Poppy's Seeds Around Town:On location!

Christie's Foreword: Yesterday was 'Bring your child to work day' at the Tragic Kingdom's HQ. I casually mentioned it to Poppy, and she became really excited and insisted on participating. Who am I to argue with Poppy? She's way smarter than me. So let me hand the reigns over to the one and only...Miss Poppy Sassypants...and her slide show.

Hello and welcome to Poppy's Seeds Around...wait...are you recording this? HELLO! I'M NOT READY! GEEEZ...CAN YOU GIVE ME 5 MINUTES TO PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD?!?! Unprofessional sons of...I WAS PRACTICING MY LEAD-IN!!!

So...how about that funny naked bit? Yea, HILarious. Now where was I? Oh yes...Welcome to another edition of Poppy's Seeds Around Town. I'm your host Miss Poppy Sassypants. Today we are going to lovely Burbank, CA for 'bring your child to work day' at the Tragic Kingdom's corporate offices where my guardian, Christie, is currently temping.

Here we are, getting ready to board the MTA Red Line to North Hollywood. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the ceiling of this particular station is lined with old metal film reels. Each of the light rail lines stations are decorated differently...most in direct reference to where the station is located. Since this station is at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, it is decorated in homage to Hollywood's movie history.

Riding the train was a fun experience. Thank God it was only two stops away...nothing worse than sitting on a nasty train seat in a skirt. Can I get some anti-bacterial?!!?

Here we are that the Universal City Station. All these tiles were hand made by a local artist and although my Spanish is a little rusty, I believe they are referring to important dates in this area's history. If you happen to be in the LA area, there are free docent lead tours of all the stations. Information can be found here.

Christie's view coming up from the train station.

My view coming up from the train station.

A street level view of the train station from across the way. Not interesting, I know, but the picture was taken and we're using it.

On this side of the street is Universal City...where you can visit Universal Studios, shop and eat along City Walk or see a concert at the Gibson Amphitheatre. My fellow OC girl and super kawaii superstar, Gwen Stefani, will be performing to a sold-out crowd tonight [speaking of April 27th, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR OTHER FAVE OC GIRL, SMOOCHIE!].

15 minutes later, we are outside the doors of the Tragic Kingdom's [aka T.K.] lot.

Here is where we will be today. The Team T.K. Building. This is where the VIP's have their offices and think their big thoughts. This is also where Christie had her 'experience' with The Rock.

The Team T.K. Building's roof is held up by the 7 Dwarves, who have been having trouble finding work since their movie came out in the 1930's. I think Doc is trying to calculate out how much money his making [you have to divide by 7!] and Grumpy is just pissed off at having to work at all. Oh, and that's half of Dopey in the yellow 'Tragic Kingdom Volunt-Ears' tank top.

I think it would have been cool if they would have slanted to roof lower on Sleep's side, but I'm no architect. We're going over to commissary for some coffee and the we'll show you the cubicle.

Here I am in Christie's lovely cubicle. As you can see, she has a calendar, a green file folder, random papers and lots of cups filled with different sized binder clips. All the ingredients for a successful run as a corporate secretary! The joy I'm feeling is nauseating. When's lunch, people?

Ah, outdoors. Nothing stifles the soul like central air and modular desks. While Christie reads her blog subscriptions and pretends to work, I'm out exploring. Here I am at the Legend's Walk [you can see another view of it from the Team T.K. Bldg picture]. On the columns of this walkway, are plaques honoring people who have made the Tragic Kingdom so great. There are plaques for animators, folks who work in the Parks and Resorts department and well known superstarras like Dick Van Dyke and Sir Elton John. I'm expecting to receive my honorary plaque in the coming year or so. You'll all be invited to the ceremony, of course.

I had a nice interview with Minnie Mouse and this stoic dude whose name I didn't catch.

I was also able to get Mr. Walt and Mickey to pose with me. The honor was all theirs, right? Well, we exchanged a few ideas and I think Mickey is on-board with my pitch of a Poppy Sassypants animated feature. You guys are all invited to the red carpet world premier, of course.

Me and The Mouse. I'm signing it and having it framed for his office.

Christie finally came down for lunch and we chatted for bit. Well, she crocheted and I held the yarn. It's good she doesn't treat me like the star I am. She keeps me humble...she keeps me grounded.

The Water Tower. Interesting? I guess.

After lunch, I also had a brush with fame. I didn't think he'd recognize me, but he said he and his daughter are huge fans of the show.

Yes, I met Johnny Depp. He was on his way to a Pirates photo shoot, heard I was on the lot and had to run over to meet me.

They're not lying when they say these male stars are short. Um...hello! O-kay? Regardless, he's still f-ing hot!

After a long day, we made our way back to our apartment. Of course, we had to stop by my first home, The Black Sheep Knittery. They knew me when I was just a wee ball of fiber. It was good to see the old place, but I was a little overcome with emotion and...next slide, NEXT SLIDE!!!

Just steps away from Black Sheep is the infamous Capitol Records building. It was rumored for a while that they were going to turn it into an apartment building, but I believe that it will remain offices for the time being.

And down the street from there is the Pantages Theatre. World class bus and truck tours come through and give the unimpressed Los Angeles masses theatre...THEATRE, DAH-LING. As you can see, Wicked is the show of the moment, but The Lion King, Sweet Charity [with Molly Ringwald, no less] and Three Fat Guys In One Plaid Suit have shown here [Three Fat Guys isn't really a show, but it could be, and I bet it would be a hit!].

Our last photo is of our trip's starting point. No, that's not my apartment. It's the Metro Red Line Hollywood and Vine Station. The area surrounding this station, once a bastion for homeless and freaks of all sorts, is magically being transformed into a W Hotel, retail spaces, high class and "affordable" apartments. The project is due to be completed by 2009, and it is thought that this new revitilization will restore the glamour [rather than allowing it to continue its seedy reputation] back to the Hollywood area.

Thank you for joining me on this wonderful tour of Burbank and Hollywood. I hope you enjoyed the time as much as I did. I will be on location again this weekend and am looking forward to bringing you another 'Seeds: on location!' episode [if you didn't enjoy this post, then keep it to yourself]. Until then, I'm Poppy Sassypants...returning the blog to my co-host, Christie, who will be bringing you exciting Violet Beauregard dying news in the next few days.