ryan

  • The Yin and Yang of Christmas

    Even though I don’t believe in God, I’m inclined to agree with the postulate that everyone likes presents, Santa, peace on earth and all the things that come with Christmas and the holiday season.  I mean, what’s not to like?  My office Christmas party was today and we had a Secret Santa gift exchange.  The person whose name I drew, is an staunch Orange County Republican who thinks Sarah Palin is “hot”. 

    As a gag gift, I gave him the book “Going Rouge – An American Nightmare” which is the bitingly real expose of the most dangerous woman on the planet, Sarah Palin.  (I also gave him a real gift, and the gift receipt to exchange the book for something he really wanted!)  The person who drew my name in the gift exchange had a similar idea, and gave me the book, “Going Rogue”, the fictional work of a delusional demagogue by Pontius Palin – The Bobbleheaded Beauty Queen herself.  Delicious irony, right?  In a way, the gifts canceled each other out.  Ah, the magic of Christmas!


    Good vs. Evil

    Magic aside, Christmas in California is a lot different than Christmas in Chicago where I grew up.  I don’t have a whole lot of very fond childhood memories, aside from those spent with my aunt, but Christmas was usually pretty nice:


    Me, my Dad & Mom in happier times and my brother, circa 1970


    My brother (L) and me, circa 1969.  I was 4, and stylin!

    Fast forward 40 years to the warm weather of California and Christmastime with my family here:

     

     

    And of course, Christmas in Hollywood at The Hotel Careyfornia and surroundings:


    Ryan, in lights


    Never fails!


    At least the homophobic Mormons put on a good light show!


    Christmas lights at the bottom of my street, Santa Monica Blvd.


    A homeless Santa on Sunset Blvd.  This picture cost me $5, so I hope you like it!


    Best of the rest…

    One of my favorite Christmas songs

  • Swimming With Dolphins and A Shark Attack!

    What a weekend!  Too bad it had to end, because today the Sarah Palin media blitz began. 
    I’ll get to that waste  of brain matter in a minute, but here’s a quick recap of the weekend:

    • Drove up to Santa Barbara…managed to avoid a speeding ticket despite a few close calls.
    • Eva, Bine & I hung out with Rob & August all day Saturday; enjoying:
    • I caught a cold Saturday night as the temperature in Eva’s house was about 20° cooler than I keep The Hotel Careyfornia.
    • Claudio & Ryan found a Chocolate Lab on the street in Oxnard Saturday.  She and Chazz became best of friends.  We’re calling her “D” (for dog) for now, and searching for the owner, but it’s been 2 days.  Story developing…
    • Claudio & Ryan drove up to Santa Barbara with aforementioned new dog and Chazz, and we had dinner on the beach to yet another breathtaking sunset
    • Drove home and have been drinking lots of hot liquids.
    • Tonight, Bine & I are going to go see the movie Precious.
    • Tomorrow Carolina is coming for lunch and then Bine & I are going to The Jay Leno Show(we were supposed to go last week, but changed the tickets).  Tyra Banks will be the guest.

    Here are my favorite photos from the past 2 days:


    That’s Bine, swimming towards the dolphins…she eventually caught up with them…and loved it!


    Gross, but pretty cool, huh?  They said it was from a Great White, but Joelle said that the bite looked small for a Great White and why didn’t it eat the whole thing??


    A crowd gathered around the departed seal


    Father & Daughter (with bird hat)


    Rob congratulating Bine after she swam with the dolphins


    The winning shot??  Nope!


    The full size photo is even more vivid


    Bine was freezing as she was still wet from swimming with dolphins


    Best friends


    August brought the Filipino pork from Carson and Rob grilled it up perfectly!


    Bine, Eva, Rob, August, Thine & Puneeth


    I woke up Sunday with a bad cold


    I love the back turtle’s legs


    State Street, Santa Barbara, CA


    Sunny Breakfast

     
    In front of the courthouse…and a Tibetan Terrier


    Real trials are still held in this room…but Rob & August are innocent


    The hills of Santa Barbara and the infamous Tea Fire


    August, Riley & Me


    Who’s a good dog?


    Our “new” Chocolate Lab, “D” with Ryan & Chazz


    A great end to a great weekend


    The beautiful Santa Barbara seafront


    Click here for the best of the rest…

      Palin Roundup

    “Prepare for the latest Palin media onslaught. An hour with Oprah, a multi-parter with Barbara, and appearances all across the country. An initial read shows Going Rogue doesn’t reveal much. No surprise there. This isn’t about the book, it’s about the book tour — which includes a politically convenient stop in Iowa — and the money. Besides, it’s not like there’s much we haven’t already learned about Palin since she burst onto the national scene. We even know when her water broke during her last pregnancy. Talk about overexposed. In the end, I expect this will be one of the most mocked books of the year — and one of the biggest bestsellers. Palin fans will find much to love, but I doubt a single doubter will be converted. It’s a 400 page Rorschach test. With no index.”

  • People of Walmart – Hollywood Edition

    So yesterday, I’m walking down Santa Monica Blvd. with Heather & Brian’s son who’s 7 years old. While I’m holding his hand I reach into my pocket for my camera and discreetly take this photo while trying to distract him with conversation. I wasn’t sure if he had even noticed this person on the bike or that the “person” had a beard; but after we passed the bike, this wide eyed little boy looked up at me and said, “Well that was embarrassing!” I responded that yes, indeed it was. He asked why someone would dress like that. I told him that it was probably for attention. He asked “Why?”, to which I replied that the person on the bike probably didn’t have a mommy and daddy who paid a lot of attention to them, and that they probably liked to shock people to get attention. I told him he was lucky to have so many people in his life that love him. He looked up at me and said, “That makes sense.” (I didn’t tell him that the person has their own facebook page and Twitter feed and goes by “WeHo Tranny on a Bike”. I’ll wait until he’s 10 for that. More power to Tranny though. She says her calling is to spread joy and acceptance.

    Recently my friend Doug sent me a link to this website:

      

    It’s a site where you can submit photos similar to this.  As described on their website:

    WHAT IS PEOPLE OF WALMART.COM?
    You know that creature you spot every time you go shopping at certain chain department stores? That’s People of Walmart.  It’s like spotting the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot except, since it’s Walmart, way more common.  Take a picture of it then tell us about your creature and your spotting.

    HOW DO I KNOW IF MY PICTURE IS APPROPRIATE?
    If you think the person would be classified as “a Walmart shopper” then chances are good it works.  Funny looking people, crazy outfits, the creepiest of the creepy, and the ugliest of the ugly will do. HOWEVER, we do not wish to poke fun at people who, through no fault of their own, are handicapped. Absolutely NO pictures of someone mentally or physically handicapped will be added to the Website.

      

    So…I submitted my photo.  The prize is a $100 Walmart gift card, which I guess would allow me to take more pictures of “creatures”.  LOL  It’s going to be hard to beat some of these past winners!  I’ll let you guys know if I win!!

    In the meantime here are the rest of my weekend photos.  After our run in with the Fairy Godmonster, we headed up to Claudio & Ryan’s for a barbecue.  A good time was had by all.  Tomorrow we’re going to the Jay Leno show, so watch for us on TV!


    Cuddling on Sunday morning


    Living the Hollywood life


    Another beautiful day at The Hotel Careyfornia!


    Eva & Chazz, together again!


    Claudio manning the grill


    Chazz, Bine, Bassam, Eva, Ryan, Claudio, Alex, Danny & Steven


    Who’s a good dog?


    The whole gang together again!


    Click here for the best of the rest…

  • Halloween in Hollywood

    It was a hot Halloween in West Hollywood this year.  The temperature reached 93° (34° C).  This morning I walked to Pavilions to buy my balloon for my costume.  Claudio, Ryan & Chazz showed up later and I took Chazz up to the roof for sunset.  There was almost a full moon and the sky was beautiful:


    Chazz on the roof with downtown LA as a backdrop
    Lisa sent this picture of Andy in his costume.  Cute huh?

    On Halloween night every year, West Hollywood stages perhaps the most extravagant Halloween party anywhere. The City of West Hollywood calls the Costume Carnaval the largest adult outdoor Halloween event in the world. Santa Monica Boulevard, one of the busies streets in Los Angeles, is converted into a pedestrian only zone between Doheny and La Cienega Boulevards.

    So, when it got dark, it was time to hit Santa Monica Blvd. where 500,000 costumed revelers flooded the streets for the Annual Halloween Carnaval.  I took some “before” pictures this morning, to compare to what it looked like tonight:

    The most popular costumes this year were Lady Gaga and “Where the Wild Things Are“.  Of course there were a lot of Michael Jacksons, and several “Balloon Boys“, though the were all older than me.  LOL


    Me, as Balloon Boy’s Dad amidst a sea of balloons.  And yes, I’m holding a Tupperware barf bucket for the Balloon Boy(s) to puke in, just like he did on national TV!  I’m also wearing ABC Wife Swap credentials!


    Chazz was Balloon Dog!


    “Friend in my head”, Levi Johnston was even there with his manager Tank Jones!

       

     


    That’s LaToya Jackson (Michael’s sister) in the orange wig

     


    Pregnant Dorothy


    This was my favorite costume of the night…from “Up“


    Wild Things!

    So there you have it another Halloween has come and gone!  Here’s the best of the rest…


    A slideshow of all the photos from today.  Happy Halloween!


    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

    For Halloween, President Obama wore chinos, a white button-down shirt & crewneck sweater. So Obama went as the whitest president in US history. -Conan O’Brien

  • The Fast, The Furious and The Fierce

    My Dad left Saturday just in time for Claudio’s sister, who’s visiting from Brazil, to check into The H.C.  We had lunch in Santa Monica yesterday, and on the way there, while driving down Sunset Blvd., there were 3 Ferraris and 3 Lamborghinis that were drag racing.  Finally a cop showed up, but none of them even got pulled over!  Anyway, watch the video to see what could have been the disastrous results:


    Fun Fact:  My Dad actually made the famous sign!


    Chazz loves to dine al fresco


    Dancing With the Stars?


    I took this from my sun roof going 70 mph down the 101…the Capitol Records Building is on the left


    Hollywood & Highland – Home of the Oscars


    Opposite the Hollywood Sign


    Ryan’s actually looking at the Hollywood Sign, but it’s too hazy to see


    We found a new little wine bar that had great paninis


    That’s the El Capitan in the background


    A kid at heart!


    Southern California in October!


    When Hugo saw this photo on Facebook he left the following comments:




    Chazz was really tuckered out after a long day…


    Click here for the best of the rest…

  • Saturday Night Lights

    The day started with my aunt and I heading to LAX to meet Claudio and his brother, sister and sister in law, and their two kids, and Chazz of course. Then we picked up my Dad at the airport and headed downtown to Philippes for lunch. Dinner for 17 was at Buca di Beppo and was followed by Joel’s college (American) football game. My brother and his girlfriend and her two kids checked into The Hotel Careyfornia after that, and today they headed down to Disneyland.  I had other plans, and am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for the first time in nearly a month.  It has been a very long past 3 weeks, and I’m exhausted!  My Dad is going to stay with my aunt for a few days, and he’ll come back up to The HC on Thursday after we celebrate Lisa’s birthday.  I’m looking forward to a little rest and relaxation until then.  Have a good week!


    Uncle Ryan with the munchkins


    Aunty LuLu and I met the whole gang close to the airport before my Dad flew in


    Dad, me, Chazz, Claudio & Ryan


    Most of the family.  Jennifer couldn’t make it.


    I miss Andy!


    Favorite cousins!


    Orange County kids!


    Me, with Nicole, Tiffany & Rebecca


    Cheese!


    I liked this shot…I wanted to pull down her shirt though!


    Enjoying the game…LOL


    His Dad’s the coach!


    Home run! :)


    Tight ends?


    This is a game I know absolutely nothing about!


    Rebecca made her typical Filipino breakfast.  Yum!  If you want to see more photos from the weekend, click here.

  • A Year of Chazz

    I couldn’t let today pass without acknowledging a birthday.  Chazz turned 1 year old today!!  In that year, I’ve taken over 700 photos of him:

    Obviously I can’t be with Chazz on his “special day”, so Ryan just texted me this picture of his first birthday cake:

  • 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…

  • Bad Luck With Produce


    Update:  the plumbing is done.  Click here for Hell’s Kitchen.

    I had a bunch of meetings in Orange County this morning, and I was running late.  I didn’t get out of the house until 10 AM, hoping against all odds I could drive 60 miles in 60 minutes (a ridiculous goal in Los Angeles on the best of days).  Sure enough there was a major accident down by Disneyland.  The highway was covered in peaches and grapes.  A produce truck had crashed with a car.  It was a nasty accident, and I was stuck in traffic for an extra hour. 

    After a long day of meetings I hoped to turn the day’s tide by heading to Aunty LuLu & Uncle Georgie’s house for spaghetti.  They’ve been in Michigan since I left for Italy, and they just got home.  I’ve been missing that Thursday spaghetti for 2 months now!  Dar joined us for dessert, and I began the long drive home at 9:30 tonight.  As I walked up the stairs in the hallway outside my condo, I realized that the carpet outside of my unit was squishing.  Never a good sign!  As I walked in the beautiful lobby of the Hotel Careyfornia and headed towards the kitchen, this is what I saw:

     

    I’m not sure if you can see from the photos, but the hardwood floors were soaked.  I don’t know if it came from an upstairs neighbor or what.  It sucks!  The water is filled with shredded lettuce and who knows what else.  I’ve not had good luck with produce today.  Needless to say, it’s now 2:30 AM and I’m waiting for a call back from a 24 hour plumber.  This isn’t great timing, as I’m leaving Saturday for a week.  When it rains it pours.

    One bright note…Andy finally lost his toenail!  And guess who visited him?  LOL.  I got this text from Lisa the other night:


    I told her whatever he gets, I should get half…for inventing the Toe Fairy!