Month: September 2008

  • A Hymn To Her (and Him I Guess ;-)

     

     
    And she will always carry on, something is lost but something is found.
    They will keep on speaking her name, something’s change, some stay the same.
    The above video doesn’t work on all versions of Firefox, so if it doesn’t play, try Internet Explorer or click here.
     
    Regular readers of this space know my friend Sabine, or Bine for short.  You know about her resilience, her charm and her joie de vivre.  You might also remember what a tough time she had last year at Virginia Tech.  You know that her inimitable style and always positive attitude have gotten her, and indeed our entire group of friends, through the best and the worst of times.  She is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise polluted world.  She approaches everything she does with passion and fervor, and is the glue that bonds our international family of friends together.  

    What you may not know however, is that she is my wife!  Yes, it’s true.  We were married in a small civil ceremony in Italy on August 19, 2000.    The ceremony was officiated by the great great grandniece of the Red Baron.  Her name was Baroness Andrea Von Richthofen (no kidding!).  Mick was the maid of honor, Miggl the best man and Eva the flower girl.  Now, some background:

    I met Sabine at Marcelo’s house in Piracicaba Brazil in 1997.  That Christmas many people had converged on Marcelo’s family home; both friends of Marcelo (like me) and friends of his sister Adriana.  Many of us did not know each other, but we all soon became great friends, and began our tradition of traveling together for New Year’s each year.  I was “homeless” at the time, traveling the world with my job, all expenses paid.  One day, we were all sitting by the pool in the backyard eating mangoes, and I was telling this assembled group of new friends my life story.  At the end, Sabine said, “Honey, I should marry you.  What a great life you have!”  To which I responded, “Honey, the only way I would ever marry you, is if we were in Florence Italy, at San Miniato at sunset, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio!”  We all laughed.

    Well, as luck would have it, wouldn’t you know that three years later we all found ourselves in Florence, Italy at San Miniato at sunset, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio.  Our friends had bought some truly rinky dink rings on that same famous bridge earlier that day, and as the sun sank into the horizon, we said our “vows“.

    weddparty
     
    LOL, so there you have it.  The story of my phony wedding in Italy.  Today, Sabine, the two timing tramp, got married to Alan.  In all honesty though, I can’t say that I’ve been entirely faithful in this marriage.   So here’s to you Bine, on your wedding day.  I wish I could be there with you in Denmark to celebrate, but as you know I’m in Orlando all next week on business.  I know that you will have a wonderful day.  You always do.  You il always carry on, and I will always love you.  GLY! xoxo
     

  • 9 to 5 & 9-11

    Labor Day Weekend, 2001.  Claudio and I celebrated our birthdays in Chicago, as we had many times before.  It was a beautiful weekend…one of the last good ones of summer.  After that I flew to New York for a few days, and then to Portland, Oregon on September 10, 2001. 

    I was going through some old papers from work the other day, and found this.  It was posted in the elevator of my hotel in Portland on the morning of September 11th. 

    The following year, I returned to New York City for the one year anniversary.  I spent the morning alone, in Times Square and in Battery Park taking
    pictures.  It was a bittersweet anniversary.  On one hand the city was
    still grieving immensely.  On the other, they had reached the one year
    mark and survived.  Everyone was on edge though.  Diane, Hugo and I
    were having lunch outside at Cafe St. Bart’s.  It was an extremely
    windy day.  At one point, the wind picked up a huge pile of pamphlets
    from an open window of a fairly tall building and they went flying through the air like shrapnel.  A few people in the
    crowded cafe started screaming and that’s all it took to start pandemonium.  People began
    running and leaping under tables.  It only lasted a few seconds, but it still
    gives me goose bumps to think about.  Imagine….simple paper flying through
    the air!  Later that afternoon Cindy and I tried to keep it light by
    attending a matinee of Hairspray.  After the show, Harvey Fierstein and
    the rest of the cast related their stories about that day.  There were
    many notables in the audience (Larry King and his wife were directly in
    front of us), and suddenly this huge Broadway theater filled with
    strangers, some famous, some not, became an intimate storytelling
    venue.  It connected us all.  The images from that day were moving:


    I took the center photo in the summer of 1997 while sailing around the island of Manhattan in my boss’s boat.  It was a picture perfect New York day.  One I’ll never forget. 

    On a cheerier note, tonight we went to see another musical.  This time it was the preview of 9 to 5 before it heads to Broadway.  It starred Allison Janney (from The West Wing) in the Lily Tomlin role, and while she was pretty good, the show itself needs work before it opens in New York.  (Funny coincidence.  I saw Hairspray in NYC on 9/11/02 and few years later, saw it with Mike & Marcelo in LA, and Bradley Whitford from the West Wing was there.)  The gal who played Doralee was the spitting image of Dolly Parton, both in looks and voice.  It was almost too much of an imitation though.  There was nothing really original in any of the performances aside from a few modern cultural references for humor.  I was a bit disappointed overall, but I got special tickets for only $20 and it was worth seeing for that price.  (Plus it was Vivek’s first musical!!)  The acoustics were terrible and they had some technical problems and had to close the curtain for ten minutes.  (The same thing happened on opening night I read, but that night Dolly Parton was there, and got up and gave an impromptu concert!)  The dialogue was very difficult to hear, and the cast needed work on their staging.  The set was pretty cool though.  There were definitely a few standout songs, but I wish I could have heard the words better.  In addition, the girl next to us was SO drunk (or worse) that she really ruined the whole first act for me.  At one point, she needed to leave because she was going to be sick.  She got up on her chair, hiked her skirt up to her underwear and climbed over the seats!  A real class act.  (Whoever said LA isn’t a theater town?  LOL.)  It kind of put me in a bad mood for the remainder of the show (even though she missed half the first act!).  Here are a few photos from tonight, and a video of the title song from the closing number, “9 to 5“.  Sorry for the poor video quality.  We were up in the nosebleed section !


    Note the applause at about 1:10 when the actors are describing their characters lives 30 years in the future and Doralee calls George W. Bush, a sexist, egotistical, lying hypocrite (just like Franklin Hart).

  • “You Can Laugh Mom”

     
    Lisa sent this picture to my phone today.  Poor little Andy is on a nebulizer because he has a terrible cough and is having trouble breathing. Tonight, when she put him to bed she said, “What can Momma do to make you feel better honey?”.  He simply replied, “You can laugh Mom…” 


    Poor little angel…get well soon!

    RANDOM PHOTO OF THE DAY

    Saw these two dogs in the yogurt shop in Encino last night.  They were completely unrelated, but both so cute!

    FYI, we just bought tickets to the Vienna Teng concert on Tuesday, September 30th at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood.  If any of you local Xangans are interested in going, it should be a good show!  Check out her music!

  • How Do You Measure 43 Years In A Life?

         

    …In daylights, in sunsets in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
    In 22,600,800 minutes…how do you measure 43 years of life?  How about love?

    Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes this weekend.  I kind of know what Albert & David mean now about Facebook, but it’s still nice that people take the time to actually send me birthday greetings!

    Voicemail You’ll Love
    Share this …

    My Aunt & Uncle and cousins had a party for me today in Orange County.  I had a great time and got lots of swag, LOL.

    Kevin & Tommy butting heads


    This is what happens when Cody doesn’t listen to his favorite cousin!!


    Actually, he had a very bad
    skateboarding accident Wednesday and broke his collar bone.  It was
    really nice of him to show up for my party.  He was in a lot of pain. 
    Poor little guy.  I’m pretty sure he won’t be hanging on to the back of
    a moped while skateboarding any more though!  I’m really glad he’s
    going to be OK.      This was after he got home from the hospital.  See how much higher his right shoulder is?


    Me & my cousins


    Andy attack!


    No fair!


    Say cheese!


    The newest addition to the Hotel Careyfornia.


    Hand embroidered towels!


    This card was hilarious.  It’s from the Republican side of the family!  On the front was Barack Obama saying, “Obviously you’ve had a lot of
    experience with birthdays…”, and inside it said, “But who needs
    experience.”


    Lisa, trying my new foot massager


    My gorgeous cousins


    My wacky cousins!


    Uncle Georgie & Aunty LuLu


    When I got home, I got this from Claudio & Ryan!  I love the wrapping paper!!


    My swag


    All of my cards had lottery tickets in them!


    And I won $8 and a free ticket! 


    Best of the rest!

  • Captive Photos, Spam Scams & Buh Bye Georgie!

    Here are my photos of the sunset in Santa Monica the other night:


    If you want to see the whole album, it’s at:

    For you non-Mac people, you should definitely download the new Picasa.  It’s leaps and bounds above the old version, and in my humble opinion, the best free photo editing software for the PC.  The collages are really nifty, as is the blemish eraser.  Another excellent offering from Google!


    No paparazzi!

    Vivek’s first time in the Pacific


    Baywatch 2008


    Art by the beach


    Boy in da hood


    Artsy fartsy


    Heart beats


    Hotel on the beach


    Window shopping on the 3rd Street Promenade

    On a related note, I’m still trying to figure out a way to get Flickr Pro for free.  Last year, Yahoo pulled a bait and switch with my photos, and they are now holding more than 5000 of them hostage!!  When I converted from Yahoo Photos to Flickr, I had three free months of Flickr Pro during which time I was going to decide if I wanted to keep it or not.  I decided to switch to SmugMug, but before I did, Flickr locked my photos.  You see, they never told me when the 3 months started.  I assumed it was when I got access to my photos. (which was nearly 3 weeks after I requested the conversion!)  Despite them telling me they sent emails, I did not receive them.  (Perhaps they went to my Spam folder, or perhaps Yahoo/Flickr designed the emails knowing they would go to people’s Spam folders and cause them to miss the 3 month deadline, forcing them to pay for access to their own photos!).  I actually like Flickr, but I refuse to pay them $24.95 ransom to get my photos back!  Does anyone have any ideas?

    yahoo1 yahoo2 yahoo3 yahoo4 yahoo5


    [Flickr] Get more from Flickr!
    1 message


    Flickr Mail
    <donotreply@flickr.com>
    Fri, Sep 6, 2008 at 4:32 PM

    Reply-To:
    donotreply@flickr.com
    To: Carey Anthony


    Hi careyanthony,

    Your Flickr Pro account expired on December 3, 2007. You
    have 5887 photos but you’re now only seeing the last 200!

    Perhaps you’d like to renew your Pro account?

    You’ll even get 3 months free for purchasing before 30
    September 2008! You can learn more here:

    http://flickr.com/yay/comeback/3mo/

    The Flickreenos

    I’ve been getting some interesting SPAM of late.  Namely, this bogus society that just wants my money money money…

    and this Xanga hottie nottie barking up the wrong tree:


    Nice to meet you
    1 message


    Suzee Goodluck
    Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 12:08 PM

    Reply-To:
    suzeegoodluck@yahoo.co.uk
    To:
    suzeegoodluck1@yahoo.co.uk


    Hello,
    How are you and how is your work hope all is moving fine.i seek for honest partner and i meet you on xanga.com, it was interesting and attractive then i drop by to know who this was,
    i will like to know more about you. if you wouldn’t mind you can email
    me at my mail.

    i will be very glad to read your mail with all
    pleasure. it will be nice to meet you and also read from you. please do
    honor my invitation so that we can exchange our pictures and maybe
    become partner.  Remember the distance does not matter what matters is the love we share with each other.

    i wait to hear from you soon.

    kiss regards Miss Suzee

    If
    you’re looking to have a party to celebrate George W. Bush leaving
    office, than this is for you.  Please support my friend Jorge and click
    above to buy a t-shirt, hat or even a complete party kit.  Let’s celebrate the end of this long national nightmare and
    look forward to better days!


    Happy Birthday     to Jad & Jayson tomorrow.  I hope you guys both have a great day!!  I’ll be thinking of you both!

  • Money Money Money – “Don’t Insult Me!”

    Darlene was nice enough to let us into Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure for free this past weekend, and Vivek was like a kid in a candy store.  We had a great day, and I took some nice photos.  On the way there though, my car started making a strange clicking noise.  The next day when we drove to Santa Barbara, it got worse.  My friends thought it was the bushings, so today I took it back to Honda of Hollywood today.  Sure enough, it’s the bushings.  They need me to bring it back in on Friday morning, and they don’t know how long it will take to fix.  Hopefully it won’t be another five months!  Oh, and they have to go back and fight with the stupid insurance company that should have totaled the car in the first place!

    Speaking of the accident, I had this delicious exchange with Safeco insurance recently.  They represent the girl who hit me, and they’re trying to settle with me, so I won’t sue their pants off, since my car was out of commission for five months!  It took me five minutes to write my response to her initial email, and a few minutes later, she upped her offer by $300.00.  Not bad, for five minutes work!  Everyone tells me I should get a lawyer and let them handle it.  What do you think?  I’ve never been in this situation before, and despite my dramatic emails, it really has been a huge nightmare!  She claims the offer is just for my injuries, but what about the rest?



    Carey Anthony


    Claim #484504363007
    3 messages


    TWITCHELL, STEPHANIE L
    Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 8:13 AM

    To:
    Carey Anthony

    Carey,

    I have reviewed the updated photo of your hand and would like to extend a settlement offer to you for your injury.

    I would like to make an offer of $1,000 to settle your injury claim.

    Please let me know if this offer is acceptable.

    I have attached a release that will need to be signed by you and returned in order for payment to be issued.

    Have a nice day.

    Stephanie Twitchell

    Claims


    Carey Anthony
    Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 8:26 AM

    To:
    “TWITCHELL, STEPHANIE L”

    5 months without a car.
    5 months of
    more than 75 hours of telephone calls, emails, waiting on hold and
    getting cut off by insurance companies, rental car agencies, and auto
    body shops!
    5 months of countless miles of shuttling back and forth

    5 months of interruptions to my job, where I earn my living and had to miss work to manage this
    5 months of painful needles all over my body
    5 months of headaches and uncertainty
    5 months losing sleep from said problem.

    No, $1,000 is actually insulting.

    Read the blogs.  It’s all there, as any court will agree.

    5 months times $1000 would be far more appropriate. 

    $5000
    is a drop in the bucket for a major conglomerate like yours, whose
    client, through their own admitted negligence, caused me pain and
    suffering (not to mention a tremendous loss of productivity) for FIVE
    MONTHS. 

    And is that suffering over?  I FINALLY have my car back, but only
    time will tell the rest.  Perhaps 10,000 would be more appropriate!

    I await your response, and please don’t insult me again!

    –
    Carey

    TWITCHELL, STEPHANIE L
    Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 9:22 AM

    To:
    Carey Anthony

    Carey,
     
    I
    am sorry that you are not happy with the offer that was made in the amount of
    $1,000.
    Please be advised that this settlement is for your injury only and
    is not linked to the damage of your vehicle or your time without the
    vehicle.
    If you have evidence of your lost wages, please forward those to
    me for review.
     
    Based on the fact that you received Acupuncture from a person that
    we can not confirm is a licensed acupuncturist, there are no records of the
    treatment, other than a photo of you with a needle in your leg, the treatment
    was not done in a treatment facility and there are no bills.  I can not
    evaluate the treatment as it was not acceptable treatment.  All treatment
    must be deemed reasonable and necessary and have medical records and bills in
    order for me to evaluate them properly.
     
    I
    can offer you $1,300 to settle you injury claim.  Again please be advised
    that this offer is based off of your injury only.
     
    Thank you

    Stephanie Twitchell

    Claims

    The funny part is, that these are the photos of my acupuncture that she’s referring too.  A friend of mine does it, and it really does help.  Ugh, I just want this to be over!  

    Maybe Colin should be my lawyer!  He seems to know a lot about money, money, money…and he sings much better than me!!  (I could watch this all day long!) 

    Anyway, here are a few of the Disneyland photos and a video:


    I let him win!


    The girl in the ferris wheel with us was so scared!  It was kind of funny.

  • Happy Birthday Claudio – Enjoy the Nursing Home

    The long holiday weekend began with Claudio and Ryan arriving Friday evening, and us heading to Hollywood & Highland for the Jimmy Kimmel Live show to celebrate Claudio’s big 4-0.  I somehow managed to smuggle my camera into the studio despite the metal detectors and three security guards.  When they caught me taking photos however, they confiscated my camera until the end of the show.  At least I got one decent shot of Jimmy.

    The guests that night were pretty lame.  Lauren Conrad (sorry Christine, she was SO dumb), Tyrese Gibson, (who invited the entire audience to his movie Death Race, that was playing across the street at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.  The movie looked really bad.  Even the clip he brought for the show, sucked.  We opted out!) and former Beach Boy and “Rhinestone Cowboy“, Glenn Campbell, who appeared drunk and flubbed his words.  Still, we had a good time, and celebrated Claudio’s birthday afterwards with a great dinner before we had to get him back to his nursing home!

    Saturday we headed to Disneyland but I’ll blog about that later in the week, as this entry is going to already be too bandwidth intensive.  On Sunday we drove up to Santa Barbara to enjoy the beautiful coastline and visit Bassam, who’s been in Amman, Jordan for the past two months.  It was great to catch up with Bassam and last night’s sunset was picture perfect, as was all of the local scenery in the American Riviera.