Crossroads of the World

If you take a trip to 6671 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood you will come across a little mall called “The Crossroads of the World.” Sited next to the Eckankar Center where you can explore past lives, dreams and soul travel and a Catholic church. This mall was built in 1936.  In the middle of the mall is a building in the shape of a ship that sports a fifty foot tower toped by a revolving globe. Bungalows whose architectural styles are multicultural (Italian, Turkish, French, English, Asian, Cape Cod) run around the perimeter of the mall which also includes a wishing well and a light house. Throughout it’s long and sometimes scandalous history the Crossroads of the World has maintained a place in Hollywood  film history.

Many different places, at many different times, have claimed to be the Cross Roads of the World. This is the way Times Square markets itself and in ancient times people said “Omnes viae Romam ducunt” or “All roads lead to Rome” but it appears that Hollywood has become the new epicenter, the new crossroads of the world. No matter where they hail from, if a career in media is the goal, Hollywood is, at the very least a plateau that must be reached and crossed to achieve that goal and media born in Hollywood effects people world wide.

Just as the known world expanded when Rome conquered, Hollywood expands the world of perception every time new cultures, new perspectives and new technology are used to create innovative product for distribution. Our world view seems to expand in waves, an outgoing wave of physical exploration accompanied by a return of new knowledge. This knowledge becomes like a pebble dropped in water spreading outward in its turn, repeating and expanding exponentially.

There are crucial points in everyone’s lives, crossroads where we make decisions that alter our reality forever. Sometimes we recognize them as important decisions and at other times decisions are made and consequences reached without conscious choice. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says to themselves “I want to be a monster today” yet somehow monsters are created daily as are saints.  This is of course an exageration, as most of us are a little of both, but then, that's Hollywood.

There are legends about crossroads, some say that if you stand at a certain crossroad in the south at midnight you can sell your soul to the devil or if you are brave enough challenge him to a duel to win your heart’s desire.

History is rife with points where decisions were and are made that affect everyone.  Some potentially  catastrophic and some euphoric. The bottom line remaining that if no one had taken those chances, if no one had made those decisions to follow up on their ideas and dreams history would be static, advancement would cease and we would all be the worse for it. There is a quote by Anthony Robbins that, for me reflects the very essence of personal crossroads:

“You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget the past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don’t think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully.”

Personal crossroads, when many individuals converge in one place or at one point in time, with a common idea or dream or attitude have a way of accumulating and becoming greater than we could ever imagine.

Car Lovers Paradise

When first arriving in Los Angeles you realize that this really is a city of car lovers. Not just your average car but classic cars, antique cars, original one of a kind cars, high end cars, customized cars, they all can be seen cruising down LA’s major arteries on any given day.

The Peterson Museum  is devoted entirely to cars. The Concours D’Elegance is held annually on Rodeo Drive on Father’s Day, closing off the street to automotive traffic so pedestrians can better admire the beauty and fine lines of unique automotive machinery. Car shows and events abound in LA, some celebrating a specific model others hosting every kind imaginable. We love Low Riders,  T-Birds, Dodge, Chevy, Mercury, Mercedes, Lincolns and Cadillacs. Whether we are jamming out at the Cadillac Ranch, building it one piece at a time, whether it’s pink or black we do love our Cadillacs.

We love car chases, car races, and car thieves. We couldn’t do without our rebels and our bandits,  our heroes and our villains. From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to James Bond, from the Bat Mobile to Christopher Lloyd’s DeLorean, from the Blues Brothers to the Men in Black  cars are part of our culture and ingrained in our spirit.

Cars bring back memories and inspire dreams.  Whether you’re looking for paradise or on a highway to hell  they can be the ultimate status symbol or the ultimate gauge of shallowness. They can evoke a season, an era or even a section of the country.

We are a wandering people, it’s in our blood or we wouldn’t be here. Road trips are teenage initiations and adult rebellions. Whether the ride is fast and dangerous, slow and short, or miles and miles of twists and turns we love to drive. Some times the journey is one way and sometimes we come full circle back to where we started. From Route 66 to Ventura highway from the Beat Generation to the Green Generation our romance and passon for cars has evolved with us and carried us not just down the road but into the future.

Halloween in West Hollywood

I was blown away as were several costumers hanging onto cement street dividers with inside out umbrellas, ties blowing in the wind (even though it wasn’t windy), and fallen leaves plastered to their pant legs. A mad swirl of color and sound threatened sensory overload as heads swiveled right, left, backward and forward, up and down, not knowing where to look first.

The Wicked Which of the West flew in for the evening and Sleeping Beauty’s Fairy Godmothers showed up in full costume, blue, green and pink with pointed hats and magic wands looking exactly as Disney pictured them except, unfortunately, they must not have had very much time to prepare for the ball, as they forgot to shave off their full beards. They were also much taller than I had imagined. Beards seemed to be the "in" thing this year as one bride showed off her gown and full beard and another young lady flipped things around by donning facial hair that wasn’t quite as authentic.

Snap, Crackle & Pop were there relaxing in a bowl of milk not showing their age at all. Michael Jackson showed up as did several other celebrities including Jack, Hugh Heffner, Ugly Betty, Amy Winehouse and Mr. T. Former President Clinton posed with a bruised and bloody Affordable Healthcare and Abe Lincoln enjoyed a stroll through the crowd. Tom Cruse showed up… several times… but he seemed to have forgotten his pants. Even Facebook, Myspace and Twitter showed up.

A Mario convention seemed to have descended on Hollywood as he popped up everywhere however Luigi was conspicuously absent. The Star Trek conventioneers were out numbered and lost in the crowd. Extras from horror movies mingled with Vegas showgirls who competed with Mardi Gras partiers.

Batman was there as was Robin (out of the closet and with a date). Dorothy came wearing her ruby slippers but stayed for the party instead of clicking heels homeward. Captain Hook and Peter Pan made an appearance as did Captain Jack Sparrow although Tick Tock the crocodile was no where to be seen or heard. Alice came through the looking glass with the Mad Hatter at her side and a couple of Tim Burton’s nightmares strode boldly down the street as Santa showed up with a pumpkin bag bringing up twisted thoughts of the Great Pumpkin meeting Jack Skellington poor Linus would freak.

Winged creatures flew in, in abundance from fairies to butterflies. There were Fuzzy’s, centaurs, a giraffe, a skunk, a cow and many other representatives of the animal kingdom not to mention the dogs who came in costume taking their owners for a stroll. A giant Man ‘o War jelly fish floated over the crowd with a diver swimming beneath while a blue alien wearing an orange and yellow half dress freaked out the crowd. There were a lot of bananas and a bunch of purple grapes celebrating after a hard day’s shoot.

Every era appeared to be represented from a beautiful ancient Egyptian goddess to four sequin covered disco maniacs from the 70s not to mention one wearing a polyester suit. A flapper who looked as if she’d popped in on a time machine looked right at home as the “Godmother” walked by (Al Pachino eat your heart out). Fred Flintstone and his neighbors joined us from Bedrock and Vikings sailed in to conquer.

There were many very tall women, some authentic and some not so authentic. (I would love to know who did their makeup as they looked quite beautiful and in some cases very classy.) Women wearing full body paint and not much else definitely left no question as to their authenticity and the artistry of their body work. Medusa joined the crowd with writhing, hissing hair as a snake charmer lured a cobra from its basket.

There was a definite police presence, however which officers were real and which were revelers could prove quite puzzling at times as the handcuffs seemed authentic in both cases. McGruff the Crime Dog and Ms. Sherlock Holmes were there just in case a mystery needed solving. Although some plastic masked participants in the crowd would have freaked out bank tellers if they walked in off the street, the one arrest witnessed was a handcuffed man looking down in sheepish embarrassment as he sat on a curb surrounded by police. Those very few who seemed a bit worse for wear had concerned friends helping them home and watching out for them.

The crowd of onlookers were as varied as the revelers. There were family groups with small children and grown men in diapers with pacifiers. Elderly couples with faces reflecting either the glazed look of trapped animals or grinning from ear to ear in awed amazement watched the crowd. A group of white men in designer jeans and white polos held up picket signs ranging from “What would Jesus say” to “We still haven’t seen the birth certificate”. The crowd flowed on with polite disinterest like an ever changing, evolving flood dividing around unmoving, inflexible rocks, isolated in the middle, as the stream surged past leaving them behind. A man in full dress uniform walked beside his buddy in a wheel chair and a heavily accented voice shouted at full volume “I LOVE AMERICA!”

There were stationary DJs spinning music as the crowd danced and a roving party with dry ice fog and laser lights making its way down the street. Magic acts  were on hand to thrill and amaze as comedians made the crowd laugh. Hot dog venders made a killing and the line at Starbucks was the most entertaining I’ve ever been in. The City of West Hollywood  pulled out all the stops for the thousands of adventurous costumed revelers who attended. The best view was enjoyed by those looking down from office terraces overlooking all the action. Stretching from West Hollywood all the way to Beverly Hills the experience was visually intoxicating. An overwhelming feeling of playful happiness pervaded the crowd as adults paraded like children up and down the boulevard.

If the West Hollywood Halloween Parade  wasn’t your style you could always go to the Whisky a Go Go where they had a séance to try and raise Jimmy Hendriks spirit from the dead but I, for one, was extremely glad I went. The experience was unforgettable.