Scented nights and days…
Audrey Tautou and Chanel No. 5 find their lost love.
Chanel No. 5: Film, Story, Behind The Scenes
Archive | May, 2009
Celestial Nights
14 MayThe Griffith Observatory was inspired by the stars. It’s purveyors believed that a close look at the world around us was enlightening and profoundly affected the viewer. The Observatory grounds were envisioned to be a place where the public could access the engimatic mysteries of the universe in a relaxed, fine atmosphere. When Griffith J. Griffith came along, it was an endeavor not yet achieved in Los Angeles.
In the Spring of 1930, planning began for L.A.’s first ‘Great Park’. Costs were low due to the present Depression. For the same reason, talented architects were available, the finest stones and resources were prevalent. Earthquakes, Focult’s Pendulum, a planetarium and the observatory’s telescope tower were considered in preparation of this ‘Great Park’. Today, the observatory is a newly renovated mansion, closed in 2002 and reopened in 2008 at the cost of $93 million dollars. There are no parking or entrance fees and you no longer have to make a reservation to visit. In fact, the only fee is a ticket to see a half-hour show at the Planetarium, at a cost of seven dollars. The grounds are grandiose and pristine, the views wide and dramatic.
The Observatory is, as its shape suggests, toured as follows: an entrance, a left, then right, a downstairs and a roof – accessible by winding staircases along the side of the building. A telescope is brought out on the outside lawn daily for a closer look at Venus, the most visible planet in the L.A. firmament. Exhibitions cover the high points of astoronomy’s most notable celebrities and inventions, featuring the theories and beliefs that first brought our eyes skyward. Planetarium shows run every 45 minutes. Using digital laser technology, a Zeiss Universarium Mark IX star projector (latest in it’s field), live narration, and seamless dome construction to create an immersive program for viewers, the Planetarium is all about modern design. The narrator warns that you may get nauseous, to close your eyes if this happens, it’s only a visual affect. Follow signs to the lower level to view information about our planets, meteorites and the moon. Weigh yourself on Mars and Neptune, read about Saturn’s icy rings, and locate the stars in our sky. The upper level is about the past, the lower about our future. The whole is about our location in the galaxy.
Viewing our galaxy is profound and humbling, and the Griffith Observatory is all it was meant to be. A place for relaxation and education, a ‘Great Park’ as Griffith J. Griffith envisioned. The observatory makes the city remarkable, draws foreigners to its gates, and provides a heaven’s view of the dusty L.A. landscape. An alluring view from above.
Barbie Wishes She Were Me
14 MayHow some serious advertising and a love of pink can make you a Hollywood icon…
This…
Is…
Angelyne.
As the election for a seat on the 5th District Council heat up, candidates are promising a crack down on supergraphics and billboards that now populate an area that encompasses West Hollywood to Beverly Hills – premium advertising space. However, there’s one billboard that hasn’t disappeared from the landscape. The ‘Billboard Queen of L.A’ would never do that to her fans.
Any L.A. local can tell you, Angelyne is most famous for her pink predilection – she drives a pink corvette with vanity plates that read “ANGLYN” and carries around a dyed Maltese pooch; both of these secondary to her numerous billboards found across Los Angeles, featuring her propped on a feather boa, in a sequined bikini with shoes to match, all pink.
A Google search reveals that she has appeared in over a hundred films, music videos and television shows, and managed to release three self-proclaimed successful albums. Somewhere in the 80’s, she appeared on the scene through a series of billboards featuring her in different poses. By 1982 she was so recognizable that people would stop her to take photos, and she appeared as a guest on the late night show Thicke of the Night with host Alan Thicke (of Canadian fame and only known to those who grew up in the 70’s). In the 90’s, she performed at special events, such as the New Year’s Eve celebration at Cherry in 1999, the raucous spot that reigned Hollywood’s club scene from 1994 to 2001. Today, she is rarely seen in person. Most sightings are of her Corvette parked off Sunset Boulevard or a rare stop at the seven-eleven captured by TMZ or Hollywood reporter – a tiny blond antiquity wrapped in fake-fur.
As she tells it, she maintains “the glamour of classic Hollywood.” “My image is seductive and sensual without being campy or burlesque. I carry on the tradition of the Hollywood Blonde Bombshell in my own unique way and I’m very proud of that.” General knowledge says she’s the wife of a billboard magnate, but she denies these reports and says instead that financial support comes through private investors, and ‘countless’ offers for interviews, star appearances and features in music videos. The reason for all she does? Inspiration to others. Whatever the dream, you can conquer all odds.
She’s not complacent to be pigeon-holed as just a billboard star. She wants the world to know that she’s a true performer – a dancing, singing, glamorous throw-back to good old Hollywood. Not so much. She is seen around town in mini skirts and hooker shoes, four-inch heels carved out of clear plastic, and stalked with perverted intrigue. She looks more like Mary Ann from Gilligan’s island aged 40 years with bad plastic surgery than an elegant Lauren Bacall.
Kitschy or not, her billboards look dirty and worn. Times are tough. However, she is relevant to modern Hollywood; she marks its backdrop and peppers its history. Though her fifteen minutes seem to be coming to a close and her iconic fame revolves more around her erratic behavior than God-given hotness, she is another Hollywood dream come true.
Trader Joe’s
14 MayA late night run for two-buck Chuck finally got me to Trader Joe’s new location off Sunset. Three parking garage floors down is the entry way to the store. I expected cheap grocery store goods, not a rehash of Rock n’ Roll motifs. However, this store’s novel location may have called for a new spin on things.
First, the elevator from the parking garage…
The walls of Trader Joe’s
This is unusual for Trader Joe’s, whose normal in-store decor themes ebb around the Islands. An oasis in the city if you will.
Anonymous
13 May
Today is a sad day for the antipathetic group Anonymous, who in 2008, chose to attack Scientology and its followers through an onslaught focused on their communications, exacting the shut down of their website and a flood of black faxes to their headquarters. Dmitriy Guzner, age 19, was charged with unauthorized impairment of a protected computer and faces 12 to 18 months. There’s no word on how he was caught, but he pleaded guilty to the charge and is the first member of the Anonymous group to be prosecuted.
In 2008, Anonymous members organized multiple protests outside Scientology’s offices and religious centers around the world; a series of foreboding and creepy YouTube videos were released by the group to make their case known. Counter attacks ensued, but the Scientology church denied that they were the source of retaliation. A movement I traced through the pages of Radar and documented. Members of Anonymous are most widely recognized for their use of the Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta, an effort meant to protect themselves from personal attacks by the Church.
Fly Away Home
12 MayThe Little Things
My Days were spent under a less sunny canopy
Almost…
Denver Museum of Nature & Science: An important part of a Coloradoan’s childhood
Indigenous Crystal
Denver! Music plays at their feet
See the rain?! Like California, this can be a rare treat
Final Twilight Drive
Last Stop! 8pm
Home
1 MayI went home. Home is Boulder, Colorado. About four years ago I left this place for Miami, then Miami for Los Angeles, and homesickness has plagued me the entire time. The bond I’ve felt with home did not materialize this time around. I didn’t feel completely satisfied touching the ground and I don’t want to stay. I might not love Los Angeles, but I don’t hate it either – something I’ve heard plenty of times from Angelenos. It’s like a family dog, troublesome but lovable.
In trying to look for a once favorite quote of mine, which goes something like, I’m a foreigner in my homeland, I found this one “Homesickness is…absolutely nothing. Fifty percent of the people in the world are homesick all the time…You don’t really long for another country. You long for something in yourself that you don’t have, or haven’t been able to find,” said by John Cheever. This statement carries more weight than the former. When I come home, it’s to find relics of my past, the familiar toys, memories and people. These things comfort me and remind me of who I was, because new places make me feel lost. The danger of the unknown.
Los Angeles is as much a home to me as much as I want it to be. An obvious point and late realization, but I was never a child of the world. Stepping into that unknown. As John Le Carre said “we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen,” and, there is so much more to see.
NO SAINTS IN L.A. 