Los Angeles/Hollywood: Stars, a stomach test and a secret highlight

"Michael Jackson, King of Pop, 1958 - 2009". These few words were the center of my stay in Hollywood, they were apparently all that mattered during that time: In-memoriam-MJ-T-Shirts everywhere in all kinds of colours and designs in every window of every shop; Michael Jackson's music coming from every shop, car, bar, restaurant, ghettoblaster, MJ everywhere, here "Billie Jean", there "Beat it", etc. (Which got me thinking: What happens when Celine Dion dies? "My heart will go on" everywhere?!?! Lord help us...); every other meter down the street there's street vendors selling T-Shirts, pins, posters, paintings, just everything that people will pay money for as long as it features Michael Jackson's head, hand or name. And of course his star on the walk of fame is the center of attention, a first memorial (I'm sure an offical one will follow soon) where people pilgrimage to. It is surrounded by barriers so that üoice can controll the masses of people coming there, laying down flower bouquets, selfpainted pictures and posters, ballons, candles, etc. And literally hundreds of people come there to take pictures of the whole scenario and/or to pay their last respect to one of the greatest musicians and entertainers there ever was. Funny enough, even the star of a lesser known Michael Jackson, some other artist with the same name, gets his share of flowers and candles, but also a sheet of paper saying: "You're mourning the wrong star, that would make you a moron! The real one is in front of Mann's Chinese Theater! Do you think the real Michael Jackson would have such a bad location?! - Shawn Younai"
As we're talking about the Walk of Fame all the time, just a few quick facts about it so you can show off at the next dinner party where the topic might come up: The stars of the Walk of Fame can be found along Hollywood Boulevard and the intersecting Vine Street. The epicenter of it all, Hollywood & Vine, is therefore marked on all four corners of the intersection with special stars, conmemorating the crew of Apollo 11 and their achievements as first men on the moon. To get a star, you have to be in the entertainment industry for at least five years, you have to be nominated and you finally also have to pay 25'000 dollars. What a nice way to fill up the communal bank account ;-) There are five categories in which you can be nominated: Movies/TV/Radio/Comedy/Music. You can therefore get more than one star, however, Gene Autry, an american entertainer from the mid 20th century, is so ar the only entertainer that has managed to get a star in all categories. Also, right now it isn't even necessary to be a proper person, a living human being, to get your star on the Walk of Fame: People, Groups, animals, cartoon characters, companies, they all can get their own star. So far Donald Duck's got one, Lassie, the Beatles, Queen (the rock group, not the old woman), Winnie the Poh, Godzilla, the LAPD Hollywood and, haha, even the Walk of Fame itself has a star. And just one last anecdote: All these stars grace the walkways of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. All of them but one: Muhammed Ali has his star on a wall inside the foyer of the Kodak Theater because he wouldn't have anybody step on his name. In case you're interested in more about the Walk of Fame, check out http://www.seeing-stars.com/Immortalized/WalkOfFame.shtml.
Unfortunately there won't be any stories about the Universal Studios of Disneyland here. I've seen those before and have neither the time nor the money and actually not even the desire to go their again. However, there is one more theme park in LA I hadn't done before, that I got to cross of my list this time: Six Flags' Magic Mountain, a park consisting entirely of water rides and rollercoasters, each of which could be the highlight of their own theme park. And I can proudly say: I did them all, every single rollercoaster in that park has been conquered by me :-)
Here are but a few samples from that stomach-wrenching day: The "Monster Coaster", as the Flyer called it, "Goliath" starts out with its highlight, a 240 feet free fall with about 80mph in a tunnel that at the time of the fall seems to have about the diameter of a golfball; "Riddler's Revenge" (named after that one bad guy from Batman) is the world's fastest and highest standing roller coaster that flies through a net of turns and twists and loops with what seems like only inches away from tress, the ground and other "obstacles"; In "Tatsu" you literally fly through the track: After getting in and fastening the seat belt the seats are tilted backwards so that you are still sitting, but facing the floor and in that position you race through the track; "Superman - The Escape" shoots you in six seconds from zero to 100 mph, up a ramp and, when the momentum runs out, down again at a similarly wild speed; In my personal favourite "Deja Vu" you have the tracks above you, instead of below you, so when you are pulled up backwards in the beginning, you're starring down a good 90 feet before being shot through the loops and twists and turns of the track until you reach a vertical ramp which they lift you up before shooting you through the whole thing again, but this time backwards; And finally "X2", the ultimate rollercoaster from hell: high drops, loops that seem to have no end, narrow twists, all at full-throttle speed and all, like the flyer had promised, in five dimensions: Because while your whole waggon is going through these obstacles, your individual seat is turning horizontally as well around its centre or sometimes it just starts shaking like mad. Another tough test that my stomach passed with flying colours. On the other hand, it wasn't harder than a lot of the southeast asian and fidjian cuisine ;-)
As the highlight and end of my Hollywood trip I have to mention a sort of insider tipp for rock and guitar fans: 1921 Sunset Boulevard, the Rockwalk! All superstars of rock, guitaristes, and other musicians, literally left their mark here in form of their hand prints: Eddie van Halen, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai, Guns'n Roses, AC/DC, James Brown, Frank Zappa, etc. And those that weren't alive anymore when it openend in 1985, like Randy Rhoads, Marvin Gaye, Elvis or John Lennon, they are remembered on the wall with bronze busts. On top of that, a lot of legendary guitars, photos and stage costumes are on display right behind the handprints. But, best of all, the local "Guitar Center" behind the Rockwalk: Whole towers made out of guitar amps and FX devices, the walls covered in electric guitar, western guitars, spanish guitars, just everything hot and loud with six strings ;-) And in the middle of this temple of guitars I found a special room with the ferraris of guitars, a six-string heaven: Custom Les Pauls, PRS', a doubleneck Gibson SG, various signature-models, etc. Each of them has about the same price tag as a small car, but hey, a crappy used Chevy or a spanking brandnew Gibson Les Paul Custom Supreme Cherry Sunburst? Easiest decision of my life ;-)