I’m back in Hollywood at last. My new temporary digs are on Las Palmas, a stone’s throw and ten months away from the Oscars. Runyon Canyon is still only an easy walk away from here, and the button-cute Cafe Audrey is just down the street.

But before I set about Hollywood-blogging I still had something I wanted to point out about Redondo Beach. I crashed with a friend there for three or four weeks and I was struck by the clean, salty, beach-white prettiness of the place. And then, right in the middle of all of this sparkling architecture is the Redondo Beach Car Wash:

I find the decay of modern architecture fascinating, especially when it’s so glaringly out of place as this thing is. I found a break in the wall and climbed in to take some photographs, some of which you can find after the jump:

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AP reports that a giant parcel of land around the Hollywood Sign is up for sale, and that a wave of protest is building to preserve it. Residents, politicians and pundits worry that the land’s sale would pave the way for unwelcome development, but the city apparently can’t just buy it. The asking price of $22 million is a smidge above the legal cap of $6 million the city can pay. Should we start a collection?

It’s hard to imagine a world that would let this happen, but the cynic in me worries that it will one day become the AT&T Hollywood Sign. I suppose we could just let Heidi Montag pay for it, which would be fine as long as we don’t mind changing it to “Heidiwood.”.

Maybe they’ll put in a Pinkberry.

It’s hard to believe that it’s still going on. I thought for certain that when I returned to L.A. the Earthquake Building would be done and populated by rich young Hollywood whelps. But no, the windows are still going in. And you know what? I’m glad. I think I’ll be disappointed when they finally finish this beast. It’s been such a part of my Hollywood lifestyle for so long, I don’t want it to stop.

I also want to say that it’s impressive how true to vision the project has been. Click on the image above to see the side-by-side comparison. On the left is how it looked yesterday at 2:14 PM. On the right is a photo taken by The CIM Group of the completed project using their special Pentax time-travel lens. Nice job, folks.

Oh, and for the record? The building isn’t leaning.

For more evidence of my Sunset & Vine obsession, see more photos after the jump.

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There’s a line in David Byrne’s beautiful, sad, hilarious 1988 film, True Stories, that I repeat often, even when I’m around other people. My copy of the movie is in storage so I’m gonna have to paraphrase, but it goes something like this:

Only by returning to a place can you see it for how it really is.

I think that’s the exact line. Trust my memory, folks. It’s like flypaper.

We get used to a place. We stop noticing the things that struck as interesting when we first saw them. They become a blur, a smear of sound and color and aroma. If we take some time off and go away for a while, when we then return, they stand out and sparkle like mad.

I’m noticing that right now. I just spent eight months relaxing in the high desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I got back a couple weeks ago. And wow is this city amazing. Look at all the colors! And the people! And whoa, I don’t remember a red-light camera on Sunset and Cahuenga…

Hello, Los Angeles!

And hello, Metrobloggers! My name is Will, but since there are three other Will’s writing for this thing, you can call me Liam if you want. I’ll ease you into it. I’m a music weirdo. I’ll probably write about some soon. I also have a camera. I walk everywhere and I take pictures of what I see. And I like the way Los Angeles Streets look when the sun is setting. Expect all of that while I’m here.