A Beautiful Nightmare

A new world record worth reading, but never to try topping. Monaco has recently gone in the books for the most expensive car pile-up. A Bentley crashed into a Mercedes, a Ferrari, a Porsche, and an Aston Martin right in front of the famous Place du Casino! I guess luck was not on their side, here are the stats (USD):

- Bentley Azure ($408,135)

- Mercedes S Class ($122,485)

- Ferrari F430 ($228,625)

- Aston Martin Rapide ($228,625)

- Porsche 911 ($130,645)

"The entire cost of repairs is estimated at over £40,000 ($65,340) as the Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and the Bentley would all need new front wings and bumpers, with added expense of door repairs for the Bentley." - Source

A Blind Visionary

Fact: The painting above was done by a man born without eyes. Esref Armagan has been blind his entire life and has astounded scientists with his incredible paintings. He has proven that vision is more than information brought in from our eyes. It also involves our ability to understand space.

Scientists at Harvard University used an MRI scanner to observe his brain. While painting, regions of Esref's brain that should not have any activity (due to his blindness) react in an extraordinary way. How he captures perspective and depth absolutely baffled scientists.

"No one can call me blind. I can see more with my fingers than sighted people can see with their eyes." -Esref Armagan

Take a look at this video to get a better understanding of how astounding he really is.

I Heart New York

Gay couples lined up outside the city's marriage bureau in New York excited and anxiously awaiting their opportunity to take advantage of their new right to marry. ABC News stated the following:

"Officials, expecting a rush of gay couples wanting to get married, initially set a lottery capping the number of marriages on Sunday to 764 couples, but later accepted all 823 couples across all five city boroughs."

Above is a photo from the first gay marriage in New York. Kitty Lambert, 54, and Cheryle Rudd, 53, tied the knot at Niagara Falls' State Park's Luna Island. Starting at midnight, couples started saying "I do" all across the state and I could not be happier. New York became the 6th and largest state to recognize same-sex marriage.

Seeing the overwhelmingly joyous reactions warms my heart. Below are a few of my favourite photos from some of the 823 couples' big day.

Phyllis Siegel, 77, and Connie Kopelove, 85, were the first couple to be married in Manhattan. They have been together for 23 years.

I wish New York's newly weds all the best! xoxo

Source

Bomb Diggity

Darren Clarke won the Open Championship and happily embraces the Claret Jug. Some fun facts about Clarke include the following:

- At 42, he is the oldest golfer to win the Open Championship since Roberto De Vicenzo

- No one, until now, has ever won the Open after more than 15 attempts. This was his 20th!

- Known for drinking 24 pints of Guinness after his Ryder Cup victory

The most interesting thing about Clarke, in my opinion, has nothing to do with golf. Below is an excerpt form an article written in February of 2003 from CBC's Golf Digest:

"In one of the few jobs I've had apart from golf," Clarke says, "I worked in a nightclub, setting up the bar. One day, after I'd been there a couple of hours, a call came through that a bomb was ready to go off in 15 minutes. Everyone cleared out. Sure enough, exactly 15 minutes later, the whole place was flattened. I'd been 10 yards from the bomb for two hours. You say, growing up, that you get used to it. But you don't."

Source

Reunited and It Feels So Good

Pollux, a black Labrador, decided she needed to see more of Canada. In June of 2010, she ran from the backyard of her home in east-end Montreal and headed west. In fact, a year later she was found 4,500 km away from home in Kamloops, B.C.!

There are many theories as to how Pollux traveled across Canada. She escaped her backyard through an open gate on a rainy day. Owner, Isabelle Robitaille, thinks she hopped on a freight train to avoid the water (which she hated). Robitaille also considers the possibility that a trucker or family that was heading west may have picked up Pollux on the way.

It was not until Canada Day of 2011 when Robitaille received a call from the SPCA branch in Kamloops. Thanks to a chip that was implanted in the dog, her owner's information was retrieved and Pollux can go home sweet home.

Pollux -might I add- was found in good health and good body condition. She will be flown home to be reunited with her family just in time for her 9th birthday.

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