Let me start off by saying... I'm all for change otherwise we would be stuck with stagnation and the decay that comes with that... but I've learned when we see change day by day like our face in the mirror it's not so drastic as when we don't see someone or someting for 10 or 20 years... not only are the physical changes sometimes jarring but we also probably missed all the important events in each others lives... and that in my opinion is why it's so difficult to reconnect with certain people after a long hiatus... yet sometimes there are people and places it seems we never left and can pick up right where we left off... Let me also add that I will almost always miss people more than places or things.
I spent a significant part of my life living in the Los Angeles area... I'm not from Beverly Hills but I've always felt at home there and have known several people who call it home... a friend of mine once called me and said "I saw you sashaying down Wilshire Boulevard with shopping bags in your hands" ... that used to happen much more when there was still I. Magnin at 9626 Wilshire Blvd. (my first credit card) and Jerry Magnin's store on Rodeo... Now it's a Saks and Jerry's store sadly no longer exists either... an interesting tid-bit about Jerry's grandfather Cyril Magnin... he played the Pope in the movie "Foul Play"
 |
| I Magnin on Wilshire |
 |
| Saks Mens Store |
I don't know if they still sell maps of the movie stars homes (I know you can still take specialized guided tours)... but frankly most people who you would want to see their home most likely live behind carefully guarded gates and high hedges and/or fences for safety and privacy... but that was not always the case...
Back in the day my favorite homes were...
 |
| 8531 Santa Monica Blvd. |
 |
| Delores Del Rio--- 1903 Out Post Drive |
 |
230 Ocean Way
|
 |
| 6776 Wedgewood Place |
One of the many marvels was...
This was her beach house until it was converted to a hotel and in 1956 became The Sand & Sea Beach Club and badly damaged by an earthquake in the 90's and fell into disrepair and eventually torn down... but the original guest house still stands...
Cary Grant's beach house was pretty swell too...
 |
| Palisades Beach Road |
Although there is not as much privacy now as when he lived there... it recently sold for about 12 million dollars.
But I would be remiss without including Charlie Chaplin's house... it was and still is amazing...
 |
| 1085 Summit Drive |
Probably one of the places in the LA area that I have noticed the most significant changes are Westwood Village... for a short time I lived nearby and almost everything I needed was readily available within the few streets south of UCLA.
 |
| 1928 |
 |
| Now |
I won't dwell on this too much but Tom Crumplar's Malt Shop home of "the worlds thickest malts" is now a California Pizza Kitchen... Tower Records is gone, Penny Lane records is gone, the Butterfly Bakery is gone (they had the best cakes and pastries in the LA area in my opinion) and Hamburger Hamlet is gone (I think I have eaten at Hamburger Hamlet more than all the other restaurants I have eaten at in my life combined...
In Los Angeles like everywhere else many things contribute to change... but change is almost always based on the economy poor management and/or rising rents in addition tastes and needs change with time (In the LA area you have to factor in fire and earthquakes too)... but I have to say one of the biggest factors for a lot of the change we see is technology... I have to admit I have been very slow to embrace itunes... I still prefer going to an old fashioned record store.
If you are going there is a lot to see... even if you have been someplace before I recommend going back to see if the changes are improvements or something else...
One place that I can't recommend highly enough is Grauman's Chinese Theatre...
 |
| 6925 Hollywood Blvd. |
Sid Grauman built the theatre in the 20's it was and still is the most sought after theatre to screen movie premieres... it was renamed Mann's Theatre in the 70's and recently reverted back to it;s original name a few years ago.... The legend goes that Norma Talmage accidently stepped in wet cement during the final stages of it's construction and gave Sid Grauman the idea for the Inprint Ceremonies since then the Hollywood elite have left imprints of their feet, hands and signature. The most recent was Lionel Ritchie on 7, March 2018.
It's quite a lively ceremony filled with fanfare.... I saw the Sidney Poitier and Natalie Wood Imprint ceremonies...
But I learned visiting that I have the same size hands and feet as Gregory Peck...
I would have loved to have been there for the George Clooney and Brad Pitt hoopla but more than all of them I wish I had been there for... Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell (but I was not born yet)
Malibu and Trancas Beach have seen it's share of change from my first memories... but one of the things I was considering as I wrote this is that Alice's Restaurant in Westwood is not around now because it was of a place in time... I'm glad I was of that time because you never knew who you would run into there...
A place I never knew was the Big Rock Cafe in Malibu... it burned down before I was born...
It's always been Moonshadows to me (and one of my favorite places to eat in the whole world... like almost everyone else especially at sunset)
 |
| 20356 Pacific Coast Hwy |
I hope it's there as long as I'm alive... but I would like to think that if something changes maybe something better will take it's place... that does not always work out in life but sometimes change can exceed our wildest expectations... I think of this because when I was young long term LA residents told me about a time when Sunset Boulevard was flanked by a poinsettia field...with all of this in mind it's important to know that we should not cling to the past but equally important is ...
I've really needed the break I took recently... so until further notice I'm going to be publishing here every other week.
Hope you will join me agin in two weeks... meanwhile enjoy spring!
If you are going there is a lot to see... even if you have been someplace before I recommend going back to see if the changes are improvements or something else...
Sid Grauman built the theatre in the 20's it was and still is the most sought after theatre to screen movie premieres... it was renamed Mann's Theatre in the 70's and recently reverted back to it;s original name a few years ago.... The legend goes that Norma Talmage accidently stepped in wet cement during the final stages of it's construction and gave Sid Grauman the idea for the Inprint Ceremonies since then the Hollywood elite have left imprints of their feet, hands and signature. The most recent was Lionel Ritchie on 7, March 2018.
It's quite a lively ceremony filled with fanfare.... I saw the Sidney Poitier and Natalie Wood Imprint ceremonies...
But I learned visiting that I have the same size hands and feet as Gregory Peck...
I would have loved to have been there for the George Clooney and Brad Pitt hoopla but more than all of them I wish I had been there for... Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell (but I was not born yet)
A place I never knew was the Big Rock Cafe in Malibu... it burned down before I was born...
