My dog has a very nice bed set up in the corner just for her.  She sleeps there occasionally, but often she ends up sprawled out on the carpet at the top of the stairs or in my bed, burrowing her way to comfort at the expense of mine.  Maybe she would sleep in the same spot regularly if that spot had a Louis XVI inspired Precious Palace from The Ritzy Rover.  The dog relaxing in the bed in the picture at right sure looks content.  I guess the dog sitting on the floor is a peasant pooch waiting to do the bidding of the kingly dog resting comfortably in the four-poster.  Hopefully the king dog (or mine or yours) won’t suffer the same fate as Louis XVI and be subjected to angry mobs marching on their palaces, and eventually be convicted of treason.  I hear the doggie courts are just as brutal as the ones in late 1700’s France.

Anyway, all of the doggie palaces are custom designed, with the customer choosing materials from a wide range of fabrics, trims and finishes.  Even though the bed looks great and is surely comfortable, I’m still a little worried of the dog resting in it…the pooch on the floor looks like it’s up to something.

Pool tables, often the main focus of game rooms in fine luxury homes, usually lack a dramatic design that should exist in a room’s centerpiece.  Whether particle board or fine carved mahogany, most pool table frames are simply four legs covered with a bed of slate and billiard cloth.  Sure, you can alter the color of the cloth from the standard green and get some funky balls for a customized look, but the design remains largely the same.  Rustic Mountain Furniture of southern Utah has filled the void in pool table design with their custom built log billiards tables.  Each table is handmade from an Aspen tree, ensuring no two are exactly alike.  If the 8-ball sitting on top of this table was of the magic variety, and you shook it and asked ‘is this log billiard table a true showpiece for my game room?’ the answer would surely be “without a doubt.”

I’d love to have the opportunity to travel around the world. My friend’s parents are paying over $100,000 to see the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World – and I couldn’t be more jealous!  I decided to torture myself and read up on everything they’d see on their trip; and as I browsed around the Internet I came across a site promoting the New Seven Wonders, a campaign with the goal of promoting and protecting world heritage.  The New7Wonders Foundation has chosen 21 nominees (such as Macchu Picchu, the Kremlin, and the Great Wall of China) and is conducting an international vote for the new wonders.  You can vote for your favorites online or by phone and the results will be announced in Portugal on, of course, 07/07/07.

Hurry up and vote – you’ve got one day left!

Tomorrow marks the celebration of Independence Day in the U.S.A.  George Washington observed one of America’s first Independence Days, in 1778, by offering a double ration of rum to his soldiers - a great man after my own heart.  Now we celebrate in the company of family and friends as we enjoy barbecues in the backyard, baseball on TV and spectacular fireworks displays in the sky.        What better time than now to admire some historical luxury in our nation’s capital? 

This historic fieldstone home was built in 1796 and was once occupied by Sherman Adams, President Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff.  It has also entertained a distinguished list of guests, including Winston Churchill.  This unique property boasts enormous fireplaces, a dramatic family/living room with historic French doors and a banquet-sized dining room with cathedral ceilings, all surrounded by private patios and gardens.  And of course, the Stars and Stripes flies proudly atop the property’s flagpole.

This part of our nation’s history is listed by Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. 

The sophistication level of my watches ends with those little dots that are used instead of numbers.  I guess dots have replaced the Roman numeral; and right after I had memorized them up to 12 (I mean XII).  The ww.tc (world wide time control) - Financial watch incorporates the trusty dots into its design, but also goes much further.  This unique watch from Girard-Perregaux allows you to read the time in all 24 time zones simultaneously.  In addition to time zones, the ww.tc-Financial is the first watch to display the openings of the world’s major stock markets.  I could try to go into detail about this remarkable watch’s operations, but I would probably go cross-eyed and get a headache; and anyway, there is this very clear demonstration on the watch’s web site.