Places like Randy’s Donuts and Tail ‘o the Pup are great pop icons in Los Angeles. I think I remember in “Mars Attacks”, the donut is zapped off the building and then rolls down the street?
The HOLLYWOOD sign
On a hot summer night, with little constructive to do, some friends and I decided that we wanted to get up close and personal with the famous HOLLYWOOD sign in Hollywood Hills. We were prepared to climb, hike, do whatever it took to touch one of the letters. Let me just say, winding up the narrow streets to get close was a feat in itself. We never made it even close because it is so protected, you practically have to be air-lifted in to the area. Better that it’s off limits and safe from the L.A. crazies.
This guy and more in Venice Beach
Whether it’s the roller blading, guitar playing sihk, the tattoo’d muscle men lifting weights at Muscle Beach or the disco dancing roller skaters in the central park area; Venice Beach is a fun place to hang out to get a taste of the really wacko side of L.A.
We just rescued our third chihuahua and I blame my own father for this one! Last week my Dad who lives in Houston, Texas mentioned that he was fostering a young chihuahua that was listed on Petfinder.
So what did I do?
I went online and started looking at chihuahuas…then saved some profiles…then sent some emails and made some phone calls. Next thing I know, I’m setting up an appointment to pick up Twinkie, a 4 month old male apple head and cute as a button! He now sleeps soundly, snuggled up by my side with ELVIS and Izzy close by.
ELVIS, Izzy and now Twinkie are all rescues and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Twinkie was being fostered by Pups and Pals, a rescue covering L.A. and Orange Counties. They get high marks from me for their professionalism, compassion and efficiency in placing animals in good homes quickly.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup peanut butter (chunky)
3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix water, pumpkin, egg, vanilla, and peanut butter thoroughly. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix wet and dry ingredients together and stir well. Spoon into a greased mini muffin pan, making sure to fill each cup completely and piled high. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until firm (but not too brown). Cool completely and refrigerate.
Makes 30 mini pupcakes
I’m all about peace, love and harmony which is why I support Barack Obama.
Please get out and cast a VOTE on November 4. Your chihuahua will love you for it!
First of all the dog’s name caught my attention and second, I wish there had been a canine mathematician to help me understand calculus while in college. I might have paid attention, instead of zoning out, eyes glazed over.
Hope College Professor, Dr. Tim Pennings found it more than coincidental that his Corgi, Elvis was taking a certain path to retrieving a ball from the water. He recorded how far Elvis would run along the shore before deciding to swim for the ball and he concluded that Elvis had the innate ability to find the optimal path to fetching the ball, every time.
For those who are reading this and rolling their eyes, a couple of years ago, a team of French mathematicians tried to prove Elvis wasn’t really thinking things through as he chased after his ball. It turned out they were wrong, and so Hope College, where Dr. Penning teaches, awarded Elvis an honorary degree.
Maybe what we need now is a dog to solve the financial crisis…
Don’t you think Chi WOW WOW should be on the red carpet for this movie premier? I would say that if we don’t receive an invite, then the Disney creators of this movie are clearly out of touch. We live in Los Angeles…less than 5 miles from Disney studios…no doubt, someone during the making of the movie googled the word chihuahua and came across Chi WOW WOW?
What? you ask, is so special about a hotdog from Colombia?
No….it’s not laced with contraband, although I will say that if you like junk food, one bite could lead to a serious addiction.
Some may cringe, others are already salivating but here is the combination. Take a Hebrew National hot dog and tuck ham and mozzarella cheese into a bun with raw onion, spackle with crushed pineapple, sprinkle with crushed potato chips and finish with a three-squeeze-bottle lattice of catsup, mustard and mayonnaise. The sweet flavor of the pineapple and the salty potato chips made it, plus the texture of the crunch added an extra dimension. Top it off with some Colombian cheesy puffs and a malta soda and you have met your cholesterol quota for the month.
If you are adventurous and need a fix, you can get one of these masterpieces at Tutti Frutti in Pasadena, CA.
NEXT BEST HOTDOGS…
# 2 The “Garment District” Dog
Wrapped in bacon and grilled on a cookie sheet with onions and jalapenos, this dog is tasty and cheap and sold at street stands in the Garment District in downtown L.A. where I spend most of my working days.
# 3 Chili, Cheese & Onion Hotdog
Pink’s Hotdogs Open 24 hours and always a long line.
# 4 Dodger Dogs
Dodger Stadium
# 5 Tail O’ the Pup
L.A. kitschy icon that has been moved around quite a bit. It currently is being moved again to Westwood from what I have read. This goes on my list because we need to preserve these historic icons or else the world will become a very boring place. The hotdogs are good too!
Chihuahuas eveywhere I look…the movies, Milkbone boxes and the Los Angeles Times. Eli, chihuahua belonging to Karen Biehl of NYC won the Milkbone small biscuit contest and will be on the front of the box for the next year. ELVIS entered that contest too but didn’t really have the Milkbone look. Little did they know that he is missing half his teeth and has trouble eating the biscuits…we had to submit a picture with his mouth closed! A couple of weeks ago the L.A. Times published this article, “Chihuahuas reign as Los Angeles County’s most popular dog breed”. “L.A.’s Top Dogs,” a new database compiled by the Los Angeles Times and launched this week on its website provides facts and figures on more than half a million registered dogs in Los Angeles County.
The flip side of all this attention is the sad fact that the popularity leads to large numbers of the breed in rescues and shelters, needing homes. Top this with the Disney film, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” coming out October 3, and we are looking at a chihuahua population explosion.
“We get an awful lot of Chihuahuas,” said Ed Boks, general manager of the city’s Department of Animal Services. “The big concern is that Disney is coming out with a movie called ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’ . . . . It will just encourage the breeding of Chihuahuas when we’ve already got too many out there.”
What I do see that is very positive, is that people tend to own multiple chis because of their size and many are from rescues like my ELVIS and Izzy. I can only ask this of anyone wanting a chihuahua, to check out their local shelters and rescues first before buying a chihuahua from a breeder or store. You just might be surprised at what you fall in love with. After all, I now have a full fledged, internationally known brand because of my 5 lb. rescued chihuahua and celebri-dog, ELVIS!
Here’s a brilliant picture taken and sent in by our good friend Kathleen of her dog Pilot, a female “mixed breed” rescue. Pilot is wearing our IZZY GALORE “Peace” Collar in distressed white leather and we think she looks beautiful. She’s also looking a little hungry…
Claude Monet’s, “Water Lily Pond” sold for over $80 million dollars at a Christie’s auction today. I had the opportunity to see one of the water lily paintings from the collection, painted in 1919, at the Tate Modern in London. In particular, the water lily paintings have a luminosity to them that is almost hypnotizing and very peaceful. Your blood pressure can drop just sitting in a room with one.
Why not have your dog wear a backpack to carry his own things, change, poop bags and credit card if he has one. These little backpacks come in four styles shown below. Converts to a little change purse with strap and has a squeaker inside to get your dogs attention at the dog park.
Chi WOW WOW Girls Rock, Peace Sign, Happy Face, Captain America’s Shield
Why? you ask does Chi WOW WOW have such a fascination with MARVEL?
It all started with Captain America. Read our very first post, “Captain America to the Rescue”.
Let’s see if MARVEL can score with this movie after the success of IRON MAN. I like Edward Norton (aka. Bruce Banner). In fact he doesn’t know it yet but we’re in love and soon to be married. The movie also stars Liv Taylor, Tim Roth and William Hurt and is directed by Louis Leterrier (Transporter). I’ll be P.O.’d if it ends up being a total yawner/animationfest….
Faith is an amazing dog, in fact the only dog known to walk upright like a human. There are some great pictures and videos of her on the internet but I just love this one.
I am on the hunt for a new place to live which reminds me how much I love the “post and beam” construction of mid-century modern architecture. Los Angeles is the perfect place to live with any chance of getting your hands on one of these minimalistic works from a modern master such as Neutra, Schindler, Koenig, Eichler to name a few. What makes these structures so beautiful is the seamless transition from inside to outside, creating harmony with the landscape.
Richard Neutra (1892 - 1970)
Kaufman House
Palm Springs, CA
Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1892, moved to the United States by 1923. He worked briefly for Frank Lloyd Wright before accepting an invitation from his close friend and university companion Rudolf Schindler to work and live communally in Schindler’s Kings Road House in California.
Joseph Eichler (1900 - 1974)
Ventura, CA
Pierre Koenig (1925 - 2004)
Stahl House
Hollywood Hills, CA Photograph by Julius Shulman
The Mongolian hot pot tradition originated from northern nomadic tribes. The Mongolian version of the steaming feast has been called the father of all Chinese hot pot and boasts a history of more than 1000 years.
The secret to making the broth varies from region to region and among families and there are all kinds of funky things that get thrown into the broth (e.g. dried prunes, cumin, cinnamon, garlic, chili peppers). The smell is fantastic though and it didn’t take me long to get hooked on it. I find it to be healthy comfort food and the best part is most of the places that serve it are open very late. My favorite place in L.A. to go is Little Fat Sheep - read what people have to say about it.
“What? You’ve never seen a chihuahua in a bookcase?”
In Los Angeles, there are only a few thunder storms a year and living in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, you can practically be in the storm itself. Now there are 3 things ELVIS is terrified of, windshield wipers, the kitchen and thunder storms. Oddly enough, when he is freaked about a storm, he goes in the kitchen? So, during the storm and thunder and hail, there was this huge crack! and we all let out a little screech. Izzy just took off somewhere and I looked in the back to see if the greenhouse (studio) was still there…it was. Then I looked for ELVIS. And I looked in all the usual places, the kitchen of course, the bathroom corner and the pet crate in the bedroom. No ELVIS… Then I get a little panicky because I know he just tries to get away from the problem and I thought maybe he got outside and was heading for the plains. Lo and behold, I found him in the bookcase and he sort of blended in. I tucked him in his Woody Wood Pecker blanket and as quickly as the storm came, it was gone.
My close friend Margaret, lost her long time companion, Pavlov, to cancer this past week. All who knew Margaret and Pavi knew that their relationship was unique and that Pavi was not like any other dog. Margaret once told me that his stare reminded her of Feather’s McGraw from Wallace and Gromit and I had a hard time looking at him without thinking of the mute, malevolent-looking penguin and hearing cheesy organ music in my head (Feather’s music of choice). Some memories of Pavi, though maybe not funny at the time, make me smile now when I think of them…his obvious dissapointment at receiving a silver bone studded collar instead of a toy or a piece of steak or the episode at Peet’s Coffee with the “seeing eye” dog. Last but not least, the time Margaret bought a muzzle for him, so he could socialize with Elvis…what were we thinking? I’ll miss Pavi but I’m confident he’s in poodle heaven happily chasing squirrels and eating an endless supply of gourmet left-overs.
So, only in Hollywood do you get this kind of fanfare at the movie theaters! The Arclight Dome had one of the actual suits of armor used for the film and had Tony Stark’s Audi on display.
All in all, we thought the movie was really good and definitely recommend seeing it on a big screen with a monster sound system. Here are our reviews…
ERIN: “Great for a comic book movie”
DON: “Sophisticated comic book”
JACK: “Anti-cheesy”
DAD: “Very adult…I’m just glad we made it there on time, it was like a scene out of the movie!”
CAROLYN: “That’s one bitch’n car! Finally a comic book movie that has a story and some personality, with less focus on animation and special effects.”
Marvel Comics IRON MAN opens this weekend and I am looking forward to seeing it at one of the best theaters for sight and sound in Hollywood, The Arclight. I wasn’t an IRON MAN fan as a kid so I am curious about the story and interested to see Robert Downey Jr. play the billionaire, Tony Stark. Here’s the jist of this SuperHero story.
Anthony “Tony” Stark at the age of 15 enters the electrical engineering program at MIT. At the age of 21 he inherits Stark Enterprises when his parents are killed in a car accident (ok…so what else is new, right?) Later in life while visiting one of his plants, Tony is injured by exploding shrapnel and captured by warlord Wong Chu. Chu forces Tony and another captive, famed physicist Ho Yinsen, to create weapons for him. All the while the lethal bit of shrapnel is slowly working towards Tony’s heart. Tony and Yinsen creat an iron suit that keeps Tony alive and allows them to escape. During the escape Yinsen is killed, sacrificing himself to allow Tony time to change for the first time into IRON MAN.
The movie also stars Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrance Howard. Later this year (June 13 release) look for THE INCREDIBLE HULK, starring Edward Norton.
I love so many things about the Japanese - their style in fashion, architecture and of course sushi but there is really something special about Japanese television that no one comes close to.
The search for the fastest chihuahua in America is on……and it isn’t Izzy.
We had a great time at the Los Angeles PETCO Unleashed 4th Annual National Chihuahua Races held in Montebello, CA but it was unusually hot, over 90 degrees and the chihuahuas were kind of lethargic. I’ve never seen so many chihuahuas in one place, they were really cute!
TEAM Chi WOW WOW play-by-play
Izzy exited the starting box, dazed and confused as she was cut off by the chihuahua in lane # 8 (see race start above). At that point, the race was all over for her. She did look good in her Marvel Comics “Incredible Hulk” Tank Dress though. In ELVIS’ heat, he sauntered out of the box and immediately caused a “butt-sniffing” traffic jam, having no interest in going from one end of the track to the other. He was disqualified and had to be carried off the track.
Post race let down. Neither athelete would look at the camera as they were too embarrassed to have their photo taken.
The National Finals will be held at PETCO Park in San Diego on August 31, 2008. For more information go to PETCO.com
“Juanita Bermúdez, director of the Códice Gallery, insisted [the dog] escaped after just one day. She said: ‘It was untied all the time except for the three hours the exhibition lasted and it was fed regularly with dog food [Vargas] himself brought in.”
So many people have sent me the disturbing email containing the petition against Costa Rican artist, Guillermo Vargas. It indeed is very disturbing and incomprehensible, BUT so horrifying it occured to me that maybe it wasn’t true? Let’s face it, how is it possible that with all the people that must have seen the exhibit, not one person went ballistic? Everyone I know who would have happened upon that, would have simply untied the rope and walked out with the dog in plain sight, no? So, I started looking into it and lo and behold, it appears that it was a publicity stunt.
We live in a time where the internet has become a popular vehicle for all types of self promotion and a platform for an idividual’s political voice. I am trying to determine whether this is a sick publicity stunt or a deeper message regarding humanity. Right about now, it would be decent if the artist would come clean with the real story and his intent. Rest assured, that if the story was true, PETA (click and read their blog on the topic) wouldn’t be sitting around waiting for another cruel act for art’s sake. When something seems out of whack, I usually pull up one of my favorite sites, Urban Legends to get the real scoop. I hope this blog sheds a consoling light on the state of the matter. I know many of you have been having nightmares about it, as I have.
We released our first dress collection today for Chi WOW WOW! ELVIS and I have been bribed, pleaded with and coerced to come out with dresses. And to please the masses, we even put some “BLING” on it for good measure! So we present our TATTOO STUDIO COLLECTION including the TATTOO STUDIO TOKYO “Hello Kitty” Skull (seen modeled above by Izzy). The collection also includes a TATTOO STUDIO LOS ANGELES version with a “Mickey Mouse” Skull surrounded by flames, plus a few other tattoo designs for the “not-so-prissy” canine. Our collection will be available in boutiques and through some of our Certfieds Online Retailers.
To see other designs by Chi WOW WOW, including The MARVEL COMICS Collection, visit our Catwalk
Photograph by Julius Shulman
