We got Chazz a brother on Saturday!  Mike and I picked him up from the vet’s office after the shelter sent him there to be neutered. (No, we didn’t get him neuticals!)  The minute Rio met Chazz, they were fast friends. Sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart, save for the ears!  He was emaciated and filthy, with some hair missing, but he had such amazing energy.  Even after just having the “snip snip” (as required by law with shelter adoptions), he ran around with Chazz like he knew about his new lease on life.  As the dogs exhausted each other, Claudio grilled up a traditional Brazilian barbecue and the sun set into the Pacific.  Welcome to the family Rio!

Our first photo…love the dog biscuit in his mouth!

Ryan, Chazz & Rio

A toast to our new family member!

Don’t they look like brothers?

Finally getting tired

Brazilian Barbecue!

Sunset from the roof

Best of the rest…click here

Thursday night at The Irvine Spectrum.  More here…

I also got my new glasses this week.  But everyone in the family looks better in them than me….even Grandma!

Thursday Family Dinner

It was Chazz’s second birthday on Friday, and he celebrated in grand style.  Payton & Taylor were nice enough to send him a new “diamond” collar and doggy sunglasses.  LOL:

We had a photoshoot up in the Hollywood Hills and he even got a doggy cupcake.  Over the weekend we saw “The Social Network” (loved it) and enjoyed the cooler weather after last week’s record heat wave courtesy of she devil Sarah Palin.  Speaking of the weather, the heat brought some amazing clouds last week, and even a couple of rainbows.  Below is a video from my roof and the rest of the week’s photos:

Today was the hottest day ever recorded (113° F – 45° C) in the history of the city of Los Angeles, and I know why.  Less than 2.5 miles from where I type this, the Devil herself, Sarah Palin, sits in an air conditioned ballroom to watch her evil spawn dance on Dancing With The Stars. (I wasn’t there this time!)  It’s pretty ironic that the moronic Palin doesn’t even believe in climate change.  By the way, for an excellent look at how corporate interests and racist Republican insiders built the teabagging monster, check out Matt Taibbi’s new article:  Tea & Crackers.

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I don’t feel fine!

Despite the heat, it was a busy week at The Hotel Careyfornia.  We went to our annual viewing of the Singalong Sound of Music Saturday night, and then Seth and I attended a benefit at the Hollywood Tower (inspiration for the Tower of Terror at Disneyland) for an organization called The Next Family, that supports an “ongoing, open-minded and sincere dialog between urbanite families, adoptive families, in vitro parents, interracial families, same sex parents, single parents and so on. It is a way to remind people that the Next Generation of families already exists in larger numbers than the old model of a “family unit”.”  Sunday, Stuart and I attended the wacky West Hollywood Book Fair, and hung out with Molly Ringwald (who looked great!) and Sarah Silverman.  I also lost my phone! :(  Here are some photos from the past week.  Enjoy!

Andy will be 5 next week…hard to believe!  More pics here…

The West Hollywood Book Fair with Sarah Silverman and Molly Ringwald in 110° heat. More pics here…

Future husband and wife?

A picnic before the Singalong Sound of Music

The hills were alive with the sound of music…

A traditional shot…look how she’s grown….2007…2008

Cell phones swaying to Edelweiss….and video below

This gives you an idea of what it’s like with 18,000 people singing in the Hollywood Hills

More Hollywood Bowl Sound of Music pics here…


The 101 freeway and downtown Hollywood

What a great venue for a great event!  More pics here…

Earlier in the week, we celebrated the Mid Autumn Lantern festival from my rooftop!  More pics here…

Recently, I received the following email message from the good folks at the Animal Planet channel:

Carey Anthony

From: YouTube Service	Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 8:25 AM
To: CareyGLY
americascutestdog has sent you a message: Animal Planet is interested in your video for television! Julie Cresswell here, with Animal Planet’s television show, “America’s Cutest Dog.” A team of us are currently searching for the cutest dog videos worldwide to air on our second special. I came across the following videos during my search and absolutely loved them . Death of the Easter Bunny:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b20EuJTBYd8 Chazz Coke:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiEGQM2WA9c Dive Dive Birdie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz32LaQjr9Y Chazz & Daisy:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B97f1gVs0QE Chazz at the Beach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me-X3ZiY1lQ Andy & Chazz’s Nature Hike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkyvJ8f6kv4 CJ Teaches Chazz the Rubik’s Cube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1EuJ1oEAEk Chazz & Brockton:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QVPhXExrJA Your videos are really amazing, and perfect for our show. I wanted to reach out and see if you would be interested in submitting your video for “America’s Cutest Dog II”. Maybe you have other clips too! Submitting is easy, and can be done online in just a few minutes. Our show will feature the best videos of dogs and puppies doing the most amazing, hilarious and just plain adorable things, and we’d love to have your clips in the line up. If interested, please email my Production Assistant Heather Scudellari at hscudellari@xxxxxxxx.net with the information below. 1. Please title your email ‘America’s Cutest Dog II’ (Attn: Heather) 2. Please include: • Your full name • The name of the video(s) • The web link(s) of each video • Your dog’s name • Whether or not you own the rights to the video We will reply to your email with instructions on how to upload your video to our server. Thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Julie Cresswell

This wasn’t Chazz’s first brush with fame.  Last year at the dog park he was approached by an agent who wanted him to come in for a screen test, LOL:

It never panned out because Chazz wanted Lassie’s salary…not Rin Tin Tin’s! 
They probably didn’t know that Chazz was already very close with Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black.

Here now, for your viewing pleasure, are the videos you may be seeing on TV soon!

Death of the Easter Bunny

Always Coca Cola…with Chazz

Chazz getting dive bombed by a bombastic bird!

Chazz finds a surprise under the blanket.  It’s Daisy!  And she isn’t happy!!

Chazz playing ball with the kids at the beach

Chazz and Andy dodging crocodiles!

Chazz as a puppy playing with Brockton at the dog park

CJ teaching Chazz how to solve the Rubik’s Cube!

Chazz certainly loves adventure!  He’s had a busy life! 

---

Here are some photos from the past few days.  Have a good week everyone!

Xangalebrity Chris, aka Cakalusa, paid a visit to The Hotel Careyfornia and even got to meet Elvis!  More here…


Din Tai Fung with Jon!  More here…

Thursday Family Dinner!  More here…

Another exciting edition of Clouds & Sunsets From My Sunroof!  More here…


Dinner with Dennis at Phil’s new restaurant in West Hollywood, UnPhoGettable!  More here…

Thanks to everyone who made my 45th birthday yesterday, so special.  The festivities actually started Thursday night when I had dinner with my family and then drove up to Oxnard to celebrate Claudio’s birthday.  This is our 20th year celebrating our birthdays together.  Last year I made him sit through the Rodger’s & Hammerstein retrospective at the Hollywood Bowl on my birthday.  This year, we celebrated in Santa Barbara on Friday and had a big Brazilian barbecue on Saturday.  The parties continued through yesterday, and I must say I am exhausted…and so is Chazz and his friend Blanca:

Of all the many birthday greetings I received on facebook and on cards and emails, a few really stood out:

This one referenced, one of my favorite songs, “Brimful of Asha” by Cornershop.

There’s a good breakdown of the lyrics here and a short documentary here; but basically, “on the 45″ refers to old fashioned record albums that played records at 45 rpm instead of the standard 33 rpm (rotations per minute).  A life on the 45 may be faster paced and generally more exciting??  That’s what I’ll go with anyway!  I’ve always loved the song…and now I’m 45 years old.  So bring it on life!  Here are more photos from the weekend:

Celebrating with Andy & Tommy!

Beautiful Santa Barbara, CA

The Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market

The dogs had a blast!

Ryan & Eva

The Gang

Claudio the grill master

A Bavarian Bretzel with Nutella!  Nom nom!

Dinner with Meghan, Roberto, their new baby Daniela, Eva, Bassam, & Ken

Ryan framed some of my Chazz photos!

Here are the best of the rest:

It was nice to see the HBO film, “Temple Grandin” starring Claire Danes, take home so many Emmy Awards last night. 

 

For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Grandin’s work, I highly recommend the movie, which is available on HBO On Demand in the U.S.  There are also several clips on YouTube.  I’ve been a fan of Temple Grandin for quite some time.  Her insights into autism are truly ground breaking.  I also encourage anyone with an autistic relative to take the time (3 hours) to watch her fascinating C-Span interview: 

The first book I ever read by Temple Grandin was called “Animals in Translation“. 

I’d love to read it again, but unfortunately when Chazz was six months old, he destroyed it, along with another book entitled “The Moral Animal“.  Apparently Chazz does not agree with the Academy when it comes to Temple Grandin!

The first time I ever left him alone, this is what I came home to.  See how guilty he looks?

He chose his books very carefully!

He focused in particular on a chapter entitled “Animal Feelings”

He knew he was in big trouble…he “felt” it!

And ripped out the page on “Animal Aggression”  I kid you not!

Another great book by Temple Grandin is called “Animals Make Us Human“.  In it, she:

…brings us together with our dogs by making us understand that in essence dogs feel the same things that we as humans do. Grandin is a person with autism and acutely understands how dogs make us human. She tells us that dogs share the same basic emotions that we as humans do. They feel joy, sorrow, fear, happiness and unhappiness. This book teaches dog owners how to best set up their dogs to live a full and happy life.

In the touching book, the sentimental author shows us how she thinks like an animal in that she pictures words not as letters but in pictures and thus can relate to dogs on their level. It is intriguing and awe inspiring to read how she looks at the world and learns how she believes we should relate to our dogs. It is a fascinating read full of insight and great tips on how to keep your dog a happy one. Anyone who loves dogs will enjoy this book thoroughly. There isn’t a book like it anywhere that’s for sure.  Read more…

So congratulations to Temple Grandin.  I’m sure this Emmy will will expose her important work to many more people around the world.  See?  Hollywood ain’t so bad!  Here are a few more photos from the week:

Great photobomb Cole!!  And I didn’t even have to use this:

I’ve been away from Xanga for over a month.  Apologies to my loyal readers…but I needed the time away to work on some other pressing matters.  I did manage to keep Facebook and my micro-blog at Tumblr up to date with photos, but that’s about it.  Thanks to those of you who wrote inquiring as to my whereabouts.  I’m still super busy with work, but something happened yesterday that was too good not to blog about.  The stupidest woman in America is at it again, as evidenced by a tweet she sent out yesterday:

Maybe she’s still reeling from the news that her daughter is engaged to my friend Levi Johnston, noted Playgirl model who she calls “Ricky Hollywood“, but “refudiate” is NOT A WORD even in Palinese!!  She also used it in an interview with Fox News:

She tried to smooth over her idiocy with another tweet invoking a Bushism and a hardly noteworthy lexical creation by President Obama, but the damage was done:

Some enterprising folks even bought the URL www.refudiate.com and are now selling T-shirts:

And now there’s a debate over whether to add the word to the dictionary!!??  Tell you what…you can add it, as long as you “refudiate” Sarah Palin!  As reported by Jacob Heilbrunn, author of “They Knew They Were Right:  The Rise of the Neocons“,

All the hubbub overlooked the possibility that perhaps Palin isn’t simply trying to bring down big government, but the English language as well.

It would be foolish to underestimate her ability to succeed, at least in the latter area. She’s already displayed great skill at mangling every word and phrase within talking distance. Imagine what she could do with the bully pulpit.

Indeed, if Palin becomes president, she might well enjoy the opportunity to rewrite not only history, but English itself. Here’s what a high school grammar test might look like under the Palin regime, requiring students to turn any word starting with “re” to substitute “v”s with a “p.” Correct spelling would be the following:

It’s become increasingly clear that President Palin is refolted by the idea that liberals continue to control the news media. She seeks to refair this problem. Refresenting the will of the people is the job of President Palin, who finds it totally refrehensible and refulsive that the media continues to refroach her for pursuing innovative ideas. Liberals, refent, the end is nigh!

Palin is reportedly (sorry, I meant refortedly) thinking of calling it a new campaign to mind your “p”s and “f”s.

Enough of the Wasilla Wombat.  Here are some photos from the past few weeks that you may have missed if you don’t follow me on Facebook or Tumblr:

With the kids at the 4th of July Parade…click for more

Looking forward to Cats & Dogs in 3D!

With Brent & Riye in Koreatown

A rainbow in Dove Canyon last week…click for more

Tressa and the rainbow!

Dinner with Ryan & Chazz

Hot Dogs

Poolside at The Hotel Careyfornia

The LaBrea Tar Pits with the kids…click for more

Welcome to the Hotel Careyfornia!

Hollywood with the kids yesterday…click for more

Yesterday, fellow Xangan and comic book letterer extraordinaire, CJ, competed at the Discovery Science Center’s Rubik’s Cube speedcubing competition.  He won 4th place in the blindfolded competition, and achieved a 10 second solve during a practice round!  More importantly, he spent some time with my cousin Tommy, teaching him the basics of cubing.  CJ and Tommy first met two years ago, when Tommy proclaimed he was “the luckiest kid in the world”.  It was meeting my friend Tyson, and CJ at that competition that first got Tommy interested in solving the Rubik’s Cube.  Later that year he was present for the Guinness World Record for the most people solving a Rubik’s Cube in one place.  Yesterday, Tommy’s mom, Lisa, also paid attention, and with CJ’s help and some additional instructions he provided from www.youcandothecube.com, Lisa solved her cube 5 times today!  Congratulations to Lisa and thank you to CJ for being so patient and kind.

Andy had a good time too, exploring the exhibits at the museum:

Mountain Boy

CJ also taught my dog Chazz how to solve the Rubik’s Cube last year.  Remember??

That’s a lot of cubes!

 
In the earthquake machine and outside the space shuttle


A good time was had by all!

Best of the rest…

Maybe in a year or two, Tommy will be able to do this:

 

Macky solves the Rubik’s Cube with one hand while juggling apples with the other:
http://careygly.xanga.com/664099326/a-kaleidoscope-of-mathematics/

As I was packing today for a trip to my childhood home of Chicago, I came across a poem I had written as a child of 7, in 1972.  It was in the same suitcase I stuffed it in when I last found it two years ago.  (I’m such a packrat!)  It’s good to know that my poetry hasn’t improved much in all these years.  (Exhibits:  A, B, C, D, E, F)

Toot toot indeed!

It was a busy week at The Hotel Careyfornia.  I was dog sitting Roxy all week, and she garnered a lot of attention in West Hollywood!  A pregnant Christine, with her husband Drew and cutie pie Lance checked in on Friday.  We had a wonderful visit.  On Wednesday, we had a mini Xanga/Tumblr meetup with Sion, Jimmy, Brian & Jedd.  It was fun hanging out with all of them.  On Tuesday, Mica and I went to a free screening of a film called “Mother & Child“, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts and Annette Benning.  It was a really powerful film, and I highly recommend it when it opens in May.  Samuel L. Jackson showed up for a Q&A afterward.  Oddly, he didn’t remember me from the Vanity Fair party on Oscar Night.  LOL.  Thursday, Lisa and I took the boys for an earth day dinner at Dove Canyon.  When I asked Andy and Tommy about what Earth Day was, this was their response:

No mention of eating worms!

Some photos from the week:

Mica fell in love with Roxy, and I thought she might dognap her before Dar & Gary returned from their honeymoon last night!

Mother & Child screening with Sam Jackson at the LA Film Institute

Xanga Ramen Night!  More photos here..


With Tommy in Dove Canyon

Burger night

I like cherries!

The last time Drew & Christine were here, Lance had just been conceived.  Who knows what will happen this time?

Bottle brushes!

At the Pacific Design Center, before we were asked not to take pictures.  So stupid.

Our favorite breakfast spot


Lance & Roxy squared


Come back soon with your new baby brother Lance!

Best of the rest…and more photos from the week here