Architecture Wednesday: Bellagio Estate

I like this one, even though it’s way too big—I think it’s sprawled over two or three zip codes—but I love the Spanish Colonial-ness of it, and the modern interior, and, well, perhaps the biggest wine cellar I’ve seen outside the Biltmore.

This gorgeous estate is located in Bel Air, and sits on almost two acres, with the main house built around a classic Spanish central courtyard, and pool, guest house and tennis court out back. The house is about 20,000 square feet, with seven bedrooms and nine-and-a-half bathrooms, and while its interiors are modern, there is a nod to 1920’s Spanish Colonial architecture with its clay veneer plaster walls, 12-inch French oak floors, and rustic hardware.

The master suite is a home unto itself—no, seriously, Casa Bob y Carlos is 2560 square feet and this master suite is 2500 square feet, so, with a little lube you could squeeze our entire house into just one bedroom here.

There is a lap pool courtyard, a gorgeous modern kitchen with stone table, a media room and several sitting rooms, a gym, a loggia, a glassed-in second floor office, a pool house with bar and fireplace and guest rooms and more fireplaces that I can count.  And, as I said earlier, and even better, a wine cellar I would kill for … with space for 7,000 bottles.

My one caveat, and this is where I bow down to the Duchess Deedles … it could use some red.

OneKindDesign

Jesse & Nicholas Show Their True Colors For Pride

Oh, this is how it’s done.

You can put up your flags, or douse your house in rainbow lights, but if you’re Jesse Campbell and Nicholas Vazquez  and it’s Pride Month, you create a paintbrush leaking a rainbow down the porch and across the walkway of their front yard.

Jesse and Nicholas live with their 16-month-old son in the Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville and decorated their house for Halloween, fall, and the neighbors loved it. So along comes Pride, and  they decided to decorate again but, you know, anyone can hang a Pride flag.  Jesse, who is an interior designer, and Nicholas were inspired by a quote Jesse saw on the internet:

“Don’t be afraid to show off your true colors.”

And they Cyndi Lauper-ed their home! They made the paintbrush out of Styrofoam, then hung rainbow taffeta at the entrance of their porch and painted up the walkway, including adding their inspiration quote.

Nicholas, who works at a credit counseling firm, says sometimes he sits inside the house, windows open, listening to passersby talk about the art piece:

“Kids are kids, and they start asking questions. I can hear them, and the parents are taking the time and explaining [Pride[ to them and what this means and the colors and how this makes people feel.”

Jesse and Nicholas are also using their display to raise money for The Trevor Project. They installed lawn signs with QR codes leading people to donate and are close to reaching their $10,000 goal.

Happy Glorious Pride!

Block Club Chicago

Tom Cotton Doesn't Want You 'Woke'

I loathe Tom Cotton, the GQP Senator from Arkansas; the Big Lie peddling senator; the “What insurrection?” senator; the white anti-diversity senator.

Last week, Tom Cotton, the white senator Arkansas,  told Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, America’s first Black defense secretary, that President Biden’s administration has witnessed the birth of racism and sexism within the military and it’s all because of the anti-extremism and diversity training that troops have taken so far this year:

“We’re hearing reports of plummeting morale, growing mistrust between the races and sexes where none existed just six months ago, and unexpected retirements and separations based on these trainings alone.”

Yes, he thinks teaching diversity causes people to be more racist and suggests that the military was a racism-free zone all during the last hate-filled administration but has turned all white supremacist in the six months Biden has been President. It’s an asinine statement, even from a fool like Tom Cotton.

Task & Purpose—where I found this story—has documented 40 cases since 2016 of service members and veterans participating in extremist organizations, such as white supremacist groups. And a Pentagon survey—that they tried to bury—found nearly one-third of Black service members had experienced racism. Moreover, 30% of Black respondents and 22% of Asian respondents felt their chances for promotion would be harmed if they reported the racial harassment and discrimination that they endured. And let’s not talk about the January 6^th insurrection, after which an active-duty Marine major, four service members in the reserves, and 41 veterans have been charged so far.

All that happened under the presidency of the last guy, but Cotton won’t tell you that. And he won’t tell you about retired Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, a Black man and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who wrote about the racism he endured:

“I want you to know how difficult it was to convince a member of Congress that I had earned my position at DIA; that it wasn’t a gratuitous appointment because, in his words, I ‘must be close to the president,’ in reference to President Obama.”

Yes, he got ahead because … Obama. Not on merit.

And as for sexism within the military, there are many examples from before Biden ever took office of commands failing to protect female service members from sexual harassment. A review following the April 2020 murder of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén also showed that female soldiers at Fort Hood faced an environment so toxic that they constantly lived in “survival mode.” 

And, when asked if Tom Cotton believes that racism and sexism did not exist in the military six months ago, the senator’s office said:

“Senator Cotton has heard from men and women of all races that new Critical Race Theory indoctrination in the military is fomenting increased distrust in the ranks on the basis of sex and race.” 

And there you have it; Cotton doesn’t want people to be told or taught about America’s racist past, present, and sadly, future, even with the evidence of racism in the military smacking him in his smug mug.

Cotton insists he and his anti-diversity cohort, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, have received “several hundred whistleblower complaints about Pentagon extremist and diversity training” and the two established a website to allow service members who have fallen victim to “woke ideology” to file anonymous complaints, vowing that they would be protected against retaliation.

And while the website received many prank complaints, Cotton read a sampling of the non-satirical complaints, many from people who felt that diversity training portrayed White people as racist. Cotton said:

“This is not about diversity in general, though. This is about a very specific kind of anti-American indoctrination that is seeping into some parts of our military based on the whistleblower complaints we have received.” 

Cotton added that one … one … Marine complained that instead of learning about military history, his unit had to complete “mandatory training on police brutality, white privilege and systemic racism” and said that marine has “reported that several officers are now leaving his unit, citing that training.”

Cotton didn’t explain how the officers in this particular Marine unit have been able to leave because they disagreed with the diversity training. Marines may request transfers but they cannot simply walk away from their assignments if they disagree with their chain of command.

Here’s the deal: America is a racist country, but not all white people are racist. Just take a look … and do it quickly before the GQP erases all of it … at our history of enslaving Black men and women, and then “setting” them free only to lynch them, segregate them, deny them equal rights; take a look at America locking up Asian Americans in internment camps during World War II, or beating Asian Americans in the streets in 2020 over lies about COVID-19, or as Thing $% called it, the “China Flu.” Take a look at all that we have done to Native Americans since we set foot on their land hundreds of years ago; look at every single person of color, from Latino countries to Middle Eastern countries who are painted as drug dealers and rapists and terrorists simply because they look and speak differently than “us.”

If diversity training anywhere, even in the military, can help to change the thinking of even one person, then Tom Cotton, who speaks racist thoughts without the need for a white hood, should welcome it, instead of trying to fight it.

Understanding one another is the way forward. Cotton, Crenshaw and the GOP want to go backwards because diversity might just teach us all that the white man isn’t all that.

Task and Purpose 

I Needed Some Help With My New Clingier Summer Wardrobe ....

I have always loved the hourglass figure and, really, who needs to be able to breathe ... or eat?

Mackenzie Bezos Scott Continues Giving

It’s no secret I loathe Jeff Bezos, who treats his employees horrifically—Amazon drivers are given bottles to pee into so they don’t have to stop for breaks—and makes billions during a pandemic because he forced his employees to return to work or lose their jobs. In addition, the mothef%er is spending billions building a rocket so he can go into space where no one can hear their employees scream.

Look, I get it, it’s his money, but perhaps he should take a note from his ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos Scott, and give away the majority of her money, and yet still have more than enough to live a very, very comfortable.

Just recently Mackenzie and her new husband Dan Jewett made a $2.74 billion … yes, billion with a ‘b’ … donation “to organizations that focus on the arts and combating racial discrimination.” This brings the total of her charitable donations to $8.5 billion … again, ‘b’ … in the last year while her husband tries to prove his manhood by building a rocket so he can be the first rich white billionaire asshat in space.

MacKenzie detailed her continued efforts to fulfill The Giving Pledge she signed in May of 2019—her new husband also signed that pledge—with the help of a team of “researchers and administrators and advisors” to ensure their donations make the greatest impact possible, saying:

“People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating. This is equally—perhaps especially—true when their work is funded by wealth. Any wealth is a product of a collective effort that included them. The social structures that inflate wealth present obstacles to them. And despite those obstacles, they are providing solutions that benefit us all.”

Look, I don’t think she’s purposely trying to make her husband look like a self-entitled one-percent prick, but it is an added bonus.

Sidenote, Mackenzie Scott is worth about $59 billion.

The Funny Papers

Deb Milbrath, Michael de Adder, Nick Anderson, Matt Wuerker, Jack Ohman, Mike Luckovich, Clay Bennett. Bill Bramhall, Mike Smith, Bill Day, Drew Sheneman, JD Crowe, Marc Murphy, Kevin Siers, RJ Matson

For Those Who Thought 'It's Rainin' Men' Wasn't Gay Enough ...

 

I Ain't One To Gossip But ...

Jen Shah, one of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, is apparently a hot mess on and off TV, but it’s her off-screen antics, of the criminal variety ALLEGEDLY, that we’ll talk about here.

Shah was arrested and accused of fraud spanning six states, and faces up to thirty years in prison, but has, of course, denied any wrongdoing and asked that the charges be dropped. A judge said, “No so fast grifter,” and so now Shah has come up with a new theory as to why she is not, well, not that innocent, but not to be tried for the charges: her contacts were dirty,

Shah’s lawyer filed legal papers which said her contacts were very dry and dirty, and her vision so blurry that she had no idea she was signing a document that waved off her Miranda rights and would like her whole case thrown out.

Bitch, please. Did you also have dry contacts in your ears when they read you your rights?

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And now, another tiny diva with a great big ego … Kevin Hart. He loves to say he has zero fucks to give, and even called his latest Netflix special, Zero Fucks Given, but he appears to have many, many fucks to give because he recently went on Twitter and lashed out against people who claimed he was … :::gasp::: … not funny:

“The ‘He’s not funny’ slander is the best….this is for you. I have 3 stand up comedy specials that fall in the top 10 highest grossing comedy specials of all time….2 of my specials are in the top 3 of all time. I have been the highest grossing comedian in entertainment for years now.”

Someone is giving lots of fucks rights now, but, um, Kev, someone saying you’re not funny isn’t slander, it’s opinion, and you thinking it’s slander is semi-funny, but in a sad kind of way.

“I have also been the highest grossing comedian in the box office with over 4 billion in earnings ….I have also turned my comedic talent into a place of business and branding and radio and other revenue streams….The hate/slander fuels me to do more.”

Again, not slander, just a lot of chest thumping and ego puffing from Little Man Hart.

“You guys are what makes this business fun….because it’s not about getting to the top….it’s about doing your best to stay on top after you get there. I rarely talk shit….but I felt the need to today.”

He rarely talks shit and has zero fucks to give, and then talks a lot of shit while giving a huge fuck. Not funny; not funny at all.

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Kim Kardashian wants to make the move from reality TV whore to lawyer, but apparently it’s just too hard. If you remember, last week, on KUWTK, Kimmy revealed that she had taken the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, aka the Baby Bar, and failed. She blamed the test results on being a single multi-millionaire mother, running a business during a pandemic, and getting COVID from a birthday party she threw herself with hundreds of people in attendance.

Kimmy is funnier than Kevin Hart thinking that if you’re a single working mom you automatically fail the exam; or maybe if you’re a single mom with nannies and staff who work for you and run your businesses while you travel around the world unmasked and unvaxxed and get COVID and then don’t pass the Baby Bar.

But, hon, if you have all those excuses for why you failed, why did you take the test a second time, and bomb again? Cuz you’re a reality show whore who doesn’t’ have the good sense god gave a horse.

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When we talk about Tori Spelling it’s usually because a credit card company is coming after her for being a deadbeat who doesn’t pay her bills or she’s thirsty for attention by pretending to be pregnant again. Sure, that’s still happening because what else does Spelling have to do?

Oh, go out in public and be photographed without her wedding ring sparking rumors that her marriage to fellow deadbeat Dean McDermott is over.

Oh, and she dropped another clue on Instagram by changing her bio from “Actress / Wife / Mother / Writer / DIYer” to “Actress / Mother / Writer / DIYer.”

Tori, hon, no one really cares.

PS You forgot "Deadbeat."

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We haven’t heard much from sexual kink master Armie Hammer of late, perhaps because his career took that final spin around the toilet bowl, or maybe it’s something else …

Once all his sexual proclivities became known, and his wife left him, and women came crawling out of the woodwork to discuss his kinks, Armie slithered away to the Cayman Islands where he ALLEGEDLY dated a Canadian dental hygienist. But that was all we knew, until last week when Armie was seen at the Grand Cayman airport with his estranged wife and their two children, who hugged Daddy goodbye before he boarded a plane to Orlando, Florida.

What do you do after your marriage and career implode? He’s going to Disneyworld!

Oops, not so much, Armie has checked himself into rehab to hopefully get help for his drink and drug and sex addictions. And while that’s good, the LAPD continues to investigate the rape allegations made again him online by a woman named Effie.

It’s a mixed bag for the former Husband-In-My-Head.

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Kourtney Kardastrophe likes to paint herself as the eco-warrior of That Family, but her message was clearly lost on one of her sisters, Khloé.

Khloé, clearly not the sharpest tool in That Family’s shed of dim bulbs, decided to do her part to fight pollution by encouraging her 152 million Instagram followers to make the switch from bottled water to a refillable water bottle, in an attempt to reduce single waste plastics.

Nice message, but … if you’re living a massively wasteful Kardastrophe lifestyle, which, in Khloé’s case, is a love for filling her home with thousands and thousands of balloons to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and the unveiling of her new faces, are you really environmentally conscious? Or are you just another tone-deaf media whore who doesn’t know thing one about saving the environment.

I mean, think about all that plastic in her face; was it recycled from someone else in the family? Uh huh.

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