Thought this was a pretty nice Gucci bag.
Large decorated bee with expansive wings on the flap.
Beautiful pink with white pearl studs.
Brass chain and red, white, and blue shoulder strap.
Priced around $1500!
Small shoulder bag yet plush oversized and ornate make a big statement.
Nice gift for that special someone or to treat yourself to Gucci! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
What an amazing painting featured in the movie, Woman In Gold.
The painting is called the Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer I and was commissioned by her adoring husband.
That face! And surrounded by everything in gold yet you can still clearly make out her stunning dress.
I’ve never seen anything like this: the vividness and the majesty of it.
Honestly, I think there is a resemblance to my beautiful mother, Gerda Blumenthal who was also from Germany.
The interesting history on this is that it was stolen by the Nazis from the Jewish owners in the Holocaust, but was finally returned to their family in America that succeeded in suing Austria for it back.
This is truly one of the greats! 😉
(Credit Photo: Gustav Klimt [Public domain])
This was very cool.
The first is a coffee table for the living room.
The second is half of a nice desk.
Both are made out of working Ferrari engines.
The coffee table goes for $50,000.
And the desk goes for $75,000.
I will told that this is a bargain based on what a working Ferrari engine goes for.
In a sense you can take your table for a spin around the block…LOL.
Truly the engine (and not just design of the car) is a work of art.
It merits being a centerpiece of your office or home. 😉
(Credit Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
Wow, these Gucci sneakers were over the top!
Thick, thick soles and built up sides.
A strap adorning the sneaker with colored-stones (faux gems).
Very heavy with a durable kick-a*s feel.
All for $1,590 at Bloomingdale’s.
As we joke as kids with a eastern European “old country” droll, “It’s a bargain!” 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “What’s It Worth To You.”
Certainly, passion for being your best, determination to succeed, and even some healthy competition are important factors in driving our own success as well as societal progress, but when keeping up with that scorecard against others becomes the essence of your own self-worth then things have gone too far and way off course.
We each have our mission, strengths, challenges, and so forth. It’s okay in life, if someone else has more of something (money, friends, honor, whatever). Everyone has their own “basket in life” as my father taught me, “and you wouldn’t want to change baskets with anyone else.”
(Photo Credit: Andy Blumenthal)
Video and Photos from the Hillwood Estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, former owner of General Foods.
(Credit Video: Dannielle Blumenthal and Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
Yesterday, dozens of wealthy parents were charged in a pay-to-play scheme.
To get their kids into choice colleges, prominent lawyers, business people, and Hollywood stars paid millions of dollars for bribes, bogus exam scores, and fake athletic achievements.
Uh, let’s give Bobby just a little extra advantage and he’ll do just fine…
But while some people pretend to be so shocked that this is going on, the truth is that we all know that it’s definitely not a level playing field.
All I have to do is drive by the local Mansions in Potomac, Bethesda or Chevy Chase, Maryland or in Northern Virginia and see the extravagant homes, schools, shopping, and neighborhoods, and you know there are the forever haves and the have nots.
As the old adage goes, “Money makes money!”
If you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth in the U.S., the chances are you will stay that way.
Having the assets, information, connections, and opportunities seems to bode quite well for those who leverage it.
The worst part is that those who have these things often really believe that they are better or more deserving than others.
Can you see the nose elevated and those snooty eyes staring down on you?
Wealthy parents cheating the system and paying off others to get their kids into the best schools–a surprise?
Not a chance.
What the real surprise here is…that this time, they got caught. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So the plight of the homeless in Washington, DC and other large cities like NY and LA is despicable.
This photo is taken not far from the Capitol building in DC.
The homeless are not living in tents in the dead of Winter.
As the people pass by, under this particular overpass were no less than 4 tents.
While millionaires and billionaires splurge on themselves, so many people continue to go without adequate food, shelter, clothing, plumbing, healthcare, education, and jobs in America.
When G-d looks down and see the unsympathetic wealthy next to the downtrodden poor–and many of the wealthy act like insatiable pigs, while the poor go hungry and cold–shall the L-rd that judges all the earth not do justly?
Yes, there should be incentives for people to work hard and contribute, but when the wealth is skewed so that more than 50% of all the wealth is owned by just the top 1% of people and the top 1% own more than the bottom 90% of the population–we have a system that is not just broken, but grossly unjust and inhumane.
Corruption is alive and well, and who is there among our leaders to stand up and say and do what is right by G-d children?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
There always seem to be another mania.
From the Tulips Mania in 1637, when a tulip went for more than 10x what a skilled workman earned in an entire year!
To Cryptocurrency in 2018, which is down about 80% from its $20,000 peak losing $700,000,000,000.
In between, we had the gold rush, the great depression, the tech/dot-com bubble, and the housing/mortgage crisis, and many more I am sure.
There seems to always be something for people to get excited about in an “irrational exuberance” type of way, as former Federal Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan put it.
Is it boredom, big dreams, unadulterated greed, the desire to “get rich quick” and easy, the belief that you’ve discovered the Holy Grail or is it just people being stupid.
Either way, we have a way of getting ourselves in trouble, some “losing their shirts.”
Not sure who said it, but there isn’t an easy fix to your life.
There are small and big problems, and then there is you trying to fix them (with G-d’s help).
As to bitcoins and tulips, they ain’t worth what you think they are. 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal with photos from Pixabay).
(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
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