The Manor Reigns Supreme

10 of L.A.'s Most Iconic Residences

10. The Manor: 594 S. Mapleton Drive, Westwood

• When it comes to design, is less really more? It certainly wasn’t for Aaron Spelling. The television mogul commissioned this flashy, 56,000-square-foot mega mansion in 1988, and it quickly rose to fame as the largest residential home in Los Angeles County (a record it still holds today). Few escape the spotlight unscathed, however, and the Manor is no exception. From the beginning, it’s been the target of ridicule from socially aware critics who deride its shameless display of consumerism; as well as from aesthetes, who find its gaudiness more than enough cause for concern. The gargantuan, 123-room chateau boasts a bowling alley, an ice skating rink, three designated gift-wrapping rooms and parking space for 100 vehicles (or what we assume was an average Sunday dinner at the Spellings'). Aaron died in 2006, and in 2009, his widow, Candy, put the home on the market at an astronomical $150 million. The listing didn’t budge for two years, until it sold in 2011 at far under asking (practically a steal at $85 million!) to then–23-year-old trust-fund baby Petra Ecclestone Stunt. Candy gave up the Manor — along with her personal hair and beauty salon, and the entire wing of the house dedicated to her clothes — and “downsized” to a two-story, 18,000-square-foot penthouse in Century City. If that’s considered roughing it, sign us up.

Complete list (LAWeekly.com) 

Yes, It Is Ok To Do This

Is It OK To Judge People Based On The Car They Drive?

[I]t’s absolutely acceptable to judge people by the car they’re driving, though you have to be a little more caring with dates than with anyone else, and maybe ask a few follow-up questions before you spit in someone’s face with laughter when she told you she bought an Audi Allroad because she wanted something that can “take me anywhere.”

(Jalopnik.com)

Happy 50th, Iron Mike!

Ranking Mike Tyson's 10 greatest (and nastiest) knockouts 

In honor of Tyson's 50th birthday on Thursday, here are my 10 favorite Tyson KOs.

1. KO1 Michael Spinks (June 27, 1988, Atlantic City, New Jersey)

• This was the apex of Tyson's career, as he retained the undisputed title by blowing away the then-undefeated (and seemingly petrified) Spinks in just 91 seconds in what was, at the time, the richest fight in history. Tyson came to the ring with the hardware (three title belts), but Spinks was lineal champion, even though he had been stripped of his belt. Three days shy of his 22nd birthday, Tyson put aside his mounting personal problems and pulverized Spinks, dropping him twice -- first with a right hand to the body, and then moments later, for good, with a monstrous left-right combination to the jaw. Besides the violence of the KO, I loved Tyson's reaction. He simply spread his arms to receive applause from the crowd, as if he knew the knockout had been preordained. He was never better than on this night. 

Complete list (ESPN.com)

They Wanted To Be #1

Volkswagen Paid Much More For Its Scandal Than GM Or Toyota

The numbers do the talking. VW’s settlement of nearly $15 billion is more than 10 times what Toyota Motor Corp. paid to settle criminal charges in its sudden-acceleration case. It’s roughly 16 times General Motors Co.’s settlement for malfunctioning switches that interfered with air-bag deployments, claiming more than 120 lives.

(Jalopnik.com)

I Gotta Admit, This Car Is Aging Well

Happy 40th birthday, Honda Accord!

Today the Accord turns 40 years old. Over the past four decades Honda sold more than 12.7 million of them, making its iconic sedan the best-selling car in America during that time frame. Honda likes to point out that the Accord is still young at heart, as it's the most popular sedan with the under-35 crowd.

Like most people, the Accord has grown larger and heavier through the years. But the appeal remains strong. The current Accord is one of our favorite family sedans, and a target that the competition rarely hits. It's the car that's synonymous with Honda in America, and in fact the first car built here when the Japanese company started production in Ohio in 1982.

(AutoBlog.com)

Some Good Advice

A Lottery Lawyer Explains What You Should Do if You Hit the Jackpot

OK, so what's the first thing you should do if you have a winning lottery ticket?  

First thing, you want to sign the back of it, because [a winning ticket] is what's called a bearer instrument—technically whoever hands it in is declared the winner. If you sign the back of it, you secure that it is yours. And I tell the big jackpot winners to sign the back, but to leave some room above it, because if we decide to claim it in a trust fund or an LLC or any other kind of entity, you will be able to write the name of that entity above it, and then sign as a trustee or something like that. So sign the back, make a copy of it, and preferably put it in a safety deposit box, or hide it somewhere in your house.

Then what you want to do is start hiring your professionals. You want to call a lawyer for sure—I am talking about if you win $1 million or more, you should do this stuff. Call an attorney, a financial planner, an accountant––that's the team you're gonna need. Obviously the bigger the jackpot, the more necessary it is to get a team like that. Get your team in place, keep quiet, and don't tell anybody. You can tell your immediate family, but as soon as word gets out your life is gonna change, and you don't want your life to change unless you're ready for the change. That time between knowing you won and claiming to the whole world you won is like your last chance of keeping your old life the way it was.

Then figure out how you want to do with the money, because everybody's first instinct is never what they actually want to do when they think about it. So you need that time to figure out what you want to do. Then at least nobody is banging on your door asking for handouts.

(Vice.com)

I Can't Hang With People Like This

(BroBible.com)