Hiking the Hollywood Sign

I had always thought that hiking near the Hollywood sign was illegal, but luckily that isn't the case.  I found this website with a really detailed description of how to get up to the sign.  Tim and I decided to make the trek and I used this as my guide.  I won't try to replicate the directions because that site has a lot of detail that I don't have the patience to go into.  I'll just mention that I didn't get a chance to see the Bat Cave that it mentions.

This is a fairly long but not too strenuous hike.  You need to bring along some water as it takes 3 hours round trip, but you don't have to be in peak shape to make it to the top.

Here are some pics...

On the way up the trail

Griffith Observatory in the foreground

Downtown LA

Panorama looking through the sign onto Hollywood and LA

Matthew Mayfield in Hollywood

Over the weekend I got word through Matthew Mayfield's Facebook page (like him!) that he had a concert coming up in Hollywood. Make sure to check out his website - if you're stingy he gives away free tracks. I first heard of him through the internet... it's hard to keep track these days. I think I got an email for a free download from NoiseTrade. Mayfield got notable buzz at 2010's SXSW, so keep your ears out for more from him.

The venue, Hotel Cafe, is a good 50 miles from me. With LA traffic, that's no small feat. I have been a fan of Mayfield's music for a while now (check out a winter music post that included him), but I haven't gotten the chance to see him live. The last show I saw was The Foals concert in Austin back in April and the tickets were only $12.50. I jumped at the chance.

I invited Christine along and we fought through the tail end of rush hour to get to Hotel Cafe right at 8 pm. My GPS stopped me in front of a place that said "Peep Show"... hmm, interesting. Or was it a Peeps show? (edit - I later found out that this is a gallery) There was a small parking sign with "Hotel Cafe" at the corner so I pulled around back.

I didn't see a true venue sign but there was a small piece of paper posted on the door as I drove up that had the lineup listed. The doorman was standing there talking to who... Matthew Mayfield himself. Yep, we were in the right place.

The venue foyer really reminded me of my favorite Atlanta music hangouts - Variety Playhouse and The Roxy. You could feel the age of the place, but it wasn't run down. There were velvet curtains, wood paneling and the lighting was just dim enough to make you want to whisper as you walked through.

Two swinging glass doors brought you into the performance area that was about the same size as The EARL. A female trio called The Wild Reeds was opening and crowded the small stage. They traded instruments for each song and each was multi-talented on banjo, guitar (electric and acoustic), piano and some kind of tabletop accordion (I'm sure there's a real name for it). Their vocal harmonies reminded me of something out of O Brother, Where Art Thou? or a county fair. It was a good warmup.

After a short break Mayfield walked up to the stage and sat on a stool, only holding his guitar. As I had hoped, he had no backing band. He stopped a few times between songs to engage the audience and give song background/introductions. At one point he plugged his merch, but confessed that he hadn't set prices for anything with the merch girl. He told us to "Pay what you want," which I thought was pretty cool. It's truly about the music.

Here is the set list as I noted during the show.

• ???? (Stumped on this one. Going through the tracks that I have but don't have his full catalog...)
• Missed Me
• Element
• Grow Old With You
• Now You're Free
• Come Back Home
• Fact or Fable
• Cover medley*
• Fire Escape
• Cover of Coldplay - Fix You

*Played riffs of Metallica's Enter Sandman and Guns N Roses' Welcome to the Jungle, just goofing around

Check out the videos I recorded of my favorites.

Fire Escape


Fact or Fable


Most of the songs can be found on Matthew's latest album, Now You're Free. He uses a full band on the album, so the sound is a little different than this live show. Some work better with the band (Now You're Free) while others are much more powerful as a stripped down solo (Come Back Home, Fire Escape). My favorite songs of his are the minimalist acoustics that really focus on the lyrics and his voice.

Hotel Cafe was a perfect place to watch a singer-songwriter like Mayfield. It offers an intimate setting, where the songwriter revealed that a few of the songs (Fire Escape and Fact or Fable) are very hard for him to play. This is understandable when you listen to the power of the lyrics - it's why I like the songs so much. So if you like his music as much as I do, spread the word, see him live and buy a CD.

I waited around for a few minutes to see if he would be out meeting fans but I eventually left for the long drive back down south. I was going to ask if he ever had wanted or been asked to play Unplugged in the Park in Atlanta. I've seen bands like Civil Twilight, Joe Purdy and Band of Horses there and I think it would be a perfect spot to showcase his talent. I just found out on the Tour section of his website that he is already slated to be there on August 7th. So ATL friends, you have no excuse not to go. It's a free show!

And Kentucky friends, HEADS UP! He's coming to Lexington to Natasha's Bistro on August 4th!

Frankfort Comes to the Beach

Meghan and I - Halloween 2002

As soon as I started telling people I was leaving Australia for California the the reservations started pouring in to visit. The first was from Meghan and her twin sister, Danielle. I had known the twins since middle school and had a major crush on Meghan through most of my early teens. We went to separate high schools and only saw each other every now and then. When I went away to UK and eventually Atlanta, we still kept in contact. There had been a point when we were in college where we met up for dinner and I thought something might be getting started, but it never ended up happening - I don't remember why. Every other time it seemed like she was dating someone or I was dating someone and the timing was never right. Regardless, I hadn't seen them since 2004, so it was going to be a fun reunion.

The got in on Thursday night and we had excitement first thing on Friday. The earthquake in Japan put us on a tsunami advisory that closed the beach and my streak of surfing before work ended only a few days after it started. The girls are into running so we ran down the boardwalk to find a bunch of people standing around, waiting for the waves to hit. They were only expecting 2-3 foot waves... to put it in perspective, when storms come in the waves get 4-6 feet and really big storms 6+. But they still closed the beach. I delayed going to work hoping to see SOMETHING, but you couldn't even tell.

Our first night in Newport was quiet. One of my roommates cooked us dinner and we stopped by The Blue Beet for a little while before turning in. The next few days were going to be busy.

Moses stays at the...

On Saturday morning I drove the girls into the heart of Hollywood to Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Since the golden age of Hollywood stars have been immortalized by putting their hand and footprints into squares of the sidewalk out front. We walked around the Walk of Fame for a little while and then went into Madame Tussards Wax Museum. It cost $25 (unless you have a student ID) but was worth the price. There were all kinds of props you could use to pose with the figures and they didn't care if you touched them - just not the face.

After that the girls wanted to go to Robertson Boulevard for some star searching. Lots of paparazzi swarm the area's boutiques and cafes because so many stars go there. We also drove through parts of Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive just to say we did. Every time we saw a car with tinted windows or a woman with extremely large sunglasses the twins would whisper, "Is that someone?" "Who is that?" etc.

We got a star homes map from a street vendor and started circling houses we wanted to visit. I've heard that these maps were highly unreliable and even if the celebrity did live there, most had 10 ft. walls or ivy to prevent you from seeing anything. The best chance I guess would be to catch them as they're coming or going from the gated driveway. I liked driving up into the Hollywood Hills on Mulholland and getting a view of the city. There are a lot of scenic pullover spots to take pictures and admire the smog.

I took them for lunch to In-N-Out Burger, a southern California must, and then we went to Venice Beach. Venice is a cool spot because of the characters you see there. You have hippies, gypsies, street performers, beggars, weirdos, freaks, stoners and of course tourists. You've also got 'Muscle Beach' where there is outdoor workout equipment if you want to get pumped up. There are a bunch of basketball courts (where they filmed a lot of White Men Can't Jump). It's a mandatory item on the list of places to see in LA.

We caught the sunset over the water and then went to get cleaned up for the evening at our hotel for the night, the JW Marriott in the LA Live district. It had only been open a month or two and was right next to the Staples Center. It includes bars, restaurants, hotels, museums and event space to try to lure people into the city instead of the suburbs.

I made a friend, Lindsay, through Rameen a while back that went to UK and moved to Santa Monica after college. We had never met in person, but had spoken via Facebook several times. She gave me suggestions on places to live and things to do. Since we were up closer to her we met for dinner and drinks that night.

Sippin' on bubbly

Lindsay got our names on the list at the rooftop bar of the Standard Hotel (it's good to know someone with connections!). I found out later that it is partly owned by Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz. It had a great view of downtown LA. Lindsay said hi to the manager and he brought us a bottle of champagne on the house. How about that? Four Kentuckians sipping champagne on a rooftop bar in LA. Big thanks to Lindsay for setting that all up!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel still without a celebrity sighting.  I heard from the concierge that some active celebrities hike in Runyon Canyon Park right at the edge of Hollywood.  The weather was perfect so we decided to start our day there (parking was really tough, good luck if you want to go there).  I didn't know until we got there that most of the park was dogs off the leash friendly.  When I say park I don't mean flat grassland with shade and benches.  This was all hills, foothills, dirt paths and switchbacks.  As we hiked up the hills you would see a dog either running in front of or trailing behind their master.  The view was as good or better than Mulholland Drive.  We didn't see anyone famous but there were some decent views of the Hollywood sign.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Santa Monica, shopping and walking around the 3rd Street Promenade that sat just a few blocks from the ocean. We finished at the Santa Monica Pier and watched a few more performers and artists. The girls left on Monday morning, and although they were unfulfilled on the celebrity sightings I still think they had a good time.  Meghan and I didn't rekindle any romance, but I did get her to promise that she would be my backup wife if we were both single at 35.  That's on the record.

I hadn't done any of these touristy things in LA since Matt and I were here for Spring Break 2003. It was good to get reacquainted with the city. So anyone else that wants to come to the west coast, I'm ready for you!