Los Angeles

"You don't go to Bombay to become a movie star. You go where we're going... Hollywood!"
- Fozzie Bear, The Muppet Movie, 1979



Craig Ferguson
First stop in LA was CBS studios where we went to a taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Not one, but two episodes! For those counting celebrities spotted on this trip, you could chalk up half-a-dozen or so here if you want to count Craig himself, his sidekicks (Geoff the robot-skeleton-thing, and Secretariat the dancing pantomime horse), and the four guests on the two shows. A enjoyable few hours, and interesting to see the way they record the show (see more about this in the next item).
9 / 10

Chunky B
The warm-up guy for the Craig Ferguson show. The audience were all told before we went in to make sure we laughed loudly and cheered wildly to make the right atmosphere, and make it look/sound right on the TV. That was fine... until Chunky B came out. He was terrible - which I expected from a warm-up guy. Presumably that's part of the job description. But he went on and on so much, getting everyone to "practice" laughing loudly at bad jokes, that by the time Craig came out to start the show, I didn't want to laugh or cheer any more... it hurt.
1 / 10

Ryan
The young fellow who gave the audience their direction and instruction before we went into the studio. He should have been the warm-up guy. Hilarious.
8 / 10

Hard Rock Cafe
Good food, good atmosphere, live music. So good we almost went back for dinner again the next day.
8 / 10

Hollywood Tour
A mini-bus guided tour to the Hollywood sign and Beverly Hills and seeing celebrity homes. I didn't expect much from it, and I was still disappointed. The driver/guide spent a lot of time telling us about how many celebrities he personally knew, having internal dialogues out loud, and giving us life advice. He also liked to say that somethingorother was "here" or "over there" without specifying where "here" or "there" actually were.
1.5 / 10

Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Lots of stars built into the sidewalk with names of famous people. Sounds dull, eh? No matter how many times we walked along it there always seemed to be someone new and hilarious to exclaim over. Provided endless minutes of entertainment.
6 / 10

Santa Monica Pier
On the final day we caught a bus down to the pier. The bus trip was about an hour ride, and was all along a single street. Not that that had anything to do with the pier itself. The rides there were a warm-up for the upcoming larger rides. Well, for most of us it was a warm-up. For others it was probably the limit of their thrill-seeking.

Sparky
The dog Katie won on Whack-a-mole at Santa Monica. Named after the dog in this classic Sesame Street cartoon. He was fun to start with, but as the trip goes on, we are more and more sure that he's going to have to be left behind somewhere due to our limited suitcase space.
5 / 10