The Things I've Learned...

I recently returned from a trip to the West Coast. I stayed in the Anaheim area but visited many things in the region. The one thing that I learned through this trip was that Hollywood is a very "fake" place. I already knew this but to experience it first hand just cemented the fact. During my stay there I took some time to drive around the Hollywood area. I drove on Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, etc.... Apart from some neat shops and stuff this was just like any other city in my opinion. It was dirty, the traffic was bad, the air was foul, you never felt safe, etc... Whenever you see Hollywood on TV it is always this wonderful glamourous place filled with movie stars and wonderful things. It wasn't any of that for me. I also got to see the Academy Awards being set up. I actually got to walk on the Red Carpet (several days before any of the stars arrived there though). The whole red carpet area just looks better on TV too. The only parts you see are the really nice parts. Just a few feet away it is an ordinary city. Anyway, I also got to sit in on the filming of Jeopardy. That was a really neat experience but I got to see all of the bits that are not seen on TV. The set is pretty small and doesn't look quite as cool in person as it does on TV. A lot more goes on then what you see on TV too. Johnny Gilbert (the announcer) is a really funny guy. The whole thing was real fun but it let me see for myself the difference between what goes on and what they want us to see. I know that everyone knows these things in the back of their head but I think that far too many people just take what is on TV as real.

I'm just ranting here and perhaps not making too much sense but anyhow, this is what I learned. I'll post some more interesting stuff soon.