May 19 2017
So as it turns out this week is 'screening season' in Los Angeles. It's when the studios and networks screen all of their latest offerings to international buyers and acquisition types.
One of those types is old mate EG who I worked with for a few years at Fox Studios in Sydney and is now ponying up as an exec in Old Blighty. (That's England in case you didn't know). Well to be more specific in this case, London.
After a few days of back and forth we finally managed to meet up at the Roosevelt Hotel where she's staying. What a great night. First we started off at one of the many, many bars at the Roosevelt, a swanky hotel with a very rich Hollywood history. It's also named after the guy they named the Teddy Bear after. Doesn't get much cooler, really.
It was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1926, and was bankrolled by none other than a group helmed by Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman. It's the longest running hotel in Los Angeles and its ballroom was also the site of the very first Academy Awards. Here's a shot of Pickford, Fairbanks and Grauman across the road, getting cement under their fingernails at some famous theater LOL. Look vaguely familiar?
EG and I were hardly wetting our hands in the cement, but what a great place to start our catch up, in what turned out to be a night studded with pop culture references and ye olde glamour. We were in what I think was called the Library Bar. Being a tee-totaller that would usually put me in the wrong place, at the right time, but our barkeep made a homemade Ginger Beer that was metaphorically to die for.
We snuck out to a local drugstore to get cigs and couldn't help but snap a nice little shot with the old fashioned neon liquor sign in the background. And a few palm trees to boot. Funny, surrounded by all that glamour and I manage to selfie next to blocks of cement and chicken wire. Go figure....
It had been so long between 'drinks' and there was a lot of stuff to catch up on since we'd last seen each other. I'll always make time for my Elvis-lovin' old bean!
After meeting with a few of her friends in the bar, they've gotta take off, so we're left to our own devices for dinner.
I've got the perfect spot.
El Coyote in Fairfax is a Mexican restaurant which has been running since 1931. It always seems full, which is a good sign. The kookiest part of this place is it's the last place that Sharon Tate ate a meal, before she met her gruesome end at the hands of the acid-riddled psycho-giggling murder gaggle otherwise known as The Manson Family.
"We HAVE to eat there" .. EG proclaims.
I've got no problem with that either ... WE'RE IN!!
After waiting for ages, then struggling to take a photo under the neon light (you know, that thing where the camera wants to focus on the light, and not on you?) we end up getting an outside table.
We were never going to get the Tate booth, they just don't take bookings for less than 6 people, as I found out earlier that night. Bugger.
Still, the waiter was super attentive and helpful. The food was brilliant and it was just a super fun night from start to end.
Before we get stuck into El Coyote's brilliant dishes I find out that EG's never had Poppers (deep fried crumbed jalapenos filled with cream cheese) before. It might be too late for Sharon Tate, but not for us. (Couldn't resist, sorry). Neither of us are chilli fans but there's no way we're leaving until she's tried one! Soooo GOOOOODDD!!!!
I escort EG back to her hotel. Before I let her split back into her room for another gruelling day of screenings we've just got to check out the pool bar. It's apparently a 'happening thing'. There's a David Hockney mural on the bottom of the pool floor but just couldn't get it without a selfie stick (and at this point I'm too cool to take that route).
One of the best nights I've had in ages, with a super awesome girl. Now I'm hanging out until the next screening season!
#california #losangeles #sabbatical #hotelroosevelt #sharontate #marypickford #douglasfairbanksjr #sydgrauman #graumanschinesetheatre #drugstore #gingerbeer #elcoyote #sharontate #themansonfamily #friendship
So as it turns out this week is 'screening season' in Los Angeles. It's when the studios and networks screen all of their latest offerings to international buyers and acquisition types.
One of those types is old mate EG who I worked with for a few years at Fox Studios in Sydney and is now ponying up as an exec in Old Blighty. (That's England in case you didn't know). Well to be more specific in this case, London.
After a few days of back and forth we finally managed to meet up at the Roosevelt Hotel where she's staying. What a great night. First we started off at one of the many, many bars at the Roosevelt, a swanky hotel with a very rich Hollywood history. It's also named after the guy they named the Teddy Bear after. Doesn't get much cooler, really.
It was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1926, and was bankrolled by none other than a group helmed by Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman. It's the longest running hotel in Los Angeles and its ballroom was also the site of the very first Academy Awards. Here's a shot of Pickford, Fairbanks and Grauman across the road, getting cement under their fingernails at some famous theater LOL. Look vaguely familiar?
EG and I were hardly wetting our hands in the cement, but what a great place to start our catch up, in what turned out to be a night studded with pop culture references and ye olde glamour. We were in what I think was called the Library Bar. Being a tee-totaller that would usually put me in the wrong place, at the right time, but our barkeep made a homemade Ginger Beer that was metaphorically to die for.
We snuck out to a local drugstore to get cigs and couldn't help but snap a nice little shot with the old fashioned neon liquor sign in the background. And a few palm trees to boot. Funny, surrounded by all that glamour and I manage to selfie next to blocks of cement and chicken wire. Go figure....
It had been so long between 'drinks' and there was a lot of stuff to catch up on since we'd last seen each other. I'll always make time for my Elvis-lovin' old bean!
After meeting with a few of her friends in the bar, they've gotta take off, so we're left to our own devices for dinner.
I've got the perfect spot.
El Coyote in Fairfax is a Mexican restaurant which has been running since 1931. It always seems full, which is a good sign. The kookiest part of this place is it's the last place that Sharon Tate ate a meal, before she met her gruesome end at the hands of the acid-riddled psycho-giggling murder gaggle otherwise known as The Manson Family.
"We HAVE to eat there" .. EG proclaims.
I've got no problem with that either ... WE'RE IN!!
After waiting for ages, then struggling to take a photo under the neon light (you know, that thing where the camera wants to focus on the light, and not on you?) we end up getting an outside table.
We were never going to get the Tate booth, they just don't take bookings for less than 6 people, as I found out earlier that night. Bugger.
Still, the waiter was super attentive and helpful. The food was brilliant and it was just a super fun night from start to end.
Before we get stuck into El Coyote's brilliant dishes I find out that EG's never had Poppers (deep fried crumbed jalapenos filled with cream cheese) before. It might be too late for Sharon Tate, but not for us. (Couldn't resist, sorry). Neither of us are chilli fans but there's no way we're leaving until she's tried one! Soooo GOOOOODDD!!!!
I escort EG back to her hotel. Before I let her split back into her room for another gruelling day of screenings we've just got to check out the pool bar. It's apparently a 'happening thing'. There's a David Hockney mural on the bottom of the pool floor but just couldn't get it without a selfie stick (and at this point I'm too cool to take that route).
One of the best nights I've had in ages, with a super awesome girl. Now I'm hanging out until the next screening season!
#california #losangeles #sabbatical #hotelroosevelt #sharontate #marypickford #douglasfairbanksjr #sydgrauman #graumanschinesetheatre #drugstore #gingerbeer #elcoyote #sharontate #themansonfamily #friendship
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