The Price is Right and The City of Angels

Gotta speed things up a bit.  We got a great story about our stay in Gallup, New Mexico lined up.

The very morning, we woke up early to get ready for a taping of The Price Is Right.  Surprise!  Back in Vancouver Chris and Alexei signed up for tickets to be in the audience and everything until LA was rushed to make it in time for the show.  Hurray for planning skills! 

The drive to the Hollywood was met with mixed feelings.  On one hand, the tall, thin palm trees made for a refreshing view against the clear blue skies down the city streets as you can see below (lower your volume).  On the other, buildings in the area look rundown contrary to our preconceived idea of a pristine district.

At the CBS studio gates, we received our tickets to the show.  Then we proceeded to wait in line for 3 hours before we were allowed to enter.  The staff was friendly to keep the crowd of 300 entertained and fed.  Chris enjoyed himself and was glad he was not in the driver's seat for the next while.  Alexei and I might have felt the same if we were less sleep deprived and starved.

Unlike we previously believed, contestants on TPIR aren't randomly chosen but are  handpicked by the quick-witted Stan, the show's producer.  Each person is interviewed in groups of twelve to find unique participants.

The staff led the studio audience to their seats after lunch.  Upon entry, we were astonished by how small the stage was compared to the way it is shown on TV.   Television sure makes things larger than life!  

The whole event felt like one huge party.  The two hosts, Drew Carey and George Gray, cracked jokes and made the spectators feel welcomed.  In between what are supposed to be commercial breaks, they played upbeat music and got everyone to their feet to dance.  Even some of the staff danced on stage along with us.  They put on Gangnam Style at one point much to my surprise.  All three of us left with smiles and positive vibes.  Catch glimpses of us in the audience on October 18th!

What are two of the sexiest animals on a farm?

Brown chicken brown cow.  (Bow-chica-bow-wow. Get it? LOL)

We headed to Grauman's Chinese Theatre soon after.  Lots of people in fancy costumes such as Iron Man and Saw asked tourists to take pictures with them in front of the attraction for money.  Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles roped me into taking a picture with him (oh naive Tak).  Strewn all over the entrance floor were the famous celebrity hand and footprints, everyone from the legendary Clark Gable, the jolly Mickey Rooney, to the more recent Daniel Radcliffe.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

For the Iron Man fans

Chewbacca gets his daily fix at Starbucks

After ice cream and milkshakes at the theatre, we went on an architectural tour to see the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Bradbury Building.  The concert hall is an astounding piece of engineering.  The way the metal roof twists and turns to give its unique shape reminds me of the Sydney Opera Hall.  The Bradbury Building was made in the 1890s and contains an open elevator design, marble staircases and beautifully detailed metal fencing.  It's not difficult to see why several movies such as Bladerunner were shot in there.  Across from Bradbury is the Million Dollar theatre, which has very detailed exterior and high arches reminiscent of ancient Roman decor.  It always amazes me how all these little features were crafted, chiseled and sanded accurately by human hands.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Interior of the Bradbury Building

Look at that detail on the Million Dollar Theatre!  Wow!

Next on our tour was the Universal Citywalk near Universal Studios.  This place had everything I expected from Los Angeles: glowing lights, gift shops, fancy restaurants, neon signs and movie memorabilia hanging from them.  You can take a look at the video below to see what I mean (keep your volume low).

We unfortunately ran into a lot of rude people in between each stop.  There was an incident of an old man yelling at us in front of our car.  Chris rolled down the window and greeted him in French, much to our hilarity. Another incident involved a well dressed teenager who came asking for money and swore at us when we refused.  We weren't used to this as we never had problems with people in other cities before this one.

So, as you'd expect, our impression of the city was unfavourable that day.  The massive traffic jams, the high crime rate and our encounters with some of its rude citizens was enough to convince us to never live in LA in the future.  I may come back to visit another time though to discover more architectural findings.

Next up, Santa Monica beach, Death Valley and Las Vegas!