Australian artist Vincent Namatjira has painted portraits of many rich and powerful people, though not at their request. In his words, “Displacing powerful figures takes away some of their dominance”.

That doesn’t mean they won’t still try to assert that dominance, however. Recently, Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart demanded the National Gallery of Australia remove her portrait from an exhibition of Namatjira’s work. One can perhaps understand why:

Of course, the Streisand effect is a very real thing, and it’s why you’re seeing this portrait now. Whoopsie.

The museum has thus far declined to accede to Rinehart’s demand. Again, one can perhaps understand why:

Rinehart is listed as a friend of the National Gallery after donating between $4,999 and $9,999 to the institution.

Perhaps as a billionaire, she might have donated at a higher level.

Today in conspicuous capitalism, the most expensive home currently for sale in Boston is a $30 million 6-bedroom, 10-bathroom 10,000 square foot mansion. It was built in 1899¹, and as you might guess, it features a stately facade perfectly suited for Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood.

That’s lovely, albeit a little crooked. And how’s the the interior?

Oh. Oh my. Lest you think this is not representative of the entire home, I urge you to see more photos via this New York Post article, which includes the following quote from designer Eric Roseff:

“We wanted it to have a real loungy vibe — like a 1970s coke-den vibe,” Roseff added, who described the room as having a “perpetual mood” to it. “It’s intoxicating, it’s inviting, it’s sexy.”

It’s something, alright. Speaking of owner Kevin Starr’s tastes, Roseff said:

“His vibe from the beginning was the feel of a boutique hotel…He likes a little bit of Miami thrown in, a little bit of Vegas thrown in.”

They certainly did nail the “a boutique hotel, but worse” aesthetic:

My favorite line from the aforelinked article is this:

Despite its opulent features, the mansion also offers practical amenities, such as a 2,200-bottle wine room and six parking spaces…

Ah, yes. So practical.

Footnotes:

1. Give or take a few years, anyhow. The city’s maps were updated sporadically back in the day. That means it’s generally only possible to narrow down when a structure was built to a range, that multi-year period between when it didn’t appear on a map and when it did. It seems to me that a disproportionate number of houses in Boston are listed as being built in 1899, surely to be able to advertise themselves as “19th century”. ↩︎

Over at Defector, Barry Petchesky has a review of the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award.

The backstory to this award is that in 2006 someone in the NHL wondered, Wouldn’t it be fun if we created a Mark Messier award, with the winners chosen by Mark Messier? Seventeen seasons later, we have our answer: No, it wouldn’t.

True, but it is fun to mock this goofy award.

For the first time, the H5N1 bird flu has been found in US dairy cows. That’s not great. As a result, health experts have increased their warnings against drinking raw milk. It’s not going well.

The California-based Raw Milk Institute called the warnings “clearly fearmongering.” The institute’s founder, Mark McAfee, told the Los Angeles Times this weekend that his customers are, in fact, specifically requesting raw milk from H5N1-infected cows.

According to McAfee, his customers believe, without evidence, that directly drinking high levels of the avian influenza virus will give them immunity to the deadly pathogen.

No longer being alive certainly would afford a type of immunity.

But no, no, I’m sure the people who like drinking raw milk for its unproven health benefits fully understand what they’re doing. They’ve got an institute, after all.

With the virus apparently having a field day in cows’ udders, researchers have found raw milk to be brimming with high levels of H5N1 viral particles—and those particles appear readily capable of spilling over to other mammals. In a case study last month, researchers reported that a group of about two dozen farm cats developed severe illness after drinking milk from H5N1-infected cows. Some developed severe neurological symptoms. More than half of the cats died in a matter of days.

They know more than some dumb, dead cats, at least.

Seaside, California resident Etienne Constable was recently told by the city that he needed to build a fence to hide his boat. He complied, and even had the fence painted. It’s lovely:

Yes, Constable’s neighbor Hanif Wondir helpfully painted a realistic boat mural, so that despite the fence, no one would miss the chance to see what Constable’s boat looks like.

Earlier this year, Chicago found itself with a hot new tourist attraction: the rat hole. Gaze upon it!

[Photo credit: Winslow Dumaine]

Though this rat-shaped hole had existed for multiple decades, it went hugely viral back in January. That led to an explosion of attention for what some called the eighth wonder of the world, probably.

The attention, however, quickly grew old for neighbors who complained about visitors at all hours, sometimes leaving coins and other items scattered across the sidewalk.

Can you imagine it? There you are, living a quiet, blissful life in your dream home with fantastic proximity to the little-know rat hole, when word of this secret treasure spreads like wildfire. Suddenly, your neighborhood is nothing but tourists at all hours. It’s a nightmare!

To end the chaos, or possibly just because the sidewalk was “damaged”, the rat hole has been removed. Its final fate remains to be seen:

Erica Schroeder, a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Transportation, said the square of sidewalk “containing the famous ‘Chicago rat hole’” is now in temporary storage.

She said that where the slab of sidewalk, which has an impression resembling the outline of a rat — claws, tail and all — will eventually end up is expected to be a “collaborative decision between the city departments and the mayor’s office.”

I can only echo the words of the great Dr. Henry Jones, Jr., who famously said “That belongs in a museum!”.