Royal Ascot - 2014 : Queen partners with Qatar's Qipco Holdings

On the first day of 2014's Royal Ascot, be prepared to see the al-Thani's Qipco Holdings as the Queen's first commercial partner...

I wonder how this marketing match made in heaven will work out.

I will see you at the races.

Aim high. First page.

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As your case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.

There is always hope.

Ashley Hughes Vancouver UECS. 

PS: If this works, my next quote will be higher.

For Al-Nashir Jiwa and Dev Randhawa. This is a test to see if I am able to assist you. 

Kings, Heroes and Lovers

Parviz Tanavoli (born 23 March 1937 in Tehran) is an Iranian sculptor, painter, scholar and art collector.

He belongs to Saqqakhana group of artists who, according to the scholar Karim Emami, share a common popular aesthetic. He has been influenced heavily by his country's history and culture and traditions, (he was once cultural advisor to the Queen of Iran, and has always been fascinated with locksmithing.

Tanavoli's work has been auctioned around the world leading to overall sales of over $6.7 million dollars, making him the most expensive living Iranian artist. 

Ashley Hughes attends a special tea with this amazing artist to discuss possibilities and how to acquire nothingness.

Billionaire boys club

N.E.R.D. alert! Ashley Hughes and Pharrell Williams.

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973), commonly known simply by the mononym Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. His estimated net worth is $77.5 million. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music. He is also the lead vocalist and drummer of funk/hip-hop band N.E.R.D, which he formed with Hugo and childhood friend Shay Haley. He released his debut single "Frontin'" in 2003 and followed up with his debut album In My Mind in 2006.

As part of The Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous hit singles for various music artists. The production duo have earned three Grammy Awards amongst ten nominations. He is also the co-founder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Clothing.

He is also creative and one of Ashley Hughes's mentors for Business and Branding.

Diamonds may be a girls best friend... but Diamond mines are a lady's.

Kimberlite indicator minerals (KIMs): Finding tiny crystals of chromium diopside and pyrope garnets on the earth's surface is a good indicator that diamond crystals could have been forced through the mantle.

As you may know by now, I try to be diplomatic. I am also a proud Canadian who chooses to promote conflict free issues. Therefore, this post is dedicated to Chuck Fipke and Stuart Blusson for the contribution of one of the worlds man-made wonders, Diavik (and Ekati) diamond mines.

Diamond indicator minerals in kimberlite.

Diavik diamond mine in Canada.

Just wondering how long diamond mines last? Till they run out of diamonds? Then what?

You don't buy a yacht, you build one.

Citadel.  A place of refuge, safety.

I don't know about you, but the first thing I inquire about before I spend any lengthy time on a vessel is where my citadel is.

Another word you may know it by, panic room.

It is safe to say that if you are going to be on a luxury mega yacht, its best to assume the worlds wealthy are spending millions on specialized trained personnel, some even British SAS (SIS) / MI5 or 6.... and military-style James Bond technology.

A citadel is basically a hidden chamber on a vessel with food and water; telephones and radios; some even have toilets... basically the necessities for survival.

With no welding and minimal need for specialist equipment or training, the room offers ballistic and blast protection, smoke screen technology, and can keep a crew of 2-24 people safe for up to 5 days with ship to shore communication.

Even more extravagant is the "escape pod" - a submarine that is ready at all times to ferry those on board away to safety. The submarines are mostly used as a leisure addition on super yachts, but there are no denying the benefits of these dual purposed luxury items.

The Nautilus VAS Luxury Submersible is perfect for exploring and is a great escape if pirates are after you. The best part is you can listen to music on its stereo and use the minibar to fix yourself a dirty martini - shaken, not stirred. A steal for only $2.7 million, especially next to Paul Allen's 40 foot submersible. 

Ashley Hughes rests briefly after walking all around a megayacht. 

Ashley Hughes Vancouver, Upper Echelon, Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, twitter, dirty, clean, business, consulting, lady ashley hughes vancouver, ashley hughes,

He, is most Noble.

Last night, our discussion was around a Nobel prize winner, and the world's dwindling supply of helium (He).

It’s the most Noble of gases, meaning it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part. It is created by the radioactive decay of terrestrial rock and most of the world's reserves have been derived as a by-product from the extraction of natural gas.

Some stars show us the way

Both hydrogen and helium, the first two elements on the Periodic Table are very abundant in the universe (about 92 percent and about 8 percent of the atoms, respectively). Helium is rare on Earth while hydrogen is abundant. Helium does not combine with other atoms while hydrogen does. Hydrogen is one of the two elements that make water. Under standard conditions, there are no combined or molecular forms of helium. Helium is non-renewable and irreplaceable. Its properties are unique and unlike hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas or oil), there are no biosynthetic ways to make an alternative to helium. All should make better efforts to recycle it.

Helium plays a role in nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectroscopy, welding, fiber optics and computer microchip production, among other technological applications. NASA used large amounts annually to pressurize space shuttle fuel tanks. Helium’s use in science is extremely broad, but its most important use is as a coolant. Liquid helium is vital for its use in cooling the superconducting magnets in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. There is no substitute because no other substance has a lower boiling point. Helium is also vital in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and fiber optics.


But as you may have gathered, I tend to dream big. A couple years ago, I was discussing mining helium from the moon with a colleague. It used to seem far fetched, but now that civilians are undergoing "vacations in the stratosphere", more frequently our conversations drift to mining on asteroids and the moon. Speaking of other planets, another place where helium occurs naturally is, of course, in the gas balls we call stars. Researchers think that the solar wind from our sun may have deposited some helium-3 on the moon’s surface. If we use that up too, we could look a little further, say Uranus or Neptune, which have helium-rich atmospheres.

“The moon is the El Dorado of helium-3,” says [futurist Marshall] Savage, and he’s right: Every star, including our sun, emits helium constantly. Implanted in the lunar soil by the solar wind, the all-important gas can be found on the moon by the bucketful. Associate professor Tim Swindle and his colleagues at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona have already begun prospecting. Swindle has mapped likely helium-3 deposits on the moon by charting the parts of the lunar landscape most exposed to solar wind against the locations of mineral deposits that best trap the element. [Wired] 


Back on earth, due to America's push to sell off all of its helium reserves by 2015, Russia will be the world’s next major source of helium. Russia also has the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, where helium certainly exists. During the retrieval of natural gas, helium is secondary and much of it is wasted. Due to fracking, the helium is quenched (released into the atmosphere), and there is no chance to retrieve it once its gone.


DLA Energy just increased its helium orders from one firm, Dubai-based Global Gases, by 50 percent — from two million cubic feet to three million. Phil Kornbluth, an executive vice president with Global Gases supplier Matheson Gas, says it’s a substantial increase.
This post is dedicated to methanex, but more specifically Ken Vidalin. I am also going to mention Leo Hathaway, a geologist, just for FUN, silly.