DTLA

I went to L.A. yesterday to attend the KPCC FilmWeek Screening for Blade Runner (The Final Cut).

Before the film started, we went on a walk around the downtown area to visit some of the filming locations that were used in the movie.

On the way to our first site, we passed by a couple of other buildings used as filming locations for other projects.

The first building was the Oviatt Building, which was used as the site for the Hotel Cortez in the series American Horror Story.

Another building used for many movies was the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. This view is from Olive Street.

The 5th Street entrance and the interior were used as locations for the Sedgewick Hotel in Ghostbusters.

The first Blade Runner location we went to was the 2nd Street Tunnel at 2nd and Hill.

Deckard passes through the tunnel as part of his commute home.

Next we headed a block east on 2nd and turned south on Broadway. At the end of the block is the Pan American Building, now known as the Pan American Lofts.

The inside of the building was used as the location for the interior of the Yukon Hotel.

Right next to the Pan Am Building, across 3rd Street is the Million Dollar Theater.

Directly across from the theater is the Bradbury Building, which corresponds to the residence of J.F. Sebastian.

The big helical pillars at the entry of the residence as seen in the film is set dressing made of Styrofoam, so they don't exist on the real building.

The iconic interior of the Bradbury Building has been featured in many films, and the first floor is open to the public. The entrance to the building can be found between Blue Bottle Coffee and Subway.

The lighting really changes the atmosphere of the interior, but it is quite recognizable in the film.

We wandered the streets a bit, and found one of the mosaics installed by Invader on the side of a building.

After having ramen for dinner, we headed over to the Theatre at Ace Hotel.

The theater has a very ornate Spanish Gothic interior.

After the film ended, there was a short discussion hosted by Larry Mantle, which featured actress Joanna Cassidy (Zhora Salome) who pointed the audience to a YouTube video she did of Zhora's snake dance (which was scripted, but never filmed for the movie).

Anyway, it was a great experience, and made me miss the times when I was living in L.A. – Greatest city in the world.

City of Books

White Stag Sign

I was in Portland last week for a work related conference, but managed to take in some of the sights in my free time.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Portland has a nice public transportation system, but when I first arrived, it didn't register with me that I had to punch my ticket at the kiosk before I took the ride from the airport to my hotel.

Change is dispensed from these machines in dollar coins, so Portland seems to be one of the few places in the US where use of the dollar coin appears to be fairly common.

The main place I wanted to visit in Portland during my free time was Powell's City of Books, which touts itself as the world's largest independent seller of new and used books in the world.

The store has shelves that are 10 feet tall and was filled with people of all ages.

Manga and Graphic novels

Science fiction and Fantasy

Rare books

Book culture seems to be alive and well in the Pacific Northwest.

I also took a walk across the Morrison Bridge to visit a nearby game shop.

Guardian Games is located in a large olive green building in an industrial zone.

It was large and well stocked, but didn't really have anything that I couldn't find in any of my local game shops.

I apologize for the blurry photos, but I ran out of batteries and had to switch to an old iPod to take pictures.

Board games

GW stuff

Reaper and WizKids stuff

Some of the other places I stopped by included the world's smallest municipal park.

Mill Ends Park

The original Voodoo Doughnut shop.

The doughnuts are really tasty, and in my hotel and at the airport, I saw many people toting around big pink boxes of Voodoo doughnuts for the trip home.

I also visited Burgerville because of various claims of people who somehow preferred Burgerville burgers to In-N-Out burgers. I'll admit they have a lot more burger options, but from a comparison of equivalent burgers they are not better than In-N-Out. By a huge margin.

I also ended up being shortchanged by the cashier, and didn't get a receipt after asking for one so I can't even expense the meal.

Despite the one negative experience at Burgerville, I really liked Portland. It is really a beautiful city.

Mount Hood

Mount St. Helens