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.
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.
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.
Soaring Over California from Carey Anthony on Vimeo.
Buzz Lightyear from Carey Anthony on Vimeo.
I forgot my keys
Garbo was exhausted!
Claudio & I under the flagship sign
We ended the day with a spectacular dinner at Koi. Expensive, but worth every bite.
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.
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!!
Christine + California = Craziness
Getting to know Garbo & Ruby
Poor Drew was so tired. Since I never sleep, he’s in for a long weekend!
After the party yesterday, I got a call from my brother and his girlfriend. He was visiting from Chicago and had booked a room at the Hotel Careyfornia for one night. (Luckily we had a cancelation!) Unfortunately, they had a check-in time of 6 PM, but had arrived 2 hours early. Since I was still an hour away, (and I had given the bellman the day off) 
I directed them to a hidden key. After I arrived, we had dinner and went to Pinkberry. On the walk home we saw this crazy Lamborghini Diablo ($300,000) on the back of a truck. We came home, watched Desperate Housewives and they went to bed. I of course stayed up until about 3:30 AM editing and posting those pictures from the party.
On the bright side, Tony and I had a nice if brief visit, and I took the window in tonight and they fixed it for $40. Cheaper than a locksmith I guess. Moral of the story: When you hide a key, always replace it after using it! 
On the way back from walking the dogs this evening, I literally bumped into a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in years. His name is Alfredo, and we met 9 years ago in Boca Raton, FL when I was training NetBank (the first ever Internet bank, which, coincidentally was shut down by the FDIC this week. It was the 2nd bank failure in 2007). After our first meeting, we met again briefly in Washington DC a couple of years later. Since then, we’ve kept in touch sporadically (him being better about calling than me). He moved from Florida to Atlanta a few years ago, and I hadn’t spoken to him in quite some time. He was visiting LA with his boyfriend. They came to watch the taping of a new show on Fox with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton called Back To You. Apparently one of Alfredo’s friends plays the sportscaster on the show. Anyway it was fun to run into him. We sat outside with the dogs, and had a delightful visit. It’s always amazing when you run into people like that. It’s happened to me many times in airports, museums, trains and planes around the world. Always such a pleasant surprise!
Here’s a choppy video I took today of Garbo & Ruby racing each other in the hallway. Their friend Sophie makes a very brief cameo at the end of the video. They do this race every single time we go through that door. It’s hilarious.
Speaking of Chicago, I was there a year ago visiting my family and friends. Since I didn’t have a blog then, I thought I’d post a few more pictures from that trip. Happy hump day! –Carey
My niece Nicole and her cousin Benny
Cheyenne, Nicole & Carey
My brother David, his daughter Nicole and his dog Cheyenne
Me, Cheyenne, Nicole & Mom
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
“Here in New York City, you can tell it’s autumn. You can see the colors change from brown to gold to yellow to rust — and that’s just the tap water.” — David Letterman
“In Chicago, a couple who are Cubs fans have named their baby Wrigley Field. Apparently the couple expects their baby to be a lot of fun, but ultimately disappointing. ” — Conan O’Brien
Yesterday was Darlene’s birthday, so the family gathered at a pizza/pasta place and celebrated. The kids played video games and a good time was had by all. I had to go into my office yesterday so I took the dogs and then Lisa came to pick them up, so they played with her dogs all day. I have a couple of friends in town this weekend, so will probably take a couple of days off blogging. I hope everyone has a nice weekend. –Carey
As I sat outside waiting for my food to be served, an older gentleman at the next table caught my eye, mainly because he was smoking a corn cob pipe (?) and typing on a manual typewriter!! He asked me what kind of dogs Garbo & Ruby were, and I in turn asked him what he was <typing>. He said he was working on a screenplay (natch), and that he found the sound of a traditional typewriter inspiring. Just for my younger readers who’ve never seen a typewriter, they look like this, LOL:
At this point an obviously homeless and more obviously drunk man appeared and started reading the newspaper at a nearby table. As the commotion at Starbucks continued, the homeless man began getting visibly frustrated. He was muttering about how he just wanted to read his newspaper in peace, and how obnoxious the Latino guy was being. (Frankly, I kind of agreed with him. I would not have been able to concentrate either. Of course, I was sober!)
Eventually the homeless guy started yelling at the Latino guy. The homeless guy had a really beautiful Russian accent! It almost sounded aristocratic, yet his scraggly beard and filthy tattered clothes betrayed that observation. Finally, he couldn’t take it any more, and he got up and went over to the Latino guy’s table. The Russian told the Latino that he was bothering everyone in the vicinity (true, I suspect) and that he was being very rude. He told him he didn’t care how big he was, that he could “take him’ and make him bow down on his knees because he himself bowed to no one. (In the meantime, me and the pipe smoking typewriting old guy, were just trying to blend in.)
Now, here’s where it gets crazy. Just as I thought one of them was going to throw a punch (would the gay guy really punch the homeless guy?), the homeless guy started freaking out, and calling the gay guy a devil worshiper. The Russian said that he was part of the “Royal Family” in the Ukraine, and that one day his brother would forgive him (??). He coninued ranting about his status and his connections. I felt really sorry for him. Had the Latino guy just ignored him (as everyone else was trying to do), he probably would have just gone away, but the Latino guy just kept egging him on. (Can’t we all just get along??)
Finally the Russian (Ukrainian, I guess) went back to sit down. At that point someone walked by with a dog, and Garbo and Ruby started playing. Butt sniffing ensued and the homeless guy freaked out, and started screaming about how “nasty” that was, and how ass sniffing shouldn’t be allowed in public. That was our cue to leave. “Check please!”
Only in Hollywood!
You may remember reading about my recent experience buying a Dell computer, and trying to return it. Well, I finally got a response back from Dell, and I won!! They have refunded my credit card for the whole price. I think it’s funny how they’re using their real names now too. Instead of “Jaron” it’s “Abhay” and “Zyrene”. LOL
Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care. I
understand from your email, your concern regarding the full credit. I
apologize for the inconvenience to you. I appreciate the opportunity to
assist you on this.
I am glad to inform you that the full amount
has been credited to your original mode of payment i.e. Visa Card,
under Credit Memo Number XC4W2F957. The amount of $888.42 was credited
on 09-10-07. Therefore an amount of $888.42 has already been credited
to your account, which is the total amount of your order. Please be
assured no amount for restocking fee is charged. I would request you to
contact your financial institution for more information on the credit
amount.
If you need any additional information, or have any
other questions, please feel free to reply to my email. It will be my
endeavor to ensure that all of your questions are answered to your
complete satisfaction.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity
to assist you. Your case number for this interaction is 173778420.
Please keep this number for your records. It will help us keep track of
this issue so we can assist you better if you have any further
questions or concerns.
If you require further assistance, please feel free to visit our Online Customer Care Center at:
http://support.dell.com
Thank you again, for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.
Respectfully,
Abhay Thakur
Rep ID 169021
06:30 AM to 03:30 PM CST
Dell Online Customer Care
Original Message Follows: ————————
Thank
you. Had that been communicated to me weeks ago, I would have known
why UPS kept leaving notes on my door with no information. I’m
assuming you will be refunding my entire purchase price, correct? I do
not intend on paying any restocking fees. Please advise. Thank you.
Carey
On 9/21/07, US_CAG_Customer_Care <US_CAG_Customer_Care@dell.com> wrote:
Dear Carey,
Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.
I
apologized for all the inconvenienced this has caused you. I checked
your records and a Credit Request Authorization have been processed
dated September 04, 2007. UPS is trying to pick up the damaged item so
that credit will be issued on your account as soon as the item was
returned to Dell. The reference number is 093877453. You may contact
Customer Care Voice Department at 1800-624-9897, Mondays through
Fridays from 7AM to 9PM CST for verification. The reference number is
093837058. Should you need additional assistance, visit our Online
Customer Care Center at http://support.dell.com .
Sincerely,
Zyrene
133237
Dell Online Customer Care
Case number: 173778420 (Please use this number for reference)
Original Message Follows: ————————
Hello “Jaron” (if that’s your real name. Why do I have a feeling it’s Patel??),
OK,
I’m REALLY getting irritated here. You told me someone would be
calling in the next 48 to 72 hours, 2 WEEKS AGO! The only person who
called was some crazy woman in India (I asked), trying to SELL me a
warranty on a DEFECTIVE machine that I told you I wanted to RETURN
WEEKS ago. I have called your Customer “Service” only to be
transferred FIVE times, and HUNG UP on by someone foreigner with an
accent so thick I couldn’t even understand them. Outsourcing American
jobs during a time of war is tantamount to TREASON. You should be
tried for war crimes you greedy corporate behemoth.
You have
sent UPS to my house THREE times now, with NO explanation of what they
are here for. NO ONE from Dell has contacted me as promised, regarding
this return I’m ready to call my credit card company and dispute the
bill for this piece of crap computer you sold me. I always loved Dell
and always loved your customer service. I recommended you to my
friends. Now you’re just like everyone else, selling computers that
catch on fire, and investing in 3rd world economies instead of your
own. You should be ashamed of yourselves. How do you even sleep at
night? I DEMAND a PERSONAL reply to this IMMEDIATELY (if not sooner).
If my complaint is not resolved, I will call my credit card company,
the Better Business Bureau and other online feedback sites, and post
this letter on my blog which gets 5,000 HITS a DAY. It’s time to
FIGURE IT OUT Dell, and quit treating your customers like the garbage
you sell. You represent the worst of corporate America and you disgust
me. I await your reply.
On 9/3/07, US_CAG_Customer_Care < US_CAG_Customer_Care@dell.com >wrote:
Dear Carey,
Dell
apologizes for any inconvenience your damaged keys and screen may have
caused you. Dell considers every customer important and values your
business.
Because of the complexity of your issue we have
forwarded your message to a Customer Care Specialist who will be
contacting you in the next 48 to 72 hours to help resolve your
situation.
Thank you for your patience.
Dell appreciates your business.
Respectfully,
Jaron
Case#173778420
Dell Online Customer Service
http://support.dell.com
Original Message Follows:
————————
Comments:
I’d like to return this. The keys were damaged when I got it. They
don’t all work properly. The screen is not what I ordered, and the
shipment was over a week late. I don’t plan on paying to ship it back.
I’d like a full refund and instructions on how to return it.
“* * * END Feedback * * *
So now, after all that, I read this today:
The White House is preparing a new initiative to protect against what
it fears could be a crippling attack against the U.S. by computer, from
overseas, and in particular, from China.
After a series of cabinet-level meetings this month at the White
House, computer security analysts say the Bush administration is
considering creating a new agency or cyberwar center to better protect
the federal government’s computers and find ways to help private
companies and public utilities fend off computer attacks.
Those attacks, which could be just a few key strokes away, could
shut down U.S. power grids and communication and banking systems,
security analysts warn.
“Basically we would find the lights go out, the dial tone stop and
we have no ability to access our money,” Sami Saydjari, founder and
president of the Cyber Defense Agency, told ABC News.
Internet security companies, such as Akamai in Boston, are currently
tracking thousands of attacks against the U.S. government and corporate
computer systems every day.
“We would not be in a good situation if we were to enter a cyberwar
today,” Akamai co-founder and chief scientist Tom Leighton said.
On most days, the single biggest source of those attacks is China.
“A Chinese general has talked about how they would reach out through
cyberspace and turn off the American electric power grid before any
conflict with the United States,” said Dick Clarke, a former White
House counterterrorism official and now ABC News consultant.
White House advisors say alarm bells sounded when this past June
Chinese hackers got into the unclassified computers of Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates.
“The intelligence community has come to the recognition that China
and other foreign governments have free run of American computer
networks,” Clarke said.
In addition to long-distance hacking, U.S. experts are concerned
Chinese-made computer equipment could be sabotaged in ways that are
undetectable, the scaled Trojan horse attack.
“My fear is that there are many, many Trojan horses, many, many
malicious codes in a large number of our critical systems,” Saydjari
said. “And that there are just waiting to be activated through some
trigger at some time.”
The White House says it is asking for $6 billion in the latest budget to increase supersecret.
So now, not only do I have to worry about lead in my toothpaste and toys, I have to worry about Trojans in computers that are made in China, and waiting for some secret command to attack the United States a la The Matrix?? I would venture to guess that you cannot buy a computer anywhere in the world today that does not have parts from China. Anyone want to build me a computer? I’ll pay you $800! LOL. By the way, Dell still hasn’t sent UPS to pick up this laptop, so until they do, I’m keeping it. If it happens to bring down the entire US power grid, my apologies in advance!
Happy Mooncake Festival everyone! Eat some for me, and keep those lanterns lit!
Sorry I haven’t blogged in a few days. I have had my hands full, as you can see:
Also, I was in Hawaii all weekend. I finally decided to bury the hatchet with my arch enemy George W. Bush. We had a relaxing weekend together, as this video will attest. Aloha! 
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
Here are some new photos of the twins, Cole & Carter and Trey & Tyler (the Fantastic Four). Here they are at the lake with big brother Jaden and their 2 little cousins. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Diane is the most amazing, bestest mother in the whole wide world! Here are my Godsons:
And lest you think the pictures I took of Andy and the milk yesterday were messy…take a look at two sets of identical twin boys, all under the age of 4 (when these pictures were taken) getting REALLY messy. I threw in a few of me with the twins as well. Anyone who knows me knows how good I am with kids, but I can’t even begin to describe what baby-sitting for these four little devils is like. Again, Diane is the Mother of the Year. I love you my friend!! xoxoxoxoo
So, my third Bluetooth in the past year, broke today. I’m getting sick of spending $75 to $90 a pop on these pieces of shit that keep breaking. They really are horribly designed. The volume buttons never work, and the on/off switches are ridiculous. Doesn’t Bluetooth have a monopoly though? Isn’t that illegal? Anyone know of any better options?
Here’s the sad story of my Bluetooth:
It keeps disconnecting unless I press on it.
Come to find out, a little piece broke that held it closed.
So of course with no pressure, it disconnected.
So, to save money, I introduce you to my Ghetto Bluetooth!
Maybe I should get a black rubberband, LOL.
So I guess now, I’m a 21st Century nerd!
Song of the day
The dogs were glad to see Seth when he came home the other night, and he was apparently glad to see them too. LOL!
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