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Vasquez Rocks

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Vasquez Rocks, north of Los Angeles, California, in the Aqua Dulce Valley, has been used as a backdrop in many films, TV shows, and music videos over the years. Most notably, perhaps, it was featured in the original Star Trek TV-series (the episode where Kirk fights the Gorn, a green, lizard-like, alien species), leading some to call it “Kirk’s Rock”, and featuring in subsequent Star Trek movies as the set for planet Vulcan. Memorable films shot in this distinctive landscape include “Blazing Saddles” (1974), “The Muppet Movie” (1979), “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” (1991), “Army of Darkness” (1992), and “Planet of the Apes” (2001), along with hundreds more productions from the 1930’s onward. It even served as inspiration for “Pride Rock” in “The Lion King”. For a more complete history of the area and its Hollywood roots, check out “The Agua Dulce History Project”.

(Photo Copyright © Chad Fahs)

 
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Merchants of Malta

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(Photos Copyright © Chad Fahs)

 
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Dragons of Catalonia

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On the roof of Gaudi’s Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain (top), and perched in the mountains of Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, to the northwest (bottom). St. George is the patron saint of Catalonia, and it is said that the jagged mountains of Montserrat (the name literally means “serrated mountain”) are the remains of the slain dragon. The back of the great beast can also be seen in the design of Gaudi’s arched roof and scalelike tile work.

(Photos Copyright © Chad Fahs)