The latest Bond car for the film “Quantum of Solace” is the Aston Martin DBS. Low-profile 20inch car tyres, smooth lines and curves, flared wheel arches and an overstated front grill; it is the epitomy of British cool with which to save the world.

The Aston Martin’s 6.0-litre V12 engine has a distinctive throaty roar that is capable of 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds and has a top speed of 191mph.

This has to rate as one of Bond’s best looking cars but to compare I have compiled a list of 5 other classic Bond cars:

1) Recently voted the most iconic car of all time, the Aston Martin DB5 appeared in ‘Thunderball’, ‘Goldfinger’ and more recently ‘Casino Royal’.

It was originally introduced in 1963. Its film debut was in the 1964 Goldfinger, starring alongside Sean Connery. Its distinctive silver livery, streamlined bodywork and large front grill was new for its time.

However the aesthetically pleasing body hid a vast array of lethal surprises to confound even the most troublesome of Bond’s enemies. You may remember a scene in Goldfinger where one rear brake light spurted oil onto the road. And the other released triple-spiked nails to burst the car tyres of the pursuing villains.

Other clever features devised by Q included a revolving licence plate, an exhaust that expelled smoke-screen canisters and wheel hubs that revealed knives to slash car tyres.

2) The white Lotus Elite used by Roger Moore in 1977 ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ surprised everyone with its ability to be driven underwater.

In an attempt to escape a pursuing helicopter the Lotus was driven off a pier into the sea. At the time you would have thought this was the end for the car. But with typical Bond creativity the car tyres retract and it was transformed into an operational submarine, complete with fins and a periscope. The persistent helicopter soon meets its demise with a missile fired from the car beneath the water.

3) The 1987 film ‘The Living Daylights’ saw a return to the Aston Martin. This Aston Martin V8 had a powerful engine to compliment its macho looks. It used a fuel injection system that replaced carburetion. Due to the compact nature of this new technology the car could be designed with a flat bonnet, unlike the curved bonnets of its predecessors.

As with any Bond car there were a number of clever additions including self retractable spikes in the car tyres for extra grip on icy surfaces, lasers behind the front hubcaps and missile launchers behind the headlights.

4) It was bold move not to use a British manufactured car in the 1999 ‘The World Is Not Enough’ but BMW Z8 soon won over the Bond fan. Its retro styling and red leather interior was backed up by a 400-horsepower V8 engine that had a top speed of 158mph.

Hidden accessories included missile launchers in the side vents and a windscreen that displayed important data. The car could be operated remotely using the key chain.

5) The Aston Martin was back in the 2002 ‘Die Another Day’ starring Pierce Brosnan. This time it was the V12 Vanquish, sometimes referred to as ‘a DB9 on steroids’.

The classic styled V12 nearly met its match when confronted with the villain’s Jaguar XKR. But the front mounted Gatling gun, rocket launchers in the doors and bombs in the boot soon put paid to that.

Two other clever features, which eventually won the battle for Bond, were the car’s ability to become invisible and the spikes hidden in the car tyres. The latter helped the car drive up an ice wall to avoid the fast approaching enemy, causing the Jaguar to have a unceremonious demise at the bottom of a lake.

As wonderful as the Bond cars are, thankfully features like spikes in car tyres have not become common place on our modern vehicles. If they ever do be sure to consult a specialist before changing a punctured car tyre.

Of late, regular travel has become predictable and boring. With falling airfares and the resulting increase of package tours becoming the most common way of vacationing, traveling has become uninspiring and monotonous.

That feeling of adventure that traveling is supposed to evoke has become jaded. This is what has given rise to a new form of travel these days – Adventure Travel! Adventure travel is not only popular with the adrenaline filled youth, but is increasingly being taken up by people of older generations too, because of greater fitness, health, leisure time and economic prosperity.

There really is very little else in the world that can be more thrilling than adventure travel, because it primarily involves risk taking. When you get out there, you finally start experiencing life at its edgiest – which is part of its excitement. It is not hard to figure out why.

Adventure travel usually takes us into close proximity with Mother Nature at her rawest best. It also often introduces us to new peoples and cultures, thus broadening our perspective about the world we live in.

For those who really are into hardcore adventure travel at its adrenaline pumping best, there are many options, such as scaling the fourteen thousand feet craggy mountains of Colorado or the even loftier snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan range, bicycling along the route of Tour de France, or trying out a new heart-rate pumping adventure sport like white water rafting in treacherous, rolling icy waters.

You may choose to try parasailing into the updrafts from vertiginous cliffs, bungee jump off precarious toe-holds, or ski down hair-raisingly steep mountain sides. If it is thrills you are looking for, there is no dearth of them.

However, not all adventure travel need comprise of spine-tingling feats, defying death. For the gentler bent of mind, there are trips you can take which can be equally exciting and stimulating, without much danger involved in them.

For example, you could float up above the African veld in a hot air balloon to watch lions stalking their prey below, or take a walking tour of the ancient Angkor Wat temple smothered in the Cambodian jungles, or hike through the forest trails in the Amazonian jungles experiencing the exotic wild life there like the Caymans snoozing on the banks of the rivers or the brightly hued parrots squawking in the canopy of branches overhead.

Some of the other adventure travel sites include eco-trekking through the rain forests of the Caribbean in order to get up close to the insects, birds and animals that inhabit it. You could take camping trips to various exotic locales still off the tourist map and learn about the local people – their food habits, costumes, language and culture by actually interrelating with them.

Or perhaps you would like something more solitary and gentle. If so, there are still unspoiled beaches that are virtually deserted and exist for you to immerse yourself in the sun-splashed splendor of yellow sands and azure seas.

Or, if you want something a little livelier, how about surfing off the coast of Costa Rica? All of these provide a way of being a part of adventure travel, without it getting too hazardous.

From iasi to borsa Roemania, by small mountain road. Towards a allroad pass

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Nowadays,the “experts” on TV make the investigations look relatively easy with their expensive equipment. It is possible for a run-of-the-mill normal everyday person to investigate paranormal experiences with equipment that is found in everyone’s house.

Step 1

Research the site of the paranormal experience. Ask neighbors about the history of the house or look for old newspaper articles that give information about past happenings in the house. The former property owners and the local police may also have some enlightening information.

Step 2

Set up a video camera in the area where the paranormal experience occurred. The camera may catch objects moving or lights being turned on or off.

Step 3

Walk around the house, looking for dramatic changes in temperature. These can be detected with a thermometer or by physical feel. Paranormal beings are said to create cold spots in the area when a manifestation occurs. If a cold spot is detected, take pictures with a digital camera in all directions from the cold spots. Remember to take photos toward the ceiling also.

Step 4

Carry a voice recorder from room to room. Ask the questions, “Is anybody here? Would you like to tell us anything?” Wait a few moments and continue to the next room. Paranormal voices or sounds may be heard on playback.

Step 5

Use a motion detector to monitor for movement. Some nightlights will activate if they sense any movement. Set up another video camera where the motion detector is located, allowing the investigator the chance to see what sets off the motion detector.

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In Esquire magazine’s regular “What I’ve Learned” section, heiress, celebutante and overall media princess Paris Hilton hands out a few nuggets of wisdom. It’s not surprising that someone as saturated in the limelight can have some pretty out-there ideas about herself. Nonetheless, anything that comes out of Paris’s pink, puckered mouth is very amusing to us regular folk, at the very least.

Here are just a few excerpts from the section:

“There are definitely a lot of misconceptions about me out there. ‘Oh, she doesn’t work. She doesn’t do anything. She just gets money from her family.’ That’s not true at all. I was up making phone calls at seven in the morning, and I’ll be working until 1:00 A.M.”

“I was the oldest granddaughter. Everyone was so excited that I was born; they would always take pictures of me. My grandma would call me Marilyn Monroe or Grace Kelly. Ever since I was little, it’s what I knew I wanted to do–be a blond icon.”

“Once I’ve worn a dress, I can never wear it again. I give them to charities and they auction them off to help people with breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS. Some that are really, really special, I keep in storage for my daughters. They’ll be vintage by then. I think my daughters will love them.”

“The best thing I’ve ever bought with money is my house. I call it my Paris Palace. It’s beautiful. Every room has beautiful crystal chandeliers and amazing moldings from Italy. When people come over they say, ‘Hey, this looks just like you.’”

“Because of my last name and the way I look, some people think I’m a spoiled brat. But I’m not like that at all. I’m one of the most down-to-earth people I know out of anyone in Hollywood.”

“Things may seem to naturally come my way. But I work hard for them, too. I have good karma.”

“You may not be able to be hot when you’re seventy-five in a conventional sense. Like, young people won’t think you’re hot. But your husband will, and so will people your own age.”

For more celebrity news and gossip, visit Celebrity Gossip Hollywood.

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