The $95 million apartment of the world’s richest travel agent remains for sale after six months of marketing
The Sherry-Netherland is one of New York’s finest skyscraper apartment-hotels and one of the city’s best known landmarks. The world’s richest travel agent and co-founder of Liberty Travel, Gilbert Haroche, who occupies the entire 18th floor with his wife Charlene, put his apartment there on the market for $95,000,000 in September 2012 but six months later it remains for sale.
This singer-songwriter grew up in rural Devon but has become a “word-of-mouth” star and a “one-man One Direction”. This whisky loving Englishman cites his influences as Van Morison, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel and won both BRIT Awards he was nominated for in 2013. He states that he “doesn’t really believe in fame” and nor is he into fashion either: “If I tried to be fashionable I’d look like a twat”. We like his style.
The story of “fallen tycoon” Brian O’Donnell, the differences between bankruptcy in the UK and Ireland and an £11 million mansion
In these straightened times, the media in general and the Daily Mail in particular quickly latch on to stories about benefit scroungers living in luxury homes. They’re less quick, however, with the exception of the case of Grant Bovey (“Mr Anthea Turner”), to make reference to stories of bankrupt individuals remaining in multi-million pound mansions.
A most newsworthy example, though, has to be that of Irish property investor Brian O’Donnell and his psychiatrist wife Dr Mary Patricia “Pat” O’Donnell. Mr O’Donnell, who bought the Sanctuary Buildings in London for £170 million and paid $172.5 million for a 199,000 square foot property on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington in 2008, started his career as a solicitor and eventually founded his own firm, Brian O’Donnell & Partners, in 1999. In time, he and his wife diversified into property investment and at the height of his success, Mr O’Donnell was described as “the Celtic Tiger poster child”. With the recession, however, came problems and by 2011, they owed Morgan Stanley €457 million, Aareal €235 million, and the Bank of Ireland circa €75 million.
The Steeple Times asks emerging market investor David Reuben Jr: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
I try to follow the “Golden Rule”. Treat others the way you would prefer that they treat you. Be careful how you are with people on your way up, you just might meet them on the way down.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.
The future for red telephone boxes
The red telephone box is something that tourists often cite as being symbolic of Britain. Just like the red London bus and the red pillar box, though, these Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed kiosks are sadly disappearing from our streets.
Killed by the mobile phone revolution, British Telecom successfully lobbied to remove public telephones as usage has declined dramatically. The company state that calls from payphones have fallen by more than 80% in the last five years and that around 60% of the boxes cost more to maintain than they generate in revenue.
Is it time for “Keep Calm And…” to “Sod Off And Get Lost”?
Since 2001, whatever the situation and whatever the context, three words, “Keep Calm And…”, can and often have been applied. The rediscovery of what was originally a British wartime propaganda poster in a secondhand bookshop in Alnwick, Northumberland set about this trend and it has continued unabated.
The bookshop’s owners, Stuart and Mary Manley, seized upon their customer’s enthusiasm for “Keep Calm And…” and they, then others, printed it onto clothing, doormats, postcards, mugs and other merchandise. Millions of items featuring the distinctive font and “Tudor” crown have been sold worldwide and a trademark dispute about it commenced in 2011 and continues to this day.
On the Barter Books website is a link to a video giving the story of how such a simple phrase has become so popular. On it the narrator states:
“It’s perhaps the words on the poster that people find most enchanting. Like a voice out of history, it offers a very simple warmhearted message to inspire confidence in others in difficult times and it is something that should never fade from fashion”.
Adaptations naturally followed and amongst the many thousands created, some of the more tolerable ones include:
– Keep Calm Or Drink Wine
– Keep Calm You’re Not On The Titanic
– Keep Calm And Smoke Weed
– Keep Korma And Curry On
– Keep Calm And Get Over Yourself
– Keep Calm And Chillax (for David Cameron)
– Keep Calm And Kill Justin Bieber
– Keep Calm And Get Certified
– Keep Calm And F**k Off
– Now Panic And Freak Out
– Change Words And Be Hilarious
Increasingly, though, the overuse of “Keep Calm And…” has resulted in even Stuart Manley stating: “You almost get sick of it… Very few are genuinely funny”. There are hundreds of them and some are more bizarre than others. A selection numbers:
– Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake
– Keep Calm And Farm On
– Keep Quiet And Continue Working
– Keep Calm And Rule Britannia
– Keep Calm And Pass Me The Ball
– Keep Calm And Watch Skins
– Keep Calm And Go Watch The Hunger Games
– Keep Calm And Fake A British Accent
– Keep Calm And Hack On
– Keep Calm And Go Gangnam Style
– Keep Calm And Act Like Kate Middleton
– Calm You Shall Keep
Frankly, the majority of us are now bored. The time has come for reasonable souls to adopt the tone of Victor Meldrew. On sight of another piece of “Keep Calm And…” merchandise, the cry should ring out: “Sod Off And Get Lost”.
Barter Books: http://www.barterbooks.co.uk
Watch the Story of Keep Calm And Carry On at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHkKXFRbCI&feature=player_embedded
If you must, purchase “Keep Calm” merchandise at: http://www.keepcalmhome.com, http://www.keepcalmstudio.com and http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com
This child star has morphed via a stint on the Disney Channel and in boy band ‘N Sync into an internationally known singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, dancer and businessman. (more…)
Five of the best palaces in the trees
When one thinks of treehouses, one generally imagines pretty rudimentary creations built out of old boards and bits of rope. Now, though, treehouses are becoming more and more extravagant. As individuals such as J. K. Rowling and the Duchess of Northumberland construct vast palaces in the trees in their gardens, The Steeple Times examines five of the best:
This Texan actor and singer is a rising star who first found fame in Desperate Housewives before taking a lead role in the TNT revival of Dallas. Henderson is heterochromatic and has one green eye and one blue eye. He lists his style icons as James Franco and Ryan Gosling and of them states: “I take a lot of my fashion tips from those two. In my opinion, they’re the ones getting it right”.
The Steeple Times asks fashion entrepreneur Noelle Reno: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
The weather… Or Tolstoy.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
Eleanor Roosevelt: “Women are like tea bags. You never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water”.