that I am fairly certain I am going to be a frequent stalker there. 😉

The Kaldi’s scene from Modern Family starts out across the street from the cafe, on the sidewalk in front of the South Pasadena Public Library (a location which stood in for Haddonfield High School in Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween remake). In the scene, Gloria (aka Sophia Vergara) takes her son Manny (aka Rico Rodriguez) and her step-son/ lawyer Mitchell (aka Jesse Tyler Ferguson) to the site of her recent car accident so that she can explain what happened. After showing them where the accident took place, she heads over to Kaldi’s, which was called Cup ‘N Cakes Cafe in the episode, to grab some cupcakes, while Mitchell and Manny wait behind at the accident site to take pictures. It is there that Manny tells Mitchell that his mother was actually at fault in the wreck. When Mitchell asks why Manny didn’t tell his mom that, Manny explains “She can’t take criticism about her driving. Once an old lady yelled at her at a crosswalk. She honked so long, the horn ran out!” LOL LOL LOL

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Only a small portion of Kaldi’s exterior is shown in the scene . . .

. . . but the interior is featured quite extensively while the threesome is eating their cupcakes.

And it is outside of Kaldi’s that Gloria gets into her second car accident of the week, crashing into the side of the cafe and knocking down Cup ‘N Cakes’ large pink cupcake sign, which was, of course, just a prop that was brought in for the filming. The restaurant where Claire (aka Julie Bowen) met Valerie (aka Minnie Driver) for lunch in that same episode is located less than a block away from Kaldi’s. It is named Bistro de la Gare, but I have yet to stalk the place. Don’t worry, though, as it’s definitely on my list!

Kaldi’s also appeared in a brief scene in fave movie The Ugly Truth, in which Abby Richter (aka Katherine Heigl) and her best friend Joy (aka Bree Turner) fawn all over her new boyfriend Colin (aka Eric Winter). Oddly enough, I had actually been searching for The Ugly Truth coffee shop for MONTHS, but couldn’t seem to locate it anywhere! So, when I walked into Kaldi’s yesterday afternoon, I just about fell over as I immediately recognized it as the place I had long been searching for. Funny how stuff like that happens. 😉

The Ugly Truth also made use of the same stretch of sidewalk that appeared in Modern Family for the scene in which Mike Chadway (aka Gerard Butler) convinces Abby to purchase some hair extensions. That sidewalk is located directly across the street from Kaldi’s.

Kaldi’s was also featured in two scenes in the 2008 movie Role Models as Beth (aka Elizabeth Banks) and Danny’s (aka Paul Rudd’s) local coffee shop. One of the scenes features a very funny rant by Paul Rudd over the fact that the term “venti” does not actually mean large in Italian.

Producers completely remodeled Kaldi’s for the filming of Role Models, though, making it appear very Coffee-Bean-ish, so it almost unrecognizable from that flick. Kaldi’s was also featured in the 2007 Anthony Hopkins’ movie Slipstream and it will be appearing in an upcoming episode of the new television series Parenthood.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Kaldi Coffee & Tea, aka Cup ‘N Cakes Cafe from Modern Family, is located at 1019 El Centro Street, at the southwest corner of El Centro Street and Diamond Avenue, in South Pasadena. Bistro de la Gare, the restaurant where Minnie Driver and Julie Bowen ate on Modern Family, is located less than a block away at 921 Meridian Avenue.

February 24, 2010February 23, 2010

The “Liar Liar” Towing Yard

A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I spent an entire day stalking in and around the Malibu area. But before actually heading west to the ‘Bu, Mike made a little surprise pit stop in Alhambra so that the two of us could stalk the towing yard that appeared in fave comedy Liar Liar. Mike had actually told me about the yard, which is called Henry’s Towing in real life, the first time we met and even though I had long been dying to stalk the place, for whatever reason, I had yet to do so. So, I was BEYOND elated when he pulled up to the yard a few weeks ago and told me what it was. Mike found this location thanks to the fact that he grew up in the Alhambra area, not too far from Henry’s, and had driven by the place countless times during his youth. So when he saw Liar Liar for the first time back in 1997, he recognized the yard immediately. Yay! Thank you, Mike!

Henry’s Towing appeared in my absolute favorite scene in Liar Liar (well, besides the HILARIOUS “The pen is blue!” scene, of course), in which Audrey Reede (aka Maura Tierney) takes her ex-husband Fletcher Reede (aka Jim Carrey) to pick up his Mercedes which has just been towed.

After retrieving the car, Fletcher notices that there is a scratch on it, causing him to have a completely hilarious meltdown consisting of one of my favorite movie monologues of all time! During the meltdown he says, “You know what I’m gonna do about this? NOTHING! Because if I take ya to small claims court it’ll just drain eight hours out of my life and you probably won’t show up and if I finally got the judgment you’d just stiff me anyway. So what I’m gonna do is piss and moan like an impotent jerk and then bend over and take it up the tailpipe!” To which the towing attendant says, “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?” LOL Love it!

You can watch the tow yard scene by clicking above.

Unfortunately, though, thanks to a large fence which now surrounds the property, the majority of the towing yard is not visible from the street. 🙁

But you can see a good view of the place in the above aerial image.

Ironically enough, according to one of the workers we spoke with, the cashier’s window featured in Liar Liar is not actually Henry’s real life cashier’s window. Instead, producers chose to use a different window located deeper inside the property, behind the exterior fence.

The window which appeared in the movie is denoted with the pink arrow above and, sadly, if you aren’t visiting Henry’s to pick up a towed car, you won’t be able to see it. 🙁 Such a bummer!

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The real life cashier’s window – which is a part of Henry’s main office – does appear very briefly in Liar Liar, though, towards the end of the towing scene when Fletcher walks Audrey to her car. The two walk past the perimeter fence – which at the time did not have black tarp covering it – and towards the real life cashier’s window while she tells him about the wish his son made the previous evening.

The window looks a bit different today than it did during filming, though, as the little wooden awning which appeared above it in the scene has long since been removed. Henry’s main office has also been painted a different color in the years since filming took place.

The back side of the main office can also be seen in the background during Fletcher’s meltdown.

While not much of Henry’s Towing Yard is visible from the street, I still absolutely loved seeing it in person and the memories of the movie that being there brought back. I do have to admit, though, that the guys working the counter thought Mike and I were BEYOND weird for stalking the place. And even though I explained to them that we were big fans of the movie Liar Liar and were taking the pictures for our respective stalking websites, I am fairly certain they thought we were angry patrons whose cars had been recently towed and that the photographs were for a pending lawsuit, as they kept a VERY close eye on us the whole time. LOL Don’t they know a stalker when they see one? 😉

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Liar, Liar towing yard, aka Henry’s Towing Service, is located at 1100 Westminster Avenue in Alhambra.

February 23, 2010February 22, 2010

“The Hogan Family” House

One Pasadena area filming location that I had long assumed was well-known in the stalking community was the home where the Hogan family lived in the 1986 television sitcom Valerie, aka Valerie’s Family, aka The Hogan Family. So, the other day when I happened to point out the location to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, while the two of us were in the area doing some stalking, I was absolutely shocked to discover that not only had he never been to the house, but prior to me mentioning it, he had no idea that it was even in Pasadena! I had originally found this location upon first moving to Southern California way back in 2000 thanks to an early edition of The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book which featured a short blurb about the house. I’ve noticed, though, that, for whatever reason, more recent editions of the book do not mention the location. So, I decided to do a little more digging and was shocked to find out that not only was The Hogan Family house information not mentioned anywhere online, but that IMDB had even gone so far as to incongruously claim that the Hogan residence was the very same place where the Cunninghams lived on Happy Days. So, I figured it was high time I blogged about the true location of the residence to put the falsehoods to rest! 🙂

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The Hogan Family house was actually one of the very first places I ever stalked and for that reason it will always hold a very special place in my heart. Shortly after relocating to Pasadena, my mom and I decided to spend an entire day driving around the City of Roses looking at its various movie and television sites. I remember being BEYOND excited that so many locations could be found in the city I was now calling home. Pasadena became my very own treasure trove that day and remains so even now. 🙂 Anyway, one of the locales my mom and I stalked was The Hogan Family house and I still remember how completely floored I was when I saw it as it looked very similar in person to how it appeared on the show. And I am very happy to report that even today – almost two and a half decades after the series premiered – the house still looks EXACTLY the same as it did when it was on TV! Even the same blue and white striped awnings are still flanking the home’s front windows.

The home’s address plaque also still looks much the same as it did in 1986, although it is now situated on a different side of the front porch. Love it! Love it! Love it! Oh, and please excuse the horrible quality of my screen caps. I don’t own The Hogan Family on DVD and had to settle for making them off of YouTube. According to Zillow, in real life the Valerie house has four bathrooms, five bedrooms, measures 3,846 square feet and was built in 1910. And it’s not very hard to see why producers chose to use it in the series, as it looks like the typical all-American home of the typical all-American family.

It is simply amazing to me that the series went through no less than THREE name changes during its five year run. During its first two years on the air, the show was known simply as Valerie, but when star Valerie Harper was fired in the summer following Season Two, the name was changed to Valerie’s Family: The Hogans. The following year, after the much publicized lawsuit that followed Harper’s dismissal, the name was changed once again to The Hogan Family. I was completely fascinated re-reading the many news articles written about the lawsuit while researching today’s post, as I had largely forgotten about the hugely bitter and widely publicized ordeal, which took place in 1987. As this article written about Harper’s firing and the subsequent lawsuit states, the controversy surrounding the show is far more memorable than the show itself. 😉 Even more juicy than the lawsuit, though, at least in my eyes, is the fact that the author of Valerie’s pilot episode would go on to pen Artistic Differencesa novel about a Hollywood writer who is hired to create a sitcom for an egocentric, narcissistic actress. Hmmm wonder what television show his book was based on? 😉 And a little bit of Hogan Family trivia for you – the sitcom starred none other than Josh Taylor (aka Dylan McKay’s father Jack from Beverly Hills, 90210) as Valerie’s pilot husband. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The house from The Hogan Family, aka Valerie’s Family, aka Valerie is located at 840 Bellefontaine Place in Pasadena.

February 22, 2010February 20, 2010

Disneyland’s Club 33

I must preface today’s blog with an apology, as this is one post that is far too long overdue! Well over six months ago – yes, I am talking about waaaaaaaaaay back in July of 2009 – my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry invited me to share in her birthday celebration at the Happiest Place on Earth, aka Disneyland. But this wasn’t just any ordinary birthday celebration as Kerry had magically secured us a reservation at the park’s ultra-exclusive, members-only, virtually-impossible-to-get-into Club 33 restaurant. For those non-Disney fanatics, unlike myself, Club 33 is the “secret”, private, fine-dining establishment that Walt Disney had built inside of New Orleans Square. To eat there one must either be a member (and there are only 487 of them at the present time) or know a member who would be willing to make them a reservation. Like I said, it’s virtually impossible to get in. But, thankfully, Kerry doesn’t know the meaning of the word impossible. So when she called me up in early 2009 to tell me that she had made it a goal to spend her July 29th birthday at Club 33, I had no doubt she’d make it happen. And, sure enough, she did! Through a big-wig at ESPN whom she has known for years, she was able to secure a lunch reservation for 6 – Kerry and her husband, Jim, their friends Ken and Anita, who flew in from Washington for the occasion, and me and my fiancé. And, let me tell you, I could NOT have been more excited as I had been dying to eat at Club 33 for just about as long as I can remember.

Walt Disney originally envisioned Club 33 as an elegant, but private sort of VIP lounge where he could entertain visiting dignitaries, movie stars, and Disneyland’s corporate sponsors. He was inspired to build the club after seeing similar such establishments at the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. Disney enlisted artist Dorothea Redmond to paint the original conceptual drawings of the club and then commissioned interior designer and former studio art director Emile Kuri to design and decorate the space. Walt then traveled to New Orleans, along with his wife, Lillian, and designer Kuri, to purchase authentic Bayou-inspired decor and antiques to furnish his restaurant, which he dubbed Club 33. There are varying reports as to how Walt came up with that name, the two most persistent being that the name was derived from the club’s address – 33 Royal Street – and also that it was christened in honor of Disneyland’s 33 original corporate sponsors. No one has ever been able to say for sure, though, and the name remains one of the club’s greatest mysteries. Club 33 finally opened its doors in May of 1967. Sadly, though, Walt never got to enjoy it, as he passed away five months prior to its completion. His brainchild enjoyed immediate success, though, and fairly soon memberships were being offered. As of 2007, the club had 487 registered members, all of whom belong either individually or through a corporation. But, let me tell you, the cost of belonging is steep! An individual membership has an initiation fee of $9,500 and annual dues of $3,175, while corporate memberships cost $5,925 in annual dues with a $20,000 initiation fee. The only way a new membership opens up is when a current member drops out of the club, which rarely ever happens. Rumor has it that people on the waiting list can expect to wait over 14 years before a spot becomes available! Not kidding! And sadly, the waiting list is currently at full capacity and is not accepting any new applicants. Also not kidding! And while not a filming location, because of its excellent food and shroud of secrecy, the club has long been a celebrity magnet. Just a few of the stars who have dined there over the years include Barbra Streisand, Robert Wagner, Mickey Rooney, Sammy Hagar, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Phoebe Cates, Fess Parker, Bernard Fox, Geena Davis, Mira Sorvino, Christopher Backus, Elton John, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tommy Smothers, Michael Eisner, John Lasseter, Mike Ness (from the band Social Distortion), Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Kline, and Buddy Ebsen. Club 33’s most famous guest, though, has to be none other than the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, who was a frequent visitor. 🙂 The entrance to Club 33 (pictured above) consists of a non-descript grey door sandwiched between the Blue Bayou Restaurant and the Le Specialty Gourmet Shop. One could easily walk right past it without knowing anything was there. Save for a mirrored plate featuring the Club 33 logo and two tiny gold speaker boxes, the entrance is largely unmarked.

And, let me tell you, we were just about dying of excitement as we walked up to it! 🙂 To gain access to the club, one must press a button on the top gold speaker box located to the left of the front door and speak the name of the person who holds the reservation. No sound will come back to greet you, but if your name is on the hostess’ list, the grey door will magically open. The whole thing is very hush-hush and reminded me of what a speakeasy must have been like back in the day. 🙂 Apparently at one time, members would simply slip their membership cards through a little slot located in the speaker box to gain access to the club, but that is no longer the case. Pictured above are both me and Kerry at the front door.

Just beyond the entrance door lies a tiny lobby area lobby whereupon one checks in and is given the option to either use the wraparound staircase to access the club’s second floor . . .

. . . or to take a ride in the famous antique glass elevator, which Walt had built in exact replication of one he had seen in a Parisian hotel. Kerry and I, of course, opted to take the elevator.

I just about died when we got up to the second floor as the place is absolutely beautiful inside. Club 33 has a very old-Hollywood feel to it, with dark wood flooring, deep red walls, antique wall sconces, wooden chandeliers, and ornate detailing throughout.

And there are arrangements of fresh flowers literally everywhere you look!

Once we reached the second level landing, the hostess led us to our table. The club is made up of two eating areas, the first of which is known as the Main Dining Room and it features carved wooden chandeliers . . .

. . . and a private balcony area which overlooks New Orleans Square and the Rivers of America.

The second dining area is Club 33’s legendary Trophy Room, which is where we got to eat.

The Trophy Room is famous thanks to the fact that Walt originally envisioned it to have an array of animatronic creatures on display, all of whom would be able to hold conversations with his guests, thanks to the use of hidden microphones and an actor who would be voicing the animals from inside the confines of a hidden sound booth. And while his plan never saw fruition, an animatronic vulture from Walt’s original design is still on display in the Trophy Room to this day, although it sadly does not talk to the Club 33 patrons. 😉

The Trophy Room is richly decorated with cypress wood walls,

large and ornately carved display cases,

original Disneyland concept drawings,

and a few pieces from Walt’s wife Lillian’s butterfly collection.

The 33 logo is present on pretty much everything at the club, from the menus,

to the china,

to the post-meal mints. And, let me tell you, Kerry, Anita, and I pretty much wanted to take home anything and everything that featured that logo. We even stuffed a few Club 33 cocktail napkins in our purses. 😉 Not kidding!

A meal at Club 33 costs about $100 per person when all is said and done, but along with a reservation comes free admission to both the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks, so the meal pretty much pays for itself. 🙂 From what I hear, Club 33’s lunch menus are changed seasonally, but usually consist of five different dining options, all of which cost the same amount. I opted for the certified organic free range chicken with truffled mac & cheese. And, let me tell you, it was A-MA-ZING! Especially the mac & cheese!!!!!

But before our meals were served, we were instructed to graze at the club’s amazing buffet. Pictured above is the hallway which leads to the buffet room . . .

. . . which is where the famous harpsichord that was custom made for Lillian Disney is displayed. The harpsichord, which is trimmed in real life gold leaf and features a Disney artisan hand-painted picture of New Orleans Harbor circa the Nineteenth Century, is in working order and may be played by guests of the club. According to several of the staff members I spoke with, Elton John even played an impromptu performance on it once. Love it!

Also on display in the hallway is a table that appeared in the movie Mary Poppins, but unfortunately I didn’t get a great picture of it.

Club 33’s extensive buffet consists of a salad bar, a fresh fruit and imported cheese bar, a shellfish and oyster bar, and a freshly baked bread and cold cuts bar. And I swear I could have dined on just the buffet items and been happy as a clam!

Oh, and did I mention there’s also an all-you-can-eat dessert bar, as well? Diners are even invited to partake in the desert bar before their meal is served, if they’re so inclined. LOVE IT!

Club 33’s most famous desert is its S’mores martini, which is, unfortunately, only available on certain days of the week. And even when it is available, only a select few are made and once they run out, they run out. So, when we arrived at the club, Kerry, Anita, and I immediately headed over to the desert bar to snatch up a martini. Sadly, though, once there we discovered that we were dining on a non-martini day. But being that this was Disneyland – purveyor of the finest customer service in the world – once our waitress heard how disappointed we were over the lack of S’more martinis, she ran directly to the kitchen and had a batch made up especially for our table! How incredibly cool is that???? And I have to say that they also were pretty A-MA-ZING! In fact there wasn’t a single item served at the club that wasn’t A-MA-ZING! I literally could have gorged myself there all day! In fact, being that our meal took over two and a half hours from start to finish, by the time I had finished my desert and had carefully documented the entire place in photographs, I could have easily sat back down to do it all over again. LOL

Oh, and because it was her birthday, Kerry even got a special Mickey Mouse desert. 🙂 Love it!

Club 33 also has a full bar and is, in fact, the ONLY place in Disneyland that serves alcohol. So, I, of course, had to partake in a glass of champagne while there. 🙂

Just around the corner from the bar is the club’s foyer area,

which features the famous Club 33 display case where various items featuring the Club 33 logo are for sale. Said items can only be purchased at the club – or on eBay, of course – and because of that are pretty hot commodities.

Also on display in the foyer is the antique glass phone booth which was used in the 1967 Disney movie The Happiest Millionaire. The phone is in working order and is available for use by Club 33 guests.

And, of course, I just had to take a few pictures of the women’s restroom, as well. 😉

And yes, I sent my fiancé into the men’s room with camera in hand, too! 🙂

My experience at Club 33 was nothing short of magical and was a definite once-in-a-lifetime! As the Disneyland Encyclopedia states, “There’s never been a mention of Club 33 in any of the park’s souvenir books, naturally, and while people may have heard of it and even more have unknowingly walked right by the entrance, only a very few will ever be able to say they’ve been inside.” Thanks to my good friend Kerry, I am now one of those very few. 🙂 Can’t THANK YOU enough, Kerry! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Club 33 is located at 33 Royal Street, in between the Blue Bayou Restaurant and Le Gourmet Specialty Shop, in the New Orleans Square area of Disneyland. Sadly, the club is private and not open to the public. For further Club 33 reading, be sure to check out the unofficial Club 33 website.

February 19, 2010February 18, 2010

David Silver’s Grandparents’ House from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

One Beverly Hills, 90210 location that I have been dying to find pretty much ever since the episode it was featured in aired over 18 years ago is the house where David Silver’s grandparents’ lived in the Season One episode entitled “Palm Springs Weekend” (aka “A Fling in Palm Springs”). For those who don’t know 90210 like the back of their hand like I do, in the episode Kelly, Donna, Brenda, and the gang head out to Palm Springs for Presidents’ Day Weekend and, because of an oversight on Steve’s part, wind up having to spend the entire three days at David Silvers’ grandparents’ house. And while I was absolutely certain that the home used in the episode wasn’t located in Palm Springs, unfortunately, I had no idea of where it actually could be found. My gut was telling me that it might be located in or around Encino and I actually spent quite a bit of time searching in that area. It was actually this location that I was looking for when I stumbled upon the mansion where April Rhodes was caught squatting in “The Rhodes Not Taken” episode of fave show Glee, but I digress. Anyway after spending countless hours searching the Valley for David Silver’s grandparents’ house, fellow stalker Chas got some insider information that the residence could actually be found in . . . Malibu of all places! I swear, Malibu would have been the absolute LAST spot on earth I would have looked for this house as, in my opinion at least, it just doesn’t really look like a Malibu-type residence. Anyway, once Chas had me divert my search to the ‘Bu :), I found the home almost immediately. YAY. So, this past Friday, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took the day off and the two of us headed out to Malibu to do some long overdue “Palm Springs” stalking.

And let me tell you, I literally started screaming the moment we drove up to the house when I realized that – over eighteen years later – the place still looked EXACTLY – and I do mean EXACTLY – the same as it did when it appeared on 90210. The only differences I noticed were that the trees in the front yard have since been changed, as have the front doors which are now made out of glass. Other than those two minor details, though, the place still looks very much like Henry and Adele Silver’s house. 🙂 I cannot tell you how cool it was to finally be seeing this location in person and to be reliving the countless memories that being there brought back – memories of Dylan playing charades with Brenda in the living room, memories of David Silver’s random hookup with a girl named Tuesday whom he met at a gas station, and memories of Donna’s black daisy dress with the matching black daisy headband. LOL God, I miss that show!

As you can see in the above photograph, David Silver’s grandparents’ house is, sadly, gated, so Mike and I couldn’t venture in farther to get a better view. 🙁

But he did manage to snap a few close-up pictures through the fence for me.

Silly as it may sound, Mike and I were most excited to see the little curved brick half-wall located in the middle of the home’s front lawn, as that same brick wall was also visible on 90210. I almost couldn’t believe it was still there after all these years.

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the home was also featured in the episode. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that place!

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The backyard and pool area appeared quite a few times in the episode, too.

Sadly, though, that area is not at all visible from the street. But that’s why God created aerial images, right? 😉 And, as you can see, the pool still looks very much the same as it did on the show.

Even Henry and Adele’s little hidden hot tub oasis is actually there in real life. LOVE IT! While we were stalking the place, Mike and I were hoping beyond hope that the owner would come outside so we could ask them all sorts of questions about the filming and maybe even get a peek at their backyard, but sadly it was not to be. 🙁

On a side note – My good friend and fellow stalker Chas has finally started up his own filming locations website. The website is called ItsFilmedThere.com and it focuses on locations in both the Los Angeles and the Chicago areas. And, let me tell you, while his L.A. posts are great, it is the Chicago locations that have me absolutely fascinated. Before coming into contact with Chas I had NO idea whatsoever that so many movies were filmed in the Windy City. The first time I learned about Chas’ huge library of Chicago area locations was one night back in December during one of my father’s many hospital visits. My dad had been taken to the emergency room and because only my mom was allowed to stay with him, my fiancé and I were stuck in the waiting room for hours, bored out of our minds. Until I logged onto Facebook via my cell phone, that is, and started looking through all of Chas’ Facebook photos. And, let me tell you, I just about died looking at his Chicago movie pictures. My fiancé and I were literally mesmerized for hours looking at those photos – which is saying a lot being that the Grim Cheaper doesn’t normally care about movie locations – and ever since that night I’ve been absolutely itching to visit the Windy City. Chicago honeymoon, anyone? 🙂 So, when Chas decided to start his own site last month I begged him to publish all of his Chicago photographs for stalkers such as myself – who had no idea the Windy City was such a treasure trove of locations – to enjoy. You can check out his site here – www.itsfilmedthere.com. 🙂

A big THANK YOU to Chas for helping me find this location. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: David Silver’s Grandparents’ house from Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 6636 Portshead Road in Malibu.

February 18, 2010February 18, 2010

The Chinese Foooood Drive-Through from “Dude, Where’s My Car?”

One location that I have been begging fellow stalker Chas to find for what seems like months now is the “Chinese Foooood” restaurant from the 2000 movie Dude, Where’s My Car? As I’ve mentioned in the past, Dude is one of my very favorite comedies and a few years back my best friend Robin and I pretty much spent every night of an entire two week period doing nothing but watching and re-watching the flick over and over again. We simply could not get enough of it! Our absolute favorite scene, hands down, had to be the scene in which bonehead best friends Jesse Montgomery III (aka Ashton Kutcher) and Chester Greenburg (aka Seann William Scott) visit the drive-though window of a Chinese food restaurant only to find that the woman working there cannot stop saying the words, “And then? And then? And then?” LOL LOVE IT! So, last week, when Chas told me that he was finally going to put his proverbial nose to the grindstone to try to track down the restaurant for me, I just about died of excitement. I had actually spent quite a bit of time looking for this location in the Pasadena area, as I was convinced it was located somewhere along the famous Colorado Boulevard. Turns out, I was searching a few miles too far to the east, though, as Chas later informed me. Thankfully, early on in Chas’ quest, fellow stalker Gary, from fave website Seeing Stars, pointed him in the direction of this website written by an actor named Geoffrey Gould, who had actually worked as an extra in the Dude, Where’s My Car? Chinese food scene! Talk about serendipity! On his website, Geoffrey mentioned that the restaurant was located “at Victory near Hollywood Way” in Burbank. Well, Chas got to googling and found the drive-through almost immediately. YAY! So, this past weekend I dragged my fiancé out to finally, finally do some Chinese Foooood stalking!

In real life, the Chinese Foooood place is not actually a drive-through at all, but a tiny little restaurant named Steve’s Burgers.

And because Steve’s is a burger joint and not a Chinese food restaurant, it looks quite a bit different in person than how it was portrayed in the movie. Missing in real life, of course, is the Asian-inspired decor and Oriental-style flared roof that appeared in Dude, Where’s My Car?, all of which I am fairly certain were just decorations that were added for the filming. Despite the lack of Asian decor and a slight change in paint color, though, the restaurant is still VERY recognizable from the movie. And let me tell you, while it may sound silly, I could NOT have been more excited to be seeing the place in person!

And I was absolutely floored to discover that while Steve’s serves up mostly All-American fare, there were a few Chinese food items featured on the menu, as well! LOVE IT! For the record, Steve’s also serves a bit of Mexican food. It’s a whole smorgasbord of options!

And, as you can see in the above photograph and screen captures, the painted-on window signs that were featured in Dude are still there to this day – over an entire decade later – and still look pretty much exactly the same as they did in the movie! LOVE IT!

Unfortunately, Steve’s was already closed by the time we showed up to stalk the place so we couldn’t sample any of their food. 🙁 But I guess that just means I’ll have to re-stalk the place again sometime soon! 🙂

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The Dude, Where’s My Car? restaurant scenes were filmed both on the west side and in the back of Steve’s Burgers, the latter being where the fake drive-through menu and speaker box were added for the filming. As you can see in the above photographs, that drive-through area doesn’t actually exist. 🙁

Steve’s Burgers first shows up in the very beginning of Dude, Where’s My Car, in the scene in which Jesse and Chester visit a restaurant called “Chinese Foooood” for lunch. While Jesse is ordering, the woman working the drive-through window continually asks him, “And then? And then? And then?” to which he finally says, “AND THEN . . . I’m gonna come in there and I’m gonna put my foot in your a** if you say ‘and then’ again!” The Chinese Foooood lady of course responds with, “And then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then?” LOL

Jesse then proceeds to absolutely destroy the drive-through box.

The restaurant later shows up towards the end of the flick in the scene in which Jesse and Chester drop the “Nordic Dudes” off at the Chinese Foooood place after telling them that the drive-through lady knows where the “Continuum Transfunctioner” can be found. I know, I know, the whole thing sounds pretty darn stupid, but trust me, it’s hilarious! You can watch the Chinese Foooood restaurant scene here.

A big THANK YOU to Chas for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Steve’s Burgers, aka the Chinese Foooood drive-through from Dude, Where’s My Car?, is located at 2320 West Victory Boulevard in Burbank. Steve’s is open Monday through Saturday, but is closed on Sundays.

February 16, 2010February 16, 2010

Paul Rudd’s Parents’ House from “I Love You, Man”

A few weeks ago while doing some stalking in the Valley, I dragged my fiancé out to visit the house where Peter Klaven’s (aka Paul Rudd’s) parents, Oswald and Joyce Klaven, who were played by J.K. Simmons and Jane Curtin respectively, and his brother Robbie (aka Andy Samberg) lived in fave movie I Love You, Man. And even though the Klaven house only appeared in one very brief scene in the movie – a scene which barely lasted over 2 minutes – because fellow stalker Owen had tracked down the location for me a few months back, I just had to go see the place in person. I also wanted to stalk the residence because fellow stalker Gary, from fave website Seeing Stars, recently put together a highly detailed catalog of all of the filming locations featured in I Love You, Man – all of the locations, that is, except for the Klaven house. So, to complete Gary’s collection, I just had to run right out and stalk the place. 🙂

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The Klaven house shows up at the very beginning of I Love You, Man in one of my favorite scenes in the movie – the absolutely hilarious scene in which Peter takes his new fiancé Zooey (aka Rashida Jones) to his parents’ house for dinner and they get into a detailed discussion about his lifelong lack of male friendships. It is at this dinner that Peter learns the shocking fact that, along with a random man named Hank Mardukis, his younger brother, Robbie, is his father’s very best friend. LOL

Besides the exterior of the house and the front door area, I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the home was also used in the filming of the dinner scene, as well.

Because the Klaven’s house from I Love You, Man is extremely long and has that Anywhere, U.S.A.-type look to it, it actually reminds me quite a bit of Matthew Perry’s residence from fave movie 17 Again, a location which I stalked back in September of last year. In person, the Klaven house is very large, much larger than it appeared onscreen in I Love You, Man. The residence, which was built in 1942, boasts three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and measures 3,224 square feet. The home is very cute in person and is located on an absolutely ADORABLE street in an absolutely ADORABLE neighborhood. According to fave website Virtual Globetrotting, actress Jo Anne Worley lives just across the street from the I Love You, Man house and from 1993 to 2000 Denzel Washington lived just around the corner. Love it!

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Paul Rudd’s parents’ house from I Love You, Man is located at 4727 Arcola Avenue in either North Hollywood or Toluca Lake, depending on which map you consult.

February 12, 2010February 11, 2010

The Firehouse from “Ghostbusters”

This past weekend while doing some stalking in Downtown L.A. I dragged my fiancé out to see an oft-used filming location that has long been at the top of my “To-Stalk” list. That location is known as Fire Station #23, a real life former working fire house that served as the offices of Dr. Raymond Stantz (aka Dan Aykroyd), Dr. Peter Venkman (aka Bill Murray), Dr. Egon Spengler (aka Harold Ramis), and Winston Zeddmore (aka Ernie Hudson) in the 1984 movie Ghostbusters. And as fate would have it, when we pulled up to the now-defunct fire station, the caretaker of the property, an EXTREMELY nice man named Daniel Taylor, happened to be standing outside speaking with a student filmmaker. So, I, of course, struck up a conversation with him and asked if it might be alright if I stepped inside to take a look around and snap a few photographs. And, let me tell you, I just about fell over from excitement when Daniel told me to go right in! YAY!

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Fire Station #23 actually has quite a storied, and sometimes scandalous, history. The structure, which first opened on October 2, 1910, was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Hudson & Munsell and served as the headquarters of the Los Angeles Fire Department for over a decade. The three story building, which cost between $57,000 and $60,000 to construct and measured 26 feet wide, 167 feet deep and encompassed 13,600 square feet of space, has been mired in controversy ever since the day it was first dedicated. In the beginning, angry citizens deemed the construction costs far too steep for a public building, especially since tax payers were footing the bill and considering the extravagance with which the place was built. And it has been said that no other fire station in the country is as opulent. The top floor of the structure housed the Fire Chief’s suite, an apartment which every fire chief from 1910 to 1928 called home. The suite featured a marble bathroom complete with a double bathtub, Peruvian mahogany wall paneling, imported Italian tile detailing, oak flooring, a private elevator, a brass bed, a roof garden, a marble fireplace, and French bevel glass mirrors. The second floor contained the captain’s dwelling, a library with built-in bookshelves, and bunks for twenty firefighters. The bottom floor contained an open arcade with enamel tiled walls, 21 foot high pressed tin ceilings, and stalls to accommodate ten horses. Pretty amazing for a fire house, huh? The Los Angeles Times even dubbed the place “the Taj Mahal of fire stations”.

Fire Station #23 remained in operation for fifty years, whereupon its men responded to over 60,000 fires. But with the city moving towards building more modernized stations, Engine Truck Company #23 closed its doors for good on November 23rd, 1960. Because a station in Pacific Palisades adopted the “23” company number, the shuttered station took on the name “Old 23”. For the next six years, the fire department utilized the space for medial records storage and as a training facility. In 1966, the same year it became a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, the fire house was shut down by the department completely. For the next ten years, as the area surrounding the building became more and more impoverished, the station fell into serious disrepair and suffered from extreme vandalism and looting. In 1979, the Fire Commission decided to renovate the property and eventually turn it into a firehouse museum. A non-profit organization named Olde 23 was set up to oversee the restoration process and to raise funds for the massive undertaking. In 1980, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Nine years later, though, in 1988, the plans for turning Old #23 into a museum were nixed and the city opened their Los Angeles Fire Department Museum at a location in Hollywood instead.

Seven years later controversy came raining down upon the fire house once again when Los Angeles Times staff writer Robert J. Lopez authored a front page article accusing the Olde 23 corporation of misuse of funds. According to the article, Olde 23 had been collecting massive amounts of money (over $210,000 to be exact) thanks to the numerous film shoots that had taken place on the premises over the years. Not only had the company failed to turn that money over to the city, though, but no one had even informed the city that any sort of filming was going on. Being that a city department is responsible for handing out film permits, I’m not quite sure how this even happened, but I guess it’s just another case of a beaurocracy’s right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Causing further scandal was the fact that even though the city had moved the museum location to a different site seven years prior, Olde 23 was still collecting not only filming fees that would supposedly go into the museum fund, but also donations for the project. AND (yes, there’s more!) the supposed non-profit was ALSO collecting filming fees from production companies for shoots that were taking place at other firehouses in the area – firehouses that the Olde 23 company had no jurisdiction over! LOL Talk about a sh*tstorm!! 😉 President and C.E.O. of the Olde 23 company was none other than Los Angeles Fire Chief Donald O. Manning himself, who resigned from his post just 8 days after Lopez’s newspaper article hit the stands. Following his resignation, Fire Station #23 continued to host film shoots, with the money going to the City of Los Angeles, the property’s rightful owner. Just this past September, though, the building was designated surplus property and the city is considering selling it to several different private investors, including a restaurant developer and a non-profit arts education group.

Daniel Taylor, who has been caretaker of the property since 1985 and who the city is currently trying to evict, has different plans for the building, though. He recently formed the Corporation for History, Arts, and Culture (CHAC) with the hopes of restoring the old firehouse to its original grandeur for use as both a cultural center and a filming location. He estimates the restoration project to cost upwards of $8 million and is trying to raise funds now. If you would like to learn more about the cause, you can do so on CHAC’s official website. And while the future of the historic firehouse remains to be seen, in the meantime I highly recommend stalking it as it is a truly beautiful and unique building.

In Ghostbusters, the exterior of the gang’s headquarters (pictured above) was actually filmed at Hook & Ladder Company #8 located at 14 North Moore Street in New York.

But for the interior filming, cast and crew came to Fire Station #23 in Downtown Los Angeles. And I am happy to report that the interior looks almost exactly the same today as it did in 1984 when Ghostbusters was filmed! Amazing!

The boys’ back office area is not there in real life, though, and I am assuming it was just a set that was added solely for the filming.

The upstairs of the firehouse was used in the filming, as well, but unfortunately I didn’t get to see that area while I was there.

Five years later cast and crew returned to Fire Station #23 once again to film the interior scenes for Ghostbusters II.

And I just about died when I spotted the wooden wall adornment pictured above, which was featured in the sequel. So cool!

The firehouse was also featured in 1994’s The Mask, in which it doubled as Jim Carrey’s deceitful car mechanic’s office.

He later vandalizes the place after turning into “The Mask”.

In 2003’s National Security, the firehouse was used as the location of Earl Montgomery (aka Martin Lawrence) and Hank Rafferty (aka Steve Zahn’s) stakeout. Only the exterior of the building and a very small portion of the interior (pictured above) were featured in that shoot, though. Firehouse #23 has also appeared in V.I. Warshawski, Police Academy 2, Flatliners, Set It Off, RE(e)volution, Big Trouble in Little China, in the television series Firehouse, and in the Season 4 episode of The A-Team entitled “The Road to Hope”. All in all, it has been featured in more than 50 commercial, television, movie, and music video productions over the years.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Fire Station #23, aka the firehouse from Ghostbusters, is located at 225 East Fifth Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the station is not in the safest of areas, so please exercise caution if you choose to stalk it. You can visit the CHAC Fire Station #23 website here.

February 11, 2010April 20, 2010

Michael Jackson’s Former Condo

A few months back I read a fabulous book named Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story written by author J. Randy Taraborelli about the life and times of the King of Pop. I’ve mentioned the biography once before in a post I wrote back in September about the Jackson Family’s first L.A. area home. I actually stumbled upon the tome while browsing at a Barnes & Noble bookstore with my fiancé this past summer and once I picked it up, I literally could NOT put it down. I was so absorbed in the book, in fact, that hours later the Grim Cheaper practically had to drag me out of the store – only after agreeing to let me purchase a copy of it for myself, of course. 😉 Because Taraborelli and Michael were longtime friends, first meeting in 1970 at the tender ages of 14 and 11 respectively, the 765-page! book is written from a true insider’s point of view. The best part about the biography, though – well, at least in my opinion – is the fact that it doles out several addresses of places that the pop star called home during his far too brief life. One of those places is the three story condominium that MJ purchased in February of 1981 and lived in for a brief time while his family’s Hayvenhurst mansion was being remodeled. So, since my fiancé and I were in the area doing some Valley stalking two weekends ago, I just had to drag him right out to stalk the place.

Michael purchased the 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo, which measures 1,890 square feet, upon the suggestion of his long time lawyer John Branca, who thought it was time the 22-year old singer moved out on his own. The condo cost him $210,000 – $175,000 of which he paid in cash. According to Taraborelli, Michael’s mother, Katherine, footed the remainder of the tab, not because MJ didn’t have the extra $35,000, but because he wanted his mother to own a piece of property – or a piece of a piece of property in this case – apart from her husband Joe Jackson in case the two were ever to separate. Shortly after purchasing the condominium, Michael had a change of heart, though, and didn’t end up moving in. Taraborelli’s book quotes him as saying, “I just don’t feel it’s time for me to move away from home yet. If I moved out now, I’d die of loneliness. Most people who move out go to discos every night. They party every night. They invite friends over, and I don’t do any of those things.” Such a heartbreaking sentiment from someone who, at the time, was, professionally speaking, on top of the world. 🙁

A couple of years later, Michael took over ownership of his family’s Hayvenhurst estate and decided to completely raze the dwelling in order to rebuild a new, much more extravagant abode. Construction of the new mansion, which was Tudor in style, took a full two years to complete during which time Michael and a few of his siblings lived in the Encino condo. While there, Michael invited a journalist named Gerri Hirshey into his temporary home to conduct an interview. In the interview, which was published in the February 17, 1983 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, MJ says to Gerri of his dwelling, “Not what you expected, huh?” And even though Gerri says that he goes on to explain that it is a only a temporary living situation and he “concedes that this is an unlikely spot for a young price of pop”, he would end up owning the place for the rest of his life. And he was right – the complex, which is called the Lindbrook, does not look at all like the kind of place one would expect to find the King of Pop residing in during the height of the “Thriller” years. Which is probably exactly why he chose it. That and the fact that the building is gated. From what I can tell, the complex, which was built in 1973 and is quite large, houses 81 different units. Supposedly Ice Cube even lived there at one time. You can see interior photographs of other units in the building here, here, and here. And here is a photograph taken in 1981 of Michael outside of his condo. Supposedly this absolutely adorable video of Michael dancing with television star Emmanuel Lewis was taken in the living room of the Encino condo, but I have not actually been able to verify that. Either way, the clip is definitely worth a look. 🙂 After Michael and his family moved back into the Hayvenhurst estate, the condo remained vacant with various Jackson family members occupying it intermittently throughout the years. At the time of his death, his sister LaToya’s name was also on the deed.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Michael Jackson’s former condo, the Lindbrook, is located at 5420 Lindley Avenue in Encino. MJ lived in Unit #9. Ice Cube supposedly lived in Unit #4 of the same building.