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Breughel: Flea market painting turns out to be masterpiece
The owner of a small round painting showing two peasants has found out that she owns an unknown work by the 17th-century Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger.
The owner took her painting, which she had bought for the equivalent of £560 in a Dutch flea market almost 50 years ago, to antique experts on a Dutch TV. They immediately recognised the importance of the signed, 16cm-wide picture of a farmer and his wife resting next to a tree, valuing it at €80,000 to €100,000 (£63,000 to £79,000).
The raised paint caused by the contraction of its wooden panel over time, as well as Brueghel's signature on the trunk of the tree, made it possible to authenticate it and date it to about 1620.
The unnamed owner of the painting did not reveal whether they would now sell it. The owner of a small round painting showing two peasants has found out that she owns an unknown work by the 17th-century Flemish artis... more -
False teeth catch murder bullet and save man's life
A Croatian man survived a murder bid after the bullet ricocheted off his wife's cheek and was caught in his false teeth.
The incident, in the capital Zagreb, left Mirna Cavlovic and her husband Stipe, 37, badly shaken but uninjured.
The couple got caught up in a row between two men, one of whom pulled a gun and shot at them at point blank range. The bullet grazed the cheekbone of Mr Cavlovic's terrified blonde wife and slammed into his mouth. But instead of killing him, the shot got caught in his dentures and fell harmlessly to the ground.
"I thought I was dead for sure," he told police. "I didn't even see the bullet hit my wife. I just saw the flash of the gun's barrel. The next thing I knew was something hit my false tooth and I spat out the hot lead. It hurt like hell but we're both still alive."
Police ballistics experts believe Mr Cavlovic survived the bullet because it had lost so much speed when it first skimmed his wife's cheek.
The would-be hitman fled the scene but was arrested soon afterward. A Croatian man survived a murder bid after the bullet ricocheted off his wife's cheek and was caught in his false teeth. ... more -
Some men attract all the ladies - and it's all down to science
SCIENTISTS have found proof that some guys really do have all the luck when it comes to the opposite sex.
Their research showed that throughout history small numbers of men have fathered children with large amounts of women.
The results published in online journal PLoS Genetics showed that the female X chromosome was much more varied than non-sex chromosomes, known as autosomes.
This is the opposite of what would be expected in populations with an equal number of breeding men and women, the study said. SCIENTISTS have found proof that some guys really do have all the luck when it comes to the opposite sex. ... more -
Quantum of Solace, the year's second best movie?
Could the twenty-second installment in the James Bond franchise be the second best big budget movie of the year? (keeping in consideration that nothing could beat the Dark Knight) Could the twenty-second installment in the James Bond franchise be the second best big budget movie of the year? (keeping in considera... more
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Do you believe in luck? “Lucky Pregnancy Test”
An interesting story about how you can buy luck on ebay and if you even believe in luck
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Nappy saves baby's life
An 18-month old toddler's life was saved by a disposable nappy which broke his fall from a third-floor apartment window.
Caua Felipe Massaneiro survived the 10-metre fall because his nappy got caught on a security spike in the concrete wall around his apartment building in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife.
For a moment the boy dangled from the spike, then "the diaper opened and the baby fell to the ground, but at a much slower speed," a police officer said. "The diaper obviously lessened the impact of the fall and saved the baby's life."
Miraculously, the toddler did not suffer any serious injuries although he remained in hospital being treated for minor fractures.
"Police have opened an investigation to determine how the toddler fell out the window and "if parental negligence was one of the causes," said the police officer.
Caua's father, 23-year-old Alexandre Cesar Massaneiro, told a local newspaper that his son had climbed onto a sofa underneath the window he fell from - "something he had never done before."
"It wasn't the diaper that saved him," Mr Massaneiro added. "It was God." An 18-month old toddler's life was saved by a disposable nappy which broke his fall from a third-floor apartment window. ... more -
the best flying dog ever
"never give up, and good luck will find you" -Falcor (the luck dragon)
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Air hostess picks up chocolate bar from trash and wins space trip
A French air hostess will become one of Europe's pioneer space tourists after picking a chocolate wrapper out of the rubbish and finding a winning number in a competition to fly to the upper reaches of the earth's atmosphere.
Mathilde Epron, 32, said she had bought a Kit Kat chocolate bar at her local supermarket but initially threw the wrapper in the bin, telling herself that "it's only others who win." Two hours later, thinking back to the competition, she decided to try her luck and fished the wrapper out of the bin, only to find a code marked inside. "For someone who works in air travel it's really a dream come true," she told France Info radio.
A spokeswoman for Nestle in France confirmed that Epron had won the prize to take a flight on a four-seater, fighter-sized aircraft built by Rocketplane, a company that builds aircraft intended to provide cheap flights into space.
She will receive four days of astronaut training in Oklahoma City in the United States before boarding the Rocketplane XP aircraft which will reach an altitude of 100 km (60 miles) and allow a five-minute experience of weightlessness.
(Joseph Tandy and James Mackenzie / Reuters) A French air hostess will become one of Europe's pioneer space tourists after picking a chocolate wrapper out of the rubbish and ... more -
Dangerous toy: boy brings home live World War II shell
A 10-year-old boy in the German city of Kassel is lucky to be alive after playing with a new "toy" that turned out to be a high-explosive shell from World War II.
It's not uncommon for kids to bring home unusual finds, such as a lost puppy. But things are a lot less cute when the discovery turns out to be a high-explosive shell from World War II.
On Tuesday evening, one 10-year-old boy was playing on the edge of a field near his home in the central German city of Kassel when he found a cylindrical metal object about 25 centimeters (10 inches) in length and 7.5 centimeters (3 inches) in diameter, according to statement released by police. The boy brought the "toy" home Wednesday morning and showed it to his father, who immediately telephoned the police.
Upon examining the object, the police notified the state weapons disposal service. Contractors of the service identified the article as a high-explosive shell from World War II, before safely transporting it to a dedicated weapons-disposal facility, where it was destroyed.
Gossens said that in the state of Hesse alone, 230 tons of World War II-era weapons and munitions were found in 2007 -- over 60 years after the end of the war. The shell the boy brought home still contained 250-300 grams (8.8-10.6 ounces) of explosive -- but had lost its detonator. A 10-year-old boy in the German city of Kassel is lucky to be alive after playing with a new "toy" that turned out to be a h... more -
The Art Pack ~ luck on strike
Back in 2003. Somewhere in Paris, Gauthier meets Bertrand to buy used music gear from him. They listen to each other’s early work and decide to make music together. As their friendship grows, the quality of their experiments increases too. Now in 2007, they’re producing new material under the name “Luck on Strike“. Their brand is their own blend of electro with grunge power. No static creation process, no boundaries, that’s what you can expect from two self-taught artists. Guitars sounds like synths and synths screams like guitars.
Their influences are broader than electronic music : pop, 70’s rock, disco for Gauthier, hip-hop, funk, music scores for Bertrand. But Luck on Strike is also a live act : from electro mash-up to live play, they transmit raw energy to audience.
Luck on Strike just released a remix of Jackson & his computer band, you can get it here :
http://www.zshare.net/audio/65093475bc15bb/
www.myspace.com/luckonstrike
Réalisation, Interviews, Post-Production by
- Antoine Cayrol
- Pierre Zandrowicz Back in 2003. Somewhere in Paris, Gauthier meets Bertrand to buy used music gear from him. They listen to each other’s early work and ... more -
John Mccain's lucky charms
Senator McCain has dozens of superstitions and rituals, many stemming from his days as a Navy fighter pilot, a notoriously superstitious bunch. He carries a lucky feather, a lucky compass and a lucky penny — not to mention a lucky nickel and a lucky quarter.
Campaign insiders attribute their South Carolina victorry to the Spring Hill Lizard. The reptile, believed to have mysterious powers, is the property of one Lanny Wiles, McCain’s trip director. Wiles used it to help Texas A&M beat Nebraska, and to force a golfing opponent to miss a $100 putt. He employs the lizard (which isn’t a lizard at all but a certain spell cast by wiggling the right pinkie) only on rare occasions, such as today. “We use it only if we’re at Def Con One,” says John Weaver, McCain’s political director and occasional witch doctor.
“I’m wearing my lucky shoes from today till Sunday,” McCain says from his bus on Wednesday. At the moment, his pockets contain the compass, feather (from a tribal leader) and penny (flattened, in his wallet). When McCain once misplaced his feather, there was momentary panic in the campaign, until his wife found it in one of his suits. When the compass went missing once, McCain assigned his political director to hunt it down. Weaver found it, and it remains safe, knock wood. Senator McCain has dozens of superstitions and rituals, many stemming from his days as a Navy fighter pilot, a notoriously superstitio... more -
Bingo hall thumb war!
Not quite up there with Rocky but there is a serious battle in the thumb war stakes during a game
of bingo. The girl usually cheats to win! Not quite up there with Rocky but there is a serious battle in the thumb war stakes during a game ... more -
Bingo Blotting
One hand blotting, one hand filming.......it must have brought me luck because I won the during the moment at a Mecca bingo!
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Some people are just too lucky for their own good.
If you can pull this type of stunt off, you deserve your own show.
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Why Is the Number 7 Thought to Be Lucky?
The number 7 is lucky for a reason. Find out why in this discussion. Do you think a number can be lucky or is "luck" a load of rubbish? The number 7 is lucky for a reason. Find out why in this discussion. Do you think a number can be lucky or is "luck" a loa... more
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The luckiest kid in India (with X-RAY). Teen survives 4ft pole rammed through his ...
Manish Rajpurohit has been hailed the luckiest teenager in India after he survived being skewered by a metal pole in a bus crash.
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