In other sports....

The british Elite Ice Hockey league has posted its fixtures for the new season. The league has grown in size with the addition of two new teams - the Braehead Clan and the Dundee Stars.
Defending League champions Coventry Blaze kick off their season at home against the Belfast Giants, 25th August.

Figure skating and a thank-you.

The ISU has posted a video example of the new style Short dance- which will combine aspects of the old compusory and original dances. The Skaters are Jane Sumersett and Todd Gilles of the USA.

Watch it here

Also at the ISU council - the following international competitions were confirmed for the next few seasons.

2011
Europeans - Bern, Switzerland
Four Continents - Taipei City, Chinese Taipei
Jr Worlds - Gangneung City, Republic of Korea
Worlds - Tokyo, Japan

2012
Europeans - Sheffield, UK
Four Continents- (still pending)
Jr Worlds- Minsk, Belarus
Worlds - Nice, France

Also a big thank-you to BBC sports Ollie Williams for posting a link to this blog on his twitter, and a welcome to any new readers who have followed that link. Please come back often, follow and comment.

Trailer

Have just seen the new Harry Potter trailer. Can't wait until November now.

Web Hosting for beginners

This article is targeted to people who are new to Internet world but want to know how to start their own site and make some good income from that. Web hosting is a terminology based on which individual users and company can host their site after registering a domain. The best way to choose a domain is, the domain should be meaningful, clear and niche based. For starters you can use Blogspot or Wordpress sub domains to start your own site. Once you create an online reputation you can start your own site with a new domain.

The cost of web site hosting varies from free to some 30 dollars from months. There are some Web hosting sites who charge even 1000 dollars per month for providing web hosting services. My personal advice is never go for free hosting since the up-time of the site is very much unpredictable. Any hosting for $10 per month provides excellent facilities and for a beginner cheap web hosting is idle since it will be well within is affordable limits and the site load will also be not be too high. The additional features would be unlimited storage capacity, limited add on domains and 24/7 online support. Some sites even have money back guarantee if you don’t like their services.

FIFA World Cup latest news

The ongoing FIFA World Cup witnessed few surprises of big teams like Italy who are the current champions and France are being eliminated from this World Cup. Some of the other teams which are fighting for the pride and being in the race are five time champions Brazil, Argentina, Spain. Of course the Germans are showing the same old guts and speed while executing the online football skills.

Netherland and Gana are showing some renowned form and able to defeat some of the top teams. The last evening, the match between Paraguay and Japan ended in a draw during the normal 90 minutes of play. When the game was extended up to another 30 minutes but producing no result and finally it had to be decided on penalty shoot out. In the penalty Paraguay continuously scored 4 goals while Japan missed the third one hitting the ball against the cross bar and the ball came out. When Japan took its fourth chance and hit eventually netted it in to the goal. Then finally came Paraguay's fifth chance which it rightly scored and ended a seal.

Youth Olympic Games

The Organizing commitee of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August have changed their rules on the number of coaches a country can send with its young athletes. (International Gymnastics) In gymnastics they had only previously allowed one coach for both mens and womens gymnastics - difficult if your male and female entry train on different sides of the country! This rule had led to the USA refusing to send a female gymnast.

I haven't found a lot of info on entries yet but Russia's Viktoria Komova is due to attend, having won the junior all around and a heap of other medals at the junior European championships. With the organizing commitee now allowing one coach per gymnast it will be interesting to see if USA Gymnastics go back on their word and send someone like Jordyn Wieber (junior Pacific Rim champion) to compete with Komova. She may be one of the few that can.....

Also - the Singapore organizing commitee have planned a special 'olympic lane' on the roads connecting the athlete's village and competition venues. Motorists will be required to give way to specially marked official vehicles.

Faux

Now I'm not suggesting for one moment this great country is riddled with counterfeit money but to be given two rather suspect coins in 6 months is pretty extreme, don't you agree?

(Left) suspect £1 and £2 coins- note the indistinct impressions and peeling 'paint';  and (Right) the real thing.

Brian's Gang.

The Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club is becoming a hotspot for skating talent. Brian Orser, 2 time olympic medallist wasn't sure he wanted to be a full time coach until his first and now star pupil, begged him to coach her full time. That pupil is of course Yu-Na Kim.

Given the success and popularity of Yu-Na, other young skaters flocked to Toronto. Brian coaches two american talents- Adam Rippon (2009 Junior world champion, 2010 Four Continents Champion) and Christina Gao (who pleasantly surprised everyone by finishing 5th at US nationals in her senior debut). Gao has already been compared by many to a young Yu-Na or Michelle Kwan.

















Also Brian has a growing collection of 'little Yu-Nas' teenage korean skaters Min-Jung Kwak (who finished 13th at the olympics as Korea's second entry) and recently 2008 Korean junior champion Yea-Ji Yun.


















Icenetwork also reported former world champ Brian Joubert is traning in Toronto for 6 weeks this summer. This isn't a permanent arrangement (yet...) but the frenchman is currently coach-less so we'll see.

Spelbound balance shows and training.

In the recent Britain's Got Talent final it was fairly clear to all that there could be only one winner- the acrobatic gymnastics team Spelbound.

I you haven't seen their performances - watch them here (semifinal) (final)

The team were worshiped by the Judges and Simon Cowell said they would be the perfect act for the London 2012 olympic opening ceremonies.

This instant fame however caused some issues for the group. Being the show's champions they were legally obliged to take part in a 15 stop tour around the country, finishing at the O2 arena. This could potentially hamper their preparations for the World Acrobatic Championships immediately after, in which most of them are due to compete in smaller groups for team GB

However, Spelbound are insistant on keeping to all their planned engagements, training in the daytime at gyms local to the show venues before performing in the evenings. Hard work but very best of luck to them! After worlds they will also perform for the queen at the royal variety performance. The ultimate prize of the talent show seems almost a small stage for this act.

More British Gymnastics bits and bobs.

Heading into the British Championships this weekend British Gymnastics has announced they will post on-demand videos of as many routines as possible on their website (BGTV) they have also posted a preview video here.

With Becky Downie out it could be the week for new talent such as Jocelyn Hunt or Nicole Hibbert who both competed in the european medal winning team. Or it could be the week for comebacks.

Hannah Whelan, who was the smallest member of the 2008 GB olympic team (pictured here with the tallest athlete, rower Josh West) is making her comeback after a complicated wrist injury. We wish her all the best.

Also Marissa King is back after her first year in American College gymnastics. It will be great to see how her elite gymnastics has changed. Marissa speaks about her college experiences here.

Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike

With team GB making up two teams this summer- one for worlds and one for commonwealths, Nationals should be interesting. Good luck to all the girls!

Paul

Thanks to everyone who left kind thoughts after the last post. Paul died peacefully in his sleep during the early hours of Monday morning. It was a great surprise to us all. I wish you could have met him. I think that like me you would have come to love him. He had so much energy - so much natural zest for life - so many passions such as his violin and recently he even taught himself Greek, becoming quite fluent in a relatively short time. He was naturally gregarious and seemed to know just about every other citizen in the small county of Clare in western Ireland. "Hello there Paddy! How're ye doin?" He leaves a lovely but utterly distraught wife behind - poor Josephine - and his two handsome teenage sons - Michael and Kevin - plus his daughter Katie - now in her early thirties and Cait - his two year old granddaughter.

Here's Paul at Katie's wedding in 2006:-

When people die, the Irish don't hang about. Paul's wake in Ennistymon will happen tomorrow evening and he will be buried in a small rural cemetery known locally as "The Island" on Wednesday morning. Today has been about communication and making travel arrangements and printing things off - all so hectic - that I hardly had time to properly think about Paul. He was my friend as well as my brother and I still can't really believe that he has gone. A world without Paul just doesn't seem right.

Skating News and Tweets

Joannie Rochette has been busy - this week she attended the G20 ceremonies as a guest and sat next to Michelle Obama for lunch. She also was at the Canadian Grand Prix and will be a special guest for the official Canada day celebrations in Ottawa on Thursday. Oh and on top of all that she was nominated for an ESPY award for 'best moment'. I hope she wins, she deserves it.
Read more here


Evgeni Plushenko will not be in the Grand Prix this season or in the 2014 olympics. He has lost his ISU eligibility by competing in professional ice shows. Read it here.

Mao Asada has a refreshing new exhibition at Dreams on Ice. The kind of beautiful programme you can just sit back and enjoy. She has become an elegant young woman. Also Daisuke Takahashi unveiled his new exhibition choreographed by Stephane Lambiel.


Adam Rippon will skate to Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet for his SP and Rachmaninov Piano Concerto number 2 for his LP. He was interviewed by Icenetwork.

Changes to jump values under the new ISU rules.
The value of quad toe was raised to 10.3 (from 9.8), tripe Axel to 8.5 (from 8.2). Base value of double Axel lowered to 3.3 (from 3.5).
Jump under-rotated by 1/4 to 1/2 revolution gets 70% of base value. Jump under-rotated by more than 1/2 gets downgraded to next lower jump.

Ilderton, ON honoured its olympic champions, Tessa and Scott.


Scott Hamilton is recovering well after his surgery. He tweeted this
Thank you, everyone, for your love, support & prayers during my recent brain surgery! You lifted me up & gave me strength to get through it!

Denis Ten tweeted

I need new feet for my new skates. Can anybody share them with me?

Goodbye

My oldest brother - Paul.

August 5th 1947 to June 28th 2010.

I loved him.

Life Without Water !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful Young Girl Named Chavvi Was Very Much Loved By All The Villagers. She Was Very Much Intelligent. Her Intellect Excelled In Every Field. Everyday, Chavvi Helps Her Dad In His Farm Work. But, Offlate, Because of Water Scarcity Farm Was Getting Dried Up. Chavvi's Father Was Very Much Worried About His Farm, Income. Their Farm Was The Only Source of Income For Their Family. Chavvi's Mother Was Working As Maid Servant & Was Earning Rs.5000/- Month.

Chavvi's Dad Had Availed Loan of Lakhs of Rupees & Had To Repay Along With Interest. But, Was Helpless Since His Farm Had Become Barren Land.

One Night, Chavvi's Family Heard Huge Cries of Villagers & When They Went To Check Out The Reason of Their Cries Were Surprised To See Rain. Since It Was Raining After Very Long Period. Their Boundless Tears Filled Happines Was Visible  From Kids To Older People. Everyone Danced In Rain. Kept Their Buckets To Fill Up Water. Their Wells Were Filled By Rain. It Was Such A Downpour of Rain & Happiness. Chavvi's Family & Other Villagers Felt A Huge Relief.

Each of Them, Had Forgotten Taste of Water. Their Thirst For Water Was fulfilled By Rain. Everybody, Stretching Their Arms, Collected Water In Palms & Drank As Much They Wanted.

Each Villager's Wish & Prayer Was "To Get Water To Their Basic Needs & Farm". That Night Was The Most Blessed Memorable Night.

Chavvi's Father & Other Farmers Went To Farm With Their Tools, Ox & Started Their Lovable Life "Field".

PS :- Dearies, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post.

PPS :- Dearies, I'm Going To My Native Place With My Parents & Would Be Back After A Week. Miss You All ....Take Care :) :)

Written For,

Thursday Tales

Tale #13

Image Courtesy :- christians  

Mourning

With apologies to readers who have no interest in football, I am writing this post in the city where the organised game first began. Sheffield boasts the world's first two properly organised teams - Sheffield FC (formed in 1857) and Hallam FC (formed in 1860). Hallam FC play at the world's oldest continuously used football ground - Sandygate in the Crosspool suburb of the city.

In Yorkshire we know about football. It is a passion that sometimes seems to take on the characteristics of a new religion. You may be down or in bad health, your partner may have left you or you just lost your job - but don't worry there's always football to escape to. Our newspapers are full of football - transfer news, personal relationships, the ups and downs of clubs. In this country, if shown some photos, many more people would instantly recognise Wayne Rooney or David James than Nick Clegg (Deputy Prime-minister) or the new PM himself - the dashing Old Etonian and former pot smoker - David Cameron.

If you haven't yet heard, The World Cup tournament 2010 is currently well under way in South Africa. This English nation had great expectations for our team. Cars, workplaces, pubs and homes have been bedecked with the national flag of St George. And over in South Africa the national team has been supported vociferously by an army of travelling fans.

We stuttered through the group stage to the last sixteen and today played our old enemy - Germany - in Bloemfontein. We lost by four goals to one. The swift, flowing counter-attacking moves of the German frontmen exposed our defence horribly. Even though we had a perfectly good goal disallowed when the score was 2-1, it was clear that England had been outclassed and what hurt more was the sense of unrealised potential - a certain frustration that in some ways the team never really showed up at the party. Our talisman - Wayne Rooney seemed but a shadow of himself and some of our passing was woeful.

So we are out of the tournament and all of England mourns. Our coach was the Italian maestro - Fabio Capello - paid £6million a year and yet his command of English is still only slightly above that of a macaw. So how can he inspire the team? How can he deliver telling halftime talks? England needs an English manager. Back in December 2007, when Capello was appointed, I wrote these words in this blog:- I don't want this Capello and mark my words - it will all end in tears! He is not the man for the job. The only foreign johnnies I would have entertained would have been Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho - both honorary Englishmen who know our game inside out. However, before them I would have still made it top priority to make an Englishman our manager.

So for England, World Cup 2010 is over and our lads are coming home - but not to a heroes' welcome. You can't say they didn't try. Individually, each player was desperate to advance and to bring back the trophy but good heavens - the best we could manage was a slender victory over little Slovenia. So it's back to the drawing board, and the economic winter and newspapers telling us that English football died in Bloemfontein. Rest in Peace.

Sense Memory

Sense Memory is the use of the senses to re-create people, places, smells, tastes, songs, physical conditions, etc., in order to get in touch with a character's reality. For example, if what my character needs in a scene/play is to be loved by the other character, but on that day I am not naturally in touch with that need, I might sensorially create a person from my life that evokes in me the need to be loved. I would then go on stage with that need awakened in me, and hopefully the scene would work- meaning, it would be real. By these standards, a scene works and is real when the need in the actor is as real as the need in the character. It is one of the main tools of Method Acting, used for decades upon decades in the training of actors. The reason this works is because the brain can not differentiate between the experience and the memory of the experience. I studied at The Actors Studio, where Method Acting got its name, so even if I don't always use it, the technique lives in my body. If your heart is open, it only takes about three seconds for a memory to burst out and take over your whole being. Here are some memorable experiences in my life that I often re-create with the use of sense memory, or that have been enhanced because of my training in sense memory.

Smell:

I walk past a store that is being thoroughly cleaned, and there is a strong smell of chlorine. Immediately, I am transported back to my eleven years as a swimmer. The specificity is such that I can feel my wet bathing suit on my body and the blue slippery tiles beneath my feet. The smell of chlorine in my hair during those years was practically permanent, and my skin was always really dry. Competing was always agonizing for me. I only won a gold medal once. And the day I did, I remember feeling outside my body, like someone else was moving through me, because I couldn't possibly have been going so fast. I breathed only once, and when I got out of the pool I was shaking. I heard my name in the loudspeaker, "Larissa Dzegar- Gold Medal!" and I heard my whole family scream from the bleachers. They put me on those steps- it was the first time I ever stood on the tallest step in the middle, and I had to bend down so they could put the medal around my neck. When they were done recognizing us, I got off the step, knelt by the pool, dipped my medal in the water, and kissed the floor, inhaling a big strong whiff of chlorine and whispering, "Whoever you are, God, I know you exist."

Sight:

I'm walking around and someone walks past me who looks just like Him. The one who took my heart before I knew how to protect it. The one I don't think about anymore and don't look up on facebook for fear of his status saying, "Married". The one who taught me about love and then taught me even more about heartbreak. The one by which all others are compared. Him. I do a double-take, realize it's not him, but I am paralyzed on the sidewalk with grumpy new yorkers telling me to "move out of the fucking way", and all I can hear are my thoughts- the ones I didn't think I'd have anymore- Where did you go, my darling boy? Where did life take you? Where did that time of innocence and sweet love go? Do those teenagers kissing under the stars still exist in us? Did your heart grow colder, like mine, or are you still the boy who told me he was falling in love with me every day? How many other women have you loved? Am I, too, the one by which all others are compared? Does my memory creep up on you too, and take you back to a time when all we knew was the purity of our young love? When we thought we could be together forever? Does your heart still break a little, like mine, when the memory of me creeps up on you? Does that boy still belong to me, like he told me he would, no matter where life took us?

Eventually, the thoughts stop, I do move, and somehow my body just knows to walk to the ATM and get money because I'm going to need two things immediately: something fattening, and something overpriced.

Sound:

It's someone's birthday and I'm at a dance party. It's hot and sweaty and fun. And then someone decides it'll be funny to put on really cheesy 90's music. Lo and behold, "Everybody" by The Backstreet Boys goes on. Flashback to 7th grade. My friend Duna calls me one night and says, "Hey, I'm doing a dance for the Talent Show with Manu and Steph and Tiff. Wanna join us?" I say yes. I don't really know Manu or Tiff that well, and I'm not even that close to Duna, but I love the spotlight, and being in a talent show is exactly the kind of thing I am known to sign up for. Plus, I don't have that many friends. This could be good for my social life. We rehearse over a hundred hours. We buy matching outfits. We diet. We want to be hot for the show. We contemplate being bulimic for a while. We discard that idea. The day of the show comes. We are nervous as hell. This could be awesome, or it could be the end of our social lives. We go up with our kick-ass dance for "Everybody", and it's the most fun I've ever had in my life. Not only does the audience love us (and hey- a middle school audience is not easy to win over) but the five of us become best friends, referring to ourselves as the "BSG's" and creating a bond that helps all of us survive those brutal years of adolescence.

Taste:

It's my first semester in college and I am not so happy. Sometimes, I'm downright depressed. I'm 18 and an ocean away from my home. It's cold. I have to write papers on things I don't really understand. I am struggling to get cast in plays. I do not have a boyfriend and there are hardly any boys at Sarah Lawrence. The only boy I kind of liked is now dating my suite-mate, who is blonde and really skinny, which just makes me feel like shit. I smoke pot occasionally and it just makes things worse. I keep a bottle of tequila next to my bed. Things are just. not. good. But I have a friend. A dear, sweet, lovely friend. Maria. And she notices that something is not well with me. And one day (actually, she does it many times, but I remember the first time especially), she brings me chocolate milk. It's my favorite thing in the world. And when someone brings it to me, I am reminded of my mother, picking my brother and I up from school, bringing us a snack of chocolate milk and "bisnaguinhas". I feel loved and cared for. I feel less alone. The taste is so comforting, I drink the whole thing in one gulp. I hug my Maria. She becomes my friend for life, and the taste of chocolate milk makes itself my go-to comfort beverage forever.

Touch:

My paternal Grandmother, also called Maria, or Baba to me, died when I was 7. She was my idol and the most beautiful woman in the world. She let me put make-up on her and would always tell me I made her look more beautiful, even when I had just put lipstick on her eyebrows. She called me "Larinshka". I am named Larissa, in fact, because that was supposed to be her name, but her mother had such a difficult birth that she prayed to the virgin Mary for her child to be okay- and when my grandmother came out okay, she was named Maria in a gesture of gratitude. I loved her so dearly, and was always so sad that I got to spend such little time with her. When I graduate from college, my aunt flies in from L.A. and celebrates the occasion with me. She gives me a box. I open it carefully- it looks precious- and in it is one of Baba's most beautiful rings, containing her birth stone. I put it on my ring finger. It fits perfectly. I stare at my hand. It looks just like her hand. Long bony fingers, big fingernails, small wrists. The hand that held my own little one so many times to cross the street and go buy popsicles without my mother knowing. She is still with me, and I can feel her touch every time I wear the ring.

Quote... Unquote

Discussing the recent departure of General McChrystal, Andrew Marr on his BBC 1 show this morning said "You don't sack generals when you're winning." 

How true.

News on Mao and Yu-Na

Olympic silver medallist, Mao Asada headed to Korea this week for Medalist on ice in Seoul. Interestingly she did not face off against Yu-Na Kim, however other participants included Evan Lysacek, Evgeni Plushenko, Shen and Zhao, Miki Ando, Alexei Yagudin and Virtue and Moir. A star-studded cast to make up for the absense of the Korean Superstar.

After practice on Friday, Asada told reporters, "Figure skating got more attention because of the rivalry between Kim Yu-na and me. I hope the momentum carries on with more such 'good' rivalry."

Turning to changes to the scoring system by the International Skating Union that have already been dubbed the "Asada rules," the skater said there is no truth in the claim that they work in her favor. At the official press conference at Hyundai Card headquarters in Seoul, Asada said, "It's good that the ISU raised the base value of certain jumps. But that in itself isn't to my advantage. What's important is that I nail the triple axels in the competition. If I don't, the rules don't matter at all."

The ISU in early May announced new rules for its figure skating scoring system, which included increasing the base value of technically more demanding jumps while decreasing it for easier jumps. Kim Yu-na expressed dissatisfaction at the change by saying, "I don't understand why they tried to change the rules in such a way."
(Adapted from an article in The Chosen Ilbo)

Meanwhile. Yu-Na has taken a vacation in Tobermory, Canada with her fellow Korean skater Min-Jung Kwak who now trains with her in Toronto. Yu-Na is due to skate in Korea for 'All That Skate Summer', July 23-25. The show is organised by All That Sports, The managing agency Yu-Na and her mother sat up themselves. She too will attract big names including Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen.

Yu-Na posted this about her vacation.

“I feel like I haven’t been on a vacation like this since I was young. I always talked about how I wanted to go on a vacation.. Although all people are like that k k k So far, I think I have been so immersed in one thing that I never had any time.. Now, all the things I’ve wanted to do.. even the minor things… I want to do each and every one of them!!!

Last weekend, I left for my last break before beginning my summer training… I was so happy for the 2 nights and 3 days. I was happy.. I was happy… The realization that the next day is Monday……. I couldn’t speak….”

I think the girl deserves a well-earned break!

British Championships next week.

Guildford Spectrum 3/4th July

World and European Champion Beth Tweddle returns to Guildford

The Women’s British Championships is one of the highlights of the British Gymnastics calendar. The event includes competitions whereby the Senior and Junior British All-around Champions are proclaimed, along with the Apparatus Champions in the Senior, Junior and Espoir categories, on the second day of competition.

The 2010 British Championships will reunite the majority of Great Britain's Team Silver medal winning gymnasts from the 2010 European Championships; Beth Tweddle, Becky Downie, Nicole Hibbert, Niamh Rippin and Jocelyn Hunt made history in Birmingham earlier this year and will again all be looking for support from the British crowd.

Beth Tweddle will return to the British Championships having missed the event last year as she competed at the World University games. Since then Beth has gone on to win the World Floor title and the European Floor and Bars Titles!

Beth Tweddle: “I’m really excited to be making my return to the British Championships in Guildford. The last 12 months have been incredible for me, and the fact that I have won the World Floor title and the European Floor and Bars titles all in Great Britain, shows that having the home-crowd can really make a difference. To be back in Guildford competing in front of many of the fans who have given me such amazing support is something I'm really looking forward too.”

Unfortunately Becky Downie the defending Senior Champion, won't be able to defend her title due to injury, meaning her hopes of securing her third senior title in a row to continue her amazing run of British Championships stretching through two Espoir titles, to two Junior titles to two Senior titles must come to an end.

Other Seniors to watch out for include Jenni Pinches, Imogen Cairns, Hannah Whelan, Marissa King and Danusia Francis who for various reasons are all on the comeback trail in Guildford.

Later this year the Senior gymnasts will be looking to claim places either in their Home Countries National Teams for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi (3-14th October) or for the British Team at the World Championships in Rotterdam (October 17-24th). The 2010 British Championships acts as one of the qualifying events to make these Teams so is of vital importance to many of the gymnasts competing.

In the Junior category the ones to watch will be those that took part in the Junior European Championships- Ruby Harrold, Laura Mitchell, Rebecca Tunney, Billie Mackenzie and Jessica Hogg along with Venus Romaeo and Lizzie Beddoe who return from injury.

We wish all the gymnasts the best of luck for a fantastic 2010 British Championships,

(Article from British Gymnastics)

Five

Well, would you jolly well believe it? This blog has just had its fifth birthday. My very first post was on June 23rd 2005 on a warm summer's day. The weather has been similarly warm in Yorkshire this week. When starting out as a blogger, I had no idea where the journey would take me or how long the habit would last. I was just giving it a try.

Five years later I reflect on all the people I have "met" through blogging. How they write and the things they write about are many and varied, demonstrating that yes - we are all a little bit different from each other. In the first place I wondered if anybody would ever look at my blog and now - as if by magic - I notice that I have had 122,485 visitors. Quite amazing!

Thanks to everybody who has dropped by and to anyone who is reading this particular post. People who don't blog may think of it as a "sad" egotistical activity but I don't give a damn about that. Blogging allows people to speak freely in a world where there are so many stultifying restrictions. It gives us a voice and allows us to connect with other citizens of the world. In short, from my five year experience, blogging can be enriching - a stimulating adjunct to everyday life. A way of waving from the jungle and saying , "Hey! This is me. I exist!"

Sweep

In the office we currently have a sweep stake for the forthcoming England v Germany match in the World Cup. We've each picked a player we hope will be the first to score on Sunday. German players are excluded since they don't stand a chance. Obviously LOL.

I've picked no 7 Aaron Lennon.

I'll let you know Monday if I'm in the money, although I doubt it very much.

Selection of Trophies

Hi friends, the trophy is a prize or reward given to a team or individual who won a game or event. Usually the trophies are awarded to player or players in a function. If you are interested in buying trophies for your school or college function, have a look in the site trophies2go.com which was started in 1987. They are the specialists in sports trophies and awards. Various types of Trophies are available in the above site. They are soccer trophies, fantasy football trophies, golf trophies, and baseball trophies, etc. They have varieties of trophies for each category. The prices are also so competitive. You can select any piece from lowest priced one to choice you make during your review. Their customer service is so friendly and the persons working there will help you in selecting the trophies. You can contact them in the toll free phone number provided in the site. Your order should be to the value of minimum $ 15.

In the Summertime.

It's a busy summer on the way in the gymnastics world.
For the USA- competition starts at home. (Click the logos to take you to the event websites)













Then in August- the world's most talented juniors head to Singapore.
The Commonwealth Games take place 3-14 October in Delhi (woefully close to Worlds- so the gymnastics competition may be rather under-attended)

The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships take place in Rotterdam, 16-24 October. This is the biggest world championships of the quadrennium, over 70 countries will send full teams, which will begin to be wittled down to the final 12 which will win tickets to London 2012.

The Worlds website also has a number of interesting interviews and articles- including this on Beth Tweddle.

Reigning world champ on floor Beth Tweddle is enjoying the rise of the British men, and not just because she enjoys seeing her home country do well at competitions. What with her male colleagues now sharing the limelight and helping her share the burden of expectations, Tweddle is feeling less pressure to do well, which she says is helping her. ‘A few years ago, when we went to a major championships, it was a case of “what result can Beth come home with?” But now it’s more about “what result can British Gymnastics achieve?” The boys have been getting lots of great results on the international circuit for some time and so the pressure has been taken off me and is shared between us, which is nice.’

Tweddle has indicated she intends to stick with the two-events-only strategy she adopted after the Beijing Olympics. Like last year, she will compete bars and floor only at the world championships. However, there are a few changes in the works. For one thing, she is going to get a new floor routine soon. ‘If you do the same thing over and over again it just gets boring, so straight after the Europeans I’m going to change it and get a new choreographer,’ she said. ‘Hopefully, it will put a bit more pizzazz back into my life.’

The 25-year-old is now gearing herself up for the world championships in Rotterdam in October, but as the gymnast explains, she will have to miss the Commonwealth Games because of a calendar clash. ‘Unfortunately the world championships clash with the Commonwealth Games, so for myself I’m hoping to go to the World Championships. All our funding is based on our World Championship results, not our Commonwealths. So our A team will travel out to Rotterdam for the worlds and the B team plus the two reserves from the A team will go to the Commonwealth Games. It works in a good way, as the B team will be the younger seniors who will also be eligible for 2012 and are not quite ready this year. They’ll get the experience of a major championships. Hopefully that will bode well for the future for us.’

The fact that at age 25, she will be one of the oldest female gymnasts competing in Rotterdam, doesn’t bother Tweddle. ‘Age doesn’t really come into it. It’s just an extra number. I’m still out there, still enjoying it and still getting the results.’ So what’s keeping her going? Why, her dream of winning a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, of course. ‘A lot of people have said, “Why do you keep going?” The motivation is I’ve still got one dream to achieve and that’s 2012, hopefully. We’ll see what happens, and I think with age comes experience.’ (Sources: The Telegraph, 28 April 2010; Liverpool Echo, 1 and 4 May 2010; BBC Sport, 12 May 2010)

Horseboy

I guess that all of us who use the Internet regularly are very familiar with Google Maps Streetview. It is an amazing facility. You can check out so many places and instead of thinking in terms of bird's eye map views of places, you can actually see what a particular street looks like.

A couple of years ago, a young man I know called Dan was walking up the back lane towards our house when a strange vehicle turned the corner. It had the word "Google" written on the side and above its roof a dome protruded with cameras inside. It was taking pictures/film for Streetview. Now Dan is captured for all time at the top of Murray Road in Sheffield. His face has been blurred to conceal his identity but he's there - one of Streetview's random cast.

In the peaceful suburbs of Aberdeen, Scotland the Streetview vehicle travelled up a street called Hardgate and probably unwittingly captured a very odd image. It's a young man in a purple sweater but he has a horse's head - undoubtedly a mask. He's just standing there. Does he always wear a horse's head mask or did he know the Streetview vehicle was coming?

Via tweeting and Facebook this "Horse-boy" has become a cause-celebre. Everybody wants to know who he is and how he came to be standing on that unremarkable street wearing a horse's head mask. It makes me think that if only we knew the Streetview vehicle's itinerary in advance we could be ready to appear in unusual guises - possibly in a few different places. Rather than donning a horse's head I'd be dressed as Hull City's mascot - Roary the Tiger.

Searching For A Safest Place 

Searching For A Space In My Heart

To Accommodate The Most Happiest Moments

Which I Experienced Till Now.

But, I Am Unable To Find Any Space In My Heart

As Its Filled With The unforgettable Memories, 

The Days We Spent Together

The Nights We Spent On Phone.

The Moments We Spent Chatting

The Moments We Spent Fighting

The Moments We Shared Laughs, Smiles, Jokes...Many Many Moreeee.....

You Were Staying With Me

Never You Said, No To My Needs.

Your Gentle Arms Would Grab My Gentle Body And,

I Would Shed My Tears At The Back of Your Shoulders.

You Never Questioned Me,

Why Am I Sad ?? 

Why My Mood Is Somewhat Different ??

Instead You Would Try To Make Me Laugh

Try To Get Me A New Doll, Boxes of Chocolates,

Relishing Pastries, Ice-Creams....Which I Love More Than Anything. 

Both of Us Love Each Other A Lot...Lot......Lot.............

Both of Us Never Say  "Love You" To Each Other.

But, Our Actions Tell Us How Much We Love Each Other.


PS :- Blogger Friends, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For Previous Post, "Innocent Prayer of A Girl".

PPS :- This Post Is Purely Based On Imagination.

The Fort Myers/Naples Area/Edison’s Winter Home

The bustle of commercially oriented Fort Myers gives way to the relaxed atmosphere of the Gulf communities elsewhere in growing Lee Country. Beach lovers head for the resort islands of Estero (popular with young singles); captive and Sanibel; and the Lover’s Key State Recreation Area – all of which are know for superb shelling and fishing. Most of the beautiful residences here are hidden by Australian pines, but the beaches and tranquil Gulf waters are readily accessible.

Fort Myers is a small inland city; although it is a half hour from the nearest beach, its downtown business district overlooks the broad, flat Caloosahatchee River. One of the most scenic stretches of highway in Southeastern Florida, McGregor Boulevard is framed by hundred of towering palms. Fort Myers’s premier attraction, Thomas A. Edison’s Winter Home on a 14 acre estate, house Edison’s Lab and a museum devoted to his inventions.

Poor Scott.

(This article came from Skate Today)

World-renowned figure skater and Olympic Gold Medalist, Scott Hamilton, has announced he will undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor.On Tuesday afternoon, Hamilton took to his twitter page to announce the surgery.

“Okay. So here I go. One more surgery to EVICT this mischief making brain tumor. Tried “nuking” it gone. Now it’s time to get it out!”

In November 2004 it was announced that Hamilton had a benign brain tumor and he underwent treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. In 1997 Hamilton battled testicular cancer and since has been an advocate for men to get tested.

In 2009, Hamilton decided to take charge of his health and took to the ice for the first time in over five years. In March 2010, the Bio Channel aired a two-hour television special chronicling Scott’s return to skating after battling cancer.

“Thanks to all who have sent their best wishes and prayed for a great outcome,” Hamilton tweeted back to his followers. “With that much support I am bound to be better than ever!”

Scott Hamilton won four consecutive U.S. championships from 1981–1984, four consecutive World Championships during the same years and a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics.

We hope Scott will make a full recovery and get back on the ice as soon as possible.

I'd like to add my best wishes to Scott for a full and speedy recovery.

A Rare Gem

Browsing through youtube today I found this- Canadian footage of a teeny-tiny Michelle Kwan at the 1995 World Championships in Birmingham.

Michelle was only 14 here - this was before the age rules were made stricter. Whist it's not as difficult as several of the routines we see today- it's great to see a programme with clean, confidently landed jumps.



It's also a demonstration though of how convoluted (and possibly biased) the old judging system was. We complain the current system is hard to understand- But at least you now win gold based on what YOU do rather than what everyone else does!

What happens when 2 radio presenters take on Gymnastics?

Equally amusing - the boys take on Ice Hockey with the Coventry Blaze.

Had a long day?

It's nothing compared to the day John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have been having at Wimbledon. They shattered all records for the longest game in grand-slam history. Being forced to give up due to vanishing light after 10 hours of play and tying 59 games all in the 5th set.

But, they'll be back tomorrow to finish what they started.
Read about the match here.

Edit- on day 3 of the game and after 11 hours of play, Isner won 70:68 in the final set.

Find your Lost pet

Pet Amber Alert helps us to find your Lost Dogs. They call it as a three way step in which during the step one you need to provide your pets name its breed and its color so that they can check it in their database. The next step would be they create a poster of the Lost dog and post it in the major areas of the city. The poster is seen by hundreds and thousands of people who pass by and so there is a very high possibility that they can contact Pet Amber Alert through the hot line regarding the information about our pet and so in turn they will contact you with the good news that they have found your pet.

Skating News

Grand Prix assignments can be found here :-

Ladies Men Pairs Dance

Those Noticeable by their presence-

• Yu-Na Kim is to compete in China and Russia- probably not her first choice of venues as neither is very near to Toronto. Great to see her though
• Mirai Nagasu has a second chance to prove herself in China, she'll also face Mao in Japan.
  
• Fumie Suguri - puts off retirement- again!
• Johnny Weir - still plans to compete, maybe?
  
• Evgeni Plushenko - is down for Cup of Russia, I'll be amazed if he turns up.
  
• Pang and Tong - local gigs in Japan and China
• Kavaguti and Smirnov- I'd love to see them stick around until Sochi
• Virtue and Moir, Davis and White- Yipee

Those Noticeable by their absense-

• Evan Lysacek
• Joannie Rochette
  Neither have 'retired' but both seem to be taking a break to make their minds up

Other News
Not only have the ISU got rid of compulsories, They've ditched spirals from the ladies short programme :-(

Mao Asada has picked her new music (SP Tango by Alfred Schnittke, LP Liebesträume by Franz Liszt) and also picked a new jump coach - Hiroshi Nagakubo, Aikiko Suzuki's coach. Yet to hear if she will pick a new main coach as well. We had such high hopes when she signed up witht the legend Tarasova but it didn't really work out. I heard a rumour months ago she might ask Shizuka Arakawa. That would be cool, but unlikely.

USA's Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker have split. They impressed everyone by becoming Junior World and Senior US champions in quick succession, but then failed to go higher and make the olympics. Keauna is taking a year off to focus on school. Rockne is looking for a new partner.

Kimmie Meissner is training (and tweeting) again. She hasn't committed to competing this year though. I'd love to see it.

No news yet on that 'other retirement' SarahandDrew mentioned on Twitter.

Skate Canada has a new logo - oooooh

Thyme

I just connected with a blog out of Colorado, USA. It's called "Mountain Thyme" and it's forged by a feisty woman called Donna. Anyways, Donna came up with a meme that she presented in the form of an award so I felt obliged to tackle it. It was interesting to see how she introduced me -

Mr. Puddin' (I don't know what else to call him!) at Yorkshire Pudding because his is the newest blog that I am reading and this list definitely needs some testosterone! But, really folks, he writes about so many various things, whatever mood hits him on a particular day. Kinda' like I do on my blog. This and that...all over the place. Still, you can tell he is immersed in his family history (the" keeper of the keys", as the Native Americans call it) and is politically savvy and a prodigious reader and thinker.

I like the idea of being "politically savvy" and "all over the place" but mostly I like the idea of donating testosterone to blogs that are too sugary and spicy or threatening to become too "girly". Perhaps I should bottle it and sell it through ebay - "Genuine Yorkshire Pudding Testosterone"- guaranteed to kick ass!

Over to Madam Donna's meme award - hope you readers don't get too bored with my responses! Why not try it yourself if you are scratching your head to think up a new blogpost!

What is your favourite season of the year, and why? It's Autumn (The Fall) because it has a sense of melancholia about it. It's when my birthday is and Bonfire Night and it's as if Nature is packing up in a blaze of fruitfulness and colour and the earth smells so earthy.
What do you do on Sunday's and with whom? In the evening we always have a traditional English roast Sunday dinner with all the trimmings and I'm with my family - those who are here and those who have gone.
What was your favourite childhood story? Who read it to you or told it to you? Where? When? This is a hard one to answer. I will say "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" which I received as a school prize and read to myself when I was ten years old.
If you could be the president/king/queen/prime minister/chief of a new country, what would it be like? Name? Politics? Morality code? Flag? Work of citizens? Pleasure time? Etc. My name would be Comrade Yorkshire Pudding and I would be a communist in the purest sense of the word. Our national motto would be "All for one and one for all". Although there would only be small variations in people's incomes, the top wage earners would be those who produced food and those who cleaned hotel rooms. Bankers would be required to clean public lavatories in their spare time and all armed forces would be disbanded in favour of a white flag.
If you could invent an object that would make life easier or more sustainable or more organic for humankind, what would it be and how would it work? It would be a much improved TV remote control. You'd press a certain button to check the house temperature in various rooms and then cancel any heating being provided to unused rooms. You'd also be able to see graphs of recent water usage. A further button would be pressed if you saw any politicians or presenters talking bullshit. If ten thousand viewers pressed this button at the same time the target would then have to cease their bullshit and announce "I am sorry. I have been talking bullshit and now I'm going back home to e-educate myself. Thank you everybody!"
Do you associate yourself with the area in which you were born or the area where you now live? And if they are one in the same, how do you like those long roots? I was born in Yorkshire like my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents before me. I still live here. It means a lot to me as I am surrounded by so much natural beauty, so much ingenuity, so much goodness and so much earthy common sense. Yorkshire is of course the centre of the known universe.
As a child, what did you wish for....for yourself.....for your family? I really didn't wish for anything. I was too busy being a kid and enjoying my life - exploring, reading, playing football, laughing, building dens, climbing trees to find the best conkers, collecting fireworks. Why should I have wished for anything else?
What are you most passionate about? Always - travelling, seeing things firsthand. Currently - gardening, blogging and photography but that might change
What do you wish for your world during the next 10 years? Firstly - no starvation anywhere and no children dying from diarrhoea. An end to the ridiculous "war" in Afghanistan. No TV talent shows to be broadcast any more and on a micro-scale I wish that my two wonderful children avoid poverty and continue to live happily and healthily - perhaps marrying and producing children of their own.
Who is your best friend and why? A certain Mr A. Douglas. I have known him for many years. He's somebody I can feel wholly at ease with. There are connecting threads in our lives. I was the best man at his wedding. He's thoroughly Yorkshire too and he's also passionate about Hull City football club. He makes me laugh and he bakes nice bread and he's very kind but like me has a fiery streak in his nature so watch out suckers! We got oodles of testosterone!