Pickwick Books In Hollywood

 Pickwick Books was owned by the Epstein Family.  Son Aaron and indeed the entire family have been best friends of ours for decades  

The bookstore, which was sold to B. Dalton, was on Hollywood Boulevard and known for being a hangout for movie stars.

The bookstore started in downtown and was scraping by when a movie studio asked to rent 5000 books.  Louis Epstein, the bookstore proprietor, wrote up a contract for the studio to rent the books for 30 days at a nickle a day.  The studio returned the books a year later and wouldn't pay past the 30 days.  Epstein called an attorney, who won a huge settlement. The attorney set up an escrow with the settlement, encouraging the young immigrant to purchase a better location.  You can read the incredible story by clicking here.

In LA on Oscar Night

It is amazing how close you can get to the action during the Academy Awards presentation in Hollywood.  We arrived after the ceremony started and was able to get a parking place and walk down the Boulevard.  We walked into the historic Roosevelt Hotel where they were setting up a party for the cast and crew of Les Miserables.

Horray For Hollywood--Southern California IV

Wednesday was warm and sunny so we spent the entire morning at the pool, it was also our last day there.  We got a free lunch by attending a World Mart presentation, then packed to head to the airport.
We first drove to LA and went into Hollywood, we tried to drive to see the Hollywood sign (second from bottom) but it was gated.
We then drove down Hollywood Boulevard to the Walk Of Fame,  much of the Boulevard was blocked off to prepare for the Oscar Presentations which will be held tomorrow (Sunday February26th).  We saw what little of the "Red Carpet" that was not covered (top picture).   The Kodak Theatre (second and third from top) where the Oscar celebration is held, was closed, but is next to the Chinese Theatre where the stars foot prints are embedded.  Actually, the Hard Rock Cafe is between the two theatres.

The Apprentice: Yes, It Is Personal

Team Arrow has now won several tasks but somehow does not seem to think it commands the respect that it deserves. Arrow is gathered in the kitchen when Trump calls, James answers the phone and is told that the Kinetic team is "decimated" and by golly that is his favorite team (he didn't say that part, really). James was charged to pick a member to go to the opposite team. It is no secret that he would not mind breaking up the Nicole-Tim thing has it seems to have become somewhat of a drag on the rest of the team members. James sends Nicole over to Kinetic, and she does not go gracefully. She is not only angry at James, she does not think her team fought enough for her, especially Tim.
On Kinetic, it is up to Angela to step up to be PM. Her work has come into question many times but she has always been saved because Trump loves champions and she has a Gold Medal in Olympic Hockey. Nicole joins the team with fire in her eyes. You would almost expect Nicole to be PM.
The two teams meet at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (LA's number one tourist trap). Trump wonders why his name is not on the Walk Of Fame, and while we are at it, where's the "Donald Trump Dr." in Palm Springs? Forget it, what he really wants is the naming rights to the "White House". Basically the project is to use something called Adwalker to sell annual passes to Universal Studios at the site. This will be the first time the two teams have gone head to head on the same "turf".
Nicole pitches her new team on a roller skate gimmick, it allows them to be flirty and sexy. Only trouble is it doesn't quite fit their Conservative sorority make up and flops badly. Arrow brings a kiosk set up plenty of signage and an aggressive attitude and wins the task.
The reward this week is the very tired and much cliched helicopter trip over the city. Tim is working like crazy to patch things up with Nicole but to no avail. Frank is angry that Tim is talking to the other team and everything just isn't that simple anymore.
Kinetic is once again in the boardroom and Donald is distressed. Can Angela dodge another bullet? Trump looks for anyway he can avoid firing her (he really could have canned Nicole), but it is obvious that it is time for Angela to leave. Nicole opens her big mouth, and says she wants Tim to be on Kinetic, it was stupid for her to do that, but Trump just tells her to go away.