Heeeere's Birdie!

Heeere's Birdie and his sidekick at the Johnny Carson Memorial Park in Burbank, dedicated to the King of Late Night Television, located just across the street from the NBC studios.
For 30 years, Johnny kept America up late and laughing.

Click to enlarge and read.

The lush grounds proved too tempting for Birdie, and she promptly initiated them, catching Kathleen off-guard and having to await a rescue baggie from Stan, who was gone, of course, talking to a gate guard about parking opportunities.
Incidentally, nearby Forest Lawn was actually more verdant than the Carson park, but we didn't think it would be in good taste to release her for a romp amongst the stones while we inspected the grounds. Still space available, far as we could we see.
We'll return to Burbank tomorrow to attend a taping of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Scheduled to appear are Bill Maher, Alexandra Wentworth and the Punch Brothers. Check your local listings and stay up late and laugh tomorrow night.

Happy Valentines Day from The Temple of Love

Photo by Kathleen Rolfsrud

Sosie, Bill, Stan and Kathleen wish you happiness on this day for lovers from the Huntington Library Greek Temple dedicated to Eternal Love.

Constructed of Colorado Yule marble, the mausoleum of Henry and Arabella Huntington overlooks the gardens from a knoll in the middle of the orange groves. John Russell Pope, one of America’s most distinguished architects, designed the mausoleum in the form of a Greek temple. The classic circular peristyle (or double colonnade) and dome are well suited to the grounds because it presents a perfect front from every angle, and is a combination of two perfect forms, the circle and sphere.

We loved it.

Stair masters

Plaque memorializing
staircase system.

Numerous hidden public staircases, cut into the hills and valleys around Los Angeles, provide great opportunities for exercise as well as observation of unique neighborhood architecture.
Sosie, Bill, Stan and Randy took advantage of this lightly used resource, choosing a circuitous route on the south side of Griffith Park. The hillside yielded tons of floral and architectural delights as the quartet huffed its way through a vertical workout with a Frank Lloyd Wright house as the hilltop goal.
The 1924 Ennis-Brown House showed some wear, but the distinctive textile block appearance and unique windows provided topics of interest while catching our breath. Plans are under way to rehab it.
The Los Angeles grid spread out in the flatlands below us, peeking through again and again between the street lights, hedges and distinctive garden walls edging the twisting urban hillside pathway on our way back down.
Then a visit to the Greek Theater and an In and Out burger joint in Glendale to top off the day.

This Frank Lloyd Wright design house looms over some fantasy
rooflines on the hike to the top.

Walk of Fame

Around the corner, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce was awarding Sir Paul McCartney his new star on the Walk of Fame. The ceremony was going on near the Capitol Records building but we couldn't get close enough for a picture, our credentials being what they are, and us unwilling to wait in a line for too very long. We didn't wish to leave empty-handed, so we offer this scene of committed followers of yet another very popular figure on the Walk of Fame. . . who has yet to be formally recognized by the chamber.

Hi Mom! It's Sosie calling.

Sosie called her Mom after hiking up to the cheap seats
where she could see the Hollywood sign, the Griffith Observatory
 and the Hollywood Bowl all at once. A tourist's nirvana.

In the summer of 1935, fifteen-year-old Beverly Brown motored out to California from South Dakota with her sister and mother. She didn't have a license, but helped with the driving anyway. A highlight of the tour was a stop at the Hollywood Bowl. She remembers that well.
Stan and Sosie had the place to themselves on Friday. Sosie got a picture of Stan belting out "Old Man River" on the same stage where so many stars have performed over the years. From the top, you can barely make out Stan's yellow shirt on the photo, but you could have heard his voice clearly in this acoustical gem.

1935 program

Sosie took out her cellphone to call our mother in Alexandria to tell her that the only voices to be heard in the Bowl today were trained by Beverly Brown Rolfsrud. She seemed amused. Later we went to the nearby museum and found a copy of a program used in 1935, when Mom was zipping around LA in the family roadster.

Even in his yellow shirt, it was hard to see the day's

soloist making his way up the stairs. Click to enlarge.

To Protect and Serve. . . and help little old tourists across the street

There are eight lanes of traffic on Highland Drive zipping past the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl. Signs warn that pedestrians should not attempt to cross here. A helpful tunnel has been dug to allow pedestrians to safely cross under the street.
This morning Stan and Sosie set out for a hike to the famous Hollywood Bowl and ended up across the street from its entrance on Highland Drive. But, alas, the pedestrian tunnel was chained up tight. There are no events scheduled at the Bowl and no one would be so foolish as to walk there just to see the museum and an empty bowl. . . except for a couple of hiking Rolfsruds, of course.
Sosie and Stan were stranded. It would be at least a mile to backtrack to the legal pedestrian crossing.
A helpful, turning motorist shouted through her open window as she wheeled past, "Use the tunnel!" "It's locked," we shouted back.
Then we spotted a sheriff's deputy about to make a right hand turn in front of us. Stan stood with his palms raised, shoulders shrugged, in a "what the hell am I supposed to do now" gesture. It worked.

8 to 10 lanes of traffic flying off Hollywood Frwy.
Do not cross here.

Cops love it when they get a chance to actually serve someone who isn't drunk and disorderly or mad at them. When the officer realized what a ridiculous conundrum we faced, he just smiled and said "Hop in!" Sosie sat in front with the officer. Stan slid into the hard-surfaced perp cage in the back.
Then our deputy sheriff really got into it, flipping on his lights and siren. We went "Code 3"  and magically parted the busy Highland Drive traffic stream. "Now where too?," he asked, as we entered the Bowl parking lot. We soon found the drop off point in front of the bowl museum, but we weren't done yet.
Stan was still locked in tight, of course, and had to wait to be released from the outside by the good officer Kraupke.

Arthur Eichenberger, 87

We were saddened to learn of the passing of a relative, Arthur Eichenberger, 87, who died after a short illness in Lombard, Illinois, on Feb. 9.
Mr. Eichenberger was the second husband of Beverly Rolfsrud's sister, the late Kaye Brown Eichenberger. In their later years after Kaye's passing, Beverly and Arthur remained in regular contact.
Survivors include his son (our cousin), Eric Eichenberger, 42, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., as well as Eric's half-brother, Arthur Eichenberger, 65. Preceding Mr. Eichenberger in death was his daughter, Judy.
Funeral services will be held next Thursday at the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Visitation is at 10 a.m. followed by services at 11 a.m.

Something Special for Our Sweethearts

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Stan and Bill had hoped to slip inside unnoticed. What could be more romantic than a thoughtful gift of dependable foundation garments, manufactured by the industry leader, and purchased at the original post-World War II location on the corner of N. McCadden Place and Hollywood Blvd? Very thoughtful indeed.

Catwoman in good shape after brawl with Jack Sparrow

Photo by Kathleen

Appeared to be sober today

We dropped by the Kodak Theater this morning to observe preparations for the Academy Awards and to check on the welfare of Catwoman, recently reported here as having been in a nasty brawl with a drunken, irate Jack Sparrow in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Police were called, medical attention was given and news stories were filed. Catwoman assured Stan today that she's fine, but she's keeping her distance from the pirate, and so far so good.  This was confirmed by her workmate, Alice in Wonderland. The surly pirate, who doesn't look at all like Johnny Depp, lurked in the distance, presumably still leery of the Catwoman's claws and mace. (See photo -- we didn't pay him for it) The Catwoman was most grateful for our concern and did her best to show it and split our tip with her pal.
We looked around Hollywood Boulevard some more, but there was no sign of Sponge Bob Square Pants, who is seen being beaten silly by a perturbed purse-wearing tourist on a popular YouTube video. Bob, it is said, would have made a better accounting of himself, but his constricting square pants outfit kept him from getting any leverage on his swings.