Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Succes 2012: Tom Tuke-Hastings, new world record holder in sabrage. He sabred 35 bottles of Canard Duchêne’s Cuvée Léonie in one minute. Tuke launched the world’s most expensive champagne sabre: £27,000

All the rich champagne lovers who enjoy drinking in 24 carat gold-plated champagne coolers or don’t mind splurging on “Le Billionaire Champagne” that costs 2.75 million dollar a bottle, must know that there is an accessory that you must not miss. A new luxury brand Henry Tuke has launched the world’s most expensive Champagne sabre which is an exquisite piece launched in the gardens of top Champagne house Canard-Duchêne in Ludes, France.

Henry Tuke has launched the world’s most expensive champagne sabre by smashing the World Record in sabrage – a pastime that dates back to the Napoleonic wars and involves slicing the top off of champagne bottles.
Tuke broke the record within the picturesque gardens of top Champagne house Canard Duchêne in Ludes, north-eastern France.

Tom Tuke-Hastings, founder of Henry Tuke, sabred 35 bottles of Canard Duchêne’s Cuvée Léonie in one minute. The previous world record stood at 27 bottles.


Priced at £27,000, the Henry Tuke Champagne Sabre is hand forged from stainless Damascus steel in England and has solid sterling silver fittings and a shagreen grip. It also comes with a unique stand with a base made out of ancient oak reclaimed from the original Roman docks in London and dated to 70AD.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Succes 2012: Jude Law, english actor, film producer and director. Winner of Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award

David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972), known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.

He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989. After starring in films directed by Andrew Niccol, Clint Eastwood and David Cronenberg, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1999 for his performance in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley. In 2000 he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for his work in the film. In 2003, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in another Minghella film, Cold Mountain.

In 2006, he was one of the top ten most bankable movie stars in Hollywood. In 2007, he received an Honorary César and he was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. He was a member of the main competition jury at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
In 1987, Law began acting with National Youth Music Theatre. He played various roles in the Edinburgh Fringe-awarded play The Ragged Child. One of his first major stage roles was Foxtrot Darling in Philip Ridley's The Fastest Clock In The Universe. Law went on to appear as Michael in the West End production of Jean Cocteau's tragicomedy Les Parents terribles, directed by Sean Mathias.[7] For this play, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Newcomer, and he received the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer.
Following a title change to Indiscretions, the play was reworked and transferred to Broadway in 1995, where Law acted opposite Kathleen Turner, Roger Rees, and Cynthia Nixon. This role earned him a Tony Award nomination[12] and the Theatre World Award. In 1989, Law got his first television role, in a movie based on the Beatrix Potter children's book, The Tailor of Gloucester. After minor roles in British television, including a two-year stint in the Granada TV soap opera Families and the leading role in the BFI /Channel 4 short The Crane, Law had his breakthrough with the British crime drama Shopping, which also featured his future wife, Sadie Frost.

In 1997, he became more widely known with his role in the Oscar Wilde bio-pic Wild Law won the "Most Promising Newcomer" award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards for his role as Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, the glamorous lover of Stephen Fry's Oscar Wilde.[14] In Andrew Niccol's science fiction film Gattaca, Law played the role of a disabled former swimming star living in a eugenics-obsessed dystopia. In Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, he played the role of the ill-fated hustler murdered by an art dealer, played by Kevin Spacey.


For The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, he learned to play saxophone and earned a MTV Movie Award nomination with Matt Damon and Fiorello for performing the song "Tu vuò fà l'americano" by Renato Carosone and Nicola Salerno.
In 2001, Law starred as Russian sniper Vasily Zaytsev in the film Enemy At The Gates, and learned ballet dancing for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).[15] In 2002, he played a mob hitman in Sam Mendes's 1930s period drama Road to Perdition. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, and then again for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Cold Mountain in 2003. Both films were directed by Anthony Minghella.
Law at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.


Law, an admirer of Laurence Olivier, used the actor's image in the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Using computer graphics, footage of the young Olivier was merged into the film, playing Dr. Totenkopf, a mysterious scientific genius and supervillain. Also in 2004, he portrayed the title character in Alfie, the remake of Bill Naughton's 1966 film, playing the role originated by Michael Caine. Law was one of the Top Ten 2006 A-list of the most bankable movie stars in Hollywood, following the criteria of James Ulmer in the Ulmer Scale.[3] On 1 March 2007, he was honoured with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres conferred by the French government, in recognition of his contribution to World Cinema Arts. He was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

He took on another of Caine's earlier roles in the 2007 film Sleuth, adapted by Nobel Laureate in Literature Harold Pinter, while Caine played the role originated by Sir Laurence Olivier.

Law is one of three actors who took over the role of actor Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Along with Law, actors Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell portray "three separate dimensions in the film."[19][20] He appeared opposite Forest Whitaker in the dark science fiction comedy Repo Men and as Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's adaption of Sherlock Holmes, alongside Robert Downey, Jr. and Rachel McAdams, as well as the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Law starred as a celebrity supermodel in the film Rage, and blogger and "prophet" Alan Krumwiede in the 2011 medical thriller Contagion.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Succes 2012: Eusébio, legendary footballer aka the Black Panther, the Black Pearl, or O Rei (The King) in Portugal. He won the Ballon d'Or award in 1965


Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM (born 25 January 1942), commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans. He helped the Portuguese national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals (six of which were scored at Goodison Park) and receiving the Bronze Ball award. He won the Ballon d'Or award in 1965 and was runner-up in 1962 and 1966. He played for Benfica for 15 years out of his 22 as a footballer, thus being mainly associated with the Portuguese club, and is the team's all-time top scorer with 638 goals scored in 614 official games. There, he won 11 Primeira Liga titles (1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1974–75), 5 Portuguese Cup titles (1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70 and 1971–72), 1 European Cup title (1961–62) and managed to help them reach three additional European Cup finals (1962–63, 1964–65 and 1967–68). He was the European Cup top scorer in 1965, 1966 and 1968. He also won the Bola de Prata (Primeira Liga top scorer award) seven times (a national record) in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1973. He was the first ever player to win the European Golden Boot award, in 1968, a feat he later replicated in 1973.

Nicknamed the Black Panther, the Black Pearl, or O Rei (The King) in Portugal, Eusébio scored 733 goals in 745 competitive games in his career. He was known for his speed and his powerful, accurate right-footed strike, making him an outstanding prolific goalscorer. He is considered Benfica's and Portugal's most renowned player and one of the first world-class African strikers. Although born in Mozambique and having an Angolan father, Eusébio, like Matateu and Mário Coluna, among others before him, could only play for the Portuguese team, since both of the African countries were overseas territories and their inhabitants were considered Portuguese.

Eusébio's name often appears in best player of all time lists and polls by football critics and fans. He was elected the 9th best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS and the 10th best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the World Soccer magazine.[2] Pelé named Eusébio as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list. He was 7th in the online poll for UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Portugal by the Portuguese Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.
Since his retirement, Eusébio has been an ambassador of football and is one of the most recognizable faces of the sport. He is often praised for his known fair play and humbleness, even by opponents. There have been held several homages by FIFA, UEFA, the Portuguese Football Federation and Benfica in his honour. Former Benfica and Portugal teammate and friend António Simões acknowledges his influence on Benfica and said: "With Eusébio maybe we could be tri European Champions, without him maybe we could win the League."
Eusébio was the all-time leading scorer for his country, with 41 goals in 64 matches, until Pauleta equalled and surpassed his record against Latvia on 12 October 2005. Eusébio was also the most capped Portuguese player from 1972, until Tamagnini Nené made his 64th cap against Yugoslavia on 2 June 1984 in a friendly match, breaking Eusébio's record during the UEFA Euro 1984 on 20 June against Romania. He made his debut for the Portuguese national team against Luxembourg on 8 October 1961, a match his country lost 4–2, with the player scoring his country's first goal in the match.
After Portugal qualified for the 1966 World Cup, they were drawn in Group 3, alongside Bulgaria, Hungary and the reigning World Cup champions Brazil. After a modest performance against Hungary in the first game, Eusébio scored a goal against Bulgaria. Topping the group with two wins, the team would play against the Brazilians for the final group match. With an injured Pelé, Portugal had no trouble in defeating them with two goals coming from Eusébio, including a famous volley from a tight angle after a corner kick. The result meant Brazil's early elimination.

For the quarterfinal, Portugal played against Korea DPR, who had defeated and eliminated Italy in the group stage. After trailing 0–3 in the 25th, Eusébio proceeded to score four consecutive goals, two before half time and two in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. His last goal in that match came from a penalty when two North Korean players tackled him after a fast run Eusébio had made from the middle of the Portuguese half pitch to the opposition's penalty area. Portugal came back to win 5–3.

In the semi-final match Portugal would have to face England. There was controversy to where the match would be hosted. Goodison Park in Liverpool was the original venue for the game. However, due to intervention of the English officials, the venue changed to Wembley. It was rumoured that this had happened because of fear from English officials of the Portuguese performance and embarrassment if England lost in their own country with a debuting team.[15] Portugal had to make a last minute train trip from Liverpool to London. Throughout the game Eusébio was closely marked by defender Nobby Stiles, but still managed to score Portugal's only goal from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute, ending yet-to-be broken records of 7 consecutive clean sheets and 708 minutes without conceding a goal for the English team.[16] After scoring the penalty, Eusébio went on to catch the ball and saluted Gordon Banks. The goal was not enough to nullify Bobby Charlton's two earlier goals, António Simões had a last minute chance only for Stiles to put the ball into corner. Portugal lost 1–2 and Eusébio famously walked off the pitch in tears, being comforted by both his teammates and opponents. The game is known as Jogo das Lágrimas (Game of Tears) in Portugal.

In the consolidation game, the third place match, Portugal played against the Soviet Union. In the 12th after a handball inside the area, Eusébio scored the opening goal (his 9th and final World Cup goal) from the penalty spot. Although the legendary Lev Yashin guessed the side in which the ball would go, he was powerless to save it. Again and as he had done before with Banks, Eusébio went to salute his friend Yashin after he had scored. Portugal won the game 2–1 to what remains their best ever World Cup participation.


In addition to winning the Golden Boot (with nine goals) for the 1966 World Cup, Eusébio also set a record that year for the most penalties scored (shoot-out not included), with four. Eusébio's four goals against Korea DPR in the quarter-final match also helped Portugal tie the record for largest deficit overcome in a win (three goals, equaling Austria in 1954) and he became the fifth player to score as many goals in a FIFA World Cup match, a record he jointly held until Oleg Salenko scored five in the 1994 World Cup. The English were so impressed by Eusébio's performances that he was immediately added to the Madame Tussauds collection of waxwork.[16] The only game he failed to score was against Hungary, in the first match, meaning that he scored in 5 consecutive World Cup games. Eusébio finised third in the Golden Ball and second in the 1966 Ballon d'Or, trailing Bobby Charlton by a single point. Eusébio said: "A Portuguese journalist voted first place for Bobby Charlton and second place for me. Charlton finished with 81 points and I finished with 80. If he had voted for me, it would be the opposite: me with 81 and Charlton with 80. He always told me he had voted for Charlton because he thought I would win with a great advantage. If he had voted (for me), I would be the first player to win consecutive Ballon d'Ors". In spite of this statement, it is known that it was Eusébio's refusal of giving an interview to this journalist that made him take this decision.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Succes 2012: Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of Supervisory Board of Porsche AG

The Porsche family is a prominent German family of industrialists descending from the Austrian automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche. Its members own a significant share of the Porsche automobile corporation.

Dr. Wolfgang Porsche has been Chairman of Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE (aka: Porsche AG) since November 2007. Dr. Porsche served as the Chairman of Supervisory Board for Porsche Holding GmbH. and Porsche Ges.m.b.H. Dr. Porsche serves as Member of The Supervisory Board for Porsche Holding GmbH.,Porsche Cars North America, Inc., Porsche Cars Great Britain Ltd., Porsche Italia S.p.A., Porsche Ibérica S.A., Porsche Bank AG., PGA Group S.A.S. and Eterna ... S.A. Dr. Porsche holds Diplom-Kaufmann and has been Member of the Supervisory Board for Volkswagen AG since April 24, 2008. He serves as Member of the Supervisory Board at Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
The title of honorary senator of the Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg was conferred in 13 January 2012 on Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Nonntal university campus. “Dr. Porsche’s selfless contribution benefits the entire education system while at the same time signalling his close connection with the city and state of Salzburg,” said Prof. Dr. Heinrich Schmidinger, rector of the University of Salzburg in his laudatory address.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Succes 2011: Alex Salmond, current First Minister of Scotland. He has the ability to call a referendum on Scottish independence


Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP (born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Gordon. From 1987 to 2010 he served as Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan in the UK House of Commons. Salmond previously held the position of leader of the SNP from September 1990 until he stepped down in September 2000.

Originally from Linlithgow, West Lothian, Salmond is a graduate of the University of St Andrews, where he achieved a Joint Honours MA in Economics and History. After earning his degree he began his career in the Government Economic Service (GES), and later joined the Royal Bank of Scotland as an energy economist where he wrote and broadcast extensively for both domestic and international media outlets.
Following the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999, he was elected MSP for Banff and Buchan, thus simultaneously representing the area as both Member of Parliament (MP) and MSP. Salmond resigned as SNP leader in 2000 and did not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament.

He did however retain his Westminster seat in the 2001 general election. Salmond was once again elected SNP leader in 2004 and the following year held his Banff and Buchan seat in the 2005 general election. In 2006 he announced his intention to contest the Gordon constituency in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, an election in which Salmond defeated the incumbent MSP and in which nationally, the SNP emerged as the largest single party. Salmond was voted First Minister by the Scottish Parliament on 16 May 2007.
As First Minister, from 2007 to 2011 Salmond headed a minority Scottish Government, but after the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the Scottish National Party, which he leads, emerged with an overall majority. Politically, Salmond is one of the foremost proponents of Scottish independence, repeatedly calling for a referendum on the issue.

Salmond has campaigned on global warming and in government has committed Scotland to legislation on emission reduction and the generation of renewable energy. Other recurring campaign themes include nuclear disarmament and Salmond's strong opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In the the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the Scottish National Party, won by a landslide and emerged with an overall majority. As a result of this Salmond now has the ability to call a referendum on Scottish independence. On the 09 January 2011 he announced that referendum would be held in Autumn 2014. According to The Courier, The manufacturer of Alex Salmond's favourite biscuit has warned uncertainty caused by the independence referendum will damage Scottish business.

Alex Salmond in his 2010 New Year message highlighted the importance of sustainable development and renewable energy in Scotland and the required increase in powers of the Scottish Parliament needed to help harness Scotland's green energy potential and therefore take full advantage of the "renewable revolution".

Earlier in December 2009, he campaigned for climate change legislation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to promote Scotland's role in tackling and mitigating climate change. This included signing a Partnership Agreement with the Maldives, one of the most exposed countries to the consequences of rising sea levels.