This was in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, of course. That's where these characters hang out. And Wednesday, July 26, was even stranger as they were setting up for the red carpet premier of a big summer movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This is this summer's redneck anti-French comedy. Will Ferrell plays Ricky Bobby.

Summary - "NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a national hero because of his "win at all costs" approach. He and his loyal racing partner, childhood friend Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo - "Shake" and "Bake" to their fans for their ability to finish so many races in the #1 and #2 positions, with Cal always in second place. When flamboyant French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) challenges "Shake" and "Bake" for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight Girard for the right to be known as racing's top driver." The movie's tagline: "The story of a man who could only count to #1"

Think of it as George Bush does NASCAR. Detail - "When they were at an actual racetrack to get audio clips, director Adam McKay apparently didn't need to prompt the audience for one scene. When Sacha Baron Cohen's character Jean Girard was introduced as a driver from France driving the Perrier car, the entire crowd started booing on their own."

Whatever. Hollywood Boulevard empty at noon as the began setting up -

The heat wave weakened only slightly today but temperatures and humidity levels remained above average. Today, the high in Santa Clarita was 107; it was 100 in Burbank and 98 in downtown Los Angeles.

… By midmorning, Cal-ISO had already declared a Stage 1 emergency, asking consumers to voluntarily conserve power usage. The Stage 2 emergency, ordering businesses under special contracts to curtail power, was issued about 1 p.m.

If the power demand had sapped the energy supply, a Stage 3 emergency, setting off rolling blackouts, would have been called, said Cal-ISO Chief Executive Officer Yakout Mansour at a morning briefing at the state Capitol.

The heat wave gripping the state, the worst since 1998, has been so intense it's driven up demand for electricity by 40% since the state's energy crisis of 2001, Mansour said.

… Heat is at levels expected only once every 50 years in some parts of the state and once every 100 years in others, said Joseph Desmond, deputy secretary for energy at the California Resources Agency.

… Sunday was the 18th consecutive day that temperatures reached triple digits in parts of the Los Angeles Basin.

The solution might be tidal pools (Malaga Cove, a few miles south of Los Angeles International Airport) -