So, It Must Be Nice…

On March 30th, a crowd of 400 cheered on Ryuki Omura as he became Japan’s first national pen-spinning champion.

The competition which involves twirling, flicking, spinning and balancing pen’s on the fingertips had 276 entries.

Omura is hoping for a sponsor and to take the sport internationally.

So kinda cool to hold such a title, and to have the spare time to practice spinning pens.

must be nice…

So, imagine if you will, that you wake up one morning and ask yourself, “What is truly missing from my life?”

And you realize that the answer, the thing that will complete your life, is a dagger.

More specifically, it is a 17th century ornamental, gold dagger which belonged to the Indian emperor Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (who happens to be the guy who built the Taj Mahal).

And so you spend 1.7 million pounds (2.13 million euros, 3.36 million dollars) at Bonhams’ Indian and Islamic art sale to purchase said dagger.

You try and decide where would be the best place to keep this dagger, in a display case, on the wall, in your ex’s heart…and finally you put it under your pillow and that night you sleep really well, because after all you have in your possession a dagger worth the GDP of a small African nation.

must be nice…

Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned Miss USA on the weekend. She has fulfilled every little girl’s fantasy- and I am not talking about winning the pageant, I am talking about getting a tiara!

Observations:

1) She spoke of what she believed to be a ‘competitive advantage’ by being a college graduate and an entrepreneur. Yet, when asked about her pending trip to Vietnam, she said “I’ve never been to Vietnam, so I’m real excited. I’m just ready for the event. I’m ready.” Real excited…this is how a college graduate speaks…(just to clarify it should be ‘really excited’).

2) Her business “Inside/Out,” helps young women build confidence and self-esteem. Her proclaimed goal for the year is to be the best possible role model for young women. And I guess this promotional picture does just that- helps women to concentrate on being confident and having good self extreme whilst looking like a Pussycat Doll??

3) If she can stay away from drugs, booze and The Donald this year, she may just be alright.

must be nice…

German Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis originally showed up on Forbes List of Youngest Billionaires at age 8. He didn’t officially inherit his $2.3 billion until he was 18.

Now 24, he lives in a castle with his mom and sister and as a race car driver tours with a German auto-racing league.

So I am thinking that $2.3 billion buys a lot of razors…he should look into that…

must be nice…

Two luxury watch and jewelry fairs are happening this week in Geneva. Close to 100,000 watch retailers, buyers and collectors from around the world are expected to attend the Baselword 2008 and Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie exhibits.

Debuting there is Dewitt’s Tourbillon Différentiel, this limited edition watch is housed in 950 platinum, 18-karat rose gold and a blend of 18-karat rose and white gold, with a black alligator leather strap.

Price tag- $220,000 - $250,000

And I thought my $9.99 watch from Wal Mart was pretty good…

must be nice…

Mittal, a multi billionaire industrialist and steel tycoon from India is reportedly the only person to ever pay more than $100 million for a home.

In 2005 he purchased a “modest” 12-bedroom mansion in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens for $127 Million.

He is also the owner of one of the world’s largest yachts, a 262 footer called Amevi. Reportedly paying $200 million for the vessel, which includes a pool, gym and movie theater he was spotted last summer at ports in India, Norway, Gibraltar and Spain among others.

must be nice…

So this video of the laughing baby has been seen over 44 million times on YouTube and so chances are good that you have already seen it but its worth watching again (and again).

Imagine being able to laugh like this- with a pureness and such wild abandon.

Not worrying about making the next rent payment, hating your job, or trying to figure out why 2 socks go into the dryer and only one comes out…

So sweet. must be nice…

Now granted they are from a couple of seasons ago…but these Manolo Blahniks will set you back a cool $14,000.

At that price they better be more than ready for walking!

must be nice…

The Cleveland Indians have signed 24 year old pitcher Fausto Carmona to a 7 year deal with the first 4 years being guaranteed.

If he lasts the full 7 years, Carmona is set to rake in somewhere between $43 to $48 million!

Personally I feel like watching a baseball game is pretty much like being in a conscious coma, but I guess there are enough people in Cleveland willing to buy tickets to a game to finance this deal.

Let’s do some rough calculations here:

The average baseball season is 162 games, and the average player would probably play about 140. But that number is different for pitchers. Pitchers play every 5th game, meaning Carmona would likely play 33 games (if he isn’t out sick or injured)

And if the average game lasts 3 hours, a pitcher would be lucky to play for 1.5 hrs. So 33 games x 1.5 hrs = 49.5 hrs in a season (let’s round it up to 50).

If we use the figure $45 million for seven years, that would be about $6.5 million per season.

So, that works out to $130,000 per hour! That’s $2166 per minute!

must be nice…

French jewelery design house Van Cleef and Arpels has been creating spectacular pieces since 1896.

Apparently Mariah Carey wears only their designs, and the 4-pound pearl, ruby, diamond and emerald crown that the former Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran wore in her 1967 coronation took Pierre Arpels six months to make.

Their website is one of the most visually stunning I have ever seen and I can’t look at it very often because every time I do my keyboard ends up soaked as I drool…

You can see their work here: http://www.vancleef-arpels.com/en/

(Be patient in the loading of the site as it is all in Flash, and be sure to click on the link for Exceptional Pieces!)
must be nice…