Congratulations

We would like to congratulate Silvio Berlusconi for adding, yet another diamond to his already amazing Bon Vivant career. On Wednesday May 23, and before a full crowd at the Athens Olympic Stadium, his team, AC Milan won the UEFA Champions League for the 7th time. This leaves them now as the second team with the most championships, just behind Real Madrid with 10. The Rossoneri struggled through the first half, but just before it was over Andrea Pirlo punted a free kick into Pippo Inzaghi, who bounced the ball into the net with his shoulder. In the second half, the game was very thight, but then Kaka, the brazilian super star, gave a astonishing through to Inzaghi, who dribbled the Liverpool's goalie and dramatically send the ball once more into the net. In the last minutes, Liverpool struggled back an managed to score a goal, altough in a controversial onside position. At the end, it was not enough, and the AC Milan's fans could watch their legendary captain, Paolo Maldini, lift the cup once more. Also, our famous Bon Vivant enjoyed the glory of his players, as he was lifted in shoulders by them. So, congratulations Silvio, and congratulations AC Milan.

For more:
http://athens.acmilan.com/index.aspx?lang=eng
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/index.html
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=542874.html
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=2361/match=300099/report=rp.html
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3165879.stm
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/section?id=uef
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/gallery?id=561241&s=uef&index=19
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/gallery?id=561241&s=uef&index=21

just two more excellent quotes

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds(women) and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
- George Best

"Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult."
- Samuel Johnson

More Bon Vivant Quotes

More Bon Vivant quotes courtesy of Nacho Parra from Mexico:

"I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours." - Jerome K.

"I work until beer o'clock." - Stephen King

"I am a friend of the workingman, I would rather be his friend than be one." - Clarence Darrow

"It's just paper - all I own is a pickup truck and a little Wal-Mart stock." - Sam Walton

"I cannot afford to waste my time working." Nacho Parra

Bon Vivant Myths

There are several misconceptions and myths about the bon vivant lifestyle. So I'll try to address some of the most important ones:

- Bon Vivants are bad for society.

False. The true bon vivant enjoys life very much, so he wants others to enjoy it as well. So, while a greedy and boring business man like Carlos Slim wouldn't classify as a bon vivant, someone like Richard Branson (a strong contender for bon vivant of the month of May) sure would. Richard Branson enjoys life, does things like travel around the world on balloons, but also shares his wealth. He gives considerable money to Charity, and has recently announced a donation of 3B to combat Global Warming. Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/science/22warmcnd.html?ex=1316491200&en=282ea6fc58594550&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


- A country full of Bon Vivants would go bankrupt.

False. Europe has a very bon vivant lifestyle in general (especially countries like Italy, France, Spain) and they have some of the strongest economies in the world. Sure, you might not be able to buy toilet paper at 3:00 am in a 7/11, but people work 35h per week, take long vacations, and can enjoy their meals (they don't have to eat at fast food restaurant, or skip meals in general). By the way, you can vote on which country you consider to be the one that has more bon vivants in the poll provided at the end of the page.

Also, if more and more people aspire to live well, the breach between rich and poor should narrow. Probably the two main reasons the poor are poor and that there is so much economic inequality in the world are 1) poor education 2) not demanding the fair share of the wealth created. This can be seen for instance in the fact that bon vivant countries like Italy, France, Spain, Germany, etc, have in general low Gini index rating. Link:
http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SMGTJEsOtha6B8kBHxPKE2-

- Very few can be bon vivants.

False. Being a bon vivant is above all an attitude towards life.

Bon Vivant of the Month - April 07: Silvio Berlusconi

If anyone embodies the true essence of being a Bon Vivant, that is Silvio Berlusconi. The former Italian Prime minister sure does have the lifestyle worth admiring. His trajectory includes a lifetime of wealth, success, beautiful women, political incorrectness and that particular way of enjoying life that only a Bon Vivant shows. The seventy year old Berlusconi, is an Italian politician and entrepreneur, with an accumulated wealth of $11.8 billion USD, placing him as the richest man in Italy and 51st richest in the world. His self-made fortune comes mostly from media holdings. Since a true Bon Vivant is not all about work (evidently) he keeps as a hobby football club AC Milan, which is the home for many of the best players in the world, including Gennaro Gattuso, Ronaldo and Kaka. On May 23, the club will be playing its third UEFA Champions League final in four years. It also just happens to be the 5th most valuable soccer team in the world. His BonVivantness is also well depicted in his politically incorrect approach to formal situations, where he uses every chance he gets to throw a punchline or two. Just as an example, during a conference with a group of Wall Street traders, he announced that the best reason to invest in Italy is “we have the most beautiful secretaries in the world”. Berlusconi is most famous for his dealing with women. Being married to a woman 20 years younger, he has however made public flirtatious comments to other women, as well as bragged about his Don Juan skills. He claims that he has been losing his hair due to the excessive amount of lovers he has. He also brands himself as a playboy. On a public awards ceremony, he said to Mara Carfagna, that if he wasn’t married he would go with her anywhere. He’s also made such public comments to Aida Yespicamiles and other women. As if being a flirtatious, rich and playful man at the age of 70 was not enough to be considered a Bon Vivant, Berlusconi has been shown by Italian magazine Oggi, in what is claimed to be an harem. Pictures of him at his villa in Sardinia, with two young women seating on his knees clearly depict the Bon Vivant nature of Silvio. For being entrepreneurial, successful, funny, interesting, romantic, and plainly displaying a chilled approach to life, we name Silvio Berlusconi the Bon Vivant of April 07.

For more on Silvio Berlusconi:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16950970/site/newsweek
http://www.acmilan.it/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2TRnDBI2o4
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Silvio-Berlusconi-family_EEPT.html
http://www.voceditalia.it/public/8532.jpg


Aida Yespicasmiles
http://www.cronica.com.mx/galeria/details.php?image_id=1419
http://www.cronica.com.mx/galeria/details.php?image_id=1418

Mara Carfagna
http://www.cronica.com.mx/galeria/details.php?image_id=1420

Verónica Lario Berlusconi
http://www.cronica.com.mx/galeria/details.php?image_id=1422

some examples on how bon vivants make money

as I mentioned in the previous post, there are several ways to make easy money in ways that are neither illegal nor immoral...however, for many of these strategies to work it is important to be smart and agile...let me proceed with some examples:

1.- Domain resale...some very smart bon vivants made a lot of money this way (ok...some nerds too)...some even obtained more than one million dollars for a simple domain that cost about ten bucks to register...how about that for a nice return on investment! For some examples of domain names sold for record amounts you can click on the following link: http://www.active-domain.com/resources/million-dollar-domains.htm
It is important to note that this strategy doesn't offer much possibility of big success anymore...after an easy way of making money is discovered by the masses, returns tend to drop very quickly...

2.- Sell air...or something just as inexpensive...at a very high price. A good example is the smart guy that sold pixels on his homepage for $1...making more than one million dollars. Other examples include selling SMS messages with advice on love, luck, or funny phrases, etc.

3.- Marry well...since this is a classical approach, I won't go into much detail on this one.

4.- Become a successful Poker Player. One could argue that this is the ideal bon vivant career approach. If you are good at it you can make a lot of money winning poker tournaments, you get to drink a lot of good wine, and socialize with other bon vivants. Not to mention that many beautiful women are attracted to men with this lifestyle.

5.- Earn commissions and finder fees. This is a good way to capitalize the extensive social networks of the bon vivant. You can make a lot of money if you help close a big business deal, which can even be done while playing golf.

I will later provide more examples...if you have good examples you want to share, don't hesitate to write to donbonvivant@gmail.com

Have a nice weekend!

how a bon vivant makes a living

after reading the quotes below you might be asking yourself how a bon vivant makes a living, if we don't like to work...

the answer is that we like making easy money, but not in an illegal or immoral way...and believe me, there are several ways to make easy money...and that is going to be a major theme on this blog...

however, before I continue, let me mention two very important bon vivant traits, without which it is very difficult to become a bon vivant...the first is to have an extensive social network, and the second one is to be smart.

the bon vivant attitude explained with quotes:

"Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy."

- Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

"Personally, I have nothing against work, particularly when performed, quietly and unobtrusively, by someone else."

- Barbara Ehrenreich

"Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?"

- Edgar Bergen (1903 - 1978), (Charlie McCarthy)

"I define a free society as one in which there is no social coercion compelling the individual to work."

- Tony Gibson

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."

-W. M. Lewis

"May you live every day of your life."

-Jonathan Swift

"Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot."

-Groucho Marx

"Room service? Send up a larger room."

-Groucho Marx

Welcome!

This is a space created to share tips and recommendations for becoming a successful bon vivant!

You will also find biographies of the greatest bon vivants that have lived and enjoyed life on this planet, as well as discussions on what made them so special...

We will also promote discussions on what are valid don bon vivant attitudes, values, and life styles.

...and remember, being a bon vivant is not just about having money, beautiful women, and luxury...it is, above all, an attitude towards life!