8-year-old painting prodigy is new art world star

HOLT, England -- He's Britain's most talked-about young artist. His paintings fetch hefty sums and there's a long waiting list for his eagerly anticipated new works.
It has all happened so quickly - he's still getting used to the spotlight - and Kieron Williamson fidgets a little when he's asked to share his thoughts on art.

Original Article.

'The Other Guys': Five Secrets Revealed

On Friday, we revealed five secrets about Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's buddy cop flick "The Other Guys," from the explanation for Paris Hilton's missing cameo to how they managed to get such a curse-filled movie to be rated PG-13.

We got the inside scoop from co-writer/director Adam McKay, who called up MTV News shortly before the film opened and went on to reel in $35.6 million over the weekend. McKay also let slip a bunch of other secrets that were simply too spoilery to publish on Friday (August 9). Now, as "Other Guys" enjoys its place at the top of the box office, we're pushing forward with five more secrets revealed (of course, beware of spoilers below!).

Why Jackson and Johnson Plunged Off a Roof to Their Deaths

This out-of-nowhere game-changer comes about 15 minutes into the movie: the tough-guy cops played by Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson actually die after they miscalculate a roof jump and land with a crunch on the sidewalk. McKay told us that they entertained a number of funny and unexpected deaths before settling on the failed roof jump.

"The first thought we had was that they get a call for a chase, and they pull out to join it, and just get broadsided by a truck that had nothing to do with the chase," he said. "Then we just played with the idea of a really ignominious death — autoerotic asphyxiation — but we knew there was no way we could get that into a PG-13 movie. Even though it makes me and you laugh, 80 percent of the audience would be flat-out horrified. The one we really liked — and we came close to doing it — was that they were in a shootout and they just got shot. If you have too many shootouts, you're going to get shot. I think even the forensic guy was like, 'They were in 90 shootouts. You're gonna get shot eventually.'

"But the jump was just so much fun," he continued. "Originally in the script, you didn't see them hit the ground. But I thought, 'You gotta shoot that.' It could be either grisly or fantastic. Once the Foo Fighters' song got in, we knew we had it. For a second, you think you're watching the worst filmmaking ever. Are they really playing this song during a fake Hollywood jump? And then they die!"

How They Pulled Off the Motion-Capture Bar Scene

The film's most visually stunning scene is one that even James Cameron might applaud. It's a freeze-frame, continuous-shot bar scene in which Ferrell and Wahlberg are caught mid-action in a series of drunken incidents. The scene honestly defies easy explanation, which is why we waited until now to reveal how McKay captured it.

"My DP, Oliver Wood, and I had seen this Phillips short film with cops fighting clowns," he explained. "We loved it, but I think that cost $4 million to shoot. At first we were going to do digital camera stills, and I just thought that was boring and we kind of did that already on 'Talladega Nights.' Then Oliver said, 'I think we can do the Phillips thing,' and in four days we came up with the plan.

"We got this motion-capture camera that you program so the camera moves exactly the same every time," he added. "It was similar to what they did in 'The Matrix' with the flying bullets. They weren't wearing motion-capture suits. I wish I had thought of that. I would have made Will wear one for no reason. We just wrote joke scenarios of a night gone horribly wrong. We went to this bar on the Upper West Side [of Manhattan] and shot it in half a day. We cast stuntmen and women who could hold poses. Our special effects company, Evil Eye, added all these funny elements."

Why Keaton Quotes TLC

Michael Keaton plays the NYPD precinct captain who's always barking orders at Ferrell and Wahlberg. He also has a strange and hilarious habit of quoting TLC lyrics without seemingly having any idea who that group is. It's a gem of a recurring bit, and it came about entirely by accident.

"We were trying to write phrases for the captain that were tough-guy euphemisms," McKay said. "We had a draft where he said all this crazy stuff and out of that I started to say, 'Don't go chasing waterfalls,' and everyone started laughing. Then we called it back two more times, and then Keaton was doing them so well, we added more."

"We came up with a whole backstory that he drove his son to college and his son played a TLC greatest-hits CD the whole time but the captain was never aware what he was listening to," he added. "We knew at least 35 percent of the audience would have no idea who TLC is, but we were like, 'Screw it! It's too funny!' "

Why McKay Had Such a Weird Cameo

Last week, we revealed why Paris Hilton's cameo was left on the cutting room floor. Now we turn our attention to McKay's cameo as a demented homeless man who is the ringleader of a roving gay orgy gang. Yes, it is all as bizarre as it sounds.

"We originally had it just as a reference about all the horrible stuff that happens to [Will's] car [after it gets stolen]," he said. "We did a table re-write and Andrew Steele, the head writer for Funny or Die, came up with this joke that the thieves left a thank you note. That made us laugh, and then we named the thieves Dirty Mike and the Boys. Then we're like, 'We've got to see them.' I always like to do something small in our movies, so I was like, 'All right, it's me!'

"So we shot this riverside scene and just did thirty minutes of the filthiest improv you've ever heard in your life, and had to cut everything except what you see in the movie," he continued. "But the extended DVD has all the nastiness."

A Sequel Just Might Happen

After the collapse of "Anchorman 2" this spring, fans might be wondering if we'll ever see a sequel from one of the four big-screen collaborations between McKay and Ferrell. McKay revealed that we just might see "The Other Guys 2" down the road.

"We had fun shooting this and we talked about it," he said. "There's almost a novelty to doing a sequel at this point. The two we were talking about were 'Step Brothers' and 'Other Guys.' We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. But I would be happy to go back into this world. I never got tired of seeing Will and Mark going back and forth."

original article.

The Art of Tax War

The highly charged partisan debate over the future of the Bush tax cuts (scheduled to expire at the end of December) is a kind of war. Whether you term it a class war depends on what you mean by class, but it is certainly a war between the very rich (the top 2 percent of income earners) and a host of other individuals allied with them, against everybody else who gives a darn.

Battlefield success will be largely determined by the outcomes in the coming Congressional elections. A key issue in these races will be public perceptions of President Obama’s proposal to let expire the federal income-tax cuts put in place by the Bush administration for the very rich, while maintaining those tax cuts – and others implemented by his administration – for everybody else.

Voters’ perceptions are not primarily driven by facts. A February CBS poll showed that only 12 percent of voters recognize that the Obama administration has cut taxes. About 24 percent of voters (and about 64 percent of Tea Party supporters) said they believed it had raised taxes.

Many explanations come to mind. The tax issue is often a lightning rod for other frustrations. Most people find discussions of tax policy complicated and boring, and highly charged partisan debates excite some, but upset others, discouraging them from learning more.

The dynamics of collective conflict also come into play. Precisely because they are such a small group, the very rich stand to lose much more per person than others will gain per person from increased tax revenues. They also have more resources to invest in the fight, enabling them to make bigger contributions to Congressional campaigns.

One important strategic goal of this camp is to persuade voters that tax increases at the top will hurt the economy as a whole. Here’s where supply-side economics comes in, with its claims that tax cuts increase revenues and promote economic growth.

Historical trends, including a comparison of trends during the Clinton and Bush administrations, do not support these claims. But in a world in which most people believe their livelihoods depend on rich investors, many people are fearful. As Brit Hume of Fox News put it on July 25, “When’s the last time one of these poor people offered you a job?”

As a corollary, it is strategically important to argue that increased taxes at the top will hurt small-business owners, who are generally more liked and better respected than individuals in the economic stratosphere. But as William Gale of the Brookings Institution explains, very few small-business owners are in the top 2 percent, and most individuals in that category don’t heavily rely on business income.

In a counterattack, a group called Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse has released a report arguing that corporate tax havens provide an unfair advantage to large chain retailers and financial companies over locally owned retailers and community banks.

This report doesn’t speak directly to the issue of federal income taxes, but nonetheless lands some relevant blows. Apparently Goldman Sachs, taking brilliant advantage of offshore tax havens in 2008, paid federal taxes at an effective tax rate of 1 percent, proffering a sum less than one-third what it paid its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein.

It seems unlikely that taxing Mr. Blankfein himself at a higher rate would cause any harm.

Another strategic goal of opponents of the tax increase is to split and weaken the coalition favoring it. In this context, it is advantageous to label those receiving public assistance (including unemployment insurance) as slackers and cheats. About 47 percent of Americans owed no federal income tax in 2009, which you might think people opposed to federal income taxes would consider good news. Instead, the conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh characterized this as a form of fraud, “worse than anything Bernie Madoff ever thought about doing.”

On the battlefield, in the fog of war, it is often difficult to know exactly what is happening, and why. But those resisting change have the most to gain from fog – or even from blowing smoke – because uncertainty often works in favor of the status quo.

In my view, Citizens for Tax Justice, which describes itself as an advocacy group that strives “to give ordinary people a greater voice” against the “armies of special interest lobbyists for corporations and the wealthy,” offers the most specific and well-documented analysis of the two competing approaches to the Bush tax cuts, those of President Obama and the Congressional Republicans. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have gotten much attention from the news media.

I’m not sure whose fault that is, and if Sun Tzu were alive today, I’m not sure whom he would be working for. But it’s pretty clear that the Republicans would offer him a higher salary.

Original Article.

Moody's Investors Service raised its ratings outlook on Motorola Inc. (MOT) to positive--likely ending the near-term likelihood that the company will be cut to junk territory--as the telecommunications-equipment maker has agreed to sell most of its network-equipment business to telecom-equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks for $1.2 billion.

Nokia Siemens is a joint venture of Finland's Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) and Germany's Siemens AG (SI, SIE.XE).

Earlier Monday, Standard & Poor's Rating Services and Fitch Ratings said their grades wouldn't be affected by the pending sale.

Moody's said the sale is expected to boost Motorola's credit profile by giving it significant cash balances. The company plans to separate itself into two independent publicly traded companies through a spinoff of its mobile-devices and home businesses.

After the separation, expected in the first quarter, Moody's sees the debt remaining with Motorola Solutions, which generated first-quarter earnings of $141 million and revenue of $1.7 billion as the largest unit in the company.

Moody's has Motorola at Baa3, the lowest rung of investment grade. The previous ratings outlook was negative.

Motorola shares recently traded at $7.93, up 5.7%, on the divestiture plan. The stock is up 2% this year

original article.

Art gallery sued over alleged Lennon fakes

very Interesting article.. a man buys art that he believes to be counterfeit and its so crazy , he discovered this buy pointing out that there ink used in the prints were not invented during the time period the photos were believed to be drawn in.

A Wisconsin man is suing a Maui art gallery that sold him nearly $200,000 worth of sketches by Beatle John Lennon—sketches the buyer now believes are counterfeits.

David Petersen of Waukesha, Wis., has spent a total of about $300,000 on Lennon sketches from galleries in New York, Florida and Hawaii. About two years ago, he purchased 16 sketches from Celebrites Galleries in Kihei.

"These were presented to me as being drawn by the hand of John Lennon," Petersen said in a phone interview yesterday.

The drawings were said to have been drawn in February 1972 and came with a statement authenticating the art pieces. Lennon was murdered in 1980 at age 40.

In 2008, when Petersen, 54, tried to auction two of the sketches, the auction owner suspected Petersen's pieces were not authentic.

Over the next several months, Petersen put the sketches through ink and paper tests as well as a test by electrostatic apparatus, which measures minuscule impressions.

"We found inks that did not exist in Lennon's lifetime," he said.

The lawsuit, filed July 2 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, names as defendants Celebrites Galleries; gallery co-owners Gerard Marti and wife Colleen Noah-Marti; a second business owned by the couple, the insurance company Insurance Factors in Honolulu; and a former employee.

Gerard Marti said by phone yesterday that his experts believe the works are genuine.

Marti said he acquired the pieces from a broker, whom he will be questioning, and said he will conduct his own investigation.

In his 19 years in business, Marti has never had anyone claim their purchases were fake, he said.

There are a lot of forgeries, Marti said, and it is difficult to confirm a piece's authenticity unless one is present when the artist signs the item, leaving collectors to rely on a scientific examiner.

"You have to back yourself up with the opinion of a professional," he said.

According to the lawsuit, Petersen also bought a microphone from Celebrites that Lennon purportedly used to record the album "Imagine" in 1971.

But the serial number showed the microphone was not made until six years later, the lawsuit said.

Marti, who bought the mike from the recording studio, said Lennon did use it and that the only discrepancy is the date. He said Lennon used the microphone in the late 1970s and that it was later used by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr

original article.

Art from Princess Diana’s Family to be Auctioned

Art, antiques, and other belongings owned by the family of Diana, Princess of Wales, are to be auctioned in London beginning Tuesday.

Three auction items will be featured at Christie’s Auction House’s Old Masters sale, all of which once belonged at the Althorp House, which was the Spencer family’s country home in Northhamptonshire, and in Spencer House, “their historic London home.”

The country house, Althorp, was the home in which Princess Diana grew up and, following her death in 1997, the site of her burial. Diana’s brother Earl Charles Spencer is the current owner of the home.

The items on sale have been in the Spencer family for centuries. One item is a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, “Commander Being Armed for Battle,” which the Spencer family has had possession of since 1802.

This portrait was painted in 1613 and 1614. It shows a bearded man, supposed to be the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, being fitted with his armor. The painting’s expected going price is between 8 million and 12 million pounds ($12 million to $18 million).

A second painting, “King David” by Giovannie Francesco Barbieri, will be auctioned. This painting is expected to sell for as much as 8 million pounds ($12 million).

A second sale beginning on Wednesday, the “Althorp Attic Sale,” will include a 19th century carriage owned by the family, as well as harnesses, saddles, furniture, snuff, cigarette boxes, and military uniforms. The third sale, which begins on Thursday, will include even more works of art and porcelain from Spencer House.

original article.

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

I remember my friend was actually part of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion week. You might have heard it from Lauren Conrad on her show "The Hills". It's a great way to get an inside scoop of what's to come next for this year or the next. It's really awesome! A lot of great designers and such. My friend got lucky doing this! He basically had to dress the models and strip them down. I really wanted to do that, but I knew I didn't have that kind of time. Ahh! I hope I get to do it for this year's fashion show.

Picture source