Highlights from our "Tour of L.A. & L.V."

I have finally had some spear time to put together some of the photos taken on our fantastic tour of Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

André T's adventures is of course also the most popular posts on this blog during the last few weeks, with his Baywatch fan video and his meet and greet with Britney Spears as definetive highlights.

The videos from these two events have as I write this been viewed 1.642 and 2.122 times.

Here are the hotlinks to the three most popular posts from the trip:

"Exclusive: New Baywatch fan video"

"Kimmel screenshots just in"

"It's André T and Britney, bitch!"

We also were fortunate to arrange a meeting with famous director and photographer Ray Kay and got a little spin in his black Lamborghini Nera.

The video I made of this has been viewed 1.114 times. You can read more about this eventful day in Hollywood here:

"Another great day in Hollywood"

I loved L.A. and will be back for more fun later. When it comes to Las Vegas I've been there and done that.

Because of the "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" rule I would not dear to discuss this further in this forum, but lets just say it was nothing for me.

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Back to normal

Home again from U.S.A. trip and back to normal with the kids coming home to me tomorrow.

The last week in Vegas was tiresome after I managed to get the flu and had to stay in bed for most of the time.

My computer also broke down with virus and crazy malware.

After giving myself shock treatment with a lot of different medisins, healty food and drink and some positive thinking, I'm no back on feet and ready for what's to come.

The computer have gone through high doses of superantispyware, ccleaner and antivirusprograms and is also fully functional again.

The week in Las Vegas didn't go to waste though. Andrè T got his meeting with Britney and we went on a day trip to Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon.

I will share all the pictures and highlights from the trip in my next post.

It's André T and Britney, bitch!

BRITNEY BITCH: André Torgersen (31) accomplishes yet another dream on his U.S.A. trip, meeting Britney Spears.

Since he was seventeen years old, Norwegian thirty one year old André Torgersen, has been a huge fan of pop diva Britney Spears. 

He’s been to a couple of her concerts in Europe, but last year when it was announced that Ms. Spears was going to be the new resident artist at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, he bought a meet and greet ticket. 

This morning he finally got the tickets in his hand at will call outside the arena.

After a couple of nerve wrecking hours in the hotel room, time had finally come to meet her. 

I will let André tell about the experience in his own words:

Tonights experience started when I was let into the “Meet & Greet” area at the Axis arena around 6.30 PM. Together with 15 other Britney fans we were taken back stage, on stage and into Ms. Spears’ dressing room. This part of the tour lasted for around one hour. 

After a thirty minutes break we were paired with another group of 15 Britney fans. We were briefed on how to behave when meeting Ms. Spears and told about all the procedures. First the female fans, then pairs or groups and then finally the male fans were let in to meet her.

In a corridor behind stage we were told to put away all personal belongings. We were then led back on stage again were we each got a few words with her, a hand shake and a picture taken with the pop diva. 

When I shook her hand I stuttered out; “Hi Britney, I’m André and I came from Norway to see you” and she answered “Oh thank you, you’re so sweet”.

Then the picture was taken and that was it. 

Thirty minutes before show start we were led to our seats on the first row of the 7.000 seater arena.

The concert was like always a great show and now I am so happy!

After last nights show he put together some clips from his experience with meeting Britney up close. Watch and see exactly how happy he was when he came out of the arena

Here are some of the pictures taken through Andrés big day....

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Welcome to Britney Spears Hotel!

9.300 M2: Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino has 2.600 rooms and is owned by the Ceasars Entertainment Corp.

The party has moved to Las Vegas and the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Only God knows how this will end.

Las Vegas is a place you go for the maximum of 48 hours. You party, you gamble and then you go home.

We're not, 'cause we're staying for a whole week. (Oh lord, give me power...)

We're here for one reason...

 

Britney Spears

AT THE AXIS: From December 2013, the venue is home for Britney Spears' residency show, Britney: Piece Of Me. Spears will perform 50 shows per year, in 2014 and 2015. She is reportedly earning $15 million per year, making her the highest paid Vegas act (per show). The first show began on the 27th of December 2013 and was well received by fans and critics.

This is the part of our trip when my travel companion, André, totally takes over the show. He has been a fan since he was 17, when Britney debuted with "Baby one more time" and broke international sales records in 1999.

André has been to two Britney-concerts earlier, in Oslo and Copenhagen, but has never met her personally.

This time it's for real. He has bought a "Meet And Greet" package and will be in Britney mood all day Tuesday.

You will most probably be able to read, see pictures and watch videos about this on my blog Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

As you can see in this picture, André already got his Britney Spears printed key card for our hotel room.

The strip

Today I went for a walk around the premises and found out that we're living inside a large shopping center - The Miracle Mile Shops. It is 1,9 kilometres long and is home to more than 170 stores, 15 restaurants and live entertainment venues.

As I don't feel comfortable in large shopping centers for more than a quick stroll, we went outside for a breath of fresh air.

IN VEGAS: The New York concept in the background is enormous.

Fifteen of the world's 25 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms.

The Strip is not located within the City of Las Vegas but is in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester, which are south of the Las Vegas city limits.

I just know I won't get bored here, but I also know there are some expences linked to it.

Well, tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday here in America and almost everyone are going to be chained to the TV screens.

In fact there are over 300.000 guests at the resorts and casinos this weekend. Almost everyone is here to celebrate the Super Bowl weekend together.

We will try to follow local tradition. André will cheer for the Denver Broncos and I will cheer for the Seattle Seahawks.

I will leave you today with some scenic pictures I took in the beautiful (but a little cold at 14 Celsius) today:

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Another great day in Hollywood

I may have to admit I've taken life to seriously the last few years. This week here in Los Angeles has been nothing but big smiles from early morning to late night.

Yesterday we ordered one of those Lincoln luxury cars to drive us up to Hollywood. We had an appointment with fellow Norwegian, director Ray Kay, to have lunch and maybe get to know a little more about how life is in the capital of film and TV industry.

Ray Kay, for those who don't know him, is like us from the town Haugesund on the west coast of Norway.

Ray Kay mostly directs music videos and has worked with artists such as Cher, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Jessie J, Nelly Furtado, Beyoncé Knowles, Destiny's Child, Gloria Estefan, Steven Tyler, Enrique Iglesias, Adam Lambert, Cheryl Cole, Alesha Dixon, Diddy, Willow Smith, Amerie, Sean Paul, Christina Milian, The-Dream, Backstreet Boys, Melanie C, Ciara, Snoop Dogg and Ghostface. He also photographs fashion stills and album covers, and has directed commercials for brands such as Pepsi, AT&T, Mango and KFC.

We met Ray Kay near his home on the corner of Sunset Avenue and Vine to have lunch at a Tendergreens restaurant.

He told us he was in the editing stages of a new music video for country crossover artist Hunter Hayes shot in L.A. a week ago. Hayes premiered the song live on Grammy Awards Sunday.

Ray Kay is a busy man and agreeing to meet us for an hour was far more than we expected.

To get a quick spin around the block in his limited edition Lamborghini Nera simply made my day.

We're not talking about breaking speed limits or anything. In the highly trafficed Hollywood streets he just showed us the raw acceleration on this beautiful machine.

After our meeting with Ray, when we sat down at a bar nearby to have a quick drink, André got a text from the people working with the Jimmy Kimmel Live show on ABC. 

It turned out we were welcome as audience for last nights show with guests actor Andy Garcia, famous chef Norman Van Aken and music from Broken Bells live from the Sony stage in Kimmels backlot.

We decided to jump on the train for a second time in a week and this time we finally managed to get our happy faces on television too.

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VIP Studio Tour

CENTRAL PERK: The set of Friends café "Central Perk" is still the most popular in Warner Bros Studios even thought it's been years since they stopped filming.

As a tourist in Los Angeles you can't avoid the film and TV industry. Universal/NBC, Warner Bros, Sony, Disney all have their studios here.

Yesterday we went to Warner Bros where we had a great VIP Tour.

Warner Bros studios is both an outdoor and indoor facility. The exterior is currently used for TV-series like "Hart of Dixie" and "True Blood", we were told. Inside the different sound stages you find both TV-series and films filming interior scenes.

I've put together some of the pictures I took yesterday to show you how it works.

TRUE BLOOD: Bellefleur's Bar and Grill, formerly known as Merlotte's Bar and Grill, was a restaurant owned by Sam Merlotte, but is now owned by Arlene Bellefleur.

HART OF DIXIE: Exterior scenes being shot for the popular TV-series. We were also invited inside, but unfortunately no pictures or video were allowed to be taken.

HART OF DIXIE: Some of the actors from the popular series chosing costumes.

ACTOR: J.T. Miller on his way into shooting in sound stage 10.

SPIDERMAN: Where the famous upside/down kissing scenes were shot.

Talk show host Ellen Degeneres also has her studios here in Warner Bros Studios.

Found her office and parking spot.

Harry Potter

The most popular props on display in the Warner Bros Museum are all the props from the Harry Potter movies. Here are some of those we were allowed to photograph.

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Look who I met today!

Today I had a great encounter with one of my favourite documentary directors - Mr. Sam Dunn.

Quietly enjoying my beer in the beautiful sunshine outside the 3 Square Café by RöckenWagner in Abbot Kinney here in Venice, I notised a tall longhaired man I somehow recognized. Told my friend I thought he made rock documentaries, but I wasn't sure myself at that point.

I left it with the thought, but later when we bumped into the same guy in a crossing, I went up to him and asked.

DIRECTOR: Sam Dunn.

- You're perfectly right, I'm Sam Dunn, he said.

So cool. I told him I really appreciated his 2009 "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" documentary and that I later also saw his film "Global Metal" (2008) and his "Metal Evolution" from 2011.

The Iron Maiden live video "En vivo!" is also a product of Sam Dunn.

Dunn co-directs most of his work with Scot McFadyen

Turns out he has also made a documentary about progressive rock band "Rush" and a concert DVD of the same band.

This man really has met most of my favourite metal rock artists.



In our short encounter on a street corner today Mr. Dunn told me he's been to Norway several times to document the metal scene in Bergen, Stavanger and Oslo.

He has also had great help in Stavanger based Canadian photographer Martin Hawkes who has filmed in several of Dunn and McFadyens projects.

Mr. Dunn also let us in on his ongoing work - soon to be released.

Legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper is getting his own documentary named "Super Duper Alice Cooper". Dunn and McFadyen co-directs with fellow Canadian director Reg Harkema.

I have to admit I was really stoked to meet Mr. Dunn today. I really respect his journalistic work with some of my favourite bands.




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Give it up for the L.A. Breakers

Nothing is like having a surprise mindbreaking experience while strolling down the boardwalk on a Sunday afternoon.

Just outside our hotel hundreds of people were gathered to watch legendary L.A. Breakers street show today.

The world famous L.A. Breakers were established in 1982 and have produced some of the best Breakers, Poppers & Street Dancers that the world has ever seen.

Link up with the L.A. Breakers on Facebook.

I really warmed my heart to see people giving donations to there wonderful and talented youths today and we also emptied our pockets.

Having kept a lot of kids of crime and given the something creative and positive to do for over 30 years now they deserve more than a big round of applause.

As one of them said to the crowd today;

"You giving us 20 dollars today, means you don't have to go out buy a new TV tomorrow". 

Instead of doing burglary the kids are going to practice their moves and steps.

I managed to film some of their performance to share with my blog readers and I chose to present it in this matter to give full focus on the art.

Enjoy!

Innlegg av Together we're better.

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Grammy Sunday food and drinks feast

After a couple of hard days working with the blog and being ultra tourists it's time to relax.

Jetlag finally left me last night and I managed to sleep for eight full hours.

Woke up to the sound of the waves hitting Venice Beach and a beautiful sunshine. Temperatures will be 25 degrees celcius by midday and our plan is just to take in a lot of great food and drinks just to collapse on the hotel bed in time for the Grammy Awards later this evening. 

The Grammy Show is live from the Staples Centre downtown L.A.

We actually went downtown last night when we met Andrés cousins who lives in this great metropole.

At the over a hundred year old restaurant "Phillipe" near Union Station we had French Dipped Sandwiches and really enjoyed our company.

The evening ended with celebrations of Andrés Baywatch video at Hooters on Santa Monica Boulevard. Oh boy did we see some great "Hooters". 

Vodka Red Bull were like $4 each so we just told the waitress to keep them coming.

As I said, today is relaxing Sunday. 

We're at the Mexican Baja Cantina right here in Venice.

We plan to stay here through the day!

Exclusive: New Baywatch fan video

BAYWATCH FAN: André Torgersen has been filming on location at Venice Beach and Santa Monica Beach.

This Saturday Norwegian Baywatch fan André Torgersen has been living out one of his life dreams at the famous beaches of Los Angeles, California.

Since childhood, when Baywatch was on TV in Norway every afternoon, he has been a number one fan.

He has met David Hasselhoff two times and once was on stage with him under a live show in London.

LEICESTER SQUARE THEATRE: On stage with Hasselhoff in London 2012. (Foto: Helmut Harringer/Speedlight)

Filmed on location at Venice Beach and Santa Monica Beach he now has his own Baywatch intro to show his friends and family.

CREDITS: Thanks to Los Angeles County Lifeguards for letting us film on location, Jim Jamison for the brilliant intro song "I'm always here". Video and very quick editing: magnusberning.blogspot.com.

Watch the new video:

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