J. Paul Getty III, the troubled grandson of one of the world’s richest men who lost an ear in a grisly kidnapping as a teenager and suffered a devastating stroke as a young man, has died. He was 54.
His son, actor Balthazar Getty, confirmed that his father had died last Saturday at his Buckinghamshire estate northwest of London surrounded by his family. The cause of death was not disclosed. But Getty had been gravely ill for some time.
Getty’s life captured the turmoil of his times. Born in 1956 to vast oil wealth in the billions of dollars, his life was upended when he was kidnapped at age 16 in Rome. To press their demands for ransom, his captors cut off part of his ear to sway Getty’s family, who had been reluctant to pay a ransom of 2,7 million dollars.
While undergoing treatment for alcohol abuse in 1981, Getty suffered a life-altering stroke that left him paralyzed, unable to speak and in need of around-the-clock care.
- J. Paul Getty III.
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February 9th, 2011 | Posted in Tragedy | Comments Off
Valentine’s Day is an occasion to candidly express your sincere love and affection towards your beloved one. These days – Valentine’s Day gifts are essential parts of the celebration on Feb. 14.
You can invite your beloved one for a meal out or send them valuable gifts to let them know that how affectionate you are to him/her. People often spend a lot of money on gifts and parties as part of Valentine’s Day each year.
Primarily Valentine’s Day stands for love and affection rather than precious gifts and expensive parties. Under the worse financial conditions, better you can think of some attractive and as well inexpensive Valentine’s Day gift ideas for the upcoming Valentine’s Day. Without spending more money, you can plan your Valentine’s Day 2011 gift ideas.
What are less expensive Valentine’s Day gift ideas for 2011?
You can find out several Valentine’s gift ideas if you spend some time on it. What about inviting your beloved one to your home for a special Valentine’s Day meal? It will be a grand alternative to going out for a dinner or launch.
- Valentines Day 2011.
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February 8th, 2011 | Posted in Festivals | Comments Off
For the first time in its 23-year history, it was a tie for first place in USA TODAY’s Super Bowl Ad Meter. A fourth quarter Bud Light ad featuring a dog sitter who puts dogs to work tied with a first quarter Doritos ad in which a dog gets his revenge for Doritos teasing. Volunteers gave both ads a score of 8,35 (on a scale of 0 to 10) Three of the five top ranked ads ads were already ‘winners’ of the Dorities and Pepsi MAX public ad competition, Crash the Super Bowl. PepsiCo’s Doritos and Pepsi MAX brands gave six of their fans the chance to showcase their talent on the world’s biggest advertising stage when they aired three consumer-created Doritos commercials and three consumer-created Pepsi MAX commercials during today’s Super Bowl XLV broadcast. This year marked the first time in the five year history of the Crash the Super Bowl consumer-created ad contest that a total of six ads received airtime during the big game, according to a company news release.
- Super Bowl 2011.
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February 7th, 2011 | Posted in Festivals | Comments Off
Jon Jones and Ryan Bader met at UFC 126 in a battle of two of the top prospects in the sport of mixed martial arts. Jones’ only career loss to this point was by DQ in a fight he was dominating against Matt Hamill while Ryan Bader had not lost a professional fight. One man was going to get a huge win while the other would suffer his first ever legitimate loss.
Jon Jones controlled the first round with takedowns and positioning on top. Bader was clearly uncomfortable fighting off his back and Jones took advantage, moving to north-south position and looking for a choke. Bader managed to survive but clearly lost the round. In the second Bader had some decent moments and landed a few punches but Jones took over with leg kicks and scored a takedown. From there he secured the neck of Bader and forced the submission with a guillotine choke.
Jon Jones begged for a title shot after the win and Mauricio Rua stepped into the cage and appeared to say that he would be up for the challenge. But first – Shogun has to get through Rashad Evans.
Nevermind, they just announced that it is now Shogun vs. Jones and Rashad Evans is out with a knee injury.
- UFC 126.
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February 6th, 2011 | Posted in Sports | Comments Off
26 men. Hundreds of Chicken Wings. And only one winner.
Wing Bowl 2011 took place this morning, and it was a Super Bowl showdown, with Jonathan ‘Super’ Squibb emerging triumphant. The bizarre event took place in Philadelphia, and has been going on for 19 years now. This isn’t the first time that Jonathan (a 6’4 accountant from New Jersey) has been victorious at the Wing Bowl. Jonathan has been a formidable contestant for the past few years now, with this event being Jon’s third time at winning the crown.
So how many barbeque slathered chicken wings did Jonathan Squibb have to consume in order to win this prestigious, albeit obscure, title? 255 wings. That’s a new Wing Bowl record, and with an estimated 40.000 calories, that’s a whole lot of chicken. With 3500 calories in a pound, Jonathan may pack on 11 pounds from this competition alone-unless he got sick afterwards, or something.
Squibb’s girlfriend remains proud of her hero. “He remains to stay cute, even covered in wing sauce” – she said. Amongst Squibb’s opponents were stocky football fans with scary names like ‘El Wingadore,’ ‘Lord Bemis,’ and ‘Drunken Mussel.’
So what are Squibb’s plans for celebrating his latest victory? “I’ll probably have a pizza” – he said. Amazing!
- Jonathan "Super" Squibb.
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February 5th, 2011 | Posted in Sports | Comments Off
Today is ‘National Wear Red Day 2011′. Join in wearing red to support the cause of fighting heart disease in women.
One of the ways that you can support ‘National Wear Red Day’ is to talk to five women in your life about heart disease. Betty White uses her humor to talk about the day. The American Heart Association says you can help save lives by telling five women you love that heart disease is the number one killer of women in order to raise awareness.
Betty White starts with three that she barely tolerates. But, she’s just joking, of course.
- Wear Red Day.
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February 4th, 2011 | Posted in Festivals | Comments Off
Every year on ‘American Idol’, fans watch intently as the taped auditions are shown over a period of many weeks to kick off the new season. Odds makers are keeping a close eye on these shows as well, hoping to get a jump on who they should make the betting favorite when the live shows begin.
On Wednesday, fans may have found their next Idol, and odds makers may have found their next betting favorite. John Wayne Schulz emerged from the Texas auditions as one of the favorites of the judges. Message boards all across the US were buzzing after Schulz’s performance.
The country singer who is said to have released an independent album at the age of fourteen, sang ‘Believe’ by Brooks and Dunn. The judges were taken aback by the performance, and fans already were saying how the next American Idol may have been found.
“He (Schulz) was amazing” – said Nicole Benning. “I have watched all of the tryouts so far, and he easily was the best. I have to wait and see who else does well the next couple of weeks, but I know that guy is going to be one of the contestants that goes far, and I think he can win.”
- John Wayne Schulz.
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February 3rd, 2011 | Posted in Celebrities | Comments Off
The largest winter storm in years has just left its mark on certain parts of the US but that hasn’t stopped Punxsutawney Phil (the world’s most popular groundhog) from making his annual prediction.
So Did Punxsutawney Phil See His Shadow This Morning?
The answer is no, which means that spring is on its way early this year!
Traditions show that if the famous groundhog sees his shadow, we will face at least six more weeks of winter, if he doesn’t see his shadow – which happened this morning – spring will be rolling in before we know it.
A little bit of good news during the unfortunate weather circumstances this year.
It was also just announced that Canada’s most famous groundhog, Wiarton Willie did not see his shadow either.
- Groundhog.
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February 2nd, 2011 | Posted in Festivals | Comments Off
The fifth annual Rock on the Range destination festival has been set for May 21 and May 22 at ‘Columbus Crew Stadium’ in Columbus, Ohio, and will feature the first performance of 2011 for A Perfect Circle. This is leading to widespread speculation that A Perfect Circle will be doing more North American shows this summer.
Also on the bill is Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Korn, Stone Sour, and Staind (who will be performing live for the first time in two years).
The festival will also feature appearances by Danzig, Hollywood Undead, Bullet For My Valentine, Black Label Society and Alter Bridge.
- Rock on the Range 2010.
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February 1st, 2011 | Posted in Festivals | Comments Off
The 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on Sunday – January 30 – at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
‘The King’s Speech’ came out as the big winner of the night with two awards. The film picked up Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Colin Firth.
Other winners in the evening included Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Betty White, and Alec Baldwin.
- SAG Awards.
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January 31st, 2011 | Posted in Celebrities | Comments Off
