Hollywood is full of trendy clubs that showcase the best DJs and bands. Check out this
calendar of performances to find where your favorite artists are playing next.

The Vanguard is one of the hottest places to party in HOllywood. It’s famous for its cool DJs, go-go girls on a catwalk and enough dance floor space to fit in the relaxed but energetic crowd, which ranges mainly from 25s-early 30s. There’s an outdoor tropical-style patio in the back for VIP service, but this place is really just a pure dance club with few distractions.
(6021 Hollywood Bvld., 213-480-3232.)

Why stop at visiting a Hollywood set when you can be part of the actual show? You can get tickets to the TV tapings at these places. But, wear comfortable shoes and clear the rest of your itinerary, you’ll have to wait in line.

Audiences Unlimited: (818) 506-0043 or www.tvtickets.com Write to: 100 Universal City Plaza Bldg. 153, Universal City, CA 91608 Include a return stamped envelope. Over 40 sitcoms, game and talk show tickets available.

CBS (213) 852-2458 7800 Beverly Blvd. Tickets for game and talk shows, and sitcom tapings

Paramount Pictures (323) 956-5575 860 N. Gower St. Tickets available at Visitors Center up to five days in advance of tapings of Paramount’s sitcoms and talk shows at the studio and other production facilities.

One of Hollywood’s richest and most talented producer / managers is Brad Grey. A veteran in the biz (he’s been there for 23 years) he was responsible for the Sopranos and Just Shoot Me (he earned net profits of $262 million on that show — and an additional $50,000 fee per episode). He also handled A-list clients like Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt.

One industry insider said, “There are 20 people who basically run this town. Brad can get any of them on the phone immediately. They answer his call because they never know what he might say that will be vital for them to hear.”

Some of Hollywood’s hotels can be considered as historical as Hollywood itself — like the Knickerbocker.

It was built in 1925 as a luxury apartment building, and its Renaissance Revival bar was a favorite hang out of the stars. Rudolph Valentino loved to tango here. FIlm director D. W. Griffith spent many hours at the bar, especially after he was “dismissed” by Hollywood after years of pioneering the industry. He was was walking in the lobby when he had a stroke, and died under the huge crystal chandelier.

Another Knickerbocker patron was Frances Farmer, who enjoyed an intense, but brief, career. She appeared in 18 films, three Broadway plays, thirty major radio shows and seven stock company productions, but alcohol, drugs, and weight problems had her career in shambles before she was 28. In 1943 she was arrested while she was at the Knickerbocker, and had to be dragged (half naked) out of her room. Famous costume designer Irene Gibbons also committed suicide here, checking in under another name, then trying to slit her wrists. When that didn’t work she jumped from the window.

The Knickerbocker was also the “lovenest” of William Faulkner and Meta Carpenter, a script girl from the Fox studios, Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio. Other celebrity guests were Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mae West, Lana Turner, Cecil B. DeMille, Frank Sinatra, Laurel and Hardy and many others.

The Knickerbocker was also the stage for the last Houdini seance. After an hour, a violent thunderstorm drenched participants and ended their attempts. They later discovered that the storm didn’t occur anywhere else in Hollywood — only above the hotel!

Today a coffee shop called “The All-Star Theatre Café & Speakeasy” stands where the bar used to be, and is frequented by celebrities like Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Seems like the Hollywood writer’s strike is going on and on and on and on… so is it going to end any time soon, and are there any negotations? Get it straight from the writers themselves at the Union’s blog.

We’d quote them but then they might complain copyright infringement and picket US.

You’ve seen celebrity hairstyles on TV and fashion magazines — but now that you’re in Hollywood, why not get your locks done by the favorite stylists of the stars?

Try the Byron Williams Hair Salon. This is the favorite salon of style icons likeLindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, and Mischa Barton. (Here she is posing with him). “I trust Byron and he listens to what I want.”

The salon address:
Byron Williams Salon
9294 Civic Center Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Forget buying Christmas gifts for other people — what should Hollywood fans get for themselves? What about these vintage movie posters, available at emovieposter.com This site carries some of the posters from old blockbusters, from Disney’s 102 Dalmations to Empire Strikes Back to Ghostbusters.
Better yet, arrange a Hollywood tour that’ll bring you to the studios or sets. Now that’s what we call bragging rights.

The holidays are party season — and Hollywood knows how to throw a party. If you’re in HOllywood on a Saturday, try the Circus Disco / Spundae. The club has a different DJ every week, usually the top in a particular industry: progressive house, trance, techno, breakbeat. The dance flour is immpressively large, and there’s a smaller room with new, local talents. (The two rooms are connected by the lounge on the second floor.)

The disco is located at Santa Monica Boulevard. Check out the for more information. Dance the night away!

Get into the brilliant (and some would say, twisted) mind of one of the greatest directors and writers that Hollywood has ever known, Woody Allen. The book
Conversations with Woody Allen: His FIlms, the Movies, and Moviemaking by Eric Lax is as entertaining as its subject, and is dotted with quotes that are, well, so Woody Allen.

Allen explains many of the nuances of his films, his decision to make a “mockumentary” (long before the phrase was coined, and the project became trendy) and how he handles the cut-throat competition and general cattiness of Hollywood.

Excellent buy.