Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Cat-007 [Big Boss Cuts] Take-5 <~>

Cat-007 [Big Boss Cuts] Take-5 <~> The Times On-line 2005...
The top 20' millionaires in film and TV 2005 ...
1 Joanne K Rowling £435m
2 Nigel and Trevor Green £300m
3 Simon Fuller £220m
4 Madonna and Guy Ritchie £215m
5 Robert Stigwood £200m
6 Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas £160m
7 Mike Luckwell £120m
8 Chris Wright £112m
9 Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne £100m
10= Barbara Taylor Bradford £95m
10= Michael Green £95m
10= Sir Ridley and Tony Scott £95m
13 Sir Sean Connery £82m
14 Tracey Ullman and Allan McKeown £78m
15 Sir Anthony Hopkins £75m
16 Jackie Collins £66m
17 Jeff Chapman £65m
18 Rowan Atkinson £60m
19= Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter¹ £45m
19= Simon Cowell¹ £45m
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Wizard! Harry Potter star is richest teen 2005 ...
The Times On-line 2005:

THE growing pains of Harry Potter have their compensations. Daniel Radcliffe, 16, the actor who plays the boy wizard, has become Britain’s richest teenager.
His earnings have outstripped those of singers Charlotte Church and Joss Stone and every under-21 Premiership footballer...
Insiders in the British film industry say he has now signed a deal worth at least £8m to make Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth film in the series, which is due for release in 2007...
Records at Companies House show that Gilmore Jacobs, a firm set up five years ago by Radcliffe’s parents to manage him but whose ordinary share capital is 100% owned by Daniel, has earned £10m from the first three films...
The next set of accounts, due to be filed next spring, are likely to show another £5m in earnings...
It is five years since Daniel, who had impressed as a young David in the BBC adaptation of David Copperfield, beat off thousands of hopefuls in a worldwide hunt to take the magical role. The auditions attracted 40,000 boys in Britain alone...
His father Alan, a literary agent, and mother Marcia, a casting director, set up Gilmore Jacobs a month later to maximise his earnings. One showbusiness source recalls warning Alan Radcliffe about the risks of gambling his career on his son’s acting ability. “He replied: ‘I think we’re going to be fine’,” said the source...

The company held its first “board meetings” at the family home in Fulham, west London. Its only tangible fixed asset — the office furniture — was valued at £468. Daniel’s parents own £1,000 of special shares but have stipulated that if the company is wound up they would expect only the return of their original investment...
The accounts show that Daniel, then 11, was paid about £150,000 for the first Potter film, which took 11 months to make, mixing shooting scenes with his schooling...
Until the latest film, when he turned 16, child labour laws restricted him to working no more than 4½ hours a day...

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Cat-007 [Big Boss Cuts] Take-5 <~>

Cat-007 [Big Boss Cuts] Take-5 <~> Fireworks... It is unclear exactly how the mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal was discovered to make what we know today as gunpowder. However, we do know that flying fireworks have been around for centuries. It is also certain, based on the popularity of these explosives, that setting off fireworks is really good fun.

Rocket type: Rockets are actually powered by an internal engine. The rocket type of firework has more in common with a mortar shell than it does with a space rocket. These fly through the air when ignited. They sometimes carry parachutes, stars4, or big bangs when they reach the peak of their flight.

Roman candles: These long tubes shoot compact balls of chemicals from one end, creating a series of flaming stars. Inside the tubes, the chemical balls are packed one on top of the other, with layers of sawdust between them.

Fountains: These are cone-shaped and sit on the ground. A hole in the top allows gases to escape, shooting coloured sparks into the air.

Sparklers: These are long pieces of wire. Half of the length of the wire is covered in chemicals that give off bright sparkles of light when lit. The sparks burn off at 1650°F. Sparklers are credited with causing some of the most serious firework accidents.

Aerial shells: These are the kings of fireworks. The most spectacular visually, and usually the loudest. These are the ones the professionals use. These are launched the same way military mortar shells are launched. After placing the shell into a skyward facing tube, an external fuse is lit. The explosion of the lift charge inside the tube then launches the shell...