Hey Everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I updated the blog. Here's a photo update showing you the highlights of the last week or so.
I think it was Last Wednesday night that the Pineapple Express premiere was held in my neighborhood, so as always, I stopped by to check it out, since it is impossible to avoid while walking from the bus stop to my apartment.
In terms of sheer number and caliber of celebrities, this was probably the biggest premiere yet. The first person I saw was the one and only Huey Lewis, looking as 80s as ever. Then of course, Judd was there also, who I saw at the Step Brothers premiere, too. Then I spotted some more of the Apatow regulars, and bam, there was the one and only James Franco. (I actually was very happy with Harry's character arc in Spider-man 3)
I saw more people like, Seth Rogen, the girl who plays Seth's girlfriend, and then the big guns arrived. Jack Black stepped out a limo down the street, which was very cool. Then by far my most famous celebrity sighting yet came when one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Jim Carrey, decided to show up with Jenny McCarthy. It was pretty hard to get a good picture of them, but if you look in the single photo I did get, you can see Jim Carrey is the bald head with sunglasses. Oh, and check out Ed Begley, Jr. on the left there. He's a good guy.
Finally, here's a shot of the one and only Jon Voigt. Star of movies like Mission: Impossible and the National Treasures. I still haven't seen the sequel yet. I should. I do like America a lot.
Let's see, there were a few other celebrities I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention, and there were a few that were at the premiere that I didn't see. One more person I did see was Stanley the Manley from the Office. I'll tell you, these Office folk are all over this city. I'll have a future example when I write about this weekend.
Last Saturday the connections team at Mosaic (people I volunteer with) organized a hiking trip up in a canyon in Pasadena. Needless to say, I was stoked to go, especially finally feeling connected to people there and feeling like I belong. So a bunch of us went hiking up between the mountains and it was super cool.
Our destination was this waterfall, a very nice little spot tucked into these tall mountains. I should've worn my suit so I could go swimming in it when we got there, but I was worried about chafing and stuff on the hike back out of the canyon.
My roommate Garrett joined the group, too, and I was thrilled to have him come along and get to know some of my friends at Mosaic. Here's the group, walking back from the waterfall.
After hiking, we all drove back to Cara's house in Pasadena where we ate a delicious lunch of sandwiches, watermelon and other summer foods on her front porch.
On the freeway driving to Pasadena, Garrett and I passed by the Disney Studio in Burbank. When I saw the water tower with Mickey on it, I sort of started to yell and Garrett got mad. Regardless, he was happy to take a quick pit-stop at the studio on our way back home to Westwood.
We drove to the studio and wonderfully, the gate to the famous animation building was wide open, allowing me to get this beautiful money shot of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, formerly Walt Disney Feature Animation, designed by renowned architect Robert A. M. Stern.
The gate was probably open because the animators are hard at work animating the Princess and the Frog. In case anyone didn't see it, you can check out the teaser trailer for Disney's triumphant return to classic hand-drawn animation here. Keep up the good work John Lasseter.
Unfortunately the main studio gate was locked on this Saturday afternoon. Still, I took a moment to bask under the glory of the Walt Disney Co. archway. 
Peeking through the fence, we saw University of Cincinnati alum Michael Graves' beautiful Team Disney - The Michael D. Eisner Building and the Disney Legends Plaza sprawling in front of it. I love that it is classic Michael Graves, only instead of pillars, the seven dwarfs are holding the building up. Some may disagree, but I wouldn't say its too over the top.
Here's the wonderful water tower. Oh, the magic of the Hollywood that never was!
Here's a close-up stalker shot of more Michael Graves and seven dwarf goodness. The coolness of this building almost makes up for the way his Swan and Dolphin Hotels mess up your view inside Epcot. Almost.
Walking around more of the studio, I found this other nice little classy studio gate. That's the late Aldo Rossi's big ABC Television Studios building in the background.
This week for some reason the sky and smog decided to clear up a bit, giving us some beautiful views from our office at work. This is looking north up to the mountains. The white speck in between the two towers is Griffith Observatory, a highlight from winter quarter, and the Hollywood sign is hidden by these buildings.
Here is what it looks like through our windows to the East, looking back at downtown. It's only about 6 miles to the city, but some days you can barely see the silhouette of buildings through the smog. This was a beautifully clear day. It looks a lot grosser through the camera than it did in real life. Still, from what I've seen of the Olympics, it doesn't look like Los Angeles has anything on Beijing.
LA has a pretty cool downtown. Oh and check out the giant Kung Fu Panda billboard on the side of a building a few miles away off to the left.
That's it for today. Hopefully soon I'll post about this weekend. My sister and I are having a great time!
Take it easy. Miss you all!
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