The Terrible Catsafterme

Originally, to me, the Culver Hotel was merely a Laurel and Hardy film location. Seen in several of the Laurel and Hardy silents, such as Putting Pants on Philip, We Faw Down, Leave ‘Em Laughing, and Forty-Five Minutes from Hollywood, among other Hal Roach silents starring Our Gang and Charley Chase, the hotel has always stood tall among the little town of Culver City where so many classic films were made in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The hotel has also gained much noteriety as the lodgings for the actors portraying the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. The Chevy Chase film Under the Rainbow helped perpetuate the myth that the little actors were a bunch of perverted sots…and that film, too, also filmed its exterior shots at the Culver Hotel. Read the rest of this entry »

Washington D.C., Colonial Beach, Pope’s Creek, Stratford, Port Royal, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, Richmond, Charles City, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Roxbury, Brookneal, Appomattox, Lynchburg, Lexington, Staunton, Charlottesville, Stanardsville, Barboursville, Montpelier, Orange, Culpeper, Arlington, and back to D.C. If it exhausted you to read all of these Virginia cities, imagine how I felt after visiting all of them over the course of one week. Tiring, yes, but never dull. My friend Bob and I had a fabulous time touring historical Virginia as well as taking in a few sites in Washington D.C. from August 4-12, 2007. I must warn you now, the postings pertaining to this trip will likely linger on into 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people thought I was crazy to travel all the way to Los Angeles for only three days, but the purpose of my trip was to take part in the festivities of the Way Out West Tent’s 40th anniversary celebration – which included a mixer, banquet, and two extensive Laurel and Hardy locations tours. I had exactly two days of unused vacation; I decided to use it here. And I’m certainly glad I did. As with my previous seven journeys to the west coast, this one too provided me with a lifetime of memories and good times with my many great friends from this neck of the country. Read the rest of this entry »

The following is the conclusion to the journal of events from my October 2005 Hollywood vacation – the second half of my second day. Mostly this deals with the Hollywood Collectors Show that I attended on October 1. You will note a similar soapbox speech about the perceived greed of some of the celebrities at the Hollywood Collectors Show during my Hollywood ’07 trip. Obviously at the bottom of this posting, you will be able to follow a trail of celebrites and see separate entries about the stars whom I met during this show.  Read the rest of this entry »