A Variety of Brightly Colored Poison Frogs in the World
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Monday, September 13, 2010
Most Expensive Flat in History
The World's most expensive Luxury flat on sale three bedroom flat in history has been sold for almost £200m - despite a dark history involving a murder in its main reception room.
Reclusive British property developers Christian and Nick Candy are thought to have made a profit of at least £190m from La Belle Epoque penthouse in Monaco, on the French Riviera.
They bought the 17,500 sq ft flat from Englishwoman Lily Safra in the early 2000s, soon after her banker husband Edmond infamously died in a mysterious fire inside the property.
It has now been snapped up on a 97 year lease at an asking price of €240 million (£199m) by an unnamed Middle Eastern investor, thought to be an Arab sheik.
Early theories back in 1999 were that Mr Safra had been killed by Russians in retaliation for supporting an FBI clampdown on money laundering in the Mediterranean principality.
But then Ted Maher, a former American Green Beret medical auxiliary who was caring for the ageing Mr Safra, suddenly confessed to starting the fire, which also killed another nurse.
Despite a double murder charge, Maher spent just five years in prison – increasing speculation that he was a ‘patsy’ set up to take responsibility for the crime by powerful interests who were really responsible.
Whatever the truth, it enabled Christian Candy, 36, and his brother Nick, 37, to make a fortune out of the then blighted flat.
Mrs Safra, who inherited her husband’s £3bn fortune thanks to him cutting his two brothers out of his will two months before his death, was happy to offload it for less than £10m.
In an interview last year Christian Candy admitted he had spent some £26m doing the flat up, turning it into one of the most desirable properties in the world.
With unspoiled views across Monte Carlo’s marina and the sea beyond, the two floor penthouse includes a double height library and vast roof terraces complete with mature 15 foot trees and infinity pool.
There is a leisure room complete with billiard tables and arcade video games, Jacuzzi and spa, and even a media room which includes executive chairs which convert into beds in case of over-work.
Other James Bond touches include old master paintings and cinema screens which emerge from walls at the touch of a button, and numerous walk-in wardrobes and dressing rooms.
Security is also state-of-the art, with a panic room, reinforced glass, and surveillance cameras everywhere.
The Candys, who were brought up in Surrey and started their career borrowing £6000 to do up their grandmother’s house in Earl’s Court, are believed to now be living between another of their Monaco flats and Candyscape II, their multi-million pound yacht.
The area where they live is one of the most expensive in France. In 2008, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was poised to spend more than £450m buying the nearby Villa Leopolda.
Mrs Safra was again the seller, but the deal fell through
Source : Daily Mail
Sunday, September 12, 2010
World's Biggest Naan Bread Unveiled
The world’s largest naan bread has been created by Honeytop Speciality Foods to celebrate the launch of Brewers Fayre’s curry nights.
The record-breaking naan was 10ft by 4ft and has a total area of 40 sq ft - the equivalent of 167 normal size naan breads – and took bakers over five hours to make and 8 staff to carry.
The beast of breads was made using an authentic naan recipe including yoghurt, ghee and Kalonji seeds and weighing more than 40kg and cooked in a specialist tandoori-style oven with the capacity to cook an authentic bread of such magnitude.
The giant naan is believed to have smashed the previous record set by Asda and baked by Honeytop in 2004 which measured 7.7ft by 3.3ft.
The naan was later devoured by the Brewers Fayre team, who admitted: “We can’t think of a more fun way to launch our curry nights.”
Source : The J-Walk Blog Via A Welsh View
Top 9 Deadly Plants on the Earth
1. Amanitas – Destroying Angel
2. Castor Bean
he castor-oil plant was found exclusively in Africa and India for both ornamental and commercial use. It is now found in North America and most tropical regions. It is most often grown for ornamental purposes.
3. Belladonna Atwpa belladonna
All parts of this plant are deadly, especially its roots, leaves, and berries.
4. Barbados Nut
The threat of ivy like plant lies in the deceptively pleasant taste of the seeds. They are so delectable that anyone who tastes one will instinctively eat more of them.
5. Hemlock
The hemlock is native to Europe and Asia, that has found a home in the United States. It is a common sight in unattended, pristine locales around farm buildings, especially in the states along the eastern and western seaboards.
6. Jimsonweed
The entire plant has an unpleasant odor, and the fruit, which appears in autumn, is prickly, ovoid or globular, and contains numerous wrinkled black seeds.
7. Lily of the Valley
The white bell-shaped flowers of the lily of the valley are well known, however, the plant occasionally bears orange-red, fleshy berries, which are lesser known to the general public.
8. Monkshood
Monkshood is found throughout the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Western monkshood is found at higher altitudes in the northern Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states.
9. Rhododendron
The rhododendron is found just about everywhere. Rhododendron plants are evergreen shrubs often forming dense growths in Canada and in the United States.
World's Biggest Chocolate Bar
Largest Chocolate Bar On Earth - Anyone looking for huge amounts of free chocolate should book a flight to Armenia's capital next month. That's when the world's largest chocolate bar will be up for grabs in Yerevan's main square. The Guinness Book of World Records certified the 9,702-pound (4,410-kilogram) chocolate bar at a ceremony Saturday.
It was made by Grand Candy factory and contains all natural ingredients, including 70 percent cocoa mass. The chocolate bar is 224 inches (560 centimeters) long, 110 inches (275 centimeters) wide and 10 inches (25 centimeters) thick.
The factory owner, Karen Vardanyan, said that the chocolate bar was produced to mark the 10th anniversary of the company. He said it will be divided up and handed out Oct. 16.
Source : Google
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Miss Mafia beauty show
Miss Mafia Beauty Contest that could end with the judges getting an offer they can't refuse.
Because organisers in Budapest, Hungary, are holding the world's first pageant exclusively for girls convicted of Mafia-connected crimes. Women can post their pictures on the contest's website — but only after submitting a police mugshot to prove their background.
Other vital statistics submitted to judges include charges and time spent behind bars.
One finalist — identified as Anna — said: "I was told by my friends several times to go in for a beauty contest. But I couldn't because they rule out anyone with a criminal record."
The winner — who gets a car and an apartment in Budapest — will be decided in a final pageant at a bar that was once bombed out in a Mafia clan fight.
One organiser said: "We have thieves, fraudsters, gang members, bank robbers and swindlers — so it should be an interesting night."
Friday, September 10, 2010
Sammy Stacey - Teen Sumo Schoolgirl
Sammy Stacey - SCHOOLGIRL thrilled when she became a Sumo Kid star at just 14. The youngster couldn't believe her luck when she became the first Western girl ever to be invited to join a top sumo school in Japan.
But Sammy's delight soon turned to misery when her sumo teachers began to force-feed her — and she ballooned to a giant 23 STONE.
Sammy, now 16, said: "I was so excited about gaining a place. But it was horrible.
"Because I was low-ranking, I had to get up at five and prepare breakfast for the other students.
"No-one spoke English and I didn't understand what was going on in lessons.
"I felt constantly sick from all the food we had to eat."
Sammy, from Queensland, Australia, bagged the coveted place at Tottori Johoku High School in Japan after winning gold in the Sumo Wrestling World Championships in Estonia in 2008.
But she claims when she arrived at the school her sumo teachers forced her to eat greasy porridge with eggs and lumps of meat, and screamed at her until she finished up to five bowls at a time.
She said: "Every morning it was the same thing — eat, eat, eat.
"As soon as I put my bowl down, they were prodding me to pick it up again."
Sammy was told to snack on beans covered in oil before lunch, which was more meat and rice.
Her daily calorie intake was around 5,500, nearly three times the average recommended for a woman.
After six months Sammy called her parents and begged them to take her home.
Her dad Warren told her to pack all her belongings without telling anyone and take them to her next sumo tournament.
He said: "I was shocked when I saw her. She had put on a lot of weight.
"She was slow and had lost her agility. She just looked so unhappy."
Warren brought her home to her anxious mum Suzanne and the rest of her family in September 2009.
But on her return she suffered even more upset when the Australia Sumo Federation banned her from wrestling over the "escape".
Sammy said: "My heart is broken. I love sumo so much and now I won't be able to wrestle again."
Source : The Sun
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Man Swimming Tied Break World Record
Will Sun Yongding - A Chinese man aims to hoping to set a new Guinness world record for swimming with arms and legs tied
Sun Yongding has been practising his stunt in the Qinghuai River in Nanjing, eastern China's Jiangsu Province.
A helpful friend ties up the 47-year-old's arms and legs before he throws himself into the river and starts swimming.
He is able to cover a distance of around 500 metres in ten minutes and his record is swimming 1.8km (1.1 miles).
'When I was young a lot of my pals were trying to swim in creative ways and I thought of swimming with four limbs tied up then,' he says.
Sun started to take the idea seriously from 2001 and, to start with, practised swimming using only his arms or only his legs.
He then gradually learnt to swim with both arms.
Source : Metro
Interactive Mario Mural Brings Super Mario Bros
The Interactive Mario Mural Brings Super Mario Bros. to Life
This interactive Mario mural has to be one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. This mural was painted by students of the Columbus College of Art & Design as part of a project to advertise the school’s first town hall meeting.
The interactive Mario mural is incredibly impressive. Taking 12 students eight days to create, the mural measures 16 feet by 38 feet. It simulates a typical level in the Super Mario Bros. game, with balls of fire, turtles and mushrooms all around, and allows you to physically put yourself in the game. Urban art is good, but urban video game art is always better.
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