100 Carolwood Drive

 Let's take a look at 100 Carolwood Drive. There are apparently a lot of Michael Jackson fans out there...when I got up this morning my blog counter was through the roof - and I don't even mention MJ on my blog! Doing a little research, I found out people were coming here today because I'm very familiar with Carolwood Drive and have posts about Walt Disneys house and Fleur de Lys.

 So as not to disappoint, let's take a look at the house Michael Jackson was renting on Carolwood Drive in Holmby Hills! The first photo above shows the 16,119 square foot home smack in the middle of the photo. The photo to the left shows the underground parking garage entrance.

 Unfortunately for MJ, this house sits right on busy Sunset Blvd and he no doubt had to endure the constant drone of passing traffic. Why anyone would build such a huge mansion right on a major thoroughfare, I have no idea. From what I have been reading, Sean Connery lived in this home at one time though I have not verified that.

 But MJ rented it for $100K a month since his house up north is in foreclosure - he had to make due with a mere 8 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. Notice this view from the back of the house shows three balconies, one on each of the three floors of the house.

 I had decided to stop posting celebrity houses (notice this is the first such post this year), but since I got a kazillion hits today looking for MJ's rental, I decided to oblige and look into it for you. Since interest peaks when someone dies, I end up feeling kind of ghoulish visiting dead celebrity's homes...

 Let's take a street level look. This is heading southbound on North Carolwood Drive. Carolwood drive branches to the right in this photo, and actually the video I've seen of MJ's ambulance leaving was taken about where the car is on the right branch. That car is sitting just outside the guest entrance to 100 Carolwood.

 But let's head down Monovale Drive instead (this street level view doesn't go down the right branch, and I'm not driving over to Holmby Hills to take my own photos, sorry!).

 As we head down Monovale, that's MJ's house on the right...we're coming upon the underground garage...

 There is a peak inside the garage as we zoom on by. This home was built in 2002 and sold for $18M in 2004. It is valued at about $12M right now. Photos of the home's interior can be found here.

And now that we have passed, a look at it from the rear. Due to the events of this week, this home will no doubt be very famous for a long time to come, and Carolwood Drive became yet a bit more famous (infamous?)...as if it needed the help.

Rollin Rock

How Not to Avoid Jury Duty

Erik Slye, 36, from Montana received a jury duty notice to which he took exception. He filled out a Request for Excuse form, had it notarized, and turned it in. The judge took exception to his request and summoned him to court where Erik apologized.

He was excused from the jury when he reported for duty.

99 Things

I copied this from Karen Blados' site...highlight the things you've done and put it on you site too!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars -- on the shore of Lake Oroville
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning -- who hasn't?
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - sorry, didn't go up.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason - does this include giving someone flowers?
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar - you do know that is fish eggs, right?
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -- only once. never again.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - do fish count?
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous -- I'm not sure if "seeing" counts as "meeting", so no
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

50 out of 100, not bad coverage of some unknown person's top 100 things in life...

I'm pretty sure the original creator of this list is a woman, as there are two things on this list than a woman but not a man can do, but nothing that a man but not a woman can do...can you identify the two things?

Floss Anonymous does Nirvana

Here is my son Ron's band, Floss Anonymous, doing Nirvana's Very Ape off of In Utero. Very nice rendition, I might add.

The Next Generation

We received some fantastic news late last month that I have been waiting to share...we are about to become grandparents. Well, in a few months anyway.

That's right, David and Lucy are expecting their first child! It is very exciting news and I think they are both in a state of shock - I tried to wait until they had told everyone, but it's been a few weeks now so I told them this week that I was going to let the cat out of the bag - whether they had released the official news or not.

As far as we know, we should be grandparents before the year is out...this is going to be fun! We had been dreading having the word "grand" in front of our familial titles, but you know what? It's time. We're ready.

Congratulations, David and Lucy!

Old Man Winter

Well we are finally at the point where we can start focusing on furnishing the house - we've pretty much wrapped up the remodel. My project last weekend was to strengthen the niche wall in our stairway so it could hold our new "Old Man Winter" wall sculpture. At 30 inches wide and 40 pounds, he is one heavy dude and I didn't want to worry about him falling on our head every time we came down the stairs.

Actually, I have no idea if the artist intended this to be the face of Old Man Winter or not - I just know that is what it looks like to me. And his piercing eyes now stare right at you when you're about halfway down the upper flight of stairs.

We discovered this beauty while out exploring a few Saturdays ago. The store, Column One, had several pieces we really liked so we thought about it overnight, went back the next day, and bought every piece we liked! We found great locations in our home for all of them, but Old Man Winter is so heavy that a simple wall hook would not work. So I tore out the sheet rock and installed a heavy duty bolt. I can tell you for sure that the wall art will break before the wall hook does now.

After checking with the financial arm of our household (wifey), I now know I must wait until next month to have our sheetrock guy, Dave Borders, come and patch the sheetrock for me. For now, I'll have to be happy seeing Old Man Winter peering down on us from atop his pink insulation background.