Tag: United States

Haaz Sleiman – What’s on your mantelpiece?

A 20-question interview with Lebanese-American actor Haaz Sleiman; he has starred in ‘24’, ‘ER’, ‘Killing Jesus’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Nurse Jackie’ and ‘Person of Interest’

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

Love.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

“If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love somebody else?”

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2018?

Who is she?

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Definitely not him. I hate politics. I’d say: My future husband. Where is he?

What might you swap all your wealth for?

To be adopted by Madonna.

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

It is terrible. We have a vanishing middle class.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

‘Retard’.

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

I support anything to do with homeless LGBTQ youth and animals.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

I’m sorry but I don’t understand the question.

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

My parents and all my siblings with their families.

Haaz Sleiman as Jesus in the 2015 television film ‘Killing Jesus’

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

In the most lush and exotic natural habitat with tonnes of trees and waterfalls or by the ocean. I’d have the best steak and fries with the most expensive bottle of red wine possible.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

I don’t drink much really.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Tea.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I enjoy concerts because I love seeing how music makes the people come together. Thank you Madonna.

Who is the most positive person you know?

E-Jay Randolph, my mentor.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

RuPual’s Drag Race.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

A cross with a naked Jesus hanging on it wearing a Star of David pendant around his neck. Jesus would have a tattoo in Arabic on his left pec of the most important line in the Quran, the line that you would need to say to become Muslim. I am interested in inclusion.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A Tesla.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I’m a baby in a grown ass man’s body. It’s a good thing.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

A framed picture of my beautiful mother.

Haaz Sleiman is a Lebanese-American television and film actor. He starred as Jesus in the TV series ‘Killing Jesus’ and has also appeared in series such as ‘24’, ‘CSI: Miami’, ‘ER’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Nurse Jackie’ and ‘Person of Interest’. He describes himself as: “A lost soul finding its way back home.”

Follow Haaz Sleiman on Twitter at @haazsleiman, on Facebook at @haazsleiman and on Instagram at @haazsleiman

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

August 24, 2018
Happy Buckethead

Lord Buckethead moves on from taking on Theresa May in Maidenhead and records a Christmas song; it’s brilliant

The fabulous Lord Buckethead has done it again. First, this wacky enigma took on the woman rightly described as “Britain’s worst ever Prime Minister” in Maidenhead in June and got 249 votes and now he’s made a YouTube video.

Referencing everyone and everything from Chris Rea to John Lewis, this mysterious space lord sings about happiness and the weather but simply concludes: “There’s hardly anyone left who’s still sober.” He adds: “I know your politics are in dire straits, from Downing Street to the United States, but change will come no matter how long it takes and things won’t be so scary.”

As Lord Buckethead sings: May we wish you all a “bucket full of happiness.” Happy Christmas and by God, we need some cheer.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

December 21, 2017
Bloomberg on Brexit

Billionaire and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg condemns Brexit as “the single stupidest thing any country has ever done” apart from America electing Donald Trump

As Michael Bloomberg opened a vast new European headquarters in London on Tuesday, The Guardian revealed a series of comments he’d made two weeks ago about Brexit.

In a speech to the HUBweek conference in Boston, Bloomberg condemned the election of Donald Trump but also suggested: “It is really hard to understand why a country [Britain] that was doing so well wanted to ruin it” by voting for Brexit.

Separately, on a previous occasion, this wise man also pointed out: “[Britain] didn’t have an immigration problem and they didn’t need control of their borders. They have the English Channel – that gave them control of their borders.” We join those saluting him.

Mr Bloomberg’s comments in Boston follow:

We are opening a brand new European headquarters in London – two big, expensive buildings. Would I have done it if I knew they were going to drop out? I’ve had some thoughts that maybe I wouldn’t have, but we are there, we are going to be very happy.

My former wife was a Brit, my daughters have British passports, so we love England – it’s the father of our country, I suppose. But what they are doing is not good and there is no easy way to get out of it because if they don’t pay a penalty, everyone else would drop out. So they can’t get as good of a deal as they had before.

I did say that I thought [Brexit] was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done but then we Trumped it.

One of the things that is hurting us both in the United States and in the UK is that we have employees, not a lot but some, who are starting to say: ‘I don’t want to work here – can we transfer to some place else? This country doesn’t like immigrants.’

All this talk in Washington – words have consequences. Whether we change the immigration laws or not, there is general feeling around the world that America is no longer an open, welcoming place and a lot of people don’t want to go there, and the same thing is happening in the UK because of Brexit.

It is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it. It was not a smart thing to do and getting out of it is going to be very difficult and is going to be very painful. It will hurt industries. People are already taking space in other cities over there [Europe], us included.

October 24, 2017
A Second Kennedy in the White House?

Could “Hillary Clinton without the baggage” Caroline Kennedy take on Donald Trump?

It is being suggested that JFK’s daughter Caroline Kennedy could run against Donald Trump to become President of the United States of America in 2020 or 2024.

Website Proud Democrats quoted a source close to the former Ambassador to Japan under Obama last week as saying:

“Caroline had a successful ambassadorial run in Japan and feels really very confident about putting her hat in the ring for a New York congressional or Senate seat, with even possibly bigger political objectives down the road… The presidency is on her mind now, believe me.”

Such a move would signal a return to sanity and it should most certainly be encouraged.

September 26, 2017
A Caged Crib

Former San Francisco home of actor Nicolas Cage for sale for £11.4 million or 660% more than it sold for in 1996

Thrice married and an Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Cage is also known for lavish spending. Aside from once buying twenty-two cars in one hit – including a “squadron” of nine Rolls-Royce – he “wound up” owning fifteen personal residences in 2007 and now one of them is for sale for £11.4 million.

898 Francisco Street in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighbourhood was purchased by a trust connected to Cage in 2006 for £6.9 million and sold by him in 2008 at a loss for £6.3 million. It was built in Gothic Tudor style in 1914, extends to 6,305 square foot and is spread over four floors.

The front door is an example of fine craftmanship within the house

As is the carving on this fireplace

Featuring 4 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, the house also has a 2-car garage and enjoys views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay Area. It has a garden to the rear and is adjoined by a further adjacent plot on Hyde Street that has potential for a further residence.

Debi Dicello of Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing and seeks either a total of £11.4 million for the entire property or £8.8 million for the main house and £2.6 million for the adjacent 40-foot by 60-foot lot.

898 Francisco Street – The Numbers

2017 – £8.8 million ($12 million, €10 million or درهم44.1 million) for the main house plus £2.6 million ($3.5million, €2.9 million or درهم12.9 million) for the adjoining plot.

2008 – Sold for £6.3 million ($8.5 million, €7.1 million or درهم31.2 million).

2006 – Bought by a trust connected to Nicolas Cage for £6.9 million ($9.4 million, €7.9 million or درهم34.5 million).

1996 – Sold for £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.4 million).

September 17, 2017
Parked in Pacific Heights

A rare thing – A Pacific Heights, San Francisco house with a 9-car garage that has been dramatically reduced in price by £1 million

Extending to 7,580 square feet in total and on a corner plot, 2190 Vallejo Street in San Francisco is a detached 5-storey residence with a private garage with space for seven to nine cars.

Built in 1912, the year the Titanic sank, to the designs of Edgar Mathews (1866 – 1946) – an architect responsible for a number of Arts and Crafts style houses in the sought after Pacific Heights area of the city – the property includes 4 reception rooms, 7 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and a wine cellar. It also has three areas of outdoor decking and a small front garden planted with English roses.

Not many single family residences in any city come with garaging for 9 cars

Presented in good but shell condition and including many period features, 2190 Vallejo Street is effectively a blank canvas. It is listed by Michael King Estates and has recently been reduced in price from £7.5 million to £6.5 million.

Editor of The Steeple Times Matthew Steeples remarked: “At a time when the San Francisco market continues to boom and median house values are currently listed at £928,000 ($1.2 million) – up 7.2% on last year – in the Bay Area according to Zillow.com, this dramatic reduction is definitely indicative of initial overpricing. Just as in London, buyers at this level are extremely choosy but maybe, just maybe now a seriously rich car lover will choose 2190 Vallejo as the location to house their collection.”

The Numbers – 2190 Vallejo Street

June 2017 – Reduced in price by £963,000 ($1.25 million, €1.06 million or درهم4.59 million) to £6.5 million ($8.5 million, €7.2 million or درهم31.2 million).

May 2017 – Listed for sale for £7.51 million ($9.75 million, €8.23 million or درهم35.81 million).

August 8, 2017
Palming Off Il Palmetto

Billionaire founder of Netscape has failed to sell his Palm Beach mansion in a year; it remains on the market for £105 million (or 754% more than he paid for it in 1999)

Four times married, a father of four and a collector of rather large gin palaces, Texan James H. Clark founded Netscape in 1994 and earnt $2 billion (the equivalent of $3 billion, £2.3 billion, €2.6 billion or درهم11 billion today) from that project when it was sold to AOL in 1998.

Clark paid just $11 million for a Palm Beach mansion named ‘Il Palmetto’ in 1999 (the equivalent of $16.2 million, £12.3 million €13.8 million or درهم59.5 million today) and spent four years renovating the 5.46-acre property. He placed it for sale for $137 million (£105 million, €117 million or درهم503 million) last August but has plainly failed to attract a buyer.

Built to the designs of the Swiss architect Maurice Fatio (1897 – 1943) as an “Italian Renaissance-style palazzo” in 1930, the house – which is also known as 1500 South Ocean Boulevard – is described by selling agents Sotheby’s International Realty as “without peer in Palm Beach.” The building was subjected to a four year renovation by Mr Clark, reportedly extends to around 44,200 square foot and aside from including 10 bedrooms, 14 full-bathrooms and 12 partial-bathrooms, also comes with a 20,000 bottle wine cellar and a second cellar for an additional 1,000 crates.

Architecturally “a series of pavilions connected by cloisters,” the main house is dominated by formal entertaining areas with 16^th century carved ceilings and accessed from a private tunnel underneath the road is a 2-bedroom beach house with an infinity pool that “blends into the turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean.” To the other boundary, on Lake Worth, is a boathouse with motorised launches for two vessels and a 2-bedroom apartment above.

July 30, 2017
The Pumpkin House

Eccentric Hudson Heights, New York cliffside residence for sale for £3.33 million; at certain times of day it resembles a pumpkin

16 Chittenden Avenue, Hudson Heights, New York certainly doesn’t sound like an inspirational place to live. Though mention of this address won’t set pulses racing and despite one previous owner joking: “It’s not the White House”, whoever buys it will actually get something quite breathtaking situated on the highest natural point in Manhattan.

Offered for £3.33 million – a figure 202% higher than it sold for 17 years ago in 2000 – ‘The Pumpkin House’, as the residence is more famously known, is a freestanding cliffside structure that is described by selling agents Sotheby’s International Realty as having a “seemingly jack-o’-lantern face that glows across the Hudson [River] reflecting the light of the setting sun”.

The Pumpkin House – 16 Chittenden Avenue, Hudson Heights, New York, NY 10033, United States of America

The building in the 1930s

It is spread over 4 floors, extends to 3,144 square foot and includes 2 reception rooms, a library, a home office, a “French country style” kitchen, 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. A basement flat provides 1 reception room, a kitchen, 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom and in addition to a 2-car garage, there is a small garden, a balcony and a vast, part covered 66-foot long roof terrace.

Built on a steel foundation in 1925 by an engineer and “sort of a dreamer” named Cleveland Walcutt and referenced by The New York Times in 2008 as “a face in the crowd”, ‘The Pumpkin House’ was owned by an interior designer named William Spink from 2000 to 2011. During the renovations he orchestrated, a construction worker fell off the building and was seriously injured but what potential buyers will either love or loathe about this architectural miracle suspended over a 265-foot drop is that it truly is utterly eccentric.

The Numbers – The Pumpkin House

2000 – Sold for $1.10 million (the equivalent of $1.56 million, £1.22 million, €1.39 million or درهم5.73 million today).

2005 – Listed for $3.45 million (the equivalent of $4.32 million, £3.38 million, €3.86 million or درهم15.87 million today). Failed to sell.

2010 – Relisted for increased price of $3.90 million (the equivalent of $4.38 million, £3.43 million, €3.91 million or درهم16.09 million today).

2011 – Sold for an undisclosed sum.

August 2016 – For sale for $5.25 million (£4.11 million, €4.69 million or درهم19.28 million).

June 2017 – For sale for $4.25 million (£3.33 million, €3.79 million or درهم15.61 million).

June 19, 2017
London

Donald Trump’s response to Saturday’s London terror attack was wholly inappropriate

After the recent attack on Manchester, we saluted Donald Trump for having “spoken for the majority” in referring to the evil suicide bomber as a “loser”. Last night, however, after a similarly evil assault on London, the 45th POTUS got it completely wrong when he took to Twitter to share his thoughts as to what had happened.

At 12:17am, Trump tweeted:

We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!

After immediate criticism about his immediate politicisation of a developing incident involving death and injury, Trump tempered his message a few minutes later at 12:24am. He added:

Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!

His response was deemed less than adequate and political commentator Iain Dale spoke for the majority when he responded:

Nice of our closet ally to express his sympathy and support at a time like this. Instead he uses this to make a political point. Wanker.

If Trump had reacted similarly to how he had over Manchester, he would have been lauded. Instead, he reverted to type and once again illustrated himself to be nothing but a buffoon. Shame on him and shame on the disgusting losers that attacked London.

#LondonAttacks

June 4, 2017
Jobbing Wine

A dream job for wine lovers; get paid to drink and drive your way across America

An Oregon winery is seeking a ‘Canbassador’ to join them on a roadtrip across America to hawk their range of wines – including their ‘pinot in a can’.

The Union Wine Company, founded by Ryan Harms in 2001 with the aim to create good wines at affordable prices, are looking for an individual to join them in their 1972 Citroën mobile wine bar as it tours US music festivals, store openings and outdoor events. The position encompasses 30-40 hours per week in terms of time commitment, 4-6 months per year and as Guest of a Guest reported last week, here is a chance to “drink and drive the legal way”.

Applicants must be over 21, be able to drive large, manual transmission vehicles with trailers and have good navigation skills. Naturally, they must also have “an appreciation for wine”. A salary is not specified on the company’s website but it will be “commensurate with experience”.

To apply, email [email protected]

May 7, 2017