The Weekly Recap: Week 49

The Weekly Recap: Week 49

I’m bizzzack! After a prolonged absence from our beloved forum I’m back in the flesh or rather in front of my keypad. In my absence some things happened…FC Barcelona tore Real Madrid a new one! This is not exactly "news" but it still makes me smile.

One of the big stories this week has been the announcement of the three finalists for the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or: Xavi, Iniesta & Lionel Messi. Just as I was absent from Barca Blaugranes so was Wesley Sneijder from the final three – it happens; get over it.

Nevertheless the accomplishments of these three outstanding footballers must not be diminished by the fact that vetting process is highly dubious.  At the end of the each of them is a worthy winner. As for my personal preference, I’d like to see Xavi crowned as the winner. The reasoning behind is pretty simple, it might be his last chance of winning one. Because being teammates with Lionel Messi is not exactly helping your cause when you are in contention for an individual award.

La Masia however is the real winner. AC Milan provided the final three for the most glamorous individual prize in world football twice but unlike the Italian powerhouse, FC Barcelona nurtured and developed its nominees at their own academy. My guess is – this feat will never be repeated. You know how they say: "Never say never" – well I say NEVER!

And sticking to the La Masia theme, the team that finally defeated boogeyman team Rubin Kazan was mostly compromised of academy youngsters and fringe players. Who would’ve thought it could be so easy, 2-0 and we have regained our dignity against the Russian champions.
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Webcam watches warm manatee sanctuary

Webcam watches warm manatee sanctuary


With cold weather smacking the Tampa Bay region this week and hard-freeze warnings in counties to the north, manatees are stacking up in the warm water of Three Sisters Springs in Citrus County.

"They migrate to the springs," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Karen Parker said, "because it's a constant 72 degrees. Last year, when it got really cold, they were stacked in Three Sisters. It was wall-to-wall manatees."

Three Sisters Springs, a small tributary to Kings Bay in Crystal River, also is a favorite for divers, snorkelers and manatee watchers, and interaction between the species can sometimes be harmful to the sea cows. To keep track, a webcam was set up at the springs by the commission last year, she said.

Now that Florida waters are getting chilly and manatees are finding the warmth of the springs, the video is streaming again.

Parker said that over the years, there have been several reports of manatee harassment by swimmers in Three Sisters.

"We've had quite a few reports of people climbing on them and trying to ride them," Parker said.

She said an officer needs to see the infraction before a citation can be handed out.

"We can't be everywhere all the time," she said. "This (camera) gives us another option to make sure manatees are not harassed."

Harassing a manatee is a second-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Parker said state and federal wildlife officials, who are involved because manatees are an endangered species, encourage passive viewing by manatee watchers.

"That means if manatee comes to you and initiates handling," that's OK, Parker said. "Some of them do like to get their stomachs rubbed."

But trying to hitch a ride or stand on a manatee's back is different, she said.

The camera is focused on the sanctuary within the springs, an area where people are not allowed. The sanctuary bars swimmers from going into certain areas of the springs from November though March, she said.

"Manatees can still interact with people, but the sanctuary provides them with a place to get away from people," Parker said. "And the manatees know exactly where the line is. I don't know if they see the rope or not, but they just line up there" inside the sanctuary when they don't want to interact with humans.

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Fans World Cup shirt ban

Fans World Cup shirt ban

Sixties-style CCCP and Switzerland tops among the best sellers at the Vintage Sports Company sportswear firm.

But commercial director Paul Codd has taken the tops off the shelves in protest at Fifa's decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia instead of England.The actress has a huge collection of Christian Louboutin heels.

Furious Codd,This Foamposite Manolo blahnik features a Black Metallic mudguard that gives the sneaker a very interesting look. who runs the shop in the famous Afflecks Palace shopping arcade in Manchester,It works best with basics such as  or on the less visible parts of more complex pieces. said: "They have both been big sellers but to be honest FIFA's decision has left me sick of the sight of them.

"It doesn't sit right flogging something that promotes Russia in any way at the moment.

"We're getting rid of the Swiss shirts as well because it's where Sepp Blatter was born.

"It might seem a bit petty but we're all furious because we really were robbed.hop for the jordan 6 rings iD Men's Shoe at the official Nike Store.

"We had the best bid and I want to send out the message that England fans won't take this lying down.buy cheap and popular  right now and get free shipping! top quality and low price." 

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Scorsese films Lebowitz

Scorsese films Lebowitz: "Public Speaking"

Wondering what Martin Scorsese's been up to since "Shutter Island"? Here's just one of many current projects: "Public Speaking," a documentary about the New York writer and wit Fran Lebowitz, who's best known for the two essay collections "Metropolitan Life" and "Social Studies," written nearly thirty years ago. I watched the film on HBO last night Adidas Jacket (it's made for cable, and currently available on demand) and loved it, though it sounds like the sort of thing that couldn't possibly work: It's basically Lebowitz and Scorsese (who's mostly off camera) sitting at a booth in Manhattan's Waverly Inn and discussing a variety of topics; like "My Dinner with Andre" minus one of the guests. We also see clips of Lebowitz being interviewed by Toni Morrison, and speaking to a college crowd. So basically, it's an hour and a half of a writer talking, off the top of her head -- a writer, mind you, who hasn't published a book in decades thanks to what she cheerfully describes  women handbags as a wicked case of "writer's blockade" -- and it works like gangbusters. Lebowitz is wry, funny, smart and insanely quick; she and Scorsese didn't set the topics for discussion in advance, and the film's energy reflects its of-the-moment quality.

(A taste of Lebowitz, though not from the film: In a recent discussion of books, Lebowitz expressed her disapproval -- something she does quite often -- of those who evaluate books based on how well they can relate to them, or how much they reflect the reader's own life. "A book should not be a mirror," she says sternly. "A book should be a door." Somebody Led lamp put that on a T-shirt.)

Trulli rubbishes Lotus exit rumours

Trulli rubbishes Lotus exit rumours


Jarno Trulli has rubbished suggestions that his future at the Lotus Racing team is in doubt, and he is certain he will be with the outfit in 2011.

Speculation in Brazil has suggested Hispania's Bruno Senna was set to replace Trulli at Lotus next season, and kidney stone that the Italian was looking for a deal to continue racing in the NASCAR series.

The veteran Italian, however, says all the rumours have been simply made up.

"It seems all invented to me, as are the rumours that I would go racing in NASCAR," Trulli was quoted as saying by Autosprint magazine.

"The truth is that before coming to Brazil I went to Miami and met [Juan Pablo] Montoya to exchange the Audemars  women handbags Piguet watches that bear our names.

"I'm calm about the future, as I've already been involved by [Mike] Gascoyne in the 2011 project."

Trulli's manager Lucio Cavuto also hit out at Senna's management.

"Those are just rumours bandied about by Senna, who as far as I know has even had trouble respecting the financial obligations Led lamp he took with Hispania this year," he said.

Derby day falls flat for Cardiff

Derby day falls flat for Cardiff


Steve Tucker wonders when Dave Jones will get the importance ofbeating Swansea to City fans

SURE, this South Wales derby defeat may not have disastrous consequences for Cardiff City’s promotion push – but it definitely had disastrous consequences for Bluebirds supporters hoping Cold Sore to enjoy their Sunday night.

It was amazing to witness the glum faces which trooped out of the stadium after the final whistle, the muttered curses and oaths aimed at manager Dave Jones and his players.

It was as if the Bluebirds weren’t enjoying their best start to a season in decades or were not still sitting second in the Championship.

This was, after all, Cardiff’s first home defeat of the campaign; but, unfortunately, it was against you-know-who.

But what the despair among the Bluebirds faithful did illustrate is the almost mythical status this fixture enjoys.

This game is not about three points in the Championship or another step towards promotion.

It is about passion, real Welsh women handbags passion, about decades of hatred and enmity between two cities divided not just by a stretch of the M4, but by just about everything that matters.

The South Wales derby is about footballing life and death.

With this being the case, then will someone please pass this information onto Jones, who still seems somehow oblivious to the magnitude of this fixture, despite having spent more than five years in South Wales.

Again ahead of this one Jones assumed the air of a man bemused by what all the fuss was about.

Aiming slights at the South Wales derby in comparison to those in Manchester and Liverpool; acting like a bemused parent at the silliness of anyone foolish enough to actually get caught up in the whole thing.

Yes, we know all that Dave, but Led lamp you are not in Manchester or Liverpool now. You are in Cardiff, so get with the programme.

The unready Republicans

The unready Republicans


When a political party suffers two consecutive thrashings at the polls, its supporters can usually look forward to a long period of exile a time to lick wounds, settle scores, feud over policy and gradually map out a road back to relevance.

Not so for the Obama-era Republicans. They were thumped in 2006 and left for dead after 2008, but all it took was a led lighting 9.6 unemployment rate and an unpopular liberal majority to bring them roaring back. The wilderness era lasted all of 22 months: Conservatives had barely started arguing about what went wrong during the Bush era before the American public handed them the House of Representatives again.

To his credit, John Boehner, the presumptive speaker of the House, seems aware of how little the Republicans have done to earn their summons back to power. His rhetoric since last Tuesday's sweep has been self-effacing, and his promises have been limited and largely procedural.

Newt Gingrich took power in 1994 claiming a mandate and brandishing a list of legislative priorities, but Boehner has kept his cards closer to the vest. "It is the president who sets the agenda for our government," he told supporters Tuesday night — not the kind of statement, to put it mildly, that leading Republicans issued in '94.

The modest Boehner leads a party with much to be modest about. Gingrich could brandish an agenda because he had an agenda — a raft of conservative policy proposals on welfare and crime and taxes that couldn't get any traction in a Democratic-controlled Congress. Today's Republicans, by contrast, know what they're against (the health care bill, tax increases, cap and trade) but have a world of trouble saying what they women handbags actually might be for.

Instead, they tend to fall back on the reassuring story they've been spinning for the last two years, in which they lost to the Democrats only because they failed to hold the line on spending. It's a narrative that flatters conservative self-regard while absolving Republicans of the obligation to think too deeply about policy. All they need to do is say "no" to bigger government, and the rest will take care of itself.

This strategy has worked for them in opposition, thanks to the Democratic Party's haste and hubris. But it isn't a blueprint for governance, and it ducks the real reasons the Republicans lost their majority. While the Bush administration overspent, it wasn't spending and deficits that turned the country against conservative domestic policy between 2004 and 2008. It was the fact that the Republican majority seemed to have no answers to Middle America's economic struggles and no appetite for the structural reforms required to keep the United States competitive.

This is even more true today. The United States is facing three overlapping crises — the short-term challenge of a jobless recovery, the long-term crisis of entitlement spending and, in the medium term, an economy that wasn't delivering for the middle class even before the financial crisis struck. The Democratic Party may have the wrong answers to these problems. But the Republican Party as an institution often seems to have no answers whatsoever.

Some individual Republicans make a better showing. Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, has a proposal for payroll tax relief that might help jump-start economic growth. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman, has his famous "road map" to a sustainable entitlement system. Judd Gregg, the outgoing Republican senator from New Hampshire, was collaborating Led lamp with Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat, on tax reform that could attract bipartisan support. And during the health care and financial reform debates, the pages of conservative magazines bristled with plausible alternatives to the Democratic bills.

Yet the party hasn't united around any of these ideas. And what consensus does exist is insufficient to the nation's challenges. The country needs fundamental tax reform rather than the permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts. It needs a health care overhaul that doesn't merely return the system to the pre-Obamacare status quo. It needs a plan to slow the growth of Social Security and Medicare, not just a discretionary spending freeze.

Cousin Anthony fist pump for Snooki

Cousin Anthony fist pump for Snooki


You know Carlo's Bakery is going somewhere when it is graced by the presence of Snooki of "The Jersey Shore."

She wanted a cake for her mom's birthday, but it needed pizzazz because as she said, her mom is very conservative. So Snooki requested to have a bit of herself in it somehow — selfless daughter indeed.

Cousin Anthony and younger cousin, Buddy, were starstruck by the new client, and tried impressing her. It was  replica uhren obvious that no one at the bakery watches "The Jersey Shore" as Snooki made references about her poof, GTL-ing, and fist pumping gorillas that no one could decipher upon first mention.

She seemed almost taken aback when she requested that her signature poof be somehow incorporated into her mom's cake, and Buddy just stared clueless.

A rectangular base followed by two little round tiers next to each other were used to resemble two different cakes in one. One side was Snooki's and the opposing was her mom's. Snooki's part of the cake was a cool blue, with a mini-she, done by Ralphie, who had Led lamp no idea of the hair poof either, and was surrounded by shirtless, buffed up "guidos" on the brown-sugared beach.

Snooki's mom's side was neon green, with piping flowers and miniature flower pots, along with a sculpture of her as a gardener.

I believe this was the first time cherry filling with real cherries was used.

Do I recall Buddy at some point express discontent with everything "The Jersey Shore" represents for Italian-Americans? Yet women handbags here he was taking orders from the "guidette" and teaching Ralphie how to fist pump. He only mentioned how he didn't like the term "guido" but shrugged it off as part of the normal talk at the shore.

On to our second cake, which was really the first one introduced in the show. Clients at South Street Seaport in New York City asked for a different kind of ship cake in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the S.S. Normandie luxury liner. They didn't just want a replica of the ship. Instead, they wanted the cake to exhibit what was found inside the ship.

Life in 3D

Life in 3D


Film analysts have written that the lure of Avatar, and the reason for its huge billion-dollar financial successes, was that Led lamp it was the first of its kind; a new generation of 3D films that caused cinema goers to flock back to picture houses again and again to relive the magic.

A year later and 3D technology is becoming mainstream. Nearly every major cinema blockbuster has a 3D adaptation, Nintendo has created a 3D version of its popular DS console and Sky TV and Virgin Media have launched 3D TV channels, allowing subscribers to experience 3D movies, sports and TV programmes in their homes.

London-basedaugmented reality retail specialists Holition knew this day would come and in preparation have been working on a range of 3D marketing products that it has been presenting to watch and jewellery brands over the past couple of years.

Holition is a joint venture between 3D technical specialist company Inition and a marketing firm with a background in luxury goods that has worked with companies including Asprey, Mappin & Webb, De  women handbags Beers and Links of London. It also has a diamond boss on the board of directors. So while Holition has completed 3D projects for other brands including BMW and IBM, the company has focused much of its efforts on dragging the watch and jewellery industry into the future through 3D marketing.

“It’s a traditional, lumpy industry and not the easiest to convince,” laughs Holition brand director Lynne Murray. But slowly and surely the company has been turning brands on to the power of 3D.

A year ago Holition chief executive Jonathan Chippindale admits he was knocking on brands’ doors, but now he says they are coming to him. Getting brands to witness the technology is the hardest  Air purifier part, he claims, but once they do, the magic of Holition’s 3D creations sways nearly everybody. “Once you see the technology you just get it, but it’s very hard to describe,” Chippindale explains. “It’s a bit of a magical moment when you do, like when you first saw Avatar.”

Consider…

Consider… YOU. In all time before now and in all time to come, there has never been and will never be anyone just like you. You are unique in the entire history and future of the universe. Wow! Stop and think about that. You're better than one in a million, or a billion, or a gazillion…

You are the only one like you in a sea of infinity!

You're amazing! You're awesome! And by the way, TAG, you're it. As amazing and awesome as you already are, you can be even more so. Beautiful young people are the whimsey of nature, but beautiful old people are true works of art. But you don't become "beautiful" just by virtue of the aging process.

Real beauty comes from learning, growing, and loving in the ways of life. That is the Art of Life. You can learn slowly, and sometimes painfully, by just waiting for life to happen to you. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers. You are the artist that paints your future with the brush of today.

Paint a Masterpiece.

God gives every bird its food, but he doesn't throw it into its nest. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, it's truly up to you.