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Bond film opens with guns blazing in Britain
The new James Bond film, "Quantum of Solace," debuted in Britain on Friday to record one-day ticket sales of 4.94 million pounds ($8 million), distributor Columbia Pictures said on Saturday
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The total tops "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the previous record holder with an opening day haul of 4.025 million pounds ($6.5 million) in 2005, and it also beat the 2.9 million pounds ($4.72 million) first-day total for the last Bond flick, "Casino Royale" (2006), Columbia said.
In "Quantum of Solace," British super spy Bond (Daniel Craig) is on a mission across South America and Europe to stop an eco-terrorist from controlling precious natural resources, and he wants to learn why the woman he loved in "Casino Royale" betrayed him.
"Casino Royale," was a huge box office success with a global haul of $594 million.
Friday's British opening of "Quantum of Solace" in 542 theaters will be followed by a November 14 debut of the film in the United States and Canada.
Columbia Pictures is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the media wing of Japan's Sony Corp.
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Oscar trophy trend, fact or fiction?
Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt almost certainly are strong contenders in the best actor category -- shining, word has it, in their respective upcoming movies, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Revolutionary Road
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But they and others might be up against a subtle force they can do little about in the best actor race: Oscar voters tend to favor actors playing real people.
In the past six best actor races, there were three years in which an actor playing a real person was nominated alongside actors portraying fictional characters, and each time the actor playing a true-life person won. You have to go all the way back to the awards for 2001 to find a counter-example: Denzel Washington's victory for playing Alonzo Harris in "Training Day," which bested Will Smith as Muhammad Ali and Russell Crowe as John Nash. Otherwise, it was actors playing real-life figures -- Ray Charles, Idi Amin, Truman Capote -- who took the statue.
This year that means if even one from among the stellar group that includes Frank Langella (as Richard Nixon), Sean Penn (as Harvey Milk) and Josh Brolin (as George W. Bush) lands a best actor nomination, everyone else will have to weigh that added factor.
Best actress favors real personnages even more; the statuette has gone to women playing real people six of the eight years this decade. But with frontrunners such as Meryl Steep, Nicole Kidman and Sally Hawkins taking on fictional roles this go-round, this year may break form.
It's hard to pinpoint what makes Oscar voters tilt this way. But one likely factor is a frame of reference: Philip Seymour Hoffman acting and sounding like Capote probably will move the voter more than Terrence Howard's acting and sounding like Djay from "Hustle & Flow," a person the Academy member has never seen outside the movie (and hasn't seen at all if they've never seen the movie).
Plus, there's the impersonation factor: How could a voter not think Jamie Foxx is good; he even looks like Charles.
It wasn't always this way. In the 1990s, fictional characters bested real people in the best actor category seven out of nine times they went up against one another. And an actress playing a real person won only twice in the 1990s.
So what's changed?
For one thing, the rise of celebrity culture. The TMZs of the world have made it harder to separate actors from their roles since we now know them as real people -- unless they're playing other real people, in which case voters can identify with the person they're playing.
Even if DiCaprio and Pitt are unable to buck the recent trend favoring real-life portrayals, they can take solace in the likelihood they'll have other shots at the top prize. But the seeming voter bias toward real-life bios could also impact a few once-in-a-lifetime performances. Those include the comeback for Mickey Rourke, whose Randy the Ram in "The Wrestler" is a tragic figure to rival Willy Loman; Richard Jenkins, whose understated Walter Vale in "The Visitor" is exquisitely subtle; and Christian Bale, whose Batman in "The Dark Knight" is so darkly evocative.
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Dogs turn upside down for art
Sunday, November 2, 2008
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Dogs turn upside down for art
.Thousands of websites feature funny pictures of dogs – but this one has turned the idea on its head
.Upside Down Dogs offers a range of topsy-turvy canines, all photographed the wrong way up
.The site was set up by Graham Blache, a 24-year-old web developer from San Franciso
He was inspired after taking some photos of his one-year-old English bulldog, Wallace, who is inclined to recline on his back
'As an English bulldog he is blessed with excessive jowls and we always found his droopiness quite hil- arious when inverted,' explained Mr Blache.
'I had some great upside-down shots of him sitting around and one day the idea popped into my head on a whim.
'The site launched on October 14 about 20 minutes after I came up with the idea.'
Even in an era of animal website saturation, Upside Down Dogs has done remarkably well, attracting 500,000 hits from users all over the world.
The puppy photos just keep coming in.
'I have received hundreds of pictures so far and most of them are hilarious,' said Mr Blache. 'It's great because it's pretty easy to take your own and dog owners love to photograph their pets.'
He also summed up the magic formula for the perfect picture – 'Any drooped-faced upside-down dog with excess face meat.'
He added: 'It seems that droopy and traditionally “ugly” dogs tend to make the best upside-down dogs.
'They say people tend to look like their dogs so maybe I shouldn't be so vocal about this as I think my dog makes a great upside-down dog.'
He described Wallace as 'a smelly, hilarious lummox of an English bulldog'.
See pictures of all the dogs on
کد:
http://upsidedowndogs.com
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‘Betrayed’ Paris ready to tie knot with Benji
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Paris Hilton has complained men just use her for s.e.x or money but she is now ready to settle down with someone she trusts
The heiress, 27, said her former lovers had also 'betrayed' and exploited her for fame.
But she now plans to marry her boyfriend, Good Charlotte singer Benji Madden, and start a family next year
Hilton said: 'I've found someone who loves me for me. Benji's my best friend and he'd never hurt me. My love life's in the happiest place it's ever been
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:23:............. every year she says this but
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Katie and Peter go on a show of unity
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The pair were spotted leaving a West Hollywood tapas restaurant on Saturday night holding hands after enjoying some nibbles and drinks.
The couple looked happy and very much in love, an onlooker said. 'They enjoyed a romantic meal, and they seemed very happy together,' the source added
After a 30-minute quick fix, the pair left the restaurant and opened up to waiting reporters and photographers.
When asked what the couple's plans were for the evening, Andre replied: 'Do you know what? I'm going to have fun with her.'
The 35-year-old singer's three-year marriage to the former glamour model was rumoured on the rocks amid reports the couple have had a series of arguments.
The pair had only just returned from a trip to South Africa to renew their wedding vows before rumours of a break-up started.
Andre met 30-year-old Price in 2004 on the TV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! They got married on 10 September 2005, at Highclere Castle, Berkshire, in a lavish ceremony.
The couple have two children, a boy, Junior Savva Andreas, three, and a girl, Princess Tiaamii, one.
Price also has son, Harvey from a previous relationship with former Manchester United footballer Dwight Yorke.
Price, or Jordan, made her name as a topless model before becoming a reality TV star. Andre became a star with his 1996 hit Mysterious Girl
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H.o.rny squirrel stops people voting
Friday, October 31, 2008
A frisky squirrel that was after another squirrel, caused havoc at a polling station when it jumped onto an electric cable and cut off the lights powering over 800 homes
.The one-and-a-half hour black-out that occurred in Florida affected a library that was being used as a voting station
But although it slowed down the voters, they still flowed in to cast their vote for the new US president using flash lights
The squirrel was found dead hours later
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Super-fit shrimp is an internet hit
Monday, November 3, 2008
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Tread carefully: Head down, the shrimp hits the road
. A super-fit shrimp has become an internet hit after it learned how to run on a treadmill
The crustacean was placed on a mini exercise machine in a tank of water as part of an experiment to see how far shrimps travelled for food.
Results showed it could jog at speeds of 20m (66ft) per minute and go three hours before needing a rest
Film of the experiment was put on the internet. Two years on, more than a million people have logged on to watch.
Some fans have even put music to it – such as the Benny Hill theme tune or music from the film Chariots Of Fire.
Prof David Scholnick, of Pacific University in Oregon, said: 'As far as I know, this is the first time that shrimp have been exercised on a treadmill and it was amazing to see how well they did
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Rap stars call for youth to back Obama
Monday, November 3, 2008
Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, performed at a concert for the Democratic candidate in the key swing state of Florida at the weekend.
Combs, 38, said: 'It's bigger than us. We have to do it for our children. We have to do it for the people that died for us to have the right to vote
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, music executive Kevin Liles and r'n'b singer Mary J Blige joined them on stage. They told young voters not to be put off by long lines at polling stations.
No celebrities were campaigning for Republican John McCain yesterday but he has been endorsed by actors Sylvester Stallone, Kelsey Grammer and Jon Voight, plus Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Snake swallows bird whole
.If you're a bird in Australia, it pays not to be cocky
This poor Sulphur-crested cockatoo was relaxing in a back garden when he was snatched by a python and swallowed whole.
The feast happened in the Queensland city of Cairns, scene of a similar incident we brought you recently in which a spider caught and ate a bird
Artist Cindy Lane came across the scene when she investigated a 'couple of loud squawks' in her back garden.
'I considered jumping in to save him but his last breath was being squeezed from him,' she said.
The two-hour meal that ensued was 'difficult to watch but, at the same time, mesmerising', she said
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Drag queen builds rocket car
Her rocket car is ten times as powerful as Hamilton's championship-winning motor and can reach 100mph in less than half a second.
The 57-year-old spent £40,000 and five years designing the car – called Laffin Gas – and has driven it at 200mph
'Our original model had just one engine but I thought it was a bit slow, so we've fitted four. It's actually quite a smooth ride and not too noisy,' she said.
Ms Campbell, from Rushden, Northamptonshire, hopes to hit 300mph to become the fastest woman in Britain in January.
The rockets are fired by a small firework that ignites nitrous oxygen. 'It sounds lethal to me but the figures do sound reasonable,' said a spokesman from Imperial College London's faculty of engineering
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? How does one explain this mess
by JOHN HIGGINSON - Wednesday, November 5, 2008
.The Queen yesterday questioned why nobody saw the credit crunch coming
She asked why no one noticed the 'awful' situation sooner, while opening a £71million building at the London School of Economics.
'At every stage, someone was relying on somebody else,' she was told by LSE's management research director, Prof Luis Garicano.
Meanwhile, David Cameron took his opportunity at prime minister's questions to call for an inquiry into a regulatory failure in the markets
'Our system has failed so badly the Treasury minister said he wanted to see a public inquiry,' the Conservative leader told Gordon Brown.
'Can you tell us when we're going to have that inquiry?' Mr Cameron said that, by refusing to hold an inquiry, the prime minister was demonstrating he could not provide 'the change people want'.
Mr Brown said the only change the Conservatives represented was that 'they change their minds every week'.
Mr Cameron retorted: 'You killed change when you bottled that election. You buried change when you appointed Peter Mandelson.'
Meanwhile, former Tory cabinet minister Stephen Dorrell said it would be 'absurd' if Mr Brown chose not to express his views on whether the Bank of England had moved too slowly to cut interest rates, given he had seen fit to criticise Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross
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Landscapes that are picture-perfect
by JOHN STAPLES - Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A shaggy dog on a windswept seafront, the Sun setting over a poppy field and the sea battering the Yorkshire coastline are some of the stunning photographs that capture the beauty of the British landscape at a new exhibition
. The images are all winners of the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition
Among them is the overall winner, Gary Eastwood's picture of his dog Barney on Hove seafront, and an image of the Sun setting over poppy fields in Dorset by Gabrielle Barnes, 14, who won the youth section
The competition, now in its second year, has a prize fund of more than £20,000 and covers four categories - including images people have taken with their mobile phones.
. A free exhibition opens at the National Theatre in central London on November 17
Readers can get AA Publishing's book of the exhibition at the discounted price of £22 by calling 01903 828 535 and quoting reference LPOTY2
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Cute dog WLTM a mate for puppy love
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A desperate dog owner has posted a profile of his terrier on the internet in a bid to find his lovesick pet partner
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John Roberts decided to take action to try to stop Perkins making indecent advances towards female dogs
'He is six years old, charged up and ready to go. It can get quite embarrassing when we go out. As soon as he sees a female, he is up on two legs and jumping all over them,' the 59-year-old said
A lonely hearts advert for the Jack Russell-cross was also placed in the local paper in Shrewsbury but there have been no takers.
'I have set him up his own e-mail address in case anyone wanted to apply. He's very distressed because he's had no messages or phone calls,' said Mr Roberts.
His e-mail is
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'Food lunacy 'will make labels bigger than tins
The proposals say the print size on packs must be at least 3mm high and extra nutritional guidelines must also be added.
On a small tin of Nestlé cream, the current 45mm-tall label fits comfortably - but under the new laws the label would have to be 90mm high - twice the size of the tin.
The same applies to a new label on Coca-Cola light bottle - there is bigger wording but it is more squashed together
'What the commission is proposing is disproportionate - in more ways than one,' said Susanne Doring, spokeswoman for the confederation of food and drink industries of the EU.
Ironically the problem threatens the smallest portions of products which do most to discourage obesity.
In the next few weeks, food makers will be urging Euro-MPs to reject a one-size-fits-all labelling policy. The proposals have also been criticised by Conservative Euro-MP Chris Heaton-Harris.
'Better food labelling is important but the current proposals seem to have been dreamt up on the back of a napkin,' he said
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Truckers' revenge as Clarkson gets splatted
His remarks about truckers murdering prostitutes have caused anger, with thousands of people complaining to the BBC
As he completed a lorry-driving task on Top Gear, he said: "This is a hard job and I'm not just saying that to win favour with lorry drivers.
"It's a hard job: Change gear, change gear, change gear, check mirror, murder a prostitute, change gear, change gear, murder. That's a lot of effort in a day." In the online game, Run Clarkson Run, you get to navigate the TV host past speeding lorries. The object is to try to pick up as much cash as possible before being splatted by a truck.
The game was built and released on internet by Glasgow games development company T-Enterprise.
T-Enterprise's managing director Sadia Chishti said: "Jeremy Clarkson is a loveable rogue, but we think he's overstepped the mark this time.
"So we figured we'd give truckers the chance for revenge. And not just truckers; the whole family can spend hours playing the game, running over and killing Jeremy Clarkson just for fun
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... How to turn dollars into star bucks
by MILES ERWIN - Thursday, November 6, 2008
You wouldn't have thought origami was a particularly expensive hobby - or one which involves a detailed knowledge of spacecraft
But for artist Won Park, it's a bit of both. The paper-art master twists and folds his creations entirely from one- dollar notes and has fashioned models of some of Hollywood's most famous spaceships.
Among his designs are fantastically intricate replicas of the Millennium Falcon, Tie Fighters and X-Wing jets from the Star Wars films and Captain Kirk's USS Enterprise from Star Trek
The talented - and extremely patient - artist has also created wonderfully detailed models of koi carp, scorpions and a spider.
.The 38-year-old, from Hawaii, took up origami when he was just five and was taught to fold simple models by his mother
'As I got more advanced in my folding skills I started to fold my own creations. Then, in junior high school, I started to fold dollar bills and was hooked on that ever since,' he said
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Basketball player, 73, shoots hoops
Ken Mink made both of his foul shots Monday night in a U.S. college basketball game
Nothing unusual there - except that Mink is 73 years old
Mink, a full-time student at Roane State Community College, entered the game with about 16 minutes left and missed one shot in about three minutes
Seven minutes later, he went back in the game, was fouled and made two free throws as his team beat King College's junior varsity - or "B" team - 93-42
I found myself on the free-throw line 52 years after my last college game," Mink said. "I said, 'Just relax and shoot it like you know how to all day long.' I just floated the shots in there. I'm in the books now. I can relax a little bit."
Mink last played college basketball 52 years ago at Lees College in Jackson, Kentucky.
Last year, after shooting baskets at a neighbor's house, he wrote to several area colleges, and Roane State coach Randy Nesbit agreed to give him a chance.
Mink has practiced regularly with the team since school began in August
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The world without...cows
Life as we know it is built on a series of seemingly insignificant elements - things that we often take for granted, if we think about them at all.
In a brand new series, called The World Without... Fred Dove examines the consequences of removing just one of those insignificant elements, and discovers some surprising possibilities.
What would this mean for daily life around the world? What might we be using instead today?
The first programme in the series, The World Without...Cows, considers the value to global society of all things bovine.
What would our world be like if early man had not domesticated the fearsome aurochs - the likely anscendant of all modern domesticated breeds of cattle?
Fred discovers just how important cows have been to religion, to medicine and indeed to civilisation all around the world, and examines the bovine link with global warming.
What is the future of our cattle? Could we face a future without cows?
First broadcast on 07 November 2008
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Different sides to Bush
15) Running time: 129min
by ANNA SMITH
Some critics have declared Oliver Stone's biopic of George W Bush sympathetic. True, it doesn't particularly accuse him of, say, conspiracy or corruption but it paints a portrait of a man who faced world-changing decisions about war and torture – and arguably took them lightly
W flits back and forth from Bush's days as a hard-drinking young jock to his presidency. Josh Brolin puts in a terrific performance in both roles, particularly entertaining as the clueless, womanising slacker who can't hold down a job, no matter how many daddy (James Cromwell) manages to get him.
It's an absurd image: the future president as a work-shy boozer sneering at his father's political profession. For all his idiocy, we like this W better than the born-again bore he turns into
Following a religious experience, Bush quits the booze and starts getting serious about a career in politics – not for ideological reasons but for personal ones. Every opportunity he grasps is due to ambition, or even just convenience.
The tone of W flits from humorous to sinister as this amiable self-server begins to run the most powerful country in the world. In both the flashbacks and recent past, much is made of Bush's infamous malapropisms: amusing but an easy target worked too hard. A more crucial problem is the supporting cast.
All of Bush's real-life allies are played by recognisable actors, including Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, and frankly it's distracting. Especially odd is the mannered turn from a prosthetically altered Thandie Newton as a largely mute Condoleezza Rice.
W isn't a flawless classic but it certainly provokes thought about the rule of a president few will be sorry to see the back of
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Muscle men flex their pecs
Don't try this at the gym. Competitors flex their muscles in the men's World Bodybuilding Championships in Bahrain
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Easy Virtue offers frothy escapism
(PG) Running time: 97min
by ANNA SMITH - Thursday, November 6, 2008
A posh British family lives together in a big house in the late 1920s. Kristin Scott Thomas is Mrs Whittaker, the repressed, uptight mother, while her husband (Colin Firth) is an unshaven eye-roller who makes sardonic quips about his two daughters' hysteria – a Mr Bennet of his age
The reason for all the excitement is the return of brother John (Ben Barnes), who has married an American racing car driver called Larita (Jessica Biel
. As Larita squares off against John's disapproving mother, light humour ensues
Biel doesn't quite nail her character's supposed strong will but what she lacks in depth, she makes up for in glamour – much like the film itself
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Queen remembers fallen heroes
The Queen has attended a Festival of Remembrance to commemorate those who died while serving their country
Her Majesty was joined at the Royal Albert Hall in London by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Princess Royal
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah also attended the event, which was organised by the Royal British Legion
The Royal Festival of Remembrance has been held annually since 1927 and this year featured a prominent role for Territorial Army veterans as 2008 is the TA's centenary.
Welsh soprano star Katherine Jenkins and tenor Russell Watson were among the performers as well as various Service bands.
Alongside the traditional military marches, the Band of the Royal Marines provided a more unconventional note, playing a funky tune featuring bongos and an electric guitar solo.
. The event culminated in the release of thousands of red paper poppies from the roof of the Albert Hall
More than 8,000 veterans from over 200 regiments are expected to march in the Cenotaph Parade in Whitehall to mark Remembrance Sunday
For the first time this year, ex-servicemen and women from Northern Ireland will take part in the parade
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Scooter thieves have change of heart
Friday, November 7, 2008
. Thieves returned a stolen scooter to its owner when they read in a newspaper that she was disabled
Not only did they return the item to Agota Lay, but also the local newspaper that had prodded their conscience.
They also changed the headline from "Thieves without a Heart," to "Thieves with a Heart," and laid it on the bike
Romanian national daily Adevarul reports that the 39-year-old woman has been suffering from a muscle wasting disease for 18 years.
.She lives off monthly benefits of 366 lei ($128) and took out a bank loan to buy the scooter
"I think it is a miracle," Lay said
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Beyoncé: 'I'll be first black Wonder Woman
by ANDREI HARMSWORTH - Monday, November 10, 2008
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Beyonce ready to be Wonder-ful
Beyoncé Knowles is so 'inspired' by US President elect Barack Obama, the singer now says she wants to play the first ever black Wonder Woman
The Dreamgirls and Austin Powers actress is so determined, she claims she's already had meetings with DC Comics and Warner Bros, who own the rights to the story.
'I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman?' said the If I Were A Boy singer
'And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It's time for that, right? It would be great.'
The 27-year-old's ambition comes after 007 star Daniel Craig recently said it was time to have the first 'black' James Bond
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Extreme couple's ridiculous sport obsession
. Particularly if you're James Bamber and Sally Raynes and bizarre sports are your thing
Through the week they lead 'mundane office lives' - but every weekend they travel around the country seeking wacky challenges
The couple from Devon have enlivened their lives by taking part in more than 90 championships for such fun events as bog-snorkling, gurning, shin-kicking, clog throwing and stinging nettle eating.
Data analyst Mr Bamber, 35, is World Russian Egg Roulette champion - like Russian roulette except with five hard-boiled and one uncooked egg.
Ms Raynes, 36, an event manager, said: 'We became hooked after taking part in a bog-snorkelling contest that we saw advertised in a local paper.
'We had to swim to the end of a 60-yard bog using a mask, snorkel and flippers. It was cold, pitch black... but we had a blast so we started looking around to see what other events were on.'
Stinging nettle eating saw them having to eat as many nettle stalks without being sick.
But that was nothing compared to swamp soccer. 'That was definitely the hardest event,' said Ms Raynes.
'The pitch was a complete quagmire of mud and you had to kick the ball down to the other end.
'Even though James is incredibly fit, within 15 seconds he was exhausted.'
Yesterday the pair, who plan to write a book on their experiences, were out again - taking part in a wife-carrying contest.
Get James and Sally's book 'Wacky Nation', at all good book stores, out now
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Woolly’s a mammoth help for elephant
. The six-month-old was introduced to Albert, two, after he was orphaned with little hope of survival
Despite a few teething problems, the two are now best friends, and spend hours playing and cuddling
'When we first put Themba and Albert together, all hell broke loose. Themba chased him around his watering hole,' said Lyndal Davies, who is filming the unlikely couple.
But the next day things changed, she revealed, adding: 'The two were exploring together, with Themba's trunk resting on Albert's back. Since then, they have been inseparable.'
Themba was rejected by other elephants after his mother fell down a cliff and died. 'We faced a very difficult decision,' Ms Davies said.
'Let nature take its course and let him die a slow, cruel death or intervene and give him a second chance.'
She and her team took him to the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre near Port Elizabeth, South Africa. They will release Themba when he is two but, until then, he has plenty of time with Albert.
'Albert copies everything Themba does. The other day, they demolished a termite mound together,' added Australian Ms Davies. 'The really sweet thing was that after they exhausted themselves they fell asleep on top of it, side by side
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Hooligan hogs trash football pitch
. A football match was cancelled after angry wild boars invaded the pitch, leaving it covered in potholes
The hog hooligans squeezed though a gap in the fence at Soudley Recreation Ground in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and dug up giant mounds with their snouts.
The new pitch was so badly damaged by the boars, who live in nearby woodland, that Soudley's match with Charfield on Saturday was cancelled.
The pitch underwent a £1,000 returfing and expansion last April, paid for by fundraising events such as discos
Gloucestershire Football Association operations manager Chris Lucker said today: "This is the first time we've heard of anything like this.
Usually it's motorbikes or cars that tear up pitches, not boars. There is funding available for the upkeep of pitches."
Club secretary Louise Stephens said members and players were "absolutely devastated" by the carnage that afternoon. She told the Western Daily Press: "A resident saw the pitch at 8.30am and phoned my husband to say we had to get down straight away. There is no way of playing on the pitch now."
It will take several months to get the pitch up to scratch. All matches have been postponed. After being hunted to near-extinction 300 years ago, wild boars have bred rapidly in recent decades after they were imported from Europe for meat.
Escapes from wildlife parks and farms increased in the 1990s as the captive numbers grew. In January this year, a wild boar broke into Ruardean Primary School, seven miles away from the Soudley pitch, and was shot dead in the playground after it became aggressive and stomped its feet.
There have been several instances of horse riders chased by charging boars, boars trashing private gardens and farms and of boars tearing dogs apart.
Farmers also fear the animals spread diseases like classical swine fever and foot and mouth.
It is estimated that there are over 1,000 boars in the UK and sightings have also been reported in east Somerset, Kent, East Sussex, west Dorset and Devon.
Forestry experts say the animals have little fear of people because they have not been hunted and have no natural predators.
A selective cull of boars was sanctioned in February this year by Biodiversity Minister Joan Ruddock
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37p umbrella still reigns 41yrs later
Monday, November 10, 2008
And thanks to occasional applications of Vaseline to it, Mr Jones has used the umbrella to keep dry ever since – for an amazing 41 years.
The 62-year-old vending machine operator bought the second-hand umbrella in 1967 during a day trip to London for 7s 6d – just 37p
'It has just lasted and lasted. It's showing no signs of wear or rust and is still in perfect condition after 41 years,' he said.
'It just happens to have survived over the years. I reckon there's easily another ten years of use left in it, and it should definitely make it past the 50-year mark.'
And his secret for umbrella longevity? Bizarrely, it's keeping it dry. 'When I get it indoors, I will wipe it down with a rag, and sometimes put Vaseline on it to keep the water away,' he said.
Mr Jones, from Womborne, Staffordshire, said it has also served him as a parasol on occasion – most notably in the blistering summer of 1976
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Thief very sorry, seven years later
Monday, November 10, 2008
A remorseful thief sent £100 and an apology letter to a shop seven years after stealingcigarettes from the premises
Imran Ahmed, who runs Raja Foods in Easton, Bristol, was stunned to get the penitent note and the money as compensation for the packs taken in 2001.
Mr Ahmed, 27, who remembers the night-time raid which left him with a broken shutter and windows said the anonymous writer's change of heart was 'really good
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Big Apple trip is ruined... by apple conviction
by SUZY AUSTIN - Monday, November 10, 2008
A couple's dream trip to New York has been shattered by a 37-year-old conviction forstealing an apple
. John Wells won the transatlantic trip plus spending money but can't go because of the offence in 1971
The 55-year-old has to have an interview at the American embassy in London, where the earliest slot is in February - two months after the trip
'I felt sick when they told me the date of the interview,' he said. 'I don't know what I'm going to do. What amazes me is that if I was a rapist or murderer, I would have to go through the same process. But all I did was steal an apple.'
Mr Wells, from Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and a pal stole an apple each from outside a shop during a boozy night.
He was fined £10 and the conviction is now classed as a 'spent offence' in Britain. But American law demands anyone with a criminal conviction, no matter how old or trivial, must declare it in advance and apply for a entry visa.
'I've been all over the world and this has never caused a problem before,' added Mr Wells, who won the trip on a Smooth FM radio contest.
'I might have to raffle the prize for charity now. I'm totally gutted.'
A spokesman for the radio station said: 'There is little we can do now.'
The American embassy declined to comment
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1976 James Bond car goes for auction
. The car, which turns into a submarine in the film, could fetch £120,000 next month
. Goldfinger's AU1 number plate could go for at least £80,000
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Roads made cool with street art
Thursday, November 13, 2008
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Normally ordinary roads are transformed into art
. Street art is normally used to bring a little culture to an otherwise unremarkable environment
But one artist has made unsightly telephone and electrical boxes blend in by camouflaging them with pictures – of the street
'The images are all unique, based on the context,' said 39-year-old painter Joshua Callaghan
'As far as I know, no one has walked into one of the boxes who wouldn't have walked into an uncovered box.'
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Some people out walking get a shock at the art
. Mr Callaghan was given the commission to spruce up the boring grey units in a suburb of Los Angeles
Guaranteed to last for over a decade, the photos printed on to vinyl are graffiti resistant and durable, even in the baking hot LA sun.
'It is interesting to see the surroundings change around the boxes as time passes – but the image on the box stays,' Mr Callaghan added.
. The artist has even let his creative juices flow freely on some boxes
. 'On some of them I started playing with the concept,' he explained
'Transposing one landscape on another, adding elements that don't exist, or moving the angle of alignment to create distorted images
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Second Life s.e.x causes divorce
Amy Taylor caught estranged husband David Pollard having s.e.x with an animated woman in Second Life. 'I went mad – I was so hurt.
I just couldn't believe what he'd done,' said Ms Taylor, 28. 'I looked at the screen and saw his character having ---. It's cheating, as far as I'm concerned
The couple met online in 2003 and, within months, she had moved into 40-year-old Mr Pollard's flat in Newquay, Cornwall.
They spent hours together on Second Life, where players create fantasy lives, with jobs and relationships.
After two years, the pair married – in real life and in the game – but Ms Taylor said she knew something was wrong.
. 'I had my suspicions about what he was doing in Second Life,' she added
In February last year, she caught her husband's avatar, Dave Barmy, having --- with a call girl in the game.
.Her character, Laura Skye, hired a virtual private detective to investigate his online adultery
. But Mr Pollard apologised and begged for forgiveness
But the final bombshell came this April, when she caught her husband with his new online flame, Modesty McDonnell.
'I caught him cuddling a woman on a sofa in the game. It looked really affectionate,' said Ms Taylor, who filed for divorce the next day.
'He confessed he'd been talking to this woman in America for weeks and said he didn't love me any more
Ms Taylor said she was down for a while – but now has a new man, who she met in the online game World Of Warcraft
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It's raining world-breaking records
Travelling at speeds of up to 100mph, these 71 daredevils in California came out top on Guinness World Records Day.
So did more than 100 people who braved the winter chill to cram into St Pancras station, central London, clad only in their underwear yesterday
.'We did get lots of odd looks,' said Lucy Osborne from Pants to Poverty, which organised the strip-off
Also in London, hungry record-breakers gobbled through 285.5m (937ft) of pizza in Camden and more than 200 people took part in the Bulldog gin arm-wrestling challenge near Tower Bridge.
.An estimated 200,000 people took part in Guinness World Records Day yesterday
.Among the winners was Di Huanran, who made the highest ever waterfall dive of 12.9m (42ft) in China
And in New Zealand, contestants rushed to be the fastest to peel and eat three Kiwis – fruits, that is
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Man walks into bar with alligator
. Customers at a bar were stunned when a man walked in with his 3-foot pet alligator on a lead
Police and animal control officers were immediately called to the scene at Johnny's Saloon in California but the man had put the gator back into his truck where another gator was found.
It is not know if the alligator caused any damage, but both pets were taken in by animal control as it is illegal to keep gators as domestic pets in the state.
Police are investigating the matter
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Man attacks McDonald's staff for unhappy meal
Friday, November 14, 2008
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Man attacks after unhappy meal
.A man who attacked a McDonald's employee for not serving him breakfast has pleaded guilty to assault
Andrew Hamish Deans, 20, from Edinburgh, launched at the manager in the fast food restaurant while on holiday in Australia after he was told that only the breakfast menu was on sale.
The court heard how Deans and two friends arrived at McDonald's at 5am and demanded a meal, but after hearing that they couldn't have that order, they became angry and aggressive toward the staff
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Man hands ID to checkpoint police, speeds away, tracked down easily
Thursday, November 13, 2008
An American man made a foolhardy attempted escape by speeding away after he handed over his ID to police at a checkpoint
They say a man handed over his license and registration at a sobriety checkpoint during the weekend, then peeled out and sped away, almost hitting an officer.
Police eventually pulled over the 32-year-old man and reported finding marijuana in his vehicle
He was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, possession of drugs, disobeying a police officer and reckless conduct
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Dad leaves kids alone with knife, hatchet and bat for protection
Thursday, November 13, 2008
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Knives and children don't mix
An American man has been arrested for child neglect after leaving his two kids alone with a knife, hatchet and baseball bat for protection
Daniel R. Stewart of St Petersburg, Florida, left his seven-year-old girl and six-year-old boy with the weapons to protect themselves
. He said he was going to the store but police said his story was inconsistent
.After he left the children emerged from the house and told neighbours they were scared
. They are now in the custody of their mother
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The world without...copper
Life as we know it is built on a series of seemingly insignificant elements - things that we often take for granted, if we think about them at all
In a brand new series, called The World Without... Fred Dove examines the consequences of removing just one of those insignificant elements, and discovers some surprising possibilities.
What would this mean for daily life around the world? What might we be using instead today?
The second programme in the series, The World Without...Copper, considers the value to global society of this versatile metal.
You might be forgiven for thinking that copper is just another metal. In fact it is a vitally important substance.
Discovering how to work it had a tremendous impact, transforming the society, culture and even the mentality of early man.
It may even be responsible for the practice of cremating bodies. Without copper, cultures from Mexico to Romania would today be deprived of much of their music, and food lovers would be denied the taste of lobster, prawns and crab.
Fred discovers that a world without copper would be without a crucial recent medical discovery - and even the evolution of life itself would be radically different.
First broadcast 14 November 2008
For Downlaoding
Time :23 Mins,10Mbyte
نقل قول:
کد:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/docarchive/docarchive_20081114-0800a.mp3
