Friday, April 25, 2008

Going Hollywood - Wednesday 4/23/2008


On my way over to Braveheart's for a rescheduled writing group meeting I stopped off at the Hollywood branch of 24-Hour Fitness. I'm really impressed with the friendliness of the staff at all three of the branches I've visited.

If you look really closely, you can see the Hollywood sign above the upper window divider. This was my view from my spot in the row of elliptical machines.



That dome lurking outside the windows is the once mighty Cinerama Dome.

I went with a friend to see the very first matinee showing of Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home. We sat on the sidewalk for about an hour and a half playing eucre with a couple of former mid-westerners who were in line ahead of us. It was a good day.


According to Wikipedia, "In 2002 after a two-year closure, the Cinerama Dome was reopened as a part of a 14-screen complex called ArcLight Cinemas, a division of Pacific Theatres. The dome remains essentially unchanged though there have been improvements, notably in the acoustics. But for the first time ever, the Cinerama Dome began showing movies in the three-projector format. It is one of only three such theaters in the world today."


Being a newbie to these rooms full of running, pedaling, panting humans, I still get this sense of being in a scene from Brave New World or something. Wouldn't my turn-of-the 19th Century great grandparents have found the idea of a bunch of people using machines to work their bodies science fiction-esque?



Another view of the Cinerama Dome from the parking lot.

Now, this is my kind of development. Take what was once a big empty parking lot and build into an already-bustling part of the world not only more parking, but more space for businesses. Good thinking!

4 comments:

the last noel said...

You know, I always wanted to know what the inside of that gym looked like. Now, I know!

Sundry said...

LN - Any place else you'd like to go, virtually? ;)

Anonymous said...

wow!! you've been busy :)) it looks so cool!

are you close to deciding on the perfect gym for you? :)))

Sundry said...

Tessa- I seem to have missed a step in my talking about this. I chose 24 Hour Fitness, and I have access to all the branches they operate! I've been to 4 of them this week, and I'll probably continue to visit more than one since they offer classes at different times, and are convenient to different parts of my life. One's on the way home, one's on the way to my writing group, one's near home, and one offers a Saturday yoga class that I tried yesterday.