A lifelong dream, fulfilled! I am at a UCLA game at Pauley Pavilion! Thank you Mallory!!John Wooden statue.Basketball pyramidNational championship bannersUCLA wins!
Griffith Observatory is a must see when in Los Angeles!Some photo ops outside the observatory.Hollywood sign in the background.James Dean starred in the 1955 movie “Rebel Without a Cause”. Several significant scenes from that movie were filmed here at Griffith Observatory. These scenes reflected positively on the site, and contributed to Griffith’s international reputation. Dean was killed in a car accident in 1955 at the height of his popularity.Inside the entrance foyer rotunda.Foucault Pendulum. This is a recreation of the 1851 demonstration by French physicist Jean Bernard Leon Foucault that gave the first direct proof that Earth rotates on its axis.
This pendulum is a 240 pound partially hollow gun-metal sphere suspended from a 40 foot steel wire that is attached to the rotunda ceiling in a way that allows it to swing freely. A ring magnet above the ceiling keeps the pendulum in motion without influencing the direction of its swing.
The pendulum knocks over one peg every seven minutes. From our perspective the direction of the pendulum’s swing appears to change, but in reality we are seeing the motion of the earth rotating the peg into the path of the swinging pendulum.
At the north and south poles it takes one day for the direction of the swing to rotate 360 degrees As you move from the poles to the equator this apparent rotation takes longer because of the change in latitude. Here in Los Angeles, this full rotation takes just over 42 hours. At the equator there is no apparent shift and no pegs would ever be knocked down.An example of Galileo’s telescope.The first astronomical telescope in Los Angeles.Tesla Coil demonstration – this sign is powered by electricity without wires. You can hear the electricity sizzle!Telescope Dome.Zeiss 12 inch Refracting Telescope. This telescope is available for the public to view through, but not at the time we were there.Inside the planetarium before the show.GalileoDisplay of all the elements from the periodic table.Views of the sun using different filters.A coelostat tracks the Sun throughout the day. It brings sunlight directly in so we can observe it.Downtown LA from Griffith Observatory.San Gabriel Mountains. The top peak is Mt. San Antonio, at 10,064 feet.Astronomers MonumentSundialInteresting tree. On our way up to Griffith Observatory we ran into heavy traffic due to a memorial service for P-22, a mountain lion that had died recently. P-22 had lived in Griffith Park for at least 10 years. It had been “captured” on numerous video cameras and had developed quite a following, so when he died back in December, a memorial service was planned, which happened to be on the morning we passed by!After leaving Griffith Observatory, just a short drive to this house that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is the Ennis House. It is private, not open for tours.
The Beverly Hills Hotel was built in 1912, before there was a Beverly Hills! In fact, the original owner named the hotel after his daughter, Beverly. And later, the new city was named for this hotel – Beverly Hills!Dinner at the Polo Lounge. This is where celebrities dine, but we only saw DJ Khaled and his entourage.Bread assortmentFiletBraised short ribsThe Polo Lounge’s world famous chocolate souffle – it was delicious!The lobby is decked out with real roses.Lots of real flowers- it smelled like a funeral home!The red carpet treatment!
UCLA Athletic Hall of FameJackie Robinson starred in 4 sports at UCLA before he became the first black baseball player to play in the major leagues.Jackie Robinson’s uniform number 42 has been retired by all major league baseball teams.UCLA has won 120 national championships (all sports), which is second to Stanford University’s 131. UCLA has won 11 national championships in men’s basketball (Kentucky is second with 8).John Wooden, who coached UCLA to 10 national championships in 12 years (1964-1975). He is widely considered the greatest coach of all time.Coach Wooden’s den.Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) won 3 championships at UCLA, as well as three-time college basketball national player of the year. UCLA lost 2 games in three years with Alcindor.He went on to win 6 NBA titles and 6 MVP awards, finishing as the NBA’s all time leading scorer.Bill Walton followed up Alcindor with two national championships and three national player of the year awards. I remember watching him on TV when he led UCLA to the national championship over Memphis State in 1973. Walton scored 44 points, making 21 of 22 shots.UCLA has had one Heisman Trophy winner, Gary Beber in 1967, beating OJ Simpson for the award.Troy Aikman is one of 4 UCLA stars to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.The National College Basketball Player of the Year is now named for John Wooden. UCLA start Ed O’Bannon is the only UCLA player to win the John Wooden Award. He won in 1995 leading UCLA to their 11th and most recent national championship.1971 National Championship trophy1964.197519951954 Football National Championship trophyThe Hall of Champions displays all of UCLA’s national championship trophies. Very impressive sight!
