STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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The Futuristic Lamborghini Marzal Concept Got A Second Life At Monaco

The only thing cooler than old concept cars is old concept cars that get a second life. The Lamborghini Marzal is one of those cars, and it took to the track on May 11-13 for the Monaco Historic Grand Prix for the first time since its sole outing in 1968 at the actual Monaco GP, driven by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace.

This car just radiates that very specific 60s space race chic from an era when our visions of the future were my utopia than dystopia. The Marzal, designed by Marcello Gandini, was all kinds of weirdly incredible. Easily its most striking feature is its two-door take on a four-door car. Yeah. instead of a traditional four-door deal, Gandini opted for two see-through gull-wing doors. Whether you're getting into the driver's side door or the back seat, you get in through the same door.

It's an incredibly sleek looking car, but it might not look that out-there to anyone looking at it today. That's because a lot of the Marzal's concept became the Lamborghini Espada, minus the cool see-through doors. Although, I gotta say, the Espada was probably a little more, uh, road safety friendly.

According to Hemmings, Gardini's forward-thinking was actually the Marzal's downfall. Gardini told his boss that he was going to make a mid-engine four-seater car out of Lamborghini's first concept, which was previously unheard of feat. No one knew how to accommodate both rear passengers and the drivetrain without the car becoming obnoxiously long.

Gardini ultimately didn't figure it out, either. He started off by stretching a Miura chassis by five inches, but couldn't fit a V-12 engine and two rows of passengers. So Dallara halved the V-12, which resulted in a 2-litre straight-six engine slanted at 30 degrees, and the transaxle operated 180 degrees opposite of its normal configuration. So, basically, it wasn't a mid-engine car anymore, but a rear-engine car.

And since it was a lot wider and longer than the Miura, Gardini thought that the Marzal wasn't going to compare with other Lamborghini cars in terms of handling, so he had to find a different way to set it apart from the rest of the pack. Enter, the glass gull wing doors. Add plenty of hexagons, throw in a smoked glass ceiling, and you've got the perfect recipe to appeal to a generation growing more and more obsessed with sci-fi.

It garnered as much praise as it did criticism. Road tests proved that the Marzal actually handled as well as it looked, and a lot of reviewers were begging for it to be put into mass production. But other people were less pleased. T

he glass doors didn't exactly result in, y'know, a lot of privacy. And the fact that people might balk at paying V-12 money for a six-cylinder meant that putting the Marzal into mass production wouldn't result in mass profit. So, after poaching some design features for the Espada, the Marzal was added to the company's collection until it was auctioned off in 2011 to Swiss collector Albert Spiess. Thankfully, he knew the value of his purchase and turned the car over to Lamborghini Polo Storico for a full restoration that wasn't completed until 2017.

So, for the first time since 1968, the Marzal has returned to put in another lap with Prince Albert II behind the wheel. It debuted alongside the Espada to pay tribute to the Espada's 50th anniversary.

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Hotel Artemis Gets A Retro-tastic Trailer For Its Beautiful, Bloated Cast

It might not be at Avengers: Infinity War levels, but Drew Pearce's new sci-fi crime flick Hotel Artemis has a big cast of characters, and the movie knows it might be hard to figure out who's who. Luckily, the latest trailer is here to shine a spotlight on all the cuddly criminals checking in for the night.

The retro-style trailer for Hotel Artemis profiles each main actor in the film as well as what parts they're playing. As pointed out by /Film, it's a tribute to a trailer for the 1975 film Nashville, which famously boasted a 26-character cast (including Artemis co-star Jeff Goldblum). The nod works in more ways than one. As Pearce previously told us, Hotel Artemis is a throwback to films that Pearce loved when he was a kid, so it makes sense that the trailer (and film) would give off a retro vibe.

You can also check out the motley crew in these cool character posters.

 

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Marvel, Mondo, and SDCC Team-Up For SDCC 2018

Marvel is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the MCU this year, and both SDCC and Mondo are going to help them. In collaboration with each other, Mondo has produced a new poster that will also be used as the front cover of this years SDCC 2018 souvenir magazine. Done by frequent Mondo/Marvel artist Matt Taylor, the image shows builds from the middle up and is jam-packed with heroes and villains, working back down to Cap’s shield. The cover is above.

That is not all however: this will also be made available as a limited edition print as well. Limited to just 1,000 copies, each will be signed by the artists and numbered. You will have to show interest in an online purchase by random drawing. If you have a Comic-Con ID, log in tomorrow through June 7th to show interest in purchasing a poster. Here is the poster.

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Comic-Con is pleased to have partnered with Mondo for our 2018 Souvenir Book cover, which features the 10th anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, illustrated by artist Matt Taylor. New this year, we are excited to release the Souvenir Book cover as an exclusive print!

The 8-color, silkscreen print is 24” wide by 36” tall, presented on 100 lb. paper, and is of the highest quality. Each print is numbered by the printer, and signed by the artist!

Because there is a limited amount of prints, they will only be made available to purchase online via a random selection process. Only those with a Comic-Con 2018 attendee badge associated with their Comic-Con Member ID account are eligible to participate. You must also be age 13 or older to participate. Eligible attendees may submit interest beginning June 1, 2018. The deadline to submit interest in purchasing a Mondo print is June 7, 2018 at 12:00 PM (noon) PDT. Log in to your Member ID account then select the “Exclusives” tab to load the Exclusives Portal to submit interest!

As an exciting and special note, a predesignated amount of the print-run will be reserved for fundraising for the forthcoming Comic-Con museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Previous Mondo prints have sold out instantly online. This is the first-ever print Comic-Con has offered for purchase, and it is sure to be an amazing collector’s item. We strongly encourage eligible members to submit interest well before the deadline.

 

 

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YOU'VE NEVER SEEN WAVES LIKE THIS BEFORE

Growing up in southeast England, Rachael Talibart spent several weeks every summer on her father’s sailboat, exploring the coastlines of France and the Netherlands. These family voyages were meant as a vacation, although Talibart never had much fun—she was a "shockingly bad sailor" who was almost constantly seasick. Because her nausea was worse inside the boat, she spent most of her time alone in the cockpit, looking out over the ocean.

"I spent ages staring at the waves," she remembers. "I used to imagine creatures in the sea."

Talibart, now a celebrated photographer, remains both frightened and fascinated by the sea, a tension she explores in her new series, Sirens, which was recently shortlisted for a Sony World Photography Award and will go on exhibition at the Sohn Fine Art Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts in September. The visually sumptuous photographs were all taken on Newhaven Beach in East Sussex, which Talibart began visiting weekly in 2016, arriving at dawn and waiting hours in hopes of catching the perfect light and weather.

One day in February 2016, during Storm Imogen, everything came together. Thanks to an extra high tide, a strong wind, and a sun that kept breaking through the clouds, the waves were large and crashing—and perfectly lit. Lying on her back, her feet to the ocean, Talibart used telescopic lenses and an ultra-fast 1,000 frames/second shutter speed to capture the towers and troughs of foam-flecked seawater. All those hours and days studying the sea had prepared her. "It’s about understanding the sea, knowing when a wave is coming, being able to predict what it’s likely to do so I can get the shot," she explains.

Thanks to their dramatic lighting, the waves look almost sculptural. "We never see that with our eyes, because the waves’ movement stops us from noticing the incredible shapes," Talibart points out. "By using a fast shutter speed, I can freeze that motion." She began shooting the series in black and white, her preferred palette, but in October 2017, during Storm Brian, she switched over to near-monochromatic, desaturated color to capture the unexpected bursts of green she began noticing in the waves.

Talibart still can’t help thinking of sea creatures when she looks at the photographs. Inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, she titled the series Sirens and gave each image the name of a mythological god or goddess. And although she avoids boats these days—she still gets seasick—Talibart credits her childhood sailing adventures with her ocean obsession.

"A part of me is still half-afraid of the sea," she admits. "There’s a fascination and a love for it, but there’s also fear."

As a child, Talibart spent several weeks each summer on her father's sailboat, exploring the coastlines of France and the Netherlands. It taught her how to understand the rhythms of the sea and to capture images like this one, Poseidon Rising.

Because she was always seasick, Talibart spent most of her sailing voyages as a youth in the cockpit, staring out at the ocean, rather than inside the boat. That translated into her work on images like Anapos.

Talibart drew on her knowledge of the sea for her new photography series, Sirens. Images in the series are given mythological-esque names like, in this case, Kraken.

The images were all shot at Newhaven Beach, in East Sussex, beginning in 2016. This image is named after Leviathan, the sea serpent of Jewish mythology.

Talibart began making weekly visits to the beach, arriving at dawn and spending hours on her back, taking photographs of the ocean, like this one, titled Loki.

Talibart used telescopic lenses and an ultra-fast 1,000 frames/second shutter speed to capture these sculpture-like images. This one is called Maelstrom.

Talibart shot most of the images in black and white, but she switched to desaturated color when she noticed bursts of green during Storm Brian in 2017. This dramatic shot, Medusa, is one of those photographs.

This dramatic image is called Nanook.

The series has been shortlisted for a Sony World Photography Award and will go on exhibition at the Sohn Fine Art Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts in September. Talibart named this image Nyx after the personification of night in Greek mythology.

Talibart admits to a love/hate relationship with the ocean admitting "a part of me is still half-afraid of the sea." She named this photograph Oceanus after the river in Greek mythology.

As she did in childhood, Talibart can't help but see the shapes of sea creatures in the waves. This one is named Sedna.

Only by using a fast shutter speed can we see waves this way, Talibart says. Normally they move too fast for us to appreciate their sculptural beauty. This one is named Thetis after the character in Greek mythology.
 

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This TAG Heuer x Hodinkee Watch Is an Homage to a Super-Rare Classic

The '70s were a particularly rich period not just for motorsports (think Rush-style risk-taking on the track and debauchery off the track), but for the world of high-end timekeeping. Considering a race can come down to tenths or hundreds of a second, that makes a lot of sense. And right there in the thick of it was TAG Heuer and its line of automatic Autavia wristwatches.

One of the rarest and most collectible Autavias is the "Orange Boy" chronograph, so named by the vintage Hueur collecting site OnTheDash. It used orange racing stripes on the chronograph minute counter as well as orange-accented hands, hence the moniker. You'll probably have a hell of a time tracking one down for yourself, but luckily TAG Heuer teamed up with the watch experts at Hodinkee to create an homage to the classic timepiece.

The vintage model vs. the new iteration.

The new Autavia Calibre Heuer 02 chronograph keeps the key details of the '70s model with the orange accents as well as a tachymeter for calculating speed and an automatic chronograph movement (in this model, it's the Heuer 02 column wheel chronograph). It's cased in stainless steel, and finished with a see-through caseback and "beads of rice" style bracelet—an homage to the bracelets Gay Frères supplied for vintage Heuers.

The new watch launches today at Hodinkee's shop, and retails for $6,050. There is one catch though: It's a pre-order, shipping later in the year in October. If you ask us, it's worth the wait.

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TOM CRUISE LEAKS FIRST EVER IMAGE FROM TOP GUN 2 SET

Maverick is officially back in the cockpit. Tom Cruise tweeted the first ever image from the Top Gun 2 set overnight and fans are going absolutely rabid at what’s to come from the sequel which arrives more than thirty years after the original.

Cruise’s tweet reveals the 55-year-old back in the iconic fighter pilot suit holding the Maverick helmet with a cropped haircut. His back is turned to the camera but in the background is an older generation F-18 fighter jet which Lieutenant Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell will probably pilot in this film. And lest we forget, alongside the equally iconic line: “Feel the need”.

According to news sources, the film entitled Top Gun: Maverick will see Cruise’s character as a flight instructor to younger pilots against the backdrop of modern drone warfare.

Cruise revealed to Access Hollywood last year that the sequel will come with the same level of adrenaline and stylistic dog fighting that made the original a classic.

“Aviators are back, the need for speed. We’re going to have big, fast machines,” he said.

“It’s going to be a competition film, like the first one…but a progression for Maverick.”

Whilst no co-stars from the original film have been confirmed to return just yet, Val Kilmer has openly expressed his desire in the past to reprise the protagonist role of Ice Man whilst Cruise’s on-screen love interest played by Kelly McGillis said in 2014 that she’d be happy to make a cameo in the sequel.

Top Gun: Maverick will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, the man responsible for Cruise’s 2013 film Oblivion. He takes over from the the original director Tony Scott who sadly took his own life in 2012 after the sequel had been announced.

The film is set to be released on June 12, 2019.

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THIS SYDNEY VALET DRIVER SHOWS YOU HOW NOT TO PARK A $300,000 PORSCHE

There are many ways to crash a Porsche, none of them good. However this valet driver has found perhaps the most ignoble.

As reported by the SMH, “In a bizarre crash, a car drove under another parked vehicle outside the Hyatt Regency Sydney hotel in Sydney’s CBD on Thursday,” leaving its (valet) driver trapped with an orange Subaru, “Balanced on top of the Porsche Carrera he was driving.

The valet was trying to park the Porsche when the crash happened, and fortunately wasn’t injured.

“Luckily the car underneath had a soft top, so [emergency services] were able to cut open that soft canopy and got our diver out of there.” Mathew Talbot, the Hyatt’s director of sales and marketing, told the SMH.

He also said paramedics gave the valet the all-clear medically, and that the hotel’s general manager assured the man everything would be all right (so maybe he won’t lose his job after all?), thanks to the eighth wonder of the world: insurance.

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2019 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT HELLCAT SPORTS CAR

The fire-breathing Dodge Demon is no more. One of the most powerful muscle cars ever has finished its one year run and is racing into the history books. The Demon's slightly-less-powerful sibling, the Hellcat, is alive and well. The only thing we know for sure is that the Hellcat is getting a new twin-scoop hood, shown here in these teasers images, and the supercharged, 707 horsepower HEMI V8 will be returning. Expect more information later in 2018 as the 2019 model year Hellcat gets closer to launch.

 

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Jared Leto's Joker May Get His Own Standalone Movie

Since the release of Suicide Squad, the future of Jared Leto's Joker has been up in the air. Would he return for a sequel? Will he be in a Batman movie? Isn't Warner Bros. making other Joker movies? Well, we may finally have an idea, as Leto will reportedly star and executive producer a Joker standalone movie.

According to Variety, which broke the news, this project is separate from Todd Phillips' Joker film, believed to star Joaquin Phoenix. It's also unclear if this film would come before Suicide Squad 2 or after it. But Leto is on board and his team is looking for writers.

The report adds that "the studio's idea is to expand on the world created by Suicide Squad and tie into future installments of that property". That began with figuring out something for Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn to do, which is likely a Birds of Prey feature, and now this. A Will Smith Deadshot movie was also rumoured at one point, but news on that hasn't been updated in a long time.

In all honesty, it feels as though this news just further muddles up the DC Universe. Now there are multiple Joker movies starring different actors in development, not multiple projects with this Joker in development, as well as the probably two dozen other films that have been floated in the past few years.

All we know for certain about the entire franchise is Aquaman will be next in December, Shazam after that in April 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 next November. After that, it seems likely we'll see the Joker once again.

MIKA: I'm a huge DC fan BUT Jared Letos Joker was terrible. 

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Man Presumed Dead After Tragic Mount Everest Cryptocurrency Stunt

A Sherpa man who helped lead a team up Mount Everest as a part of an ASKfm cryptocurrency publicity stunt is presumed dead.

In an effort to promote their initial coin offering, the social media platform ASKfm sponsored four "crypto enthusiasts" on their climb of Mount Everest, so they could bury $US50,000 ($65,501) worth of the company's cryptocurrency, ASKT, at the peak. The team made it to the top on May 14. A promotional video encourages others to scale the mountain in search of the crypto wallet.

The conceit of the stunt, according to a promotional blog post, was that the company is racing to take its cryptocurrency "to the moon" - an apparent reference to dogecoin, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency that was started as a joke in 2013. Everest is the closest they could get to the Moon, on foot at least. But this bad metaphor for crypto's success has been mired by a tragic death.

Of the official ASKfm team, only one mountaineer was harmed - Taris Pozdnii developed frostbite on his feet and fingers, according to a report from The Financial Times. But one of the people who led the expedition, Lam Babu Sherpa, did not make it down from the mountain.

ASKfm CEO Max Tsaryk told The Financial Times on May 25 that the company knew someone had gone missing, but the status of the Sherpa was unknown.

When asked for further comment, an ASKfm spokesperson rebuked the spread of false and unconfirmed information surrounding this incident and referred Gizmodo to Tsaryk's interview with the outlet Finance Magnates, in which the CEO discussed the event and chastised coverage of it.

In the interview, Tsaryk explained that an investigation has shown that after reaching the peak, the team and its three Sherpa guides had to quickly descend due to weather conditions. During that decent, the three Sherpas fell behind, and only two made it to camp.

 

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The First Bumblebee Trailer Is A Heartfelt Blast From The Past

The first trailer for the Bumblebee movie is finally here and, against all odds, it actually looks rather charming for a Transformers film about a robot that can't really speak.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that much of Bumblebee's plot is likely to feel similar to the character's general arc in Michael Bay's first Transformers movie, where he meets a human teen and quickly befriends them thanks to his quirky personality. This time around, Bee's palling around with Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) and hiding out somewhere in California where he soon comes to the attention of the government organisation Sector 7.

Soon, Bee and Charlie are on the run from their lives and, because this is a Transformers movie, Starscream shows up the ruin everyone's day, naturally.

What's interesting is that Bumblebee seems like it might actually be something of a love story between its titular hero and his human companion, which would be... a first for the franchise, to say the least.

Bumblebee hits theatres on December 20.

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Someone Stole Thor's Hammer From A Melbourne Bar

Before you say it, no, the perpetrator wasn't Thor himself (seeing as he's the only one who can lift the darn thing). This particular weapon isn't the real deal, but an elaborate whiskey decanter and the centrepiece of Mjolner Melbourne, a bar themed on Norse mythology.

On May 26, some bastard snatched the hammer with help from his mates, leaving the bar unprotected from Asgard's greatest foes.

According to a post on Mjolner Melbourne's Facebook page, the theft wasn't some random act, but premeditated:

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Early in the evening 2 men came to see us for some beverages. They then later returned that evening in a group of 5 men and actually stated to one of the staff members "We came back for the hammer". Which we took as returning to drink it's sweet nectar from within and show their friends.

Ohh, how wrong we were. Be sure to know that even though one man has walked out of the venue with it in his possession all five worked together as a team to make this theft happen.

 

The good news is, the hammer — a custom-made piece by NZ's Weta Workshop — was found yesterday and returned to its right owners. Going by the update, the thieves may have been trying to leave the state with it, as the hammer was apprehend by security at Melbourne Airport.

Despite the theft, the bar promises the replica Mjolner will "never be kept behind lock and key", though I imagine staff will be keeping a much closer eye on it.

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Pompeii Resident Had His Head Crushed By A Giant Stone While Fleeing Eruption

The first major discovery at a new excavation site in Pompeii is turning out to be something right out of a disaster movie.

Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii erupted in 79 AD, killing scores of the city's inhabitants and famously locking many of them in the positions of their death throes. New excavations at the Royal V site, the so-called "Cuneo" area, have yielded another extraordinary scene, one that ended in tragedy for an individual as he struggled to find safety amid the unfolding chaos.

The resident, likely a male in his 30s, somehow managed to survive the initial salvo of the eruption, and was walking on a thick layer of small stones, called lapilli, when a giant stone fell on his upper torso and head. The skeleton was found on the first floor of a building just slightly above the volcanic lapilli layer. It's likely this individual was seeking shelter as the eruption progressed, according to archaeologists working at Pompeii Archaeological Park.

Indeed, it wasn't lava that killed people at Pompeii. Rather, it was the pyroclastic flow — a dense, fast-moving cloud of hot gas and fragments. In this case, and as the eruption continued, the tremendous force of the blast dislodged a stone, probably the vertical part of a door frame (called a jamb), striking the man's upper body at the moment he turned around to look at the incoming cloud. Or the blast may have already knocked him down, and the stone fell soon afterward. Either way, it was a brutal end.

Adding insult to injury, analysis of the skeleton shows the man suffered from a bone infection, which likely made walking difficult.

In a press release, Massimo Osanna, director general of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, described it as an "exception find," adding that it's "the remains of a limping individual, who was also probably prevented from escaping from motor difficulties and left at the time on site."

Archaeologists have yet to uncover the man's skull. The size and orientation of the stone suggests the man was decapitated, and that the skull was thrust deep into the lapilli. Future excavations could yield the remains of the man's decapitated head lying underneath the base of the stone.

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Occupation Looks Like All Of Your Favourite Alien Invasion Action Movies Rolled Into One...But Low Budget

MIKA: Doesn't really look like a big budget flick personally. Might give this one a miss.

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Wolverine Life-Size Bust Preorders Available Tomorrow from Sideshow

Woverine is getting a life-size bust. Sideshow Collectibles will be offering a ridiculously awesome bust of The Best There Is at What He Does at a 1:1 scale. He will be in his brown suit, arguably his best. Come to think of it: what is Wolverine’s best look? Let me know down below — I am curious what you all think.

The bust captures Logan at his most feral, teeth bared and ready to skewer anything that moves. Made of fiberglass, he will go up for preorder tomorrow afternoon for the low, low price of $995. Really a steal for a collectible like this. My guess is they probably sell out early, so best to click the link in the details below when it goes live between noon and 3 p.m. PST.

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“I’m the best there is at what I do…”

Now he’s the bust there is- Sideshow is proud to unleash the Wolverine Life-Size Bust into your Marvel collection. This incredible member of the X-Men has been brought to life in an epic 1:1 scale, straight from the Marvel Universe to your shelf. The Wolverine Life-Size Bust stands over 27” tall, capturing the savage snarl of this mighty mutant. With his teeth bared, this bust captures the ferocity and anger of the Adamantium-infused warrior.

Sculpted with incredible lifelike textures and detail, the fiberglass Wolverine Life-Size Bust depicts the hero clad in his brown and yellow costume with his iconic cowl and white eyes. His muscular shoulders give Wolverine an added presence, as if he could leap off the stand and start slashing with a quick SNIKT!

Bring home your very own Weapon X today! Claw out a space in your Marvel collection for the Wolverine Life-Size Bust or you might regret it, bub.

Pre-orders for the Wolverine Life-Size Bust begin on Thursday, June 7th between 12pm-3pm PST, and will be priced at $995.00.

 

[MIKA27]

Inside the Bloody Return of Bare-Knuckle Boxing to America

On Saturday night, Bobby Gunn and 19 other pro fighters staged the first legal, state-sanctioned fight in U.S. history—changing the future of American combat sports forever.

I'm the boss I’m the boss I’m the boss,” says Bobby Gunn, the defending champion of bare-knuckle boxing, repeating a mantra from the film Raging Bull to himself just moments before taking the stage for the first legal, state-sanctioned gloveless fighting event in U.S. history. “Come on big fucker—let’s go.”

Walking out to Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” in front of a screaming sold-out crowd of 2,000 beer-drinking, cowboy-hat-wearing locals at the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center on the outskirts of Cheyenne, Wyoming, Gunn, 44, takes the stage, squaring off against his younger and larger opponent, Irineu Beato Costa, Jr., a. heavyweight boxer from Sau Paulo, Brazil. Standing just feet apart, Gunn and Costa raise their fists in a blood-stained steel circular ring built for this event, a striking image in U.S. sports history: no boxing gloves.

“Knuckle up!” one of the two referees yells.

Gunn, long used to fighting bare knuckle in underground illegal brawls with no time limits, is now forced to take a more aggressive approach in the event’s fast-paced two-minute rounds. Charging Costa, he throws a penetrating left hook to the liver, dropping him within seconds. After Costa manages a wobbly rise, Gunn then rushes him again, this time going for the kill—another deep shot to the liver topped by a final overhand right hook to the temple as he falls.

The crowd roars.

Costa lies crumpled on the ring.

The fight is over.

In only 41 seconds, Gunn has proven why he is the champion of this sport, demolishing his opponent with the precision of a surgeon, the victory and body shots so quick the internet will later wonder how he did it. But for Gunn, it’s just another victory to add to his lifetime 72-0 record in bare knuckle, only this time with a crucial twist—he won in a legal arena in front of a pay-per-view audience around the world. “I thought this would get legalized,” Gunn says, smiling, the cameras flashing. “Just not in my lifetime.”

After decades of fighting in underground illegal bare-knuckle brawls from alleyways to empty warehouses across the U.S., Gunn has finally achieved a victory he never expected—defending his title in the first legal, state-sanctioned bare-knuckle fight in U.S. history. On Saturday night in an ice and roller-skating arena adorned with advertisements for construction companies and giant American flags, Gunn and 19 other fighters from pro boxing, MMA, and street brawling entered the ring to resurrect one of America’s oldest sports. The ten-card event featured a mix of up-and-coming contenders like former UFC star Bec Rawlings along with aging pros like former UFC heavyweight Ricco Rodriguez, everyone fighting in five, two-minute rounds while wearing nothing on their hands but wrapping about an inch below the knuckles.

Legalized for the first time in U.S. history by the Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts in March, bare-knuckle fighting features rules similar to pro boxing—punching only, a standard eight-count, a three-knockdown rule—but with a crucial twist: no gloves allowed. The skin on skin contact makes for a bloody spectacle. But, also, according to rising research, it likely results in a surprising benefit—fewer concussions.

“In MMA, I can grab your head and ram it against my knee,” says promoter David Feldman, a former boxer who has worked for seven years to legalize bare knuckle, getting rejected by 28 states before Wyoming finally agreed to sanction it. “How is that legal and bare knuckle isn’t? With bare knuckle, there is a perception of it being a more dangerous sport—but it’s actually safer.”

Going into the bare-knuckle event on Saturday night, no one really knew what would happen—the sport had not made headlines in the U.S. in over 120 years. Once one of the most popular pastimes in the U.S., bare-knuckle boxing was practiced by immigrants competing in makeshift arenas in cities like New York and Boston in the 19th century, the sport’s greatest champion, John L. Sullivan, rising from his job as a plumber to become an international star, visiting the White House at the request of Theodore Roosevelt.

John L. Sullivan, left, fights in a bare-knuckle bout in 1900.

But even Sullivan’s greatest bare-knuckle match—a $20,000 bout near New Orleans in 1889—was illegal, the gloveless sport covered by press but never sanctioned by a state due to its perceived brutality. In 1892, when the U.S. legalized gloved boxing as a less bloody and seemingly more civilized form of combat—the gloves resulting in less precise hits and fewer cuts—bare knuckle disappeared from the spotlight entirely.

The sport, however, never really went away. Practiced for cash in underground illegal arenas from after-hours gyms to abandoned buildings, bare knuckle has recently grown into more mainstream popularity as a possibly safer alternative to boxing. Similar to the difference between rugby and NFL football, bare-knuckle fighters hit each other with less force to keep from breaking their hands—the self-governing aspect of the sport resulting in superficial skin-on-skin cuts but seemingly fewer concussions.

“We’ve done blunt-force trauma impact studies and concussion studies,” Feldman says. “This makes sense.”

Bobby Gunn

In 2008, the comeback of bare knuckle began when Gunn fought for Feldman on a pro boxing match in Arizona. Introduced to the illegal sport by Gunn—a veteran underground bare-knuckle brawler in addition to being a pro boxer—Feldman saw business potential. In 2011, he featured Gunn in a bare-knuckle boxing event sanctioned by the Yavapai Tribe at the Fort McDowell Casino in Arizona, the event held on Native American land outside of the jurisdiction of state lawmakers.

Bobby Gunn and Dreyton Jackson during an underground bare-knuckle fight on September 12 somewhere on the East Coast of the United States

The bare-knuckle fight was expected to draw around 50,000 viewers on livestream pay-per-view, making around $500,000. Instead, it attracted so many online requests they crashed the system, leaving Feldman and the victorious Gunn with no money but a glimpse of the sport’s potential. For the next seven years, they then tried to convince lawmakers to host another event until Wyoming finally agreed to take a chance—resurrecting the sport last Saturday night to a worldwide audience.

“This is less dangerous than both sports I already oversee,” says Bryan Pedersen, chairman of the Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts. “In Wyoming, we are driven by an independent western spirit — and I’m looking to bring money to my state by taking this mainstream.”

Bec Rawlings the moment before landing a punch during the first-ever state-sanctioned bare-knuckle boxing event in America.

On Saturday, the premiere of professional bare-knuckle fighting was worth the wait. In addition to Gunn’s defense of his title, the night featured an array of fast-paced fights that kept the sold-out crowd screaming on their feet, propelling the event to become a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.

Sam Shewmaker, a 33-year-old stonemason wearing U.S. flag trunks and a Duck Dynasty beard from the Ozark hills of Missouri, dropped former Bellator champion Eric Prindle in just 18 seconds with a hard right to the chin. Bec Rawlings, a 29-year-old former UFC fighter originally from Tasmania, defeated boxer Alma Garcia in the only women’s bout of the night, grabbing her in a clinch and punching her face until the refs called a stoppage following the second round.

But the night’s greatest fight was perhaps its least expected—a middle-of-the-card matchup between veteran MMA fighters Joey “the Mexicutioner” Beltran and Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez. After a slow couple of initial rounds, Beltran and Lopez—whom had twice fought each other previously in MMA events—began a blood-spattered epic back-and-forth battle, trading punches and opening cuts until finally, when the bell rang at the end of the fifth round, both men were visibly exhausted, their faces and torsos dripping in blood and sweat, Beltran ultimately declared the winner by unanimous decision.

Joey Beltran, left, fights Tony Lopez during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

Smiling ringside, Feldman congratulated both fighters—this was exactly the type of bout needed to generate online buzz for the fledgling sport, one that happens to be launching on the 25th anniversary of the debut of the UFC.

“Other states are reaching out to me about hosting this as well,” Feldman said, looking out across the crowd. “This is the culmination of a decade of work and it’s just incredible to see fans loving it—we’re the new combat sport in town.”

At the end of the night, after his match, Gunn sat backstage, taking off his boxing shoes and smiling. For him, the event was more than just another victory—he had finally pushed his sport from the underground to the mainstream, opening the door for a new era of fighters. Embracing younger athletes like Beltran and Maurice Jackson, Gunn gave them tips on bare knuckle maneuvers while packing his bag, the elder statesman reflecting on his own journey to this groundbreaking night. “Finally, the world is watching what we do,” he said, heading for the door. “It feels good.”

David Feldman, center, at a news conference for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. He’s surrounded by fighter Bobby Gunn, Bryan Pedersen, chairman of the Wyoming State Board of Mixed Martial Arts, and fighters Lewis Rumsey and Sam Shewmaker.

 

[MIKA27]

New Trailer for ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Reveals Lord and Miller’s Take on Spidey

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The animated film features Shameik Moore of Netflix’s The Get Down as the voice of Miles Morales, the young African-American man who takes up the mantle of Spider-Man in Brian Michael Bendis‘ run of comics. Phil Lord wrote the screenplay for the film, which finds Morales discovering a multi-verse that features multiple Spider-Men, which is how we get Jake Johnson‘s Peter Parker. Additionally, Mahershala Ali and Brian Tyree Henry voice Aaron and Jefferson Davis, the latter of whom is Miles’ father.

In the director’s chair is a trio of talented filmmakers: Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), Bob Perischetti (writer of The Little Prince), and Rodney Rothman (writer of 22 Jump Street). Lord and Christopher Miller are producing the film alongside Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, and Christina Steinberg.

First and foremost, this thing looks absolutely stunning. The animation style is refreshing and unique, and it pops with lots of color and stuttered movement that evokes the comics panels off of which it’s based. But it also serves a purpose, as the exaggerated style drills down the idea of a multi-verse and further makes Into the Spider-Verse stand out at a time when general audiences may be a little confused as to what Spider-Man is now, between the Marvel Studios-produced Tom Holland movies and Sony’s own little Spider-Man universe that kicks off with Venom.

The story itself also looks delightful, as we see Peter Parker takes Miles Morales under his wing and essentially teaches him how to be Spider-Man. And then there’s that cameo at the end, which teases there are plenty more surprises in store.

Sony also announced the full voice cast, including the fact that Liev Schreiber is playing the villain Kingpin, Hailee Steinfeld is Spider-Gwen, Luna Lauren-Valez is Miles’ mother Rio, and Lily Tomlin is Aunt May.

The film opens in theaters on December 14th.

[MIKA27]

MASERATI ALFIERI ELECTRIC COUPE

Back in 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show, Maserati announced its two-seater coupe concept car dubbed ‘Alfieri.’ Four years later and the revered concept vehicle has finally been given the green light to go into full production, and fans can expect the Maserati Alfieri to arrive before 2022.

Originally, this beauty was going to be fully powered by a V8 engine, but the team at Maserati decided to offer up both a plug-in hybrid and fully electric version instead. Based on the A6 GCS, the Alfieri is a more aggressive model, with a zero to 60 mph time of less than two seconds. With its blistering speed, the Alfieri can reach a top speed beyond 186 mph, which is comparable to the Tesla Roadster. The vehicle will have an aluminum spaceframe to provide quality support while still being ultra lightweight. Furthermore, it was announced that the Alfieri will be released as a convertible as well for those that want to feel the velocity as they dart down the open road. Unfortunately, no price point has been revealed at this point.

[MIKA27]

BELL & ROSS BR01 LAUGHING SKULL WATCH

Some find the notion of the memento mori to morbid and macabre. Indeed, it is morbid in that it reminds one of mortality – “memento mori” translates from Latin to “remember death.” But horologists and historians would tell you that the memento mori is not meant to depress, but to refocus perspective, perhaps to remind the wearer of another Latin dictum: “carpe diem,” seize the day. Taking a cue from the popular, “death’s head” timepieces from the 1800s, Bell & Ross has crafted a beautifully grim watch, and you can reap the rewards.

Far from “bare bones”, this marvelous memento has a modern and ornate design. The case is forged from micro-blasted steel with “Clou de Paris” design – a checkered pattern that forms tiny pyramidal shapes between lines – and is wide at 46 mm in diameter. The Applique metal skull serves as the dial, and cackles sinisterly when would by hand. The watch crystal is constituted of sapphire with anti-reflective coating (so you don’t see your own faced superimposed on the skull). Superluminova hands will glow brilliantly over those barebones, lighting up your watch face like a gleaming jack o’ lantern. For an extra $20,000, you can bedazzle your bezel with diamonds. $10K

[MIKA27]

MACALLAN GENESIS DECANTER 72-YEAR SCOTCH WHISKY

After 72 years of letting it age, accrue wisdom (and taste), Macallan is revealing an Aurelian liquor that’s worth its weight in gold. To celebrate opening a state-of-the-art $190 million distillery, the Whiskey brand Macallan has released the Genesis Decanter, which holds one of the best whiskeys ever produced by one of the best distilleries around.

Encased in a bespoke carrying case, constructed in the image of the new distillery’s interior, a curved wooden roof over the decanter a la the domed exterior of the building, and other features that emulate the Wonka-esque whiskey factory. Originally distilled in the 1940s, the septuagenerian scotch has ripened, untouched, until this year. Just 600 decanters have been bottled, the liquid gold sports a sweet oak taste with a soft vanilla and the peaty spirit to which we are used in Macallan whiskey. If you have truly expensive taste, this whiskey is for you. $60K

[MIKA27]

‘Mortal Engines’ Official Trailer

Last December, I shared the Teaser Trailer for Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines, though, admittedly, it was very much a teaser. Still, the concept and people involved were enough to get people hyped. Now, six months later, we have the Official Trailer, and it’s pretty damn crazy. Set some time in the future, mankind now lives among mobile cities that traverse the planet, gobbling up smaller towns along the way. There’s also a story about a fugitive and the man she forms an unlikely alliance with, but it’s really the bonkers cities that get us. The film’s based on Philip Reeve’s 2001 book of the same name and packs steampunk elements along with somewhat of a Matrix vibe. We’re gonna trust Peter Jackson here and check Mortal Engines out when it hits theaters this December.

[MIKA27]

BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY P6 SPEAKER  /  $400

Crafted from pearl-blasted aluminum and leather, the Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay P6 Speaker offers poolside portability and living room looks. It uses True360 sound processing and a pair of amplifiers to get the most out of its compact dust- and splash-proof body, with an integrated microphone for calls and 16 hours of battery life. Controls can be handled on your phone via Bluetooth or using the Beomaster 6000-inspired flex buttons on top.

Drivers: 2x 1.5" Full Range / Woofer: 1x 4" / Amplification: 2 x 30W Class D (Full Range), 1 x 36W Class D (Woofer) / Frequency Range: 55 - 20,000 Hz

Height: 6.69" / Width: 5.12" / Depth: 2.68" / Weight: 2.2 lbs.

 

 

[MIKA27]

Elon Musk's Boring Company Wins Bid To Build High-Speed Underground Rail In Chicago

Elon Musk's underground transportation business, The Boring Company, has won a bid to create an underground high-speed rail line from downtown Chicago to O'Hare International Airport. The company beat out at least four other developers for the project, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to make an official announcement this afternoon.

"We're really excited to work with the Mayor and the City to bring this new high-speed public transportation system to Chicago!" the Boring Company said in a tweet shortly after midnight Eastern time.

Unlike Musk's much-hyped plan for a Hyperloop, this new proposal is for a slower system that Musk is simply calling Loop. If it's actually built, Chicago's Express Loop (not to be confused with the neighbourhood of the same name) will take passengers the roughly 29km between downtown Chicago and O'Hare Airport in about 12 minutes. The existing above-ground Blue Line trains currently take about 40-45 minutes to travel that route.

The Boring Company says that vehicles "will leave each station as frequently as every 30 seconds. The Chicago Express Loop will operate 20 hours per day, every day of the week."

Both the mayor's office and The Boring Company have reportedly declined to discuss how much the project will cost to build, but according to the Chicago Tribune, the Boring Company is footing the bill. For users, the rides are expected to cost between $US20 ($26) and $US25 ($33), according to the earliest estimates, which is roughly half the cost of an Uber. The L, Chicago's elevated train system, currently costs $US5 ($7) for the same trip.

Musk has previously said that trips in Los Angeles using his new system could cost just $US1 ($1). It's not immediately clear why Chicago's estimates are much higher. A timeline for the project has also not yet been announced.

All that being said, everything could change in an instant. It's too early to nail down exact prices and travel times, as everything is still conceptual and The Boring Company hasn't built a working full-scale model just yet. So far the company has been digging tunnels under Los Angeles, which the company says are smaller than traditional tunnels for underground transportation, cutting down on costs.

The Boring Company did produce a concept video for what its underground train service might look like three months ago, and the concept animation showed 16-passenger cars, much like the ones that are currently proposed for Chicago. But experts warn that things will likely change as they get down to the nitty-gritty of actually building this new underground system.

"I suspect it's going to evolve a few times before anything concrete gets done," Hani Mahmassani, a professor of engineering at Northwestern University, told Bloomberg News.

The current concept vehicles are zero-emission and would run on Tesla batteries while sliding on rails. Musk has used the term "skate" to describe how the vehicles would move.

"Electric skates are based on the Tesla Model X, recently named the first and only SUV to achieve a NHTSA 5-Star safety rating in every category and subcategory," the Boring Company said in a statement. "The Chicago Express Loop's skates will be mechanically confined to a concrete track within the tunnel and operate under safety approvals issued by both federal and state agencies."

The company says that each vehicle would be equipped with a climate-controlled cabin, which is particularly necessary for Chicago's brutally cold winters and muggy summers, as well as luggage storage space, and even Wi-Fi.

The Boring Company insists that it won't have to deal with land rights on any major scale since it's tunnelling below the city, though it will have to secure rights for the stations. Last month, Musk told an audience in Los Angeles that stations for that city wouldn't be much larger than a parking space.

The company hasn't released any information yet about how big the footprint for Chicago's Loop system stations might have to be, though judging by the concept art, it would be considerably larger than a parking space. Today's press conference will reportedly be held at Block 37, a failed transit superstation that was foreclosed on in 2011. The site currently has residential apartments, retail stores, and an AMC movie theatre, but its transportation areas are dormant.

Billionaire Elon Musk, who also founded the car company Tesla and the space exploration company SpaceX, came under fire (sorry) last week when The Boring Company released a flamethrower of questionable social value. The device, literally called Not-A-Flamethrower, is idiotic, to say the least.

"We've had three major fires in Orange County just in the last couple of weeks," Orange County Fire Captain Tony Bommarito told Fortune magazine. "Everything's ready to go. We just didn't get the rain again this year, so it's already brown, the moisture's very low, so anytime you have somebody or kids even playing with these flamethrowers, it's going to be a recipe for disaster."

But Musk's press conference with Mayor Emmanuel later this afternoon will no doubt be an effort to change that image into one of an altruistic capitalist bringing efficient transportation to a city plagued by traffic congestion. Musk has sparred with the press lately, but the billionaire tech titan can expect to be flooded with positive news today as his sleek new concept for urban transportation gets one step closer to reality.

 

[MIKA27]

The Nun's First Disturbing Trailer Will Restore Your Faith In Evil

 

[MIKA27]

Rolls-Royce Hosted 'Cars And Cognac' And You Weren't Invited Because You're Poor

Rolls-Royce hosted their inaugural "Cars and Cognac" last week, but didn't announce it publicly so you couldn't show up and ruin it with your grubby little hands.

The goal was to create an upscale version of Cars and Coffee, which Rolls-Royce describes in their press release as an event "where motor car owners converge in the morning over refreshments." I am not kidding. This is in keeping with the longstanding tradition of Rolls-Royce press releases reading like they were written by an alien attempting to sound human based entirely on magazine articles from the 1920s.

Rolls-Royce hosted this shindig at a members-only Farmhouse in the Cotswolds, which they called "befitting of the marque." Never satisfied with pedestrian coffee, Rolls Royce owners were treated to a cognac tasting.

Lest ye fret about the scourge of driving under the influence, remember this is Rolls-Royce we're talking about and that chauffeurs come with the territory. As such, one could take complete advantage of the on-site sommelier and sample all of the available libations without risk of putting their vehicle's spirit of ecstasy into a hedge.

Given that the company put out a press release on the event praising it as a success, it's likely Rolls-Royce plans to host more of these. Wonderful, as it gives them more opportunities to not invite you or any of the other unwashed.