Apparently my birthday messages to all of my far flung friends have not gone unnoticed,  because when I woke up this morning I had been sent this wonderful PowerPoint presentation, that touched me like no other birthday gift I’ve ever received.  Marcelo even recorded himself playing the guitar and singing!  You’ll have to hear it to know how beautiful it is.  Thank you to my fabulous friends and thanks to all of you who sent such nice birthday wishes.  I’m truly touched.  Thanks also to my family for such a nice time tonight and to my parents and everyone who called today.  42 isn’t bad at all!  Thanks again.  –Carey

GLY,  friend!!!

May this day be even kinder to you…

Here is a techno-humble gift from us.  Forgive my incompetence in packaging the power point slide show with the audio file I made to go along with it.  Daringly, I am asking you to download the music file so you can play it in the background as you watch the slide show.

Some of us are tech-challenged.  Some of us aren’t but can’t be bothered with it.  But together we have the warmth of a mother’s hug…

Marcelo

This is Marcelo, playing the guitar and singing “I Will Survive”  Gloria Gaynor’s got nothing on Marcelo!  Sorry girls (and boys),  I know his accent is dreamy, but he’s happily married.

The “gang” in Brazil on New Year’s Eve

And here are a few photos from dinner with my family tonight:

Andy & Tressa

Where’s Andy?

Guess who climbed into the basketball machine??

Tommy’s toothless smile

Cole & Dar

Andy & Lisa

Jenn & Dar

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
“After a B-52 pilot flew over several U.S. states carrying nuclear warheads, the Air Force said that it would discontinue its use of MapQuest.” — Newsweek satire columnist Andy Borowitz

I’m having a nice quiet weekend for once.  I have a couple of friends visiting, but they’re not staying with me, which makes a big difference.  And even if they wanted to, I have a full house right now.  I started dog-sitting for Garbo & Ruby on Thursday.  And today, I’m dog-sitting for my cousin’s two dogs, Buster & Roxy.  So yes, I have 4 dogs here, all under about 5 lbs.  And to think, I’m the guy who likes big dogs.  Imagine the site of me walking down Santa Monica Blvd. with these 4.  I might as well be Liberace.  LOL

Poor one eyed, snaggletoothed Buster, really stands out in a crowd doesn’t he? 

I’ll post some pictures of all 4 of them later if they ever sit still.  It’s been so bloody hot, we haven’t been able to go outside for very long stretches. 

Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.  William S. Burroughs

Saw a fantastic movie last night, and it’s one I never would have gone to if Mark hadn’t wanted to go.  It was called “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” and it was a hilarious documentary about 2 guys obsessed with scoring the world record for Donkey Kong.  “Billy”, the real guy who set the Donkey Kong world record in 1982 and Steve, a self professed loser nerd out to break the record.  The war between the two is brutal to say the least and the story ends up being an allegory, for the decline of western civilization, including how “anti-ethical” thinking will still cause men to go to war.  It was clever and very funny.  Indeed, it was a metaphor for life itself.

Here a couple of photos Lisa sent of the boys at the museum last week when I wasn’t feeling well.

And last but certainly not least,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KURT!

Song of the day

The oxymoronic thing about funerals is that they can be so much fun.  Though the sadness is often overwhelming, the gathering of family and friends from far and wide and the memories shared, often result in laughter to the point of tears, but tears of joy, as we remember a life well lived. 

I learned many things about Dave this week.  I learned about his childhood from his kid brother.  I learned about what kind of father he was from his daughters.  I learned what a good friend he was from over 100 people who came to a memorial on a Wednesday afternoon to celebrate his life.  Of course I knew all of these things already, they were facts.  But as we all stayed up until 4 or 5 AM the past 3 nights and rummaged through boxes of old photos and told stories, these “facts” developed a genesis.  Through Jennifer’s eloquent eulogy to Cole’s tears of anguish at never being able to see his “Bampa” again, I learned how he was adored.  From Lisa’s unwavering spirit after painful surgery to Tommy’s matter of fact innocence in the wake of such a loss, I learned how his spirit was infectious to his family.  From Dar’s brave face and smiles through the tears, I realized how much joy the man she loved brought her every day of their life together. 

He was a man who defied all the odds and his spirit will live on in the family that loved him so much.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the week.  We’ve been joking about how happy we all look in these pictures.  If this is how our family acts at a funeral, imagine what we’re like at a wedding!  LOL.  To wit, a celebration of a life well lived:

Song of the day

David Champeau 1947-2007

I’ll be gone this week spending some time with my cousins and helping to watch the kids while they make arrangements.  Before Dave died peacefully in his sleep this morning, he was likely the oldest person in the world with Cystic Fibrosis.  Life expectancy in usually under 37 years old, and he was 60.  He leaves behind my cousin Darlene, 2 daughters, Jennifer & Lisa, and 4 grandchildren, Cole, Tommy, Tressa & Andy.  Throughout his lifelong illness, I never heard him complain once, though he was in constant pain or distress.  Even in the hospital this past month on life support, he would continue giving the thumbs up whenever you asked him how he was feeling.  He loved his grandchildren more than anything, and enjoyed taking them fishing on the lake.  He was the definition of “joie de vivre” and he will be missed.

Well, after a month of endless hype, Christ has returned in the form of David Beckham.  I bet every star in Hollywood wishes they had Posh & Beck’s publicist, because they have been absolutely everywhere.  No one’s sure if it will work though.  We had “good seats” for the game and my cousin Joel kept grumbling the whole time how boring it was and that Americans will never like soccer.  He may be right, but if Beckham doesn’t turn America on to soccer, it won’t be for lack of trying.  If it doesn’t succeed however, it never will.  This is soccer’s last chance in this country.  Just to have my entire family watching a soccer game was a major coup.  None of them had even seen a whole game before.  I can’t brag though.  Even though I went to the World Cup last year in Germany, I can barely tell a goal from a home run.    And come on, let’s face it, if he didn’t look like this, would there even be any hype at all?

Beckham the ‘Jesus of Consumer Culture’

LONDON- England fans may pray for him to lead the country to victory in next year’s World Cup, but not even his most ardent admirers have ever compared David Beckham to Jesus. Until now, that is.

An academic conference was to hear Wednesday that while Beckham has yet to perform any miracles – at least off the football pitch – he is perhaps the closest thing modern British society has to a Messiah figure.

“Beckham the brand is all about salvation, redemption, even resurrection,” said Carlton Brick, on the politics and sociology faculty of the University of Paisley in Scotland.

“It is not me that is saying Beckham is a pseudo Christ-like figure, but it is how he is often portrayed, and it is how he portrays himself,” he told The Guardian newspaper. Read more…

So here are today’s photos:

Grapes in Darlene’s backyard

 

 

Grandma & Andy

 

Buster eyeing Andy’s pizza

 

I told you we had “good seats”

 

 

The crowd goes wild

 

 

 

Reviewing my pictures on the computer

 

Roxy!

 

Tonight’s weekly family dinner was more somber than most, but as you can see, we tried to not let that show to the kids.  Dave is still in intensive care on life support.  The doctors don’t all seem to be on the same page about his treatment, which is rather annoying.  As of last night we were preparing for the worst but this morning there was a glimmer of hope in the form of a tracheotomy.  As it is, he’s one of the oldest Cystic Fibrosis patients on record.  Please keep him in your thoughts.

As most of you probably know, Saturday is The National Day of Climate Action. If any of you are interested in hiking up to the Hollywood Sign, let me know.  There will be some great photo opps.   If not, there are events all over.  You can check www.stepitup2007.org  for more info.

On this one spring day, there will be hundreds and hundreds of rallies all across the country.  There are gatherings in every state, and in many of America’s most iconic places:  on the levees in New Orleans, on top of melting glaciers on Mt. Rainier, even underwater on the endangered coral reefs off Key West.  In Florida they’re hoisting a huge boat up in the air to show people where  the water levels will be in 50 years!

There will be rallies outside churches, along the tide lines in our coastal cities, in cornfields and forests and on statehouse steps. Every group will be saying the same thing: “Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050.” As people gather, pictures will be linked in real time via the web–before the weekend is out, it will be the largest protest the country has ever seen. Here in Hollywood the peaceful demonstration will take place at:

***THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN***

April 14, 2007 01:00PM to 03:00PM

Today, Seth and Jessica dropped off their dogs, Garbo & Ruby (I did a blog for the dogs last year, before I started this one, LOL), for a mini-vacation at the luxurious Hotel Careyfornia.   They brought their 16 month old daughter Hannah (the genius child….she’s working on the Rubik’s Cube, watch out Tyson….she loves it!) and I snapped some shots.  (Mind you, this is in between phone calls from the Ford Child Modeling Agency and Toyota, who needs a precocious red head for their latest commercial.  Two words:  Danny Bonaduce!!)  j/k (Don’t freak out Jessica!) LOL

Hannah really is smart though, she’s got the vocabulary of a six year old, and man can she sing!  She makes Sanjaya sound like William Hung!   Anyway, I’ve got the dogs until Wednesday.  It’s funny, whenever they stay with me they need a vacation afterwards.  I walk them for miles every evening, all around West Hollywood.  They attract a lot of attention.  At home they’re used to going to bed at 8 or 9 with Hannah, and when they’re here, we sometimes go for walks at 3 AM, when I’m done writing this thing!  So, needless to say, their schedules get all out of whack, but they certainly have fun!  Have a good evening everyone.  Hope to see some of you at the rally tomorrow!

Hannah in Garbo’s bed

New York to Paris  – Pay special attention to #23

Thanks to zealousalien for finding this one – Google 411  FREE Directory Assistance. Screw Cingular!

And finally thanks to Bhavin for another reason to love the elitists at Google. Free Wireless Broadband!

And don’t forget GoogleFight.  Let’s try Sanjaya vs. Clay Aiken

Deconstructing Sanjaya

Now they’re saying he can win.  And apparently it’s national news!?

First of all, I’m aware that Sanjaya came before the serious stuff, but I swear every other Google search that comes to my site from anywhere in the world, comes for Sanjaya.  It’s crazy!  Anyway, like a lot of Americans, I’m troubled by the racist remarks of Don Imus.  I’ve never listened to or watched the guy.  Frankly every time I see his face on TV, I cringe.  He makes Howard Stern look like Brad Pitt!  What he said was indeed racist and stupid, though I’m not sure why there’s such a big stink now.  From what I read, this guy has been a hate monger for years.  I wonder why there wasn’t such a public outcry when Mel Gibson or Michael Richards spewed their rants?  I don’t remember this kind of uproar in those two cases.  I live literally a block away from The Comedy Store where “Kramer” went crazy.  There were reporters and of course Jesse Jackson out in front of that place for about 3 days, and then it miraculously subsided.  What’s up with that?

I do believe however, that it is a slippery slope when corporations encroach upon freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution to every American citizen.  Let’s face it; Don Imus has been spewing this hateful nonsense for years.  Why is it news now?  How ironic is it that the 3 year saga of the Duke lacrosse “rape” case was dismissed this week?  Two examples of disenfranchised black women vs. admittedly privileged white males.  I really don’t know what to make of it.  Do you?  There’s certainly enough hate to go around with conservatives though, and they all stand behind the Patriot Act, until it’s their ass on the line.  Take a look:

Limbaugh: Gonzales is “under fire by white liberal racists in the Senate”

Beck continues attacks on ABC colleague O’Donnell

CNN’s, ABC’s Beck on Clinton: “She’s the stereotypical bitch”

Limbaugh suggested Edwards camp “leak[ed]” false information to Politico reporter “to jump-start the campaign”

Beck said “I’m a little ashamed” for calling O’Donnell “a fat witch” — then added, “But she’s so fat”

Beck smeared ABC colleague Rosie, claimed “I never said that Hillary Clinton was a bitch”

These people all think WAY too much of themselves.  Rush Limbaugh this morning was saying that the Imus situation could actually help the troops in Iraq.  I like to listen to Rush sometimes, just because of the whole, keep your friends close and your enemies closer rule.  But this morning, I had to turn him off.

Meanwhile, in Washington, President Bush is still searching for a brain.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
“The president of Iran announced that he’s going to free the British hostages as an early Easter gift. As an extra bonus, the Iranian president said he’s going to throw in a case of marshmallow Peeps.” — Conan O’Brien

What do you get when you cross a robot with a pirate??

Aaaaaaaargh 2D2

I was in Laguna today, so I met Dar & Dave, and Lisa & Joel, and of course my sweet little cousins Tommy and Andy.  Andy kept trying to jump into the fountain and Tommy couldn’t stop playing his Gameboy.  I snapped these photos with my cell phone.  We ate at BJ’s Brewhouse which has the best desserts in the world.  They’re called “Pizookies” and they are out of this world!

And Joel tried the mini beer samplers….cute!

Is Iraq REALLY that bad? YES!

This roundup of YouTube clips is meant to give a small sense of what it’s like for the people who are killing and getting killed in Iraq — a view that, limited as it is, one can’t possibly get from the mainstream newsmedia. Terribly sad.

  Oh Oh!! 

And Then There Were 8

American Idol – Sanjaya the One to Beat?
Sanjaya avoided the Bottom 3 again. Is he the favorite to win it all? Over the past week, even more conspiracies and controversy have arose over America’s most watched show, so see our take and the take from all our users who have commented:

American Idol: Sanjaya survives and the power of mini-skirts
Top 9 Results Show Quick Thoughts
Top 9 Performance Grades
Top 9 Power Rankings

Urban coyote gets his space

An unusual visitor that startled customers at a Quizno’s sandwich shop in downtown Chicago, is now tasting freedom after being released in the suburbs…read more

From: Kelsey – Stage Manager
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 11:09 AM
To: Diane
Subject: Children’s Bios

Parents of young (Lost) boys,

We would like to put bios in the Peter Pan theater program for each child. The maximum word count is 45. Here is my sample bio for all of you that have not done one before:

Kelsey (Stage Manager) is a junior. Some previous credits include Night Mother(SM), Our Town (SM), …Forum(SM), Oklahoma and Assassins. Previous Village Theater credits include A Perfect Fall (ASM), Jungle Book (ASM), Seussical, Pippin, Les Miserables (Revolve Operator) and Mainstage’s TOMMY (SM intern). She would like to thank friends and family.

Thanks, and “Break a Leg”

Chelsea

Junior Class Stage Manager

—–Original Message—–
From: Diane
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 8:17 AM
To: Carey
Subject: Jasen’s School Play Today

Carey, I need your help!!  Today is Jasen’s BIG DEBUT as one of the “Lost Boys” in the high school production of Peter Pan and I need a bio for the program!  This is what I have so far.  I’m devastated that it can only be 45 words!

“Jasen (Nibs) is a 5th grader at Eisenhower.  This is Jasen’s first big production!  Jasen keeps busy with sports and lives with his Mom, Dad and 4 brothers.  He would like to thank his Grandma & Pop Pop for being his biggest fans!”

Thanks for your help Carey

Love, Diane

—–Original Message—–
From: Carey
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 8:27 AM
To: Diane
Subject: RE: Jasen’s School Play Today

This might be a tad much for Jasen’s bio (imagine that) but I CANNOT be restricted to 45 words.  That control freak “Kelsey” is just going to have to deal with it.  He’s MY Godson!!  If she has a problem with that have her call me directly and I will set her “straight”.  (BTW, who the hell is Nibs????  Shouldn’t my favorite Godson be playing Peter????  I may just have to fly up there and teach Chelsea or Kelsey or whatever her damn name is, how we Italians do things!)  At any rate, here’s my first draft

Jasen (Nibs the Lost Boy) is making his major theatrical debut in Eisenhower High School’s production of Peter Pan, and is thrilled to be reviving the pivotal role of Nibs.  Jasen’s previous credits include swing roles in Teletubbies - the Musical, Harry Potter Goes to Kindergarten, and the “Rent - the Pre-Teen Years (Understudy – Bum near Benny’s Range Rover).  Jasen’s well rounded activities keep him busy with sports, academics and recreational time with his family.  Jasen credits his mother, who still has time to shuttle him to play practice despite raising 5 boys, his Uncle Carey for his interest in musical theater, his two sets of identical twin baby brothers for making him want to stay late after school for rehearsal (and not have to baby-sit  and God (not particularly in that order).  He promises to thank them all on national television when he wins his first Tony. In the meantime he hopes to bring vim and vigor into each role he is blessed enough to win.  Jasen’s name originates from Jase, the Greek God of Theater.  His passion for the arts extends to his musical prowess, as well as his love for pottery spinning.  His film credits include Family Video #611 - Jasen’s first communion, and #101 – Jasen poops on the potty.  He would like to dedicate this performance to his Grandma and Pop Pop for being his biggest fans and always making him believe.

Too much??

Best viewed with Firefox.  Press F5 if video doesn’t load.

The Hip-pest Cat in NYC?  A Tale of two Oreos

 

This is Oreo, (which was the name of my dog, that’s why this article caught my eye)  Oreo was the first cat in the New York region to ever to undergo surgical hip replacement, which was just several thousand dollars more than the traditional method; total cat replacement.   Terrible I know…especially since I’ve been reading about all the wonderful veterinary work that Nate Lam does with animals.  Sorry Nate, I’m definitely more of a dog person as evidenced by my Oreo who ended up on the front page of the Chicago Tribune 20 years ago (gasp) for walking 45 miles trying to get home! 

RIP Or

Most shameless cat joke I know:

Me: “Oh! We should trade recipes!!” 

 

---

One more tasteless joke: 

A hooker asked her surgeon to make another hole in her ass.  The surgeon asked, “Why”?  She said, “Business is good, so I’m opening another location.”

Thanks to Eric, for finding these 2 videos.  The new Maroon 5 and a different type of Beyonce song.

My last 100 visitors, yesterday and today. Thanks friends! Wake up Antarctica!

Thanks to Lewis for reminding me what a good movie this was.  This actress is 15 and in the movie she’s singing to her parents who always tell her she’s too fat.  She should be on American Idol!

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
“In the recent Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, musher Deborah Bicknell was found on the wrong trail, 18 miles off course. Why can’t women just stop and ask for directions?” — Michael Hinkson, Cooperstown, Pa., writing to syndicated columnist Norman Chad. (The Washington Post)

This is Jennifer’s son Justin.  I told you you’d be on the Internet Justin

I finally installed my beta version of Joost.  They still don’t have a ton of content, but some of what they have is pretty cool.  The first thing I saw was the Christina Aguilera/P Diddy video and the quality was amazing. The other channels weren’t as impressive, but it has potential.  As a beta tester I have 5 invitations that I can give out.  I’ll make them first come first serve, for whoever wants them.  Take a look at the website and the hardware requirements before you decide.  If you want an invitation, send me an email at careygly@gmail.com Again, first come, first served

Tommy & Cole in the “Big City”

Dar and Lisa brought the boys up today to see Meet the Robinsons at the El Capitan.  Afterwards we went to the Kodak Theater, and had lunch.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and the kids had a blast.  Luckily the Hollywood sign was still standing and flame free.  All the smoke had cleared away too, though it was pretty smoggy when looking towards downtown LA.  Here are some photos of the kids and a few more of the fire.  I’m also including a coupe of videos I took of Tommy and Andy the other night.  I need to teach them a new joke

Finally, thanks to Seth for passing on this worthwhile website: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032907C.shtml