Tripping up to Mammoth and bits and pieces

I finished working on "Wild Child" Friday. Skye reminds me that I promised to take her camping in Mammoth. When it rained here, it snowed there, so I realized time was running out. On Sunday after getting beat up at Jujitsu, I decide we should go up on Monday so we can get back by Wednesday night to make it to the screening of "The Heartbreak Kid", the movie Cindy worked on and Skye can make it to the Talent show at the home school park day, her talent being hula hooping. Yes it sounds a bit crazy but we had a lot of fun.


I bought this tent like two years ago along with a couple of sleeping bags, part of a e-bay crazed shopping spree, finally they get a taste of the great outdoors. I'm very glad I bought a couple of good sleeping bags, cause it was 26 degrees at night.

One of objectives of the trip, beyond living up to the promise I made was to strengthen Skye's bicycling skills because we're racing in the Urban Assault Race this Sunday. We made some pretty long rides. Skye was a trooper even when I miscalculated the length and steepness of a hill that we ended up pushing our bikes up for the better part of an hour. But we got some amazing views and a fun downhill ride.


That little patch of green in the middle of the photo above was where we started our ride.

It was a great little escape.

Upon return, just before heading out for Cindy's screening I try to check my e-mail only to find out our computer has crashed, total meltdown, the computer is dead. I'm writing this on a new computer, just about the most basic model available seeing as how these machines seem to become cheaper to buy than to fix after a few years and they seem to inevitably crash after a couple of years or even if they are working become obsolete by the time you get them home. Oh the madness.

Also on the horizon, Oct. 6 I'm running or rather climbing in YMCA's Stair Climb to the Top, 1500 steps up the US Bank Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Check out my official race webpage to help raise money for the Y.

Skye news

Skye is back in soccer. She is now a proud Green Lizard.





Meeting Emma Roberts aka Nancy Drew, Claire from Aquamarine and now she's the "Wild Child". Skye had a lot of fun on the set and was a big hit with the crew. We caught up on a lot of her history lessons with a great CD set, History of the World. Call it carschooling. We started hitting the books in earnest this Thursday.

Week in Review

Actually, this is the week before last, week in review.

As the summer winds down and a new school year is upon us, Cindy and I started working on the L.A. portion of a movie starring Emma Roberts, "Wild Child". Which is great, cause we needed to work. But then Cindy gets another, longer, bigger, better job,(in L.A. thank goodness) Anyway it's been a bunch of juggling, with Skye in day camp and me trying to prepare for home school and house guests coming in town. And top it off with a weird heat wave that coincided with my drip-irrigation system going on the fritz. I know it sounds convoluted and not making much sense, but it was that squared.

So working in LA. Culture shock!!!! I forgot how much driving we do as Set Decorators. My carbon footprint just got a couple sizes bigger. And how much traffic there is and how nonsensical its patterns are, crazy!!!

House guests--Lovely couple, Susanne and Fady. Documentary film makers, she from Barcelona, he from Iraq. Both so gracious, warm and wonderful. Back story long and not uninteresting, just, as usual I am behind schedule, with too much to do, so main thread is Fady was one of the producers on Hometown Baghdad . Amazing online web series about life in Baghdad. Must check it out. Just click on above link and off you'll go. So Cindy's longtime friend, Laurie Meadoff founded Chat the Planet, and there is the link to Fady. Unfortunately, we were very busy, they were busy so we didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. Susanne returned to Spain and Fady, well he's studying here at U.S.C. graduate film school so hopefully we'll be seeing more of him.

But their visit was a perfect excuse to host another pizza making party. Throw in some kids, a heat wave and the last days of summer and it becomes a pool party as well. Great fun, but man it gets hot in front of that pizza oven, around 1000 F, with heat from the grill coming at you from the other direction. I got cooked pretty good. But it was all worth it.

Stop, pause, and quick rewind, to one more gardening project I'm embarking on and very excited about, heirloom tomatoes. Picked up some fall-winter varieties from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes. It might sound silly, but I'm very excited, yummy, yummy.



What's up Kaya?


Wonderfully eclectic group.














And night descends......



Susanne and Fady




Ping ping was part of the second wave of guests







Good night. Thanks for sharing.

Urban Dare

So, on Friday, I'm just surfing the net, avoiding work and other things I should be doing and I come across the Urban Dare calender and realize the LA race is tomorrow, Saturday, (which is now yesterday) The race is part trivia, part road race, kind of like the amazing race, but one day and one city and..., you get the picture, or not, but anyway.

So I immediately register and then, after I've committed to it, then I start searching for a race partner(you must have a partner, there is no solo division). After frantic phone calling and mind racing, I find willing and able race partner Kip. Then I start trying to line up a support team. You need someone or better yet several people at computers to help answer the insane trivia questions and help navigate etc. End up enlisting my nephew Adam and Kip's wife Teresa, both awesome and huge help, really you can't do it without someone on the internet with advanced Google skills. Anyway here are some photos at various check points along the course

At the Grove, first check point, still looking fresh and smiling.




Second checkpoint, a little confused on clue, lost some time.



Made up some time, moving now.



Hey Kermit, moving along fast now and building up a sweat.



After a long run down Hollywood Blvd, photo and little rest(not really)



Ok, I'm not looking so good, looking pretty geeky. Yes I know the matching baby blue shirts had a looking like nerds from the start but now I'm really not looking so photogenic, at lest Kip's sporting cool shades and remembers that we are actually being photographed. Don't worry it gets worse. Also at this point we are running neck and neck with another team, so we will be trading cameras and taking pictures of each other from here till the finish.




This was an obstacle I opted to do. Find gum in a whip cream heap and then blow a bubble. Sounds easy but the whip cream sugarized the gum to make blowing a bubble virtually impossible.



Just before nasty gum challenge, sweety and promising myself to lose some weight and work on my cardio.





So close to the end.






The winners, note how young and fit they are. We came in 7th out of probably 30 to 40 teams, in just over 2 hours. Along the way we had some basket ball shooting obstacles, push-up/sit-up/squats, bubble blowing and finally some dart throwing before celebrating with some beers. Tons of fun, highly recommended and I look forward to the next one.



This was the team that we slogged it out with for the last few miles and check points. We just edged them out by hitting a bullseye before them. Fun competitors and good conversation after.
A final congratulations and thanks to Kip and our support crew of Adam and Teresa. Cindy who usually mans the computer and has gotten incredible at it was getting her hair done(No Joke) But gave encouraging phone just prior to the race and salon job.

Scattered update

Skye made it through another week of sleepaway camp up at Camp Hollywoodland, this time with her pal Amandla, who she has known since preschool. Luckily she lives close to us, so they get to hang out on a regular basis. Given the choice, Skye might have stayed up at camp, but...


We continue to have pizza making get togethers and the pizzas just keep getting better and my waistline continues to expand. So in an attempt to reclaim my body as well as a series of coincidences and synergies, I am getting back into Brazilian Jui jitsu, over at John Machado's studio. I studied more with his brother Rigan in Torrance way back when. It's been around 3 or 4 years since I last trained and I've been twice now and can barely walk, but it feels great to be back and it's just the kind of butt-kicking, I need to get back in shape. Anybody interested, it's an amazing workout and fun and I can hook you up. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

Skye is currently going to a Sports Day camp. I'm not so sure how much they're really working on sports skills as opposed various games like capture the chicken, but she works up a sweat(not hard to do these days) and has a bunch of fun.
This week, Pilar, a friend from her Culver City school days joined her at camp. She heads off to yet another camp next week, back with pal Amandla. And then back to school with professor papa and a whole new series of adventures.



Cindy is back to work. I might be joining her for a short stint.

Summer is coming to and end.

The Magic and Science of Food

A few years ago, in a magazine, Bon Appetit or Gourmet, I ran across an recipe for frittatas that called for Lay's potato chips, and specifically Lay's plain, noting that the recipe's designer Ferran Adria, a controversial, innovative chef from Spain had experimented with several brands of potato chips and that the Lay's performed better than say a chip with ridges or a bar-b-que style chip. The term molecular gastronomy was thrown in, interesting concept, I thought. I then searched out the Lay's and other ingredients and ended up with a pretty wonderful brunch.

Since then I have become more and more interested in food and cooking, in the history of foods as well as the future of foods and cooking. On our road trip to Nicaragua, traveling companion/business partner/culinary enthusiast, Charles Lee and I ended up listening to a great book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. A book that discusses how, what and why we eat what we do and the many resulting outcomes and implications. We were engrossed in it for many, many hours. For better or for worse we opted for it over the various Spanish lessons I had brought along.
This coupled with the wonderful food I had in Nicaragua, combined with a trip to Paris, along with the additions of a wood-fired oven intensified my desire to learn more about food and cooking, which somehow lead me to a wonderful DVD, "Decoding Ferran Adria" that Cindy and I watched with amazement and awe. I highly recommend it. You don't need to obsessive about cooking, although it helps, or interested in the science of food, also helpful. Ferran Adria is wonderful to watch. He is like Willy Wonka, in so many ways.

Ferran's culinary lab, El Taller

So I thought I would pass on these wonderful experiences.

Garden musings

Hello my friends
Well things have kind of slowed down, over here in the Carr-Danniells experience/experiment. Skye is back to sleep away camp over at Camp Hollywoodland. No apprehension this time around, just a "see ya' " to mom and dad. Cindy and I are looking for work, never a fun endeavor. And I continue "finishing" the back yard project. IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED!!!!!

Among 16+ current projects is that of making basically a field guide to the back yard. So here are the first entries. My potted herb collection. Click on highlighted links to learn more. I am constantly clipping away at these guys. Soon I will be able to think finally about cooking and actually using aforementioned clippings. So if you happen to be in the neighborhood give a call and clip away and take home some fresh herbs or just wander around and pinch and smell them. Well I should really go, I have dozens of plants to prune, photo and blog about, not to mention all of my other projects, including finding a paying job. Ha, Ha. (No really I am needing to work and to all potential employers. Free fresh herbs and even some delicious home-made pizza)


Greek Oregano


Sweet Basil, White Oregano


Kentucky Colonel Mint

Serata Basil


Purple Basil, French Tarragon

French Tarragon
Cinnamon Basil


Paprika, Chile de Arbol



Cuban Oregano/Broadleaf Thyme

Italian Oregano


Lavender Mint

The quiet of cyberspace

Can you hear me?

I can't hear you.

I post my blogs for a variety of reasons. It's a great way for me to remember what the heck is going on in my life where I've been and when, a public diary as it were. I like sharing my experiences with friends, family and beyond. I don't have the time, energy or wherewithal to keep in touch with friends and family. I hope that I amuse, entertain, perhaps even educate. (You know you can click on those items in bold print and it links you to websites that have more info, pretty cool function actually.) You can also leave messages. Or e-mail(Click on View Profile and then contact). Even call. It's pretty weird, I don't know who reads the blog or when, whether people like it or loathe it and I accept that, I kind of love it in some ways. But every once in a while I could use a virtual-slap-on-the-back, an E-at-a-boy, a computer-kudo, you know something to let me know some one's out there, that you care. I'm gonna keep at it regardless but it would be nice. On that note, screams can't be heard in outer space, right? what about cyberspace? Anyway I would love to hear from you all, or a couple of you or something. I think I might write a comment to myself.

Where in the World is Diego?

We received some more e-mails from Diego. Cooling off and then making his way closer to home. (By the way, if he could e-mail, why didn't he go ahead and mapquest?)



And then we received this package. (I did Mapquest 828 Fantastic Avenue. No such address exists. However the package was sent from a 90065 Post Office, Glassell Park. Foul play???) No matter. The important thing is Diego is back.



I think the boys partied a little bit too hard. We may hear a lot of whimpering tomorrow.