The other half

Money may not buy happiness, but it can purchase comfort and status.

And for the fabulously wealthy, being eccentric also can be an interesting way to spend time and money.

Consider the following famous folks who spend big dollars at the drop of a hat for whims:

* Actress Kim Basinger, before finding temporary happiness as the wife of actor Alec Baldwin in 1993, let her family members recommend she buy the small town of Braselton, Ga., in 1989 for $20 million. Basinger, who hailed from Athens, Ga., had hopes of establishing the town as a tourist attraction with movie studios and a film festival. In 1993, she sold the town to developer Wayne Mason, after her decision to back out of a movie contract to do the film "Boxing Helena" cost her an $8 million court judgment, forcing her to file for bankruptcy.

* Malcolm Forbes, who died in 1990, was a billionaire magazine publisher who loved to collect things, from hot air balloons and Harley Davidson motorcycles to nine Faberge eggs, the latter being valued at more than $100 million at the time of his death. But it was his fantasy 70th birthday party in 1989 that really made headlines. He chose the Palais Mendoub palace, which he had acquired from the Moroccan government in 1970 in the northwestern city of Tangier, Morocco, as the scene to host his celebration of seven decades. Spending an estimated $3 million, he chartered a Boeing 747, a DC-8 and a Concorde to fly in 800 of the world's rich and famous from airports in New York and London.

The guests included his friend Elizabeth Taylor, who cohosted the party, Gianni Agnelli, Robert Maxwell, Barbara Walters, Henry Kissinger, twin advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, Walter Cronkite, Regis Philbin, gossip columnists Liz Smith and Claudia Cohen, Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch, Calvin Klein, newspaper publisher Katharine Graham, opera singer Beverly Sills, Lee Iacocca, actress/socialite Dina Merrill, Oscar de la Renta and half a dozen U.S. state governors and the CEOs of scores of major corporations likely to advertise in his magazine.

* Famed five-and-dime store heiress Barbara Woolworth Hutton spent millions in 1959 to build a luxurious Japanese palace, completely furnished with priceless custom furnishings and art from Japan, lush gardens, fountains, exotic Japanese foliage and even an entire staff of Japanese servants. And proving what money can accomplish, just for convenience sake, she recreated this Japanese paradise on a 30-acre estate that was in Cuernavaca, Mexico!

A better way of spending money is to use it for charity, helping a good cause.

This weekend, there's an opportunity for the best of both worlds.

Los Angeles publicist Paula Gould is spreading the word about this weekend's LUX5 Luxury Lifestyle Tour in Chicago at Navy Pier in Hall A from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

The event is billed as a one-day-only opportunity open to the public to showcase the best in luxury, fashion, exotic automobiles, yachts, jewelry and goods and services. More than 150 exotic and luxury cars will be on display. The Fashion Zone area will feature mannequins and "live" mannequins, along with models strutting down the runway in designs from some of Chicago's top boutiques and designers, as DJs spin some of the hottest music mixes.

Advance tickets are $25 each and are available at Eticketcentral.com and and WWW.LUX5EVENTS.COM. Tickets also may be purchased at the door for $30. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $150 each. Proceeds from ticket sales to the event benefit Chicago's Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Fashion shows will be at 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

One of this weekend's featured celebrity guests will be Briefcase Girl #5 from Howie Mandell's hit NBC game show "Deal or No Deal."

Additionally, amid the 150 privately owned luxury and exotic cars, the event will highlight participants and cars from the Fireball Run Transcontinental Rally (i.e., The Race to Find America's Missing Children), which makes an official stop in Chicagoland during its upcoming event in September. The Fireball Run Transcontinental Rally has partnered with The Child Rescue Network, and each car in the rally will sponsor and build awareness about a missing child. Last year, The Fireball Run helped to find 14 missing children.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

celebBirthdays

Movie director Sidney Lumet is 84. Actress June Lockhart is 83. Singer Eddie Floyd is 73. Actress Barbara Montgomery ("Amen") is 69. Singer Carly Simon is 63. Keyboardist Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult and keyboardist-saxophonist Ian McDonald of Foreigner and King Crimson are 62. Actor-comedian Jimmie Walker is 61. TV personality and former Miss America Phyllis George is 59. Singer Tim Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House is 56. Keyboardist David Paich of Toto is 54. Actor Ricky Gervais is 47. Singer George Michael is 45. Actress Erica Gimpel (TV's "Fame," "Profiler") is 44. Rapper Candyman is 40. Guitarist Sean Kelly (Sixpence None The Richer) and actress Angela Kinsey ("The Office") are 37. Bassist Mike Kroeger of Nickelback is 36. Actress Linda Cardellini ("ER," "Scooby Doo") is 33. Actress Busy Phillips ("ER," "Dawson's Creek") is 29.