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Monday, July 25, 2011

Car wash that costs £10,000/$14,397.43 leaves super-cars as good as new

By Daily Mail Reporter
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/For most people washing your car involves a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and chamois leather.

But for some drivers with top of the range sports cars that simple method just doesn't cut it.


Now though, those owners can treat their Ferrari, Lamorghinis and Aston Martins to ultimate all-star treatment - a £10,000 'car spa' which is the world's most expensive car wash.

Cleaning up: A worker treats the engine of a Ferrari at Monza Ultimate Detailing and Protection in Dubai, which offers a 'car spa' that costs £10,000
Cleaning up: A worker treats the engine of a Ferrari at Monza Ultimate Detailing and Protection in Dubai, which offers a 'car spa' that costs £10,000

The week-long treatment uses the latest in nano-technology with a 'no-touch' technique - where no  bare human finger will be laid on the precious cars.

Instead the perfect - and top secret - combination of water treatment, temperature, pressure is used to ensure a perfect finish.

The Dubai based car wash, named Monza Ultimate Detailing and Protection, is particularly popular with car loving British expats living in the Gulf Kingdom.
 
And amazingly some wealthy clients with brand new cars book them in for the factory fresh paint work to be corrected.

The 'spa' is run by a team of dedicated staff - who have each received six months of training in how to pamper cars.

Among their tools are handheld microscopes to ensure that even dirt not visible by the naked eye is carefully removed.

Attention to detail: The team use handheld microscopes to ensure that even dirt not visible by the naked eye is carefully removed
Attention to detail: The team use handheld microscopes to ensure that even dirt not visible by the naked eye is carefully removed


As good as new: The cars leather upholstery is cleaned three times, before being rubbed down and treated with natural oils
As good as new: The cars leather upholstery is cleaned three times, before being rubbed down and treated with natural oils

Expensive leather upholstery is cleaned three times, left to breath for a day and gently rubbed down with natural oils afterwards.  


The company is run by Frederick Faidhi, 49, who was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, but now lives in the kingdom.

He said: 'Seven weeks ago I opened this sanctuary for the most prestigious exotic, luxury and custom made cars Dubai has to offer.

'In England it's unusual for young men aged between 18 and 30 to own a top-class sports car.

'But in Dubai because of the kind of wealth here you meet people like this every day.
'Our treatment is particularly popular with British petrol-heads, who understand the need to treat their super and luxury cars with the respect they deserve.'

Gleaming paintwork: The company's main polisher gets to work on a Porsche in the workshop
Gleaming paintwork: The company's main polisher gets to work on a Porsche in the workshop 

The £10,000 wash is for customers who own their own custom built cars.
But a more modest £6,000 an 'average' customer who owns a high end BMW or Mercedes can have their car treated.

That pricetag includes a paint work correction, an exterior hologram free polish, ten glass polishes, interior detailing and protection, two headlight rejuvenations, 12 upholstery water-proofings, and four sanitary treatments of the car air-conditioning system.

This takes between 25 to 30 hours depending on the car and level of contamination.
But the treatment doesn't stop there, with Frederick ensuring the car is kept free of scratches for an entire year and is willing to invest 120 man-hours to ensure this.
'We only do high end cars like Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Masarati, Lamborghinis and Ferrari,' he said.

High end: The company only deals with top sports cars, such as this Ferrari 599, and others such as Masaratis and Lamborghinis
High end: The company only deals with top sports cars, such as this Ferrari 599, and others such as Masaratis and Lamborghinis

'Ten cars are in my work shop right now and it's spectacular to come in in the morning and enjoy spending time with these incredible cars.

'I strongly believe it's a tragedy when someone spends so much money on a magnificent car and then ends up going in to a petrol station or washing it at home with normal tap water.

'Normal water is contaminated with minerals and acid - when it evaporates what ever is in the water will remain on the car.

'This will cause swell marks and shiny distortions called holograms.
'The product we use to combat this is based on nano technology so we are very hologram free.

'We don't fade scratches and the swell marks, we eliminate them.
'We give the car a brand new look.'

Freddy Kruger Coming To Mortal Kombat

By Christian Davis

As a complete surprise to everyone, NeatherRealm Studios announced that Freddy Kruger will be the final DLC character for Mortal Kombat at Comic-Con. The Nightmare on Elm Street antagonist is a classic in the horror film genre and he actually looks like he fits in just nicely.

Freddy Kruger Coming To Mortal Kombat

Now, there are some things that need to be mentioned first. They chose the new rendition of Freddy, not the classic Robert England version which is a mistake in my opinion. Freddy also has two sets of claws which in the films he only has one.  That’s okay though because that mean’s he’ll be even more brutal to the fighters than he is to horny teens in the films.

His fatalities are also an homage to the films. I won’t ruin the surprise, but they are definitely going to make any Freddy Kruger fan excited. Freddy Kruger will be available for download on August 9th for 400 Microsoft Points/$4.99. Check out the trailer below(courtesy of IGN), but don’t fall asleep during it. Freddy wouldn’t like that very much.


Amy Winehouse: a life in pictures

A look back at the late singer's life

As people around the world come to terms with the news of Amy Winehouse's shock death yesterday (23 July), Stylist takes a look at the life of a phenomenal singer who drew comparisons with greats such as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.
Amy started songwriting at the age of 14 and was propelled into a world of international stardom in 2006, with the release of Back to Black. Alongside her rise to fame came personal problems and a much-publicised battle with drink and drugs - but above all, she remained one of the most iconic voices of her generation. From her birth in London in 1983, to her tragic and untimely death at the age of 27, we present Amy's life in photos.
Click on an image below to launch the gallery.
Picture credits: Getty Images and Rex Features
  • Amy Winehouse, 1985
  • Amy Winehouse, 1987
  • Amy Winehouse, 2003
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2004
  • Amy Winehouse, 2005
  • Amy Winehouse, 2006
  • Amy Winehouse, 2006
  • Amy Winehouse, 2006
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse,  2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2007
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2008
  • Amy Winehouse, 2009
  • Amy Winehouse, 2009
  • Amy Winehouse, 2010
  • Amy Winehouse, 2011
  • Amy Winehouse, 2011
  • Amy Winehouse, 2011

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The most downloaded song recorded in the 20th century turns 30 - Journey's "Don't Stop Believin"

By Jim Axelrod


Journey on CBS' "Sunday Morning," July 24, 2011. (CBS)
(CBS News) 
Thirty years after releasing their hit song, "Don't Stop Believin'" to the world, the rock band Journey is still believing in the uplifting power of what it says - and that includes band's newest member. Sunday Morning's Jim Axelrod presents A Summer Song:

It's been on Journey's set list every night for three decades running.

"Do you guys ever do a show without 'Don't Stop Believin'?" asks Jim Axelrod. 

"We haven't," laughs Journey's Jonathan Cain. "Not since it's been written, no."

"You'd have a revolt from the audience, wouldn't you?" asks Axelrod.

"Yeah, I think they would be throwing stuff at us," says Neal Schon, the band's guitarist.

It may have started as solely Journey's song - but it belongs to all of us now. The most covered, karaoked, and parodied song in modern music history.

From baseball to Broadway, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" has become a national anthem of sorts - and with digital sales at almost four and a half million, it is officially the most downloaded song ever recorded in the 20th century.

"You know, we did something right in the studio," says Cain. "We did something right when we wrote the song. You know, we hit a chord."

It began as the brainchild of keyboard player Jonathan Cain, who had been laboring in obscurity in 1980 with a band called the Babys, when he got the chance to join Journey. It was a dream shot nobody could have predicted. Well, almost nobody.


"I was starving before I hit Journey," Cain remembers. "Very, very rough times...I didn't know where the next pay check was gonna come. I sold stereos. I quit the business. I was so lost, you know? And I was borrowing money from my father, who wouldn't let me come back to Chicago. He said, 'You stay there. Something good is gonna happen. Don't stop believing.' And he would always say that to me. 'Don't stop believing, Jon.'"

Armed with his father's advice and the seeds of a song, Cain sat down with guitarist Neal Schon and then-lead-singer Steve Perry. Within an afternoon, Cain's catchy chorus was transformed into a rock'n'roll classic.

"When you came in with the chorus--that's all you had, right?" asks Axelrod.
"Yeah," says Cain. "We worked backwards. So the way we put it together was...you do the rolling piano thing you do."

"And I picked up the bass, and I [start singing]," continues Schon. "And with the little breakdown guitar-- it's not a guitar solo but a train."

"I heard his guitar, and I said 'that sounds like a train to me,'" Cain laughs. "And I go 'don't you love that song, Midnight train to Georgia?' And Steve goes, 'yeah.' I go, 'it's the midnight train going anywhere.'"

While it barely broke the billboard top ten in 1981 as a single, "Don't Stop Believin'" anchored Journey's monster album "Escape" - which went straight to No. 1 that year. Still, when the band broke up six years later, it looked like "DSB" would slide off into the realm of rock'n'roll nostalgia, rarely to be heard from again.

Until 1998, when a string quartet provided the soundtrack for Adam Sandler being left at the altar in "The Wedding Singer," dusting off the song for the first time in more than a decade. While seven other movies and more than a dozen television shows would borrow it, including the cliffhanging series finale of the Sopranos, no one sent the song into the stratosphere quite like the harmonic and hormonal misfits of "Glee."

Adam Anders is Glee's executive music producer, who says the show's creators originally wanted Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" to be the pilot episode's killer closer, but were denied permission to use it. The rest, Anders says, is Gleek history.

"Why would Journey take such a chance on something that nobody had any idea if it would succeed?" asks Axelrod.

"Maybe it was the premise," says Anders. "You know, the underdog... But obviously something struck a chord with them, and they let us have the song. And I'm so glad they did because I don't think any other song could have done for Glee was 'Don't Stop Believin' did."

That boulevard is a two-way street. After Glee's premiere, Journey saw an 87 percent spike in sales. And the Glee cast version of "Don't Stop" has sold over one million downloads - making it their best-selling song.

But perhaps no one can relate more than the man who's singing it for Journey now. Just four years ago, Arnel Pineda was a singer in a smoky room - fronting a Filipino cover band - when Neal Schon, searching for a replacement for the retired lead singer Steve Perry, found Arnel on YouTube.

"I heard his voice and I went, whoa. I go, 'who is that?'" remembers Schon. "And I was just completely taken back by his voice. I just went, this guy's incredible. We gotta find him."

But what the band didn't know was that Arnel was singing to survive. His mother died when he was just 13, after a long illness that left the family bankrupt. He ended up homeless, sleeping in a park in Manila, collecting scrap metal to scrape up enough money to eat.

"I'm not sure I know a life story to whom this concept applies any more than yours," says Axelrod.
"Even before I discovered 'Don't Stop Believin', it has been my motto, you know, to never stop believing in myself," Pineda says, choking back tears. "The life that I've gone through. You know, all those hardships-- that I-- you see, I never-- I never stopped believing that someday there is something magical that will happen in my life."

"Never in my, like, entire life here on earth, that I would ever, ever stumble upon this kind of magic," Pineda continues. "Playing to all of these people around the world... What a ride. You know?"

Arnel's 2008 Journey debut album, Revelation, went platinum and spawned a successful world tour - including a triumphant homecoming concert in Manila for 30,000 of Arnel's countrymen.

The most meaningful part of the trip took place away from the roar of the crowd - when Arnel took his band mates back to the park he'd once called home. The visit was captured for a soon-to-be released documentary called "Every Man's Journey."

"That must have been a moment of great cohesion for this new incarnation of Journey," says Axelrod.
"Absolutely," says Cain. "He's made our camp a better camp. You know? His spirituality. His faith. His belief. You know, it's strong."

And it was the start of Journey's next chapter. Their new album, Eclipse, features a song called "City of Hope," inspired by the work Arnel is doing as the head of his own foundation, providing underprivileged Filipino children education and healthcare.

"I just want to give back," Pineda says. "So every time I'm free, I get to reach out and look out for these kids and help for them anyway I can. And I think this will be my advocacy. You know, to put them back to school."

"Advocacy and legacy," Axelrod suggests.

"Hopefully yes," says Pineda.

But Journey's lasting legacy is without a doubt that one signature song - which, whether they like it or not, they'll be playing tonight. And tomorrow night. And the night after that.

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Blockbuster To Close More Stores, But Saves Majority

Dish Network's eleventh hour Blockbuster purchase saved a number of stores from imminent closure, but the company still intends to close additional properties. Blockbuster has spun this into a victory; the company's blog claims to have "saved" stores as opposed to liquidating them.

"We’re pleased that we will continue to operate more than 90 percent of the stores that were offered at auction in April,” said Michael Kelly, president of Blockbuster. “By lowering pricing and offering competitive summer promotions, we’ve brought millions of customers back into Blockbuster stores in the last three months to experience the best in convenience, choice and value. Today, more than 100 million people live near a Blockbuster store.”



“Unfortunately, despite our efforts to reach reasonable terms, some property owners have closed stores,” Kelly added. “However, we’ll continue to look for opportunities for physical distribution in these neighborhoods as we expand our in-store experience, unmatched for movies and family entertainment."

The company originally had some 1700 properties, of which 1500 are currently still up and running. The company's online offerings may have gotten a welcome jolt in recent weeks; Blockbuster has launched a fresh offensive recently in an attempt to lure away customers angry over Netflix's sudden price hike. Last week, the company announced it would offer a combined DVD+streaming access plan with new releases arriving more quickly than on Netflix, game rentals for multiple consoles, in-store exchanges, and no additional charge for Blu-ray rentals. In and of themselves, the perks might not be sufficient to prompt a mass exodus, but it's a well-timed move on Blockbuster's part.

The averted store closings are good news, but we've yet to hear much from Dish on how it intends to integrate the Blockbuster brand into its own offerings. There aren't many linkages between satellite broadcasting and physical film distribution, and no simple way for Dish to convert Blockbuster into a hybrid company while keeping prices competitive with the online-only offerings.