As a child, I spent nearly every weekend with my best friend shooting hoops and jumping fences throughout Hollywood.
It was always amusing seeing tourists — especially foreigners — line up around buildings and outside nightclubs and lounges that held no meaning to me, at the time.
These monuments I ignored as a youngster became the must-see places of my teenage years and early 20s.
It was at the Viper Room where a 20-year-old me was tossed out of line trying to crash the same venue where Pearl Jam had played.
I was first scandalized by the price of a drink for a date’s $10 cocktail at the Troubadour in West Hollywood (I think I was making $6.50 an hour at the time). But I had to visit one of Jim Morrison’s favorite haunts.
It was fun to see favorites, but more importantly, to read about new places and legends.
Hopefully, there’s a spot that intrigues you. Let’s take a look at a few selections.
Capitol Records (Hollywood)
The most famous tower in all of music was never overtly intended to look like a stack of LPs and a stylus needle.
“The building was not designed as a cartoon or a giggle. To have it trivialized with the stack-of-records myth is annoying and dismaying,” architect Louis Naidorf has said of his Capitol Records Building. “There’s not a thing on the building that doesn’t have a solid purpose to it.”
That was no obstacle for it becoming emblematic of both Los Angeles and the record business. It’s still home to one of the most renowned recording studios on Earth, and its silhouette remains a Hollywood icon and a symbol of Los Angeles on par with the Hollywood sign nearby.
(Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times)
Elliott Smith Wall (Silver Lake)
The beloved singer-songwriter Elliott Smith posed at the swooping mural outside Solutions speaker repair in Silver Lake for the cover of his LP “Figure 8” in 2000.
After he died by suicide in 2003, the wall became an unofficial memorial for Smith, where fans left touching notes, song lyrics and nips of liquors mentioned in his songs.
While the wall has been cut out in spots to make room for various restaurants — and it’s often covered in more flagrant tagging — it’s still a living connection to one of the city’s most cherished voices.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Chaplin Studio (Hollywood)
John Mayer calls it “adult day care”: the historic recording studio behind the arched gates on La Brea Avenue where famous musicians have been keeping themselves — and one another — creatively occupied since the mid-1960s.
Known for decades as Henson Studios — and as A&M Studios before that — the 3-acre complex in the heart of Hollywood has played host to the creation of some of music’s most celebrated records, among them Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion” and D’Angelo’s “Black Messiah.”
Charlie Chaplin, who was born in London, began building the lot in 1917 in a white-and-brown English Tudor style; he went on to direct some of his best-known films, including “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator,” on the property.
The Lighthouse Cafe (Hermosa Beach)
The Lighthouse Cafe might seem familiar from its cameo in the Oscar-winning movie “La La Land,” but this jazz cafe was once instrumental in shaping the West Coast jazz scene.
The beachside spot first opened as a restaurant in 1934 and was changed into a bar by the 1940s. It first started to play jazz in 1949 when the owner let bassist Howard Rumsey host a recurring jam session. The jams quickly began to draw both a vivacious crowd of listeners and a core group of budding jazz musicians.
Over the years, musicians like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis and Max Roach all made regular appearances at the Lighthouse. Today, the venue still hosts jazz brunches every Sunday and other musical gigs throughout the week.
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John Mayer calls it “adult day care”: the historic recording studio behind the arched gates on La Brea Avenue where famous musicians have been keeping themselves — and one another — creatively occupied since the mid-1960s. Known for decades as Henson Studios — and as A&M Studios before that — the 3-acre complex in the heart of Hollywood has played host to the creation of some of music’s most celebrated records, among them Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion” and D’Angelo’s “Black Messiah.” Charlie Chaplin, who was born in London, began building the lot in 1917 in a white-and-brown English Tudor style; he went on to direct some of his best-known films, including “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator,” on the property. In 1966, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss bought the place and made it the base for their A&M Records; they converted two of the lot’s soundstages into high-end recording studios that drew the likes of Sergio Mendes, the Carpenters, Stevie Nicks, U2 and John Lennon.
In 1985, A&M’s parquet-floored Studio A was where Quincy Jones gathered the all-star congregation that recorded “We Are the World” in a marathon overnight session; in 2014, Daft Punk evoked the studios’ wood-paneled splendor in a performance of “Get Lucky” with Stevie Wonder at the 56th Grammy Awards.
Now, with an eye on preserving the spot at a moment of widespread upheaval in the entertainment industry, Mayer and his business partner, the filmmaker McG, have finalized a purchase of the lot, which they bought for $44 million from the family of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and which they’ve renamed Chaplin Studios in honor of the silent-film giant who broke ground on it more than a century ago.
MINNEAPOLIS — The sites of the three consequential deaths span just over two miles of south Minneapolis. George Floyd in 2020, Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month.
The death of Floyd, after a police officer dug a knee into his neck for more than nine minutes, was a catalyst for the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that sought law enforcement reforms and accountability.
Those of Good and Pretti, shot by federal immigration agents, have similarly sparked demands that federal agents to stop using violence in pursuit of President Trump’s mass deportation effort.
The sites are close enough to walk in an hour. So, on Sunday, I did.
Mementos, drawings, signs and flowers are covered by fresh snow outside of Unity Foods where George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.
George Floyd
Floyd was killed just outside of Cup Foods, since renamed Unity Foods. On a wall outside the convenience store, Esther Osayande’s painting “Sankofa” depicts a bird with its head turned back, surrounded by flames.
The description says it is a metaphorical symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana to express “the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present.”
“Sankofa tells us that we as a people can rise above conflicts of ego and treat all beings we meet as brothers and sisters,” it states.
On the same wall, someone spray painted, “My cries are 4 humanity.”
The memorial, known locally as George Floyd Square, encompasses a nearby covered bus stop, where a visitor had written that “race is a made up idea to keep ppl down.” Against the shelter glass, someone had taped a typed notice of emergency. It lists “martyrs” killed by authorities — Good, Floyd, Philando Castile and others before them.
“This ICE operation is somehow simpler AND more malicious than the kill count accumulated by our PD,” the notice reads. “This is slave catching. This is gestapo.”
A memorial to Renee Good at the location where she was shot in Minneapolis.
Nearly six years after Floyd’s death, some of the memorial art has begun to fade under the sun. A metal archway gives way to a plastic A-frame board describing Floyd and the global movement that his murder inspired.
“George’s name has become a rallying cry for those who believe in a better future, one where all people are treated with dignity and respect,” it reads.
Few people gathered at the memorial Sunday morning, but real and fake flowers, blanketed by snow, covered the site. A family with children got out of an SUV and walked around. A young photographer snapped some shots. And a couple took their time weaving through the makeshift garden.
Floyd’s cousin Paris Stevens is co-chair of Rise and Remember, which preserves the memorial and leads tours of the area. She said the organization wanted to give the community a safe space to grieve, “because everybody has lost someone.”
The thread linking the deaths of her cousin, Good and Pretti, Stevens said, is that they all could have been prevented. The fact that people have begun to visit all three sites is a sign of how unjust killings bring out the humanity in people, she said.
“How do we care for one another in times of need?” she asked. The answer, in part, is found in the artwork, writings and flowers at the three memorials.
“For this to happen, it’s like we’re picking up the ball and running again,” she said. “We’ve been here before and we know what to do.”
A memorial for Renee Good marks the location the 37-year-old woman was shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Portland Avenue near East 34th Street in Minneapolis.
Renee Good
Portland Avenue, where Good died less than a mile from Floyd, is lined with Craftsman-style homes. Many displayed “ICE OUT” or “Black Lives Matter” signs — or both — in their front windows.
One window posed a question: “How many weren’t filmed?”
Stapled to a telephone pole was a letter addressed to federal agents: “It might be hard to understand why almost all Our City’s residents are angry with Your Mission (which has changed radically over the past year). This handbill intends to resolve confusion. I hope it finds you well.”
Another telephone pole struck a different tone:
“ICE ARE TERRORISTS KIDNAPPERS MURDERERS.”
On a wooden fence, Good’s portrait accompanied those of Floyd and other Black men killed by police in Minnesota in recent years, among them Daunte Wright, Winston Boogie Smith Jr. and Amir Locke.
A handwritten sign quoted Good’s last words: “I’m not mad at you, dude.”
Keeping snow off of Good’s memorial — not far from where George Floyd was killed — has been a losing battle.
In the center of Good’s memorial, a man gingerly brushed snow from cardboard signs, shook out bouquets of flowers and wiped off teddy bears. It was a losing battle. Snow was falling, leaving fresh white dots on everything he cleared.
A woman walked up with a handful of yellow tulips. “Hello, is there somewhere I should put these in particular?”
“Anywhere is fine,” said the man.
American, Mexican and LGBTQ+ flags hung from the site. One handwritten note, signed by “A DHS employee,” stated: “We will never forget you.”
A sign hangs between two trees near the Good memorial and reads, “The resistance is rooted in love — ICE out!”
Some mourners had shared small tokens of positivity. “Please take a pocket heart,” read one laminated sign. “Keep it with you to be a constant reminder that you are loved!”
Others, knowing Good had been a poet, wrote poems of their own:
Towards new ages imagined yet still out of hand
We’ll build a place safe for us all where you stood
Where love’s lyrics echo we’ll compose what we can
To that I offer these words, would they were as good as
Good’s.
Among the couple dozen people at the site were Kayla Gardner, 29, and three friends. Gardner said she had brought flowers to place at each of the three memorials.
“I wanted to get to Renee and Alex’s,” she said, “but we didn’t want to leave out George, too. He’s right here.”
A memorial for intensive care nurse Alex Pretti.
Alex Pretti
On a traffic pole down the street, above a “Lost Cat” sign, a note in Spanish warns residents of increased immigration police presence since Dec. 22. It advises residents not to leave their homes unless necessary, to have groceries delivered and to establish an emergency plan for their children.
“These are difficult and uncertain moments for our community,” it says.
Lake Street, a hub of Latino businesses, is about halfway between where Good and Pretti were killed. Murals on side streets depict women cooking tortillas on a comal and musicians playing guitar and accordion. Businesses there have responded to the immigration raids in a variety of ways.
A notice in Spanish posted on the door of a western wear shop says, “Closed for the security of our clients.”
A nearby Ecuadorean restaurant, meanwhile, offers delivery but not sit-down service.
A person wipes tears away while visiting the Pretti memorial on Feb. 1.
Pretti died near Glam Doll Donuts, along another vibrant stretch of diverse, immigrant-owned restaurants known as Eat Street. As the days went on after his killing, fewer news cameras turned up, but mourners kept coming.
Standing over the memorial that has grown to take up the length of a building, a man in a The North Face jacket sobbed quietly. Another lighted incense sticks and stuck them in the snow.
Votive candles depicted Jesus, the Virgin of Gudalupe and Mister Rogers.
Candles burn near the Pretti memorial. Some depicted Jesus, the Virgin of Guadalupe and Mister Rogers.
A letter offers a source of comfort: “If I have two rooms, one dark, the other light, and I open the door between them, the dark room becomes lighter without the light one becoming darker. I know this is no headline, but it’s a marvelous footnote.”
Also on display were lyrics from Bruce Springsteen’s new protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which call out White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Home Security Secretary Kristi Noem:
It’s our blood + our bones
And these whistles + phones
Against Miller +
Noem’s Dirty Lies.
New artwork appears daily. An oil painting depicting a smiling Pretti in glasses, a beanie and a scarf, was among the most recent.
Leah Dunbar, 50, was moved to tears looking at it. Dunbar, who lives nearby, had brought Somali chicken sambusas for fellow mourners standing in the cold.
The George Floyd memorial marks the spot at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where he was killed in 2020 at age 46.
Reflecting on his death, she had asked herself, “What is the good that is coming out of this? Do we have space in our lives to see the good?”
“Of course we do,” she said. “Look — people are making, people are creating, people are sharing.”
One in five tourists have confronted others for ruining their holiday photos at crowded landmarks like Time Square and Eiffel Tower
Crowded hotspots like Times Square can make it difficult to get a good photo(Image: Getty Images)
Times Square, the Eiffel Tower, and the Trevi Fountain have all been dubbed some of the most challenging places to get a good photograph when on holiday, mainly due to the amount of tourists.
A poll of 2,000 adults found that to combat the crowds, a determined 27% admitted to waking up earlier than 6 am to beat the rush at popular tourist spots and secure a crowd-free picture. One in five travellers also admitted they have queued for longer than an hour to get photos in certain spots, with the Taj Mahal in India requiring the longest waiting time.
Other iconic locations cited as near-impossible to photograph without getting other people in were the Mona Lisa, the Colosseum, and even Buckingham Palace. The Great Wall of China and Niagara Falls were also difficult to photograph without getting countless people in the background.
The study discovered 21% ‘hate’ when their shots get ruined by others lurking in the background, while 55% of travellers grumble about the difficulty of manually removing unwanted people from their images.
Still, over four in 10 (42%) said getting the perfect photograph for social media was a top priority when travelling. But as the survey shows, this can often be difficult so a fifth of holidaymakers have returned to revisit major attractions because they failed to good photo originally.
One in five have even told someone off for getting in the way of their photo, with 70% feeling frustrated by the issue.
The research was commissioned by Samsung to highlight the capabilities of their Galaxy AI on the S25 Series.
Annika Bizon, from Samsung, said: “Everyone wants to travel home with a photo that represents their incredible trip to some of the wonders of the world, but capturing the perfect snap can sometimes be near impossible.
“Galaxy AI features like Generative Edit can help time-strapped travellers who would prefer not to have to wake up before 5 am to queue for a photo, with just a speedy tap removing any unwanted guests.”
TOP 10 TOURIST HOTSPOTS HARDEST TO GET A ‘CLEAN’ PHOTO OF:
Times Square – New York City, USA
Eiffel Tower – Paris, France
Trevi Fountain – Rome, Italy
The Mona Lisa – Louvre Museum, Paris, France
Buckingham Palace – London, UK
Taj Mahal – Agra, India
The Colosseum – Rome, Italy
Great Wall of China (Badaling section) – Beijing, China
