April 8, 2015

Top News Stories –

South Carolina policeman charged after black man shot dead –
A white South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting a black man, running away from him. State investigators arrested North Charleston police officer Michael Slager on Tuesday after viewing the mobile phone video of the shooting. Authorities say victim Walter Lamer Scott was shot after the officer had already targeted him with a stun gun. #WalterScott is top trending hashtag Worldwide and UK (See Top Twitter Trends) [BBC]

The Interview: Activist ‘sends DVDs into N Korea by balloon’ –
A South Korean activist says he has flown thousands of copies of controversial Sony film The Interview over the North Korean border. Sony initially pulled the film after a hacking attack and threats to attack cinemas which were screening it.Lee Min-bok said he had carried out the launches at night four times since January, most recently on Saturday. Mr Lee, a defector from the North, said he had tied the DVDs to balloons along with bundles of US dollars and leaflets criticising Mr Kim’s regime. He told AFP news agency: “I launched thousands of copies and about a million leaflets on Saturday, near the western part of the border.” [BBC]

Narendra Modi: Bus tours to India PM’s Vadnagar tea stall –
A private tour operator in India plans to lay on daily bus trips to the town where PM Narendra Modi was born and worked at his father’s tea stall.
The day-long tour of Vadnagar in western Gujarat state has run once a week since starting in February and has proved a big draw with visitors.
The operator expects tens of thousands to sign up for the tour this summer. Mr Modi was Gujarat chief minister for more than a decade before his landslide general election win last year. The tour of the BJP leader’s birthplace includes visits to the street where he once lived, his former school, the railway station where he sold tea and a local lake where, according to reports, he once “caught a baby crocodile” [BBC]
PM-Modi

Hatton Garden raiders plunder jewels worth up to £200m from safety deposit boxes –
Jewels worth tens of millions of pounds were stolen during a raid on hundreds of safety deposit boxes in Hatton Garden, London’s most exclusive jewellery district. Burglars are believed to have used heavy cutting equipment to cut through the roof before abeiling down a lift shaft to access the vault over the Easter weekend. They disabled the alarm system, leaving them four days to plunder around 300 boxes in the vault over the Bank Holiday. Former Flying Squad chief Roy Ramm said he “would not be surprised” if the stolen gems were worth £200 million, although he said the figure would probably never be declared in full. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]

Apple releases Mac app to store photos in iCloud –
Apple has released a new photo storage app for Macs, which can automatically store full-resolution images online. The iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices while managing storage. Users can opt to keep original high-res photos in the cloud with lower-res version on a Mac, PC or iOS device. But critics highlight recent online photo security breaches and say Apple’s storage fees are much higher than some of its competitors.
The iCloud Photo Library app responds to how much storage is left on each device. It automatically downgrades the resolution of images held on a device as its storage space starts to run out – starting with the oldest images first – while ensuring they are still of suitable quality to be viewed full-screen. [BBC]

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April 20, 2015

Top News Stories –

Demi Lovato Wishes Joe Jonas ‘Happy #420’ –
To honor 4/20 (See Top Twitter Trends), the day famously celebrated by weed connoisseurs, Demi Lovato decided to post a little message for her friend Joe Jonas. She took to Instagram to share a photoshopped image of herself with Jonas and Miley Cyrus. “In honor of our former escapades, I thought you’d like this to remember your first blaze.. Happy #420 @joejonas. #disneyhighclassof09,” she captioned the eye-popping image. [Billboard.com]
Demi-Lovato_Instagram-4_20
ddlovato_instagram_message

Russia: Police stage mayor’s disappearance to thwart killing –
Police in Russia have staged the disappearance of a city mayor to prevent his contract killing, it’s reported. Pavel Plotnikov, the mayor of Yoshkar Ola in central Russia, was reported missing on Saturday, after apparently failing to meet his wife as planned a day earlier. “All police patrols, criminal investigators – practically all police in Yoshkar Ola” were looking for the mayor, the city’s police spokeswoman Olga Plotnikova told the media at the time. But early on Monday, the mayor’s own website issued a statement saying that his disappearance had actually been staged. “The mayor’s ‘disappearance’ was necessitated by operational activities of Russia’s Interior Ministry staff,” the statement says. “They implemented measures to prevent a planned killing of the mayor and his family.” Later in the day, Mr Plotnikov gave a news conference to shed more light on what had happened. Because of his “principled position”, the mayor said, he was supposed to have been killed in a forest some time between Friday night and Saturday morning. Thanks to swift action by the security services, the would-be killers and those who took out a contract on the mayor have been arrested, Mr Plotnikov told the news conference, adding: “Many thanks to the police for saving my life.” The police have simply said that the mayor “has been found” and that “he’s alive and well, and is currently with his family”. [BBC]

U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal over Arizona ‘fish pedicures’ –
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by the owner a Phoenix-area spa that ran afoul of Arizona state regulations that barred her from providing pedicures in which clients have their feet nibbled by small fish to remove dead skin. The high court’s action, made without comment by the justices, ends a years-long case over fish pedicures, which have become a popular alternative to exfoliation for some spa-goers in recent years but are banned in some U.S. states for health and safety reasons. In 2009, Vong was told by the Arizona Board of Cosmetology that the treatment violated the agency’s safety standards, and that she could face criminal charges. The board said any tool or equipment used in a pedicure must be stored and disinfected in a specific way, and that she could not disinfect the fish coming in contact with clients’ skin. [Reuters]
Garra-Rufa Garra Rufa – the pedicure fish species

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Paris – NewYork from NORD on Vimeo.

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May 15, 2015

Top News Stories –

BB King: Tributes pour in after blues legend dies aged 89 –
His lawyer Brent Bryson said that King, who suffered from diabetes, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas on May 14, where he had been receiving hospice care. King’s style of singing and guitar playing was an inspiration to scores of musicians, and he mentored stars including Eric Clapton as well as collaborating with U2 on the 1989 track When Love Comes To Town. [Daily Telegraph] See List of The Day
B.B.KingB.B. King in 2009

Geri Halliwell marries Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner –
Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has married Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner in a wedding attended by a string of celebrities from showbiz and motor racing worlds. The 42-year-old singer wed in St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire. She arrived at the parish church, just off the High Street, in a vintage Rolls Royce ahead of the wedding to Horner, who she first met in 2009. She was accompanied by her daughter Bluebell, who was her bridesmaid. [BBC] In February 2010 Geri Halliwell apparently made then boyfriend Henry Beckwith feel like Duke of Edinburgh according to his father
Geri-HalliwellGeri Halliwell

Janet Jackson Announces New Album, Tour –
Janet Jackson delivered a surprise for fans on her birthday, announcing a new album and world tour. The singer made the big reveal at midnight eastern time on May 16 by tweeting a link to a video in which, in her unmistakable voice, she coos: “I promised you’d hear it from my lips and now you will. This year: new music; new world tour; a new movement. I’ve been listening. Let’s keep the conversation going.” [Billboard.com]
Janet-JacksonJanet Jackson

Boston bombing trial: Death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev –
A US jury has sentenced Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death by lethal injection. After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury of five men and seven women came to its decision. Three people were killed and 260 were injured when Tsarnaev, now 21, and his brother placed bombs at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Victims and their family members sobbed as the sentence was read. Tsarnaev bowed his head but showed no emotion. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Janet Jackson announcing new album and tour

Announcement from Janet Jackson on Vimeo.

BB King Studio albums [from Wikipedia

Year Original album
and alternate reissues
Company
/Subsidiary
Cat# Peak chart positions Certifications
US US R&B US Jazz US Blues SWI
1957 Singin’ the Blues Modern/Crown CLP-5020
1958 The Blues Modern/Crown CLP-5063
1959 B. B. King Wails
The Incredible Soul of B.B. King (LP, 1965)
I Love You So (LP, 1970)
Modern/Crown
Modern/Kent
United Superior
CLP-5115
KST-539
US-7711
Sings Spirituals
Swing Low Sweet Chariot (LP, 1970)
Modern/Crown
United Superior
CLP-5119
US-7721
1960 The Great B. B. King Modern/Crown CLP-5153
King of the Blues
Better than Ever (LP, 1966)
Modern/Crown
Modern/Kent
CLP-5167
KST-561
1961 My Kind of Blues Modern/Crown CLP-5188
More B.B. King
Blues for Me (LP, 1970)
Modern/Crown
United Superior
CLP-5230
US-7708
1962 Twist With B.B. King Modern/Crown CLP-5248
Easy Listening Blues Modern/Crown CLP-5286
Blues in My Heart
A Heart Full of Blues (LP, 1970)
Modern/Crown
United Superior
CLP-5309
US-7703
1963 B.B. King
The Soul of B.B. King (LP, 1970)
Modern/Crown
United Superior
CLP-5359
US-7714
Mr. Blues ABC-Paramount 456
1966 Confessin’ the Blues ABC-Paramount 528
1968 Blues on Top of Blues ABC/Bluesway BLS-6011 46
Lucille ABC/Bluesway BLS-6016 192
1969 Live & Well ABC/Bluesway BLS-6031 56 11 17
Completely Well ABC/Bluesway BLS-6037 38 5
1970 Indianola Mississippi Seeds ABC Records ABCS-713 26 8 7
1971 B. B. King in London ABC Records ABCX-730 57 15
1972 L.A. Midnight ABC Records ABCX-743 53 21
Guess Who ABC Records ABCX-759 65 14
1973 To Know You Is to Love You ABC Records ABCX-794 71 13
1974 Friends ABC Records ABCX-825 153 27
1977 King Size ABC Records AB-977 154 34
1978 Midnight Believer ABC Records AA-1061 124 27
1979 Take It Home MCA Records MCA-3151 112 22
1981 There Must Be a Better World Somewhere MCA Records MCA-5162 131 26
1982 Love Me Tender MCA Records MCA-5307 179 45
1983 Blues ‘N’ Jazz MCA Records MCA-5413 172 38 21
1985 Six Silver Strings MCA Records MCA-5616 31 23
1988 King of the Blues: 1989 MCA Records MCA-42183
1991 There is Always One More Time MCA Records MCA-10295 76
1993 Blues Summit MCA Records MCA-10710 182 64 93
1995 Lucille & Friends MCA Records MCD-33008
1997 Deuces Wild MCA Records MCD-11711 73 1 33
  • CAN: Platinum
  • US: Gold
1998 Blues on the Bayou MCA Records MCD-11879 186 2
1999 Let the Good Times Roll MCA Records 088 1120422 2
2000 Riding with the King Reprise Records 9 47612-2 3 3
  • AUS: Gold
  • CAN: Platinum
  • US: 2x Platinum
Makin’ Love Is Good for You MCA Records 112 299-2 2
2001 A Christmas Celebration of Hope MCA Records 088112756-2 151 1
2003 Reflections MCA Records 000053202 165 2
2005 B. B. King & Friends: 80 Geffen Records B000526302 45 1 78
2008 One Kind Favor Geffen Records B0011791-02 37 1 78

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1 #LateLateShowWith1D #BBKing #FridayFeeling
2 #BBKing #LateLateShowWith1D Jake Livermore
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4 Boca #WhenIWasAKidIWas #LesserKnownBondFilms
5 #FelizDiaDelMaestro #VegasIn5Words The Lobster
6 #ScandalFinale Bill Cosby #SuperheroDay
7 Clippers Ramadi #bbcqt
8 Hayırlı Cumalar #Tsarnaev Boca
9 Ases Falsos Mitt Romney #LateLateShowWith1D
10 #النصر_١٦_دوري The Edge #FoodRevolutionDay

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June 2, 2015

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Fifa’s Sepp Blatter resigns Fifa presidency and is ‘under investigation in US’ –
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US officials as part of their inquiry into corruption at the world football body, US media say.
The news came hours after Mr Blatter announced that he was stepping down from his role. US prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry last week, with seven Fifa officials arrested in Switzerland, part of a group of 14 people indicted. Two days after the arrests, Mr Blatter was re-elected president of Fifa. However, he said on Tuesday that it appeared the mandate he had been given “does not seem to be supported by everyone in the world”. [BBC]
2014_FIFA_Announcement_(Joseph_Blatter)_Sepp Blatter at the 2014 FIFA Tournament Announcement in 2007

Kim Kardashian catches fire at awards dinner –
Kim Kardashian has already got enough on her plate, what with her expecting her second child and all. So it probably didn’t help when her first outing since announcing her happy news ended in flames. Not actual Kim Kardashian, but her dress at the CFDA Awards. The feathers on her see-through embellished dress brushed against a candle, and she needed some A-list emergency help to put her out. Luckily Pharrell (sans big hat) and his wife Helen were nearby to “jump” on her to pat Kim out. [BBC] See List of the Day
Kim-Kardashian-Instagram-June-2Kim Kardashian Instagram

Four teenagers air-lifted to hospital with serious injuries on roller-coaster crash at Alton Towers –
Five people were hospitalised and a further eleven required medical attention yesterday following a crash on an Alton Towers roller-coaster that the theme park described as the worst in its 35-year history. Two men aged 27 and 18 and two women aged 19 and 17, were airlifted to hospital after suffering serious leg injuries and another man aged 20 was treated for neck and abdominal injury before being taken to hospital by land ambulance. A dozen riders were released one at a time over four hours after being stranded 25ft in the air at an angle of 45 degrees when a carriage carrying 16 people crashed into an empty carriage on The Smiler ride, which has a top speed of 50mph. [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Winners of the 2015 Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards

Semi-Permanent 2015 Opening Titles. from Raoul Marks – MARXº on Vimeo.

List of the day –

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row

Menswear Designer of the Year: Tom Ford

Accessories Designer of the Year: Tabitha Simmons

Swarovski Award for Womenswear: Rosie Assoulin

Swarovski Award for Menswear: Shayne Oliver for Hood by Air

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavrielfor Mansur Gavriel

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Betsey Johnson

The Media Award in Honor of Eugenia Sheppard: Instagram

The Founder’s Award in Honor of Eleanor Lambert: Millard “Mickey” Drexler, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of J.Crew Group, Inc.

International Award: Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino

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1 MC Dinero #WearingOrange #BeatlesRecipes
2 Charles Kennedy Nick Young #CharityTuesday
3 #EstoyHartoDe Mike Huckabee Charles Kennedy
4 #FelizMartes #BeatlesRecipes Big Trouble in Little China
5 #QueBroncaCuando #SummerOfAnswers Alton Towers
6 #MiEstrategiaEnTuiterEs Charles Kennedy #nusnec
7 #bringbackmagcon #BadTeamBuildingActivities Jeremy Hunt
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July 13, 2015

Top News Stories –

Lewis Hamilton refused entry to Wimbledon’s Royal Box because he was ‘not smart enough’ –
Lewis Hamilton was barred from entering the Royal Box during the Wimbledon final on Sunday because he was not wearing a jacket and tie. Despite receiving an invitation to watch the men’s singles final from the Royal Box, the Formula One champion missed the match owing to an “unfortunate misunderstanding regarding the dress code at Wimbledon”, according to his spokesman. Earlier in the day Hamilton posted a picture on Instagram showing his Royal Box invitation package, saying he was “honoured” to have received it. He later posted another picture of himself on Instagram dressed in a colourful shirt and trousers, with the caption “Wimbledon”. [Daily Telegraph]
Lewis-Hamilton-Instagram-Wimbledon©Lewis Hamilton/Instagram

FIFA Turns Down Request for Blatter to Attend U.S. Senate Panel Hearing –
A U.S. Senate panel invited FIFA President Sepp Blatter to answer questions at a hearing this Wednesday about the corruption scandal that has badly tarnished soccer’s global governing body but FIFA declined on his behalf, a congressional official said. FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Blatter’s legal representative in the U.S. declined to comment. Blatter said last week in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that he “won’t take any travel risks until everything has been cleared up”. [NY Times]
Sepp_Blatter_Apr_2015Sepp Blatter

Video of the Day –

Suicide Squad – Comic-Con First Look

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1 #ZAYNHASNOCHILL #mondaymotivation #ThisIsACoup
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4 岩田社長 #ZAYNHASNOCHILL #RIPIwata
5 #FelizLunes #1GottaGo #ZAYNHASNOCHILL
6 #2YearsWithoutCory 50 Cent 50 Cent
7 #mecca_live #TodaysKidsWillNeverKnow Ed Woodward
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