Category Archives: Unusual Gifts

The Bristol Fighter T launch

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Walked past the Bristol showrooms – some nice cars inside. So checked the latest news, the launch of the Fighter T in Spetember:

“In 2006, Bristol announced the Fighter T, a turbocharged version of the Fighter with a modified V10 engine producing 1012 bhp and 1036 lb.ft of torque at 4500 rpm. The Fighter T will also benefit from a drag coefficient of Cd 0.27 (improved from Cd 0.28 on the standard model). Bristol claim that the car is capable of more than 270 mph; however it will be electronically limited to a “more than adequate” 225 mph. When the Fighter T goes into production, it will be more powerful than Bugatti Veyron, which has advertised 1001 bhp, but still lower than 2007 SSC Ultimate Aero TT. The first production cars are expected to be delivered in about September 2007.”

What’s your most unusual job?

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The most unusual job I’ve had was selling stars. Yes, I worked at the International Star Registry as their PR consultant back in 1997/98. The catch line really was “your sure to adore your place in space”. The oddest moment was complaining to the then Broadcasting Standards Commission about astronomer Patrick Moore calling us cowboys, and then a freak tornado destroying his observatory not long after (sorry Patrick..). The BSC threw out our complaint.

But that pales into insignificance against meeting the niece of Ivor Downie, the founder of the company from Canada at a friend’s party. Downie was a farmer who wanted to name a star after his daughter, and set up the company to make his wish come true. Now that’s what I call a far-out coincidence!

I never did get round to naming a star – though we put my name on a certificate sent to the BSC as evidence. What I did really enjoy was telling people my job, and the ‘straights’ complaining, “Oh, but that’s not really naming a star is it? Only astronomers can do that.” How right they are.

Sir Elton and his star certificate.

Free Kaka wallpaper for your computer

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Came across the Guarana Antartica (Brazil’s own Coca Cola) corporate marketing blog for Kaka today. Looks like it’s doing well, with plenty of comments etc. But where are the giveaways? Well, I may not have a drinks manufacturer behind me, but I can still come up with some corporate goodies. I’ve borrowed the nice image below from their blog, and it turns out you can save this and make it into a neat Kaka wallpaper for your computer.

Just right click the image, then select ‘Set as wallpaper’, then select funnily enough ‘Stretch’ and the image nicely fits to your screen, then select ‘Set Wallpaper’ and your done. This is the process of Windows XP 2003 so you may need to play around with other versions of Windows to get it to work.

Or if you fancy a lovely gift have a look at this collection of affordable leather handbags, also made in Brazil.