WORLD'S FASTEST MERCEDES SLR MCLAREN

 

Given that Mercedes and McLaren went their own separate ways a few years ago, finally winding Mercedes SLR McLaren production down in 2009, we thought for sure we'd see less terrible SLR tunes. Yet they keep coming.

This rough-looking, gaping-mouthed SLR took not one, nor two, but four different doctors to Frankenstein together.

Platinum Motorsport, RENNtech, MACarbon, and Exotics Boutique all put their tuning expertise together and popped out what they're calling the world's fastest SLR. They're also calling it the L4P SLR777.

These four partners conspired to increase the SLR's quickness, speed and look by adding the Mansory Renovatio bodykit (the first car to receive the kit outside of Mansory walls), upgrading a variety of hardware and customizing the interior.

Renntech left few corners untouched, boosting output to 770 horsepower and upgrading the five-speed transmission to handle it, upgrading the exhaust system, adding racing coilovers and shocks, increasing road clearance with a push-button hydraulic system, and upping stopping power with a performance brake system.

Platinum Motorsport was responsible for the bodykit install and "liquid white" paint job; MACarbon outfitted the interior with carbon fiber components; and Platinum finished the tune off with suede elements inside and 20-inch Agetro M140 Monoblock wheels outside.

As to the "world's fastest" claim, the L4P SLR777 runs the quarter mile in 10.29 seconds at 134 mph. That's well over a second faster than the 11.6 @ 125 mph that the stock version is capable of--and here's the proof:

Chelsea v Arsenal

Barclays Premier League CHELSEA v ARSENAL

Venue: Stamford Bridge
Date: Saturday, 29 October
Kick-off: 1245 BST              





TEAM NEWS

Chelsea will be without Didier Drogba, who is suspended following his dismissal against QPR.
Fernando Torres could return to the starting XI after completing a three-game domestic ban, while Ramires is fit after a knee injury.
Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen could make his first Premier League appearance since August.
Fellow defender Carl Jenkinson faces a fitness test but Kieran Gibbs is still unavailable.


MATCH REVIEW

For Chelsea this game comes a month later than they may have liked.
The Arsenal side they will face at Stamford Bridge is much improved from the ragged, confidence-shorn outfit that had plunged the Gunners into crisis by mid-September.
Beaten by Liverpool, humiliated by Manchester United, and then outmanoeuvred by Blackburn, Arsene Wenger's team found themselves charting unfamiliar territory in the bottom half of the Premier League.
But since that defeat at Ewood Park they have made steady progress towards respectability. Robin van Persie's goals - six in his last four league games - have been no small part of that improvement.
However, they are on a poor run away from home and, as restorative as victories against Bolton, Sunderland and Stoke have been, beating Chelsea on their own patch is a completely different prospect.
Andre Villas Boas's side have gone about their business quietly but effectively so far this season. Defeat against QPR was an unexpected setback, but even with nine men they could still have salvaged a point.
Chelsea still start as favourites but they will have to curb the indiscipline that saw them pick up two red cards and another seven bookings at Loftus Road.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Arsenal's 3-1 win the last time the two sides met, at the Emirates in December 2010, was their first in six games against Chelsea.
• Chelsea have lost just three of their last 19 games in all competitions against the Gunners.
• Arsenal have lost their last two Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge - both by a 2-0 scoreline.

Chelsea

• Chelsea have gone eight Premier League games without a clean sheet for the first time since September 2003, when the run was nine.
• They are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League home London derby matches, winning each of the last nine. Their last loss was a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in November 2008.
• Andre Villas Boas's side have won all four Premier League home matches this season.
• Since making his debut in February, David Luiz has conceded more penalties (3) than any other Premier League player.
• Chelsea's next goal will be their 6,000th in league football.
• Ashley Cole, who has played every minute of Chelsea's Premier League games this season, is set to make his 450th club career start.

Arsenal

• Arsenal are on a run of eight away league games without a win - their longest in the Premier League.
• Robin Van Persie has 25 goals in 26 Premier League games in 2011 - more prolific than any other player.
• If Arsenal lose it will equal their worst run of away defeats (4) in the Premier League.
• The Gunners' win against Stoke was the first time they have collected back-to-back victories in the Premier League since February.
• This will be Wenger's 30th Premier League match against Chelsea, having won 13 and lost seven of the previous 29.
• The Gunners have conceded more goals from free-kicks (5) than any other Premier League side this season.

Premier League managers deny racism problems

Two top Premier League managers have denied racism is a problem in English football following two alleged incidents this month.
In the wake of accusations made against Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Chelsea and England captain John Terry, both Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger on Friday said racism was not widespread.
Dalglish told reporters: "I don't think it is prevalent in the game here and it certainly isn't at this football club."
Wenger said: "I do not think that, in sport, racism is basically a problem because you are rewarded on merit. However, in society I still think there is some job to do and we are not at the end of it.
"But in sport, overall, I don't think it is a problem."
Dalglish added that he hoped the case against Uruguayan striker Suarez, following allegations that he racially abused Manchester United's French defender Patrice Evra, will be concluded swiftly.
He said: "For me, I don't see racism as far as this football club is concerned, apparent in any way, shape or form. We have got a case going on ourselves which seems to be dragging its feet.
"We would rather have it done and dusted, out in the open, and whoever is the guilty party, whether it's the person who said it or the accuser, get their due punishment.
"We look forward to the case coming to a conclusion."
Chelsea host Arsenal Saturday with Terry likely to return after missing their midweek League Cup win at Everton.
Terry, with full support from his club, has denied racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's defeat at Queens Park Rangers last Sunday. Suarez has similarly denied Evra's accusations.
Anton Ferdinand is the brother of Terry's predecessor as England captain Rio Ferdinand.
The Football Association are investigating both alleged incidents.

Manchester United signs partnership deal with Zong

Zong has entered into a three-year partnership agreement with Manchester United, said a statement issued by Zong on Tuesday.

With this agreement, Zong is planning to launch dedicated value added services and products specifically for Man U fans that will enable the club’s estimated 10 million fans in Pakistan a chance to see all the goals scored, as well as exclusive interviews, news and behind-the-scenes access – bringing them closer to Old Trafford than ever before.

Announcing the deal, Commercial Director Richard Arnold said:

Zong is a great partner for United in Pakistan. It is a relatively young company, but has ambitions to be one of the major players in the country and partnering with United will give them high visibility, as well as helping the Club to communicate directly with millions of our supporters there.

Using our digital assets to engage our global fanbase is an increasingly-important part of our commercial strategy and we are very excited about the possibilities presented by this partnership.

Sir Alex Ferguson also commented on the development and said:

The way the club uses modern technology to reach our millions of fans around the world is outstanding. Zong will be a key player in allowing us to bring the passion and excitement of Manchester United to our fans in Pakistan.

Rizwan Akhter, The Director Advertising and Promotions of Zong said:

This partnership is one of a kind coming from Pakistan and the initiative that Zong has taken to team up with a giant like Manchester United will only lead to prosperity, growth and triumph! For all the glory that is to come, we stand united, to take on all opportunities and victories together as one.

Today, we play for the same team!

 Commercial Ads published in Pakistani Newspapers.

Woman pulled out alive 3 days after Turkey quake

Emergency workers rescued a 27-year old woman alive from a collapsed building on Wednesday, nearly three days after a powerful earthquake killed more than 400 people and left tens of thousands homeless in southeastern Turkey.


The woman, Gozde Bahar, went into cardiac arrest as she was being transported to hospital in the town of Ercis, one of the hardest hit by Sunday's 7.2 magnitude quake.

Doctors later managed to revive her. She was in critical condition at a hospital in the provincial capital of Van, Reuters reporters at the scene said. Rescuers battled against time to find more missing people from the quake.

Early Review: Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey, which arrives in bookstores this Tuesday, is one of the most comprehensive Harry Potter film guides imaginable.  Its 532 pages, three times as many as Harry Potter Film Wizardry, are filled with countless never-before-seen photos from the production of each of the eight films, along with detailed notes and interviews with the cast and crew about their experiences working on the film. Leaky was able to get an early copy of the book for review, which can be read below.  Enjoy!

~~~*~~*~~~

The first impression one gets about Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey is how massive the entire tome is in hand.  It feels as if it's an ancient book checked out from the Hogwarts Library, and has about as much information on its pages, too.  It took me a moment after first taking off the shrink wrap to just feel and examine the book before I even opened it.  It's a classic dark blue and gold and looks as if it's a book you'd want to keep out handy on a table and not stocked away on a bookshelf.  Opening it cover and going through the pages reveals countless production photos and production art that are set along side interviews with the cast and crew.   Small tidbits of information about the sets, their props and dressings, and even drawings and notes from author J. K. Rowling to the production team also litter the pages, giving the book the most comprehensive feelings I've ever come across.

The book itself it divided up into three parts: The Making of Harry Potter, The Art of Harry Potter, and, most appropriately, the Epilogue, which contains a special note on the Golden Boards feature.  The first section of the book gives way to nearly 200 pages on making all seven films in the series and shows the countless details and choices that helped make the films look as real-- and magical-- as possible.  The production of and major elements for each film are laid out as if you were walking through the story once again and works very well for this book.  Intermixed with behind the scenes photos and narrative are production designs and concept art which give a great juxtaposition between what the designers envisioned and what ultimately appeared in the films. This includes building designs and sets, but also original character and creature sketches.  This section does and excellent job at showing the long and detailed process how each film evolved from Jo's story to the filmmakers concepts to, finally, what we see on screen.

In the second section, the art of the Harry Potter films is profiled.  Production Designer Stuart Craig and Creature Designer Nick Dudman and their teams take us through each characters, creatures and sets seen throughout the films.  I could not think of a being or place that was not featured in this section-- it's that comprehensive.  The pages devoted to the evolution of Hogwarts Castle from its first sketches during pre-production of "Sorcerer's Stone" to the destruction of the castle in "Deathly Hallows," are jaw-dropping and filled with more details than have been given before about the iconic building.  It is difficult to pick out favorites because there is just so much that's included in this book.  The same can be said of many of the characters in the film, particularly, the Trio and Lord Voldemort.

However, there is one part of the films noticeably absent from the book is the Epilogue scene at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."  Images from this final part of the film, along with the usual behind the scenes detail and information is not included in the book.  Whether this is due to the secret nature of the filming of that scene or the fact that it's final cut was the product of re-shoots following the initial wrap of the film we do not know.  However, it is slightly disappointing, given the amount of information this book features for every other major moment in the film, that we don't get to see the kind of details there must have been to create the Harry Potter cast nineteen years on.

Those concerned about this book being more of a scrapbook-styled look at the Harry Potter films, such as last year's Harry Potter Film Wizardry, need not worry; Harry Potter Page to Screen is its own unique volume and hardly overlaps with Film Wizardry.  Flipping through the pages of this book and reading of the process by which the Harry Potter films came to be is a tremendously rewarding experience.  It is rewarding not only for the thousands of images of cast and crew on set and behind the scenes details included in the book, but also for the shedding light on how and why the filmmakers made the films the way they did.  No other book, at least in my memory, has comes close to showing just how much went into the production of these films and how each detail was malicious planned and perfected by the filmmakers.  Harry Potter Page to Screen is a enlightening and engaging read for any Harry Potter fan wishing to know more about the series, as well as any film student curious on what it takes to bring a seven part fantasy series to life on the big screen.

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey retails for $75 in the US, and is available for sale Tuesday, October 25, 2011.

'Paranormal Activity 3' scares up huge $54M debut

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Paranormal Activity 3" didn't just go bump in the night. It made a ton of noise at the box office with a record-setting, $54 million opening.
The third film in Paramount Pictures' low-budget fright franchise, which was No. 1 at the box office, had the biggest debut ever for a horror movie, according to Sunday studio estimates. It broke the previous record part two set a year ago with $40.7 million. It's also the biggest opening ever for an October release, topping the $50.35 million Paramount's "Jackass 3D" made last year.
"Paranormal Activity 3" is actually a prequel, with the discovery of disturbing home-movie footage from 1988. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who made the creepy documentary "Catfish," took over directing duties this time.
Don Harris, Paramount's president of distribution, said the studio hoped part three would simply perform better than part two. The first "Paranormal Activity," with its reported $15,000 budget, became a phenomenon in 2009 through midnight screenings and word of mouth.
Harris believes this installment did so well because it's actually the best movie of the three. He noted that it appealed to an older crowd, with 47 percent over the age of 25 compared to 40 percent for "Paranormal Activity 2." Strong reviews also helped, he said, including a rave from Time magazine. And fundamentally, horror movies simply play better in a packed theater.
"Ultimately, it gets back to why there's still a theatrical business, why people still go to the movies," Harris said. "We want to laugh in a group, we want to be scared in a group, people like to cry in a group in the dark where nobody can see them crying. It's all the reason movie theaters exist and this genre has always been front and center."
Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, said he was expecting "Paranormal Activity 3" to come in around $35 million for the weekend, simply because most newcomers have been underperforming this fall.
"This brand is as solid as the 'Twilight' brand or the 'Jackass' brand. There are certain brands that just transcend any kind of box-office rhyme or reason. They just resonate," Dergarabedian said. "These are shot in someone's house, they look like they're shot with a home video recorder, and people just relate to it."
Last week's No. 1 release, the futuristic boxing robot adventure "Real Steel," fell to second place. It made $11.3 million for a domestic total of $67.2 million. Worldwide, the Disney movie has grossed $153.3 million.
Among the other new releases this week, Summit Entertainment's 3-D version of "The Three Musketeers" came in fourth place with $8.8 million. And Universal's "Johnny English Reborn," a sequel to the 2003 spy parody starring Rowan Atkinson, opened at No. 8 with $3.8 million. But it's already a huge hit internationally, having made $104.5 million so far.
In limited release, the critically acclaimed psychological thriller "Martha Marcy May Marlene" made $137,541 on four screens in New York and Los Angeles. That's a hefty $34,385 per screen average, according to Fox Searchlight.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Paranormal Activity 3," $54 million. ($26 million international.)
2. "Real Steel," $11.3 million. ($18.5 million international.)
3. "Footloose," $10.85 million.
4. "The Three Musketeers," $8.8 million. ($17.1 million international.)
5. "The Ides of March," $4.9 million.
6. "Dolphin Tale," $4.2 million.
7. "Moneyball," $4.05 million.
8. "Johnny English Reborn," $3.8 million. ($13.5 million international.)
9. "The Thing," $3.1 million.
10. "50/50," $2.8 million.
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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Paranormal Activity 3," $26 million.
2. "Real Steel," $18.5 million.
3. "Johnny English Reborn," $13.5 million.
4. "The Three Musketeers," $17.1 million.
5. "Contagion," $9.6 million.
6. "The Smurfs," $3.4 million.
7. "The Lion King," $3.3 million.
8. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $2.9 million.
9. "Friends With Benefits," $2.8 million.
10 "The Change-Up," $2.4 million.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
http://www.rentrak.com
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.