Los Angeles, CA

If you’ve ever gone to see the Hollywood Christmas parade, then you’ve probably seen Johnny Grant. He was a cheery, round little man who was nearly hyperactive in the Hollywood scene, and he will be dearly missed by all Angelinos.

Here’s a little history on the man for you: Johnny first came to Hollywood while on leave during World War II, and became enamored of the city. When the war was over he came back to try his luck, and over the years he morphed from disc jockey to celebrity interviewer to part of the very essence of Hollywood glitter. It was Grant’s idea to make a star’s addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame a big deal, to draw more people to the city and get more press for the Tinseltown that had started to slip into a sort of Cracktown. He refused to give up on the idea of Hollywood as a chic and glamorous city of dreams, and I think we all have to thank him now for being so dogged and keeping the city afloat like he did.

Johnny even managed to have his own star on the Walk of Fame, in the prime spot just in front of Mann’s Chinese Theater, and lived in a penthouse in the Roosevelt Hotel, a place crawling with Hollywood history. The first Academy Award ceremonies were held in the Roosevelt, and since then it’s been a home away from home for the top celebrities.

Johnny Grant was an amazing man who proved that the American Dream was still alive and well. He came here determined to make something of himself and ended up running the place (even if it was only from an honorary position), and you should really read more of his life’s works here. He even took place in the first telethon with no less than Frank Sinatra! A pure Hollywood class act.

As you may have heard by now, the Golden Globes have been somewhat canceled this year due to the ongoing writer’s strike. There will still be awards, and there will definitely be glammed up celebs in designer gowns and tuxes hitting the parties and walking away with more goodies in one night than you or I will ever see, but there will be no official ceremony, and probably nothing will be televised. Many entertainment addicts are mourning this latest casualty of the dragging strike, but I say good!

Good? Yes, because this means a superfluous entertainment award show is knocked back down to just that — an unnecessary show for overinflated egos. If any of you are interested in old Hollywood, then you know by now that the Oscars, or Academy Awards, as they were called before they earned their more well-known nickname in the 1930s, was just a short ceremony held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles to show some appreciation for outstanding actors at the time. You can find footage of past award ceremonies on You Tube and elsewhere, and the overall attitude is very casual. No one gives a six minute acceptance speech, there were no waterworks or hissyfits if someone didn’t win. It was just a statue. Obviously, a lot has changed, but maybe not for the better. Maybe it’ll do Hollywood good to go back to a more modest mindset. With the setback they’ve been handed by not treating their writers as equal human beings, maybe they’ll finally learn some humility. Especially if the writers’ allies, the actors themselves, continue to side with the writers and boycott the Oscars as well. Is this what it’ll take to get Hollywood to take writers seriously? Or will they still think that the people who create and animate the characters we know and love are still on par with the guy who drives the catering truck?

To read more about the ongoing developments regarding the Golden Globes, stay tuned with CNN.

I like to bring you all sorts of news here, as you can see. Yesterday morning the surviving seven actors — out of the original 124 — who played Munchkins in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz received their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They have a film buff from Illinois by the name of Ted Bulthaup to thank for this honor, since he was responsible for raising the funds necessary to buy the star for the actors. He also had companies pitch in to ensure that the day was memorable for the actors. They all arrived in horse drawn carriages, wearing their distinctive bright costumes that are instantly recognizable as Munchkin garb.

The actors were interviewed at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, before a special screening of The Wizard of Oz. They all still speak in their unique high voices, though most are a little hard of hearing now and didn’t have too much to say during the interview. For Ruth Duccini, who had moved from Minnesota just to play a Munchkin villager for the film, being onset with other little people had been the first time she had seen other people just like her. It also happened to be where she met her future husband.

I think it was incredibly sweet for a fan to go this far out of his way to honor the remaining actors from a classic film, actors that are sadly overlooked and forgotten throughout time. I’m sure future fans will appreciate what Ted Bulthaup has done and that these seven actors appreciate his work for their recognition as well.

You can read more about the event through the L.A. Times.

If you need to send a gift, Larchmont Village is a great place to do your gift shopping.  A few years ago I sent my mother some fine Belgium chocolates and flowers arranged in a beautiful antique, pitcher-shaped vase from Leonidas (201 N. Larchmont Blvd.) for Mother’s Day.  She loved it and to this day uses the vase as a pitcher to water all her flowers.   Leonidas is great because they have a wonderful selection of confections and special gift packages on holidays, and also for a reasonable fee will gift wrap and ship your gifts for you. 

Another place on Larchmont that’s great for gift shopping is Chevalier Bookstore (126 N. Larchmont).   This morning I shopped for my three-year-old nephew’s birthday gift in Chevalier’s children’s annex.  The wonderful lady who works there was full of excellent suggestions.  With her assistance I settled on an anthology of classic children’s stories.   At the check out desk I had the book gift wrapped in charming children’s themed wrapping paper and shipped for an extra fee of $9.00. 

 Now I can sit back and not worry about when I’m going to go to the post office during my busy week, and feel satisfied that I picked out a really great gift for my little loved on. 

I once was an ice cream-aholic, going into cosmic brain freezes from a flavor which echoed my sentiment - Death By Chocolate. It was a weekly summer ritual, indulging in this textured scoop of nirvana perched atop a sugar cone. It was followed by the purchase of a clear cylinder containing Carvel’s chocolate & vanilla Flying Saucers (round ice cream sandwich cookies); the dairy version of a tea party for me and my grandmother. Her banana split was also ordered to go, for I knew she was waiting back home for the sugary soirée . Yeah, I had it bad…

About seven years ago, lactose intolerance entered my world, ending my enjoyment of all things relevant to dairy AND chocolate. I’m not crying any more, thanks to MILK. Located at 7290 Beverly Blvd. in West Hollywood, its homemade ice cream is reminiscent of the happy days when ice cream parlors were not associated with calories or shipped-in deliveries. Most importantly, they are showing love for the lactose-intolerant, with a selection of soy vanilla, chocolate and coffee toffee for our reactive bellies.

I know my grandmother is smiling down from heaven, knowing that we would still be able to sit and enjoy ice cream together at MILK; she enjoying her banana split, and I creating custom-built ice cream sandwiches from their soy milk ice cream.

Calling all femme fatales: dust off your silk charmeuse cocktail dresses, paint on those ruby red lips and have Honey polish his spats in preparation for the guest-list-only event of the summer.

An Old Hollywood Glamour Party will be held this Saturday, July 14th, 2007 from 7:30pm - 2am. This gala will be held at Memphis, the last remaining residential mansion on Hollywood Blvd. Jeffrey R. Gund Music & Sound Design, in conjunction with Australian Institute of Dramatic Arts, will provide the musical backdrop for a vintage-infused evening of free appetizers and giveaways from LA.com. Free drinks from 8pm - 9pm will be provided, courtesy of TRUMP Vodka & Motley Bird energy drinks.

But don’t think you’ll earn points or entrance just by pulling up in your gangsta Rolls Royce; you must RSVP to jeffsviplist@mindspring.com BEFORE 4:00pm Saturday, July 14th.

When channeling your favorite screen siren of yesteryear, your Beatnick cigarette holder is best left at home.

On June 19th, one of the best spaghetti places in LA is going to be closing it’s doors and will eventually become part of a local project which will result in 38,000 sq. feet of office space, 125 condos, and 10,000 sq. feet of retail locations.

This marks just another Hollywood landmark being torn down, along with the Tiki Bar, and Trader Vic’s which met their end not too long ago.

The Old Spaghetti Factory has many locations around the United States. The original restaurant opened it’s doors in Portland Oregon on January 10th of 1969. Sales for the first night were considered a “complete bust” at $171.80, but the Old Spaghetti Factory only got better from there on. Within the week, the store was making $900 a night, and by the end of the year, had reached $400,000. By 1970, owner Guss Dussin started two more restaurants with the same name, and today, The Old Spaghetti Factory has become an international restaurant that serves over 10 million customers a year.

When the Hollywood location closes down on June 19th, there will still be 5 more So. Cal locations, including Duarte, Riverside, and Fullerton, but the Hollywood location will be sorely missed by many.

I highly recommend checking this place out if you already haven’t, and going at least one last time before it’s too late.

The Old Spaghetti Factory is located at 5939 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028.

You can view the restaurant menu and hours on the Old Spaghetti Factory website here.