Located in South Pasadena, California, Devil’s Gate is named for its appearance of a horned devil face in a canyon of the Arroyo Seco, a natural riverbed. Native Americans believed the area around Devil’s Gate to be haunted and it has since been considered a zone of spiritual activity. The rock face does resemble the devil, but now gated up the cavern resembles a portal to another spooky world.
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One of the most telling symbols of Los Angeles, the Hollywood Sign is perched sky-high on Mount Lee. This popular piece of signage was originally set up in 1923 to serve as an advertising gimmick for real estate development, only to become as legendary as its abode in the years that followed the Golden Age of Hollywood. Overlooking the urbane sprawl of its namesake neighborhood, the sign glistens under the Californian sun, profoundly iconic in its stark white lettering that stands at a height of 44 feet (13.4 meters). Swathes of barricades and restricting gates prevent access to the sign, even as adventurous individuals attempt to trespass it. Part of an everlasting cultural fabric that blankets the city of Los Angeles and perhaps all of America, this historical sign has come to be one of the most tangible aspects of Hollywood's fantastical realm.
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Amid the spattering of famous murals gracing Hollywood Boulevard, Tom Suriya's 1983 addition, known as "You Are The Star", stands out as perhaps the quirkiest. The 30-some-foot-wide image depicts an audience hall filled to capacity with the legends of the silver screen, painted to scale, watching you as if you were the featured spectacle. Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and dozens of other Hollywood icons peer at your expectantly from the stellar audience to rather a striking effect. Featured in a few films, including Greg Araki’s Nowhere, the mural remains one of the favored spots for memorable tourist shots and fly-by headshot sessions.
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