Candice Swanepoel Love Pink (6 pics)

Candice Swanepoel ‘Love Pink’ Victoria’s Secret Campaign
Fashion model Candice Swanepoel in cool latest casual-wear and baseball items for the ’Girl Next Door Love Pink’ new Victoria’s Secret Campaign.

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Michael Sedgwick Trust

“Oscar” ceremonies, awards for this and that, tend to get a bit overblown. Not so the Ron Staughton Memorial Trophy presented to the Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust, “in recognition of promoting the cause of historical motoring.” Last year’s winner Neil Tuckett made a modest presentation to Michael Ware, chairman of the trust, against a backdrop of an original and unrestored 1924 Model T Ford. Appropriate: Ron Staughton was for years Director of Ford’s Heritage Centre at Dagenham. My applause is three-fold. Firstly the trust supported our research on Reggie Tongue, first owner of ERA R11B, making the book on him a practical proposition. His family provided a goldmine of material but making a commercial publication of it was at best uncertain. Secondly the Ford Heritage Centre has been helpful on many occasions in connection with our books on Ford. It also arranged the loan of a Capri for the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Classic last year. See older blogs. Thirdly motoring historians all owe a debt to the late Michael Sedgwick, a meticulous researcher whose work we all gratefully plunder, confident of its precision. The trouble with looking up Sedgwick is that, as you dip into the text, it is so lucid, articulate, absorbing and entertaining that you read on and on…

I read about the award in Beaulieu’s informative Friends of the National Motor Museum Trust’s revamped and useful Newsletter.

Alfa Romeo 158/159

Goodwood Festival of Speed press day Alfa 158/159
Alfa Romeo is being less than generous to itself describing the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone as the inaugural F1 European Championship race. It was won by Giuseppe Farina driving an Alfa Romeo conceived in 1937, largely built in Modena by Scuderia Ferrari. A 1.5 litre, it gave 190bhp on test, 205bhp for its first race at Livorno and 225bhp at an astonishing (for 1938) 7,500rpm. By the time it reappeared in 1946 the supercharged straight-eight was doing 265bhp and the two-stage supercharged cars in the 1948 French Grand Prix at Rheims 310bhp.
Dr Farina’s car at Silverstone in 1950 was giving 350bhp at 8,500rpm and the engine had altered so much that in April 1951 Alfa changed the type number from 158 to 159. The British Grand Prix was the first race in the new WORLD Championsip, which Farina went on to win in 1950. There had been a European championship inaugurated by the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) in 1934. Chosen by a committee on the basis of a season’s grand prix racing, holders were Rudolf Caracciola, Bernd Rosemeyer and Hermann Lang
Goodwood Press Day: Number one daughter
Alfa Romeo is inviting UK owners to submit pictures of their cars to an online archive, which will form a mosaic of Alfa’s Centenary model, a new Giulietta. The images will appear in a mosaic, capturing Alfa’s heritage, beginning, Alfa says, “with the Type 158 that won the inaugural F1 European Championship race 60 years ago at Silverstone.”
Every image uploaded before June 18, will be included in a prize draw for an Alfa Romeo goodie bag and a pair of VIP tickets to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 2 - 4July, when Alfa is the featured marque. There will also be an overall prize of a luxury weekend at The Goodwood Hotel with a Giulietta to drive. The winner will also get the chance to drive the 8C Competizione on the Goodwood circuit.
Alfa had a quirky badge with a serpent eating a child
There was not much room in the cockpit
Alfa Romeo UK Brand Communications Manager, Damien Dally, says: "2010 is a huge landmark for Alfa Romeo and we feel that this project will perfectly capture the brand's identity and really allows us to celebrate with the thousands of people who have put us where we are today - our customers."
To submit a photo, visit www.alfacentenary.co.uk.
I have never owned an Alfa, so no picture of mine, but I have tested and admired the iconic brand a great deal over the years. Here’s the Mito Multiair I enjoyed in Scotland recently.

Meet Einstein - The World's Smallest Horse (7 pics)

Meet Einstein, The World's Smallest Horse
A pint-sized horse was born on 23rd April Friday, 2010 at Tiz A Miniature Horse Farm, 158 Garland Road, Barnstead, New Hampshire, may be the smallest ever, his proud owners say. This pinto stallion, named as Einstein by his owners, Rachel Wagner and Charles Cantrell of Bellingham, weighing just 6 pounds and measuring 14 inches in height at birth. As the world’s smallest horse, the three-day old pinto stallion could be a record breaker. An application was already submitted by Wagner to the Guinness Book of World Records to see whether Einstein qualifies as the world’s smallest horse.

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Minissha Lamba Sizzles on FHM Mag 2010 (7 pics)

Minissha Lamba Sizzles on  FHM Magazine April 2010

Minissha Lamba sizzles in hot photo shoot on FHM Magazine’s Indian Edition for the month of April 2010. Minissha Lamba starving high to get success but till time only failure come to her way. She tried to explore new scope by bars it all for Maxim last year and subsequently in her movies. Minissha once again back with her hot image and pose candidly for FHM India.

It appears that being a perfectionist is not limited to the likes of Aamir Khan. Film maker Shyam Benegal too has strived for perfection in each of his films released so far and this was apparent in the manner he instructed the cast of his film to not just get the mannerisms right but also the language. Minissha Lamba.

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IAM SAFE CYCLING

It is reassuring to get some common sense on safety. You can generally rely on the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). Cycle training, it says, would be better for safety than making helmets compulsory. An online poll of 6,000 found only 1 per cent support for compulsory cycle helmets. More cycle lanes would be better still. Duncan Pickering, IAM Cycling Development Manager, said: “It is encouraging that people see additional public money – by extension further training and improved infrastructure – as the most important factor affecting cyclist’s safety. We would never discourage cyclists from wearing helmets. Cyclist behaviour, awareness of other road users and visibility would make a bigger difference.” Roundheads always imagine you can achieve things by compulsion, regulations, bans or prohibitions. They do not always work. Look at the ban on mobile phones while driving, which outgoing governors Ed Balls and Harriet Harman flout. Who remembers cycling with a Cyclemaster? Here is a 1952 one that took some of the effort out of cycling. It was 32cc and a 2-stroke and didn’t do much for a bicycle’s centre of gravity. It is in the motorcycle museum at Bakewell.

Doutzen Kroes Dazzles VSX Workout Clothes (13 pics)

Doutzen Kroes Dazzles Victoria’s Secret VSX Workout Clothes

Doutzen Kroes models Victorias Secret VSX Workout Clothes in a hot and sexy way. There is no better way to start off the day than working out in gym. With Victoria’s Secret workout clothes, working out will surely become all the more interesting and stylish as well.

All the ladies out there who try to find an excuse for skipping gym would surely make it a point to go to gym as it gives an excuse for getting hold of Victoria’s Secret VSX workout clothes.

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A Missing Rolls-Royce

Scotland on Sunday, 1 December 2002:

Financial ghosts following the demise of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club are not yet laid to rest. Secrecy and obfuscation surround the disposal of the club’s assets. Pictures and motoring memorabilia were sold off without telling the members. The mystery surrounding the club’s heirlooms, the world’s second-oldest Rolls-Royce and a unique Arrol-Johnston, built in Dumfries in 1922, may soon be resolved. The Rolls-Royce was bequeathed to the club in 1974 under the will of Adam McGregor Dick with a stipulation that it should remain in Scotland and never be sold. The first part has already been infringed; it has been languishing at P&A Wood, of Great Easton, Dunmow in Essex, for several years because no money was made available for restoration.

The general secretary of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club confirmed to me that he had been negotiating with the RSAC for years, offering to pay for restoration in return for the car spending some time among the club’s extensive collection of Rolls-Royce artefacts at Paulerspury, Northants. While ownership should remain in Scotland, there seems no reason to turn down the RREC’s request, and bring this fine car back to life. Made in 1905, chassis 26330 is the only survivor of six three-cylinder cars made by Henry Royce in Manchester, as he was forging his partnership with The Hon C S Rolls in London.

When he handed the Rolls-Royce over to the RSAC, AM Dick appointed its office-bearers as trustees, never contemplating a day when the club might be declared insolvent. A later generation of governors, of the institution in which he had such faith, has alas failed him. In 1905 the Rolls-Royce chassis cost £500, with a further £530 for a Barker side-entrance tonneau body and canopy. Nobody knows how much it is worth now. In automotive terms it is like the crown jewels, none ever comes up for sale, but even with a replica body made by J B Stevenson of Glasgow in the 1960s, it would be insured for upwards of £1 million.

The trustees met last week and are, “… now investigating various legal avenues which should modify the existing arrangements to enable the donor's wishes to be respected. There is no question of the car being sold.” The liquidator, as trustee for the club, therefore effectively for its office-bearers, is expected to seek senior counsel’s opinion on a petition to the Court of Session. This would look for clarification of the donor’s intentions now that the club has virtually ceased to exist. It looks as though the car will now be held in trust for the nation although what that means in practice remains to be seen.

That was eight years ago. Went to the old RSAC headquarters in Glasgow for the press launch of the Alfa Romeo Mito Multiair last month. It is now an up-market hotel, tastefully done, but the visit to the historic premises prompted me to wonder what had become of the Rolls-Royce. I can confirm that it is still at P&A Wood and its ownership remains an issue. Watch this space Artwork is James Leech's from the late George Oliver's splendidly detailed 1967 Profile on the car

Here for the bier

Roger William Stanbury made a melancholy little journey down Sutton Veny High Street on his MG 18/80. On it, not in it. He was going his last mile, as it were, to the quiet Wiltshire country churchyard. Somebody at the funeral put it rather well. Roger, he said, was not only good at making friends; he was good at keeping them. He had had the 18/80 since he was a student. It could be a fractious car, but if ever an MG was a member of the family, this was it. We celebrated its birthday every year. You invariably enquired after its health, which was often not good. There was always something to worry about – its temperature, gaskets, frothy stuff in the oil. You could once see the road through gaps in the floorboards. How many cold winter night drives to a jolly hostelry to meet MG chums? The 18/80’s hood was sketchy in 1930. Roger didn’t like spending money fixing it. Real Ale was more important. He had left strict instructions to the Vicar that there was to be no Happy Clappy stuff at the funeral. A lot gathered to pay tribute and talk about him. He was a loyal sort of conservative, a deft artist, with an engaging slow-burn laugh. I wasn’t sure about the shaky platform on the back of the 18/80. It looked a bit as though he had made it himself with sticky tape and bits of wood. He would have said he was only here for the bier. This Sunday 25 April would have been Roger’s birthday. He was only 65. We’ll raise a real ale. He is survived by a wife, three sons, two stepsons, an 18/80 and a bereft old friend.

Beautiful Quotes About the Love & Heart (14 pics)

Beautiful Quotes about the Love & Heart, for the romantic heart and straight from the heart.

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Ruby Dickinson May Be Youngest Tattoo Artist

Ruby Dickinson is only three years old but she is already marking her mark in the world – with tattoos. The ink-credible Welsh toddler could become the world's youngest tattoo artist, according to published reports.

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Crazy Upside Down House (12 pics)

Crazy Upside Down House

The Upside Down House is a project created by a Polish businessman and philanthropist named Daniel Czapiewski, and is located in Poland in the tiny village of Szymbark, and here are a few pics with this house. Rather than simply being a bizarre tourist attraction this house, managed to attract thousands of tourists. The house is also meant to be a profound statement about the Communist era and the state of the world. Czapiewski’s company would normally take three weeks to construct a house, but this one took 114 days because the workers were disorientated by the strange angles of the walls. Many tourists who visit complain of mild seasickness and dizziness after just a few minutes of being in the structure. Now let’s take a look at some pictures with this house.

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Portraits Made out of Recycled Cassette Tape (17 pics)

Portraits of Musicians made out of Recycled Cassette Tape

Flickr user iri5 has an impressive series titled ‘Ghost in the machine’ of portraits of well-known musicians (such as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Ian Brown, …) made from recycle cassette tape.

I am an artist who specializes in using non traditional media… old books, cassettes, playing cards, magazines, credit cards… whatever I can find. It feels great to work with strange, older materials. Things that have a mind of their own. Most everything I use has been thrown away or donated at some point. Past its prime, like some of the finest things in the world.

In this series I showcase a number of portraits of musicians made out of recycled cassette tape with original cassette. Also included are portraits made from old film and reels. The idea comes from a philosopher's (Ryle) description of how your spirit lives in your body. I imagine we are all, like cassettes, thoughts wrapped up in awkward packaging. : )

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Hilary Duff Shots in Short Shorts (10 pics)

Hilary Duff  Shots in Short Shorts

If there’s one thing that is a certainty these days, it’s that Hilary Duff will drop everyone’s jaw at least once every two weeks. And here she is doing just that by wearing the shortest shorts I’ve ever seen her wear, and showing off her sexy little gummy bear legs. Enjoy more after the jump. 

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Modern & Creative Cutlery Designs (11 pics)

Modern cutlery and creative silverware designs that will spice up your dinner table and impress your guests.

Fish Cutlery -
Each piece in this stainless steel cutlery set is whimsically fish-shaped, right down to tail, fins, mouth, and eyes.

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Still safe at 70

Porsche once cancelled a road test car. I had been booked a 911 Turbo but at the last minute I couldn’t have it. Why? It was, they said, an insurance problem. I pointed out that in some 40 years of road testing I had never crashed a car. One scrape with a tram in Geneva, an Opel ran into me in Stuttgart once but curiously both times I had heads of PR with me as passengers and they accepted I was blameless. I was once run into by an RAC Rally competitor on the wrong side of the road but that scarcely counted. No, the problem, it seemed, was that I had reached 70. Too old to drive a Porsche? Too old to buy a Porsche maybe. I told the PR office I was writing a piece about an age limit on Porsche buyers. I got my road test. The RAC Foundation’s findings that I am among the 3.7 million drivers, born before the war, who are among the safest on the road are welcome. I shall try and keep it that way.

I liked the 911: I wrote in The Business magazine “Mid-engines are best for handling and Porsche never made a racing car with the engine anywhere else. It is a matter, as engineers will tell you of polar moment of inertia, the dumb-bell effect. Weights on the ends of a pole aren’t easy to swing round. But put them near the middle and it is. Hanging the engine out the back didn’t matter in the 1938 Volkswagen; it didn’t go fast enough. It was only when its designer’s son Ferry Porsche developed a sports car, that tail-heavy oversteer made the handling a challenge.

The 1960s 911 turned challenge into confrontation. A powerful flat-six engine instead of a feeble flat-four, together with swing-axles that tipped the rear wheels on corners, made it problematical. Yet perversely some drivers found the difficulties thrilling, which indeed they were so in the 1970s Porsche made perfectly balanced front-engined cars instead. The 924, 928, and 944 handled consummately; their poise was beyond reproach.”

10 Wonderful Heart Quotes

Heart Quotes are amazing collection of interesting and inspirational messages from the world's greatest thinkers. Enjoy more after the jump.

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Bollywood Spotted in the Similar Oufits (9 pics)

Bollywood Spotted in the Similar Dresses
At times knowingly or unknowingly one tends to copy others and same is with Bollywood actresses as well. Here's a dekko at some of the divas who have been spotted wearing almost similar outfits.

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What If You Could Clone Yourself ? (20 pics)

What Would You Do If You Could Clone Yourself ?

An interesting question, that's for sure - but not one to which many people give serious thought. However, here are twenty people who did! So, what would you get up to if you could clone yourself? You could...

Perhaps your original was slightly artily inclined.  Imagine the symbolics you could get up to if there were three of you.

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Creative Dream Houses on Rings (12 pics)

Phillipe Tournaire's Creative Dream Houses on Rings

A house on a finger? Tiger Woods just meant the cost of a house on a finger. Now, for real dream houses on fingers, you have to check out the new Villa de Reve Collection by Phillipe Tournaire. This highly respected and creative French jeweler has several amazing architectural rings.

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12 Most Creative & Unusual Sofa Designs

1 - Grass Sofa

How much oxygen did your furniture produce today? Wouldn’t you rather be sitting outside in the back yard, than indoors on your couch? Now you too can have the best of both worlds, and sculpt lawn furniture from the lawn itself.

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Equivocation

Equivocation
In the 1930s road test writers didn’t want to be too critical. Practical Motorist in its May 1937 report on the Rover Ten enthused. “The bodywork of the car is not ‘flashy,’ but has the unmistakeable appearance of sound construction and excellent craftsmanship. However it felt obliged to find some fault. “The brakes were normally quiet in action, but it was sometimes noticed that there was a very high-pitched shriek just as the car was coming to rest. In all fairness it must be emphasised that the sound was certainly not loud and was so near the limit of audibility that it was often undetected.” So that was all right then.

Get Well Soon Sir Stirling

August 9 1983, dinner with Joanna Lumley and Stirling Moss. It’s not every day you sit down with National Treasures. Celebrities of one sort and another yes. National Treasures seldom. We were in Italy driving over the Mille Miglia course. Moss won in 1955 driving a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR. Erik Johnson head of public relations at Mercedes-Benz UK fixed up the expedition to publicise its new 190, a saloon about the size of a Cortina. He also had a publicity gig going with Joanna Lumley. We had a meal along with Joanna’s friend whose name alas I can’t remember, and her small boy in some mountain retreat.

Stirling was his usual talkative self. What a hero. I watched him win the British Grand Prix at Aintree the year he won the Mille Miglia. Joanna Lumley, well unforgettable. What you see is what you get. Stunning beauty, liquid eyes; she pays attention to what you are saying as though it’s worth listening to. Never met her since but I have never forgotten. What charm. No wonder she got her own way over the Ghurkas.

Moss. Now he has fallen down his own lift shaft. He is in hospital with broken ankles. It’s a wonder he didn’t kill himself. Octane magazine for January ran an unfortunate feature on him with a picture of him getting into the lift. He always was a gadget freak, unfortunately it looks as though some of his gadgets are getting past their sell-by date. All the very best for a swift and complete recovery Sir S, OBE.

10 Most Beautiful Plus Size Models

The Most Beautiful Plus Size Models
The modeling industry may not be particularly kind to women of average size, but that hasn't stopped these beautiful women.

Chloe Marshall — Surrey, England's Chloe Marshall was the first plus size young woman to compete in the finals of the Miss England competition. Marshall, a UK size 16, finished second, and was subsequently signed to the Models Plus agency. She's even posed for fellow model Velvet D'Amour.

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Cute Animals Best Friends (15 pics)

Cute Animals Best Friends

Some say that humans are smarter than animals but do we really know?  They give us signals to let us know what they may want when they have become domesticated but if we really spoke their language would they actually be more intelligent on a spiritual level?

We may speak different languages but they seem to have it right about living life and using the Law of Attraction.  They may not know they use it but they do and you can see examples all through their life cycles.  I think we could learn a thing or two about how to live life from our furry and wonderful animal friends. Have a Look.

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Interesting License Plates for Internet Geeks (16 pics)

Interesting License Plates for Internet Geeks

Have you ever thought of a cool way to take your web life offline? To show off you are an Internet geek? Here’s a cool idea for you: a web-geek’s personalized number plates.

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