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David Carr and Jill Stewart

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from: Jill Stewart

After the Gold Rush

Posted Tuesday, June 15, 1999, at 11:25 AM ET

Good morning, David,

Mmm-hmm. Your description of American kids who are shown by Mom and Dad how to shop online reminds me of a conversation I overhead while hanging out on Montana, an extremely upscale street in Santa Monica. I swear I heard a mom who had just parked her huge SUV murmur approvingly to her 8-year-old daughter, "Honey, do you want a Teeny Cute Little Espresso or do you want a Fun Big Fluffy White Latte?" Kids on coffee, with credit cards, on the Internet. Think of it.

The exploding wealth, in a few sectors, will probably be remembered years from now a bit like the Gold Rush, with tales of huge overnight riches comingled with stories about guys who sold their family life insurance and then pissed it all away on falling Internet stock. I had three rich great aunts, Aunt Es, Aunt Lil, and Aunt Mary, who got their money from their father's Gold Rush outfitting business in Alaska. Later, the three aunts traveled the world in great style (I have a shot of them, riding side-saddle on camels, in huge brimmed hats with chiffon ties, in front of the Great Pyramids, circa 1930s), but to my knowledge they did not reinvest or build their wealth. Instead, they spent it. And I say, way to go girls!

The funny thing about wanting money (as opposed to spending it, like my wise great aunts) is that there's never enough. On the morning sports report I watched today, I heard that the son of local honcho TV producer Aaron Spelling (Tori's dad) just purchased his son a sports team. This team is going to play so-called "indoor football" in Los Angeles' spanking new sports arena. To give you a little context, Aaron and his wife, Candy, built one of the biggest homes in Los Angeles some years ago (55,000 square feet if I recall). The house, which I have driven by, looks like a giant hideous wedding cake and is shaped like a huge W, and features a special room that is solely used for wrapping presents. I am not making this up.

This is sad stuff. Buying your young son a football team is sad. I feel terribly sad just writing about it.

These people are the utterly unfree.

If I didn't make you feel any better, I am certain I can at least make you feel worse. Remind me to tell you the story of my pal who just got financing to produce a documentary, and quit his real job. The sudden and unexpected money came from his ex-girlfriend, who became an instant multimillionaire at an online company.

the breakfast table
entries
123456789101112131415161718192021
from: Jill Stewart

After the Gold Rush

Posted Tuesday, June 15, 1999, at 11:25 AM ET
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David Carr is the editor of the Washington City Paper. Jill Stewart is a political columnist at New Times Los Angeles.
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