Mini

The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout (that allowed 80% of the area of the car’s floorpan to be used for passengers and luggage) influenced a generation of car-makers. The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle, which enjoyed similar popularity in North America. In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th Century, behind the Ford Model T.

This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge and Cowley plants in England, the Victoria Park / Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Chile, Italy (Innocenti), Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations including an estate car, a pickup truck, a van and the Mini Moke—a jeep-like buggy. The Mini Cooper and Cooper “S” were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times from 1964 through to 1967, although in 1966 the Mini was disqualified after the finish, along with six other British entrants, which included the first four cars to finish, under a questionable ruling that the cars had used an illegal combination of headlamps and spotlights Initially Minis were marketed under the Austin and Morris names, as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor, until Mini became a marque in its own right in 1969 The Mini was again marketed under the Austin name in the 1980s.

See all of our movie canvas art

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The central story arc concerns Harry’s struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world and subjugate non-magical people (Muggles). Several successful derivative films, video games and other themed merchandise have been based upon the series.

Since the 1997 release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.As of June 2008, the book series has sold more than 400 million copies and has been translated into 67 languages, and the last four books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.

English-language versions of the books are published by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic Press in the United States, Allen & Unwin in Australia, and Raincoast Books in Canada. Thus far, the first six books have been made into a series of motion pictures by Warner Bros., with the sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 15 July 2009. The series also originated much tie-in merchandise, making the Harry Potter brand worth £15 billion. The seventh book will be made into two movies released six months apart.

See all of our movie canvas art

Harry Potter star ‘had swine flu’ (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint is recovering from a “mild bout” of swine flu, his publicist has said.

Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, took a few days off filming but has now returned to the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

And he is well enough to attend the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in London on Tuesday.

“He has now recovered and is looking forward to joining his fellow cast members,” his publicist said.

Scenes

She said that Grint’s doctor had confirmed the 20-year-old actor had recovered and was no longer contagious or at risk of infecting others.

“Other scenes were shot in his absence which did not require his involvement and thus filming was not disrupted,” she added.

Grint, who comes from Watton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire, has starred in all the Harry Potter films as well as British comedy film Thunderpants and the comedy drama Driving Lessons with Julie Walters.

He is currently filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – JK Rowling’s final book about the teenage wizard and his friends.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is released in the UK on 15 July.

See all our Canvas Art!

Vault above Marilyn Monroe sold (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

The burial vault above the remains of Hollywood film star Marilyn Monroe has been sold for more than $4.6m (£2.8m).

More than 20 offers, starting at $500,000, were received for the space, located in the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

The vault had been advertised on the auction website eBay by the widow of the current occupier.

The name of the buyer has not been revealed – except for the initials OS, used to take part in the auction.

‘Eternity’ advert

The space was auctioned by the widow of the man buried – face down – above Monroe, to raise enough cash to pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month.

His remains would be moved sideways to a neighbouring plot to make room for the new occupant, said widow Elsie Poncher.

Her eBay advert was entitled “Spend eternity directly above Marilyn Monroe“.

Richard Poncher died 23 years ago at the age of 81.

The Westwood Village Memorial Park is the final resting place for many celebrities, including Dean Martin, Natalie Wood, Truman Capote and Farrah Fawcett.

The space next to Monroe’s vault was sold in 1992 to the publisher of Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner, for $75,000.

See all our Classic Pop Art and Canvas art!

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!

The UK spaceplane aiming to go to a new level (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

If there is one British space project that has the capacity to inspire at the moment then surely it is Skylon.

This is the spaceplane concept that would take off from a conventional aircraft runway, carry over 12 tonnes to orbit and then return to land on the same runway.

It promises a step change in our approach to space. The spaceship would be truly reusable and this, crucially, would dramatically reduce the cost of access to orbit.

The concept is being driven by Reaction Engines Limited (REL) in Culham, Oxfordshire.

Skylon’s key enabling technology is its Sabre propulsion system.

It is part jet engine, part rocket engine. It burns hydrogen and oxygen to provide thrust – but in the lower atmosphere, this oxygen is taken from the atmosphere.

This is extremely tricky. At high speeds, the air entering the Sabre intakes would be 1,000 degrees, and it has to be cooled prior to being compressed and burnt with the hydrogen.

Reaction Engines’ breakthrough is a remarkable heat exchanger pre-cooler.

Arrays of extremely fine piping plunge the hot intake gases to minus 130C in just 1/100th of a second. Pause and think about that for a moment. That’s astonishing.

Sci-fi canvas prints to buy from Modern Canvas Art. Check out our canvas paintings too  !

Rail Franchise Reforms (Use this Code 5XXXUKRA, and get 5% of all canvas art)

The rail franchise system is “a muddle” which allows train companies to “take advantage” of passengers and needs reform, a report by MPs has warned.

The Commons transport committee said operators were making profits in good times but forcing the government to step in when revenues fall.

And they charged “unacceptable” fare rises of up to 11% above inflation.

The Association of Train Operating Companies said four-fifths of passengers bought discounted tickets.

The MPs urged the government to run East Coast trains itself.

They said nationalisation could be a way of comparing the performance of the public and private sectors.

The report found operators had exploited a loophole to charge “unacceptable” fare rises.

Passengers had to go to “extraordinary lengths” to get cheap fares and that fares had risen out of all proportion to the rest of the economy, it said.

Tighter rules will now tie all prices to inflation plus 1% – resulting in cheaper fares by next January.

The committee’s Labour chairwoman Louise Ellman said: “The fare rises we saw this year were excessive.

“Companies cream off profits in good times, but leave passengers to pick up the bill when hard times hit.”

The report found the current structure had allowed rail operators to hike-up prices at the worst possible moment.

But Mrs Ellman said the price formula that allowed companies to take advantage in 2009 would remain in 2010 – when changed economic conditions should have the opposite effect.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has now closed a loophole which allowed train companies to increase prices of certain journeys if average fares remained within rules.

‘High profile failure’

Mrs Ellman said: “We are pleased Lord Adonis has decided to tighten the rules and to hold firm in face of pressure from operators.

“The system which allowed unreasonable fare rises this year will be kept in place next year when it will be disadvantageous to train operators.”

The MPs pointed to the “high profile failure” of operators GNER and National Express as evidence of underlying problems.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said: “Rail users will not welcome the conclusion of this report which is scathing about the way Labour has run the rail franchising system.

“The government has failed to tackle the problems on our railways, creating a franchise system which resorts to pricing passengers off the railway to deal with overcrowding.”

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, said: “This report exposes the chaos of the franchise system.

“The franchise mess is beyond reform and the only real solution is a return to public ownership of railways.”

Peter White, professor of public transport systems at the University of Westminster, told the BBC that franchising was a delicate balancing act.

“If franchises were awarded for a longer period of time, that could have substantial benefits,” he said.

“For example, they could invest in improved ticketing systems such as smartcards.

“But the problem is that if you’ve made a long-term franchise commitment and the company runs into difficulty, you must have some means of curtailing that franchise over a shorter period.”

Lord Adonis said reforms to improve the rail franchising system were being considered – including longer franchises.

The “risks and rewards” of the rail industry are shared between operators and the government, he said.

He said: “When the rail franchising system was examined by the National Audit Office last year they found that it was delivering good value for money, and steadily improving services.

“The government will consider the committee’s report and respond fully in due course.”

Love Trainspotting? Take a look at our range!

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. The Star Trek fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry is the setting of six television series including the original 1966 Star Trek, in addition to ten feature films with an eleventh completed to be released on May 8, 2009. The franchise also extends to dozens of computer and video games, hundreds of novels and instances of fan fiction, several fan-created video productions, as well as a themed attraction in Las Vegas. Beginning with the original TV series and continuing with the subsequent films and series, the franchise has created a cult phenomenon and has spawned many pop culture references.

James Bond

James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No.

After Fleming’s death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Sebastian Faulks. Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.

There have been 22 films in the EON Productions series to date, the most recent of which, Quantum of Solace, was released on 31 October 2008 (UK). In addition there has been an American television adaptation and two independent feature productions. Apart from movies and television, James Bond has also been adapted for many other media, including radio plays, comic strips and video games.

The EON Productions films are generally termed as “official” films originating with the purchase of the James Bond film rights by producer Harry Saltzman in the late 1950s.

See all our James Bond Canvas Art!

Rat Pack

The Rat Pack were a group of popular entertainers originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a group that called itself “the summit” or “the clan,” featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who appeared together on stage and in films in the early-1960s, including the movie Ocean’s Eleven. Despite its reputation as a masculine group, the Rat Pack did have female participants, including movie icons Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, Angie Dickinson, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland.

See all our Rat Pack Art!