February 5, 2016

Top News Stories –

X Games biker and BMX star Dave Mirra dies –
Police in the US say X Games biker Dave Mirra has died aged 41. Officers in North Carolina say his body was found early on Thursday with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Dave Mirra was a former BMX champion and one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history. He won a medal every year from 1995 to 2008, picking up 14 golds. His one-time record of 24 career medals was only broken in 2013 by Bob Burnquist. Only Shaun White has won more X Games gold medals than him. [BBC Newsbeat] See Top Twitter Trends (UK)
Dave_Mirra_2010Dave Mirra in 2010

New York crane collapse kills at least one person –
A large construction crane has collapsed in lower Manhattan in New York City, killing one person and injuring at least two others. The Fire Department of New York confirmed the fatality and is on the scene responding to the accident. The collapse happened along West Broadway early on Friday morning in the Tribeca neighbourhood. The downed crane, which filled the street, fell onto numerous parked cars. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the victim was sitting in a parked car at the time of the accident, and that it was caused by high winds. Workers were in the process of lowering the crane due to the high winds when it collapsed. No workers were injured. [BBC] See Video of the Day

1957 Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti breaks auction sale for racing car at $32 million –
A 1957 Ferrari driven by the great British motor racers of the 1950s broke the record for the world’s most expensive racing car sold at auction after fetching just over €32 million (£24.7 million) on Friday. Despite the stratospheric price at the Artcurial auction in Paris, the buyer cannot use the vehicle on the roads as it was designed purely for racing. Only four Ferrari 335 S Spider Scagliettis were ever produced, and this one had been in the hands of a private French collector for more than 40 years – hence the feverish excitement at the Rétromobile classic car show in Paris, where the auction took place. The 335S is purely a racing car, unlike the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, which was a dual purpose vehicle also homologated for road use.[Daily Telegraph] See List of the Day

Video of the Day –

Crane collapse in New York – original footage by Glenn Zito

Copyright Glenn Zito.

List of the Day –

Cars sold at auction for over $10 million (source Wikipedia]

Date MY Car s/n Auctioneer Locale Original price Adjusted
August 14, 2014 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO 3851GT Bonhams Carmel, California, United States US$38,115,000 $38,098,927
February 5, 2016 1957 Ferrari 335S 674 Artcurial Paris, France US$35,711,359 $35,711,359
July 12, 2013 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 196 010 00006/54 Bonhams Goodwood, West Sussex, United Kingdom US$29,600,000 $30,069,371
December 10, 2015 1956 Ferrari 290 MM 626 RM Sotheby’s New York City, New York, United States US$28,050,000 $28,050,000
August 17, 2013 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S NART Spider 10709 RM Auctions Monterey, California, United States US$27,500,000 $27,936,071
August 16, 2014 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale 6701 RM Auctions Monterrey, California, United States US$26,400,000 $26,388,867
February 6, 2015 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider 2935GT Artcurial Paris, France US$18,500,000 $18,500,000
June 27, 2014 1954 Ferrari 375-Plus Spider Competizione 384 Bonhams Goodwood, West Sussex, United Kingdom US$18,400,177 $18,392,418
August 13, 2015 1964 Ferrari 250 LM 6105 RM Auctions Monterey, California, United States US$17,600,000 $17,600,000
August 17, 2015 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider 3095GT Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$16,830,000 $16,830,000
August 17, 2015 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale 3269GT Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$16,500,000 $16,500,000
August 21, 2011 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 0666TR Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$16,390,000 $17,241,019
August 16, 2014 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider 2903 GT Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$15,180,000 $15,173,599
November 21, 2013 1964 Ferrari 250 LM 6107 RM Auctions New York City, New York, United States US$14,300,000 $14,526,757
December 10, 2015 1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato DB4GT/0186/R RM Auctions New York City, New York, United States US$14,300,000 $14,300,000
August 13, 2015 1998 McLaren F1 ‘LM-Specification’ SA9AB5AC4W1048073 RM Auctions Monterey, California, United States US$13,750,000 $13,750,000
August 13, 2015 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta ‘Tour de France’ 0557GT RM Auctions Monterey, California, United States US$13,200,000 $13,200,000
August 14, 2015 1953 Jaguar C-Type Works Lightweight XKC 052 RM Auctions Monterey, California, United States US$13,200,000 $13,200,000
May 25, 2013 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Berlinetta ‘Competizione’ 0320AM RM Auctions Tivoli, Lazio, Italy US$12,812,800 $13,015,974
May 17, 2009 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa 0714TR RM Auctions Maranello, Emilia-Romagna, Italy US$12,402,500 $13,679,879
August 19, 2012 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster 130949 Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$11,770,000 $12,131,681
August 15, 2014 1964 Ferrari 250 LM 6045 RM Auctions Monterrey, California, United States US$11,550,000 $11,545,129
October 14, 2015 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB 1995GT H&H Classics Duxford, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom US$11,440,968 $11,440,968
August 19, 2012 1960 Ferrari 250 GT California LWB Competizione Spyder 1639 GT Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$11,275,000 $11,621,471
August 17, 2012 1968 Ford GT40 P/1074 RM Auctions Monterey, California, United States US$11,000,000 $11,338,020
May 18, 2008 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider 2377GT RM Auctions Maranello, Emilia-Romagna, Italy US$10,894,900 $11,974,287
Sotheby’s
August 21, 2011 1931 Duesenberg Model J Long-Wheelbase Coupe 2478 Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$10,340,000 $10,876,885
August 17, 2015 1982 Porsche 956 956-003 Gooding & Company Pebble Beach, California, United States US$10,120,000 $10,120,000
August 16, 2014 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 10621 RM Auctions Monterrey, California, United States US$10,175,000 $10,170,709

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4 #NoHayNadaPeorQue #nationalweatherpersonsday Maurice White
5 #BuenViernes #NewMusicFriday #WorldNutellaDay
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February 10, 2016

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Gymnast Sophina DeJesus’s hip-hop routine wows the internet –
Video of an American student gymnast has gone viral after she threw in some hip-hop moves during a university competition. Sophina DeJesus’s floor routine has been watched millions of times online. The UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, undergraduate told Pac-12 Sports Report she had “no clue” it would get such a big reaction. “I wanted to think of something to end my senior year with a bang,” she said. Sophina was awarded 9.925 for her routine, despite the crowds cheering for the judges to give her a perfect 10. [BBC Newsbeat] See Video of the Day
Sophina DeJesus NY Times tweetSophina DeJesus NY Times tweet

Video of the Day –

Sophina DeJesus UCLA Floor 2016 vs Utah 9.925

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February 11, 2016

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Einstein’s gravitational waves found at last –
One hundred years after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, scientists have finally spotted these elusive ripples in space-time. In a highly anticipated announcement, physicists with the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) revealed on 11 February that their twin detectors have heard the gravitational ‘ringing’ produced by the collision of two black holes about 400 megaparsecs (1.3 billion light-years) from Earth.“Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves,” David Reitze, the executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, said at a Washington DC press conference. “We did it!” One black hole was about 36 times the mass of the Sun, and the other was about 29 solar masses. As they spiralled inexorably into one another, they merged into a single, more-massive gravitational sink in space-time that weighed 62 solar masses, the LIGO team estimates. [Nature] See Video of the Day
Nature tweet

Star Wars prosecuted over Harrison Ford injury –
The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted over the incident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg. The actor was struck by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood set of the Millennium Falcon in June 2014. The Health And Safety Executive has brought four criminal charges against Foodles Production (UK) Ltd – a subsidiary of Disney. Foodles Production said it was “disappointed” by the HSE’s decision. Following the incident, Ford was airlifted to hospital for surgery. [BBC] Harrison Ford received more than £23 million for his role in the new Star Wars blockbuster and last year crashed his light aircraft for a third time.
Harrison-Ford Harrison Ford

Video of the Day –

LIGO Gravitational Wave Chirp

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February 12, 2016

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Sir Richard Branson ‘attacked’ by stingray and door on holiday –
Sir Richard Branson had a holiday to remember, for all the wrong reasons, after he was injured by a stingray and then a bullet-proof glass door. The Virgin billionaire said he had been “in the wars” in the Cayman Islands, admitting his holiday “didn’t quite go to plan”. “We were surrounded by stingray, as well as stunning coral reefs and tropical fish,” he wrote in a blog post. “But the rays were feeding all around, and they mistook yours truly for their food. Suddenly I felt a painful sensation on my wrist – they have one heck of a painful kiss! Rays are actually part of the shark family, so I’ve now been kissed by a shark. Getting stung by a ray is meant to bring seven years good luck but it didn’t bring much for Branson who then had an unfortunate run-in with a glass door. “As my anniversary was coming up, I popped into a local jewellery shop to look for a gift for Joan [his wife]. I strolled purposefully into the shop, not noticing there was a glass door in my way. Crash!” he explained. “I hit the glass head first and I got this painful cut above my left eye. It was bullet-proof glass! We quickly set up a makeshift operating theatre, where I was given three stitches. [Daily Telegraph]
Richard Branson tweetRichard Branson tweet

Indonesia wants gay-themed emojis removed –

Indonesia wants social networking sites to remove any emojis representing same-sex couples, it’s reported. One popular messaging app, Line, has already dropped all LGBT-themed emojis, after saying it had received complaints from users. Now the Indonesian government is asking major players like Facebook and WhatsApp to follow suit and remove the icons for users within the country, the Republika newspaper reports. “No social media may show items that smack of LGBT. Because we have our own rules, like religious values and norms, which they must respect,” information ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu is quoted as saying. Homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, but prevailing conservative attitudes in the Muslim-majority country make open discussion of sexuality controversial. Mr Cawidu did not specify what would happen if companies refused to remove the emojis. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

The Speed of Life

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  • 2016 Taiwan earthquake
    • The death toll from the earthquake rises to 94 with 550 people injured, and at least 30 more missing and believed buried in the apartment complex rubble in Tainan. (CNN)
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February 13, 2016

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Bill Murray hurled fans phones of a rooftop –
Bill Murray is accused of going all Naomi Campbell on some fans who tried to take his photo in the tranquil seaside town of Carmel, CA … and now cops are investigating. Bill was hanging out at the Vesuvio rooftop lounge, a popular watering hole for celebs playing in the annual Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tourney. It’s going on now, and Bill is playing. The owner of the restaurant, Scott Pepe, tells us Bill wasn’t drinking … he just got really pissed when a few patrons got starstruck and took his pic. The fans were pretty obvious, with flashes going off only 10 feet away from Bill, according to Scott. He says Bill got so angry he got up and chucked their phones off the 2nd story rooftop. Police spoke to the star of Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day but decided not to press charges. Instead, the owners of the phones were happy to be compensated. [TMZ]
Bill_Murray_by_Gage_SkidmoreBill Murray

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/12/bill-murray-throws-phones-carmel-restaurant/#ixzz40F2rItkn
This painting is ‘too obscene’ for Facebook –
This image is of the painting Ice Cream which was created in 1964 by one of the world’s first pop artists, Evelyne Axell. It was uploaded last week by the Philadelphia Museum of Art however censors removed it shortly afterwards. The museum says Facebook told them it shows “excessive amounts of skin or suggestive content”. Far from obscene, experts at the museum described the painting as “challenging typical standards by showing women…and their playful characteristics”. [BBC Newsbeat]
Phila Museum of Art tweetPhila Museum of Art tweet

Video of the Day –

InFrame – Zun Lee from InFrame on Vimeo.

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May 29, 2016

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Indy 500: Rookie Alexander Rossi wins 100th running –
Running on fumes on the final laps of the race, rookie Alexander Rossi ran out of fuel coming out of Turn 4 — and still managed to win the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Rossi, a 24-year-old native of California, coasted to the line ahead of Carlos Munoz, Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan as late-race fuel strategy led to a wild and tense finish. It was perhaps one of the more unlikely Indy 500 victories, as Rossi has almost no experience in racing on oval tracks after spending several years pursuing a career in Formula One. Rossi couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I have no idea how we pulled that off,” he said, in a television interview immediately after the race. [USA Today]
Alexander RossiAlexander Rossi

Video of the Day –

The force is still strong for Boogie Storm | Grand Final | Britain’s Got Talent 2016

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