Fast Forward LA | Three Jam-Packed Minutes in Los Angeles

Produced by Jim Albritton | From the Hollywood sign to the Santa Monica Pier and points in between, Newsocracy's LA Road Trip takes you there.

LA ROAD TRIP | San Antonio's River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets of downtown San Antonio, Texas. Lined by bars, shops and restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right.

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LA ROAD TRIP | The Alamo | San Antonio, Texas

REMEMBER THE ALAMO | Most come to see the old mission where a small band of Texans held out for thirteen days against the Centralist army of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Although the Alamo fell in the early morning hours of March 6, 1836, the death of the Alamo Defenders has come to symbolize courage and sacrifice for the cause of Liberty. The memories of James Bowie, David Crockett, and William B. Travis are as powerful today as when the Texan Army under Sam Houston shouted "Remember the Alamo!" as it routed Santa Anna at the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. The Alamo has been managed by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas since 1905. Located on Alamo Plaza in downtown San Antonio, Texas, the Alamo represents nearly 300 years of history. Three buildings--the Shrine, Long Barrack Museum and Gift Museum--house exhibits on the Texas Revolution and Texas History. Visitors are welcome to stroll through the beautiful Alamo Gardens. Just a short distance from the River Walk, the Alamo is a "must see" for all who come to San Antonio.

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LA ROAD TRIP | General George S. Patton Memorial Museum

SOLDIER ON | The General George S. Patton Memorial Museum was established to honor the late general and the thousands of men who served with him at the Desert Training Center and overseas. The museum is located in California off Interstate 10, about 30 miles east of Indio at Chiriaco Summit, which was the entrance to Camp Young, command post for the DTC during World War II. The site was donated by Joseph Chiriaco, one of the first area residents General Patton met when he arrived to set up the center.

Exhibits display memorabilia from the life and career of General Patton. The exhibit halls include the many and varied aspects of military life with particular focus on the Desert Training Center and soldiers of World War II. 

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LA ROAD TRIP | Santa Monica Beach

END OF THE ROAD | The world-famous Santa Monica Pier is a prominent 100-year-old landmark that has seen its share of tourists, anglers and directors. The pier can be seen in numerous TV shows and movies, including Forrest Gump. And yes, there is a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant on the pier. It's owned by the company that produced the film.

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LA ROAD TRIP | The TMZ Tour

TMZ: We Love Hollywood, We Just Have a Funny Way of Showing It | The TMZ Tour, "a lighthearted and entertaining look at the world of celebrity gossip," winds its way through Hollywood streets and scandals, using video, photos and pop trivia quizzes to breathe life back into the half-century-old movie star home tour. 

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LA ROAD TRIP | La Brea Tar Pits & Page Museum

The La Brea Tar Pits (or Rancho La Brea Tar Pits) are a group of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed, in urban Los Angeles. Asphaltum or tar (brea in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. The tar is often covered with dust, leaves, or water. Over many centuries, the bones of animals that were trapped in the tar were preserved. The George C. Page Museum is dedicated to researching the tar pits and displaying specimens from the animals that died there. The La Brea Tar Pits are a registered National Natural Landmark.

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LA ROAD TRIP | Hollywood's Chinese Theatre

TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's Chinese Theatre and later Mann's Chinese Theatre) is a movie theater on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard. The theater was renamed in January 2013 when the TCL Corporation, a Chinese electronics company, purchased the naming rights for over $5 million.

Built over 18 months, from January 1926 by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman, the theater opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's film The King of Kings. It has since been home to many premieres, including the 1977 launch of George Lucas's Star Wars, as well as birthday parties, corporate junkets and three Academy Awards ceremonies. Among the theater's most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.

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LA ROAD TRIP | Historic Bob's Big Boy

BIG BOY BOB | Bob's Big Boy in Burbank is an example of the emerging California coffee shop style that exploded in Los Angeles in the 1950s and a point of historical interest in California. Built in 1949, the structure is related to World Fair pavilions of the pre-war period by its long, low, horizontal roof line and wide canopies. Its asymmetrical shape alternates from sharp angles at the entrance to smooth, inward curving picture windows facing the street. Certainly the building's most striking aspect is the monumental freestanding Bob's sign which soars vertically 70 feet and its trademark chubby boy in red-and-white checkered overalls holding a Big Boy sandwich (double-decker cheeseburger). Johnny Carson frequently mentioned Bob's Big Boy on the Tonight Show and the Beatles ate there during their 1965 US Tour.

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LA ROAD TRIP | Hiking Hollywood

HIKING HOLLYWOOD | For us, few things in all of LA can top hiking Mt. Hollywood between the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. And to prove how much we like it, here are more than 100 photos of our time on the trails.

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LA ROAD TRIP | Hollywood Nights

HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS | A nighttime look at Hollywood from Hollywood Boulevard and from high atop Mt. Hollywood and the Loews Hotel at the Hollywood and Highland Center. 

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Risky Business at 30 | Iconic Film's Anniversary Screening Features Original Ending

Produced by Jim Albritton | It's hard to believe, but Risky Business turns 30 on August 5, 2013. Newsocracy attended a special Academy screening of the now iconic film and has the story. To learn more about academy screenings at Oscars outdoors, go to http://www.oscars.org.

LA ROAD TRIP | I Love Lucy

Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz revolutionized TV with the creation and production of their show, I Love Lucy, on CBS. They were the first to use a multi-camera format before a studio audience to shoot the popular situation comedy or sitcom. And they unknowingly invented the rerun during Lucy's pregnancy. In an effort to give her some time off, previous episodes of I Love Lucy were broadcast in place of original episodes. The studio they formed, Desilu, went on to produce some of TV's most iconic shows in TV history, including Star Trek and The Untouchables. 

Go to our Facebook Photo Gallery to see photos of Lucy memorabilia at the Hollywood Museum. And click here to see all our photo albums.

Ole Miss Football Players Visit Batson Children's Hospital

Produced by Jim Albritton | Four Ole Miss football players visited Batson Children's Hospital. Collins Moore, Robert and John Ratliff and Charlie Scott played with patients and toured the Eli Manning Children's Clinics and the Children's Cancer Clinic. 

LA ROAD TRIP | Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic gathering place, and one of southern California's most popular attractions. The Observatory is located on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, just above the Los Feliz neighborhood. It is 1,134 feet above sea level and is visible from many parts of the Los Angeles basin. The mission of Griffith Observatory is to inspire everyone to observe, ponder and understand the sky. 

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