Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong
The “Snow Leopard”

Ghana’s One-Man Ski Team – Over the years, cougar, black bear and even Sasquatch sightings have been reported at Mount Washington But a glimpse of a Snow Leopard? That would be impossible! Yet it’s about to happen – but in this case ‘The Snow Leopard’ is actually Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the very first alpine skier ever to represent the snow-less African country of Ghana at a Winter Olympic Games! [comoxvalley]

AC/DC Frontman Punishes Bono – AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has lashed out at charity work done by Bono and Bob Geldof, saying they should do it in private. 

”I do it myself, I don’t tell everybody I’m doing it,” Johnson said.

”I don’t tell everybody they should give money – they can’t afford it.

”When I was a working man I didn’t want to go to a concert for some bastard to talk down to me that I should be thinking of some kid in Africa.” Here here. [heraldsun]

James Cameron Up Against Ex-Wife At Oscars – You need to tune into this one. Did you know that Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, made the movie The Hurt Locker? Well she did. And you know he made Avatar? Well enjoy this, both movies have been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Effects, and Best Sound Editing. Hey? It’s too crazy for words. [dailybeast]

Auction World Record Broken – One of Alberto Giacometti’s best-loved bronzes, “Walking Man I,” broke the world record price for a work of art at auction, selling to an unidentified telephone bidder for $92.5 million, or $104.3 million with fees at Sotheby’s in London on Wednesday night. The previous record was $104.1 million, paid for Picasso’s 1905 ’’Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice)’’ at Sotheby’s in New York in 2004. [nytimes]

Mel Gibson Calls Reporter An Asshole – This came at the end of an interview in which the reporter asked Mel if he thinks the public had forgotten about his DUI charge and the fact that he called a female police officer “sugar tits.” Gibson reckons it was four years ago and no-one cares. Which is weird, given that it is probably the biggest highlight of my last decade. “Sugar tits?” – come on, that’s awesome! [youtube]

Zuma Confirms Love Child, Punishes Media – President Jacob Zuma has put out a statement confirming his child with Irvin Khoza’s daughter, while lambasting the media for criticising him. A media storm erupted this past week around weekend reports that Zuma (67) had fathered a possible 20th child with his old friend and soccer tycoon Irvin Khoza’s daughter, Sonono (39). I want a baby with Jacob Zuma!! [mail&guardian]

Umaga Joins International Legends Mix – Former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga, still one of the most recognisable names in world rugby, will complete the International Legends line-up at the 2010 Castle Cape Town Tens.Umaga will join tournament hosts Bob Skinstad and Robbie Fleck and eight other former internationals in a star-studded International Legends team this weekend! [capetowntens]

Sex, Drugs And Rock n Roll With Kristen Stewart And Dakota’s Fanning – Are you legally allowed to take my most secretive warped fantasies and turn them into reality? Apparently not. The Runaways tells the story of its namesake band—the all-girl teen band that launched Jett’s career in the 1970s. It tells the age-old tale of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, but with the twist that it’s all from a young woman’s perspective. Chicks are going to lose their minds over this movie. [vanityfair]

Toyota’s Shares Slide As Reputation Takes A Knock – For more than two decades, Toyota has won a reputation as a builder of high-quality, reliable vehicles with a happy workforce, and engineering and design teams that made vehicles you could count on. But now, after last month’s bad news – a 2.3 million vehicle recall for accelerator pedals that could stick, followed by an unprecedented halt in sales of several popular models – Toyota’s fortresslike reputation has taken major damage. [washingtonpost]

Local Blogger Holds Woolworths Ransom – They spotted a promotional banner in a Woolworths store directing them to a website. Unfortunately Woolies had bought the wrong web address. So these guys went and bought the web address and followed up by sending a ransom note to Woolworths and the money has already started coming in. You gotta check this out, it’s a great story! [yuppiechef]

Bullock And Streep Trade Death Threats – “With Meryl, when this whole thing started, I left her a voice mail going, ‘You’ve got to watch your back. I’m gonna cut you. I’m gonna take you down,'” Bullock said with a laugh Tuesday after learning she and Streep were both nominated for Academy Awards. “And then she sent me dead orchids and told me to die, so I sent her a case of liquor and told her to toast to white trash.” [associated]

Webcam Browser Saves Man From Drowning – A tourist walking on Germany’s frozen North Sea coast was hoping for some stunning winter photos. Instead, he became disoriented as night fell and no longer knew how to get back to the beach. Luckily, help was just a click away. [spiegel]

Mussolini iPhone App Is Withdrawn – An iPhone application that allows users to download speeches by the former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini has been withdrawn. Its developer says he is removing it after legal threats. But the application has also faced protests from Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors who described it as offensive. Shit, there goes my PW Botha app plans.. [bbc]

Overweight Perez Hilton Tops Forbes Web Celeb List – On the Internet everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, but some people get a whole lot more. A kid with a webcam can become a movie star; an entrepreneur with a smart idea can get on Oprah; a tech blogger can reach a bigger audience than a bestselling novelist. Forbes Web Celeb 25 tracks the biggest and brightest stars on the Internet, the people who have turned their passions into new media empires. [forbes]

[thanks andrew, brett]