The Hollywood Sign is undergoing a major new paint job and facelift for the first time in 35 years, and we got up close and personal with it. Check out our full photo gallery above.

For nearly a month now, workers have been stripping off layers upon layers of paint and graffiti slathered onto the giant sign in the Hollywood Hills over the decades.

They'll sand down the corrugated steel, apply a primer and spray on a new glossy coat of white paint. (For those who want to duplicate the color in their own homes, it's Sherwin-Williams Emerald Exterior Satin Acrylic Latex paint.)

The sign was first hauled up to the top of Mount Lee as an advertisement for a new land development called "Hollywoodland." In 1949, the "land" portion of the sign was taken down, leaving the shorter, more generic and now more famous nine-letter sign: "Hollywood."

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David McNew/Getty Images

Hollywood zoning regulations had their moment in the pre-summer sun on Tuesday when L.A. City Council voted unanimously to approve revised guidelines that could allow development of larger, taller buildings near subway stations and bus routes.

Those in favor of the Hollywood Community Plan say higher density and development near transit hubs make the city more attractive, as The Madeleine Brand Show noted. Opponents say more impact review is required, and that tall buildings would compromise the look, feel and traffic of Hollywood.

Some limits would be set under the new guidelines for development in Hollywood Hills communities, historic neighborhoods and other residential areas. 

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Photo by Heritage Vancouver via Flickr Creative Commons

The science of success gets sexy with symbols in a study published by the New Journal of Physics that claims to have the answer to Hollywood's biggest question. 

Japanese scientists say they've created a formula to predict if a film will be a box office "hit," based on how it's marketed, advertising budget data, online word-of-mouth, and other "human dynamics" criteria.

The study focused on the motion picture industry in Japan, but the team concluded the model was applicable to any consumer market:

We present the mathematical model of the hit phenomenon as an equation of consumer action where consumer–consumer communication is taken into account. In the communication effect, we include both direct communication and indirect communication.

We found the daily number of blog posts to be very similar to the revenue of the corresponding movie. The daily number of blog posts can be used as quasi-revenue. The results calculated with the model can predict the revenue of the corresponding movie very well.

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AP Photo/Dolby Laboratories

The new Dolby Theatre as two overhead speaker trusses are lifted into place in Los Angeles. The posh 3,400-seat Hollywood & Highland Center home of the Academy Awards is officially christened with a new name and a state-of-the-art audiovisual system that can project 3-D imagery and blast sound from multiple perspectives.

The 3,400-seat, four-level Hollywood home of the Oscars reopened Monday as the Dolby Theatre, outfitted with Dolby 3D and Dolby Atmos projection and audio systems, as well as new signage. 

The venue formerly known as Kodak was renamed by Dolby Laboratories Inc. as part of the 20-year deal with Hollywood & Highland Center owner CIM Group after Kodak was let out of its deal by a bankruptcy court judge.

Here's how it looked to the people passing by:

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Photo by Robert Garcia via Flickr Creative Commons

Non-Westside worshippers at the iconic Wilshire Boulevard Temple are working together to finance a Hollywood-heavy project of biblical proportions -- a $150 million restoration of their crumbling sanctuary.

The synagogue was opened in 1929 in the area now known as Koreatown, with funding from gantseh k'nackers Irving Thalberg, Carl Laemmle, Louis B. Mayer and brothers Jack and Harry Warner, reports The Hollywood Reporter. 

The first since its founding, rehab work is set to wrap in time for the 2013 High Holidays. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will serve as stand-in for this fall's services.

Backed by gifts from its long-standing, silver screeners (the congregation dates back to 1862), the $150 million makeover ($90 million has been raised, so far) will include renovation of the historic domed sanctuary, construction of a new K-6 school, parking structure with rooftop play area, administration building, and a separate event space for community services, like food-pantry assistance. 

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