Moyles sets breakfast DJ record (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

Chris Moyles has become the longest-serving breakfast DJ on BBC Radio 1.

The host, who took charge of the show in 2004, has overtaken a record set by Tony Blackburn more than 30 years ago.

Moyles has now clocked up 2,073 days in the job. He has also revealed that he took a 20% pay cut three months ago as a result of cost-cutting at the BBC.

“No-one likes to take a pay cut,” he told BBC News. “But I want to work at the BBC, which is trying to save some of its gazillions.”

Moyles and his team are celebrating the milestone in Plymouth, at the start of a tour of Britain. They will travel to Cardiff, Leeds and Glasgow before returning to London.

The 35-year-old joined the station in 1997, initially working in the 0400 slot.

But the self-styled “saviour of Radio 1″ never hid his ambition of landing what he considered to be the top job in radio.

Since taking over the breakfast slot from Sara Cox, Moyles’s time on air has been extended twice and he has boosted the show’s audience from 5.5 million listeners a week to the current level of 7.3 million.

His zoo-style format has won him a loyal audience, and his core team – co-presenter “Comedy” Dave Vitty, producers Rachel Jones and Aled Jones and newsreader Dominic Byrne – have been with him since the show started.

Sports reporter Carrie Davis replaced Juliette Ferrington in October 2004.

But Moyles’s career on the station has not been without controversy, and he has previously drawn fire for jokes about Auschwitz and gay singer Will Young.

In July, the DJ hit out at BBC red tape and the lengths that the corporation goes to not to cause upset.

Some critics have also questioned whether Moyles can keep in touch with the young listeners the Radio 1 aims to attract.

Tony Blackburn gave up the breakfast show up when 29, saying at the time he was married and “didn’t fit the image any more”.

Earlier this year BBC Radio 1 denied that it was preparing to replace Moyles.

“He has a hugely successful show with over seven million listeners,” a spokesman said at the time.

See all  our Bristish canvas art!

The force is with him: Star Wars fan’s collection (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

A Swindon man with an obsession for Star Wars has decided to sell off his enormous collection of memorabilia.

Luke Kay (aka Luke Skywalker) has a unique hoard, which includes a life-sized storm trooper and an R2D2 replica. It has outgrown his living room and a huge storage vault.

He now wants to sell the lot, which could raise as much as a million pounds.

See all our Movie & Film Canvas Art!

Beatles fans mark Abbey Road pic (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

Hundreds of Beatles fans have gathered to mark the 40th anniversary of when the zebra crossing shot from the band’s Abbey Road album cover was taken.

People crowded around the crossing and celebrated by singing Beatles songs, causing traffic chaos in the process.

Four Beatles lookalikes then strolled across the road for the picture reconstruction.

The event was organised by Richard Porter, a Beatles tour guide and owner of the nearby Beatles café.

“The picture is just so easy to copy – well normally it is easy to copy. It is simple and it’s like a shrine to the Beatles,” said Mr Porter.

Tony Bramwell, the band’s former road manager, was present on the day the shot was taken.

“Other than Paul and Ringo, I’m the only person alive who was here on that day,” he said.

“It’s great to see that the whole thing carries on. Through the musical genres and revolutions of the last 40 years the Beatles are still number one.”

The Beatles recorded much of their work at the Abbey Road studio in north London.

The photographer who took the famous original cover shot was the late Iain Macmillan.

Have a look at all our music and rock canvas art!

Jackson goods given green light (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

Official Michael Jackson commemorative goods such as calendars and posters could soon hit the shops after a judge approved various merchandising deals.

The LA judge agreed that Jackson’s estate and Apple’s iTunes store could sell songs and videos of Jermaine Jackson’s performance of Smile.

He sang the Charlie Chaplin classic at Michael’s public memorial.

The deals were presented to Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff by the administrators of Jackson’s estate.

The administrators are lawyer John Branca and music executive John McClain.

They are due to have another hearing with Judge Beckloff on Monday to ask that other deals be cleared.

They include a film featuring the singer’s final rehearsals and preparations for a series of comeback concerts in London.

Columbia Pictures has agreed to pay $60m (£36m) for the rights to the footage but the deal must be approved by Monday.

Private Trust

The judge is also considering a deal from merchandiser Bravo for worldwide distribution rights to several Jackson-themed products.

These include trading cards, lighters, stuffed animals that play Jackson songs, and tattoos for online games.

Jackson was heavily in debt when he died. He is reported to have owed between $300m (£180m) and $500m (£300m).

Jackson’s assets are being placed into a private trust. His three children and his mother, who is also the children’s guardian, are expected to receive 80% of the singer’s estate. The rest will go to unnamed charities.

Jackson’s will said the singer’s estate consisted almost entirely of “non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalogue of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony ATV, and the interests of various entities”.

This refers to the singer’s share of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalogue, which includes rights to the songs of The Beatles.

Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home on 25 June at the age of 50.

Speculation continues about the possible role prescription drugs played in Jackson’s death.

Have a look at all our music canvas art!

Urban dwellers ’should keep bees’ (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

People living in urban areas are being encouraged to consider keeping bees in gardens, on roofs or on balconies to help reverse population decline.

Conservation watchdog Natural England wants more homeowners to install hives and grow insect-friendly plants.

Nearly all the UK’s 250 species of bee are in decline. Honeybee numbers have fallen by 10-15% in the last two years.

Experts say sustaining bee populations is essential to ensuring the survival of Britain’s plants and crops.

Natural England wants to see more UK bee colonies, which would make the insects more resistant to their biggest killers – disease and pests, such as the varroa mite.

‘Not wildlife deserts’

The organisation’s chief scientist, Tom Tew, said urban areas could play a crucial part in encouraging bees and a new easy-to-use beehive, called a beehaus, could help more people become apiarists.

“There’s no reason why our towns and cities should exist as wildlife deserts – wildlife can thrive when we design our urban areas with nature in mind and the ‘beehaus’ is a great example of how easy it is for anyone to bring the natural world closer to their doorstep,” he said.

Bees played a crucial role in pollinating plants and crops, he explained, and Britons needed “to recognise that, if we want plants to flourish, we need healthy populations of insects to sustain them”.

Some £100m to £200m worth of British commercial crops are estimated to benefit from bee pollination every year. Honey itself is also thought to be worth between £10m and £30m to the UK economy.

The first of the newly-designed urban beehives is due to be installed on the roof of Natural England’s central London offices, but Dr Tew said the bees would not be coming into contact with pedestrians on pavements because they flew about five metres off the ground.

Omlet, the firm that fuelled interest in urban chicken-rearing with its modern plastic “Eglu” coop, designed the new beehaus and said bee-keeping did not require acres of land.

“Those in the know have been keeping bees in towns for a long time. Keeping a hive doesn’t take much space, so you can even keep them on balconies, roof tops and obviously gardens,” said Johannes Paul, from the company.

Natural England urged aspiring apiarists to think carefully about the commitment required when keeping bees, and encouraged people to seek professional advice or visit their local beekeeping association before making a decision.

Take a look at all our Nature & Scenery Canvas Prints

England hope Flintoff will be fit (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

England coach Andy Flower is hopeful all-rounder Andrew Flintoff will be fit to play in the fourth Ashes Test, which starts at Headingley on Friday.

Flintoff has relied on injections in his right knee in the last two Tests and was clearly hampered during the drawn third Test at Edgbaston.

“He is determined to play but he and the experts can make a considered decision,” said Flower.

England, who lead the series 1-0, name their squad at 1400 BST on Tuesday.

Flintoff is certain to be included but with only three days between Monday’s drawn contest at Edgbaston and the penultimate match of the campaign at Headingley, he will spend the time resting and putting ice on his knee.

Flower conceded after the Edgbaston Test that Flintoff “looked a little sore in that final session”.

The 31-year-old Lancashire all-rounder was England’s match-winner with the ball at Lord’s, a result that gave the hosts the advantage in the series, and he enjoyed a return to form with the bat in Birmingham.

He could not follow his 74 with a single wicket, however, as Australia closed out the final day on 375-5, thanks to Michael Clarke’s 12th Test ton.

Flintoff bowled only 11 overs and none in the final session and laboured somewhat in the field.

However, England captain Andrew Strauss said he was “optimistic” Flintoff would be available for Headingley.

“There is obviously some soreness there but I don’t think there’s anything that has deteriorated massively over the course of the game,” stated Strauss.

“He needs to rest up well because back-to-back Tests are hard for any bowlers and we’ll see how he is on Thursday.

“We want to play our best team in every game we play but we’ve got to be conscious that if he’s not fit enough to do his job then he won’t play. We’ve had to play without him plenty of times over the last two years so it wouldn’t be anything new to us.

“Generally the bowlers have stepped up when he hasn’t played but at the moment he’s in great nick with both ball and bat so we don’t want to play without him, if we can help it.”

If Flintoff is unable to play, then Durham paceman Steve Harmison, who has taken 46 first-class wickets this season, is likely to replace him.

Harmison, who took 3-68 to wrap up a win for Durham against Sussex in the County Championship on Monday, has blistered feet but Durham coach Geoff Cook said he should be ready if England need him.

“Bowlers’ feet are never pretty at the best of the times but Steve has bowled a lot of overs for us this season and during this game he really struggled, they just gave way,” added Cook.

“But he’s got four days to heal and it’s a fast bowler’s lot to battle away with bad knees and ankles and shins and feet. I’m sure he’s used to it.”

If Flintoff is sidelined then Stuart Broad, who has taken only six wickets from three Ashes Tests so far, will probably retain his place because he provides extra batting strength down the order.

However, if Flintoff declares himself fit, then Harmison could come in for Broad, although Broad’s Nottinghamshire team-mate Ryan Sidebottom may also be considered.

Sidebottom, who has played 21 Tests for England and taken 77 wickets, recently took a five-wicket haul at Taunton, traditionally a fast bowler’s graveyard.

And with Headingley traditionally favouring swing rather than bounce, left-arm seamer Sidebottom would appear to be an ideal fit.

Australia have selectorial dilemmas of their own, not least whether or not to risk paceman Brett Lee, who has missed the first three Tests with a side strain.

On Sunday, Lee declared himself “80-85%” fit but the New South Wales man, who has 310 Test scalps, does not have a chance to prove himself before Friday and the selectors may consider him to be too much of a gamble.

Stuart Clark, chief tormentor of England in the 2006-07 Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0, could come in for Peter Siddle, with Mitchell Johnson likely to keep his place, despite an inconsistent series so far.

Like Sports? We have all the Sports Canvas Art you’ll want!

Barclays profit up to almost £3bn (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

Barclays has announced pre-tax profits of £2.98bn for the first half of 2009.

Profits for the year were slightly below analysts’ forecasts of more than £3bn, but were up 8% on the £2.75bn it made in the first six months of 2008.

The results were boosted by the performance of its investment banking division, Barclays Capital, which saw profits double to more than £1bn.

But profits at Barclays’ UK retail banking arm more than halved, falling to £268m, from £690m a year ago.

Bad debts almost doubled. Impairments and other credit provisions jumped to £4.56bn, up 86% from £2.45bn in the first half of 2008.

Shares in Barclays rose 2% to 308.5 pence when trading began in London.

HSBC is also due to give its latest figures on Monday, with Lloyds and RBS reporting later in the week.

Investment banking ‘back’

Neither Barclays nor HSBC have accepted government bail-outs.

Ralph Silva, banking analyst at Tower Group, said that not accepting government money would have contributed to Barclays Capital doing so well.

“Investment banking is back. If you are a big company you are going to gravitate towards the banks that have not received government funds,” he said.

Profits at Barclays Capital rose to £1.05bn from £524m a year ago.

Barclays also said it had gained more investment banking clients thanks to the acquisition of some Lehman Brothers businesses in 2008.

‘Strong performance’

The addition of some of the still-successful operations from Lehman Brothers also “increased significantly” Barclays’ presence in the US, the bank said.

The US now accounts for about 40% of its income.

Barclays chief executive John Varley was upbeat on the bank’s prospects for the rest of the year.

“The investments we have made, particularly in our international businesses, are driving very strong income performance and allowing us to absorb the consequences of the economic downturn,” he said.

“Our goal for 2009 is very clear: we seek to deliver another year of solid profitability. Our first half performance is a good start to this.”

The BBC’s business editor Robert Peston says the striking number in Barclays’ results is the massive reduction in loans and investments across the world, which have come down from £2 trillion to £1.5tn.

Like this canvas art? Have a look at our full range of Scarface Canvas Paintings!

Warhol’s Jackson goes to auction (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

A portrait by Andy Warhol of the late singer Michael Jackson is set to be auctioned in New York.

The 1984 portrait will be on show ahead of the sale at London’s British Music Experience, inside the O2 Arena, where Jackson had been due to perform.

“This Andy Warhol portrait brings together the uncontested King of Pop Art with the uncontested King of Pop,” said Janet Lehr, acting for the seller.

Warhol’s painting of actress Liz Taylor, fetched $23.7m (£14m) in 2007.

In the same year, the 1963 painting Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) – depicting an overturned car on fire – sold for $71.7m (£42.8m), a record for a Warhol piece.

“The portrait was painted at the height of their careers and is a celebration of two of the great talents in global cultural history,” said Ms Lehr, of the Jackson artwork.

American artist Warhol was a leading figure in the Pop Art movement, and he experimented by creating artworks from mass-produced images from American popular culture.

He died in 1987, following a gall bladder operation.

Autopsy results

The British Music Experience will be the only European venue to host the 1984 portrait ahead of the auction.

Earlier this week it was announced that details of Michael Jackson’s autopsy results would be announced imminently.

Speculation continues about the possible role prescription drugs played in the singer’s death.

The singer suffered a cardiac arrest at his rented home in Los Angeles on 25 June, at the age of 50.

Take a look at all our Jackson Canvas Art!

Eric Cantona joins Jonathan Ross

Jonathan Ross welcomed Eric Cantona to this week’s Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on BBC One.

The footballing legend said he’s interested in managing Manchester United: “I had a great time here, the best time of my life was when I was in Manchester.”

He admitted his infamous “seagulls” quote meant nothing and that he doesn’t regret his controversial past: “[Being banned] was difficult, maybe I deserved it, gave me time to think. You have to come back even better… I don’t have any regrets, I just wanted to play the game.”

He also rejected adulation, saying: “The only thing I’m sure about is my doubts.”

Hollywood star Dustin Hoffman also joined Jonathan and says he wants Eric Cantona to be the next James Bond.

He told how he never made it up with [Kramer v Kramer co-star] Meryl Streep: “She was pi**ed off, I don’t think she’s forgiven me.”

He also discussed ageism in movies: “At my age they don’t write leads but women have it much worse.”

He says that he looks forward to making the next Fockers movie and that he rates fellow guest Hugh Laurie in House: “The best American accent that I’ve heard that isn’t by an American; it’s the money.”

Hugh Laurie said he wants Stephen Fry to join the cast of House: “It could happen one day.”

And revealed he could never perform live because of stage-fright: “I couldn’t do it again, I really thought I was losing my marbles.”

See our collection of Eric Cantona canvas art.

Teo Jasmin

Teo Jasmin is an interior design company which was founded by Angéline Bailly in 2001. They started to specialize in digital printing on wall canvas but later on expanded their range of products with cushions and classic furniture, still using the same digital process on them.

Ever since, Teo Jasmin never stops to amaze us for its creativity. New collections are launched twice a year. 50s / 60s French superstar Brigitte Bardot in pop version is the highlight of their 2009 collection along with Italy, San Francisco and more Doggy Queen images. Previous and still successful collections such as the Beatles, NYC, London and Paris are still around!