113473519gnGPRj_ph
Markets of PNG
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sábado, 30 de abril de 2011
Carlos Tevez and Matthew Etherington in race to be fit for FA Cup final
Carlos Tevez and Matthew Etherington in race to be fit for FA Cup final
Matthew Etherington will be given until the day of the FA Cup final to make Stoke City’s line-up but fellow injury victim Carlos Tévez has been warned by opponents Manchester City that he will play at Wembley only if he appears in his side’s Premier League fixture five days earlier.
Running out of time: Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez Photo: PA
By Sandy Macaskill and Mark Ogden 10:47PM BST 28 Apr 2011
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Etherington is facing a week of intensive treatment after tearing his left hamstring in the first half of Tuesday’s Premier League win over Wolves.
Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, insisted that the club would do whatever they could to get the winger ready and said the next seven days would be crucial in determining whether Etherington could feature against City on May 14. “We will give Matty every chance of getting fit for the final, even if that means him having a fitness test at Wembley,” said Pulis.
“But the next seven days are crucial, so we will have a better view then. We will certainly pull out all the stops in an attempt to get him right. He is such an important player to us and it goes without saying that it would be a massive blow if he wasn’t fit, especially after losing Ricardo Fuller and Danny Higginbotham as well over the past few weeks.”
Roberto Mancini, the City manager, has told Tévez he will not be selected for the final unless he banishes all doubts over his fitness ahead of their Premier League clash with Tottenham on May 10. Tévez returned to light training on Tuesday after spending 10 days in Milan receiving treatment on his torn hamstring.
Mancini, who ruled out a summer departure from City following speculation linking him with Juventus, insists that he will not risk his captain and leading goalscorer in the final unless he returns to action against Spurs.
“Carlos is here and has started to run,” Mancini said. “We will do everything for him to recover, but it is difficult to say now whether it is possible for the final or not. It will be possible only if he can play against Tottenham on the Tuesday. It is important that we get him back 100 per cent, not 60 or 70 per cent. To have Carlos at 70 or 60 per cent could be worse for us and for him.
“If we think only of the final and forget the other games it will be a mistake. The next three League games are more important than the final in this moment. If we take some risk because we want to play with Carlos, it is a risk for him and for us and I don’t want this.”
Mancini insists he had no qualms over Tévez being treated by the Argentina national team masseur, rather than City’s medical staff, during his time in Milan. “Every player trusts his own doctor because his doctor is part of the national team. I have respect for this,” Mancini said.
Although Tévez is likely to be sold by City this summer, Mancini insists his own future at the club is not in doubt. “First of all I have to concentrate on getting into Champions League and winning the FA Cup.” Mancini said. “Also, all the hard work has been in the first year and a half to build the basics. I would be very disappointed to leave after the hard work is done.”
matthew etherington, carlos tevez, roberto mancini, ricardo fuller, mark ogden, fa cup final, injury victim, league fixture, massive blow, rsquo, fitness test, macaskill, intensive treatment, getting fit, s line, running out of time, manchester city, wembley, winger, premier league, online
viernes, 29 de abril de 2011
Andy Townsend abused by Real Madrid fans in restaurant after being mistaken for referee Wolfgang Stark
Andy Townsend abused by Real Madrid fans in restaurant after being mistaken for referee Wolfgang Stark
ITV pundit Andy Townsend says he was abused in a Madrid restaurant after Real Madrid's Champions League defeat to Barcelona, as he was mistaken for the referee Wolfgang Stark.
Lookalikes?: Wolfgang Stark (left) who Andy Townsend was mistaken for in a Madrid restaurant Photo: GETTY IMAGES / REX
By Telegraph staff 10:03AM BST 29 Apr 2011
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Townsend was eating with ITV colleague Adrian Chiles when he ran into Madrid fans, angry after seeing their side lose 2-0 to Barcelona and Pepe and Jose Mourinho controversially sent off.
"I went into a restaurant and was eating when I noticed people looking at me," Townsend told the Daily Mail.
"Some of them started taking pictures and then someone came and gave me a pot plant, saying, 'This is for you' with a funny look on his face.
"There were 10 of us around the table thinking, ‘'What is going on here?’ When I stood up I got booed and when I went to the loo I got followed there and back. A waiter escorted me to my seat. I didn’t know why.
"Then people came up to me, talking aggressively in Spanish and there was a man shouting at me from the other side of the restaurant. It was all getting out of control.
"Then it dawned on me. Because I still had my UEFA accreditation around my neck they thought I was the referee. To them I was Wolfgang Stark, so I had to turn around and tell them I was from English television."
Townsend, a former Chelsea and Aston Villa player, blamed Jose Mourinho for stirring up Madrid fans to the point of frenzy. "There’s a sinister edge to it," he said.
"The crowd were baying for the referee’s blood. They totally saw the referee as the villain of the piece.
"As ITV were going off air there was actually a fight going on in front of me in the stadium — two men were exchanging blows. And these were the decent seats.
"I witnessed first-hand the effect Mourinho has on fans. I wouldn’t want to see him back in England."
adrian chiles, jose mourinho, getty images, aston villa player, daily mail, telegraph staff, pot plant, english television, funny look, real madrid, lookalikes, referee, loo, villain, pundit, pepe, frenzy, waiter, champions league, accreditation
jueves, 28 de abril de 2011
Truly Disturbing News: Half Of Six-Year-Old Girls Think They’re Overweight
042611_girl_scales_iStock_000011254212XSmall
Is your little girl overly concerned with her weight? A new study says she might be.
According to the British Journal of Psychology, half of three to six-year-old girls worry about being too fat. By the age of seven, 70 percent of girls want to be thinner. By nine, half of them have been on a diet. For girls aged between 11 and 17, it’s their number one wish in life to look good — whatever “good” means.
Instead of embracing their bodies and accepting them, young girls feel the need to look a certain way — and will do anything to accomplish that goal. Thin is good, fat is bad — in their eyes, it’s as simple as that.
And according to the Daily Mail, girls learn their first lessons about body image from their mothers. As young girls see and hear adult women obsessing over their bodies, dieting and skipping meals, they think that that’s the way it’s supposed to be and try to avoid “being fat” too. We should not preach about “perfection,” but self-care.
Here’s what parents can do to take control of this obsession:
Encourage a healthy body image
Don’t make food an ongoing topic and never mention the word “diet.” Compliment your daughter’s body and make sure she has someone to talk to about the pressures she may be dealing with.
Stop them from becoming shopping addicts
Consumerism makes girls focus on superficial things rather than what really matters. Be a good role model and show them that brands, ads and trends don’t necessarily matter.
Un-spoil your child
As parents, we need to set limits and make sure we don’t overindulge our children. They need to realize that money is earned and doesn’t come easily.
What do you think of these tips, HollyMoms and Dads? Have you’re daughter been dealing with the pressures of body image?
–Leigh Blickley
Get more on this issue:
Bonnie Says: Abercrombie & Fitch Is Nuts To Sell Padded Bikini Bras For 8-Year-Olds!
Mother Injects Her 8-Year-Old Daughter With Botox So She Can ‘Become A Star!’
Growing Number Of Girls Go Through Puberty At Age 7!
Shine.yahoo.com
An Easter Egg by the Sea
An Easter Egg by the Sea
Happy Easter!
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miércoles, 27 de abril de 2011
White-rumped Sandpiper DSCN0119
Arsenal's Arsene Wenger could bring in reinforcements in the summer
Arsenal's Arsene Wenger could bring in reinforcements in the summer
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted that he is not averse to the idea of making additions to his side in the summer, and is trying to extend contracts of existing players including Samir Nasri
Taking the blame: Arsene Wenger has claimed full responsibility for Arsenal's season-wrecking slide in form Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Telegrah staff 10:05AM BST 26 Apr 2011
Comments
"We have to strengthen the squad where it needs and make the right decision on that front. It is always on my mind, every day," said Wenger after Arsenal's defeat to Bolton on Sunday all but ended their title hopes.
"Don’t think it’s not on my mind."
Wenger repeated his belief that Arsenal's current set of players has what it takes to win trophies, but acknowledged a need to strengthen the squad.
"We have the quality, that is for sure," Wenger said. "We have to strengthen the squad where it needs and make the right decision on that front."
"If someone can convince me that the principles are wrong I am ready to change, but I feel we try to play football the proper way. When you don't win you question your principles, but you have to give yourself the right distance to see what is right and wrong in what you do. I think if something is wrong in our team, it is not the principles in playing our football."
"The team have had an outstanding attitude and will not be rewarded because of small things, but small things cost you. It is frustrating because the team has produced the efforts. We have to be realistic that it [the title] is very unlikely now, but we have to finish as well as we can."
Wenger's plan to fine-tune his existing team could be made significantly more difficult if any of his star players decide to quit the Emirates in the hope of finding success elsewhere.
Arsenal are currently trying to extend the contracts of two France internationals, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri, both of whom are in the final year of their current deals.
"We are talking to Nasri and his agent already and we have the same situation with Clichy," said Wenger.
"We have agreed to speak about it during the summer.
"The players have the opportunity here to do it in their own way, with their own philosophy, with their own togetherness," he added.
"When you sign a contract for four or five years, you are committed through your contract to win trophies with the club where you sign.
"It is in no contract that if you do not win a trophy the first year, you can leave."
manager arsene wenger, gael clichy, samir nasri, telegrah, taking the blame, rsquo, existing team, star players online, fine tune, right decision, internationals, reinforcements, getty, trophies, arsenal, emirates, belief that, additions, bolton, contracts
martes, 26 de abril de 2011
Llyn Cwellyn before the Snowdon Ranger Path
Llyn Cwellyn before the Snowdon Ranger Path
The lake was so flat and reflective that I couldn't not take a picture. My only slight dissapointment was the light rocks, I might edit this in the future to bring down them down a little.
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AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED
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Busby Falls @ Short Springs
Busby Falls @ Short Springs
© 2011 AWJ photography
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lunes, 25 de abril de 2011
71-100
71-100
Lately I’ve seem to have got more men than women, so decided today I was going to concentrate on getting some female strangers. I saw this girl first in Bourke St and was immediately struck by her beauty - but she was in and out of the nearby shops for 10 minutes or so. It was proving difficult to catch her but eventually she stood still long enough for me to approach her.
I explained my strangers project to her and she was ok with it. “What do I have to do ?” was the question. “Nothing, just stand right there” I replied. Fired off some frames, thanked her for her time and continued on my way.
So the pretty girl is #71 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com
www.neilwinch.com
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nearby shops, 70mm, pretty girl, photographers, bourke st
Manchester United 1 Everton 0: match report
Manchester United 1 Everton 0: match report
Read a full match report of the Premier League game between Manchester United and Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday April 23 2011.
PREVIEW
LIVE
REPORT
MANCHESTER UNITED
1 - 0
FT
EVERTON
Saturday, April 23 12:45
Premier League
Old Trafford
Hernez (84)
(HT 0-0)
Up and over: Javier Hernandez heads Manchester United's winner against Everton Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Mark Ogden 2:45PM BST 23 Apr 2011
Follow Mark Ogden on Twitter
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Javier Hernandez edged Manchester United to within seven points of a record 19th league title with late winner at Old Trafford following a nervy encounter with Everton.
Hernandez, a £7m signing from Chivas de Guadalajara last summer, took his tally for the season to 19 goals when he headed in Antonio Valencia’s far post cross on 84 minutes.
Everton had seen two penalty appeals rejected by referee Peter Walton prior to the goal and will feel aggrieved at emerging with nothing for their efforts.
But with four games left to play – including fixtures at Arsenal and at home to Chelsea – United now know that two wins and a draw will confirm the title.
With the Champions League semi-final against Schalke looming on Tuesday, Ferguson gambled on wholesale changes to his starting line-up in order to rest key players ahead of the trip to Germany.
But with Everton’s recent form seeing them climb to seventh in the table, such tinkering was always likely to be a risky tactic against David Moyes’s team.
As has been proved on numerous occasions already this season, the likes of Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson and John O’Shea lack the quality of the more established players that they replaced and it showed as United struggled to put Everton under any sustained pressure.
The home side did not even test Everton keeper Tim Howard until 29 minutes had elapsed, but the former United number one did well to deny Javier Hernandez following his snapshot from Wayne Rooney’s pass.
Everton were unfortunate not to win a penalty on 36 minutes, however, when Evans’s clumsy challenge on Jermaine Beckford went unpunished by referee Peter Walton.
Moyes’s team were then denied what appeared a certain penalty on 56 minutes when Rio Ferdinand bundled substitute Victor Anichebe over on the edge of the six yard box. Once again, Walton ignored Everton appeals.
United were certainly riding their luck, but with Everton looking comfortable at the back, Ferguson replaced Nani with Michael Owen on 63 minutes in an effort to find a crucial goal.
And Owen, who has scored just once in the Premier League this season, almost put United ahead when his effort from Fabio’s cross was deflected onto the near post by defender Sylvain Distin.
Everton also went close, though, when United target Jack Rodwell forced Edwin van der Sar into full-stretch save to push his 20-yard strike past the post.
United appeared to be heading for a draw they simply did not want when Hernandez saw a header brilliantly tipped over the bar by Howard on 81 minutes.
But the Mexican striker won the game three minutes later with a brave header at the far post that left Howard beaten and moved United nine points clear of Chelsea and Arsenal.
darron gibson, chivas de guadalajara, getty images, david moyes, mark ogden, old trafford, wayne rooney, wholesale changes, rsquo, s pass, tim howard, far post, league game, manchester united, four games, seven points, starting line, schalke, premier league, shea
Man_and_dog_plowed_road_huge_snowbank_2011_02_1 copy
Man_and_dog_plowed_road_huge_snowbank_2011_02_1 copy
A man and his dog walking on a plowed road at Donner Lake, surrounded by huge walls of snow, on a bright, clear Winter day.
This photo is available for license & publication - Mick@RogueSocks.com
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domingo, 24 de abril de 2011
sábado, 23 de abril de 2011
113473315nxAfok_ph
113473315nxAfok_ph
Markets of PNG
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viernes, 22 de abril de 2011
The South Tacoma railway
Tracks running past the future Sounder train station in South Tacoma
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jueves, 21 de abril de 2011
... Lago / Lake ...
... Lago / Lake ...
Lago di Santa Croce;
Comune di Farra d'Alpago (BL).
Commenti, critiche e suggerimenti ben accetti,
se vi va, osservatela ingrandita.
Un saluto e grazie, Angelo.
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david + kendra | chicago, illinois
david + kendra | chicago, illinois
© 2011 ryan southen photography All Rights Reserved
*not for use without my prior written consent*
follow me on facebook, facebook fan page, twitter and my print site.
given that i studied architecture in school for a few years and got my start shooting buildings it is natural for me to incorporate structures into my portrait and wedding work. i love doing it and i find it the perfect way to combine my two passions.
you can see my entire wedding and engagement portfolio here.
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miércoles, 20 de abril de 2011
GAMETRACKER: Astros at Mets
Market square, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland
First step towards 'directly elected EU president'
First step towards 'directly elected EU president'
The European parliament took a first step on Tuesday towards half a billion Europeans directly electing the EU president, with a vote to introduce a second ballot from which the leader would emerge.
The parliament's constitutional affairs committee wants voters to pick 25 super MEPs from an EU-wide list of candidates Photo: ALAMY
6:09PM BST 19 Apr 2011
Come its next elections in 2014, the parliament's constitutional affairs committee wants voters across the 27 European Union states to pick 751 constituency MEPs in essentially national contests, but now also 25 super MEPs from an EU-wide list of candidates.
The bill's sponsor, Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff, told AFP on Tuesday that his plans are based in no small part on experience in Scotland, where a second, regional list effectively decides the identity of its head of government.
"The second vote is used by the parties as a way of electing the First Minister," said Mr Duff. "Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party have used this already to good effect," stating it bluntly on ballots.
He predicted that as in Scotland, where the opposition have complained that such electoral tactics have transformed their May 5 vote into a "presidential" poll, "parties will put up champions for election this way".
"It will scare the Brussels machine," Mr Duff conceded, "but in the end they will buy into it because it only takes one to see the potential for a directly-elected EU president."
The parliament is trying to exploit new powers granted to it by the hard-fought Lisbon Treaty "to improve the popular legitimacy" of the chamber, ahead of a full plenary vote on the question in June.
liberal democrat mep, european union states, alex salmond, plenary vote, national contests, presidential poll, andrew duff, european parliament, constitutional affairs, scottish national party, meps, first minister, affairs committee, constituency, legitimacy, ballots, europeans, lisbon, parliament, european union
April 17, 2011 {365-107}
April 17, 2011 {365-107}
Today was a good day... some chores in the morning, then Tallulah had a playdate with a friend in the afternoon, and when she came home she asked to be sprayed with the hose as she ran around in the yard... which she followed up with a dip in the pool! Then, dinner and bed.
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martes, 19 de abril de 2011
flag ship
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lunes, 18 de abril de 2011
Owen Coyle questions mentality of Bolton Wanderers side after 'hurtful and horrible' FA Cup semi-final thrashing
Owen Coyle questions mentality of Bolton Wanderers side after 'hurtful and horrible' FA Cup semi-final thrashing
Bolton manager Owen Coyle is bracing himself for an uncomfortable video re-run after seeing his side's dreams of lifting the FA Cup destroyed in spectacular fashion.
Gutted: Owen Coyle watched his Bolton side falter on the big stage in their 5-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Stoke Photo: PA
By Telegraph staff and agencies 7:38AM BST 18 Apr 2011
Comments
Two goals from Jonathan Walters steered Stoke to a 5-0 victory in Sunday's semi-final at Wembley.
Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones were also on target as Tony Pulis' side ran amok.
Coyle said: "I will analyse it, as hurtful and horrible as it will be to watch it again. We have to learn from it.
"Was the stage too much for one or two of them? Football is not just about physical ability. There is a mental strength that goes with it. I loved these occasions as a player.
"There were too many who didn't perform anywhere near to the right standard. We had a number of players who were at the bottom of the ladder. It was never going to be good enough against a very good side.
"The beauty of management is that you have to respond to things like this. You can do one of two things - you can pick yourself up and go again or you can hide.
"There is no getting away from the fact it was a below-par performance. Bizarrely enough, I thought we started the game reasonably well. But we were the architects of our own downfall."
Bolton captain Kevin Davies described their performance as "a terrible dream".
He said: "It was a horrible experience, the manner of the defeat. The first goal was like something from five-a-side rather than on an occasion like this.
"To see the goals going in, I don't know what to say. It was just one of those days. We will try to put it right. It is just a terrible dream at the minute.
"We are all devastated and very emotional. It is very difficult and we feel ashamed and embarrassed.
"We feel sorry for the supporters as they paid a lot of money to come down. We've had a lot of plaudits this year and we will take the criticism and stand up as men."
Davies, also a losing semi-finalist with Chesterfield in 1998, believes his dream of lifting the FA Cup is over.
He added: "It is one of those things. It seems to have got away from me. This was probably my best chance of getting to the final."
tony pulis, matthew etherington, bolton wanderers, robert huth, jonathan walters, telegraph staff, spectacular fashion, kevin davies, horrible experience, mental strength, terrible dream, target, kenwyne jones, physical ability, one of those days, fa cup, downfall, bst, mentality, ladder
domingo, 17 de abril de 2011
viernes, 15 de abril de 2011
Menace Ruine at the good old Bat Cave stage on #Roadburn
Vulcano
Vulcano
Travel comanions in front of a Sulfurous rock formation on Vulcono (Italian for Volcano).
On the Island of Vulcano, you can bathe in the hot mudbath. I'm sure it would have been ver theraputic, if smelly, but we were there before the tourist season, so we didn't take a dip
Tags
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jueves, 14 de abril de 2011
Shaldon
Shaldon
Taken from Teignmouth, Devon April 2011.
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miércoles, 13 de abril de 2011
Sideling Hill Tunnel
America's Surprise Olympic Romp
(Please see Corrections & Amplifications item below.)
America is delivering an Olympics beating that nobody saw coming.
The U.S. won as many medals on Wednesday—six—as it won during the entirety of the 1988 Games in Calgary, Alberta.
The 20 medals that America had won through Friday afternoon at the Vancouver Games represent far more than half of its greatest Winter Olympics haul ever—the 34 that it garnered during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Once the poor sisters of the Winter Games, once pressed to explain why a country with so much money and the greatest snow on earth couldn't dominate the slipping-and-sliding sports, America is on the verge of turning Vancouver into a romp.
![[SPORTS_OLY]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PT-AN925_SPORTS_DV_20100219174757.jpg)
Getty Images
Bode Miller of the U.S. after competing in the men's alpine skiing Super-G on Friday.
To be sure, fortunes could change. Only seven of 16 days of competition have been completed. As of Friday afternoon, nearly 60% of medals at these Games remained to be won. But several events remain in which Americans are podium favorites, including six more in alpine skiing, three in bobsled, and nearly a dozen more in speedskating.
Leaders of the U.S. Olympic Committee are already taking a victory lap. In a statement, released after the U.S. set a Winter Games record winning six medals in a single day, newly hired chief executive Scott Blackmun said he was "incredibly proud of the American Olympians participating in these magnificent Games, and I can't wait to see what happens next."
Perhaps most impressive is that America is winning medals in traditional sports often dominated by Europeans, such as alpine skiing, figure skating and long-course speedskating. Noting that the number of Winter Olympics events has risen to 86 from 46 in Calgary, Olympic historian David Wallechinsky said, "We're expected to do well in new events like freestyle skiing and snowboarding. But this week is not just a new-event phenomenon for the U.S."
Indeed, ground zero for the beat-down has been Whistler's Creekside ski area, site of the alpine skiing events. On Friday, the Americans continued to morph into the 21st-century versions of Swiss and Austrian skiers. Bode Miller took the silver and Andrew Weibrecht took the bronze in a Super-G race filled with high-speed crashes and skiers careening on and off the twisting course on the Dave Murray slope.
When it was over, the powerful Swiss and Austrian teams, led by veteran superstars Carlo Janka and Michael Walchhofer, still had just two alpine medals between them through four races, and only one in the men's competition, compared with six for the U.S., surpassing the team's previous record of five in Sarajevo in 1984.
Meanwhile, Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis, who was supposed to exploit his home-slope advantage in a discipline where familiarity with a course can make a huge difference, hit an unexpected jump in the upper portion of the course and skittered out of bounds.
Winning Faces
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Mr. Weibrecht, competing in his first Winter Games and ranked just 18th in the world in Super-G, set the tone early, as the third skier down the mountain on a sun-splashed day that softened the snow just enough to allow the skiers to take chances. Mr. Weibrecht has never won on the World Cup circuit, but his run of 130.65 gave him a brief 0.65-of-a-second lead he held until his teammate Mr. Miller bolted through the gate eight starters later.
Skiing with a scary determination, Mr. Miller turned in one of his trademark chin-first runs, searing through the dangerous turns at the top of the course mostly on the edges of his skis. Dancing from side to side, Mr. Miller grazed many of the gates that mark the edge of the course, and looked as if he might fly out of his boots during his quick shifts in direction.
As he crossed the finish line, Mr. Miller looked at the timing board that put him in first place by three one-hundredths of a second, allowed a Cheshire-cat grin and beat his chest.
Only Aksel Lund Svindal, skiing a masterful run that balanced aggressiveness and control, topped Mr. Miller.
Mr. Miller said the team's success is due to a new commitment to skiing on the edge. He said he quit in 2007 because he thought the team was too timid.
"I didn't think this was the kind of skiing we should be doing," Mr Miller said. "I didn't think people were taking the risk or skiing with the heart that skiing needs. That's why I didn't want to be a part of it."
Now, Mr. Miller said, "the inspiration level is climbing. They see teammates on the podium and they want that, too. It's not necessarily the result, but they want to be smiling, they want to ski inspired. You're seeing a result you haven't seen from the U.S. in a long time, or ever."
Sasha Rearick, the head coach of the U.S. ski team, said that despite the victory and the weak showing of the Swiss and Austrians, those teams would be back. "The Austrians are a strong team," he said. "They didn't bring their best skiing today by any means."
The U.S. performance comes as a surprise in part because America has never won the medal count at a Winter Olympics Games. The closest it came was Salt Lake City, where it took second in total medals (behind Germany) and third in the gold-medal count (behind Germany and Norway).
But the performance is also a surprise because USOC officials had adamantly refused to speculate about America's performance in Vancouver. While Canadian officials boasted of their $120 million own-the-podium program and predicted a total medal count of 35, officials of the USOC remained silent. A year before the Games, the USOC targeted $16 million mainly toward events where the U.S. had the best chances for medals rather than equally across the board, said Alan Ashley, chief of sport performance for the USOC.
"We'll let the chips fall where they fall," Mr. Ashley said in an interview ahead of the 2010 Games. Pressed to make a medal-count prediction, he said, "I think we have the potential to have a very experienced team that will go there with great performances."
The global recession also hurt U.S. Olympians more than those from countries where athletes rely almost entirely on government funding. When the U.S. speedskating team lost a primary sponsor to the recession, comedian Stephen Colbert managed to get his name on their uniforms while spending barely a dime of his own. In an episode that gave the U.S. Olympic team a bargain-basement image, Colbert Nation gained major-sponsor status on the roughly $350,000 that his viewers kicked in.
Yet this week, the joke has been on the competition. U.S. athletes have performed well even in events like Nordic combined, in which America traditionally has stunk. Johnny Spillane was a ski length away from the gold in Nordic combined when he settled for the silver, the first-ever medal for the U.S. in the sport.
But most encouraging is that America's dominance has been widespread. In figure skating Evan Lysacek put the hammer to Russia's defending gold medalist, Evgeni Plushenko. Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso made a mockery of the women's downhill, as Ms. Vonn finished an absurd 1.46 seconds ahead of the bronze medalist Elisabeth Görgl.
Not everyone is convinced that the success will last indefinitely. Wolfgang Maier, chief of the German ski team, said everything has come together for the Americans in a way that might be hard to duplicate in the future.
"They are almost as good as the Austrians once were," Mr. Maier said. "But you have generational talents in Vonn and Miller, and Miller is already getting old. It might not last."
Tim Cafe, a New Zealand skiier who spends five months a year in Austria training, said it's too early to write off the Austrians. "They'll be back for sure, but for the Americans to step in like this and fill that role, it shows they're doing something right."
Write to Matthew Futterman at matthew.futterman@wsj.com, Ian Johnson at ian.johnson@wsj.com and Kevin Helliker at kevin.helliker@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications:
The U.S. had the highest medal count at the 1932 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. This article about America's dominance at the Vancouver Games incorrectly said that the U.S. had never won the medal count at a Winter Olympics.
Online.wsj.com
The Gap, Piha
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martes, 12 de abril de 2011
Manchester City ready to make big-money move to bring Chile striker Alexis Sanchez to Eastlands
Manchester City ready to make big-money move to bring Chile striker Alexis Sanchez to Eastlands
Manchester City are set to offer more than €40 million (£35 million) for Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez, who is being courted by a number of Europe’s leading clubs.
Centre of attention: Chile forward Alexis Sanchez could be on his way to Manchester City Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Jason Burt, Deputy Football Correspondent 11:23PM BST 11 Apr 2011
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The final fee could be as high as €50 million (£44 million), which would make Sanchez the second most expensive player to be bought by a Premier League club.
It is understood that City officials met representatives of the 22-year-old Chilean over the weekend to discuss a deal. The talks are believed to have been positive.
Sanchez, who played for Chile in the World Cup last year and has long been identified as a rising star of world football, has informally agreed to join City with Udinese resigned to his departure, it is believed.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter Milan have also considered moving for Sanchez, who can play as either a striker or a right winger. It is understood that Udinese have already rejected several offers for the player.
Sources believe that Sanchez would replace Mario Balotelli in the City squad with the unsettled striker likely to return to Italy in the summer, probably to AC Milan.
However City would have to take a significant loss on the £24 million they paid for Balotelli for that deal to take place.
If they can secure Sanchez it may make sense to move on Balotelli with City also hopeful that Real Madrid will exercise their £15 million option to sign Emmanuel Adebayor when his loan deal expires .
City have been to watch Sanchez several times with members of Roberto Mancini’s coaching staff scouting him as well as football administrator Brian Marwood.
Signing Sanchez may depend on City qualifying for the Champions League, given the calibre of clubs also interested in him, but it is unlikely that any other suitor will offer anywhere near the same level of fee. City are aware of this and that Udinese are also hopeful of qualifying for the competition.
The fee would beat the £35 million Liverpool paid for Newcastle United’s Andy Carroll in the January transfer window and the £32.5 million City paid for Robinho .
City probably paid more for Carlos Tévez. The fee is thought to have been in excess of £40 million but has not been officially revealed.
Tévez’s own future will probably also be resolved in the summer, partly depending on whether City qualify for the Champions League. The City captain put in a transfer request earlier this season but withdrew it after talks with the club’s owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com
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lunes, 11 de abril de 2011
Fort Niagara Beach
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Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.
You can see Toronto, Canada skyline 27 miles across Lake Ontario taken at Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York
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domingo, 10 de abril de 2011
ROCKED BY INCOMING TIDES
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sábado, 9 de abril de 2011
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Intermezzo, Scottish Opera, Seven magazine review
Intermezzo, Scottish Opera, Seven magazine review
Scottish Opera extract maximum laughs from an under-performed Strauss gem. Rating * * * *
Anita Bader and Roland Wood both excel in "Intermezzo" by Strauss
By John Allison 4:43PM BST 08 Apr 2011
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Richard Strauss’s Intermezzo has been described as music’s finest existing portrait of a marriage. That is surely true, yet it is hardly a flattering one, around nine parts bickering to one part reconciliation.
However, there was no obvious collateral damage among all the couples squeezed into Glasgow’s Theatre Royal for Scottish Opera’s rewarding new production: it is testament to Strauss’s genius that such a depressing scenario can also be so witty.
Though it is seldom thought of as such, Intermezzo is in many ways the ultimate verismo opera, a more genuinely realistic slice of life than any of the works by his Italian contemporaries.
Strauss had already composed such autobiographical scores as Ein Heldenleben and the Sinfonia domestica when he completed Intermezzo in 1924, basing it on an event 22 years earlier when his feisty, temperamental wife Pauline had opened a letter mistakenly addressed to him and immediately filed for divorce.
Away in (of all places) the Isle of Wight during an English conducting engagement, Strauss had to return home to Munich and spend several days calming her down.
The letter from the Berlin floozie Mieze Mücke had been intended for a conductor by the name of Stransky, sometimes jokingly nicknamed Straussky, but the scars of this incident ran deep. Intermezzo paints Robert Storch (the Strauss character) as the epitome of reasonableness, even if he does call Christine Storch (Pauline) an “insufferable battleaxe”, and resurrects another family incident involving Pauline’s mild dalliance with a nice young man who turned out to be on the make.
Strauss labelled his opera a Bürgerliche Komödie, or “bourgeois comedy”, and it is in many ways an operetta without the tunes – for once, not meant derogatorily.
Naturalistic and lacking big vocal “numbers”, it consists of a string of short scenes divided up by vivid orchestral interludes, a structure dismissed by some as an experiment.
Sadly, and undeservedly, it remains a rarity and still awaits a production in London.
One obstacle may be that Intermezzo is difficult to stage, but Scottish Opera’s debuting Austro-German production team manages well. Wolfgang Quetes’s direction is fluid and funny, and the scene changes are fluent – even extending to a charming tobogganing episode.
Inspired by Klimt, right down to the wallpaper, Manfred Kaderk’s set is dominated by images of The Kiss, symbolically sliced in half by the curtain and emphasising the loneliness of Pauline’s solitary dining table.
In an amusing moment in the first scene, Robert Storch is packing musical scores for his two-month trip and briefly brandishes his conductor’s baton.
Maybe it is intended as an in-joke about Scottish Opera’s beleaguered music director, Francesco Corti, but if so it backfires. Corti’s interpretation is unfailingly lively and considerate of the singers (no mean achievement).
It may have been bad timing for Scottish Opera to put its orchestra on part-time contract shortly before tackling such a demanding work, but the musicians still deliver sinewy, virtuosic playing full of Straussian glow.
The Munich-trained soprano Anita Bader is compelling in the central role of Christine. She may not possess a voice of typical Straussian richness, but she rides the orchestra and has the charisma for a part that requires both shrewishness and elegance.
The baritone Roland Wood sings warmly as Robert, and though the tenor Nicky Spence sports generous tone as the dim-witted Baron Lummer – Christine’s temporary distraction – he is far too pleased with himself.
The rest of the cast is strong, especially Sarah Redgwick as the chambermaid Anna, Richard Rowe as the “other conductor” Stroh, and Jeremy Huw Williams as the cynical Councillor.
With so many British singers here, it would have made better sense to do this densely conversational piece in English – there are fine sopranos here who could have been cast as Pauline. Even so, it was good to hear the native touch Bader brought to the German, and my only real regret is that Scottish Opera’s run was so short.
This review also appears in Seven magazine, free with The Sunday Telegraph
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viernes, 8 de abril de 2011
like a cathedral
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jueves, 7 de abril de 2011
ON HIS WAY TO THE TOP...
ON HIS WAY TO THE TOP...
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miércoles, 6 de abril de 2011
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