The Studio City Monster Wall

Way undervert, but huge and and burly as fuck.  The Studio City Monster Wall.  #steveemigphotos

Disclaimer

I teased this one the other day, with a photo on Facebook, and quite a few people were trying to figure out where this wall is.  This gigantic banked wall is one I actually rode fairly often, back in the early 1990's, when I worked on the American Gladiators crew, and lived in North Hollywood for part of a year.  It's only a couple of blocks from the CBS Studio Center, where I worked as a crew guy.  Yet this huge wall, at least 25-30 feet high, is totally hidden from view of the thousands of cars that drive by it every day.  

It's probably only 60 degrees, but it rides like a much steeper, undervert wall.  It's bumpy, textured concrete, with a really solid concrete driveway below.  You could probably do a little on a skateboard there, but BMXers or mountain bikers are who can really have fun with this thing.  

This is behind a shopping center, so there are delivery trucks rolling through now and then.  It looks like you could just haul ass and go 12 feet up this thing, but it rides way different than it looks.  I could get about 5 feet up the steeper Blues Brothers Wall in Huntington Beach, when I used ot ride this thing, 30 years ago.  I never got more than 3 1/2 or 4 feet up this wall.  It's a hard THUNK when you land.  I'm sure some of today's BMXers and MTB riders could do much better.  It would be a lot of fun with a small launch and landing ramp.  As crazy and cool as this looks, to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a magazine photo or any video of anyone riding it... anywhere.  It's literally 15 minutes from Hollywood Boulevard, but no other BMXers or MTBers ever found it, I guess.  I forgot about it, when I went back down to Orange County.  When it did pop up in my thoughts, I figured some other riders would find it some day.

The location is near Ventura Boulevard and Laurel Canyon, in Studio City, in the San Fernando Valley.  There's a small shopping center on the Southeast corner of that intersection (towards the hills), and an older, larger shopping center, that wraps around the small one.  The big shopping center is now anchored by Trader Joe's, their address is 11976 Ventura Boulevard.  This gigantic wall is behind Trader Joe's and the other shops.  As with all business area spots, if you go ride here, be respectful of business owners and employees.  I had many solo sessions here back in the day, and never got asked to leave.  It's a place to hit alone or with 1 or 2 people, get a little session in, and then move on.  Don't bring a whole posse, make a mess, leave trash, or be destructive.  

Here's a wider shot of the wall, with a car back there, for perspective.  Yes, this thing is freakin' HUGE.  #steveemigphotos

Other than a bunch of fun little solo BMX sessions here, in the early 1990's, I do have two stories about this spot.  While one time in about 1997, I decided to get back into production work, after a couple of years as a furniture mover.  I paid to go to a semiar on how to find work on movie crews.  Halfway through the lecture, I realized I already knew how to find work, I'd already worked on 300 TV episodes. I just needed to do the same thing with film crews. The seminar was to make money off dumb college kids who graduated from film school.  Four hundred people, at $40 a head, that's $16,000.  

So I walked out, and drove to the McDonald's in Studio City, to have lunch, in the Monster Wall shopping center.  I turned around after getting my food, and almost knocked over Charlton Heston, best known as the star of Planet of the Apes, and many other movies.  He was having lunch with his grandkids.  I also saw Geena Davis there once.  The McDonald's is gone now, and a yuppie sandwich shop is there now.  

Later, in the spring of 2000, I went to a book signing of The Legacy of Luna,* by Julia Butterfly Hill, the woman who lived in a redwood tree for about two years, so they wouldn't cut it down.  After meeting her and reading her book, I dropped off my taxi for a week, and took a little solo road trip up to the see redwoods in northern California.  That was one of the best weeks of my life.

I had been living in my taxi at the time, so when I got back, I was living in my Datsun 280Z, until I picked up a taxi again.  I got back to Huntington Beach, after my trip, and went to Dennny's to eat.  While I was eating, I heard a couple of guys talking about making some movie, and they needed skateboard ramps built.  It was just a weird coincidence.  So I introduced myself, said I was a BMXer and old skateboard industry guy.  I walked away with a job two build two skateboard launch ramps in 48 hours, and try to find a rail, for $500.  

I rented a Uhaul truck, bought the needed tools and plywood, and went to my old apartment on 15th street.  My former roommates and neighbors let me borrow their driveway and electricity, to build the ramps.  Both were 4 feet tall, one with a 6 foot, quick transition, and the other with a 9 foot, mellow tranny.  The producers wanted a ramp skateboarders could "jump a bunch of barrels" off of.  Apparently they had seen some old 70's skateboard video of Tom Sims or something.  This was 2000, before YouTube and web video.  I really didn't know what they wanted, but I knew skateboard and BMX ramps.

It was getting dark on the second day, and I still wasn't finished with the ramps.  So I packed up the Uhaul, drove to Hollywood, then over the hill to this bank, which I happened to know was lit all night.  I finished the ramps about 2:30 in the morning, then got a little sleep in the truck cab.  In typical production crew fashion, I woke up after about 4 hours of sleep, and delivered the ramps to the location, a church in Hollywood.  I offered to hang out and move the ramps around for them, which scored me two free meals with the crew, and access to the craftservice table all day.  

Later that day, Powell Peralta skater Chet Thomas showed up, with a couple of other skaters.  He ollied a dumpster, and the stars of the movie, sitting in their VW Thing, off my ramp (36:41 to 37:43).  The movie was the absolutely horrible Christian movie, Extreme Days, which came out in 2001, and I managed to see in the theater.  I'm pretty sure it's the only Christian movie with a three minute fart lighting scene in it.  A producer kept the mellow ramp for his kids, and I donated the other one to a little skatepark in Seal Beach, as I recall.  And I made $500, thanks to the Studio City Monster Wall's secluded location and lighting at night, which gave me a good place to finish building the ramps, close to the movie's shooting location.  

For those of you wondering the other day, after 30 years, I'm letting the secret location out for this wall.  It's big, it's burly, and it's never been in a video, The Studio City Monster Wall is waiting...  

* Not a paid link.

 

The Mangey Moose Bank

The Mangey Moose Bank in Tarzana.

Disclaimer

This is the bank I was staring at when the idea for this blog popped into my head last week.  It's about a four foot high brick bank, about 30-35 degrees steep, maybe 20 feet long, then it wraps around the corner and mellows out.  There's a chain link fence at the top, a fence ride on a bike is possible.  

This is at a bus stop I use from time to time.  It's next to a sidewalk about six feet wide, and is plenty smooth enough to skate or hit on a bike.  It's nothing amazing, just a cool bank that rarely, if ever gets sessioned.  The location is Reseda Boulevard at the 101 freeway, in Tarzana.  That's in the San Fernando Valley, north of L.A..  This bank is on the northwest side of the bridge, by the westbound on ramp to the 101.  

These brick banks are by most of the on and off ramps of the 101, across The San Fernando Valley, but vary in size and shape.  This is one of the best of the banks, by shape and size.  Is the Mangey Moose Bank worth a long drive to ride and skate?  No.  But if you happen to find yourself west of the 405 in The Valley, and are up for a little bike or skate session, it's there.  It gets shade much of the day, which is cool, literally.  

It was about 100 degrees the other day, which is why I sat down under the bridge, to cool off, across the road, while in the area.  I was thinking about ideas on how to jumpstart my life, and all the things I'd really like to do, while spacing off, staring at this bank.  The thought popped out of that mysterious place thoughts come from, "I could make videos again, taking riders to new and little known spots, to see what they do could."  Tricks have progressed for decades, but there are all kinds of new and unknown spots to ride and skate that are yet to be sessioned.  Plus there are lots of classic and well known bike and skate spots that have stories to tell.  

Then I thought it out, since I'm homeless and don't have a decent phone or video camera right now.  How would I start this idea?  A blog.  So here it is, the blog looking at bike, skate, art, and other interesting spots.  We'll see where this idea goes.  

The Mangey Moose.  It's pronounced "main-jy," with a "j" sound, since it looks like it has mange.

So where did the name for this bank come from?  On the other side of the freeway, the south side, by the eastbound off ramp of the 101, there's this weird little lawn area behind a chain link fence.  The whole thing is about the size of a living room, with a bunch of trees, well manicured lawn, a fountain, and this fucked up moose statue.  No antlers, and it's worn and beat up.  This little lawn area is an advertisement for a lawn and garden shop nearby.  It's just weird.  I don't know if this moose was one of those target moose for archery, or just a moose statue somebody didn't want any more.  We don't even have moose in California.  It makes no sense.  I saw it from the bus riding by, time after time, and started calling it the Mangey Moose.  It looks like is has mange.  So even though the bank is on the other side of the freeway, I call it the Mangey Moose bank.  

So here's the first bike/skate spot that you've never heard of in this blog, the Mangey Moose Bank.  Nothing spectacular, but it's there, Reseda Blvd. and the 101, if you're nearby and up for a little bank session.  There's parking on the streets nearby.  This bank would look cool in photos, though backlighting might be an issue.