In "Murder, My Sweet" (1944) Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) strikes a match on a statue of Cupid's butt. So it wasn't a new gag.

I hike in Griffith Park pretty often(I hiked there today) and I've hiked to the Hollywood Sign a couple of times; I think I'm against it. First of all, while quite a few folk want to "go to the Hollywood Sign" there's not much there. You get to see the back of the sign, but you don't get a much better view; that view you get from the neighborhoods directly below the sign. There's been a dispute between the home owners below the sign and access for people to the sign for years now. I'm really concerned how the construction and operation of this skyway will impact the northeast portion of the park.

ETA: The last time I hiked up to the sign(well behind the sign, you can't actually get closer than about 30' to the sign), I used public transporation(Metrolink, Metro, and the Hollywood DASH bus. ER, you remember the "Drinks" sign that you liked? That was from my hike back down from the Sign.

ETA2: Funny thing, if you search "Hollywood Sign" on Google Maps it will take you to Griffith Observatory. The home owners below the sign have quite a bit of influence.

This dubious site

http://web.csulb.edu/~odinthor/socal19.html

(fifth picture before the end) tells us that "At American Avenue's crossing with Fourth Street was the First Christian Church." This would now be the corner of 4th with Long Beach Blvd., which shows no trace of the church (I'll spare you gsv pix of H&R Block etc.).

I already went there, thanks to your charming site. As they appear to be laying track (?) in e_r's original pic, I'd guess Chuck-E-Cheese is currently occupying the church site (or, as you say, H & R Block).

Variety quote:

"The project would carry tourists from the parking lot of the L.A. Zoo up to Mount Lee [site of the Hollywood Sign]"

That sentence makes no sense to me.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Yn...=w1060-h477-no
google maps

Thanks, Bill. That waterfall is what I remember most from my visit to Busch Gardens when I was a kid.

I guess they're trying to go with a site that already has parking and existing traffic patterns, but something along Forest Lawn Drive would make more sense. Somehow a skyway over Amir's Garden doesn't quite work for me.

Yes, one of the commenters on the Variety article says that this would take people up to the back of the sign. Then what? People who travel up there want to get a photo of themselves in front of the sign. So this seems to defeat the purpose. I'd guess they would then be disappointed and try to get to the front of the sign anyway. Also, any "easier" way to get to the sign will undoubtedly cause more people to come up there, which is what the people living there don't want. Frankly, too, the closer you get to the sign, the less attractive it is. After all, it was made to view from afar.

Also, I have somewhat of a complaint about the "homeowners" who live around there. You've purchased homes near one of the most famous identifying landmarks in the world. You live near the Hollywood sign. What did you expect?

It's like buying a house next to the airport and complaining about the noise.

I've lived here for a long time and I've never had the slightest urge to get up close and personal to the Hollywood sign, but I love seeing it pop up in view when one is traveling around the area.

One of the commenters on the Variety article also wrote:

SC Vandy:
"I’m blessed to walk and jog there plus the Hollywood Reservoir three times a week. I routinely hear complaints from “both sides.” BTW, if you’re in shape enough to get to the pinnacle, then you’re in shape enough to get to the Hollywood Sign’s neighbor, Wisdom Tree, atop Burbank Peak. This legendary landmark is infinitely easier to access via Barham Blvd., Lake Hollywood Dr. and Wonder View Dr. than the over-burdened Beachwood side. From Wisdom Tree it’s a 25-minute trek past Cahuenga Peak to Mt. Lee and the Sign with awe-inspiring, rubber-necking views the entire way."

BillinGlendaleCA, have you done this? What is the "Wisdom Tree?" If it's a "legendary landmark" as the poster says, I have not heard of it and a search doesn't
bring up anything on NLA about it.

I emphatically agree. :previous:

I'd rather go for a brief cruise on Barry Diller's yacht Eos

Wisdom/Wishing/Magic/Giving Tree (of Life)
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NG...c=w723-h533-no
la weekly ( <-- info at link)

LA Curbed on the tree

The tree's Instagram account

Hikespeaks directions to the trail

Its amazing that the tree is still there.

http://uscasce.com/wp-content/upload..._1-672x372.jpg
http://uscasce.com/wp-content/upload..._1-672x372.jpg

(I see that T2 has already provided a pic, but I'll include my own...)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7604/...fcc3c230_c.jpg07040040-1 by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

I've hiked a portion of that route(Up to Burbank Peak and and over to Cahuenga Peak and I started the hike to Mt. Lee but the trail was a bit dicey and I was alone. I don't think the flag is up there all the time, my hike was on the 4th of July.

While the view of the sign from a distance adds context, one of my favorite photos that I've taken of the sign is from the neighborhood right below the sign(it was just after entering the neighborhood from Mt. Lee Drive).

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/...6c1eaac2_c.jpg_8300082-1 by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

A note on the concept of "The Wisdom Tree"; like Inspiration Point, there are several(I know of at least 2 Wisdom Trees), they're older trees that have survived brush fires that have burned the area around them so they tend to stand out.

LA desperately needs about 100 Wisdom Trees.

https://www.hikespeak.com/img/la/Gri...California.jpg
https://www.hikespeak.com/img/la/Gri...California.jpg

http://cruiselinehistory.com/wp-cont...aleharvard.gif
http://cruiselinehistory.com/wp-cont...aleharvard.gif

SS YALE and SS HARVARD from their San Francisco and San Diego routes docked together in San Pedro (Los Angeles) in 1915…

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...7a/SS_Yale.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...7a/SS_Yale.jpg

SS Yale ...1906 Los Angeles.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/7924/hollywood.png
ethereal_reality_1987

I had a slight urge. ;)
_

OK, here's the one up in the Verdugos(I hope it's still there after September's fire):

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/...4014c20b_c.jpg20150802_130455 by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

I think you'd find that extremely difficult now(fence, cameras...).

Busch Gardens, Van Nuys CA
 

Thanks for posting your photographs BillinGlendaleCa.

I see your camera was jostled a bit when you took the waterfall photo.

http://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/64...922/b2En3u.jpg

Were you riding on one of the hanging Skyrail cars?




I spy your waterfall.
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/10...922/9rNUyx.jpg
themeparkreview

note the bridge over the railroad tracks.......................................:previous:



[continue below]

That bridge is one of only remaining remnants of the park.



http://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/10...923/nPCxp5.jpg
gsv

Many of the locals call it The Bridge to Nowhere


"In 1972, a pedestrian bridge was built over the railroad tracks to the five area expansion. It led to a new log ride known as the Ya-Hoo Flume,
which entered a giant misty aviary with waterfalls and squawking parrots that flew freely. It’s only now, when I look at old photos of the ride,
that I realize the “logs” were in fact replicas of wooden beer kegs. The SkyRail was also expanded to encompass the entire park.
Its tracks were connected to the west and east sides of the bridge. One of my most vivid Busch Gardens memories was standing on that bridge
and watching workers clumsily attempt to shoo a wayward peacock off the monorail tracks, a source of subversive delight for us kids."




old Busch Gardens boundaries / and the ped. bridge
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/10...923/kkwyjN.jpg

I have to admit, I'm mostly guessing about the blue dotted line.
__



update:

I just came across this interesting aerial.

http://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/10...924/PKNR1Y.jpg
donated by Bob Hill Valley Relics/Facebook

Initially, I thought the photographer was atop one of the taller buildings built in the 1950s, but unless I'm looking at this wrong, he's on the wrong side of the tracks
for it to be one of those earlier buildings, right? :shrug:

_

Thanks for giving us the location of the First Church of Christ, odinthor.

You said on your blog :
At American Avenue's crossing with Fourth Street was the First Christian Church. "Churches! Banks! —Always First!

you reminded me of a Free Methodist Church that was in my old neighborhood.
I had a goofy friend and every time we walked past it he would yell "LOOK, FREE METHODIST CHURCH!" :koko:

every. f*cking. time.
__


p.s. What's up with the baying sheep on your blog odinthor?

p.s. my friend was implying that the church building was free and that we should go get it and haul it off. (I told you he was goofy)