careyfornia

  • 16 Paws

    The Hotel Careyfornia checked in four more guests today.  2 humans, and 2 more canines, making for a total of four dogs and three people in a 900 square foot condo.  (That’s OK, we once slept 21 here!)  My best friend Daniel and his daughter Tori arrived tonight for their annual visit.  For dinner we went to the grand opening of a new “interactive” restaurant at Hollywood & Highland called uWink.  They had a red carpet there that Tori got to walk, which was neat for her.  The celebrities were minor though, to say the least.  The owner of the place is the guy who invented Atari, Nolan Bushnell.  The restaurant lets you order from touch screen kiosks at your table and play interactive games with other tables.  It also features a 12 ft long interactive multi-touch bar that literally brings the bar top to life, letting customers use fingers, hands and drink glasses to conjure up digital flora and fauna, digitally paint the bar top, play a game of pong and ultimately order food and drinks from a digital menu. 

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    Tori & Dad on the Red Carpet

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    Interactive touch screen at our table.

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    Look Ma, I can use a touch screen.

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    The inventor of Atari

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    Garbo, Ruby, Abbie, Nina & Daniel


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
    “There was an interesting study released today which says that people
    who live here in the state of California are less convinced that there
    is a God than the people of any other state in the country. On an
    unrelated note, more than 800 wildfires here in California are
    currently burning out of control.  They were started by a series of freak lightning storms last weekend.”  –Jimmy Kimmel

  • From Brazil to Iran & Singapore – We’ve Got Visitors

     careyforniapethotel

    It’s summer, and the busy season at the Hotel Careyfornia is in full swing.  Daniel & Tori are coming next weekend, and possibly Donna too.  Claudio & Ryan were nice enough to pay us a visit this past weekend.  Tomorrow they’re leaving for Brazil for a month in hopes that Claudio will get his visa to teach at the University of California in the fall.  They will be leaving their car here (apparently the Valet Parking rates at the Hotel Careyfornia are a bit cheaper than LAX), so if Claudio doesn’t get a visa, I guess I’ll finally have a car.    I hope he gets it though; I would hate to see him end up like poor little Elian Gonzalez!

    elianclaudio

    By the way, speaking of “little” Elian, he’s 16 now and just joined the Communist Party last week.  He’s also affecting the Obama campaign!

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    The trademark Claudio sneer that he developed in the early 90′s as we traveled through Europe together and I constantly asked him to pose for pictures.  It has since become legend!

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    My “footprints” (that show who came to my site) had two rather odd Google searches this week (actually one was Yahoo) that returned my blog as a hit.  Someone from Singapore was searching for “sperm + toilet” and was directed to my entry from August 3, 2007 entitled:

    Designer Sperm, Toilet Dining, Self Gifting & Rental Goats


    and someone from Iran searched for “woman + picture” and ended up here:

    Picture Perfect LA, Repulsive Women Drivers, A GLY Visitor and iPhone schmyPhone!


    Considering the “woman” in the “picture” in that post was one on the most repulsive I’ve ever seen, Yahoo probably didn’t do much to foster Iranian/American relations.  LOL.

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    On the way home from the airport tonight, we saw this obnoxious Hollywood wombat, driving with her foot out the window, while smoking a cigarette and talking on the phone! Are you fu**ing kidding me!!??  She barely noticed my flash going offas I took the picture and gave her the most disgusted look I couldmuster.  This girl symbolizes nearly everything I hate in life!  And yes, I know I’m being sexist, but let’s face it, would you ever see a man doing this?  I thought not.

    No clues as to why the person in Singapore was searching for sperm + toilet!  (My guess is they were looking for this:  http://www.dearcupid.org/question/can-you-get-pregnant-from-sperm-on-toilet.html) If you’re reading this Mr. (Ms.??) Singapore, don’t be a stranger. 

  • Xangalebrities – How Do They Do It?

    I just want to say that I have new found respect for Xanga superstars like Chris and Dan.  I thought I was good at time management, but I could never keep up the pace of responding to hundreds of comments a day on my blog entries.  I have no idea how they do it.  I have received over 70 comments about my Idol photos from Iceland to Islip, Slovenia to Sarasota and it’s not even half of what those guys get on a daily basis!.  It’s amazing how far reaching this show has become.  It’s also amazing to me how many people check the Xanga front page for Featured Content.  I almost never do that.  There are some interesting things out there.

    In just the two hours I was gone for dinner tonight, my Footprints went from 2000 to over 2400.  I’m not sure what I ended the day with, but this has been by far my busiest Xanga day to date.

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    A bunch of Idol Forums and Asian and European fan sites published my photos (stole them actually, but kept the watermark and linked to my site, which is cool).  I’m now contending with a myriad of teenage girls who for some reason think I have David Archuleta on speed dial #3 (Sorry, Jason Castro’s on #2)    Even the official American Idol website, featured my “hot scoop” about the winner and the tramp, with various tweens weighing in on the scandal!  LOL.

    An Israeli site also linked to me, though I didn’t know until checking the Google hits, as I don’t read Hebrew!

    And then there were the Google searches that people used to get to my site.  This one caught my eye:
    Referring URL http://www.google.co…huleta&start=20&sa=N
    Search Engine google.com
    Search Words “a beating” david archuleta
    Visit Entry Page   http://www.xanga.com/CareyGLY

    Hmmm…somehow I have a feeling they weren’t talking about a beating from David Cook.  Paging Child Welfare!  Even the Claymates got into the act!

    At any rate, I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon.  Perez Hilton  and Just Jared need not worry.  LOL

    Eva & Jessie checked in to the Hotel Careyfornia tonight and we braved the unusual California rain showers and had a delightful evening:


    Yes, they’re holding 12 fingers up in front of the 12 Step Store (a place for “recovery” gifts).  LOL


    The ubiquitous Pinkberry visit


    We retired back to the HC to watch Haider on “This American Life“

    Good night from Hollywood.  Thanks for all of the comments and emails!  I appreciate all the kind words!  –Carey

  • He Went To McDonald’s

    18 years ago, on a Monday night, I was out at a club in Champaign, Illinois, nearby where I went to college.  At one point during the evening, I bumped into someone who for a minute looked like my roommate at the time, but it wasn’t.  At any rate, I said, “Hello, how are you?”  His response, in a thick Portuguese accent was, “I went to McDonald’s.”  I said, “Excuse me??”  He repeated, “I waynt to make doane ahlds”.  After some initial language barriers, Claudio and I became fast friends.  He eventually (with my help, LOL) learned English and even got his PhD.  He loved Oreo (that’s them on the left in 1990), and even taught him how to speak Portuguese.  The first time I ever went to Brazil, it was to see Claudio and meet his family, and I’ve loved the country ever since.  Claudio and I even lived together in Washington DC for a while.  We’ve been through a lot over the years and I was thrilled recently to learn that he’s moving to California with his partner Ryan!  He took a job teaching at a university about 45 minutes north of here.  This morning he flew in from South America and drove up to check out his new house.  Tonight we had a great dinner and caught up on old times.  By the way, he will deny the McDonald’s story, and swear he spoke perfect English when he moved to the States from Brazil in 1990, but I know better.  GLY Claudio! 


    After seeing the car he rented, I almost made him park on the next block over!


    He liked this car better (parked in front of Dom DeLuise’s son’s house)


    Then & Now

  • Pinkberry With a Bonafide Hero – A Busy Night at the H.C.

    At the risk of sounding corny, I met one of my heroes today.  He writes a masterful blog which I follow religiously and enjoy immensely.  I’ve been corresponding with him for nearly a year, and his wit and  charm are even more keenly evident in person.

    He’s terminally straight and devilishly handsome, and he is literally an officer and a gentleman (and a good sport, despite my proclivities…).  He stopped by the Hotel Careyfornia today en route to a new assignment for the U.S. Armed Services.  He will likely be in Iraq and Afghanistan in the next year, and though I know that his training and his aptitude will serve him well, it troubles me to think of him in such a quagmire. 

    I write a lot of negative things about this war.  But at the end of the day, I’m grateful that people like James are on our side; protecting us and our way of life.  I’m really glad we got to spend some time together.  I look forward to when he gets out of the service and moves to California so we continue to expand each other’s horizons. 

     
    After some Pinkberry and lively conversation, we watched Tracey Ullman’s new sketch show “State of the Union“.  It’s so acerbically spot on, it’s uncanny.  I highly recommend it.

    Blogs & Kisses!

    As soon as James left, it was time for our next check-in.  My cousin Darlene has rented the Master Suite at the Hotel Careyfornia, for the next few days while she attends a meeting in Burbank.  Of course she brought Buster (the one eyed horndog) and Roxy.  They’re already enjoying their West Hollywood getaway! 

     

  • Love Thy Neighbor

    One of the nicest luxuries that all of my years of traveling without having a home (or any bills to pay) afforded me, was the ability to save up enough money to purchase a condominium in a fairly affluent area.  I was lucky enough to buy at the right time, and reap the rewards.  No matter how upscale the place you live however, you can’t pick your neighbors.  I thought about that today when I read this:

    Got Bad Neighbors? Get the Word Out at RottenNeighbor.com

    AUSTIN, TX — (BUSINESS
    WIRE) Americans fed up with terrible neighbors have been actively
    contributing data–including the street, city and a description of the
    bad behavior–to a new real estate search tool that focuses exclusively
    on the “neighbor-space.”

    Posts on awful–and the occasional great–neighbors already number
    in the hundreds of thousands, making a search of the site in virtually
    any city turn up productive information for the potential renter or
    homebuyer. The site, www.RottenNeighbor.com,
    features user-contributed post titles as diverse as “Nosey Neighbors,
    Pine Hills, FL” and “The most unfriendly town EVER, Little Falls, NY.”

    The site has taken on a life of its own, with multiple mentions on
    The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, CNN.com, The New
    York Post and as one of Google Trends’ hottest searches. What started
    with a few local news briefs quickly became a phenomenon that captured
    the attention of the national press, and has continued to grow virally
    through word-of-mouth and blog coverage.

    Founder Brant Walker, talking about the potential for the site, said
    that “there has never been anything like this before, where people can
    use the Internet to do neighbor research before they move. I just think
    we’re giving people an incredibly valuable service here.”

    Users can search RottenNeighbor by zip code to get access to
    detailed maps of states, counties, cities and neighborhoods. They can
    also upload their own good or rotten neighbors to the database, filling
    in the gaps and ensuring a more complete picture of their respective
    neighborhoods.

    Added Walker: “We believe that when someone goes to make one of the
    biggest decisions in their lives–where to live–that they should have
    the maximum amount of information freely available to them. No one else
    is giving them this information, so we hope people will turn to www.RottenNeighbor.com when they think about moving.”

    I don’t really have rotten neighbors.  I would describe them more as eccentric.  Like the guy on the first floor who STILL HAS HIS CHRISTMAS TREE UP!!!  I just went outside and took this picture now:

    Or the woman who lives next door to me who always leaves her garbage out in the hall and posts notes with duct tape all over the building!

    I guess it could be worse though.  When I typed my zip code into rottenneighbors.com, I found out about these car loving Persians and the Beverly Hills trailer trash just down the street.  I wonder if that’s George Clooney writing about Britney Spears??

    With the subprime crisis not yet in full swing, property values are going to get a lot worse before they get better, so despite Christmas in March and duct tape, I don’t think I’ll be posting anything online that decreases the value of my home.  Anyone ever hear of an Easter Tree??

  • Chase & Taylor in Love?

    The celebrity studded Grammy weekend started with breakfast at Hugo’s where we dined next to Talyor Kitsch, the former Abercrombie model who now stars on Friday Night Lights, and Chase Crawford who’s dating Carrie Underwood and stars on Gossip Girl.  (They both starred in “The Covenent” together).  As Christine and I cooed like school girls, Drew began to realize it was going to be a long weekend.


    Taylor on the left & Chase on the right

    That afternoon, a friend of mine got us reservations at the famous
    Chateau Marmont for lunch.  It was ridiculously overpriced and the food was not that good.  THIS was my $20 Caeser Salad, LOL.  I kid you not:

    After that we headed to Disneyland where
    Darlene got us into both parks for free (with a FastPass!  Thanks
    Dar!). It was a perfect day for Disneyland, great weather, and not too
    crowded.

     
    Gung Hay Fat Choy from Mickey!

                
    Soaring Over California from Carey Anthony on Vimeo.

                
    Buzz Lightyear from Carey Anthony on Vimeo.

    The next morning we had breakfast at Grub, which is the restaurant opened by Betty Fraser from Top Chef.  She came to our table and fell in love with the dogs.  She was so nice, and her cinnamon vanilla French Toast is to die for!

    Next up was Beverly Hills and Sprinkles for dessert and window shopping on Rodeo Drive so Drew could figure out what to get his wife for Valentine’s Day!


    I forgot my keys

    After that we went to Hollywood & Highland and took a look at the preparations for the upcoming Oscars.  Christine took those pictures with her camera, and they should be on her blog shortly.  We decided to skip rooftop drinks at the downtown Standard, opting instead to pick up Claudio (so he could visit the Hotel Careyfornia) and meet the boys for a sunset hike up Runyon Canyon.

    It’s amazing what 20 years can do!


    Garbo was exhausted!

    Claudio & I under the flagship sign

    On the way home Christine spotted Ian Ziering (from Beverly Hills 90210) driving his ’67 Corvette into Bristol Farms, so I pulled in and we took a picture of his car.  LOL

    We ended the day with a spectacular dinner at Koi.  Expensive, but worth every bite. 

     

    This morning we headed to Santa Monica for dim sum and spent the rest of the day at the beach soaking up the 82 degree sunshine.  As I dropped Christine & Drew back at the Burbank Airport for the short trip to snowy Salt Lake City, we reflected on another too short but wonderful weekend at the Hotel Careyfornia. 


    Happy New Year!


    Tried to stop by the Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on the way home to get a few pics, but the traffic was terrible, so I snapped this shot of the Disney Concert Hall out of the car roof and headed back to West Hollywood.

    Here are the best of the rest.  Have a nice week everyone!  –Carey

  • Livin’ it up at the Hotel Careyfornia


    I worked down in Irvine today and met Dar at The Spectrum for dinner.  After that, I drove up to Burbank to meet Drew & Christine who flew in from Salt Lake City for a weekend of R&R at the Hotel Careyfornia.  When we got home we were met by Garbo & Ruby, who were dropped off earlier by their parents for a weekend at the Kennel Careyfornia!  

    Tomorrow, afternoon we’re heading down to Disneyland.  My cousin can get us into both parks for free because she works there, so that’s a nice treat.  Saturday, Claudio is coming from Washington DC and Mike is coming from San Diego.  We’ll do Hollywood and Weho and the rooftop bar at The Standard, and then we have dinner reservations at Koi.  Sunday will be dim sum (can anyone recommend and new, good places?) and the beach.  And of course we’ll hit all of the other hot spots in between.  Should be a busy but fun weekend!  It’s supposed to be in the mid to high 70′s.  Happy New Year!!



    The dinky Burbank Airport has ridiculous amounts of security.  I got mouthy with these cops when they told be not to take pictures, and they almost arrested me.  Ugh.


    Christine + California = Craziness


    Getting to know Garbo & Ruby


    Poor Drew was so tired.  Since I never sleep, he’s in for a long weekend!


    Kung Hei Fat Choy from Bi

  • Brazilians Need Space

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    Luis was in town for business yesterday, and since he needed “space and double glazing“, he naturally he chose to stay at the premier destination for Hollywood movers and shakers, the Hotel Careyfornia.  After a casual dinner at the churrascaria, I introduced him to Crackberry (which is now open at The Grove) and we then did a quick Hollywood tour, before retiring home to look at pictures of his beautiful children (and wife…hi Jennifer!), and Skype with Marcelo and Emily until the wee hours.


    Welcome to the Hotel Careyfornia…such a lovely place…

    Luis explaining (in Portuguese) to his family in Brazil, about where we went for dinner.


    In Brazil, “we eat-a meat”


    The newest Pinkberry convert.  Watch for an Austin opening!


    A cold night in LA!


    The Grauman’s Chinese Theater premier of Cloverfield


    The decapitated Statue of Liberty a la Cloverfield


    We took these for Luis’ daughter


    We made it to Rodeo Drive, but alas, everything was closed


    Skyping with Marcelo & Emily


    Pasta Mama & Chilaquiles

    I’m also reposting these great photos of his son surfing in Brazil last year.  He’s really growing up!  This is a picture I took at Lake Michigan
    in Chicago on Labor Day weekend 2001, the Saturday before
    9/11:

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    It’s always been one of my favorite pictures.  He’s
    such a doll.  It’s amazing how much they grow up in 6 years
    though.  Last summer the family went to Ubatuba Brazil (where
    you might remember our gang spent New Year’s a couple of years ago),
    and this is what that cute “little” boy looks like now.

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    By the way here’s Dad on a “business” trip
    last week.  Sorry ladies (and gentlemen), he
    married!  Thanks Luis.  Abracos!
    –Carey

    And here are the kids snowboarding at Christmas:

    Gmail
    Carey Anthony
    RE: A Brazilian at the Hotel Careyfornia
    1 messages

    From: Luis
    Mon, Jan 21, 2008 at 8:41 PM

    To:
    Carey Anthony

    What a short and memorable visit!  Hotel
    Careyfornia is indeed a must go!
    The blog is perfect and the double glazing and the pictures
    are indeed a hit.
    Brazilians do need space!!!
     
    The return from LA went well and kids and wife are
    well and sending you big hugs.
    We can’t wait to see you here in
    Austin.
     
    Hugs
    Luis

  • Christmas at the Careyfornia

    Bassam had a conference at CalTech today, so rather than driving back to Santa Barbara tonight, he called to check availability at the Hotel Careyfornia.  Luckily, Posh & Becks had just canceled a reservation and we had an opening.  Bassam is a regular visitor at the HC this time of year, and now that he’s graced us with his presence, it really seems like Christmas time is here again.

     

    We had tapas for dinner and afterwards Bassam needed a new cord for his iPhone, so we ran by Target.  He spent $20 on his cord, and I got myself my own Christmas present.  I justified it, because it came with a $30 gift card. (I really only got it because I’m sure Jennifer, Lisa & Dar will all get one soon, and I wanted to be first for once!)

    I also got a new Dirt Devil broom, but the iTouch is more fun.  Short entry tonight…I’m going to go play with my new toy.  Remember, Christmastime is for everyone…even the Jews!  Enjoy the video!  Night night.  (P.S. Thanks to Ryan for the fabulous graphic design!!)