Things experienced so far in LA – part 22

— Bren and Cash came and picked me up at Alex’s so we could head over to Universal Studios together. It was a bright warm morning. Cashel sat in the back seat, reading a book called Ghosts and Ghoulies. Within 2 seconds of me getting in the car, Cashel began to pontificate on the difference between REGULAR ghosts and POLTERGEISTS. “Poltergeists stay in the house … and they are tricksters.” Cashel said.

— The studio was like a circus. Throngs of tourists, amazing sights to be seen … everything artificial and fabulous. Cashel held onto my hand – we were afraid of losing his shortness in the crowd. He wasn’t wacky about this, but he submitted peacefully.

— First, we did the tour. Which was so so fun. Bren, Cash and I sat in the front seat of the little van – Cash sat on the edge. He had done this before, so he was letting me know what would happen. Our guide was wonderful – and I loved glancing down at Cashel and seeing his little face staring up at the guide, listening, laughing, and sometimes his jaw would drop in amazement at this or that little known fact. We saw fake New York streets, we saw fake Parisian streets, we saw fake Western streets – and the doors of the saloons and buildings in the Western streets were often strangely SMALL – they seemed made for Munchkins. This is because the directors wanted to make the star of the movie – the cowboy star – seem taller, bigger, outsized. He dwarfed the doors of the town he was trying to protect! We saw the city hall where many a movie has been filmed … Our guide showed a ton of clips, where we could see the city hall in all its different guises. We drove through sound stages – we experienced an earthquake while in a San Francisco subway station – which was pretty spectacular. An enormous truck crashed down from the highway above us. A subway car careened at us and then split in half. Cashel was AGOG. Hell, CASHEL was agog? I was agog! We drove through a nighttime New York scene … and suddenly we were going over a bridge – and there was King Kong, red eyes blazing, shaking the bridge back and forth. Cashel was clinging to me. Uhm, Cashel was clinging to me? I was clinging to Cashel!! We drove by the little Cape Cod town seen in Jaws – and suddenly – floating by us in the water – was the massive shark seen in the film. His name is Bruce. He was named after Spielberg’s lawyer. We saw a flash flood. We saw a rainfall created. We drove through one of the sets for The Mummy. We also drove by an enormous plane crash – used in War of the Worlds. That was pretty freaky, I have to say. It was so huge – the plane was in 3 pieces – and it was a scene of total and utter destruction. Carnage. The wreckage still smoking. It’s amazing because it LOOKED chaotic – but you know that every single piece of debris was carefully placed.

— The tour was great. The whole day was great. Cashel kept wanting to talk about it, and kept finding ways to bring it up again. 8 hours later, Cashel was still saying to me, “So Auntie Sheila, what was the most BORING part of the day for you?” “What ws your FAVORITE part of the day?” “What was your LEAST favorite part of the day?” We covered our experience from every possible angle, just in order to KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT. DO NOT LET THE EXPERIENCE DIE. KEEP IT ALIVE.

— After the tour, we did many many cool things, and saw many many cool sites.

— Well first, we went to lunch in a huge Western type corral place. There were two wandering cowboy troubadours who went from table to table and took requests. One said to us boastfully, “We know every song ever written. Ask us to play one.” The other said boastfully, “We haven’t been stumped yet!” I requested “Peace, Love and Understanding” – Elvis Costello. They played it. They said, “Ask us to play any Stones song. Try to make it obscure.” Brendan said, “Parachute Man.” They played it. Then Cashel made a request. “Could you play Holiday, by Green Day?” And whaddya know … they didn’t know that song. They were stumped!! One of the guys was so funny, he said, “Awesome. Stumped by an 8 year old!” He said his musical tastes stopped in the late 70s and that he was now sinking into the La Brea tar pits of music. hahahahaha Go, Cashel!!

— After lunch we moved on. We saw: Shrek 4-D – an amaizng interactive experience – we had to wear 3-D glasses, our chairs went this way and that, water sprayed down on us at certain points – there was also a HORRIFYING moment when an “s” suddenly dangled RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME … and then it attacked – and the chairs were somehow rigged with small wires – so that it seemed as though you were being bitch-slapped by a giant “s”. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs. Well, many people did. I was not alone. But Cashel, sitting next to me, wearing his huge bug-eyed green 3-D glasses, literally shook with laughter because of Auntie Sheila’s nervous breakdown.

— Then we went on the virtual reality Back to the Future car ride. It was AWESOME. You feel as though the car is plummeting through space. It was so so fun.

— Then we went to see Terminator 3-D which, sorry, was reeeeeeeeaaaaallllllly dumb. Cashel said later, “It was kind of boring. Like – the whole thing had no point.” Exactly. A discerning boy, that Cashel.

— We saw Spongebob go skipping by at one point surrounded by bodyguards. Cashel’s entire posture changed when he saw him. He became as alert as a mountain lion. That’s Spongebob! Then off Cashel went, running to keep up with him. So he could talk to him. It was so funny – Cashel wearing his little hooded Red Sox sweatshirt, his cool wide-wale corduroys – running like a maniac through the crowds chasing after this enormous waving bright yellow sponge. We got our pictures taken with Spongebob.

— Oh, at one point, Cashel was blithering on and on about the day, and how wonderful it was, how cool the tour was, how great the experience was – and he said the word “minimal”. “Even if you just do ONE thing … even if you just do the MINIMAL … you’re going to have a great time.” I love it when he says stuff like that. Bren and I just glance at him over his little head, exchange a look, and then say to him, “You’re right Cash. Even doing the minimal amount of stuff … it’s a great tour.”

— As we drove off, we discussed our favorite parts of the tour. Which became an ongoing theme for the rest of the day. We had to KEEP going over it. “I think my favorite part was when we toured the studio. Although Shrek 4-D was pretty cool, too.” Etc. We all agreed that Terminator 3-D was a huge letdown.

— The sun was now getting low in the sky. We were headed back to Bren’s … and they took me to one of their favorite spots. We drove up Mulholland Drive, a maniacal road, with death staring you in the face on one side as the cliff plunges straight down with nary a guard rail to protect you. But the view … the view … You just get an eyefull, you really do. It is beyond spectacular. You just can’t get that kind of perspective on the city in and around New York. But here – 10 minutes out of the city – are the HOllywood Hills – covered in trails, leading to the tippity top – and you can get to the crests and see all around, 360 degrees. We went to Runyon Canyon Park – and hiked up to the top. We were now at sunset time. The smog, of course, does the most UNBELIEVABLE things to the sunset. It was a wash of brilliant colors – bringing out the hills in stark outline – the palm trees sketched against the gold and pink and purple in black silhouette. Cashel was a good little hiker. We got to the top – a dizzying moment. I had a bit of vertigo. Again, it’s just a dirt platform at the top of the hill – with no fence or rail to keep you from plummeting to your death. But the view! There was the Hollywood sign – reflecting the sunset – Oh man. It all just took my breath away. I was so so glad we did that. Cashel climbing up the dirt path, talking to himself, occasional laser blasts emanating from his area … he knows how to occupy his mind during a boring hike.

— Then … we headed back down the hill and went off to rent Back to the Future – which Cashel, amazingly, had never seen. Very exciting.