Tuesday, January 1, 2008

First Day Of The Year

Lisa and I hiked up to the Griffith Observatory today.



It was cloudy but still a beautiful day.



This was the best shot of the Observatory I could get today.



I wanted to take more photos but it was so crowded with people it was next to impossible to get good shots. I'll try again another day.

The hike up to the Griffith Park Observatory from Fern Dell Drive is pretty steep but its good excercise. From Los Feliz Blvd. go up Fern Dell and the trail starts where the first diagonal parking spaces begin.

The Observatory itself is really beautiful inside and out. The museum is free but the planetarium costs $7 admission. I haven't been inside the planetarium since I was a kid.

Lots of movies have been filmed there, the most famous of which is probably 'Rebel Without A Cause'; a bust of James Dean stands in the courtyard but, again, it was so busy with people I couldn't get a good photo of it.

Construction was completed on it in 1935 and it was recently refurbished and reopened after being closed for a couple of years at least.

I love going to the Observatory, it is truly inspiring, especially after hiking up to it!

Here's an excert from the song 'The Stargazer's Journey' from the cd of the same name by 'space music' composer Jonn Serrie. Serrie's cds are featured in the Observatory gift shop and I think his music appears during the planetarium show. You can hear more of his music at his website The Universe Of Jonn Serrie at http://www.vipinfo.com/jonn/.



If the mp3 player doesn't appear go to http://mog.com/Josh_Haden/blog_post/134187 to listen.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We went out to visit my sister and brother in-law out in LA in 2001. One night they took us out for a drive and took us to the Griffith Observatory. It was a beautiful, clear night and the view was incredible. One of my favorite memories from our visit out there!

It was terribly crowded. There were buses there bringing gaggles of tourists....we ended up parking pretty far down the hill but it was a nice walk. There was also a show at whatever that place is next to it so it was crowded with cars all the way up and down the hill as well.

your old friend,

teresa

Josh Haden said...

You came to L.A. and didn't tell me? Shame on you!