Jonathan Rea Profile Bio

Superbike racing is a real test of how man can harness the abilities of a machine – many would say no more so than the illustrious Moto GP, which is faster but perhaps less testing. Jonathan Rea is one of the stars of the Superbike field and one of those sportsmen who have graced the scene for a number of years due to their prodigious talents. Still only in his mid-twenties, Rea’s career could be about to really take off.

Rea cultivated his talents on the Motocross circuit where he learned the invaluable arts of balance and handling – essential in managing a bike’s varying dynamics. A move to the racing circuit was inevitable for a rider of his talents.

He competed in the British Superbike Circuit where he achieved 2nd place overall in 2007 and was named Irish Motorcyclist of the Year in 2008. Rea competed in the final race of the World Supersport calendar that year and in 2009 he moved on to complete a full season in in the World Superbike Championship.

He took two wins in his first proper season and an impressive four wins the season after. He’s been a steady presence in the World Superbike field since then, and a much respected member of Pata Honda’s team.

2012 was a good year with Rea finishing fifth in the World Superbike Championship and won the Suzuka 8 Hour. Rea goes into 2013 as a confident and more experienced rider and has already taken a victory at Silverstone. He’s well placed to compete for a top 5 finish, chasing after the breakaway pack of Guintoli, Sykes, Laverty and Melandri.

Rea rides the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and is a stable mate of the legendary Casey Stoner. Because of the recent rider test ban in Moto GP, Rea worked on the testing of Honda’s 2011 RCV which Stoner rode to victory in that season.

There are firm links between the worlds of Moto GP and Superbikes as the two sports move technically closer together. Anyone who admires the Moto GP season would do well to watch the exploits of their Superbike counterparts. Valentino Rossi is a known enthusiast of the sport.
Like any sporting talent, Rea is much in demand when it comes to sponsorship. Honda, RedBull, Oakley, and motorbike insurance specialists Carole Nash, are all proud to back one of sport’s most promising talents.

You can catch Jonathan’s blog on the Carole Nash website for an insight into his character and all round profile: http://www.carolenash.com/insidebikes/bikers-blog/jonathan-reas-first-insidebikes-blog.htm

  

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Cadillac introduces the Elmiraj Concept

I was on hand last Thursday evening as Cadillac unveiled the new Elmiraj Concept at Tehàma Golf Club in beautiful hills of Carmel, California. The setting was perfect for the introduction of this coupe concept car which gives us an exciting preview of Cadillac’s future. As you can see from the photos I took in the slideshow above, the Elmiraj is a beautiful vehicle that boldly moves Cadillac forward while also drawing inspiration from the iconic large coupes from its past.

The design of the vehicle grabs your attention from every angle, and the Elmiraj looks unlike anything you’ll find on the road today. The long wheelbase and the long dash-to-axle front profile give it a distinctive Cadillac look. I was very happy to see the large, vertical headlights that we first saw in the Ciel concept along with the vertical taillights as well. The Elmiraj also introduced a new Cadillac badge in the front grille with the iconic wreath removed.

Cadillac describes the Elmiraj as a “modern update to the classic format of a two-door grand coupe.” In a prepared statement, Clay Dean, executive director of advanced design, explained, “We were influenced in particular by the 1967 Eldorado, both its actual design and the fact that in its time that car was a very stark contrast and a new direction.” Cadillac included one of these classic Eldorados in its display for the Elmiraj at the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach.

1967 Eldorado

“Elmiraj advances Cadillac’s provocative modern design and performance, contrasted with bespoke craftsmanship and luxury,” said Mark Adams, Cadillac design director. “It explores performance driving, as well as how we’re approaching elevating the Cadillac range and new dimensions of Art & Science philosophy.”

Cadillac has been making an impression on consumers as sales are up 30% this year. We’re not surprised as we’ve been very impressed with Cadillac lately, as you’ll see in our upcoming review of the 2013 Cadillac ATS 3.6L Premium. Cadillac’s designers deserve credit along with the commitment to rear-wheel drive performance luxury vehicles.

With Elmiraj we’re seeing the brand continue that commitment. Elmiraj sports a 4.5-liter twin turbocharged V8 delivering an estimated 500 horsepower. We’ll see what exactly ends up in a production version of this vehicle, but Cadillac is making a statement by equipping the Elmiraj with a powerful engine like this. Elmiraj also sports 22-x-9-in. aluminum wheels along with large ceramic brakes with Cadillac monoblock calipers.

It’s refreshing to see an iconic brand like Cadillac draw inspiration from its past with a completely modern take. A grand coupe inspired by the Elmiraj would be a fantastic addition to Cadillac’s lineup.

  

A chat with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright of “The World’s End”

If you’re a geek, then odds are actor/writers Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and writer/director Edgar Wright are superstars in your world. Pegg’s face is known to geeks and mundanes alike as the comic relief Scotty in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” movies and the similarly amusing techie, Benji Dunn, in the “Mission: Impossible” films, but to many of us, that’s merely a footnote.

The now legendary Wright/Frost/Pegg collaboration began with the very funny 1999 U.K. sitcom, “Spaced.” It went worldwide with 2004’s horrifically delightful ur-zombie comedy, “Shaun of the Dead,” and the even more gleefully bloody buddy cop homage, “Hot Fuzz,” in 2007. Co-written by Pegg and Wright, the films’ sharp and hyper-imaginative direction and well-crafted, sincere screenplays gave us all hope that the ancient art of dramatic comedy was undead, at least.

While the trio remained best pals, their professional lives inevitably diverted. Frost and Pegg collaborated on the 2011 science-fiction comedy, “Paul,” with director Greg Mottola, while Wright took on “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.”

Now, it’s time for the inevitable reunion. The third film in what is being called The Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, a sly nod to the late auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski and a popular brand of ice cream cone, “The World’s End” might lack zombies and buckets of blood, but it’s easily the darkest of the three films. It’s also pretty clearly influenced by such wry post coming-of-age comedies as “Diner,” “The Big Chill” and, believe it not, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s great 1955 noir musical, “It’s Always Fair Weather.” (The latter two films played together at a recent film series curated by Edgar Wright at L.A.’s New Beverly Theater.)

“The World’s End” bring us a leather-jacketed Simon Pegg as Gary King, a bad boy well past his sell-by date who goads four old chums into recreating a 12 pint hometown pub crawl. As the film rolls on, the depth of Gary’s estrangement from his pals, especially his embittered, teetotaling ex-best friend Andrew Knightley (Frost), becomes increasingly clear. The fact that the boys’ old digs are the apparent seat of the imminent destruction of humanity via an alien invasion of mechanical humanoids actually lightens the mood.

“The World’s End” features UK acting stalwarts Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan as the rest of the gang, and Rosamund Pike as the girl who got away, all grown up. Critics, like our own Jason Zingale, are upbeat about the film’s quality, but the more downbeat tone of the tale it tells is inescapable.

We caught up with an intense and very tired Pegg, a laidback but slightly shagged-out Frost, and an ever enthusiastic but clearly exhausted Wright, whose next film will be the long discussed “Ant Man,” at, where else, Comic-Con.

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Picture of the Day: Lovely Kaila Yu

Here’s the lovely Kaila in powder blue lingerie.

Image ALT text goes here.

  

Get Your Entrepreneur On

handshake in business

If you equate security with having a single employer, you’re wrong. As entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau says: “Think about what security really is. Are you really better off entrusting your well-being and livelihood to someone else?”

Instead, it’s time to think of yourself as an entrepreneur. Whether you start your own small business, develop a portfolio of freelance clients or decide to remain in industry as a W2 employee, you need to think of yourself as the single CEO and chief stakeholder in You, Inc.

The days of company loyalty are long gone, and any hard work you do as an employee can be erased in a second when your organization decides to change its bottom line. However, if you think like an entrepreneur instead of a company man, you’ll be ready to roll with the changes of the modern economy and always end up on top.

Here’s what to do:

1. Identify and package your core strengths

Successful entrepreneurs know that they are a brand, and the answer to “what do you do?” should be more than “I’m an assistant quality control manager at Company X.” If you haven’t already started branding yourself as a person, not a job title, it’s time to get started.

First, figure out your core strengths: are you a marketing genius, a programming guru, or a leader of men? Then figure out how to package them in a simple, effective, memorable way. Forget elevator speeches; you need a sentence short and pithy enough to fit on a Facebook page or Twitter profile.

Take Andy Baio. His tagline is “I make web stuff.” Then, on the next line, he lays out his projects: Waxy, XOXO, Playfic, Kickstarter. In a handful of characters, we know everything about Andy Baio’s brand without knowing a single one of his job titles.

2. Always work towards the next job and the next client

This advice combines the two aphorisms “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” and “always have an exit strategy.” It’s all very well and good to want a promotion within your company, but that’s less of a good idea when your company merges, outsources or goes bankrupt.
This means that throughout your career, you always need to be thinking about the next job and the next client. The day-to-day job is only half of an entrepreneur’s work; the other half is finding new opportunities.

Ask yourself: Where do you want to be in the next year? What would happen if your job disappeared tomorrow? Then use the answers to these two questions to start looking for the next opportunity.

Use the example of Adam Hasler, recently profiled in Fast Company. He alternated between self-employment and traditional jobs, always looking for the next way to use the skills he was teaching himself, like programming and interactive media. He never waited for a promotion – he found his next job and his next client on his own.

3. Don’t wait to start

Some employees are nervous about starting personal branding websites or publicly promoting their brand and skills. After all, won’t that make some human resources manager think they’re looking for a new job?

The truth is that if you don’t have a personal branding website, tagline and action plan, you’re already behind. Look at Nick Gholkar, who already has a professional website, a clear statement of career goals and a list of advice to other golfers and scuba divers – and Nick Gholkar’s only a junior in college. How old are you? When are you going to start taking your career seriously?

The other fact is that, these days, you’re always looking for a new job. (See point 2, above.) Waiting to get your personal brand online now might leave you unprepared in the future, when you meet an interesting contact at a party and have no portfolio of work or branded website to email him afterwards.

We don’t have a choice, anymore. If we want to be successful in the new economy, we have to think like CEOs and spend part of every day getting our entrepreneur on.