Ho Ho Hollywood

Okay, I didn't die during Thanksgiving, but the dinner did go eleven hours. I was fooling myself that I'd write anything after the fact.

Good food, hope yours was too.

So, a few of us decided to go to the Hollywood Blvd Christmas parade. We'd emailed about it, I was thinking about skipping it - then thought - why the heck not?

I'm glad I did it. First, I got to experience the subway system of Los Angeles. Ha! I bet you didn't even know Los Angeles had a subway system. But we do. It's a real pretty one too. If you live in town and have never tried it, you should. Every stop has a different, really excessive theme to it. It's like a Universal Studios Park ride.
Too bad it doesn't really go anywhere useful. However, for the parade, we were able to drive about five minutes from our place, hop on (at Vermont and Beverly for those of you really curious) and get off at Hollywood and Vine. That stop, if you haven't guessed, is completely MOVIES MOVIES MOVIES related. It's done in an "Egyptian" type style, something that was quite popular for the old movie palaces of the twenties. But wait, there's more - the ceiling is completely covered -- in empty Film Reels; the old ones used for projection back before platter systems.
It's nuts.
I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or laugh at the sheer audacious, gaudiness. I finally decided to laugh with awe.

Also, I can't really figure out if you have to pay to ride the subway. We bought the 1.25 cent subway tickets to the parade, but as their weren't any turn styles, ticket takers, or anything else of identifiable nature, we didn't bother buying them to go home. We just - went to the station, got on the train, and rode. Far as I could tell, so did everybody else.
The subway cars themselves look just like the NYC subway. Probably designed that way to make faking a New York subway easier for movies. The stops however were nothing like NYC, so somewhere there must be a special stop that looks like Manhattan.

The Parade.

Going down Hollywood Blvd, there's all kinds of decoration stretching across the blvd. It's shiny, glittery and only comes up around this time of year, so far as I can tell, it's supposed to be Christmas decoration. However, there's nothing to indicate that, or any other holiday. It's more film reels, and film strips. It's the one religion everybody in this town can agree on, I suppose.

Please note: Saying Ho HO HO on Hollywood Blvd. can lead to unknown results.

So, the parade... it was the greatest cavalcade of B and C list actors, and people you never heard of. We made a game of trying to come up with the most irritating things to cheer at them as they passed. Examples: Marion Ross got a big "Mrs. Partridge!!!!". Eric Estrada got "Caged Fury Rules!!!" (check IMDB if you never heard of THAT)

Best was the absurd Papier Mache Godzilla. Seeing Japanese tourists yelling and pointing at Godzilla was priceless.

And then it was over... the hoses and the trucks came in and HO HO HOsed down the sidewalks.
The large Musco lights, and the wet streets made for a Hollywood style Hollywood Blvd.