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Saturday, April 30, 2011
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Godolphin are not afraid to take on Frankel in Newmarket's 2,000 Guineas with Casamento
Godolphin are not afraid to take on Frankel in Newmarket's 2,000 Guineas with Casamento
Despite reports of eye-catching progress made at home by the Henry Cecil-trained favourite Frankel since his recent Newbury victory, Godolphin have stubbornly refused to be ruffled by one unbeaten colt, albeit one with a huge reputation.
Classic contender: Casamento, pictured winning the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, will be carrying Godolphin's royal blue silks in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket Photo: PA
By J A McGrath 10:00PM BST 27 Apr 2011
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On Wednesday, the ‘royal blues’ confirmed that Casamento, last year’s Racing Post Trophy winner, is set to take his chance in Saturday’s Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Frankie Dettori will be in the saddle.
Casamento’s Group One form last October has been strengthened considerably already this year, with the third (at Doncaster) Master Of Hounds running particularly well in the UAE Derby at Meydan last month, and the fourth, Native Khan, having chalked up a tidy win in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
If the ground does not come up dryer than expected, it might reasonably be asked: why shouldn’t this son of Shamardal take his chance? He is a Group One winner, with a record of three wins from four starts when trained in Ireland by Michael Halford. He is now prepared by Mahmood Al Zarooni.
Simon Crisford, the Godolphin manager, said the stable had always been looking to the Derby with Casamento. “But they say the 2,000 Guineas is arguably the best trial for Epsom, and we know it’s a fantastic Classic in its own right. We had considered the Dante at York, but on balance decided Newmarket would be more suitable,” he pointed out.
Genius Beast, who loved the rain-affected ground when winning Sandown’s Classic Trial last Sunday, could now have a trip to Knavesmire next month, though Crisford said no plans had been firmed up for the well-bred colt.
While Classic news continues to dominate, as might be expected at this time of the year, the ongoing dispute between racecourses and the Horsemen’s Group continues, with this time the professionals gaining enough solidarity in the ranks to force a race at Leicester on Friday to be scrapped because not a single horse was entered.
The race was removed from the card, and track officials faced the embarrassing but unavoidable decision to split a maiden event, with six runners in each, to ensure a six-race card. Prize money offered for the race had been £5,000, which was £2,000 below the Horsemen’s tariff.
One of ‘the horsemen’ commented: “Leicester has been a course where the prize money has been consistently below the tariff, and that is why nobody has entered.”
On April 17, the Harry Dunlop-trained Saint Helena walked over, also at Leicester. There was also a walkover at Plumpton on Monday, though this was because of withdrawals on the day of the race.
At Ascot on Wednesday, the Marcus Tregoning-trained Askar Tau took the Sagaro Stakes in fine style and was clipped to 12-1 (from 33-1) for the Ascot Gold Cup in June. “He loves top of the ground, which you wouldn’t expect if you looked at his pedigree,” the trainer explained.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com
Friday, April 29, 2011
Dearth of Princely Doubles Makes for Uncommon Commoner
Prince William and Kate Middleton have been showing up for a few photo ops around London, in advance of the royal wedding. At least it looks like Will and Kate. WSJ's Dipti Kapadia reports on royal look-alikes James Cooper and Emily Turner.
LONDON—With a photo of Prince William as his guide, London electrician James Cooper recently had his hair thinned. He traded his hooded sweat shirt and work boots for a navy-blue sweater and loafers. On the train, he used his phone to watch videos of the prince. Mr. Cooper was aiming to turn his own cockney accent into the future king's speech.
The 26-year-old was on his first job as a look-alike of Prince William. Kate Middleton is engaged to wed the heir to the throne a week from Friday. Demand for doppelgängers of the couple is red hot. By transforming himself into a twin of the balding royal, Mr. Cooper hopes to cash in on a problem in the business: Kate ringers are a dime a dozen, but a good Will is hard to find.
Agencies for celebrity impersonators say Ms. Middleton, with her long brown hair and knee-high boots, is easier to copy. And women, they say, are more accustomed to changing their appearance. "Men are less willing to convert their style into someone else's look," says Gene Daily, owner of London agency Top Lookalikes. "They come in with their own hair styles that they've had since they were children, and see no need to change them."
Mr. Daily himself spent 20 years in Hollywood as a look-alike of Clark Gable. Now he rents out ersatz versions of the Obamas, the Beckhams, Brad Pitt and the perennial top seller, Marilyn Monroe, for commercials and corporate events. When he got photos of Mr. Cooper, a tall man with blue eyes and a toothy smile, he called the next day.
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Full Coverage: Royal Wedding | Video
For years, Mr. Cooper endured comments on how much he looks like the prince. His Aunt Jennie from Brighton said so. His girlfriend's stepmother said so. Drunken strangers said so. His boss, Dean Morey, bowed to him each morning. When the royal engagement was announced last November, Mr. Morey proposed a bet: He would send photos to look-alike agencies. If Mr. Cooper didn't make it as a pretend prince, he would give him £100 (about $163).
As an electrician, Mr. Cooper earns about £600 a week. As a professional doppelgänger, Mr. Cooper can make £400 in an eight-hour day. But Mr. Daily felt he needed some adjustments. "You gotta lighten your hair," he told Mr. Cooper on their first meeting at a crowded pub, over beers with Emily Turner, a dead ringer for Ms. Middleton. "If you show up somewhere, you've got to show up with confidence. And you have to work on your accent."
Then the fake couple posed for pictures on a parade ground near Buckingham Palace, where Mr. Cooper hadn't visited since his mother took him and his brother to watch the changing of the guard when he was a boy. Japanese tourists took pictures of Mr. Daily taking pictures. The photos wound up on Mr. Daily's website, touting Mr. Cooper as being "well on his way to a new and exciting job as one of the world's premier lookalikes."
![[PRINCE]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v7IVUEuT-D2L59OJ37XJvNYdRehVohM9S_5ibU-9DctzaSWLKCbMy3S-yQ5oP9S1NvF1Hl2klefmYcGKS1SP5nsOaemgL2IpuVaVYvVl1EU4d3XkK4S3l5qVMKj_UIFrBvNIP1Bfo0i8ZmiEk48ndQDCU=s0-d)
James Cooper & Emily Turner
To achieve that status, Mr. Cooper had work to do.
"Look at Kate," Mr. Daily called out from behind his camera. "Remember, this is supposed to be about the two of you." Mr. Cooper struggled with his hands. "You've got to put your arm around her," shouted his girlfriend, Joana Humphries, along for the outing. "If you're going to do this, do it properly."
Ms. Humphries, a 24-year-old event planner, looks nothing like Kate. But she took the first photos of Mr. Cooper—wearing his only suit—and says she supports the project as long as it doesn't involve kissing princesses.
After work one night, the two worked on Mr. Cooper's accent, watching a YouTube video of Prince William in the electrician's narrow row house on the edge of London's commuter belt.
"What I think is seriously important," said the prince on the screen.
"What I think is impo'int," repeated Mr. Cooper.
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"You need to make your voice more posh," said Ms. Humphries.
"I'll have to do more practicing," Mr. Cooper acknowledged.
"Say, 'I love you, Kate,'" Ms. Humphries suggested, then changed her mind. "They don't really express that so much, do they?"
One beer later, the pair scrolled through pictures to get a fix on Mr. Cooper's outfit. There are images of Prince William in uniform, in polo gear and in a morning coat, a photo of him with a beard and one in swimming trunks. "You'd have to grow some chest hair for that one," said Ms. Humphries.
When a search for "how to dress like Prince William" brought up more results on Ms. Middleton than William, the couple scanned retailer websites for the khakis and V-neck sweaters the prince seems to favor as casual wear. "We can always get you a soldier outfit from a fancy dress store," Ms. Humphries said.
Ten days later, Mr. Cooper was decked out in a blue V-neck and chinos for his first paying gig as the prince. "You look good—more similar than I expected," said Clive Howard, who was directing a commercial for British gambling company Ladbrokes. The betting parlor's aim is to draw attention to the firm's wedding-related wagers, where gamblers can bet on the color of the queen's hat, the sex of Kate and William's first child, or whether William will drop the ring at the ceremony.
After a tattooed make-up artist thinned his hair, Mr. Cooper faced new challenges. In the first scene, he walked down a narrow hall with Ms. Turner, who was holding a leash with two corgis, the queen's favorite pooches, as Mr. Cooper struggled to keep up or smile at the right time.
In another scene, the couple were to practice a wedding dance that turns out to be a polished disco number. For Mr. Cooper, it meant putting on dance shoes, a red silk shirt and John Travolta-style headband and shouting, "Who let the dogs out?" as Ms. Turner yelped, "Woof, woof, woof." Later came his biggest challenge: actually dancing. "I absolutely have no rhythm whatsoever, I have two left feet," he says afterward. "It was a bit embarrassing."
After eight hours of royal duty, Mr. Cooper had made £400 ($651), more than three times his daily pay on commercial-construction sites. His next royal engagement was at a call center, where he and Ms. Turner mingled with employees and posed for pictures. Despite his budding career as a blue blood, however, there are limits to Mr. Cooper's dedication: For the weekend of the royal wedding, which takes place April 29, he plans to be on vacation in Spain.
Write to Cecilie Rohwedder at cecilie.rohwedder@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
The name of Kate Middleton look-alike Emily Turner was incorrectly given as Emily Nelson in a photo caption accompanying a previous version of this story.
Online.wsj.com
Towns Cut Back in Wake of Vote
What are people willing to live without in exchange for lower property taxes? For residents in a dozen towns in New Jersey, the answer is police officers, libraries, garbage pickup and senior services.
Ten months ago, New Jersey passed a law that requires voters to approve tax increases over a 2% cap, not including certain expenses. Voters Wednesday rejected nearly all these requests for more funds.
Of the state's 566 municipalities, only 14 towns even bothered to ask voters for an increase, and two of those were approved.
"We're going to be seeing the impact of those decisions, and they're gong to have a real substantial impact on the quality of services," said Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
For decades, New Jersey property taxes have been the highest in the nation. A 4% cap implemented by former Gov. Jon Corzine helped lower increases to 3.3%, but it was criticized for having too many exceptions. In 2010, after major state aid cuts, average residential taxes increased 4.1% to $7,576.
Gov. Chris Christie signed the 2% cap into law in July, part of a compromise with the state Legislature. Costs such as health care, pension contributions, debt payments and emergencies aren't included in the cap.
The limit is on overall increases in property-tax collections—not individual homeowners' tax bills. If big companies leave a town, or if it loses money on tax appeals, other residents will have to bear the burden.
Mayors who asked residents to raise their own taxes said they had already made cuts wherever they could.
"I'm looking at shutting off streetlights," said Paul Bazela, mayor of Northvale. "At some point in time you can't run on a 2% cap. It's impossible. If you get too much snow, how do you stay within your cap?"
After the tax increase was shot down by a vote of 3 to 1, Northvale will have to cut off support to its municipal library, which will have to find private money to stay open, he said. Mr. Bazela said there are more cuts to come.
Shrewsbury Township will force its 1,200 residents to contract with a private trash collector to pick up garbage, after a request for nearly $43,000 more was shot down. The township faced a $45,000 increase in its waste-and-sewer-authority bill—untenable for a town with a $977,000 budget.
Shrewsbury Township had already done everything possible to keep costs down. It doesn't have its own police or fire departments, and most employees are part-time. A wage freeze would only save $1,200, though that hasn't been implemented yet. The garbage move would save $67,000.
"We had no more staff to lay off," said Addie Schmidt, the town's chief financial officer. "We're down to a skeleton crew."
The one extreme measure left—dissolving the town completely into another—would require approval from both towns. "The trouble is, nobody wants us," Ms. Schmidt said.
There was an upside. Those tough choices were made by the voters themselves.
"You had the chance," Mr. Dressel said. "We made the case and we put it before you and you voted it down."
Online.wsj.com
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 2: match report
Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 2: match report
Read a full match report of the Champions League semi-final first leg between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday April 27.
LIVE
REPORT
REAL MADRID
0 - 2
FT
BARCELONA
Wednesday, April 27 19:45
Champions League
Santiago Bernab/div>
(HT 0-0)
Messi (76, 87)
Image 1 of 3
Killer blow: Lionel Messi pounces to score his first goal Photo: AFP
Image 1 of 3
Seeing red: Pepe is dismissed for a second-half foul Photo: AFP
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Pass it on: Jose Mourinho, sent off for dissent, passes a piece of paper to an assistant Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Henry Winter, at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid 10:00PM BST 27 Apr 2011
Follow Henry Winter on Twitter
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Two moments of beauty stood out amidst the beastliness of the Game of Shame last night. Two moments of magic from Lionel Messi, his second goal echoing Diego Maradona’s dribbled gem against England in 1986, rescued this match from the dark ages. Clasico, crasico.
But for Messi remembering that football should be about joy, adventure and imagination, and Xavi also playing with style, this was the game that dignity forgot. There was no respect, no charm, no integrity.
In front of a global audience stretching into the hundreds of millions, this Champions League semi-final proved more head-case than showcase. It was scarred by play-acting from both sides, constant surrounding of the referee, Wolfgang Stark, a tunnel ruck at half-time and a red card for Pepe.
The Real midfielder’s dismissal came for a studs-up challenge on Dani Alves, the Barcelona right-back who would be deemed too theatrical for RADA. Such was the poverty of player conduct that at times it made the World Cup final in Johannesburg look like a kickabout at Woodstock. Real’s coach, Jose Mourinho, was so enraged that he was sent to the stands by Stark.
As England gets ready for the Royal Wedding, Europe prepares for the Reading of the Bans by Uefa. Mourinho can expect a lengthy suspension. The Special One is an exceptional coach but he embarrassed a great club here. Real Madrid, nine-times winner of the European Cup, are associated with loftier virtues than espoused by Mourinho on Wednesday night.
The exhortation from the home fans to their idols had been clear. One banner, unfurled as Cristiano Ronaldo and company lined up, said it all: “We Live For You-So Win For Us”.
They never came close. Containment and frustration were more in Real minds. Mourinho had hoped to grind Barcelona into submission, then introduce creative cavalry like Kaka from the bench.
The Special One had again sought to confuse Barcelona with an attack that lacked an orthodox centre-forward. With Emmanuel Adebayor, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain amongst £140million worth of talent on the bench, Real started with Ronaldo through the middle flanked by Mesut Ozil and the left-sided Angel di Maria. There was little central focus and it was little surprised when Adebayor arrived for Ozil at the break.
Barcelona had known they were in for a test; people had kept talking about glimpses of vulnerability. Their defence had Carles Puyol at left-back and Javier Mascherano at centre-half, his early hesistancy almost exploited by Ronaldo.
But there is so much skill within the Catalan ranks. Xavi gave early notice, a meaty volley into Casillas’ arms. Real responded, Ronaldo trying his luck from range but failing to trouble Victor Valdes.
Barcelona soon settled. Xavi was trying to dictate the rhythm. So Pepe tracked his movement, so did Lass Diarra, clipping his heels. It was not pretty. Xavi was undeterred, trying to push on, linking well with Lionel Messi after 12 minutes, sweeping the ball wide to Pedro, whose cross was cleared.
As Real stood off, Barcelona were enjoying the ball’s company for long periods. After 16 minutes, Ronaldo shouted for his team-mates to squeeze up, to assist him in closing down Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets. The Bernabéu crowd shared his frustration, whistling as Barcelona were allowed to build.
Real were too cautious, too focused on the tactics of denial. Ronaldo was a ray of light, always attempting to find a way through. Real briefly began raising their game, Marcelo embarking on a rampaging run through Dani Alves and Mascherano. Real’s fans loved it, believing it might prove a catalyst. False dawn.
Barcelona looked the likelier to open the scoring. One glorious move saw them at their inventive, fast-moving best. Messi turned away from Xabi Alonso, and passed to David Villa, whose effort was saved. Xavi then went close.
Barcelona fans were chanting abuse about Mourinho, drawing a stinging retort from the locals. The temperature, stoked in those infamous press conferences, continued to rise. The half concluded with tempers spilling over. Alvaro bodychecked Pedro. Marcelo caught Busquets, triggering a flare-up between Alonso and Pique.
The carnage continued in the second half. Ramos was booked for elbowing Messi, and misses next week’s second leg. Then Pepe went in high and late on Alves, earning that red card. Barcelona players milked it, surrounding poor Stark. Puyol and Mourinho had a brisk debate over rival philosophies on the touchlines.
Soon Mourinho was banished to the stands, the embarrassments continuing for the hosts. Then came that moment of magic from Barcelona. Ibrahim Affelay had arrived and had immediately started running hungrily at Marcelo. Never the most defensively expert, Marcelo was comprehensively beaten by Affelay, whose cross was perfectly weighted for Messi to beat Casillas.
The sublime Argentine’s 52nd goal of another remarkable season was epic, and surely sets up a final against Manchester United at Wembley on May 28. Messi picked up the ball 50 yards out and just ran and ran, control and determination, taking him past Diarra, Ramos, Albiol and Marceloa before sliding the ball past Casillas. That wasn’t a dribble, that was an odyssey.
“It’s not the first time he has done that,’’ enthused Pep Guardiola. “He has wonderful ability to take on players, and he’s only 23, and already the third highest top scorer at Barcelona! Third! At a 100-year-old club! It’s absolutely incredible. That’s the beauty of our football and the way we play.”
Sir Alex Ferguson, who was here on Wednesday, must make special plans for Messi and Xavi. Real fans will look on from afar and wonder whether Mourinho’s tactics, focusing on containment, had cost them dear.
Barcelona fans were loving it, taunting their Real counterparts, and chanting “time to go, Mourinho”. Time to re-think tactics certainly.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
UK GDP grows 0.5pc: reaction
UK GDP grows 0.5pc: reaction
Britain's economy made only a feeble recovery in the first quarter of this year, barely making up for the surprise contraction at the end of 2010, official data showed. This is how economists reacted to the figures.
10:17AM BST 27 Apr 2011
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HOWARD ARCHER, GLOBAL INSIGHT
"One crumb of comfort is that the underlying performance looks a little stronger than indicated by the headline GDP figure ...Nevertheless, with fiscal headwinds mounting and consumers' purchasing power squeezed, the outlook is worrying.
ROB CARNELL, ING
"A 0.5pc rise is in fact a better outcome than it first appears. Not all of the growth in the first quarter will have been a bounceback from snow in the fourth quarter, so there does appear to be some underlying growth here.
"Today's figures provide some support for the government's argument that the pace of fiscal consolidation will not derail the economy, and that deficit reduction measures remain manageable for the economy.
"However, they do not provide the Bank of England with enough of an excuse to respond to high headline inflation with tighter policy. A May rate hike still seems a tough proposition at this stage."
VICKY REDWOOD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS
"The UK GDP figures suggest that underlying activity in the economy remains pretty much stagnant. The 0.5pc quarterly rise in output means that the economy did nothing more than reverse Q4's snow-related dip. In fact, if there was some temporary "catch-up" of output lost in Q4, then underlying growth may even have been slightly negative.
DAVID PAGE, LLOYDS
"They're not wildly surprising. We thought there was a risk the numbers could be a little softer. We were pleased to see services pick up but part of that is due to the weather rebound. We would treat these numbers with a degree of suspicion.
"I think the underlying pace of the domestic economy is still soft. If you assume the weather effect is smoothed, then effectively growth is zero over the past two quarters. This reinforces the point that the MPC is going to view the domestic recovery is too fragile to tighten just yet."
DAVID OWEN, JEFFERIES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
"Given the briefing of the Cabinet by George Osborne, this is probably on the day slightly better than expectations. But I think politically, GDP is now basically unchanged over the last six months, and so it does bring into question some degree of political risk in the market because we have got these important elections occuring next Thursday, and there has been some speculation about growing risks in the coalition.
"In terms of the monetary policy decision, this is of no interest whatsoever but politically it's of more interest."
HETAL MEHTA, DAIWA CAPITAL MARKETS EUROPE
"Today's figures suggest underlying growth in the UK economy is virtually non-existent ... And with the full force of the public spending cuts yet to be unleashed, there is little reason to expect GDP growth to pick up much in the second quarter. We see the first rate increase in August but the risks are very much skewed to pushing that back."
PHILIP SHAW, INVESTEC
"The latest figures suggest that construction figures fell by 5pcon the quarter, compared to a period where the sector was disrupted severely by the snow. There appears to be an considerable degree of volatility in the construction figures, which means we take the preliminary GDP figures with a pinch of salt. We remain of the view that the fragility of consumer spending will result in rates being kept on hold next week."
ROSS WALKER, RBS FINANCIAL MARKETS
"Pretty much as expected both in terms of the headline print and the breakdowns. It's not disastrous, but it is a bit lacklustre. We have basically just taken back the fourth quarter fall, so the underlying economic environment since the autumn looks a bit flat.
"You do have what looks to me like a surprisingly large fall in construction output. Do we really believe that the level of construction output was lower in January than in December? We may well see some revisions here."
GEORGE BUCKLEY, DEUTSCHE BANK
"It's in line with expectations. But when you look at the the proportion of the economy which is expanding quite well, it's not that bad. What really dragged this number down was only 8pc of the economy - we're talking about energy production and construction. If it had not been for them, GDP would have expanded more significantly."
uk gdp, headline inflation, gdp figures, weather effect, fiscal consolidation, reduction measures, domestic economy, bounceback, deficit reduction, carnell, bank of england, rate hike, purchasing power, crumb, contraction, mpc, vicky, archer, fourth quarter, economists
Arsenal manager Arsne Wenger departs after defeat to Bolton Wanderers looking the very image of a broken man
Arsenal manager Ars Wenger departs after defeat to Bolton Wanderers looking the very image of a broken man
It was only when it was finally over for Arsenal, when Tamir Cohen’s emotional celebration of Bolton’s winning goal was concluded, when it became clear that his season was yet again going to finish unfulfilled, that Arsène Wenger stopped fretting.
Picture of despair: Arsene Wenger finds it hard to accept defeat Photo: EPA
By Jim White 9:20PM BST 24 Apr 2011
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Up until that point, as it has been throughout this season, the Arsenal manager’s body language was a compelling piece of theatre, a fringe act every bit as persuasive as the main show out on the pitch. He stamped, he ranted, he unleashed a range of flaps and furies that ran the whole gamut of emotion from anger to, well, anger. But when Cohen stooped ahead of Wenger’s statuesque defence to undo his side yet again from a set-piece, he stood silent, still, impassive.
As he watched the Israeli tear off his shirt to expose a T-shirt decorated by a photograph in memory of his dead father Avi, Wenger, his hands deep in his pockets, his head slightly bowed, looked the very image of the beaten man. This was how his season ended: not with a bang, but with a whimper.
There was a sense as he insisted his side would keep on fighting to the end of the title race – his voice flat, hollow, as diminished as his hopes – that he knew he was merely going through the motions. He must be aware that the disconnect between his endless talking up of his team – whom he describes as fighters, scrappers, men prepared to battle to the very last drop of blood – and the reality has finally been exposed. As he himself admitted, the numbers don’t lie. And, facing the easiest run-in sequence of the title contenders, his team have managed to accrue just two points from a possible nine this week.
The gap between the team Wenger insists he leads and the reality of the side mutely capitulating to a team thrashed in an FA Cup semi-final last week was as big as that between his defenders when Cohen stepped through to score the winner. You wonder how long he can carry on talking up his players before he admits, if he is to win anything, the need to make significant changes, as much to his playing philosophy as to his personnel.
Even among the Arsenal supporters there was a clear sense that the end could not come soon enough. Bolton had devoted an entire stand of the Reebok to their visitors. But, running short of optimists in the camp prepared to travel up north on Easter Sunday, Arsenal were unable to fill it. The absent hordes clearly did not share their manager’s conviction.
Though nobody could suggest he does not share the fan’s pain. When Daniel Sturridge headed Bolton into the lead, inevitably after Arsenal’s defence failed to clear a set-piece, Wenger’s face, etched with frustration, was beamed on to the big screen. It seemed any unnecessary intrusion into obvious private grief. But it provoked a huge cheer from the home support. Nothing, apparently, cheers up the nation as much as watching Wenger suffer.
But then no one suffers quite like him. He paced the technical area continuously, frustrated, furious, fuming. For 85 minutes, nothing seemed to relieve the sense that the world was conspiring against him.
The referee, the referee’s assistant, the fourth official, all of them were exposed to his full range of albatross-armed gesticulations. If not quite on his best Basil Fawlty form, seemingly searching for a stick with which to beat the bonnet of his Austin 1100, he still howled and groaned and whined.
Though nothing seemed to send him into quite such fury as the performance of his own team. When Samir Nasri shot over the bar he turned from the pitch and unleashed a barrage of language at his own bench of a sort that would make Wayne Rooney blush.
And then it was over. Cohen delivered a mercy killing. As Wenger shook Owen Coyle’s hand, he knew it was all over bar press duties delivered in a broken whisper.
bolton wanderers, emotional celebration, title contenders, going through the motions, beaten man, manit, rsquo, drop of blood, statuesque, furies, numbers don, wenger, whimper, gamut, body language, gap, despair, t shirt, pockets, emotion
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Real Madrid v Barcelona: 'I have no magic potion' says Jose Mourinho as expectation mounts in Madrid
Real Madrid v Barcelona: 'I have no magic potion' says Jose Mourinho as expectation mounts in Madrid
Jose Mourinho has tried to manage expectations of Real Madrid's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, stressing that Real's Copa del Rey win has not made them the favourites
Carried away: Jose Mourinho has called for caution after the euphoria generated by Real Madrid's Copa del Rey win, their first trophy in three seasons Photo: AP
By Telegraph staff and agencies 3:54PM BST 26 Apr 2011
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Real's 1-0 win in the tightly-fought final of the Copa del Rey - the second of this month's four El Clásico encounters - has given Madrid fans hope that the tide of Spanish football might finally be turning against Barcelona.
Previously Madrid had not beaten a pep guardiola-coached Barcelona side in seven attempts.
But Mourinho, who led Inter Milan to victory in last year's edition of Europe's elite club competition before moving to Spain, pointed out that he was the same coach who suffered a 5-0 La Liga drubbing at Barca's hands at the Nou Camp in November.
"They are a top team with a top coach and everything is possible," he said.
"I am exactly the same coach who lost 5-0 to Barcelona and I don't have any magic potion."
Sergio Ramos, Real's right back, echoed Mourinho. "We don't regard ourselves as favourites because I don't think it serves for anything," he told his team's website.
"If anything has led to success it's been simplicity, humility and hard work. And those are the values we must uphold," he said on his club's website.
"Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have great players and nobody can predict what will happen. We all know the responsibility we have and what it takes to defend these colours and we know we have to give it everything."
"If one thing's clear it's that the coach will not change his philosophy, his style or his habits. His ideas are clear and we're going to prepare the same way."
While Barcelona are on course for a third straight league title, Madrid cruise into Wednesday's first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with more confidence and a more rested team, since Mourinho left most of his regulars on the bench against Valencia.
Madrid are without midfielder Sami Khedira, who has been key in stifling Barcelona's attack. But forwards Emmanuel Adebayor and Angel Di Maria are expected to be available with the latter leading the attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Oezil.
Defender Ricardo Carvalho is suspended while Ronaldo, Di Maria and defenders Sergio Ramos and Raul Albiol are a booking away from missing the return leg on May 3.
Barcelona's defence, meanwhile, is struggling without a natural left back, with Adriano, Eric Abidal and Maxwell all out of action. Abidal's absence coupled with the doubt over Carles Puyol's availability means Javier Mascherano or Sergio Busquets is likely to partner Gerard Pique in central defence.
copa del rey, jose mourinho, pep guardiola, magic potion, telegraph staff, elite club, moving to spain, inter milan, straight league, real madrid, club competition, nou camp, spanish football, drubbing, sico, three seasons, euphoria, humility, barca, champions league
Walpurgisfest 2009 038
Walpurgisfest 2009 038
Casper, the juggler
Walpurgisfest
Schlo Burg, Solingen, Germany
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2009
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Juggling
Gaukler
Monday, April 25, 2011
LA CABALGATA DE LAS VALKIRIAS
LA CABALGATA DE LAS VALKIRIAS
:
...... escucha a Richard Wagner ...... Mira la escena de Coppola ......
::
© Txus Navarro
All rights reserved
Todos los derechos reservados
Si te interesa alguna de las fotos de este Flickr, pregunta el precio (tiotxus@gmail.com)
Cualquiera de las imgenes publicadas en este Flickr, estan registradas. El uso sin consentimiento por mi parte de ellas, reportar la denuncia al registro de propiedad intelectual.
Any of the images published in this Flickr are registered. Use without consent on my part of it, will report the complaint to the registration of intellectual property.
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valkirias, richard wagner, gmail, flickr, cualquiera, intellectual property, images
Tulip Festival Painter 004 copy
Tulip Festival Painter 004 copy
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Landscape
Phil Rose
Phil Rose Photography
Seascape
water
Bellingham
WA
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Diamond Bay,Sorrento Ocean Beach
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
"Make Them Pay Day" MoveOn in Seattle, April 18 at B of A
There are a number of players in the GOP presidential arena, but only a few have suited up
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are all potential candidates for president. (Reuters, EPA , Reuters)
Reporting from Washington
In the slow-developing Republican presidential field for 2012, a flurry of recent activity from prospective candidates should have shed light on who's in and who's out. It hasn't.
Instead, recent announcements have underscored the legal and semantic haze that cloaks the race so far. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum announced the formation of committees to explore bids — but they filed with different federal agencies with different rules on disclosure. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi made political appearances last week in the first primary state, New Hampshire. But only the former acknowledges he's in the race.
The differences have occasionally vexed even the candidates themselves. Here's a primer on the various states of candidacy for the major GOP contenders:
All-in, whether they admit it or not:
"exploratory committee" may have an official ring, but it carries no legal significance. Pawlenty and Romney have filed statements of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and have raised or spent $5,000 on their campaigns, so, from a regulatory standpoint, they are candidates — period. Contributions to their campaigns are limited by federal election law and they must file quarterly reports detailing what their campaigns receive and spend.
"As long as you register as a candidate and you are filing as a candidate, it really doesn't matter much what you call the committee, as far as the law is concerned," said Lawrence Noble, former counsel to the FEC.
Pawlenty, for example, has flung himself into the campaign, announcing staff hires, traveling to key primary states and releasing polished Web videos positioning him as the conservative foil to President Obama.
Sound like a presidential run? Pawlenty acknowledged as much during an appearance last week on CNN, telling interviewer Piers Morgan he was "running for president." But when Morgan asked whether that constituted a "formal announcement," the former governor demurred.
"Well, I've got an exploratory committee up and running and we'll have a final or full announcement in the coming weeks here," Pawlenty said. "It won't be too much longer."
Romney similarly split hairs in his filing with the FEC. While acknowledging he had reached the legal threshold to register as a candidate, he wrote in a letter to the agency that "the creation of my exploratory committee does not constitute a formal announcement of candidacy."
The distinction between an "exploratory" phase and an all-in candidacy may not be a legal one, but it serves a public relations strategy.
"They want to have a formal declaration of candidacy. They want to have a big event that says, 'I'm in,' " said Jan Baran, a Washington-based campaign finance lawyer.
"They don't want to do that now. People aren't really paying attention."
Dipping a toe in the waters
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich puzzled political observers last month when he introduced a website displaying his presidential ambitions — NewtExplore2012.com — but stopped short of filing papers with the FEC.
This alternative route, also taken by Santorum, is called "testing the waters," a stage designated by law in which an individual takes steps to determine whether a candidacy is viable. Gingrich and Santorum established committees with the Internal Revenue Service and are soliciting donations on their websites. The funds raised are subject to federal campaign limits, but they do not have to be disclosed to the FEC if the would-be candidate drops out.
Gingrich and Santorum can test the waters by running a sort of "campaign lite." They can travel and conduct polls, but they cannot describe themselves as candidates or raise more money than is reasonably needed to determine whether they should go forward.
For Gingrich, testing the waters allows the Georgia politician to start building the framework of a presidential bid while untangling business interests that would complicate a formal campaign launch.
No decision yet (wink, wink)
They haven't made any announcements or filed any papers, but other likely candidates are running operations that have the all the trappings of campaigns. Barbour, for example, has traveled extensively to key primary states, including New Hampshire and South Carolina. He's courted some of the party's biggest fundraisers and spent thousands of dollars on an Iowa voter list.
He's even declared his intention to participate in the Florida Republican primary, a point of controversy between the state and the national Republican Party.
"I'm going to run in the Florida primary whenever they have it," Barbour told the state's legislators recently, before adding a legally important caveat: "And I'm going to run in the Florida primary if I run for president."
Barbour, as well as fellow possible candidates Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, has maintained publicly that those activities do not constitute a campaign. They pay for the operations out of their own federal and state political action committees, which are not subject to the same strict donor limits as campaign committees.
"These outside-the-limit contributions present precisely the threat of political corruption that contribution limits are intended to reduce or eliminate," said Paul S. Ryan, an election law analyst with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
Federal and many state PACs have not yet submitted financial disclosures this year. Until then, it's impossible to know how much money these noncandidates have raised and spent in their informal campaigns.
As the political calendar progresses, the pressure to make things official will increase. Fox News, organizer of a Republican presidential debate on May 5, announced last week that participants must have announced an exploratory committee or presidential campaign, and must have filed papers with the FEC by April 29.
By that standard, it will be a sparse lineup for the first debate of the 2012 cycle: So far, Romney and Pawlenty would be the only major contenders to make the cut.
melanie.mason@latimes.com
minnesota gov tim pawlenty, gov tim pawlenty, federal election law, federal election commission, gop contenders, haley barbour, tim pawlenty, regulatory standpoint, mitt romney, massachusetts gov, rick santorum, legal significance, exploratory committee, prospective candidates, quarterly reports, candidacy, reuters, haze, gop, campaigns
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Colleagues Mourn Photographer Tim Hetherington
The death of photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington in Misrata, Libya, on Wednesday was a blow to New York's media and photography circles. The artist was killed during a battle between rebel and government forces.
Another New York-based photographer, Chris Hondros, who was working for Getty Images, was gravely wounded during the battle and died several hours after Mr. Hetherington. In a statement, a Getty spokeswoman said: "Chris never shied away from the front line having covered the world's major conflicts throughout his distinguished career and his work in Libya was no exception. He will be sorely missed."
The Oscar-nominated co-director of the 2010 film "Restrepo" was killed Wednesday in Libya amid a battle between rebel and government forces. Christopher Farley has more on Tim Hetherington and his work.
Mr. Hetherington, who was born in Liverpool, England, in 1970, and lived in Brooklyn, was a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, which in 2007 sent him and writer Sebastian Junger to document a year with an American battalion in Afghanistan's Korengal. Valley. That assignment led to the duo's documentary "Restrepo," which earned an Oscar nomination this year.
"I think a viewer of Tim's photos might feel that he was really in it with the soldiers—not just observing," said Vanity Fair's photography director, Susan Smith, via email. "That sort of commitment combined with the artistry he brought to the end photograph was a powerful mix."
Mr. Hetherington covered West Africa for more than a decade, and Brooklyn's Umbrage Editions published a collection of his work from Liberia in "Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold." Umbrage publisher Nan Richardson said selecting photographs from years of coverage was not difficult because the photographer had a clear vision of his message: "He wanted Western audiences to understand that Liberia was not about tribal war or a hopelessly muddied situation. He wanted to point fingers at who he thought shared the moral responsibility. And point out people who could help."
More
Photographers Killed in Battle
On a personal note, she added: "The first time I met him, he was every inch the soldier, with a buzz cut and army fatigues—then outcomes the Oxbridge accent and his incredible articulation."
After his time in Afghanistan, Mr. Hetherington created "Infidel," a book published by Chris Boot, who is now the executive director of the Aperture Foundation, based on 27th Street. "What interested me in working with him was the degree to which he identified with the people he photographed," Mr. Boot said. "He made something that had much more depth than you normally associate with that sort of hard-nosed journalism."
After spending so much time with the soldiers, the bonds created through war did not fade. "He kept in touch with all of the guys that he photographed. They became a community of a kind," said the publisher. "Tim used the experience of being with these guys to tell their story from their point of view."
tim hetherington, chris hondros, umbrage editions, getty images, nan richardson, western audiences, sebastian junger, oscar nomination, liverpool england, vanity fair, tribal war, s media, government forces, restrepo, moral responsibility, bit by bit, clear vision, susan smith, co director, west africa
Cameron Cans Brown as Next IMF Chief
LONDON—Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Tuesday that his predecessor Gordon Brown shouldn't become a candidate to lead the International Monetary Fund, and suggested the next chief should be the first from outside of Europe.
Mr. Cameron said Mr. Brown may not be a suitable contender to replace Dominique Strauss-Khan, because of his views on what needs to be done to sort out Britain's public finances. During Mr. Brown's lprime ministership, Britain's borrowings mushroomed in the wake of the financial crisis and the ensuing recession.
Mr. Cameron said the next chief must be someone who "understands the dangers of excessive debt" and suggested the IMF should look to emerging economies in India, China or South Asia for a candidate, instead of a "washed up politician."
"It may well be it's time actually to have a candidate from another part of the world in order to increase its standing in the world," he said.
That would mark a change of direction for the IMF, which has been headed by a European since its formation after World War II. Frenchman Mr. Strauss-Khan is widely tipped to leave the post he has held since late 2007 at the end of this year and possibly to make a run for his country's presidency in 2012.
Since taking office last May, Mr. Cameron's coalition government has set out £81 billion ($132 billion) of spending cuts. The opposition Labour Party, which Mr. Brown no longer leads, has called for slower and less severe budget restraint.
"If you have someone who didn't think we had a debt problem in the U.K. —when we self-evidently do have a debt problem—then they might not be the most appropriate person to work out whether other countries around the world have debt and deficit problems," Mr. Cameron told BBC radio.
The existing convention is that the European Union proposes the IMF's managing director, which effectively hands Mr. Cameron a veto on the process. Meanwhile, the U.S. proposes the president of the IMF's sister organization, the World Bank.
dominique strauss khan, opposition labour party, mr cameron, international monetary fund, david cameron, world war ii, india china, excessive debt, sister organization, emerging economies, change of direction, minister david, debt problem, public finances, mr brown, coalition government, gordon brown, borrowings, south asia, imf
Robert Presley Hall Of Justice (Riverside, California)
Robert Presley Hall Of Justice (Riverside, California)
A view of the Robert Presley Hall of Justice in Riverside, California. The building is adjacent to the older, historical Riverside County Courthouse and houses the county's adult criminal proceedings. The courthouse was designed by Clinton Marr & Associates and was built in 1991.
© Capitolshots Photography
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1991
24mm Lens
4x5 Aspect Ratio
Architectural Photography
Architecture
Building
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CA
California
California County Courthouse
California County Courthouse Stock Photo
California Courthouse
California Courthouse Stock Photo
Clinton Marr & Associates
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Modern
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Riverside
Riverside California
Riverside County
Riverside County California
Riverside County Courthouse
Riverside County Courthouse Stock Photo
Riverside County Hall Of Justice
Riverside Courthouse
Robert Presley Hall Of Justice
Royalty Free
Shift Lens
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USA
US
Geotagged
riverside county courthouse, criminal proceedings, photostock, hall of justice, riverside california, marr, 5d, f3 ebook download, amp, stock
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Pealing Paint
Pealing Paint
From our base in Warkworth, it’s a fairly easy walk down to the sea at Amble. Amble is a town that lies on the southern side of the Coquet estuary and has a long pier that terminates in a small lighthouse/beacon and looks out to the larger lighthouse on Coquet Island. There are always large numbers of fishing boats moored up along the jetty, and markets are regularly held on the quayside.
Today we took a gentle walk into Amble, photographing the boats and various sections of the jetty. There were also plenty of Eider ducks on the Coquet.
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walking
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United Kingdom
lighthouse beacon, eider ducks, coquet island, fishing boats, warkworth, jetty, estuary, large numbers
Parish church, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland
Parish church, Kazimierz Dolny, poland
© tyson williams - All Rights Reserved
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IMG 2008-10-26008537.jpg
2008
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www.tysonwilliams.com
Market square
Parish church
kazimierz dolny, tyson williams, poland
Monday, April 18, 2011
113473464SXmwAO_ph
113473464SXmwAO_ph
Markets of PNG
global-citizen-01.blogspot.com
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png
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Sunday, April 17, 2011
2011 Kick 12
2011 Kick 12
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Friday, April 15, 2011
My Hometown
My Hometown
Dokkum, The Netherlands. Revisited, previously posted in a square format. December 2005.
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Nederland
Douwe Dijkstra
dexodexo
The Netherlands
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Repetitive repetition 104-365 #2
Repetitive repetition 104-365 #2
(aka day 469-730)
The Daily Shoot assignment for 2011/04/14 was : Make a photograph that features repeating patterns.
Camera info: Pentax K200D – 50mm – f/1,7 – ISO 100 – 1/750s
Handheld – Qtpfsgui & Gimp
Comments & tips are welcomed. Thanks.
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2011
Samyra.S
Alfortville
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K200D
Pentax-A SMC 50mm f/1,7
50mm
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amp tips, repeating patterns, camera info, smc, repetition, photograph, photo
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Can Your Golf Ball Make a Difference?
View Full Image
F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal
The kind of golf-ball distinctions that make a difference to Tour pros would not even be detectable to the vast majority of rank-and-file players.
Nike Crush, $22 per dozen: Two-piece ball with high-energy core. Distance above all else; for players with moderate swing speed.
Callaway HX Diablo Tour, $26: Three-piece ball, distance and feel. Good-to-average players unwilling to pay for unneeded features.
Noodle + Easy Distance, $15: Soft cover, low-compression. Low swing-speed players who need higher ball flight; good in the cold.
Titleist Pro v1, $46: Elite-to-good players with decent swing speed who want high spin and feel in the short game.
Bridgestone e6, $25: Soft multilayer ball, reduced spin. Good overall performance; helps control slices and hooks.
It differs from the standard One Tour D ball only in that it produces a minuscule extra amount of spin around the greens—at the cost of an equally minuscule loss of distance off the tee. "Tiger can tell the difference, because he talks about differences of just a few inches, 6 inches, in how far his short wedge shots go, but not many other people can, even other pros," Ishii said. The third Nike ball used by Tour players, the regular One Tour, has two "custom spec" versions, but to offer all these variations for sale in pro shops would needlessly confuse consumers, Ishii said.
The new Nike ball, by comparison, is downright radical, at least by Tour pro standards. Unlike every other ball in play in the professional ranks, its core is not made of rubber, but rather of a resin that DuPont invented and tweaked to Nike specifications. Because of its compact molecular structure, this resin is much bouncier than rubber, a superball compared with a handball. Fun fact: If the resin core inside the 20XI were the same size as the rubber core of a standard ball, it would fly 20 yards farther.
The core has to be smaller, of course, to comply with USGA regulations. But it nevertheless creates a new set of playing characteristics that the pros have to get used to. In general, the 20IX series balls fly faster and spin less off the driver, spin more off the short irons and maintain their altitude longer than do the Tour One series balls.
On the sixth hole at Doral Tuesday, for example, Vegas drove the X version of the 20IX (there is also an S version) 23 yards farther into a strong headwind than he drove the Tour One D ball he normally plays. On the next hole, however, his downwind drive with the new ball was nine yards shorter than his drive with the old ball, which Ishii said might be expected. Vegas is still on the fence about switching.
"Changing balls is much harder than changing clubs," said Anthony Kim, who's been playing the 20IX-S since December. (The 20IX line won't be available in stores until late April.) "With a new driver, that's basically just one shot you have to understand. But a new ball affects all 14 clubs in your bag, and you have to have confidence in how each of those clubs are going to play."
After watching Francesco Molinari tag a towering six-iron into the wind onto the 12th green Tuesday, with a 20IX-X ball, I asked him how he would have hit the same shot using his old ball. "I would have had to hit it much lower, or else use one more club," he said.
Kim had to re-shaft his driver to accommodate the new ball. Another early-adapting Tour veteran slightly strengthened the loft of his irons. (Woods, said Ishii, will probably switch to the new ball eventually but is waiting until the rest of his game gels more before going through the process.)
Everyday players, with their inconsistent games, can't begin to perceive and take advantage of ball subtleties like the pros can, but the takeaway for me is that ball selection matters more than most of us probably think. If tiny variations in ball characteristics make such a big difference to the pros, it stands to reason that the huge variation in characteristics among the balls that amateurs play should be just as important. As an example, Ishii said, for a player who hits the ball high and reasonably far, a good, midprice, low-spin ball could be a lifesaver, taking as much as 15 yards off a 30-yard slice, compared with a more expensive, high-spin ball. The key, he said, is to know your tendencies, study the fine print on the boxes or seek the help of a pro.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A16
nike ball, multilayer ball, wedge shots, swing speed, custom spec, ball flight, professional ranks, short game, usga, ishii online, superball, ramin, molecular structure, pro v1, rank and file, bridgestone, golf ball, resin, distinctions, high energy
Rain drops
Rain drops
Kurzurlaub auf Usedom
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Rain drops
Regentropfen
Wsser
water
Blau
blue
Trnen
tears
Bokeh
dof
sputnik
2011
Frhling
Monday, April 11, 2011
Brother
Brother
Rudzka Mountain, Ldz.
An Erasmus year is an experience so intense that people who share it, create a unique friendship. As our parents when they went to the military service, the friends you make during this year are lifelong, although you don't meet them for years.
Luis was during that year like my brother, and although we haven't had much contact since then, every time we meet is like we're still there, crossing the snowy streets looking for some place to take a cold piwo.
Yesterday he married the girl he just began dating when we went to Poland, surely this hard test strengthened the relationship.
Sorry for my English.
--
Un ao de Erasmus es una experiencia tan intensa que las personas que la comparten crean unos nicos lazos de amistad. Como nuestros padres cuando hacan la mili, los amigos que haces durante ese ao son para toda la vida, aunque pases aos sin verlos.
Luis fue durante ese ao como mi hermano, y aunque no hemos tenido mucho contacto desde entonces, cada vez que nos encontramos es como si estuviramos an all, cruzando las calles nevadas en busca de algn lugar donde poder tomar una piwo bien fra.
Ayer se cas con la chica con la que empez a salir justo cuando nos fuimos de Erasmus; sin duda una prueba semejante hizo indestructible su relacin.
--
His favorite song (everyday, all the time): "Como un mar eterno", Hanna.
youtu.be/kzm_cdItnPg
Hateful.
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friend
boy
brother
snow
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Mickey Mouse on the march in Asia
Mickey Mouse on the march in Asia
In five years time, half of Disney's theme parks will be in Asia, with resorts in Hong Kong, Tokyo and now Shanghai. But the House of Mouse has far wider ambitions in the region.
Photo: AFP/GETTY
By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai 11:23AM BST 08 Apr 2011
Ever since Robert Iger took the reins as Disney's chief executive in 2005, Asia has been a priority for the Californian company, with mixed success.
In China, one of Mr Iger's first coups was to persuade China Central Television, the state-run national broadcaster, to air Disney's Desperate Housewives series, but the show flopped and was quickly withdrawn. "The show did not have a demographic fit in the Chinese market," the China Daily newspaper said.
The television market has been a long-standing goal, but unlike in the United States, where Disney runs its own 24-hour channel, China has remained resolutely closed.
The ability to broadcast Disney programming on Chinese airwaves was initially sought as part of the "package" of opening a Disneyland in Shanghai. But Mr Iger admitted that negotiations for a wider deal had been "complicated and probably impractical". Disney's film business is also hampered by strict rules on the number of foreign-language movies each year. However, a cinema-building rush is under way in China, with thousands of screens planned for the next few years, and analysts are predicting that revenues may rise significantly for the films that are allowed in.
Meanwhile, the opening of Disney English in September 2008, the company's first foray into the education market, has been a huge success. In two-and-a-half years, Disney has boosted the number of Disney English schools in China to 20 across five cities.
The schools, which are filled with Disney characters, from Mickey Mouse to Buzz Lightyear, cater for ages two to 10 and teach them English after-school using a range of Disney-branded material. McKinsey, the management consultancy, believes the foreign-language tuition business in China is worth more than £1.3 billion a year.
Altogether, Disney now employs more than 600 staff in China and markets its products in 25 cities. The company also plans to open its first self-owned Disney Store in China by the middle of next year, and that it hoped to expand its way through China's glittering new array of shopping centres.
In Hong Kong, Disneyland continues to make a loss, however, and there are fears that since 40 per cent of its customers are from the mainland, the new Shanghai park could cannibalise its southern sister.
Disney insists the two parks are viable side-by-side.
Tokyo, however, continues to be one of the most popular theme parks in the world, with 25.3 million visitors in the year leading up to March.
By comparison, Disney is only expecting just over 7 million visitors in Shanghai when it opens. However, Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983, is owned and operated by Oriental Land, a Japanese company, under license from Disney. Oriental Land has declined to sell the park to the US company.
The theme parks accounted for less than a third of Disney's overall revenues last year, but Asia is a fast-growing market. Legoland is planning to open in Malaysia, and Singapore has opened a Universal Studios resort. Eight out of the world's most popular 20 theme parks are now in Asia. And while only five per cent of Disney's revenues currently come from the region, the company is betting on Asia for future growth.
china central television, californian company, national broadcaster, desperate housewives, malcolm moore, two and a half years, management consultancy, disney characters, business in china, mickey mouse, robert iger, language tuition, china daily, television market, education market, film business, chinese market online, strict rules, mckinsey, foray
P4070185-2. The Great Stour at Godmersham.
P4070185-2. The Great Stour at Godmersham.
Godmersham Park House was built in 1732, and eventually became the property of Edward Knight, brother of Jane Austen. Her novel Pride and Prejudice is said to depict characters and scenes from the village.
Tags
trees
water
rivers
streams
pride and prejudice, edward knight, jane austen, novel online, brother, godmersham park, great stour
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Manchester United consider offering Owen Hargreaves a new one-year contract
Manchester United consider offering Owen Hargreaves a new one-year contract
Manchester United are considering giving Owen Hargreaves an unexpected opportunity to resurrect his career at Old Trafford by offering the injury-ravaged midfielder the chance to remain at the club beyond the end of this season.
New chance: Owen Hargreaves has got used to leaving the field injured but will hope the offer of a new contract will signal a change in fortunes Photo: GETTY
By Mark ogden 6:40AM BST 08 Apr 2011
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Hargreaves has made just two brief appearances in Sir Alex Ferguson’s first-team, amounting to a total of six minutes, since undergoing double knee surgery in Jan 2009.
But although the 30-year-old’s current contract expires on June 30, the club have been impressed by Hargreaves’s determination to regain full fitness, with United confident that the former England international’s knee problems have been resolved.
Senior figures at the club have stressed that contract talks have yet to take place with Hargreaves, but it is understood that an incentivised 12-month deal could be offered to the Canada-born midfielder at the end of the season if he continues to make progress on the training ground.
Hargreaves, who returned to full training a month ago after a four-month hamstring injury lay-off, is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury sustained two weeks ago, but he is expected to return to contention within the next two weeks.
Having been signed from Bayern Munich in a £19m transfer in May 2007, Hargreaves has managed just 39 appearances for United, although the 42-times capped England midfielder played a key role in the club’s Premier League and Champions League-winning campaign in 2007-08.
A number of European clubs have expressed an interest in signing Hargreaves this summer should he choose to leave United as a free agent, while there has also been tentative interest from within the Premier League.
But United are reluctant to lose a player who could yet return to his former level and they are hopeful that Hargreaves can return to senior contention on a regular basis following an injury-free pre-season.
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Friday, April 8, 2011
Interior View of Anaconda Copper Mine in Butte, MT
Interior View of Anaconda Copper Mine in Butte, MT
photographs from 1890 depicting the interior of the Anaconda Mine in Butte, Montana. Part of the Carelton Watkins Interior Views of Anaconda Mines Collection - contentdm.lib.uidaho.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/watkins.
Additional information and photographs can be found in the University of Idaho Library's Digital Collections (http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/)
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Snow Geese in Flight, Bosque Del Apache NWR
snow geese in Flight, Bosque Del Apache NWR
Snow geese in flight at sunrise. Bosque del Apache NWR is winter home to many thousands of snow geese which are often see in vast flocks in the sky.
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getting away with not paying
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