Day 2 in L.A.

So Day 2 in L.A. has been pretty good. I spent the morning at the conference and it was very productive. I heard some interesting presentations and met some important people -- exactly what I'm supposed to be doing here. I then took the afternoon off to go explore L.A. I took the subway to Hollywood Boulevard, where I saw the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. I couldn't see the enshrined handprints of the rich and famous because they were getting ready for some red carpet event -- I did get to see the red carpet, though. I also strolled the Walk of Fame and saw some great (Julie Andrews), and once-great (Michael Jackson), and questionably great stars (Winnie the Pooh -- come on, I love Pooh, but a Walk of Fame star is just Disney advertising in my book).

I saw the famous Kodak Theater, home of the Academy Awards and American Idol finals. Conveniently enough, there is a star for Ryan Seacrest (also questionable in my book), right in front of the theater. I'm having trouble loading pictures to Blogger right now, so I'll show proof of my visit later on.

Last, but not least, there was plenty of Hollywood kitsch. Fake Academy Awards every few feet, not to mention the maps of the homes of the rich and famous. I was almost tempted to take a tour of the area and see some of the homes, but it was just too voyeuristic for my tastes.