Elon Musk Archives

We all need a little humour to make life a little bit more tolerable sometimes. As the old adage goes, “laughter is the best medicine”. Indeed we have scientific research to back that up. Especially in trying times and difficult situations, it helps to let your hair down and have a good old belly laugh.

Or even a gentle chortle. As comedian and political satirist Jon Steward once said, “Comedy is in the middle of a traffic jam, getting everybody moving again.” This time around, though, we’re turning the attention from ourselves and on to some of the most laughable events to have made headlines this year…

Musk be a Mistake

At one point or another, especially after a few too many pints, many of us have had the experience of tweeting something we’d later regret. Except, in most occasions, it doesn’t result in a billion-dollar lawsuit. The same can’t be said about Tesla CEO Elon Musk however.

After months of buzz around Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s claims to buy Twitter, the quirky SpaceX founder has finally declared that he will not be pursuing ownership of Twitter after attempting to terminate a signed merger agreement in April. As a result, Twitter has sued the business magnate for backing out of a US$44 billion acquisition.

Sniping back at the social media platform, Musk has accused the company of misleading him with inaccurate data, obfuscating facts, not notifying him of layoffs and executive changes, as well as refusing to hand over “useable” user data – all of which allegedly constitute a “breach” of the agreement, according to Musk’s lawyers. As the case goes on, if found liable, Musk will be obliged to pay a US$1 billion break-up fee according to the agreement.

Bagel Wars

Money, muscles and bagels. Hong Kong is known to be one of the safest cities in the world, with murder and theft cases being comparatively lower than other cities. However, a recent scuffle between two establishments has turned sour and you bet social media was quick to catch on.

In June, the infamous Bagel War was the talk of Kennedy Town and almost every English media in the city. Mendel’s, a New York bagel shop went viral on social media for a video they posted to their Instagram page in which men in black shirts were seen blocking entry to the store and telling customers that they were not allowed in, while employees can be heard yelling from inside to customers that the deli was in fact open.

The establishment had accused rival Schragel’s founder Rebecca Schragel of having hired security to harass customers and employees. In the video, customers can be seen struggling to pass through – dodging and pushing their way past the burly men. While many customers and supporters of the eatery were enraged, some found amusement in the turn of events.

It was cleared that Rebecca Schrage, a majority shareholder of Mendel’s was suing her partners for financial disputes.

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

Nobody wants to be broken up with on text or over the phone. However, that didn’t stop the head of state of Sri Lanka to pack up and flee the country in the wake of anti-government protests in July.

It was confirmed By Mahinda Yapa Abeywardenena, the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had sent over his resignation through e-mail and fled to Singapore on a flight from the Maldives.

Abeywardenena has told media that “we cannot accept such an email at face value” and that the legality of such a declaration needs to be legally verified, ascertained and officially confirmed. The state is expecting a paper copy of the letter but is expecting the letter to come through at a later time as it would be sent from Singapore.

It’s Türkiye, not Turkey

When you think of Turkey, what springs to mind? If you say a large gobbling bird, you’re not alone. Most of us have all been guilty of associating “Turkey” with the thanksgiving dinner table rather than paying any mind to the actual country. In fact, if you type it into Google, you’re quite likely to see pages worth of the large game bird.

As such, the government of Turkey had formally advocated to officially change the country’s name to Türkiye (pronounced tur-key-yay), even producing a video commercial of the movement. It doesn’t help that the word is also alternatively defined as “a stupid or inept person”.

The name was changed to reframe the country’s image and connect it to its cultural roots. The process of the country’s renaming had began in December 2021 when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement saying, “The word ‘Turkiye’ represents and expresses the culture, civilisation, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way.” In June, The United Nations officially recognised Turkey as Türkiye and had implemented the change shortly after receipt of the request.

Behind Every Dream is Cartier

Contrary to high end jeweller Tiffany & Co.’s tagline: Behind every dream is a dreamer, a recent legal battle between the high-end brand and competitor Cartier has pit the two luxury brands against each other.

In march Cartier accused Tiffany & Co. of stealing trade secrets of the brand’s bespoke jewellery collection. According to a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Tiffany had hired an under qualified junior manager to learn more about Cartier’s High Jewelry collection, in which pieces cost from US$50,000 to US$10 million.

The manager also happened to be a former executive worker for Cartier and was hired despite her six-month non-compete agreement. She was then fired after five weeks. Tiffany had since denied all allegations Cartier has made thus far. Although this isn’t the first legal battle between the two, it’s still a saucy affair to see two major league brands go head to head.

Metabirkins? Nadabirkins!

As vague as the lines are between reality and the metaverse, to luxury conglomerate Hermès, the boundaries of copyright is clear.

In January, Hermès sent artist Mason Rothschild a cease and desist letter and filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Southern District of New York for alleged trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, and cyber-squatting.

This lawsuit followed a sale by the artist of reinterpreted Berkin NFTs, coined the word “Metabirkins”, within the metaverse. The NFT features furry renderings of Hermes’s iconic Birkin handbag. Artist Mason Rothschild has since claimed his First Amendment right and right to artistic expression, stating that the Metabirkins are not explicitly misleading.

Much Ado About Nothing

If there is one thing the infamous reality TV family The Kardashians is known for, it’s controversy – and there is a lot – enough propel the family into global fame. For what exactly? Absolutely nothing, allegedly.

Which is ironic since the most famous of the Kardashian-Jenner clan Kim Kardashian has been criticised for an interview in which she advised women who want to make a successful career in business with this statement: “I have the best advice for women in business,” she says. “Get your f—–g a– up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.

The punch line here is that the family has been called out several times in the past, including by Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters for having no talent or any particular expertise or professional background. Yet, for two decades they have become a household name across the globe and cashed on millions for their Keeping Up with the Kardashians reality show in which they do, well…nothing…

Text: Staff Writer

If 2020 was the year of being shuttered at home, the past 12 months have been a surprisingly fruitful period for travel in outer space. Historic milestones were achieved when billionaires Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Blue Origin fame jettisoned into space through their respective space-tourism companies, while fellow tech mogul Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully launched and completed the first all-civilian mission with the Inspiration4 flight in September.

Interest in boldly going where no man (well, few) has gone before is increasing, with a recent report by Northern Sky Research, the satellite market-research and consultancy company, predicting that space tourism as an industry will rake in some US$14 billion by 2028.

Despite these groundbreaking steps, however, the undeniable fact is that space missions cost exorbitant amounts of money. To put things into perspective, NASA (the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration) puts the cost of sending an astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) at some US$81 million. Branson’s six minutes of weightlessness aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, meanwhile, had an eye-watering price tag of US$841 million. But that pales in comparison to the staggering US$5.5 billion that Bezos paid for his four-minute suborbital flight on a rocket ship built by Blue Origin. Granted, it didn’t put too large a dent in his pocket, given that the world’s richest man is said to have a fortune hovering around the US$200 billion mark.

Yet, as private companies like SpaceX continue to make breakthroughs in technologies such as reusable rockets, space travel could be the Next Big Thing for a wealthy elite jaded with private jets and superyachts. But what would this future look like?

Going to the Brink
Two broad categories are set to emerge in space tourism. The first is orbital flight, which is defined as being in space for at least one full orbit of Planet Earth. The second, more imminent one is suborbital travel, where passengers fly just to the brink of space before descending back to the Earth’s surface. Unsurprisingly, since the latter is much simpler to accomplish, a full-fledged industry catering to commercial suborbital travel is likely to materialise more quickly.

Leading the charge in this sector are Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. The former is expecting to price tickets for such trips from US$200,000-300,000 per person, while the latter announced in August that its space flights would start at US$450,000 per seat. Another company, Florida-based Space Perspective, is already accepting seat reservations for its offering, a pressurised capsule dubbed ‘Spaceship Neptune’ that is carried by hot-air balloon to an altitude of 30,000m. There’s space for eight passengers and a pilot, with tickets priced at US$125,000.

While commercial suborbital trips may not satiate the needs of star trekkers seeking to explore outer space, the impact such technology will make on the travel industry are far reaching. Indeed, experts are already predicting that this mode of transport could one day replace long-distance air travel as a much faster option. As one UBS report to potential investors states, “Space tourism could be the stepping stone for the development of long-haul travel on earth serviced by space.”

SpaceX has already announced plans to fly people across the globe in just minutes aboard its Starship rocket, citing as an example that the usual 15-hour flight between New York to Shanghai could be completed in less than 40 minutes aboard such a vessel. It’s a tempting option to consider if you have the means to take advantage of it.

Full Orbit
Although much further on the horizon and exponentially more expensive, orbital tourism is the space-travel dream that has captivated our minds. Colonising the Moon and Mars also falls under this category, with governmental agencies and privately owned space companies rushing to create the technologies and infrastructure to bring that vision to fruition.

SpaceX, Boeing and Axiom Space – whose team of predominantly ex-NASA employees hopes to begin construction of the first commercial space station by 2024 – have already announced plans to launch civilian space tourists to the ISS from next year. Although prices are yet to be revealed, previously announced SpaceX contracts indicate the venture would likely cost US$50 million per person aboard a Crew Dragon rocket. NASA, meanwhile, would pocket US$35,000 a night per tourist.

With such trips more within reach than ever, many are betting on orbital vacations becoming a growing trend in the coming years, and experts predict that space-holiday infrastructure – including orbital and moon-based hotels – would be a revenue-raking business.

Space-cation
Sacramento-based startup Orbital Assembly Corporation has unveiled plans to build the world’s first full space hotel by 2027. Named Voyager Station, it is slated to be a luxury resort that can accommodate up to 280 guests and 112 crew members. Designed in the shape of a rotating wheel – which would generate artificial gravity equivalent to roughly one-sixth of that of Planet Earth – it is set to include a restaurant, bar, concert hall, gym and even a cinema for good measure.

Another such project, Orbital Reef, comes via a collaboration between Sierra Space, a Colorado-based spacecraft and satellite manufacturer, and Bezos’s Blue Origin. Featuring a modular design, its promotional materials bill it as ‘the premier mixed-use space station in low Earth orbit for commerce, research and tourism by the end of this decade’.

Although the proposition of such outer-space escapades may seem to belong more in a sci-fi film than in real life, the progress currently being made towards that universe goal cannot be discounted. Perhaps one day in the not-too-distant future, the question wealthy vacationers ponder won’t be “where on Earth should we go?” but rather “where in Space…?”

Tag: Elon Musk

Celebrating the year’s most hilarious quips, anecdotes and happenstances