marcelo

  • Naploleon Dynamite or Sarah Palin??

     
    My buddy Levi Johnston was on The View recently talking about his run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska and surprisingly held his own against the cackling bitch hens.  Meanwhile his baby mama continues to pimp herself a few blocks from here on Dancing With The “Stars”; her outfits getting skimpier each week.  Great job advocating celibacy you dumb hick!  And what of Mama Moose Killer Sarah Palin, the Wicked Witch of Wasilla?  Well, as Vanity Fair recently pointed out, the promo for her new reality show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska, has all the linear narratives of another great political scholar, Napoleon Dynamite.”  See for yourself:

    Not to be confused with this trailer

    “While its cinematography resembles that of something like Into the Wild, the dialogue seems to take its cues from Napoleon Dynamite, of all things. See if you can tell the difference between Napoleon Dynamite quotes and the Sarah Palin’s Alaska script.”

    A. “Oh gosh!”
    B. “We are somewhere that people dream about!”
    C. “I spent [summer] with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!”
    D. “Family comes first, it’s just gotta be that way.”
    E. “No boys upstairs.”
    F. “Flippin’ sweet!”
    G. “This is flippin’ fun!”
    H. “Are you guys having a killer time?”
    I. “How come we can’t ever just be satisfied with tranquility?”
    J. “[Wolves] kept tryin’ to attack my cousins. What the heck would you do in a situation like that?”
    K. “I’d rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office. I’d rather be out here, bein’ free”
    L. “Just tell them that their wildest dreams will come true if they vote for you.”
    M. “Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh!”

    Answers:
    Sarah Palin’s Alaska: A, B, D, E, G, I, K
    Napoleon Dynamite: C, F, H, J, L, M

    Speaking of the great Northwest, I was in Portland again last week visiting my old stomping grounds and having a great time with friends.  Here are some photos from the trip.  Thanks to Marcelo & Emily and Jay & Darlene for their hospitality. 


    The weather started out typically rainy at the Portland Saturday Market.  Mt. Hood still reigned majestic on the flight in though.


    Hanging out with my old college roommate Perry, as well as GLY’ers Marcelo, Emily, Jay & Darlene, was the highlight of the trip!  I also got to spend time with Doug, Susan, Donna, Kari, Cindy and Todd & Laura!


    The Bridges of Multnomah County…over the calm Willamette River on a beautiful fall evening.


    The weather was amazingly gorgeous for October, as the Farmer’s Market in Pioneer Square, (Portland’s Living Room”) shows.


    The dogs in Portland were especially welcoming to me!


    I got to hang with Todd & Laura’s great kids, but missed Taylor!


    Bon voyage Portland, hello L.A.!


    Best of the rest…

    And here’s a bit more from the week as told on facebook:













  • This is What Change Looks Like

    “Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenge — we overcame it. We did not avoid our responsibility — we embraced it. We did not fear our future — we shaped it.” President Barack Obama

    We got home from Santa Barbara last night just as the President was finishing his remarks.  Though the debate rages on via my Facebook page (thanks to both the Davids); real reform is on its way.  After this vile display last week, it’s pretty clear that the Republicans and the racist teabaggers really thought this was all about welfare:

    Sunset in Santa Barbara last night

    Anyway, we had a great weekend with very little sleep.  Bine and Lindsay arrived Friday night along with Carolina, Eva, Vonda, Nate, Bianca and Julia.   We had 9 people sleeping in my little condo, so it was similar to this.  Saturday we went to Claudio & Ryan’s for a Brazilian barbecue.  Sunday we spent a hazy day at the beach in Santa Barbara before dropping Marcelo off at the airport.  Two hours later, I got a text that there had been a small plane crash in Santa Barbara, and Marcelo was being shuttled to LAX.  So off to the airport again I went, and we had him for another night!  Everyone woke up at 5 this morning, and we were on our way back to the airport at 5:30 AM.  Next weekend, Bassam, Bine and I will head up to Tom & Cathy’s in San Francisco to see little Patrick and Youenn (who I haven’t seen since we traversed the Alps last summer!) and Mariana.  Should be another great weekend!  Here are this past weekend’s photos:


    Who knew Chazz was part giraffe and part Scooby Doo?

     
    The gang at LAX and The Hotel Careyfornia


    No caption needed!


    Lindsay & Chazz


    Ryan & Chazz


    Good food, good friends


    Bassam finally showed up!


    Up on the roof


    Eva’s neighbor’s front yard in Santa Barbara


    Chazz & Riley the herbivore


    The haze cleared when we went to campus


    One last supper


    Before heading back to Los Angeles


    Best of the rest…

  • Tonight the Streets are Ours

     
    I had a great time at the Sundance Film Festival thanks to Drew, Christine and baby Lance.  Thanks also to Christine’s parents for watching the baby while we played on Saturday.  My 2nd Annual trip to Park City also coincided with a ski trip that Marcelo and Emily planned with Vonda and Nate.  So the entire weekend turned out to be a mini GLY reunion.  We laughed, shared stories and ate good food.  The best movie we saw at the Film Festival was called “Exit Through the Gift Shop“.  There was a lot of mystery surrounding the film.  We initially thought it was going to be a documentary on the infamous (and anonymous) graffiti artist Banksy.  His amazing street art has been popping up all over the world in recent years, especially in Los Angeles, and now in Utah, just in time for the premiere of his film.  It’s described as:

    In the late 1990s, a hybrid form of graffiti began appearing in cities around the world. Enlisting stickers, stencils, posters, and sculpture and spread by the burgeoning Internet, it would be labeled “street art” and establish itself as the most significant counterculture movement of a generation. Los Angeles–based filmmaker Thierry Guetta set out to record this secretive world in all its thrilling detail. For more than eight years, he traveled with the pack, roaming the streets of America and Europe, the stealthy witness of the world’s most infamous vandals. But after meeting the British stencil artist known only as “Banksy,” things took a bizarre turn.

    Sundance has shown films by unknown artists but never an anonymous one. Banksy turns the tables on the only man who has ever filmed him, creating a remarkable documentary that is part personal journey and part an exposé of the art world with its mind-altering mix of hot air and hype. In the end, Exit Through the Gift Shop is an amazing ride, a cautionary modern fairy tale . . . with bolt cutters.

    Take a look:

    The worst film we saw was called “Double Take“.  It was about 2 hours too long (and it only lasted 90 minutes)!  It was a documentary about Khrushchev, Alfred Hitchcock and Folger’s Coffee.  Very weird.  Maybe I’m just not intellectual enough to get it, as Christine pointed out on Facebook, LOL:

    Yesterday morning the snow fell lightly and we went to Dim Sum with Marcelo & Emily.  I flew home to warm L.A. late last night, but I’m still reliving the snowy weekend, and already looking forward to next year!  Here are some photos:


    Flying into Salt Lake City, Utah


    Lance was glad to see me!


    So was Betsy!


    Brrrrr!


    Typical Sundance fashion…guess where they’re from?


    Adrian Grenier of Entourage fame signing an autograph on Main St.


    Main Street, Park City


    An original Banksy!!


    Drew and Christine, before they knew how bad “Double Take” was!


    An Olympic tribute


    Skiing in downtown Park City


    Drew and I on the red carpet


    Vonda, Nate, Betsy and I


    Marcelo playing Puff the Magic Dragon for Lance


    The dim sum tradition continues!


    Lance, rubbing for good luck


    Best of the rest…starring Paris Hilton and Kevin Bacon

  • I Need a Bailout…and a Nap!


    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!

  • Hugo’s Huge Basket – A Whole New World

    Hugo, Claudio & I have been friends for nearly 20 years.  As a child, Hugo had an dream that, without going into detail, prevented him from ever visiting the state of California.  When Claudio moved here last year, we both lamented the fact that our good friend would not be able to visit us here.  Fast forward to Thursday, when Hugo bravely flew from New York to Los Angeles, to help me and Claudio celebrate our birthdays; and a new tradition began.  Then Friday, Marcelo & Emily flew in from Portland and we headed up to Ventura County where we had a big Brazilian barbecue with Eva & Bassam in attendance.  Later tonight we head to the Hollywood Bowl for the Rodger’s & Hammerstein spectacular.  I’ll let the videos and pictures speak for themselves.  Ciao!

     


    Claudio & Ryan had shirts made that say:
    Hotel Careyfornia VIP
    Hotel Careyfornia Maintenance
    and a hooded sweatshirt that says:
    Hotel Careyfornia CEO

     
    Click to see all the photos…

  • Birthday Evaluations and Angeles Ashes

    Gmail Carey Anthony

    Happy Birthday to Claudio :)
    2 messages

    From: Marcelo Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 11:13 PM
    To: Carey & The GLY Gang

    Greetings, amigos!

    Today, September 2nd, is Claudio’s birthday, as I am sure many of you know.  I wanted to get more ideas about his new professorial life and, bingo, found some delightful quotes at RatemyProfessor.com.  Here are some highlights, in my view…

    “He is very knowledgeable in the subject matter, and even if he is sometimes slightly unclear with his initial explanations,…”

    “His accent can be amusing at times, but in a good way. He is perfectly comprehensible.”

    “Dr. P. is a world class professor.”

    “One of the best professor [sic] I have ever taken in my life.” (lovely insinuating were it not for the obvious sign of poor grammar…my favorite quote in the group)

    “This man is helpful, knowledgable [sic] and is willing to help you in whatever way possible.” (Do tell, Dr. World Class!)

    “He really knows what he is talking about,…” (Ha!  This one had me rolling on the ground)

    Happy birthday to you, old friend!

    I am looking forward to seeing you all in a few days!  Luisao, any chance you can plan a last minute trip to SoCal this weekend?!  Claudao, nao se preocupe que vamos falar mal de voce esse final de semana, com aquele carinho de sempre.

    Abracos,
    m


    From: Carey Anthony Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 11:18 PM
    To: Marcelo
    Cc: The GLY Gang

    Many of you don’t remember that back in the early 90′s, before the Internet or ratemyprofessor.com, I used to collect Claudio’s evaluations from when he was a T.A at University of Illinois, because he spent summers in Brazil.  My all time favorite went something like this: 
    Q:  Did you learn a lot in Professor P’s class?
    A:  I didn’t learn a thing.  I was too busy looking at his dreamy eyes!
    15 years later, the eyes are more cloudy than dreamy and we won’t talk about the hair…
    Feliz Anniversario my friend!!


    Claudio & Oreo circa 1990


    It’s amazing what 20 years can do!



    I was looking through my old diaries last night, and found this and sent it to Claudio.  He wrote this in my calendar in 1991:  “Birthday of the nicest Brazilian ever”.  I’m sure Marcelo might have something to say about that my dear!

    His reply:

    From: Claudio Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 9:23 AM
    To: Carey Anthony


    THANK YOU!!!!
    The scheduler was funny! To imagine you still had hair to cut…  good times!!   :)   Ugh, Vicious!!  

    From: Carey Anthony Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 9:39 AM
    To: Claudio

    Ugh!  You want to talk about hair!!??  Be careful darling.  It may be YOUR birthday, but my old calendars hold lots of other secrets as well.  Feliz Anniversario


    The weather finally broke today.  It was a little cooler with a touch of humidity in the air.  We needed a break!  Saturday it was 105° F (41° C) when Lisa & the kids and I took Aunty Lulu & Uncle George out for ice cream:

    The fires did make for amazing sunsets all last week:


    Whenever I need to smile I’ll just look at this picture of Buster!

    Joel and I went to see District 9 over the weekend and we both enjoyed the movie.  It was about 1/2 hour too long, but entertaining.  Kind of a cross between Close Encounters and The Fly!  There were a lot of blatant racial parallels that I won’t go into now.  As someone who has been to Johannesburg though, it was a sadly appropriate setting for that movie.


    I’m SO excited for this show to start next week!!


    Dinner last night before I headed back to LA for the first time in 9 days.


    Click for best of the rest…

    The fires are far enough away that my home isn’t in any danger, but they’re still too close for comfort:

    On the way home last night this is what I saw from the car.  I’m surprised there weren’t more accidents on the freeway from people looking.  It was an amazing sight to see:

    The air today was an eerie, quiet yellow making the sky look like Dijon mustard.  About 6:00 tonight I went up to my roof and shot this photo.


    After taking this, I went back inside with my mask!

    Here’s a good time lapse video of the fire.  The smoke clouds are amazing as these LA Times photos show:

    And finally, I got some very sad news today from Margie:



    From: Margie
    Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 6:34 AM
    To: Carey
    Subject: Daisy

    I had to have Daisy put down today.  I am very sad.  She fell off the bed & broke whatever was misplaced in her back.  When I picked her up she immediately lost her bowels & her head started rolling to the side.  When I took her outside she tried to stand but could not.  Later I will pick her up – couldn’t bear to be with her when they put her down – and bury her on the farm.  Can’t stop crying every time I think about it, so I’m going to try not to think about it.


    Daisy, if you remember, spent a month here with me last spring.  In fact I recently posted this video of her getting harassed by Chazz.  I know how terribly painful it is to lose a treasured friend.  We’ll miss you lazy Daisy!!

    I’ve got a bunch of good friends flying in for the weekend starting Thursday.  It’s going to be non stop.  We’re going to the Hollywood Bowl for my 44th birthday Sunday.  I’ll try to post as I have time.  Have a good week everyone!


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
    “The state of California is $30 billion in debt, and there’s no way we can pay it back, so what we’ve decided to do is set it on fire and collect the insurance.” – Jimmy Kimmel

  • Heroin, Portland and Wake & Shake!


    Our last day in Oregon was spent in downtown Portland yesterday for a quick Dim Sum lunch followed by a trip to Powell’s (the biggest independent bookstore in the world).  Then we headed over to the trendy new Ace Hotel for some photos in their old fashioned photo booth.

    It’s funny how things change.  The Ace Hotel used to be a total dive called the Clyde Hotel when I first started making monthly visits to Portland 18 years ago.  Several scenes from the movie Drugstore Cowboy were filmed there, and believe it or not, it’s the first (and only) place someone ever offered me heroin!!  It was my first time on a business trip in early 1990 and I met some people at The Fish Grotto across the street, who invited me to their room at the Clyde.  I naively went, only to find them all going into the bathroom to shoot up.  Suffice it to say I got out of there quickly!

    We finished our afternoon visit in Portland’s “living room”, Pioneer Square.  As I sat on the red brick steps, I remembered all of the fond memories Portland holds for me.  Good friends and amazing times.  It’s always nice going back.  Thanks to Marcelo & Emily for hosting our large brood, and thanks to Christine for coming up with the idea of visiting the Oregon coast again (when it wasn’t 30° and raining!)

    The flight home was clear and beautiful and I got some great shots of Mt. Hood.  This morning, I was working from home when the earthquake hit.  Luckily, my Dad had earthquake proofed my house last year, and I’m happy to report that everything that was hanging on the walls stayed in place.  Thanks Dad!  The picture frames on my shelves weren’t so lucky, but other than a little broken glass, my home was completely intact.  (Though, the shaking ceiling fan on high was a little scary!)  It was the biggest earthquake I’ve ever felt, and only the third since I moved here in 2002.  It kind of felt like one of those shiatsu massage chairs that you sit on at Brookstone, that knead your back with rolling balls.  It felt like there were huge ball bearings moving across the ground.  Crazy!  So LA welcomed me home with a bang and my short vacation was over.  I need a vacation!


    Christine & Carey in Portland’s Chinatown.


    The Hotel Vintage Plaza was always my home away from home in Portland.  One year I stayed there 160 nights!


    Portland’s “Living Room” – Pioneer Courthouse Square


    The statue behind Drew & Christine needs that umbrella ten months a year, but not yesterday!


    Christine in front of Pioneer Courthouse


    The Broadway Bridge over the Willamette River.


    The I-5 Bridge over the Columbia River between Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA.


    The majestic Mt. Hood.


    Downtown LA at the bottom and Dodger’s Stadium at the top.

  • Cheesy Anniversary

    We celebrated Christine & Drew’s 7th Anniversary today with a trip to the Tillamook Cheese factory; the most romantic cheese factory on the Oregon coast.  LOL.  A fun time was had by all!  Lunch at the Pelican Brewery followed by sunset with Eva & Yolanda who had since arrived at the beach house.  Talking and laughing into the wee hours again.  Good times.


    Click the photo above for the rest of the pictures.

  • Connected in Cannon

    Good news!  The Front Desk clerk at the Blue Gull Inn which is across the street from the house we’re staying in succumbed to my flirtations and gave me their Wi-Fi password!  So we’re wired this weekend.  Here’s the first batch of photos.  Sunset was gorgeous.  Eva & Yolanda arrive tomorrow along with some other friends.  Should be a nice relaxing weekend.  My friends Todd & Laura, whose house we’re staying in, are the absolute greatest people in the world.  Their home is beautiful, and 1/2 a block from the beach.  Thank you guys SO much.  This is really a treat.  GLY!!


    Our home away from home for the next few days!


    We can see Haystack Rock (third tallest monolith in the world) from our living room!


    Footprints in the sand, courtesy of Marcelo.


    Old friends!


    Drew & Carey


    I always get nice silhouette pictures of Drew!  The weather was nicer today though than in November!


    Livin’ it up at The Hotel ToddLaurafornia!


    Click the photo above if you want to see the rest!

  • Information Underload

     
    I woke up today feeling much better.  Let’s hope this nasty flu has just about run its course.  I do need sleep however, and seeing how it’s 4 AM, I’ll make this short.  The flight to Portland (PDX) was uneventful.  Smooth trip to the airport, no delays and a gorgeous sunset over Mt. Shasta (photos below).  Christine & Drew arrived about 45 minutes before I did, and Marcelo & Emily were already at the airport to pick them up, so they all met me, with bells on.    We’re having a mini GLY reunion this week.  Eva arrives tomorrow.  In the morning we’ll head to Cannon Beach where we’ve rented a beach house from Todd & Laura thru Sunday.  Should be nice and relaxing.  One thing I just found out however is the beach house doesn’t have Internet!  HORRORS!!  LOL   I’m sure I’ll figure something out, but if you don’t hear from me by Monday, send a search party to the below address.  I’ll likely have died of information underload.  Have a good weekend everyone!


    Mt. Shasta peaking thru the clouds.




    Emily the blur is saying Christine is 7 months pregnant!