Intriguing White House 3D Tour

Fascinating tour...

 

Marine One on final approach over the South Lawn

 

 

 

 

Intriguing White House 3D Tour

 

 

With the White House in the news, a tour of the executive mansion and its grounds is timely.

 

A few years ago, WhiteHouseMuseum.org presented an intriguing, computer-generated model of the presidential complex that puts in context many of its features that we often read and hear about.

 

The White House and its grounds are larger than you might imagine, and as the video shows, they include some other interesting items rarely mentioned in the news.

 

For the fascinating video tour:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktqgtlFjWRw

 

Making the Mansions Run

From Beverly Hills to Ridgefield, CT...

 

An estate manager in Beverly Hills

 

 

 

 

Making the Mansions Run

 

 

Estate managers' jobs can pay up to $200,000 a year, but bosses can be prickly, Stefanos Chen reports on wsj.com.

 

Managers' duties can include everything from patrolling the tennis court to stretching the owner's Manolo Blahnik heels to polishing a bronze statue of a Giraffe, wjscom reports.

 

For Chen's article and a video tour featuring managers and odd jobs at their estates from Beverly Hills to Ridgefield, CT:  http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-people-who-make-the-mansion-run-1411659675

Musical Moments: Adele, Make You Feel My Love

Wonderful performance...

Adele

Musical Moments:  Adele, Make You Feel My Love

Musical moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

Make You Feel My Love was written by Bob Dylan.  It was first recorded and released by Billy Joel.  It has been a commercial success for Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson, Brian Ferry and Adele.

The song was also one of Amy Winehouse's favorites.

Source: Wikipedia 

Here's Adele's touching tribute to Winehouse...and her wonderful performance of the classic song for Winehouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweqsdRpG9Y

Price Changes Top Latest Darien Real Estate Update

Focusing on price...

 

Three Aspens, Reveille Kennedy

 

 

 

 

Price Changes Top Latest Darien Real Estate Results

 

 

Thirteen price changes of property for sale topped Darien residential real estate results for the week ending today.

 

Results in other categories, according to the Darien MLS, were:

 

-- Seven new listings of property for sale;

-- Five accepted offers;

-- Three properties going under contract, and

-- One closing.

 

For details: 

 

 

 

FAA Approves New Drone Flights

Cleared for take-off...

 

A camera-carrying drone

 

 

 

 

FAA Approves New Drone Flights

 

 

Drones for new commercial use in American skies were approved Thursday by the FAA with some help from Hollywood, nytimes.com reports.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration said camera-carrying drones can be used on certain movie and television sets for new Hollywood productions.

 

Until now, the FAA has banned commercial drones except for some limited use in wilderness parts of Alaska.

 

This is the first time that companies in the US will be able to legally use drones to fly over people, according to nytimes.com.

 

The decision has broad implications for real estate, the news media and other sectors where some would like to use the new devices.

 

For more, including a video:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/business/media/drone-exemptions-for-hollywood-pave-the-way-for-widespread-use.html?ref=todayspaper

 

 

 

 

 

Pushing Architectural Limits

Innovative designs...

 

Cayan Tower, Dubai

 

 

 

 

Pushing Architectural Limits

 

 

Seven stunning new buildings in Sydney, Hong Kong, New York and more are featured on the latest architecturaldigest.com.

 

Each reflects new and creative approaches that push the limits of architecture.

 

For a slide show of the innovative designs:  http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2014-09/seven-new-skyscrapers-2014-slideshow?title=1

 

Musical Moments: Victor Borge, The Timid Page Turner

Waiting in the wings...

 

Victor Borge

 

 

 

 

Musical Moments:  Victor Borge, The Timid Page Turner

 

 

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

 

One of Victor Borge's funniest and most famous pieces was with his son Ron, who would be waiting in the wings when his father asked for a page turner to help him on stage.

 

Here they are in The Timid Page Turner:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd4SyBStWB0

For more on Victor Borge who lived in nearby Greenwich for many years:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Borge

 

 

 

 

New Listings Up in Latest Darien Real Estate Update

Market heads into autumn...

Awakening City, Harriet Westfall

New Listings Up in Latest Darien Real Estate Update

Eight new listings of property for sale led Darien's residential real estate results for the week ending today.

Results in other categories, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- Seven price changes;

-- Four accepted offers;

-- Four properties going under contract, and

-- Seven closings.

For more:

A + for the Scots

Pure dead brilliant...

 

Scottish ballot, tamilguardian.com

 

 

 

 

A + for the Scots

 

 

Some Scottish accents may be difficult to follow, but yesterday's Scottish ballot was a masterpiece of simple, effective writing.

 

Whoever wrote it deserves an A + in Writing 101.

 

All in all, the result was "pure dead brilliant," as the Scots would say. 

 

In other words, "exceptionally good."

 

New Light on Man Caves

Where the guys are...

Man Cave, Ebony Sapele, hgtv.com

New Light on Man Caves

Man caves don't have to be dark and dingy, Colleen Sullivan reports on hgtv.com.

To make her point, Sullivan presents some examples of man caves that put a whole new light on where guys hang out.

For a slide show of hgtv.com's interesting sampling:  http://www.hgtv.com/specialty-rooms/fresh-takes-on-man-caves/pictures/index.html

Back to the Future

Space shuttling, again...

 

Astronaut Randy Bresnik prepares to enter Boeing CST-100 spacecraft, NASA

 

 

 

 

Back to the Future

 

NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX today to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, bringing the agency one step closer to launching Americans into space from US soil once again.

 

As one who was with North American Aviation at the outset of the Apollo, Saturn and space shuttle programs, I'm glad to see NASA heading back to the future in the space transport business.

 

For more:  http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/16/nasa-boeing-spacex-contracts-manned-flights

 

 

 

Writers in Residence

Working from home...

Mark Twain's Hartford, CT, home

Writers in Residence

Ever wonder where famous writers lived while creating great literature?

You can see the homes of 10 well known authors, ranging from Leo Tolstoy and George Orwell to Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens and more on Architectural Digest.

 

By the way, if you're looking for something good to read, I've recently enjoyed Alan Furst's new Midnight in Europe and Ward Just's American Romantic.  And I'm looking forward to James Ellroy's new Perfidious.

Two old friends have new books: Ron Lovell's Murder Times Two came out in July. You can order Ron's books at: www.penmanproductions.com or buy them at Barnes & Noble. For more about Ron and his books, here's his website: http://www.martindalemysteries.com/pages/author.html.  And Peter Yaremko has Down the Edges in the works.  Speaking of where writers lived, Peter's house in Puerto Rico is on the market: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/greathomesanddestinations/homes-for-sale-in-puerto-rico-maine-and-south-carolina.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone#100000003083851

 

For Architectural Digest's slide show about famous writers and their homes: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2014-09/famous-writers-homes-slideshow?title=1

Musical Moments: Brian Regan, Fiedler on the Roof

Zippity Doo Dah...

Brian Regan

Musical Moments: Brian Regan, Fiedler on the Roof

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

 Brian Regan is respected in the comedy community as a comedian's comedian, and his fans range from young people to seniors.

Here's Regan having fun with song titles and more in one of his many appearances on the  Letterman Show:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqjDCCuG1FQ

New Listings, Price Changes Top Latest Darien Real Estate Results

Positioning offerings...

 

Gusting on the Last Leg, Donald Demers

 

 

 

 

New Listings, Price Changes Top Latest Darien Real Estate Results

 

 

Twelve new listings of property for sale and 10 price changes topped Darien's residential real estate results for the week ending today.

 

Results in other categories, according to the Darien MLS, were:

 

-- Five accepted offers;

-- Seven properties going under contract, and

-- Seven closings.

 

For more: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 11 Tribute

Commemorating 9/11...

 

National September 11 Memorial, New York City

 

 

 

 

September 11 Tribute

 

 

On the 13th anniversary of September 11, architecturaldigest.com presents some of the moving memorials around the U.S. that honor the people who were lost.

For a slide show:  http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2014-09/september-11-memorials-slideshow?title=1

 

 

A Frank Gehry Retrospective

Thinking outside the box...

 

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

 

 

 

 

A Frank Gehry Retrospective

 

 

Twenty-four remarkable buildings designed by Frank Gehry are featured on architecturaldigest.com.

 

For a slide show of the award-winning architect's work over five decades:  http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2014-10/best-of-frank-gehry-slideshow?title=1

 

Joan Rivers' Famous Toast Recipe

Funny lady...

Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers' Famous Toast Recipe

Joan Rivers was not only hilarious, but she also had a lot of fun cooking, Carly Ledbetter reports today on huffingtonpost.com.

Rivers was once featured in an Irish charity cookbook, and the recipe she listed is for Joan Rivers' Toast -- a recipe that had been in her family for generations, Ledbetter wrote.

For her famous recipe and a funny video:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/05/joan-rivers-cookbook-toast-recipe_n_5773216.html

Thanks to our daughter Meg who told her mom, Linda, about this classic, and to Linda for telling me about it.

Geography Lesson From Space

Cruising 'round the world...

 

Washington, D.C., from the International Space Station

 

 

 

 

Geography Lesson From Space

 

 

Expedition 38 crew members Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio give a brief geography lesson as they hurtle through space at 27,600 km/h (17,100 mph) onboard the International Space Station in a new video on twistedshifter.com.

 

Hopkins and Mastracchio were flight engineers on Expedition 38, which began last November and ended in March.

 

For their fascinating video, including views of Italy, Greece, San Francisco, New York and Connecticut from high above Long Island Sound: http://twistedsifter.com/videos/astronauts-on-iss-give-geography-tour/

 

 

 

Musical Moments: The Eagles, Hotel California

Livin' it up...

 

The Eagles

 

 

 

 

Musical Moments:  The Eagles, Hotel California

 

 

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

  

The Eagles are one of world's the best-selling bands of all time.

 

They have sold more than 150 million records -- 100 million in the US alone, including 32 million copies of their hit, Hotel California.

 

Among their other successes: One of These Nights, Desperado, Heartache Tonight, Witchy Woman, and Take it Easy...with its memorable...It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatboard Ford.

 

Here's Hotel California with lyrics, including the good old, "Mercedes bends":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0G1Ucw5HDg

 

Price Changes, New Listings Lead Latest Darien Real Estate Results

Fall home marketing season begins...

 

Smuggler's Cove, Geoffrey Huband, jrusselljinishiangallery.com

 

 

 

 

Price Changes, New Listings Lead Latest Darien Real Estate Results

 

 

Twelve price changes and eight new listings of homes for sale led Darien real estate results for the week ending today and the start of the fall selling season.

 

Results in other categories, according to the Darien MLS, were:

 

-- Two accepted offers;

-- Two properties going under contract, and

-- Five closings.

 

For more: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Darien, Rowayton Real Estate Results Show Modest Change

Year-to-date update...

 

Five Mile River, Darien, Peter Arguimbau, jrusselljinishiangallery.com

 

 

 

 

New Darien, Rowayton Real Estate Results Show Modest Change

 

 

Darien and Rowayton residential real estate results showed modest change on a year-to-date basis at the end of August.

 

Darien's average sale price rose 4.5 percent while in Rowayton it was off .7 percent, according to the latest Darien MLS year-to-date updates as of August 31 available today.

 

Sales volume in both communities declined slightly -- down 3.3 percent in Darien and 2.6 percent in Rowayton.

 

Sales were 7.5 percent lower in Darien and down 2 percent in Rowayton.

 

For more: