Godzilla was developed by Japanese filmmakers in the 1950s as an allegory (in part) for the threat of nuclear weapons. The Spring Drive is novel timekeeping tech developed by Japanese watchmaking giant Seiko in which watch mechanics are augmented by electronics for uncommon accuracy. This year they both have landmark anniversaries: The Spring Drive turns 20, and the King of Monsters is 65.
Grand Seiko is celebrating both with the commemorative limited edition Grand Seiko SBGA405, an edgy, spring-driven luxury watch with a bold design that reflects its association with the fearsome fictional monster.
What do the SBGA405 and Godzilla really have in common besides anniversaries? According to Grand Seiko (Seiko’s luxury line of watches), more than you’d think.
Godzilla first stomped into Japanese movie theaters in 1954, and in that movie, the monster rampages through Ginza—Seiko’s birthplace—and obliterates the Seiko clock tower atop the Wako store, where the watchmaker first opened a retail outlet in 1952.
The Grand Seiko SGBA405 design was inspired by Godzilla in subtle ways. The watch has a red dial and black rays reminiscent of Godzilla’s back crackling with fire under the surface before it bellows heat from its mouth.
A black-coated shark strap underscored by red accents suggests the monster’s hide, and the watch’s sharp-edged design, in general, is meant to smack of Godzilla’s romping, stomping, fire-breathing legacy.
Of course, it’s just a novelty timepiece without specs worthy of the name Grand Seiko. It certainly has them:
An automatic Spring Drive Caliber 9R15 with excellent shock and temperature resistance.
The SGBA405 has been calibrated for enhanced precision to the tune of just 0.5 second daily.
72 hours of power reserve.
30 Jewels.
Durable titanium case.
The bezel is made from crystal sapphire as is the dome, which has anti-reflective coating.
It has a see-through screw case back which is stamped with the scene from the movie in which Godzilla takes down the clock tower.
The Grand Seiko SGBA405 is a generous 44.5mm and 14.3mm thick, with 20 bars of water resistance.
Category Winner Lorenz Holder’s image with athlete Senad Grosic in The Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland.
The winning images have been announced in the fifth edition of the Red Bull Illume Image Quest photo contest, which highlights the wild world of action-and-adventure sports.
Finalist Dasha Nosova with athlete Sebbe De Buck in Folgefonna, Norway
A judging panel of 50 digital experts and photo editors narrowed nearly 60,000 submissions to just 60 of the very best photos, which they select culled to pick 11 Category Winners and one Overall Winner.
Finalist Hamish Frost in Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
The contest wrapped up with the Winner Award Ceremony that was held in late November at the stunning Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography in Plan de Corones, Italy.
The Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography in Plan de Corones, Italy.
High up in the Italian Dolomites at 7,500 feet above sea level, the museum has arguably the most incredible view of any museum in the world.
The view of the Dolomites from the Lumen Museum.
But it was the images in the contest itself that were truly stunning. Standouts included two-time Overall Winner Lorenz Holder’s haunting photograph of a BMX trickster in the Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland and Noah Wetzel’s brilliant shot of a total solar eclipse using an in-camera double exposure.
Finalist Chris Tedesco with athlete Tom Parsons in Swing Arm City, Utah.
“Red Bull Illume is the most elite photography contest for action sports and adventure imagery in the world,” Wetzel told Maxim.com. “I couldn’t be more honored to join this group of talented artists at the Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography…one of the most beautiful settings for an awards ceremony that can imagine.”
Below, check out the winners of the Red Bull Illume photography contest.
Overall Winner and winner of the Energy category: Ben Thouard
French Polynesia
With athlete Ace Buchan in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Category: RAW
Noah Wetzel USA
With athlete Chris Brule
in Teton Valley, Wyoming.
Category: Masterpiece by EyeEm
Lorenz Holder Germany
With athlete Senad Grosic in The Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland.
Category: Innovation
Laurence Crossman-Emms United Kingdom
With athlete Katy Winton in Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales, United Kingdom.
Category: Best of Instagram by SanDisk
Baptiste Fauchille France
With athlete Alex Bibollet in Fillinges, France.
Category: Emerging by Red Bull Photography
JB Liautard France
With athlete Jeremy Berthier in Bourgoin-Jallieu, France.
Category: Playground
Lorenz Holder Germany
With athlete Vladic Scholz in the Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex, England.
Category: Creative by Skylum
Denis Klero Russia
With athlete Pavel Alekhin
at the Streetfire Club in Moscow, Russia
.
Category: Wings
Philip Platzer Austria
With athlete Marco Fürst
in Fromberg, Austria.
Category: Lifestyle
Alexander Wick Germany
With athletes Philipp Bankosegger, Chris Rudolph, and Luke Lalor at the Salathé Wall at Yosemite National Park.
Category: Moving Image
Rupert Walker Canada
With athlete Brandon Semenuk
in Paso Robles, California.
The winning images are displayed in an outdoor exhibition at the museum, and the images of the finalists will be displayed in capitals and cultural hubs on three continents on the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour in 2020.
With 495 horses (when equipped with a Z51 Performance package), the mid-engined 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will officially be the most powerful entry-level ‘Vette ever when officially debuts in January. Then there’s Hennessey Performance’s “HPE1200 Twin Turbo C8 Corvette.”
As usual, the Texas-based tuning house will drastically over-deliver in the output department by aspirating a “specially built” version of the eighth-generation Corvette’s new LT2 6.2-liter V8 with a twin-turbo system. The promised result is an emphatically insane 1,200 hp.
Yes, Hennessey has put up those exact numbers before in its custom ZR1 and, more recently, this hellacious “Resurrection” Camaro ZL1 1LE. But what’s especially noteworthy about the custom Stingray is that straight from the factory it’ll hit 60 mph in a blistering 2.8 seconds—two tenths of a second quicker than the stock version of the flagship ZR1 Corvette, according to Motor Trend. With nearly 700 extra horsepower on tap, there’s no telling just how deep into sub-three territory Hennessey’s Stingray will go.
Other upgrades include a cabon fiber splitter, airdam and rear wing, a full Brembo brake system, an adjustable Penske suspension, and a set of new wheels and rubber. Provided art shows a particularly patriotic version with a white paint coat, red and blue racing stripes, and American flags printed on the ends of the spoiler, so we imagine that will be an available colorway.
“We are very excited about the new C8 Corvette and have big plans for it,” said company founder John Hennessey. “From mild to wild, we plan to offer a wide variety of track tested parts and upgrades that come with a warranty. We’ve modified over 500 C7 Corvettes since 2013 and expect to upgrade many more C8 Corvettes starting in 2020!”
It wasn’t supposed to happen. On June 1, heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua stepped into the Madison Square Garden ring for his American debut. At 22-0 with 21 KOs, many considered the 30-year-old the best big man in a decade. Powerful, athletic, confident.
On this night, more than 10,000 fans had made the trip to support their fellow Brit. Joshua’s opponent? Andy Ruiz Jr., a late substitute after Joshua’s original opponent, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, failed multiple drug tests. Ruiz was 33-1, but he hadn’t faced top fighters. At 6-2, he was four inches shorter than Joshua, and had an eight-inch reach disadvantage. Not to mention Ruiz’s physique; he looked more like a vanilla sundae than a legitimate threat. The fight should have been a walkover. An easy payday. But after Ruiz caught Joshua with a left hook on the temple in the third round, the British champion was never the same.
After three more knockdowns, the fight was stopped in the 7th round. Andy Ruiz Jr. had scored one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history and became the first boxer of Mexican heritage to become a heavyweight champion. This Saturday, December 7, the two heavyweights will face off again in front of 15,000 fans in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia in the most highly-anticipated rematch in recent memory. Yet questions remain about both men. Although Joshua is still the clear favorite at 4:9 odds (Ruiz is 9:4 to win), the former British champion has no shortage of critics.
He had zero answers for Ruiz’s assault in the first fight. Joshua appeared to give up in the seventh round. Did he simply underestimate Ruiz? Did Joshua not prepare properly? Or was he simply exposed as an extremely flawed fighter. Coming back from such a shocking defeat isn’t easy for any boxer, and Joshua has yet to prove he’s got the mettle to do so.
As for Ruiz, he was clearly the hungrier fighter on June 1. The man who put everything on the line. After he was knocked down in the third round, the 30-year-old got up and floored Joshua – a punch that changed both men’s lives forever.
But Joshua won’t be overlooking the Mexican-American heavyweight who took his belts this time around. How will Ruiz deal with the pressure? The expectations? No one knows. There’s also the issue of Ruiz’s notorious struggles with weight. A hefty 268 pounds for their first bout, Ruiz looked significantly slimmer in training camp. While it might seem like a good idea, former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was publicly surprised by the change, saying “it didn’t make sense” and “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Meanwhile, Ruiz’s trainersaid this week that his fighter won’t be coming in too much slimmer after all. (Tyson offers more entertaining insights in One Night: Joshua Vs. Ruiz, the Sylvester Stallone-produced promotional video above.)
Will Ruiz turn out to be another Buster Douglas, who shocked the world when he stopped Mike Tyson in 1990, only to get knocked out by Evander Holyfield in his sole title defense eight months later? Or will Joshua crumble once again, and get outfought by Ruiz for the second time? Each man’s place in boxing history and massive future paydays hang in the balance, as Saturday’s victor will set himself up to face the winner of the Feb. 22 Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder rematch for a title unification superfight later in 2020.
Fury recently explained how he thinks the Joshua/Ruiz rematch will unfold on the True Geordie podcast: “I see the rematch going pretty much similar to the first fight, I know they both lost some weight and there’s more time to prepare and all that, they’ll have different game plans,” Fury said. “But Mike Tyson said it, and it’s very true: ‘Everyone’s got a great game plan until you get punched in the face.'”
Fury added that Ruiz will have the mental advantage, given how he beat Joshua in the first fight. ‘What my opinion of that fight is, he beat him once and knocked him out, so he’s got a mental edge going into the rematch,” Fury said. “For whatever excuse they made, whatever the problem was in camp, whatever happened in the changing room, whatever. You’re going into it mentally beaten already because you’ve already been knocked out by somebody.”
Wilder is also picking Ruiz to win, and explained why in a video shared Thursday on Premier Boxing Champions’ Twitter feed.
“I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again, I don’t think Joshua understands how he lost in that fight,” Wilder said in the video. “He got knocked down four times, and then he quit. That is huge for me. On the outside looking in, to see how that fight occurred and everything that was going on, I think he’s going to be fighting his demons inside of that ring, not just Ruiz. I know he’s trying to cancel out a lot of things in his mind, especially, including me, his biggest and ultimate rival.”
“I think Ruiz has the momentum to go in and do it again,” Wilder said. “It definitely was a big confidence builder and a booster for him to win that first one, especially after getting put on his ass and getting back up and then to put Joshua down four times. It changed his life. But coming [out with a win] in the rematch can change his life forever.”
“And for those reasons, I’m leaning towards Ruiz. But we know this is boxing and anything can happen. Most of all, I wish those guys nothing but luck, great health going in, and even better health coming out.”
Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz on Saturday Dec. 7 will be streamed exclusively on the DAZN app. Here’s how to watch.
The heart of the Nevada desert in the USA is probably one of the least likely places you’d expect to find authentic Nigerian food, but Las Vegas has come up trumps by recently embracing our nation’s fare across “Sin City”. When most people think about dining in Las Vegas, it usually conjures up images of enormous T-bone steaks, stacked burgers and crispy fried chicken. However, this city’s dining scene has rapidly become one of the main reasons to fly in.
Soul of Afrika
Soul of Afrika is situated on South Rainbow Boulevard, close to the Spring Valley neighborhood of Las Vegas. It’s been known to be not just a restaurant but an entertainment venue too, with their Saturday night “Afro-Love” evenings proving particularly popular, with hookah, drinks and dance on offer as well as their mouth-wateringly authentic Nigerian meals.
The ambience is warm and welcoming, and the custoVegas continues to surprise in more ways than you could imagine, due mainly to its diversification away from being solely a gambling resort. With the growing number of online platforms dedicated to poker and other casino table games, Vegas has sought to reinvent itself as an entertainment or “experience” resort. If you are stopping by in Las Vegas and you fancy an authentic taste of what Nigeria has to offer, thousands of miles away from West Africa, check out these four eateries located throughout the city:mer service is classy. Meanwhile, the main entrees include hearty meat or fish stews, goat meat and jollof rice, as well as warming soups with sides of pounded yam, futu, gari and amala.
Nigerian Cuisine by MJ
If you fancy a night in, savoring your favorite Nigerian dishes inside your hotel room, Nigerian Cuisine by MJ ticks all the right boxes. You can order dishes for collection and delivery, straight to your resort. The restaurant’s owner, MJ, personally greets many of the restaurant’s customers and it is clear that he knows how to make on-point vegetarian and meat-based Nigerian dishes. Check out their lunchtime special for US$9.99, consisting of jollof rice, served with chicken, plantain and a soda on the side.
Nigerian Food Las Vegas
Nigerian Food Las Vegas is arguably the closest Nigerian eatery to the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip. It’s situated on East Sahara Avenue, just a short taxi ride from all the action. The restaurant’s owner, Angie, goes out of her way to make sure that you are happy with the home-cooked Nigerian dishes that you’re ordering, as well as portion sizes.
The Owho and Banga soups are some of the most impressive dishes here, with a choice of swallow and mixed meat and fish available. This is one of the few Nigerian restaurants in Vegas that encourages eating with your hands – don’t worry, they give you a bowl to clean and wash your hands afterwards!
Chiamaka Food
Last but by no means least, Chiamaka Food has been offering delicious take-out and dining for the Las Vegas community from its restaurant on South Maryland Parkway. This place proudly takes a contemporary twist on classic Nigerian flavors, while insisting on the use of fresh, premium ingredients at all times. Again, it’s all about their rice dishes here, with fried and jollof rice proving big hits with the locals. Like Nigerian Cuisine by MJ, Chiamaka Food also offers a US$9.99 lunchtime special to savor.
Mitchell Trubisky threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in the Chicago Bears’ 31-24 victory over Dak Prescott and the slumping Dallas Cowboys
