The Mercedes Benz 600 once owned by Elvis Presley in the 70′s is for sale on December 6th 2010 by Bonhams.

The sale will take place at Brooklands in Surrey and commences at 12 noon.

While Presley is perhaps more famous for owning pink Cadillacs, Bonhams says that the Blue Mercedes is one of only a few cars that Presley registered in his own name, and it has a picture of the California registration to prove it.

He owned it for two years, before giving it to a friend, James Leroy Robertson. It ended up in the hands of Robertson Motors of Memphis, which sold it in 2005.

It was then that the car came to England.

The Presley car is being auctioned on Dec. 6 at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands. Its presale estimate is £150,000 to £200,000.

The sculpture was shown in Madrid, Spain, in 2007, in a show that was ironically opened by the reining monarch, King Juan Carlos.

Sait the  Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards of the sculpture: “This is quite obviously the work of a lunatic. I don’t see this as anything more than a cheap stunt.”

Maybe he has a point – but hasn’t art nearly always been considered the work of lunatics to begin with?

This sculpture below, titled “Miss Kitty” is also by Paolo Schmidlin, portraying the Pope wearing nothing but thigh-high stockings, a pair of panties and a stole. The sculpture is adorned with a blonde bob wig.

When it was first exhibited in Milan, Italy, it drew harsh protest from the Catholic Anti-Defamation League and others who found the sculpture of the Pope in drag to be unacceptable.

In an official statement, the Catholic Anti-Defamation League declared that the controversial sculpture is a “vulgar offence against Christ’s vicar and the feelings of Roman Catholics,”. However, others have stated the censorship of the sculpture is another example of “Organized religion dictating the role of art.” and that, “This type of censorship should not be happening!”

A nude sculpture of the pop star Britney Spears clutching a dead bear rug has been creating a bit of a stir recently.

The work by Daniel Edwards, titled “Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston” shows Spears naked, pregnant, and sensually bent over on her knees.

The artist said this about the pose. “The image from behind of the kneeling pose is very strong so I felt the front of the sculpture needed an equally powerful image which is where the bearskin comes in.”

“The gallery said it received about 3,000 e-mails from around the world in just a week, split between anti-abortion and abortion rights opinions.”

Sculptor Daniel Edwards has a park-bench-sized statue of Angelina Jolie in the nude, breastfeeding her twins.

This artistic work of public indecency (she’s not wearing pants) is called “Landmark for Breastfeeding” and was inspired by Jolie’s cover photograph on W magazine in 2008.

Edwards decided that, in order to encourage more women to breastfeed and to raise global awareness of public nursing, he would depict one twin as African-American and the other as not.

Patricia Piccinini is one of the most well known of Australian contemporary artists.

Patricia Piccinini explores what she calls the ‘often specious distinctions between the artificial and the natural’. By displaying the similarities and differences between the organic, natural and our constructed material world, Piccinini challenges our classification of life.

This inspires her to combine human and animal physiology and technological development in many of her works.

At the height of the Oil crises, BP is listed as going from a $57,000 a month spender to becoming one of Google’s top advertisers, spending nearly $3.6 million in the month of June alone.
That pushed BP into the same league as Expedia, which spent at least $5.9 million in June, Amazon, which spent at least $5.8 million, and eBay, which spent at least $4.2 million.

This is a significant outlay even for BP, which spent $94 million on advertising throughout 2009, and $78.7 million in the first six months of 2010 alone according to Kantar Media.

Because it controls 65% of U.S. web searches, Google now determines more than any other factor what information is surfaced on the web.

Google keeps a tight lid on its technology to keep people from gaming the system. Similarly, search ads are a black box; anyone can buy an ad on Google, but it is very hard to know how much anyone, let alone corporate America, spends there.

The exception to that is when Google starts its sales pitch. “The primary tactic Google uses to increase ad budgets is to show them what others in their category are spending compared to what they’re spending,” said Kevin Ryan, CEO of Motivity Marketing, a digital marketing consultancy.

During June, AT&T Mobile spent more than $8 million on AdWords, which was supporting the launch of the iPhone 4.

The data obtained by Ad Age includes other huge brands such as GM, Walt Disney, Eastman Kodak and BMW, which appear to have spent less than $500,000 in June. Apple spent just under $1 million on search during the month, as did chip maker Intel.

Among Google’s biggest spenders are businesses that depend on search traffic, including those that resell AdWords or simply buy Google traffic to resell to their own advertisers, including Hungry Machine, which does business under the name Living Social, which spent $2.4 million in June, and Yellowpages.com, which spent $1.2 million.

The document shows 47 advertisers that spent more than $1 million in June; 71 that spent between $500,000 and $1 million, and 357 that spent between $100,000 and $500,000.

These are direct-billed customers only, not the many thousands of small advertisers that make up the bulk of Google’s clients and a key component in its $23 billion global annual revenue.

With the Ryanair police on the watch at every turn and with other airlines getting stricter by the day, knowing for sure that your hand baggage isn’t over weight is a relief.

And this Irish based company cites Ryanair in its video!

Gone are those moments on boarding the aircraft when an attendant tells you you have to put your baggage in the hold and pay a fine for the privilege.

See the video for more info.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The couple’s 24-acre estate, dubbed Beckingham Palace, has been valued by estate agents.
They bought the property in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, for £2.5m in 1999 and it is now estimated to be worth as much as £18m.

Sources close to the couple say they are keen to sell the Grade II listed building and surrounding land but it is not yet on the market.

The couple have spent more than £5m renovating the estate over the years – and it boasts indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a petting zoo, recording studio, snooker room, gym, and state-of-the-art floodlit tennis courts.

The garden has three gazebos, each of which cost £10,000 and has a different theme – lakeside, romantic and ornamental. The couple have also installed a 52ft garden pavilion with a marble floor, which houses a barbecue that cost £70,000.

It is understood the Beckhams, who are worth £125m, want to make Los Angeles their base for the family and think their sons – Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, eight, and Cruz, five – are happily settled there.

Since moving three years ago when David, 35, joined the LA Galaxy football club, they have adapted easily to life in LA.

The Beckhams also own an £11m house in Beverly Hills, a £2m chateau in France and a luxury apartment in Dubai.

In the past few months the couple have scaled back the number of staff they have at the Hertfordshire property. Sources say they plan to buy a central London townhouse and are considering options in Chelsea or Belgravia, and this will used for visits to the UK.

A spokesman for the Beckhams said: ‘I can confirm David and Victoria have had their UK home valued.’

A door from the Dining Room of Devonshire House

The Duke and Duchess of Westmister are auctioning some 20,000 objects in around 1,400 lots, estimates range from £20 to £200,000.  Together they allow for a journey from the 16th century to the  present day.

The sale items will be on view in a series of marquees on the grounds of the house from October 1st-4th October, prior to the auction on 5th-7th October.

Carved fireplaces, architraves, doors and shutters – were once part of the fabric of the many great houses that have featured in the Devonshire family’s extraordinary history, including Chatsworth itself, Chiswick House, Hardwick Hall, Lismore Castle, Compton Place, Bolton Abbey and, most of all, their palatial London residence, Devonshire House, on Piccadilly – for centuries the centre of London’s social, political and cultural elite. 

Articles on sales include a A Humber open touring four-seater car, 1914, fabrics, oak chest, china

Download Sotheby’s pdf brochure

Some items relate to royalty and others to one of the family’s most colorful members, the beautiful and charismatic Georgina Cavendish, 5th Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806), one of the most beloved and influential characters in British history. The legendary Duchess was the leading light of London life, the undisputed queen of fashion and society. She was painted by Gainsborough and Reynolds, and her dramatic life inspired The Duchess (2008) starring Keira Knightly, which was partly filmed at Chatsworth and which won an Academy Award for best costume design

When the present, 12th duke took over Chatsworth on the death of his father six years ago, he found the attics near to overflowing.

‘I have had the pleasure of stepping-back in time – revisiting the history-of my family through these artefacts and seeing treasures from Devonshire House that have been hidden for nearly a century,’ he said.

Proceeds from the sale will go toward projects at Chatsworth and other family estates.

In the previous Chronograph model of the Academia collection, time was displayed in a rather poetic way through the rotating movement of a fan-shaped hand over the seconds dial. Today, in the new Academia Blackstream Chronograph, the sequential seconds were replaced by classical seconds on a counter at 9 o’clock. A second counter, visually interconnected to the first one and positioned at 3 o’clock, plunges us once and for all into a sports car universe, as we now face the eye-catching speedometer of a racing car. The “radiator-grille” connecting these two subsidiary dials in the center of the watch further reminds us of the mechanical components of a motor. The final touch to its character is provided by the refined sunray pattern that further enhances the sense of speed and gives the impression of travelling across time.

The Blackstream Chronograph beats to the rhythm of a self-winding mechanical movement and has a power reserve of 48 hours. Its 44 mm round case is made of Grade 5 Titanium, black PVD and black rubber. The traditional 24 imperial columns obviously still adorn its flanks, however in a more discrete manner. The bezel provides a stunning contrast with the “full black” spirit of the watch, as it does not reflect the colour of the columns. The movement and the quality of the finishings can be observed through the sapphire crystal back.

With its new Academia Blackstream Chronograph, DeWitt has simply let its stylistic perception of dynamic masculinity be expressed. A subtle alloy of black elegance and trendy style. But with a sporty and streamlined twist.

Calibre:

Case:

 Dial:

 Wristband:

 Other:

  LIMITED EDITION: 250 PIECES

http://www.dewitt.ch

Montreal’s film commission denied Anderson and the animal rights organization a permit to stage the poster unveiling in Place Jacques-Cartier.

In an email to PETA, Montreal City Commissioner Josee Rocheford said the ad “goes against all principles pubic organizations are fighting for in the everlasting battle of equality between men and women.”

PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews, who was in Montreal with Anderson for the unveiling, added, “I think that city officials are confusing ‘sexy’ with ‘sexist.’”

In the ad, the buxom blond, 43, poses in a bikini with her body covered in marks suggestive of a butcher’s diagram. Parts of her body are labeled ‘rump,’ ‘ribs,’ ‘breast,’ and so on. The ad’s caption reads, ‘All Animals Have the Same Parts.’

The launch event took place in a restaurant instead of a public venue as originally planned.

IN THE WINDOW OF THE STELLA MCCARTNEY'S MAYFAIR STORE / London / Pamela Anderson for Peta

In the past, Anderson has stripped down for several other PETA campaigns.

In 2003, she bared it all for PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur” advertising campaign, and in June 2006, the sultry star posed topless in the window display of the Stella McCartney boutique in London.  

Anderson had said she would take her clothes off if the PETA Humanitarian Awards raised enough money that night, which they did.

More recently Pamela Anderson prepares unsuspecting travelers for takeoff in PETA’s “Cruelty Doesn’t Fly” video.

Watch as she strips passengers—of fur, leather, and all animal skins!

'Cruelty Doesn't Fly'—Learn More at PETA.org.

“H&M approached us to collaborate, and see if we could translate the dream we created at Lanvin to a wider audience, not just a dress for less. I have said in the past that I would never do a mass-market collection, but what intrigued me was the idea of H&M going luxury rather than Lanvin going public. This has been an exceptional exercise, where two companies at opposite poles can work together because we share the same philosophy of bringing joy and beauty to men and women around the world.” Alber Elbaz, artistic director of Lanvin.

“We are thrilled about Lanvin’s collection for H&M, it is such an exciting moment. Lanvin will bring to H&M a luxurious French tradition that is also modern and playful. It is very much a Lanvin collection, using their cut and tailoring, with lots of focus on form and details for both women and men. The launch in November is going to be full of wonderful surprises.” Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor at H&M.

Since joining Lanvin as artistic director in 2001, Alber Elbaz has transformed the Paris-based label, founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, into a fashion powerhouse bursting with ideas and creativity. Alber Elbaz has pioneered there some of the biggest trends of the past decade – ribbon, bows, pearls, raw edges, sumptuous colour and metallic embellishment among many others. Alber Elbaz has a mastery of cut and an instinct for cloth which leaves a very personal signature on his work, ensuring that all Lanvin clothes are instantly recognizable. Since the introduction of a new menswear line in 2006, Alber Elbaz has also transformed the male wardrobe, bringing a relaxed elegance to men’s clothing which is as special as the womenswear. 

Lanvin is the latest brand to collaborate with H&M, with previous collections designed by the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Comme des Garçons and Sonia Rykiel. In a new twist, the Lanvin for H&M collection will be revealed to the world through a special film which will be launched on November 2. The film will be available for all to see online at http://www.hm.com. Following the film’s debut, it will be just three weeks before customers have the chance to get their hands on a covetable piece of Lanvin for H&M.