Gabba Gabba Hey!

We decided to blow off Universal studios till Thursday and that was a good plan considering we didn't get up till almost 11AM again. Much to do with the fact we didn't get to sleep till around 3AM. This is not unbearable jetlag I have to say... it more or less confines us within the sleeping patterns expected of honeymooners he he.

We went to the Hollywood Forever cemetery today and this was a truly amazing place. Has to be the most illustrious cemetery every created. Of course there are loads of celebs there, most of who we had never heard of, but with some of the most elaborate graves, overwhelming mausoleum and the vaguest view of the Hollywood sign, it left little to be desired.

Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone are both buried here and as you can see from the pix, Johnny's grave site was a little easier to locate than Dee Dee's. I didn't want to have my pic taken with Johnny, but Dee Dee was A OK in my book. How can you love the Ramones and not think Dee Dee was all that?




































While looking for Jayne Mansfield's grave site (she's not actually buried here, despite having a plot) I was attacked by this swan styled creature. Pretty funny, and not overly dangerous, I'd go head to head with this creature and it's kin before trawling some of the streets of LA he he.



















We did find Jayne Mansfield's grave however. My 'Do What Thou Will' tattoo at its most fitting.











We went for a stroll down the walk of fame thingo and found KISS. Good photo opp for sure and interestingly, one of the first. Dunno where they started, but when you hit Hollywood from La Brea, this is what you'll see.









Outside Grauman's again... here's the footprints of C3P0, Darth Vader and R2D2 plus their autographs (David Prouse did the DV for sure). Some lame kid was standing on it saying that it was Princess Leia's autograph, but that kid was a total lamer. Almost as lame as the tour guide guy who called her princess Leila he he.







And here's a nice pic of Linda Blair as Regan in the Exorcist. The powers of christ compelled us to take this photo! Check Michelle's serious gaze... eerie...










We went to see the Hives, but it was sold out. Fool me for not being more organised. We went from there to the Viper Room which didn't seem to be open, and on to The Rainbow. Bit of a beer barn tip... Good drinks however...

We have four days remaining here in LA and we both can't wait to get to Vegas. I really don't think we 'get' this town. We went past High Voltage Tattoo today, but they were filming there and we didn't get a chance to check it out. Maybe another day... Universal Studios tomorrow. That should be kick asssssss.......

You're famous, gimme money!!!

Seems wherever Michelle and I go, people seem to think we are rock 'n' rollers and in some sort of band. Seems to me that LA is a town OBSESSED with fame and fortune and desire to mix with people who possess either, but preferably both.

Even Munky from Korn was checking us out in the foyer at the Beverly Laurel. I'd suggest he thought I was Howard Stern, but fortunately I haven't got ANY of that this time around.

A guy dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow came up to me and said, "You're famous, gimme money!!!" I had to disappoint him...

We did a couple of bus tours of LA today and it was actually pretty cool. We even discovered this totally random dude who had this hand written sign giving some shout outs to Howard Stern. Just standing there on a street corner waving to people. It would appear our paths are somehow destined to converge, though I'd be lying if I knew how that was gonna play out.

After dinner last nite, we got driven home by this complete maniac who drove like a total fiend... bipping and tailgating and the like. It was like being in DieHard, but he managed to keep the car on the road. Not like he had a bomb to diffuse or anything...

We managed a kick ass sleep. To bed at 9PM and awake at 3AM we managed to sleep through from around 4.30 to 10.30 which was not only unexpected, but welcomed to be sure!

We had breakfast at our new favourite diner. Granola is the best museli in the world and the diner's playlist included Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Ramones and Murder City Devils. The menus were designed by Coop and the decor is kick ass. Good times.

We tried walking up to Graumans Chinese Theater on Hollywood, but it was miles away and once we'd discovered the Hollywood sign, we decided to taxi the rest of the way there. Hollywood Blvd is the Times Square of LA and that's where all the tours take place. It's also the home of the Chinese Theater which is a spectacular looking place. Even bettered by the notion that Star Wars premiered there. Kick ass!!!

We discovered loads of uninteresting stuff about celebs in LA... many we had never ever heard of, but we did see a house owned by Michael Jackson and Prince (at different times) which was on Elm Rd. I guess this was the place that Charlie Murphy and co played BBall against the Revolution...

We also saw the house where Nightmare on Elm St was filmed and directly across the Street is the houses where Halloween were filmed. Awesome.

Our two tour guides offered vastly different reasons/motivations for why certain things took place in LA, but it was cool all the same.

We had dinner again in a diner, and went to our first Hot Topic. Michelle got some really great stuff from there and we then went to MAC for some fancy make up. Cheap by Australian standards... never a bad thing.

If you ever go to LA you MUST go to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Killllller place. What an extraordinary host of weirdness contained in this place. Nothing like I have ever seen.

Tomorrow I think we're gonna take it easy, do some more shopping and hopefully go and see the Hives. Can't wait for that!

Till then.

Jason

Dinner with George Lucas

I know what you are thinking. This is the guy that KILLED Star Wars. In a manner of speaking, it is his right to do that, after all he created it. Who would want to have dinner with him? Well technically he was there, but only in spirit.

We just went down to the famous Mel's drive in on Sunset. Didn't see Motley Crue running down the street, nor did we see Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig chasing them, but we did have a cool dinner. And $4 Coronas. Kick ass!

This is a soda lovers paradise! At least 3 litres with every dinner. Awesome!












Here's an outside look at our hotel.

















And the pool. It's kinda cold right now, so swimming is off the menu... not to suggest it's ever ON the menu, but...











Tomorrow we plan to go to the Hollywood walk of fame and take a look at the sign. let's hope for low fog. We should be able to see it then he he he.

We're in LA

Today we arrived in LA. How tidy, a good 2 hours before we left Melbourne he he. Unlike NY, LA people seem to recognise that we are from Australia, not England. If you viewed NY through the same eyes I did, it's not actually cool to come from England, so I guess we got over that one for now.

Seems when we left NY last time, that our departure was not recorded, so we now have to jump through a few hoops and prove that we left the USA back in December of 2005. A small hassle, but one we'll manage with.

the flight was relatively uneventful and we managed to sleep. Getting by with a little help from our 'friends' he he. Good times. Also got a kick ass exit seat. United has come a long way in the 3 years since I last flew with them. Also managed to get all my tubes of bepanthen and bags of Apricot Delight into the country. Chelsea and Tyler are in for a treat!!!

The flight attendants were generally friendly, though this one guy did say garbage (gar-baje) dunno if that helps, but it was pretty ridiculous and even the campest of dudes could realise that that was a truly lame thing to say.

Not sure how much we're gonna like LA though. We took a stroll down Melrose today and found some cool stores, and will definitely get back there for more shopping, but I'm not too sure how the town will fare post mortem.

The hotel is pretty cool, but old school for sure. Well a little from column A and a little from column B. Kinda reminds me of where the Karate Kid moves with his mom, but a little flasher.

The weather is awesome... about 24 degrees and clear. Smoggy, but as clear as you expect this city to be. It's hard to get any central sort of perspective on the place, but I am sure that will come with time. We have an idea where the Hollywood sign in, but we haven't seen it yet. The direction is obvious though he he.

We had lunch at this cool little rock n roll kinda 50's styled diner which was grand. No doubt we'll be eating there again. Seems Australia is the only place in the world where you can't find a cafe or something that plays cool music.

Michelle picked up a copy of Hollywood Babylon... the original Kenneth Anger expose. We're probably gonna go to see the sites of the Manson murders and maybe Death Valley, but we're not 100% sure at this time.

So now, we're just haning out. No signs of jetlag yet, though it's only 4PM LA time, so I guess the worst is yet to come.

More soon.

Jason

Yeah, Jason and Michelle are married!

Though many people say it, we can testify that it is true, our wedding day was the best day of our lives. I have never felt that happy and that intensely elated for such an extended period.

Everything, right down to the letter, was perfect. Ironically, it didn't rain, and we possibly could have pulled off the cemetery, but both of us were overwhelmed with Labassa and feel that though it was a late decision, it was in fact the best one.

Everyone who attended our ceremony and reception helped to make our day so amazing and we both felt really excited that things unrolled the way they did.

A picture tells a thousand words so they say, so I'll let these images, courtesy of EBarbs do the talking.

Michelle and I at our wedding ceremony.













Strawberry Daquiris













Me and the wife in the back of a 1928 Ford Tourer.












Michelle and I outside Labassa.























































And tomorrow morning, we set sail for LA and our 3 week honeymoon. Yeah!!!

So much can happen in 24 hours

When we parted ways yesterday, Michelle and I were getting set to check out the venue in which we'll be married - Labassa in Caulfield. As you can see, it looks awesome from outside, but nothing would prepare us for how amazing it was inside. Unfortunately you can't take photos inside the building, but you'll have to take our word for it. It's not the cemetery we originally intended to be married at, but the cemetery isn't this place either, so we pretty much won either way we went about it.

Been getting some cool and crazy wedding presents. Our friends Daniel and Mel are working in the UK at the moment, and unfortunately, they could not get back here to be a part of our wedding, but they did send us this... the ultimate accessory for people who think black is the only practical colour for pretty much anything.

If you can't ascertain what this is, it's toilet paper. Yep, 3 rolls of deluxe, black, in a fancy tube, toilet paper. And you thought you'd see it all!

And then, this came from our friend Karey who resides up in Lismore, NSW. A courier dropped around this massive box which was quite heavy and extremely well packed. After wading through some paper, bubbles and cardboard, we discovered that Karey and his fiance Claire had sent us this. Karey said that he knew we'd be celebrating, and it looks like we will for the next 3 years. Pls note, the sunglasses are there to illustrate just how big this bad boy is! They are not actually a feature of the bottle...

As it was halloween yesterday (this blog is on US time he he) we decided it would be fun to make a small to do about it and prepare some artifacts for the young ghouls that came a knocking upon our door.

There weren't loads of them, but there was enough to keep us amused. We gave out lollie fingers, ears and some other body parts and yeah, it was cool to see some of the youths had gone to a degree of trouble for the occasion.

We set up some webs, a pumpkin cut out for the door and I got the smoke machine rocking. Unfortunately that really just filled the house with smoke and spooked Norman our cat, but it was pretty funny just the same. We will up the ante for sure next year!!!

We rocked the Misfits for about 4 hours which is always fine Halloween music.

Here's what the front door looked like when the smoke was really blowing!

Today we had some chores to take care of. I had to get a belt... stupid suit pants with their tiny little belt loops and some other stuff while Michelle went for a manicure and massage.

When we returned, we finished making our cup cakes for the wedding. These are modeled on those featured in Sex and The City and they taste amazing.

Have a look:






And the best for last. Norman eating his cake.



So tomorrow is our wedding day. May get off an entry written before I depart... time will reveal all.

Toodles.

Jason

Jason and Michelle's Kick Ass Blog #1

Unless you are some sort of weird voyeur type, I expect that if you are reading this that you know myself, Michelle or both of us, so introductions aren't entirely necessary.

Today is Halloween... the day in which the worlds of the living and the dead converge. Shinfo right? Not really. Read on and I'll elaborate.

Yesterday we finished up at work and are on holidays until the end of November. You can imagine how excited about this we are. On Friday, we are getting married. You can imagine how truly excited we are about that! Originally we had our ceremony planned to take place at Box Hill cemetery, but due to hostile weather conditions, we changed course and opted for this spectacular mansion in Caulfield. We are both really excited about the wedding and our honeymoon, and time isn't transpiring fast enough for either of us right now.

Last night we went for dinner with our friends Erica and Jamie... affectionately known as EBarbs and JBarbs. We went to Global Vegetarian which is a one off restaurant that though rustic in decor, serves truly magnificent vegetarian food. I guess the global part of the name is due to the dishes being of a worldly nature rather than it being the McDonalds of the vegetarian restaurant world.

Last time JBarbs and EBarbs were over at our place, they were telling us about their recent explorations into the world of the seance. Having never done this myself I was really keen to know more about what they had uncovered and it was no surprise that after dinner last night, Michelle was not backward in expressing her desires to commune with the dead.

I guess most of the time people express scepticism for this medium because the idea that a glass is navigating its way around a board and delivering messages to those gathered demands some sort of leap of faith and it's generally easier to accept that one of those seated at the table is in fact manipulating the glass.

Well I can and will go on the record to say that in my experience this is not the case. It's not my place to divulge the details of the contact that was made, but it seemed very real and way beyond the realms of chance and coincidence.

I never expected or believed that extreme manifestations can occur, and this hasn't changed my lack of belief in an afterlife. It does suggest to me though that those who have passed may still be able to communicate with us, even if it appears to be a distant, sort of filtered manner.

So we had a nice sleep in today, hanging out with our cat Norman who is raising a little bit of hell at the moment. He gets all hopped up after having breakfast. Funny little person that he is.

Here's a nice picture of him.

You can't imagine how much it sucks that he can't come to the wedding, but he really doesn't like being taken out if his home environment. He'll be there in spirit of course.

We are going to see the mansion today. We haven't seen the inside beyond the photos on the internet and what we managed to see by peeking through the window, but expect it to be amazing. It really seems to be the perfect place for us.

So yeah, only 2 more sleeps till the big day. Can't remember when I looked forward to something this much.

Toodles.

Jason