dogs

  • Who’s Afraid of the Chazzmanian Devil?

    Ever since I got this text message from Paul a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been nervous about how this week was going to go:

      

    As the proprietor of a world class, luxury, fake boutique hotel, I want my guests to be comfortable.  But, needless to say, Chazz comes first…so if they don’t like the dog, they best call the aptly named Ramada Limited!  Admittedly, when you see some of the damage that Chazz has done, you might think he’s a little wild.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  He just doesn’t like to be left alone!

    Well, I’m happy to report that Chazz has cured Emili’s canine phobia.   In fact, they’re becoming the best of friends.  Prior to meeting Chazz, she would never have gotten this close to a dog!

    In fact, Emili has been making friends all over town!

    We’ve had a few great dinners and the weather has been nice, despite June Gloom!


    French Canada & Vietnam meets Guatemala, meets America!


    A peaceful dinner with Chazz the Uniter

  • Pigeonholed

    My friend Marc told me the other day that my blog should be called:

    OK fine, point taken!  I guess he’s right…guilty as charged.  I’m the kiddy, puppy, sunny anti Palin blogger.  The pictures I took Sunday and Monday are of a kid (Hannah), dogs (Garbo, Ruby & Chazz) and a sunset.  LOL.  I guess I should be amazed that anyone still reads this blog (besides mothers and pet owners of the aforementioned, vampires and Levi Johnston (Sarah Palin’s future son-in-law.)).


    Our Golden Globes menagerie


    Whatcha talkin’ ’bout Garbo?? 


    Miss Golden Globe 2024


    Last night in front of Rage

    And speaking of Sarah “The Anti-Christ” Palin, this was on Huff Post today:

    To speak with anyone who’s ever been in close proximity of Sarah Palin for any length of time, there is a constant thread in their commentary: she will say anything, lie about anything, if it is to her own benefit to do so. Much has been said or written about this during the campaign, particularly by The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan, so there’s no sense in going over any of this sordid record here.

    But just when you think that Palin can’t top herself–I mean the execution of a turkey in Wasilla is a pretty tough act to follow–here she comes again, seated down with a right-wing, self-promoting “filmmaker,” John Ziegler, taking cheap-shots at the likes of Caroline Kennedy and Katie Couric. The bitterness and envy and mean-spiritedness just ooze from her pores throughout the interview.  Read more…

    But lest you think I’m a 4 trick pony, don’t forget that from January to May you probably have to add one more moniker to my blog…American Idol.  LOL.

    Yes, once again, American Idol is upon us.  At its best, the show extols the American Dream.  At its worst, it brings out the schadenfruede in all of us.  Due to my proximity to the show, I tend to get a lot of blogworthy material every season.  Whether it’s my photos from the finales, or my take on some of the ridiculous aspects of the show and the culture that has sprung up around it.  I am curious to know if there will be changes as a result of the suicide in front of Paula Abdul’s house.  I always knew that being mean to mentally unstable people could have disastrous results.  I mean, just listen to these actual Simon Cowell insults:

    Each year I think it might be the end of the show’s popularity, and each year brings a new  Sanjaya, Danny Noriega or Jason Castro.  (Actually, this year, it’s Jason Castro’s brother and Adam Lambert.)  Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be attending a show or two this year, and will run in to these wannabe celebrities all over town.  So stay tuned if you’re so inclined.


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

    “Three days before his inauguration, Barack Obama is going to retrace Abraham Lincoln’s route by taking an Amtrak train from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Obama’s making the trip three days early because it’s Amtrak and even he only has so much hope.” — Conan O’Brien

  • Golden Retrievers, Globes & Labs (Plus a Drumdog and an Elephant!)

    It’s a big day here in Hollywood, as the Golden Globes start in about 3 hours.  Santa Monica Blvd. is jammed with limos already.  To celebrate, I took Chazz to the dog park where he met what could have been the Golden Globes mascot, a Golden Retriever mix named Brockton. (Here’s a video of them playing if you’re interested.)  Yesterday, he had a playdate with his friend Weho, and also met one of the stand-ins from Marley & Me!


    Marley & Me (Chazz)


    Faceoff!


    Get him Chazz!


    Got him!


    Can’t we play some more??


    Best of the rest…

    Tonight we’re heading to Seth & Jessica’s to watch the awards.  Most of the parties are at the Beverly Hilton and it’s hard to get to, so I doubt I’ll get any pictures tonight after the ceremony.  Here are my predictions:

    UPDATE:  I got 17 out of 21 predictions right!
     

    Not Shown:  Best Supporting Actor/Actress: Heath Ledger & Kate Winslet

    My favorite film of the year is still Slumdog Millionaire, though “Drumdog Millionaire” ain’t bad either:

                                                                                            

    Finally, thanks to Hoa for posting this touching video of a friendship between a dog and an elephant!

    This post is dedicated to Tasha.  Hang in there old girl!

  • Bachelor Blues & Puppy Love

    As a single guy who lives alone, I go out to eat a lot because I don’t really like cooking for just myself.  When I do buy things to eat here, they often go bad and sit in my refrigerator or cupboard for months….sometimes years.  The other morning Ryan made some pancakes and wondered why they didn’t taste as good as normal.  When he looked at the box of pancake mix, he saw that it had expired over 2 years ago.  The same thing happened all weekend; with salad dressing, olive oil, vinegar, jam, mayonnaise and more.  ALL expired; some much more than two years ago.  My standard response every time they asked how old something was:

    “____________ never goes bad!”

    Apparently pancake mix does.  Oh, and fresh eggs aren’t so fresh in December if you bought them before Halloween.  Who knew?  (In my defense I didn’t even know they were back there! LOL)  So last night we ordered Thai food from Sunset Thai.  I had an old takeout menu of theirs from 2002.  When they delivered the food, the bill was $60 for the three of us, which I was sure was a mistake.  Apparently though, the prices at Sunset Thai have gone bad too:


    A 92% price rise in 6 years?

    We also went to see Frost/Nixon at The Grove.  The performances were good, but I thought the movie took too much dramatic license with the fact.  As the grandson of a History, English & Latin teacher (who sat me down to watch when Nixon resigned), I felt the movie treated Nixon a bit too sympathetically and messed with the actual interview facts too much.  If you’re interested; this article by Elizabeth Drew sums it up pretty well. 

    As promised here are the rest of the Chazz pictures from our Christmas tree trimming extravaganza and his first trip to the dog park:


    On his first trip to the dog park, he met his new best friend, Weho (short for West Hollywood!)


    After playing with Weho (as shown in the video above), he was pooped!


    Ryan & Claudio before the movie….downtown LA in the background


    Christmas at The Grove


    Stale pancakes for breakfast!


    Sunset before the big storm


    Best of the rest…


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
    “Everyone is in the holiday spirit [in New York]. Coming to work today, I saw two strangers sharing a cab. One took the tires, one took the radio.” — David Letterman

  • I’m An Uncle

    When Claudio & Ryan moved here last summer and bought a big house with a big yard, I encouraged them to get a dog.  They weren’t sure at first, because they wanted to be able to travel unimpeded.  I assured them however, that I would take care of the dog whenever and for however long they needed me to.  I mentioned the idea again a few weeks ago, and one thing led to another.  Since Ryan’s birthday and Christmas were coming up, Claudio and I secretly strategized, and earlier this week, a puppy was sent into the front door of their house (as a surprise) with a big bow around his neck.  Meet my new nephew, Chazz!


    Vicious Disclaimer, I know!  Sorry Ryan! 

    Rest assured you will be seeing many more pictures of this dog on this blog in the years to come.  I sent Claudio & Ryan this email the other day.  (Warning, it’s not for the faint of heart!)

    Gmail Carey Anthony

    Don’t Teach Chazz This
    2 messages

    From: Carey Anthony Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 10:48 PM
    To: Ryan, Claudio


    The Masturbating Dog

    From: Ryan Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 7:46 AM
    To: Carey Anthony

    oh i am speechless.

    Lil Chazz was in my lab watching as well, I had to cover his gorgeous eyes and earmuff that clip.
    I’m now going to have to put a parental lock on youtube so I can filter what the new love of my life is being exposed to.

    P.S. Cougars (i.e. Claudio) and puppies don’t mix – I’m AFRAID to let little Chazz out of my site.  What if he tries to steal a lick or two from ‘ol coug’s saucer of milk?? He could be lunch! Oh the worries and woes of parenting!!!


    Finally, you may have seen this heartbreaking storty of the “hero” dog from Santiago, Chile all over the news today.  Oreo, would have been proud!!

  • All Hallow’s Thanks

    First of all, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read and comment on my last post.  It’s really nice to know that Oreo’s story touched so many people.  He was larger than life, and it’s amazing to think that more than 10 years after his death, he can still affect people in such a profound way.

    Thanks to all of you, this is my most commented post ever.  103 as of this writing.  (My American Idol Finale  post, still holds the record for most views, at 3,252.)  A special shout out to Victor & Sam, who first recommended Oreo’s story to their vast audience.  I tried to respond to everyone, but if I missed you, I’m sorry.

    Mostly though, I’d like to thank Jin, from whom I received the following email:

      Gmail Carey Anthony

    To Oreo and Oreo’s father, Carey.


    From: Jin Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 1:37 AM
    To: Carey


    I’m really touched by the tribute you made to Oreo. I’m sorry I didn’t get to comment earlier and beat out 120938120938109238 people from commenting but I’m just absolutely amazed at such a wonderful life you have given Oreo and the freedom he has. He does posses human like things about him. He’s still alive believe it or not. In your heart and mind. Remember rainbow bridge? Rusty and Oreo would probably be playing there along with my pet Dusty. They’ll be waiting there for us :)

    I made this for you and oreo ( as you can see its totally ugly compared to the super fancy drawings your friend Dan draws of Oreo, but hey this is for Oreo. )

    Cheers! You’re an amazing person Carey!

     

    This brought tears to my eyes, which I guess is fair, judging from how many people told me they cried at Oreo’s story.  Thank you Jin.  This means a lot to me.  I will treasure it.

    Since Halloween officially starts in 15 minutes, I braved the crazy Halloween store tonight and bought the final touches for my costume.  The place was a ZOO!!!

     

    You’ll have to wait to see what it is.  I’ll give you a hint.  It has something to do with politics and it’s not human.  Any guesses??

    Speaking of Halloween (and dogs), last night was dog night at the pumpkin patch, so I took Roscoe, accompanied by Ann, Jorge and little Arielle.  A good time was had by all:

    On the way home, there was a No on Proposition 8 rally on Santa Monica Boulevard:

    Thanks again to everyone!  Happy Halloween!


    Best of the rest…


    An appropriate song at minutes before midnight on Halloween Eve from the album Minutes to Midnight.

  • “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!

  • Puppy Mills & One Eyed Horn Dogs

    I Tivo’d Oprah today and tried to watch it tonight, but couldn’t get through it.  The subject was puppy mills and it was SO hard to watch.  I’m glad Oprah did the show though, because it will make people think twice before ever buying a dog in a pet store.  This is “Shrimp”, before and after the puppy mill:


    In January 2007, Bill rescued a Maltese-poodle mix from a breeder. The emaciated puppy had little hair and was close to death. Bill couldn’t leave him behind and adopted the little guy, naming him Shrimp.  Today, Shrimp is a happy and healthy member of Bill’s pack—and even wears a red bow in his full mane of hair. “Boy, what a makeover!” Oprah says.

    Speaking of cute dogs, my cousin Darlene’s dog Roxy needs a boyfriend. 

    Roxy

    Buster, the one eyed horndog, just isn’t cutting it

    I’ve got a few candidates in mind.  My first choice would be to clone my dog Oreo who died in 1987.

    RIP Oreo

    Garbo is also in the running, though he and Ruby are currently betrothed.

    Garbo & Ruby

    I’d love for Chris to bring Gromit out to meet Roxy.  I think they’d make a cute couple!

    Of course, I thought the same thing about Gromit & Oreo:

    gromitoreo
    Gromit (L), Oreo (R) – Kindred Spirits

    This week however, I met Ryno.  His owner Francis tell me he’s gay, but he hasn’t met Roxy yet, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  Ryno is a Morkie.  (Maltese + Yorkie, also known as a Yorktese).  Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen??  I’m definitely more into big dogs (Oreo was 85 lbs.) but look at that face!!

    Have a nice weekend everyone!

  • Some Dizzy Whore, 1804

    It was a crazy day weatherwise in LA today.  It started out warm and sunny.  I’m still dog-sitting, so I took the pups on a long walk this morning.  We sat at a cafe for a while, and I read some more about my new camera.  It certainly has a lot of hidden features…though not quite this many:

    Anyway, here are some shots I took of Garbo & Ruby, and of the storm front that moved through Los Angeles this afternoon.  Being close to St. Patrick’s Day, I was hoping for a rainbow, or at least a pot of gold.

    A dreaded sunny day
    So I meet you at the cemetery gates
    Keats and Yeats are on your side

    A dreaded sunny day
    So I meet you at the cemetery gates
    Keats and Yeats are on your side
    While Wilde is on mine

    So we go inside and we gravely read the stones
    All those people all those lives
    Where are they now?
    With the loves and hates
    And passions just like mine
    They were born
    And then they lived and then they died
    Seems so unfair
    And I want to cry

    You say: “ere thrice the sun done salutation to the dawn”
    And you claim these words as your own
    But I’ve read well, and I’ve heard them said
    A hundred times, maybe less, maybe more

    If you must write prose and poems
    The words you use should be your own
    Don’t plagiarise or take “on loans”
    There’s always someone, somewhere
    With a big nose, who knows
    And who trips you up and laughs
    When you fall
    Who’ll trip you up and laugh
    When you fall

    You say: “ere long done do does did”
    Words which could only be your own
    And then you then produce the text
    From whence was ripped some dizzy whore, 1804

    A dreaded sunny day
    So let’s go where we’re happy
    And I meet you at the cemetery gates
    Oh Keats and Yeats are on your side

    A dreaded sunny day
    So let’s go where we’re wanted
    And I meet you at the cemetery gates
    Keats and Yeats are on your side
    But you lose because Wilde is on mine

  • Beverly Hills Wolves

    I’m dog-sitting for Garbo & Ruby for the next week.  We took a 3 1/2 hour walk tonight.  I forgot my gorillapod, but snapped a couple of blurry shots in Beverly Hills.  When we got home, I showed them the trailer for this new National Geographic special about this crazy guy who lives with wolves.  I was hoping to elicit some good howls out of them, but they were too tired, and just thought I was as crazy as the wolfman.