Thursday, December 15, 2011
Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry fetches record $115 million at auction
Elizabeth Taylor may be gone, but her jewelry is still turning heads. The actress's personal collection of jewels went up for auction Tuesday night -- and fetched a record $115 million.
A pearl, diamond and ruby necklace known as La Peregrina, a gift to Taylor from Richard Burton in 1969, sold for a record $11.8 million. Christie's, which conducted the auction, had estimated the necklace would sell for $2 million or $3 million. Burton paid $37,000 for it.
A 33.19-carat diamond ring, which was projected to go for $2.5 million to $3.5 million, sold for $8.8 million.
PHOTOS: The collection of Elizabeth Taylor
That sum for a single white diamond could have bought a whole lot of Taylor's White Diamonds.
A diamond bracelet given to Taylor by close friend Michael Jackson sold for $194,500.
Eighty pieces from Taylor's jewelry collection were auctioned Tuesday in New York, with the remaining 189 items to go Wednesday. Christie's has already blown past the $30 million it predicted as the total sale price. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
More from the late actress' estate will go on sale later in the week, including some of her film scripts and costumes. In February, her collection of Impressionist and Modernist art will go on sale in London.
Taylor died in March.
Some objects from Jackson's estate also went up for bidding this week. Sadly, the singer's auction wasn't as classy as Taylor's: We're talking fancy diamonds versus fancy clumps of hair.
Christie's has no plans to auction Taylor's hair.
Reggae star Matisyahu, no longer Hasidic, shaves his trademark beard
Yesterday, the “One Day” singer Matisyahu posted a photo on Twitter which showed him with a clean-shaven face. The photo was accompanied by a message: “At the break of day I look for you at sunrise When the tide comes in I lose my disguise.” The lines come from the song “Thunder,” which can be found on Matisyahu’s 2009 album, Light.
In a subsequent blog entry on his official website, the man born Matthew Miller — he changed his name when he joined a Hasidic community and converted at age 19 — elaborated on his decision to, at least temporarily, face the world without facial foliage.
“This morning I posted a photo of myself on Twitter,” he wrote. “No more Chassidic reggae superstar. Sorry folks, all you get is me…no alias. When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process. It was my choice. My journey to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality—not through books but through real life. At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity…to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth. I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission. Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth. And for those concerned with my naked face, don’t worry…you haven’t seen the last of my facial hair.”
In another Twitter message, Matisyahu seemingly sought to reassure fans that his beardless state did not mean he had abandoned the Jewish faith: “For all those who are confused:today I went to the Mikva and Shul just like yesterday.”
Time Person of the Year 2011: ‘The protester’
As it has for the past eight decades, Time magazine selected its person of the year Wednesday morning. The distinction goes to the man or woman (or sometimes group or idea) the magazine’s editors believe had the greatest impact during the past twelve months, for good or for ill. In 2011, they chose: “The Protester.”
“No one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in a public square, it would incite protests that would topple dictators and start a global wave of dissent,” the magazine writes. “In 2011, protesters didn’t just voice their complaints; they changed the world.”
Over the past year, “the protester” has voiced dissent against authoritarian leaders, first in Tunisia, and then in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. The protester in Spain and in Greece, which even had its own protest dog, struggled with a floundering economy. The protester voiced anger over possibly rigged elections, in countries as diverse as Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the U.S., the Occupy Wall Street protester began demonstrating first in New York, and then in Washington, Chicago, and cities as small as Trenton, N.J.
In this year’s report, Time pieced together what all these revolutions have in common, why they protest, and what the legacy of the year’s protests will be. The magazine profiles a citizen journalist who started the live stream for Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park, and a protester in Mexico who has had enough of the drug violence in that country.
“The protester” this year beat out Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, newly royal Kate Middleton, Navy Adm. William McRaven, and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
“There was a lot of consensus among our people,” Time Managing Editor Richard Stengel told the “Today” show about the choice of the protester. “It felt right.”
“Many are outraged by this choice and will hold a demo,” joked Andrew Stroehlein, of the International Crisis Group, of the choice.
At first glance, the social media universe greeted the choice with few complaints — unlike with last year’s contentious decision. So many people were upset when Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg took the title over WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, Time editor spoke out in defense of the cover.
There are some hints of dissent. “Time's ‘Person of the Year’ is the person they did not put on their U.S. edition covers,” The Post’s Anup Kaphle wrote on Twitter.
In a viral screengrab, Internet users complained about the Dec. 5 cover story selection. Time Magazine put a protester with the headline “Revolution Redux on the cover of its Europe, Asia and South Pacific editions, but opted for the headline “Why Anxiety is Good For You” on the cover of its U.S. edition.
Arkansas State hires Gus Malzahn
Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will be the new football coach at Arkansas State.
CAPTION
By Mark Crammer, AP
Sports information director Jerry Scott told The Associated Press that Malzahn will be introduced as the new coach during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"It's pretty incredible, it should be a great ride," Scott said.
Malzahn will return to the state where he was a successful high school coach before leaving for college football. Before that, though, he will coach Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31.
Auburn head coach Gene Chizik released the following statement Wednesday morning:
"I'm very happy for Gus and the opportunity that awaits him at Arkansas State. Gus has always had the strong desire to become a head coach and the chance for him to return to his home state that he is so familiar with, will be very beneficial. He's meant a tremendous amount to our program the past three years, helping our offense and our program achieve unprecedented heights, winning a BCS National Championship and setting countless offensive records. Gus has experienced success in each stop of his coaching career and I have no doubt that he will have similar results at Arkansas State. We look forward to having Gus stay with us through the bowl game and hope to send him out with a victory."
Former Red Wolves coach Hugh Freeze left the school last week to become the new coach at Mississippi.
Arkansas State (10-2) will play Northern Illinois in the Godaddy.com Bowl on Jan. 8.
The 46-year-old Malzahn has served as Auburn's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for three seasons, helping the Tigers win the national championship last season. His contract with Auburn this season included guaranteed university compensation of $1.3 million.
Malzahn's predecessor, Freeze, received a guaranteed compensation of $202,160 from Arkansas State this year.
Malzahn won the Broyles Award last season, recognizing college football's top assistant coach, and helped Auburn and quarterback Cam Newton set nine school records in 2010 - including points per game (41.2) and total offense (499.2).
Malzahn began his coaching career in northeast Arkansas at Hughes High School, eventually moving on and winning two state championships at the private school Shiloh Christian in Springdale, Ark.
He later took over at Springdale High in the state's largest classification, going 14-0 in 2005 and winning the state championship while finishing in the top five in most national high school polls.
That team featured star players such as former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain and Tennessee Titans receiver Damian Williams.
Malzahn brought Mustain and Williams with him to Arkansas when he was hired as the offensive coordinator there for the 2006 season under then-coach Houston Nutt.
After a season filled with conflict with Nutt behind the scenes, one that led to the transfers of Mustain and Williams to USC, Malzahn left for the same position at Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricane had one of the nation's top offenses for two seasons under Malzahn, who was hired at Auburn before the 2009 season.
Arkansas State won 10 games this season under Freeze for the first time since 1986, when it was a member of the I-AA Southland Conference. The Red Wolves were 45-63 in nine seasons before that under former coach Steve Roberts, but Freeze's enthusiasm and energy quickly took hold in Jonesboro, Ark.
The school promoted a "Feel the Freeze" ticket campaign in the preseason, named for the former Memphis, Tenn., high school coach. He coached left tackle Michael Oher, who was later featured in the best-selling book and popular movie "The Blind Side."
The wins quickly followed, with Arkansas State securing an undefeated run through the Sun Belt Conference with a 45-14 win over Troy. The Red Wolves' only losses this season came to Illinois and Virginia Tech.
Who won 'The Biggest Loser?'
(PEOPLE.com) -- "The Biggest Loser's" two-hour live finale was one to remember as trainer Dolvett Quince tried on contestant Vinny Hickerson's retired oversized overalls, and competitor Jennifer Rumple, who won the $100,000 at-home prize, was handed a giant bouquet of flowers by her crush, trainer Bob Harper.
But the night belonged to John Rhode, who took home the title of the Biggest Loser and the grand prize of $250,000 after beating out the other top three players, Antone Davis and Ramon Medeiros.
"I still don't know how I did it, but I'm grateful," the season 12 winner, who began the show weighing 445 pounds and ended at 220 pounds, told PEOPLE right after Tuesday's live finale. "Anything is possible. I've been given a new life. Now I just want to keep working hard, stay focused and help people."
But before getting back on the treadmill, Rhode said he planned to celebrate his win by "giving my wife a big hug and a kiss and holding on tight to my boys."
"I knew John was going to win the very first day he came on the Ranch," Harper said after the show.
"John was a very vocal, focused and straight to the point," added trainer Anna Kournikova, who says she won't be returning to the show, because TV "wasn't the right fit for me."
Smack in the middle of the age gap between the younger contestants in their 20s and the older contestants in their 60s on the Battle of the Ages season, Rhode, 41, says he hopes to stay the course as he gets older. "Age is just a number," he says.
"John will hopefully be living his finale for the rest of his life," said Quince.
Added Harper, "Now it's time for the real game to begin at home."
