** In this part of my trip, I mention reference to a couple of shows I saw filming or sets I visited.  Please note, there are NO SPOILERS **

After a very busy and late night entertaining Saturday, Sunday (12/9) seemed hard to get started.  I had no plans and well, was pretty lazy most of the morning.  I then decided to take a drive to Hermosa Beach.  I have been ordering online the most amazing bath products for a few months now called Bath Bar - http://bathbar.com/ and also at @bathbar on Twitter.  Anyway, they opened a flagship store just recently in Hermosa Beach.  I took a drive to check it out.  It was a beautiful day.  I had brunch right on the beach at a place called Good Stuff.  I walked around, checked out the beach and some of the little shops and then went to check out Bath Bar.  It is a beautiful shop and not only does she carry the products you see online, you can also create your own fragrances right there in the store.  They have a custom fragrance bar!  Admittedly, I am not creative; however, the woman there very nicely created some scents for me to smell and most were beautiful.  It is a great treat.  I highly recommend checking out this store.

After Hermosa Beach I made the traffic filled trek back to LA.  A couple of suggestions had been made to me and as I had no plans that was my next move.  I made the attempt to go check out LA Live to look around and such.  Well, when I got down there it was impossible to get around anywhere (partially due to the LA Auto Show) so I ended up just leaving.  The next suggestion was to check out The Grove.  So, I headed over there (yes, I now know they are no where near each other).  The Grove was also beyond crowded and I was about to give this up when I found a parking spot.  Still, it was crazy with people.  The stores are nice and the Christmas decorations were beautiful.  I didn’t do any shopping.  I just browsed a bit at the stores and people watching.  As I mentioned it was VERY crowded.  I wasn’t there real long before I decided to go.  I headed back to the hotel, changed and headed out to supper. 

I went Sunday (12/09) night to the Rick Bayless restaurant Red O on Melrose Avenue (http://www.redorestaurant.com/).  I am a bit of a Rick Bayless fan although I have never had the chance to eat in one of his restaurants.  The atmosphere was phenomenal.  The staff very on top of things and still provided lots of attention to me even though I was a solo traveler.  They have an extensive menu and it was hard to decide.  The food is great.  Everything was terrific and if I am in LA again, I will definitely revisit.  I also felt the pricing was not too bad either.  Worth checking out IMHO.

After supper I went back to the hotel to relax and think of something to do on Monday (12/10)/.  All of a sudden I decided I wanted to do the WB Studio Tour.  I checked online and there was availability so I went ahead and booked it.  That was my Monday.  I ended up on the Deluxe Tour that is about five hours long and includes lunch.  It is an amazing tour truly.  Our guide Thom not only was extremely knowledgeable, yet seems to love his work and that made the tour even better.  About half an hour or so into our tour and our guide Thom got a call.  *NO SPOILERS*  Evidently the “boys” from the Big Bang Theory were filming a pre-shoot scene for an episode in January on a different soundstage and it was decided that they would like to have a mini-audience.  So, off we went.  Yes, my group and I got to go watch Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj in a scene to air January 10th.  It was a very funny scene and fascinating to watch filming so up close.  It was explained that during the live audience show Tuesday night, the audience will merely watch the scene we saw live on a monitor.  It was seriously one of the coolest things I have done.  That is all I will say about that. 

Back on the tour we visited all sorts of on the lot locations, Thom told us many stories and many pictures were taken.  We got to tour the room where the final products are mixed (the last step before airing).  We got to into the room where sound is mixed in and/or where stars go if they have to say their lines over as the mic didn’t pic it up or whatever.  We were all over the place.  We had lunch in the fine dining room and the food was very good.  We toured the behind the scenes production areas, set building, props, transportation, etc.  It was all very interesting and fascinating.  We were also able to tour the soundstage where Two and a Half Men shoot in front of a live audience.  We also saw a place where they now have the Friends show set up exactly as it was.  The Central Perk that is.  It was very cool to see it setup just as it was for the show.  A big treat also for me was touring the soundstage where The Mentalist shoots.  They were on location off lot and Thom took us over through their soundstage.  We got a grand tour of CBI headquarters, saw the white board with the latest case on it.  It was extremely cool.  There was just so much on this tour that I can’t even go into it.  Take the tour!  It’s worth it.

After the tour, I headed back towards the hotel.  As I sometimes do, while I was still in Burbank I took a turn to check out some of the neighborhoods and beautiful houses.  They have some gorgeous big houses there I must say.  I was meandering along the streets when I passed a street with a bunch of trailers and such.  I turned around and drove back down the street.  They were obviously filming something.  I parked the car around the corner and walked over towards there to see what was going on.  There were three women standing across the street from filming.  I approached them and they informed that the tv show Castle was filming there and what the filming was about. *NO SPOILERS*  You could not see anything really.  Occasionally you’d see Seamus Deaver or Jon Huertas come out, yet that was about it.  (We learned that Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic were not there then.)  They were shooting in a big house behind a big wall.  It was fairly exciting to be on a live set, yet since you could not see anything it was also a bit boring.  The ladies I met were great to talk with.  The couple of crew I spoke with were very nice and didn’t seem to mind chatting.  I wanted to be respectful as afterall, they are working.  It is so funny to me that you can be driving down the street and one of your favorite shows can be filming.  Guess if you lived out that way, it becomes “old hat.” Not for me though.  I still found it exciting.  Anyway, I was there a little bit, drove a bit more looking at now Christmas lights (as it was dark now) and headed back towards West Hollywood and my hotel.  

Near my hotel, I stopped at Nobu to try it out for a late supper.  Nobu is in a word fabulous.  The staff is terrific, the ambience is great and the food is delicious.  It is VERY expensive however I thought.  I tasted a lot of little bites and I had no idea it would create such a big bill (and I don’t drink alcohol).  Anyway, loved the food and enjoyed trying it out; yet I doubt I’ll go back due to the cost.  It’s not THAT good.

Tuesday was the trip home - waaaaaah.  I must admit that this trip more than most, I really hated returning home.  Hated returning to my current reality and the job hunt.  Good thing I have The Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast to keep my spirits up and my soul laughing! 

Until my next travel adventure…

A sampling of photos taken while visiting The Getty Museum in LA on Saturday, December 8th, 2012.  I have quite a few pics, yet only posting a few here.  If you ever have the chance and like all sorts of art, GO!

(PS - taken with iPhone, no editing or photoshop done)

Just a few pics of my hotel room at Le Parc in West Hollywood.  Pics do not do it justice at all.  I was excited to have a fireplace though!

http://www.leparcsuites.com/

laughingsquid:

Pablove One Another, An Art Benefit To Help Fight Childhood Cancer

Good cause!

I promise that with today’s blog you may be bored or wondering wth, but as I’ve said before, it’s not about you…. it’s about me!  lol  My life seems to be full of it lately alright.  Not so many giggles, unless you latch on to the ridiculousness that has become my every day life.

It’s hard to believe that just a week ago I was in LA running around Hollywood, museums, shopping and prepping to attend the Thrilling Adventure Hour live 7th Anniversary show.  Oh what a short, fun whirlwind  trip.  The one thing I must say that I do love about LA is that is seems like there is ALWAYS something to do for fun and entertainment.  Here in Tampa it is the opposite.  Unless you want to go to a club, the Indian casino or the beach, there really isn’t much else to do.

Anyway, back home in Tampa this Saturday seems to be evolving into a pretty lazy day.  I admit though that after this week, I am enjoying the laziness. 

I came back from LA to week full of work drama and stuff I’d rather had not come back to.  Though I am thankful to be employed, my job has become an absolute nightmare stressor in my life.  I’ve known my boss for just over twenty years and his wife for even longer as we went to high school together.  I should have never taken this job to begin with, yet I honestly thought it would be just temporary.  Never did I imagine the economy would tank as it did and here I’d be almost six years later still stuck in this position.  I have scoured the internet for other jobs and in about every part of the US.  There is simply nothing out there.  Relocating is an issue due to my home ownership and the cost of relocating. I’d do it if I could find the right fit.  Jobs in Florida are impossible now as for my same job, the going pay seems to be half of what I am making and I haven’t had a raise since I started this job.  I also read an article the other week that Tampa (my area) is the worst in the US as far as salarys go.  No big surprise, but crap if you live in Tampa and are looking at jobs.  It’s a no win, no win situation.  

As for the work drama, my boss owns several local gas stations/convenience stores in the area.  This does not and never had interested me.  To do the day to day boredom was okay at first as I figured it would only be temporary.  Now, my boss is getting into the import/exporting of minerals out of Brazil and possibly now Bolivia.  The Brazil mine he is partnering with is in the Amazon and on the Amazon River.  UGH!  Now not only am I bored and disinterested in this job, I have a moral objection to this job because of his decision to aid in the destruction of the Amazon.  All this because he needs more money of course to build the $2.5 million dollar house he plans.  

You may say that this doesn’t sound all that dramatic.  Well, wait.  Then you have the drama of my boss’s wife has now been “ordered” (yes, ordered) to come to the office every day.  This is because she can’t be trusted to be home, have idle time and can’t seem to be responsible in paying what few home bills they pay personally.  All she does is come into the office and sneak candy and coca-cola (as her husband won’t let her have that stuff) and sneak on the computer doing things behind his back.  They keep going back and forth on “we’re splitting, we’re not splitting” and the boss’s wife simply wants everything back to “normal” and okay.  Let me tell you, this couple has been far from “normal” for a long time and it has been more obvious since working for him.  He does what he wants (literally, constantly) and she is a lonely single parent of three basically.  See where this is going?  Anyway, the tension and stress is unbearable to be around all day.  Plus, she whines about her situation all day every day, yet won’t do any action to change it.  If I put on music then instead of her talking, I have to here her sing to every song.  ugh

I wish I could get out of this.  I really really do.  I am starting to think that perhaps this is a cruel joke of my life.

Maybe it is simply meat for a novel I should write?  I’ve always threatened to write a book about my history of working many years in a Christian organization, many years in a Jewish organization; and then now (though not a religious organization), I work for a Muslim and all that entails with his religion and women and being from Pakistan.

What’s a person to do?

Well, I am back in Florida from my weekend in Los Angeles, Hollywood, surrounding areas and the California coast.  I managed to cram a lot in to what was essential a full 48 hrs there (Sat/Sun).  

Saturday was completely packed (see previous blog posts) and I had a tremendous amount of fun.  I do admit that I do not like the traffic in LA.  I probably only drove about a ten mile radius, yet it felt like I drove 400.  

Sunday was a more relaxing day with a drive up the Pacific Coast Hwy north of LA.  I like to take drives and look around.  I get that from my grandfather (who is no longer physically with us).  Driving and exploring is so relaxing.  And, wow, what beautiful scenery up the coast. Went almost as far north as Oxnard before heading back.  In Malibu I cut along Broad Beach Road and saw some of the homes and such.  I almost took Mulholland Drive back to LA and I should have.  When I got just south of Malibu the traffic became unbearable.  It was a nightmare getting back towards the hotel.  Once back in town I was going to head up into Griffith Park and the Observatory.  Traffic was at a stop though and the first chance I had, I turned around.  For lunch I had In & Out Burger which was a treat as we don’t have those in Florida and I LOVE their “animal style” burgers.  I was going to try Pink’s Hot Dogs, but upon seeing the line wrapped around the building I changed my mind.  Next time.  I then drove a bit more around up into the Hollywood Hills just exploring.  It is all quite cool to me. 

The topper to my entire trip still is going to see The Thrilling Adventure Hour live (see prior blog post for more details).  And yes, it is an extremely funny show to listen via podcast, yet ten times funnier live.  If I ever am back and there is a show I’ll be going!  It will be very cool now to be able to picture faces and mannerisms when listening to future podcasts.  I was also lucky enough to be there for their 7th Anniversary show.  The audience there was also amazing and you definitely feel the love they have for the show. And yes, it was cool to see all the guest stars that came and did the show; yet, I just simply love the regular cast.  I feel so fortunate too to have spoken with many of them afterwards.  It was such a wonderful experience.  They are such amazingly talented people and I love that they take their time and put in the effort to do a show such as this is.  They have the kind of creativity and talent that makes you wish you had a mere fraction of it in your daily life.  You can truly see that this show is about the entertaining and not about “celebrity” which impresses me further.  You can check out the podcasts via iTunes or I believe the nerdist.com.  I highly suggest it.

Now I am back to reality and grant it, I’d rather not be.  Ha.  I think I honestly could be on vacation much of the rest of my life :-)

Now I need to find a way to sneak in a nap……

So I am in LA until Monday - all the way from Tampa, FL. Had a beautiful day here and basically wandered around exploring; although I did manage to be touristy and hit the Hollywood Museum, Grammy Museum and the Page Musem at La Brea Tar Pits. A very nice and tiring day.

Now as I refuel at Jerry’s Famous Deli, I am trying to relax before the big live show tonight of the “Thrilling Adventure & Supernatural Suspense Hour.”. I can’t wait to see this show, see who performs and laugh like I’ve never laughed!!

I’ll let ya know how it is.

So I am soon on a flight to Los Angeles. Not sure what I’ll do this weekend. Hopefully I can find some fun to be had.

Saturday night I am going to The Thrilling Adventure Supernatural & Suspense Hour. It’s their 7th anniversary, surprise guests, LOVE the podcasts and I will actually see it live. Didn’t think I ever would since it is a once a month show and I live in FL. Fortune has shined tho!

Now what else to do the weekend…