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Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts

Friday 15 September 2017

The Mask at Warner Bros. Studios

Squeeze Me Gently On Hennessy Street.

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

  We have a copy of The Mask on DVD that we got for free inside a box of cereal.  The movie was also a box office success and starred Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss.  When Stanley finds a special mask he puts it on and is transformed into... well, into Jim Carrey doing his stand-up routine.

Stanley's Apartment.

  When we visited Warner Bros. Studios, we were lucky to see some of the filming locations from this movie.  The first location is found on Hennessy Street of the backlot.  Stanley lives in the apartment pictured above.  It is the building with Hardware written on it and fire-escapes on the front.  When Stanley first puts on the mask he becomes a green faced cartoon-like character.  He ends up bouncing down a hallway and out the window of this building.  He is flattened when he hits the ground below.  A car honks at him for being in the street.  Stanley pulls out a tiny little horn which lets out one giant-sized windshield shattering " Bahooogahh!"

Warwick Hotel.

  Later in the film Stanley is once again wearing the mask.  This time he finds himself face to face with a street filled with police.  The building above played the neon lit Warwick Hotel.

They call me Cuban Pete.  I'm the king of the rhumba beat.

  When faced with this predicament, The Mask breaks into song and the police are surprised to find themselves losing control and dancing along.  The song he sings is Cuban Pete.  This song was previously made famous by Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy fame.  All of the action takes place just beyond the dumpster you see in the middle of the road above.

I go chick chicky boom, chick chicky boom.

  At one point The Mask leaps into the air and slides down a light pole beside this theatre (right hand side of the photo above).  The dance sequence continues and finishes with a conga line before The Mask sneaks off once again.  Our golf cart also snuck off once again as we continued our tour of the studio.


See more locations from the Warner Bros. Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
New York Street , Stanley Ipkiss Apartment

Post # 191

Saturday 15 April 2017

Bunny Rabbit Hare

Black Bunny.
  1. Lop-Eared Rabbit
  2. Bugs Bunny
  3. Flemish Giant Rabbit
  4. Arctic Hare
  5. Lionhead Rabbit
  6. Rabbit Balloon
  7. Tortoise & Hare
  8. Cute Bunnies
  9. Chocolate Bunnies
  10. Eastern Cottontail
  This Easter weekend we thought it would be a good time to take a look at our top 10 bunny encounters.  Here they are in no particular order.

1 ) Lop-Eared Rabbit
Lop-Eared Bunny.

A friend of ours used to care for a very cute lop-eared bunny.  A lop-eared bunny is a bunny whose long ears hang (we guess you could say lop) down.  You will notice all of the other bunnies in this blog post have ears that stand straight up or sit back on top of their heads. 

2)  Bugs Bunny
What's Up Doc?

One of the all-time favourite bunnies is Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes cartoons.  He is among a short list of animated characters to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The outline drawing of Bugs Bunny (above) was in the Warner Brothers Studio's Museum.

Bugs Bunny's Star.

3)  Flemish Giant Rabbit
G'Day Big Bunny.

From Bugs Bunny we go to Big Bunny.  A Flemish giant rabbit can weigh up to 10 kg and grow to about 30 inches long.  It is one of the largest domesticated rabbits.  The bunny above was at the Toronto Zoo for a short time and shared an enclosure with the wombats and wallabies.  Perhaps it had outgrown its previous living space.

4)  Arctic Hare
Arctic Hare.

While we were in Churchill, Manitoba we spotted this hare just across the road from our lodge.  While it may not be the smartest thing to do in polar bear territory at night, we headed outside to try and get a closer look.  Luckily, he stood still long enough for us to get the picture above.  It took us some time to determine if this was an arctic hare or a snowshoe hare as both inhabit Churchill. We read about one having bigger feet or ears than the other.  Some reports said that one has bigger eyes or fluffier fur.  We made our determination by the black on the ears.  As far as we can tell arctic hares (like this one) have black just on the top tip of their ears while snowshoe hares have a black edge that may cover the tip, but runs further along the ear as well.


5)  Lionhead Rabbit
Roar!

A lionhead rabbit is bred to have a mane around its face like a lion.  They end up looking like little balls of fur with ears. We wondered how they can even see where they are hopping.  When taking pictures, the bunny below did flash us a look from beneath all that fur just to let us know he was in there. The lionhead above is from Prickly Ball Farm and the lionhead below is from Far Enough Farm.

Lionhead Rabbit.

6)  Rabbit Balloon
Silver Bunny.

Artist Jeff Koons had a piece of his art appear in Toronto's Nuit Blanche 2009.  It was simply named Rabbit Balloon.  It featured a giant shiny silver bunny that was floating inside the Eaton Centre.  This bunny also once floated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2007.

7)  Tortoise & Hare
Boston's Tortoise & The Hare Statue.

In Boston's Copley Square is a sculpture of a tortoise and a hare.  It was installed as a tribute to runner's of the famous Boston Marathon. It is based on the popular fable of The Tortoise & the Hare. The fable tells the story of a rabbit who was so confident in his ability to outrun the tortoise that during a race he ran ahead and took a nap.  While he napped the tortoise passed by heading for the finish line.  The hare finally awoke and tried to catch up, but it was too late.

The Hare.

8)  Cute Bunnies
Grey White Bunny.

We think that all rabbits are cute.  There is something special about a tiny bunny that you can pick up and hold in your hands while it sits quietly twitching its little nose.  These cuties are from the Toronto Zoo kid's section and from Jungle Cat World.

Grey Bunny.
Cute Dans Le Fruit.

9)  Chocolate Bunnies
Teuscher Truffle Bunny.

Chocolate shaped like eggs is good.  Chocolate shaped like bunnies is good.  This bunny above is a box from Teuscher Chocolates and hides a chocolate truffle in its belly.  We like chocolate.

10) Eastern Cottontail
Backyard Bunny.

The one rabbit that we have encountered the most is the eastern cottontail.  Actually we have eaten more chocolate bunnies and watched more Bugs Bunny cartoons than we have had encounters with eastern cottontails.  Let's try that again.  The eastern cottontail is the wild rabbit that we have encountered the most.  Sometimes when you least expect it you look out into the yard and there is one munching away on something.  Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail!



Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Australasia Pavilion) , Toronto Zoo (Kids Zoo) , Jungle Cat World Wildlife Park , Prickly Ball Farm , Lazy Bear Lodge , Far Enough Farm
Teuscher Toronto
Tortoise & Hare , Eaton Centre
Hollywood Walk of Fame

Post # 171

Thursday 10 November 2016

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Location: Santa Barbara, California, USA
Address: 1100 Anacapa St.
Date:  Feb 2014
Website:  sbcourthouse.org

  If you find yourself in court, you could do far worse than the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.  The courthouse was built in 1926 and is a great example of Spanish Colonial Architecture.  We spent some time enjoying the building as well as the surrounding grounds during our visit.

Courthouse Archway.

  As you approach the courthouse, an archway states "Dios nos dio los campos El arte humana edificó ciudades".  This means "God gave us the country, the skill of man hath built the town."

We want Justice man.

  Two figures sit above the archway.  The figure in the photo above looks like a male version of the familiar Justice statue.  He appears to be holding a sword in one hand and scales in the other.

Spirit Of The Ocean.

  Next to the archway is the Spirit of the Ocean fountain.  This is a hand carved replica of the original  courthouse fountain.  The original had deteriorated through the years and it was decided that it must be replaced.  The replica was unveiled in 2011.

The Courthouse Hallway.
Quiet Court Is In Session.

The inside of the courthouse is equally impressive with its long hallways.  Even the "Quiet. Court is in session" sign is unique.

Mosaic Bench.
 Curved Stairway.

  Intricate mosaic tiles adorned benches and stairwells.  The courthouse truly is a work of art inside and out.

Painted Court Room.

  One court room which is a popular wedding spot is the Mural Room.  All of its walls are covered with a giant mural.

Clock Tower.

  No trip to the courthouse is complete without a trip up the clock tower.


  Just before reaching the viewing area at the top of the tower is the clock room.  This houses a Seth Thomas tower clock which ticks away the time.

Santa Barbara Bells.

  You can also see bells hanging from the ceiling inside to save space. This way everyone can visit the top of the tower and enjoy the view.

View from the clock tower.
 Santa Ynez Mountains in the distance.
 Santa Barbara County Administration Building.
 Red tiled rooftops.
What the Frack?

  From the top of the tower you can see the red tiled rooftops of Santa Barbara. You can tell that the Spanish Colonial style is popular all across the town.  Behind the town you can see the Santa Ynez mountains.  Out across the ocean you can see oil rigs trying to hide behind the hazy sky.

Sunken Garden.

  As you look straight down from the tower you are looking into the sunken garden on the courthouse grounds.

Santa Barbara Courthouse Garden.
 Deep in the Sunken Garden.

  We descended the tower and headed out into the gardens.  We were glad that we were only visiting as tourists. If we found ourselves on trial at this courthouse at least there would be many beautiful distractions.


Map of Our World
Santa Barbara County Courthouse

Post # 143

Saturday 10 September 2016

The Stinking Rose

Follow your nose to The Stinking Rose.

Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Address: 325 Columbus Ave
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  www.thestinkingrose.com

  One of us is very fond of garlic.  So when we discovered a restaurant totally devoted to garlic based recipes we just had to pay it a visit.  The Stinking Rose in San Francisco stands out as you drive down Columbus Avenue.  It has been turning heads with its unusual name and filling noses with its overpowering smell for over 25 years.

Something Stinks in San Fran.

   The idea for the restaurant came after a visit to the Gilroy Garlic Festival.  The town of Gilroy is about an hour and a half south of San Francisco and is known for its garlic.  We stopped in Gilroy to gas up the car during our California driving trip.  As soon as we exited the vehicle we could smell the garlic, even over the fumes from the gas station.  We also paid a visit to Garlic World which is a grocery / souvenir shop selling local products.

Garlic Bulb.

  Back at The Stinking Rose we enjoyed an appetizer of garlic spinach fondue and followed it up with a couple of garlic based entrees.  Everything was delicious and after our meal we advertised for the restaurant with our breath.

World's Longest Vampire Repellent.

  The restaurant also boasts one of the world's longest garlic braids.  It has close to 2,600 blubs on it and wraps all around the interior of the restaurant.  If you are looking for a unique dining experience we highly recommend The Stinking Rose.  It was one of the culinary highlights of our California trip.


Map of Our World
The Stinking Rose , Garlic World

Post # 132