Sabine (a founding member of the GLY Gang), left for Germany today by way of Boston (to visit Youenn).  It  was so nice having her here these last two weeks.  I miss her already.  (She just called to tell me that she saw Lauren Bacall in the airport after I dropped her off; who was in LA over the weekend to receive an honorary Oscar.  It was Bine’s first star sighting this trip and a fitting end to two weeks in LaLa Land!)  The past couple of   days have been jam packed with fun.  On Monday, we went to see the movie “Precious“.  Though I thought most of the performances were quite good; the movie left me rather disturbed.  Sadly, I fear that the situations portrayed in the film are not all that uncommon.  It’s worth seeing, but it’s definitely not the feel good movie of the year!  Last night we went to The Jay Leno Show.  Tyra Banks was supposed to be there, but she got stuck in NYC, so Kevin Nealon was the guest.  Bine and I got separated while  being seated, but I managed to smuggle my camera in and take a couple of shots before a mean security guard confiscated it.  He told me I had to delete the pictures, but I had already removed the memory card and discreetly slipped it in my pocket.  I told him the camera was “out of film”.  He pondered that for a minute while looking at the camera and realized I was fucking with him.  LOL.  Then I told him I was just using the camera for the telephoto lens!  I’m sure he didn’t buy that story, but there was no way I was giving him my memory card!  He finally got tired of arguing with me and walked away defeated.  During the commercial break, Sabine got to sing with Jay’s band.  The problem was, she didn’t know the words to Stevie Wonder’s, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered“!  After the show, we headed to the Los Angeles Film School for a special free screening of the movie “In The Loop“.  It was fantastic!!  The best way to describe it would be “as if Jane Austen and Monty Python collaborated on an episode of “The West Wing”.  It’s probably the funniest movie I saw all year.  Afterward, we sat in on a panel with the director and some of the cast.  What a great night! 

Sabine’s 15 seconds of fame on Jay Leno last night!

LaLa Land

Jay came out to warm up the crowd before the show began

The monologue

Interviewing Kevin Nealon

Outside NBC studios in Burbank

After her failed signing performance

Bye Jay!

On the roof of the LA Film School

A star in her city

The director and cast of “In the Loop”.  From L to R, Armando Iannucci, Mimi Kennedy (Dharma’s Mom) and Peter Capaldi.

Hooray for Hollywood!

Sad to leave The Hotel Careyfornia, but she’ll be back next May!

Update:  Thanks to all of you who wrote me about the Chocolate Lab, “D”, who we found over the weekend, and became Chazz’s best friend. 
The owner replied to the Craigslist ad, and I got these texts from Claudio & Ryan last night:

Even though, Chazz was sad to see her go, I’m glad the owner got her dog back. I can’t imagine losing a dog!  It turns out she was 2 years old and hadn’t been spayed.  I wonder if she’ll have puppies now??

Regular readers of this space know my friend Sabine, or Bine for short.  You know about her resilience, her charm and her joie de vivre.  You might also remember what a tough time she had two years ago when she attended Virginia Tech during the shootings.  You know that her inimitable style and always positive attitude have gotten her, and indeed our entire group of friends, through the best and the worst of times.  She is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise polluted world.  She approaches everything she does with passion and fervor, and is the glue that bonds our international family of friends together. 

What you may not know however, is that she is my wife!  Yes, it’s true.  I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating.  We were “married” in a small civil ceremony in Florence, Italy on August 19, 2000.  The ceremony was officiated by the great great grandniece of the Red Baron.  Her name was Baroness Andrea Von Richthofen (no kidding!).  Mick was the maid of honor, Miggl the best man and Eva the flower girl.  Now, some background:

Well, as luck would have it, three years later we all found ourselves in Florence, Italy at San Miniato at sunset, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio.  Our friends had bought some truly rinky dink rings on that same famous bridge earlier that day, and as the sun sank into the Tuscan sky, we said our “vows“.  They even made a marriage certificate which you can see reproduced above.

 
For more wedding photos, click here.

LOL, so there you have it.  The story of my phony wedding in Italy.  Just this past summer, as you may remember, Sabine, the two timing tramp, got married to Alan.  In all honesty though, I can’t say that I’ve been entirely faithful in this marriage, LOL.  So in July I traveled back to Italy where we celebrated her “real wedding” for a week in a beautiful Tuscan villa.  Last night, Sabine arrived for a 2 week stay at The Hotel Careyfornia.  Eva and I picked her up at the airport.  Today our friends Heather & Brian arrived with their two adorable kids.  Tomorrow we’ll head up to Claudio & Ryan’s for a barbecue.  We’ll also spend some time up in Santa Barbara with Bassam.  More pictures to follow, but here are a  few from so far this weekend:

Welcome back to The Hotel Careyfornia Sabine!

We headed to one of our favorite Thai restaurants to see Thai Elvis

Click here for the best of the rest…


I was sad to learn that both of the shooters from the recent tragedies yesterday and today, went to Virginia Tech.  The last time Bine was here, it was because of another tragedy, at Virginia Tech; one she witnessed first hand (as the above accounts detail).  Virginia has some of the most lenient gun laws in the country.  Let’s hope President Obama is successful in passing stricter gun control.  Anyone who thinks the “right to bear arms” should include assault weapons is truly ignorant.

Here at The Hotel Careyfornia, we pride ourselves on offering the finest accommodations of any fake luxury boutique hotel in Southern California.  This past weekend however, we were filled to capacity, and our guests had to resort to sleeping wherever they could find a spot. 

Is it too late to request bailout money to expand our facilities??

Of course there wasn’t much sleeping going on at all.  I don’t think I got more than 4 hours sleep since Friday, as these photos show:

Bassam managed to stay awake through the whole Rodgers & Hammerstein spectacular, even though he had just flown in from Jordan and his arms were tired!

They even surprised me with a cake!

None of my friends had ever been to the Hollywood Bowl…it was such a great show and I was so happy to share it with them!

Even Claudio, who pretended to hate Rodger’s & Hammerstein, secretly loved it!  He even invited our hotel’s maintenance man!  Love ya Ryan!!!!

A very happy birthday!

I wonder if Eva will make this her Facebook profile picture…the current one is just of her feet!  It’s not “Footbook” Eva!

The front lawn of The H.C. with the GLY Gang

Outside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, from “Pretty Woman”

Carey’s Angels have halos!

Marcelo & Emily had this “5 Star Hotel Careyfornia” sweatshirt made for me…and on the sleeve there’s a drawing of Oreo with the words, “Dogs Welcome”.  Isn’t that awesome?  I’m acquiring a whole line of Hotel Careyfornia merchandise!  T-shirts, placemats, towels, and of course our flagship’s sign!  Thanks to my wonderful friends for an amazing birthday!

Click here for the best of the rest…

This song suits all of my friends! 
If you like it, support Sam Tsui..he’s amazing!

Carey Anthony

So, The Hotel Careyfornia has been invaded by the lovely Vonda (sadly, sans Nate) and 4 teenage girls!  And look at what they brought me:

So now, not only do we have the world famous sign, towels and placemats, we have our own wine!!  Thanks Vonda and Nate.  You’re the best!!

The girls are really enjoying Hollywood.  Thanks to Dar, they’re hitting Disney tomorrow and then the beach on Thursday before heading up to Yosemite.  The only thing they still want to see is Zak Efron.  LOL

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
“It’s President Obama’s 48th birthday. The president has asked that in lieu of sending a gift, people just make a donation to his favorite charity — General Motors.” — Conan O’Brien

Well, 24 hours after leaving Mick’s place in Munich yesterday morning, I’m finally back in Los Angeles after many delays.  The flight home was even worse than the flight to Rome two weeks ago (not for the guy who had the heart attack on the plane though).  My last full day in Germany started early on the train from Altenbuch to Munich.  Sabine’s 2 husbands (Alan & I), rode with her to the Landshut station where we said our goodbyes:

Mick & Miggl met us at the train station in Munich and we had a quick lunch before Alan had to catch his train to Switzerland.  After that, Kurt met us at a coffee shop by the Isar and we hung out with two cute kids, Helena & Julius:

Comparing retro shoes with Mick

Then we biked home and Matthias came and picked me up for dinner.  Beate cooked a delicious Thai meal, as good as any I ever had in Thailand!!

Saying goodbye to Kurt

Was it MURDER???

Mick & Miggl’s balcony…one of the reasons for their 5 star accreditation and entry in the Fornia family of fine boutique hotels!

Master chef Beate cooked a great last supper to end my trip!

In the morning, I walked to the train station and headed to the airport, where the outdoor beer garden was already busy.

I had some time to kill in Chicago as everything was delayed, so I relaxed and enjoyed seeing the artwork for the city’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics.  Good luck!

 

All in all it was a great trip.  I visited old friends and made many new ones.  I relaxed by the sea and traversed the Alps.  Another memorable GLY gathering.  Special thanks to Bine for organizing everything and to Massi for letting us stay in his beautiful Tuscan villa.  I’ve got a bunch of videos that I’ll have to compile and post later.  Ciao Bello!

Best of the rest…

We made it through the Alps in Youenn’s little car!  I must admit, I had my reservations:

…but the trip was breathtakingly beautiful.  I’ve done it a few times now and the scenery never gets old.  The weather was gorgeous most of the way through Florence and all of Italy.  We hit an awesome storm in Austria, but emerged to blue skies soon enough:

Click for full size

We’re in Munich now, staying with Mick & Miggl and I must admit it’s nice to have high speed Internet again and a long hot shower (the beach house’s hot water didn’t last long with 20+ people staying there!).  It’s unseasonably cool in Bavaria, but feels good after the heat and humidity of Italy.  Today Alan and I headed to the Marienplatz to buy him an iPod Touch.  His poor wife Bine is about to become an iPod widow.  Boys and their toys!  Tomorrow we will spend the day visiting Mick & Bine’s families and get to see Tom, Cathy & Patrick who just arrived from San Francisco.  I’m looking forward to seeing them all.

Miggl prepared an amazing dinner for us upon our arrival in Munich.

The girls made paella for lunch.

And we had yet another delicious meal together!

Mick’s aunt, the soccer playing nun, even stopped by from her Swiss mountain abbey and brought Toblerone!

 
It’s Gay Pride in Munich this weekend.

Mick’s 68 Beetle is still going strong!  Here I am reenacting the time I had to push it at the World Cup three years ago.

 

 

Say gute nacht Carey!

Best of the rest…

Update:  Sabine & Alan’s wedding party was a sumptuous feast for all the senses!  The Tuscan hills will be whispering about this party for years to come!  About 35 “GLY” members old and new were in attendance from 7 countries and a good time was had by all.  The air card I have for Internet here is pretty expensive and we’re pretty remote, so keep checking this link for new pictures as I won’t always be updating Xanga.  Until next time, I leave you with our party pictures. 

Happy 4th!  We’re celebrating Bine & Alan’s marriage in grand style.  The party is in full swing at our Tuscan villa.  We have 6 Americans, 1 Czech, 3 French, 1 Togolese, 6 Italians, 1 Englishman and 12 Germans.  I can’t begin to describe how difficult it has been to get these pictures uploaded.  Suffice it to say, it was very involved, nothing is easy in Italy.  I think we’ve got it worked out now though, so here are the pictures from yesterday.  I’ve had to shrink them to a small size to conserve my SIM card credits, but you get the idea.  We’re having a lovely time…hope everyone else in the States is having a Happy Independence Day.  Sorry I’m not going to have much time to comment back or email.  Thanks for all your well wishes though.  And a special thanks to David for making this all possible!  Ciao!

The copious tradition of Indian theatre boasts the rich folklores of India. Indian drama is as old as the Indian convention and has its rich history deeply associated with the Vedic Era. In the ancient days drama or plays were mainly an illustration of the Vedic ritualism and were mainly manifested amidst the artistry of “mudraa”, Lasya” and Natya.  However, the change came after the gothic period;   the “larger than life” aspects of the Sanskrit dramas were rationalized. The depiction of the ancient Gods, mythological characters and celestial beings were for the first time mellowed out. That was the very beginning of the new form in the Indian theatre, which gained a marked diction during and after Indian independence. Indian theatre witnessed all the major production during this time, which not only marked the change in Indian Natya but also carved it as an art form to illustrate the naturalistic and realistic facets of daily life. The timeline of Indian theatre unfolds the verity that all the major productions in Indian theatre did occur during and after the British Rule. Theatre was then the weapon of protest against British colonialism and quite ideally therefore all the major productions in Indian theatre portrays the pain, agony and frustration of the common people during British Raj. Theatre was then just not a media for entertainment but was lot more. The Major productions in Indian theatre after independence further became the exemplifications of the socio-political and economic conditions of independent India. The leftist movement, the political scenario, the burning questions of unemployment all found an answer in the varied productions of Indian theatre after independence.

Evam Indrajit (Is Nirmal Normal?):
One of the major productions in Indian theatre, “Evam Indrajit” (“Is Nirmal Normal”) is the eloquent projection of fears, tears and frustration of the cultured bourgeoisie of the early 60s. The term “crisis” finds an articulate diction in the play where the melancholic existentialism of an individual weaves the magical plot in the play. Indian drama gained the most modish dash amidst the artistic presentation of Evam Indrajit. Although the play comes to an end yet it leaves a questions to which there are hardly any answers.  With its artistic articulation and with its burning questions Evam Indrajit is reckoned as a milestone in the history of modern theatre in India.  Source:  Indianet Zone.

Joelle and I were lucky enough to see one of only 2 performance of this masterful play in Santa Barbara this past weekend because our friend Eva was one of the stars.  She was utterly brilliant, as were all of her castmates!  Here’s the message I sent out to our “GLY” mail group Sunday:

Carey Anthony

Move over Angelina.  Head for the hills Meryl!  There’s a new actress taking Hollywood by storm and her name is Eva!  The LA Times called her performance “riveting”.  The Hollywood Reporter says, “Eva is an ingenue for the new millennium.  Her raw unbridled passion oozes through ever pore of her electrifying essence!!”  But don’t take my word for it!  See for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlFPxzHD-U8 and for those of you not on Facebook, see the spectacular stills here:
http://careygly.smugmug.com/gallery/8481606_TTJ8e/#557820789_QL7Xh

–Carey–

A sample of Eva’s breathtaking performance, with fellow actor Jason.

From the sun roof on the way to Santa Barbara.

Brunch before the show!

Manasi & Indrajit share a tender moment.

And the Academy Award for best actress goes to…

Chazz & Joelle in front of Claudio & Ryan’s house. We checked up on it while they’re in Brazil.

Best of the rest…

The Hotel Careyfornia welcomed an honored guest today.  Joelle arrived from Santiago, Chile.  She was actually the first person who ever visited The Hotel Careyfornia when I moved here in 2002.  The place has changed quite a bit since then!

My first visitor in LA.  Joelle lived here before moving to Uzbekistan and then Chile

Before we got our famous moniker…

We’ve had a few renovations since then!

Joelle and I have traveled all over the world together; spending New Year’s Eve with the “GLY Gang” on countless continents:

 

She’s in L.A. until Tuesday.  Claudio & Ryan will come on Friday, and Bassam on Saturday.  We might head up to Santa Barbara Sunday to see Eva.  Tonight we went to Venice to have sushi at one of Joelle’s favorite old haunts, The Canal Club.  Good times!

A quick lunch down the street at Basix

Miso soup, edamame, cucumber salad and sushi at Canal Club

 

Joelle was the one who had been flying all night, but I look more tired!

 
The canals of Venice…California

It has been a crazy weekend, but a lot of fun.  It’s after 2 AM and I just have a few minutes to post these pictures and then I have to get ready for my trip tomorrow morning (this morning).  I still have laundry to do and I have to clean the house as Luis & David will be staying here while I’m out of town.  (The Hotel Careyfornia is even busy when I’m not here!)  Claudio’s Brazilian BBQ was a hit yesterday, and he even made feijoada.  Yum!  Chazz is still growing like a weed.  Afterwards I headed up to Santa Barbara to see Tom & Cathy and little Patrick.  Bassam hosted a great party last night and we all had a great time.  Today I came back to LA in time for two Oscar parties.  I thought the ceremony was fantastic this year…the best in a long time, maybe ever!  I got 19 out of 24 predictions right, and won the pool for the 2nd year in a row!  On the way home I walked down DeLongpre because I knew that one of the locks on the garage door of  the Sunset Plaza Hotel is busted.  I was able to sneak in to the hotel and take the elevator up to Sunset Blvd. next to where the Vanity Fair Oscar party was being held.  There were people who had been waiting there all day and I just walked out the hotel door and started snapping photos, LOL.  The LAPD were being assholes though, and it was really hard to get good pictures.  I had to get home but I hung out for about 45 minutes and got to see Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz, Mickey Rourke, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams Frank Langella, Anne Hathaway, Jon Voight, Robert Pattinson, Gwen Stefani,  and that awesome Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto guy, hoisting his Oscar and waving to the crowd!     I don’t have time to go through all of the photos now, but here’s a sampling:

The Vanity Fair party 2 blocks from my house

Jon Voight

That’s Mickey Rourke in the white coat and hat

If you look closely, you can see Kate Winslet holding her Oscar

Kate Winslet again

I’ll have to through the rest of these later!

Let’s hear it for the boys (and Daisy, LOL)

Eva & Patrick

Breakfast with Patick

Ryan being butch

Click here for the best of the rest…

I took this out the sun roof on the way home from Santa Barbara