Winter Olympics: Ice Hockey Canada beat USA winning Gold.

Canada won the Olympic title Sunday, beating the United States 3-2 to become the first host nation to capture men's hockey gold in 30 years.

Crosby got the winning goal 7:40 into the overtime period, taking a pass from Jarome Iginla and sliding a shot under the pads of US goaltender Ryan Miller.

Technorati Tags: Crosby,Canada,USA,Ice Hockey,Winter Olympics,Vancouver 2010,Gold Medal

panels are in

uneventful day. Got the panels in fairly easily. There are definitely some inconsistent gaps between the ceiling and the wall panels. Nearly all of it will be hidden by cabinetry. I'm going to look for some kind of trim for the finishing work. Went to Lowe's and returned the crappy drill I bought yesterday. Also bought a bunch of wood for the bed frame. Should have that done tomorrow. maybe.....

You can click on the pictures to see them larger.

Oh, of course there was one mishap. I took out the little wall light and accidently bumped the back of it against the van frame. It showered sparks. Now none of the interior lights work. Just another thing to do. Gotta find the fuse box and poke around.

FML

I've picked up on some of the lingo the kids are using these days. LOL, ROFL, the more intense Roflcopter, WTF, etc. etc. Well if you didn't know there are entire websites devoted to the 3 simple letters: FML. It means F*** My Life. People use it as an expression of frustration when it just seems that everything goes wrong.

We woke up to an additional 6 inches of snow and 28 degrees. FML. But I was psyched to get the paneling in today. All of it! Started working by 8:00. I wanted to get the ceiling in first so I grabbed a panel and trudged through knee deep snow to get it to the van. Of course the van is parked at the edge of the driveway that drops off 8 inches at a 45 degree angle so I slipped and ate shit. Unfortunately I was carrying a piece of plywood that I was trying to keep dry that landed on top of me before being covered in powder snow. FML.

Of course it didn't fit right so I had to carry it back to the basement for additional cuts. Finally got it about right but needed to pound it upward to get it in place. I have no mallet and was 100% determined not to go to Lowe's today. Washcloth+hammer+duct tape= 'rubber' mallet. FML

The second ceiling panel didn't want to fit either. As an added bonus the van was 1.5 inches longer than 8 feet. So 2 sheets of plywood comes up just short enough to create a gap. I had to
fashion a 2x2 strip for the rear which of course took about an hour. Then I used my 'mallet' to pound the ceiling in place. The sheet metal screws are fairly short so I don't bust through the ceiling so I had to press my head as hard as I could against the roof while simultaneously achieving the delicate task of starting a screw which of course falls off the bit 9 out of 10 times. FML

I cut the door panel out of pre-stained wood then stained the edges. Of course the holes I drilled didn't line up with the door holes so I drilled new ones then plugged the bad ones with the old plastic 'plugs' that were on the old panel. To screw the door handle back on I had to open the door just a notch to access the handle. I glanced outside for a second and got snowblind just before trying to find the tiny hole in black plastic. I thought I was lined up but the screw was not in the hole and dropped off the bit, bounced once, fell through the tiny crack in the door, and disappeared into the snow. FML.

I searched for a while with my hand until it went numb. FML. Then I got clever and got a magnet. I searched with that for about ten minutes to no avail. FML. Then I spent the next 20 minutes with a hairdryer, blowdrying snow until the little brass devil appeared. FML.

The rear door panels were a PITA. The one with the door handle in particular. Plastic flexes so it was easy to take off the old one. Wood does not bend it breaks. Oh, well. It looks fine. FML.

I was poised to get all the paneling in today. It was only 3:00ish. I had to make some tricky cuts on the first panel but my measurements worked out. Amazingly. I was screwing it in when the battery on my drill driver went dead. I went to replace it only to find that neither battery would fit back in. It was broken. I tried hard to figure it out. To make it work. I ended up duct taping the battery on but the springs kept pushing it out. I was determined not to go to Lowe's. If I could hold the panel with my left hand and balance a screw on the bit then push it to the surface and pull the trigger while simultaneously pushing on the battery with my forearm it would work. I'd set up for this feat of coordination and the screw would fall off the bit everytime. FML. I ripped the duct tape off, determined to fix the drill but just ended up bashing it into the floor repeatedly. If it wasn't broken before it sure was now. FML

I went to Lowe's to spend 100$ on a new drill. FML. The tool guy told me that my drill was under warranty. It had a 2 year warranty! But I don't have the receipt. "No problem" he told me. They can look it up using my phone number. "Man, these guys are great" I thought. So I drove home, got the drill, and returned to Lowe's where they informed me that "We only keep track of receipts for 30 days. You'd have to send it of to Porter Cable to be repaired." FML.

So I bought a Black and Decker for 10 dollars less than my old PC. Got it home and discovered it's a POS. FML. Should have spent the extra 10 to get the same drill I had. Of course the batteries were dead so I set one on to charge. Waited 15 min. then took it out and got half a hole drilled before it died. FML.

I did not finish the paneling today.

O canto que encanta

Confesso que era leigo sobre o assunto! Ou ao menos não sabia por que recebia esse nome e nem que era tão antigo assim...

Nestes últimos dias que os foliões ainda estão animados e as marchinhas de carnaval insistem ficar em nossas mentes, resolvemos dar uma amenizada em nossos assuntos. Estudiosos afirmam que o canto gregoriano é a mais antiga manifestação musical do Ocidente! E para engrandecer ainda mais o seu currículo, suas inspirações são cravadas em cantos das antigas sinagogas, desde os tempos de Jesus Cristo.

O Canto Gregoriano teve sua formação no período dos séculos I ao VI, atingiu o ápice nos séculos VII e VIII, quando foram feitas as mais lindas composições do gênero. Este nome que pode remeter a religiosidade é uma homenagem ao Papa São Gregório Magno (540-604) que solicitou uma coletânea de peças, publicando-as em dois livros: o Antifonário, conjunto de melodias referentes às Horas Canônicas, e o Gradual Romano, contendo os cantos da Santa Missa. Ele também iniciou a "Schola Cantorum" que deu grande desenvolvimento ao canto gregoriano.

Talvez você possa estar achando isso meio sem graça; mas pode acreditar, é muito bom. Nesta semana, está acontecendo uma “oficina de Canto Gregoriano”, realizada graças a um projeto aprovado pela Lei Federal de Incentivo a Cultura, a Rouanet; lei esta que institui políticas públicas para a cultura nacional.

Emocionado com o que viu: o Professor Paulo Monteiro que está à frente desse projeto, conta: “gostei muito de conhecer o Sebastião Barros, maestro da Orquestra Câmara de Cordas Ramacrisna e feliz de saber que a semente aqui plantada pode dar bons frutos”.

Nos dias 20 e 21 de fevereiro, nossa equipe esteve presente em duas apresentações do coral em igrejas católicas da regional Vianópolis. O resultado foi o mais empolgante possível, uma vez que a aceitação do público foi muito calorosa...
Agora é sermos otimistas e ver essa linda e séria semente dar bons frutos, ‘quer dizer, boas canções!

Texto: Henrique Oliveira
Fotos: Jansen Remicrifer e Raphael Dias.

Nothing is as easy as it seems...

I've been working on the rig. First step was to get everything out. the shelving came out easy. The bulkhead was a bear. It sounds so simple to drill out the rivets holding it in but of course I broke a bunch of bits and had to take more trips to Lowes. Before I knew it, it had been an all day affair. The next day I took out the plastic wall paneling and installed the insulation. This rig is gonna be warm in the winter.

Yesterday dad came up to help me with the wiring. I'm going to have a deep cycle battery under the passenger seat. the fuse box is going to be in the cabinet under the sink behind the driver's seat. You can see the wiring in the picture. I've got a pretty simple electrical set-up so far. One fluorescent for lighting the main living area, 2 leds for lighting the kitchen area, a fan in the right rear, an inverter, and a 12v socket. The 12v socket may eventually power the fridge. All the wiring had to be run first so it could be under the wood paneling which goes in tomorrow.

I wanted to cut the wall panels first so I could stain the edges but... I ran out of time and knew I'd be a full day behind if I didn't get the stain on today. I'll cut the panel tomorrow and for the rest of my life live with the unstained 5mm edges on the panels. Unless it's gonna drive me crazy, then I'll stain the edge. We'll see how noticable it is. Keep in mind most of the panel edges will be hidden by cabinetry. we'll see.

Tennis: Maria Sharapova UMM Magazine Fall 2009

Maria Sharapova UMM Magazine cover girl


Maria Sharapova UMM Magazine center spread


Maria Sharapova UMM Magazine


Maria Sharapova UMM Magazine hot pictures

Winter Olympics: Figure skating Kim Yu-Na and Mao Asada competing for medal

South Korea Kim Yu-Na dazzles in figure skating

Japan’s Mao Asada performs her ladies free skating in Vancouver

FIFA World Cup 2010: Groups & Countries

The football FIFA world cup 2010 is going to start on 11 June'2010 at Soccer City (Johannesburg), south Africa. There are the list of groups and countries playing in the FIFA world cup 2010

 

* Group A * South Africa * Mexico * Uruguay * France * Group B * Argentina * Nigeria * South Korea * Greece * Group C * England * United States * Algeria * Slovenia * Group D * Germany * Australia * Serbia * Ghana

* Group E     * Netherlands     * Denmark     * Japan     * Cameroon     * Group F     * Italy     * Paraguay     * New Zealand     * Slovakia     * Group G     * Brazil     * North Korea     * Ivory Coast     * Portugal     * Group H     * Spain     * Switzerland     * Honduras     * Chile

Badry vs Leonardo

For non Egyptian readers Hossam El Badry is the coach of the most successful club in Africa and Egypt, Ahly, my team. Leonardo is an ex Brazilian international who inherited the AC Milan squad in the post Kaka' era. Both men are on their first job as the number one man, their situation carries both common factors and huge difference.

Badry was given the job of managing Egyptian champions Ahly after the board parted ways with legendary coach Manuel Jose. He was Jose's second man for many years and became the first Egyptian coach of the club for a very long time. He had a lot of shoes to fill but he had the champions that boasted a lot of internationals and stars of the Egypt National team. Players like Abu Trieka, Meteb, Gomaa, Fathi, Ahmed Hassan, Moawad and Barakat. Most of these players are on the wrong side of thirty but still showed a lot of hunger. Badry was not building a new team or resurrecting a wounded giant (like Hossam Hassan is doing managing Zamalek). However the local media as always would like to make us think that Badry is tackling an impossible mission with Ahly. They insist that the team needs a major overhaul just because we won the league on the final day of the season. The media here is always behind the local coach. Ahly just drew their latest game after throwing a 2-0 half time advantage due to tactical errors from the coach, who does the media blame? The keeper! Badry has just won 1 game from the last 4 in the second round of the league. Something is wrong and he should not be commended for tackling the impossible because frankly it's not that hard.

Leonardo on the other hand is man thrown straight into the fire. Milan have not won a Scudetto for a very long time and lost their main star in Kaka' to Real Madrid in the summer. Most of the team is past their prime, wrong side of 30 and 35. Plus the management says it does not have enough money to spend. So basically Milan looks in trouble. Prior to the start of the season I thought a UEFA qualification would be an achievement. Leonardo has never had a managerial role before and was still studying for his coaching certificate after his appointment. He had several roles in AC Milan from head scout to Sporting Director. Experience was not on his side. Leonardo was tackling the impossible and not Badry. He had a battered and old squad, no money and no experience. Not to mention media attacks on him.

Badry has changed Ahly's style of play from 3-5-2 to a narrow 4-4-4 (or 4-5-1). He was mostly successful and come mid way through the league he was leading the table. Mind you Ahly's performances left a lot to be desired but we were doing enough to stay ahead of the competition. Ahly had a lot of injuries to deal with and so was forced to field many youth players. Too many though if you ask me. Championship teams give 2-3 youth a chance per season and they don't play them every game. Look at Manchester United. Badry had a chance in the transfer market but bought poorly. Dipping into the market to get players like striker Moudi Fadl who frankly is not up to par. He also bought Ekramy the keeper just as his young goalie was coming into his own. Now he is second choice! He managed though to unearth some good talents while injuries

were a problem none more so than Attacking midfielder Shokry who is a brilliant talent. It worked well for Ahly and the youth performed well. Problems started to arise once the veterans started recovering from injury. All coaches would be happy with that, Badry seemed confused and unsure. In the last 4 games or so he has consistently changed around 5 players from the starting line up each game. Two Sets of Strikers in 2 consecutive games. Then a mixture of the 2 sets, then one striker. Shokry was suddenly benched, Shebeta his favorite was now on the fringes and it seems he has no position for Abdallah Farouk and plays him everywhere just for the sake of playing him. He is too chicken to substitute Ahmed Hassan after the nations cup and suddenly Afroto plays one good game and so he is a must play. Jose never gave a chance to any youths but Badry has turned us into an elementary school. You don't experiment half way thought the season with a championship team. You have your starters and incorporate a few numbers of youth and reserves accordingly. Badry is no longer doing a good job and I guess the Africa Cup of Nations break gave him too much time on his hands. He should be criticized and frankly he did not inherit a difficult task, he made it difficult.

Leonardo knew what was required from his employers. They wanted Milan to play exciting football and Leo responded. He changed the whole look of Milan. He incorporated a 4-3-3 with Ronaldinho on one side Pato on the other and Boriello as a target man. He managed to invigorate Ronaldinho into the player he once was. He has a hunger to him that has been absent for the last 3 years. He has found his touch back and some of his blistering pace in the final third. Ronnie has contributed around 20 assists this season. Leo has instilled confidence in Borriello and he became prolific and integral to Milan's efforts. Ancelotti was always complaining that Borriello was injured and I thought why is crying about an unknown. This season I know why. Borriello scored fantastic goals; he has a sweet touch and is physically strong to bang around in the penalty area. Leonardo has kept the core of the team intact. Only a few new faces are involved. Thiago Silva who has become indispensible, Abbati on occasion, Huntelaar who although rarely starts has scored 6 goals and is always eager for more and Antonini. The rest of the old guard is still there but you would not be able to tell. Ambrosini, Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf to name a few. Leo has mixed it up perfectly and excited his players to play for him. Yet he is still getting the stick by the media and his employers but as a true professional he continues to work in silence. Yesterday AC Milan managed to beat Fiorentina and go second in Serie A with only 4 points behind Inter, who would have though. Don't be surprised if Milan pulls out the impossible at Old Trafford. Leonardo has shown how to turn the impossible into the possible. Mr. Badry can learn a thing or two about having your back to the wall. He has lived in an illusion created by the media until it had become a reality. He better snap out of it or else Ahly will throw away the league.

Sachin Tendulkar,Not Playing in Third One Day,Ahmedabad

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who became the first batsman in ODI history to hit a double hundred, has been rested for the 3rd ODI in Ahmedabad.

 

India has already won the three-match series 2-0, the Indian team management will test its bench strength in the final ODI. Besides Sachin Tendulkar, some other key players may be rested.

Hockey World cup 2010 A Complete Schedule

The Hockey World cup 2010 will commence on February 28,at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi .  It will be the 12th edition of the Hockey World Cup. In total, 12 countries are participating in the Hockey World Cup 2010.

Schedule of Hero Honda Hockey World Cup 2010

Sunday, February 28:

Pool B - South Africa vs Spain (16:35 IST)

Pool B - Australia vs England (18:35 IST)

Pool B - India vs Pakistan (20:35 IST)

Monday, March 1:

Pool A - New Zealand vs Canada (16:35 IST))

Pool A - Germany vs Korea (18:35 IST)

Pool A - Netherlands vs Argentina (20:35 IST)

Tuesday, March 2:

Pool B - South Africa vs England (16:35 IST)

Pool B - Pakistan vs Spain (18:35 ISt)

Pool B - India vs Australia (20:35 IST)

Wednesday, March 3:

Pool A - Canada vs Germany (16:35 IST)

Pool A - Argentina vs Korea (18:35 IST)

Pool A - New Zealand vs Netherlands (20:35 IST)

Thursday, March 4:

Pool B - South Africa vs Australia (16:35 IST)

Pool B - England vs Pakistan (18:35 IST)

Pool B - India vs Spain (20:35 IST)

Friday, March 5:

Pool A - Korea vs New Zealand (16:35 IST)

Pool A - Netherlands vs Canada (18:35 IST)

Pool A - Germany vs Argentina (20:35 IST)

Saturday, March 6:

Pool B - Australia vs Spain (16:35 IST)

Pool B - South Africa vs Pakistan (18:35 IST)

Pool B - India vs England (20:35 IST)

Sunday, March 7:

Pool A - Korea vs Canada (16:35 IST)

Pool A - New Zealand vs Argentina (18:35 IST)

Pool A - Germany vs Netherlands (20:35 IST)

Monday, March 8:

Pool B - Spain vs England (16:35 IST)

Pool B - Australia vs Pakistan (18:35 IST)

Pool B - India vs South Africa (20:35 IST)

Tuesday, March 9:

Pool A - Germany vs New Zealand (16:35 IST)

Pool A - Netherlands vs Korea (18:35 IST)

Pool A - Canada vs Argentina (20:35 IST)

Wednesday, March 10: Rest Day

Thursday, March 11:

Classification - 11-12 6th Pool A vs 6th Pool B (15:35 IST)

Semi-final 1st Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (18:05 IST)

Semi-final 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool A (20:35 IST)

Friday, March 12:

Classification 9-10 5th Pool A vs 5th Pool B (15:35 IST)

Classification 7-8 4th Pool A vs 4th Pool B (18:05 IST)

Classification 5-6 3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (20:35 IST)

Saturday, March 13:

Bronze medal match (15:35 IST)

FINAL (18:05 IST)

Max...The Road Warrior

Buying a new vehicle was a very difficult decision but I had to man up and do it. I've loved Troy, my 1986 VW Vanagon Westy, with all my heart. But it got to the point where I was unable to leave town for climbing trips. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a camper van if you can't leave town to camp! So I was faced with the difficult decision of either putting 1000's of dollars into a full restoration or spending 1000's of dollars on a new rig. I bought a new rig.

This is Max...the Road Warrior. Obviously named after Mad Max. Max is a Dodge Sprinter cargo van with a 2.7 liter turbo diesel Mercedes engine that will supposedly run up to 400,000 miles at about 30 MPG's. Sick. He is an empty shell of a rig that was used as a work truck in Iowa. Note the shelving, ladder rack, and bulkhead. I flew to Iowa to pick it up, filled up the tank across the street from the dealer, then drove it home, only stopping for gas once! It has a big tank. 800 miles on a tank and a quarter.

I plan to share the details of the conversion on this blog. My beta is not only ironclad in climbing but in all aspects of life as well, including van conversion. And so the effort begins. Here are some pics of Max in his current state.

Você sabe o que é Eficiência Energética?

Winter Olympics:USA wins 5-3 over Canada in Ice Hockey

Brian Rafalski

VANCOUVER 2010: The United States pulled off its biggest Olympic hockey upset since the Miracle on Ice, stunning Canada 5-3 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of an already mixed-up tournament.

Brian Rafalski scored two goals and set up another, and Ryan Miller held off a flurry of shots to lead the Americans.

One day short of the 30th anniversary of the country’s greatest hockey victory — the unfathomable win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid — these underrated Americans were faster, more disciplined and more determined than Canada’s collection of all-stars.

….Continue

Mido is back?

Mido has always been the center of controversy when it comes to Egyptian football had joined West Ham in January for a reported wage of only 1,000 English Pounds per week. 4,000 pounds a month for any Egyptian would be considered a very good salary. Not for footballers though. His salary seems insanely low even for Egyptians practicing their trade locally. So how come he is getting payed that low?

Looking back at his history may provide us with a more clear view. Mido left Egypt at the tender age of 16 to join Belgian side Gent. For the next 10 years he has been all over Europe joining a total of 10 clubs from his glory days at Ajax till his forgettable Middlesborough spell. Frankly the kid does not need the money anymore. Recently he has been injury prone due to a very noticeable increase in his weight. This and his attitude has caused him problems with many mangers most notably Egypt's Hassan Shehata who has not called up Mido for the last 2 Nations Cup. He has been dubbed lazy and a trouble maker, well why would you put any effort if you owned a Ferrari at 18 yrs of age. In his defense though I have always though that the lad gave 110% percent when it came to representing his country.

The huge pay cut he took to play again in the Premier League is not because he was unwanted or that he was pimping himself in someway. I think it is a great positive step on his part and it shows that at 26 years of age Mido has matured enough to realize that it is not just about the money. Mido wants to play football again at the highest level, he wants to leave some sort of legacy when it comes to football. He has been around for ages but he is only 26 and has a minimum of a good 6 years of football in him. I'm not sure what the trigger was (maybe his exclusion from the Egyptian team) but it seems Mido has taken a long hard look at himself and seen what his former teams mates have achieved (Zlatan at Barcelona and Drogba at Chelsea) while he took the role of club hopper. Mido seems to be back.

Shame on some footballers who have made fun of his wage cut mainly the likes of Cashly (Ashly) Cole who by the way sold his boyhood club for a few extra quid. Well it was not just a few extra quid, but this kind of attitude was always beyond me. When your are getting payed around 50,000 quid a week is it worth changing settings, causing trouble and leaving friends behind for lets say 80,000 a week? They are both insane amounts of money but I feel other criteria should come in play. The main reason for switching clubs in my option would be to win trophies. Well money is a target early on but later it just rubs me the wrong the way. Mido should be commended on his pioneering action and players like Cashly are afraid others may do it and player like him would only be paid the pathetic sum of 30,000 or 50,000 quid.

Say what you like about Mido but this is a step in the right direction in the hope that he may one day regain his stature in Egypt and in Europe. Good luck to him

Winter Olympics: Skier Bode Miller Wins Silver Medal For USA

USA Skier Bode Miller wins the silver medal in the men’s Alpine skiing downhill competition in Vancouver 2010. Aksel Lund Svindal raced down the hill in 1 minute 30.34 seconds, which was just 0.28 seconds faster than Bode’s descent. Fellow US skier Andrew Weibrecht, 24, won bronze, finishing just .03 seconds

Technorati Tags: Vancouver 2010,Winter Olympics,Medal,Alpine Skiing,Bode Miller

Winter Olympics:Hannah Teter Hot Bikini Photo Shoot in Cool Ice

   

sarah Brandner Body Painting Photos

 

sarah brandner,Girl friend of German Midfielder Bastian schweinsteiger, Posing with Body Painting