Cape Argus Pick n Pay Junior Cycling Tour

Cape Argus Pick n Pay Junior Tour

Attention all cycling fanatics!

The coolest cycling event around is about to become even cooler, as the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Junior Tour will now take place the day before the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour!

This is especially great news if you are travelling down to Cape Town with Mom and Dad, because you will now also be able to join in all the cycling action in an event especially designed around YOU!

What you need to know
Event: Cape Argus Pick n Pay Junior Tour, presented by Spur Steak Ranches
Date: Saturday, 13 March 2010
Venue: Youngsfield Military Base, Wynberg
Route: 5 km & 10 km
Ages: Six to 12-year-olds
Enter: 5 – 12 March 2010, Canal Walk Shopping Centre
Entry fee: R40 (incl. one accompanying parent) plus R10 per additional parent/guardian
Entry limits: 1,800 riders

As always, there will be plenty of entertainment, refreshments and cycling action, so bring your friends and ride with us!

[Via http://amanziblue.wordpress.com]

Pregnancy and Sport

This is a quick Olympic-themed post, as I spent part of February in Vancouver at the Olympics (part of the reason that blogging has been light)!

My mom is the chief medical advisor for Skate Canada, and a specialist in women’s health and sport. She’s an expert on topics like exercise and pregnancy, and she was recently quoted in the NY Times in light of an American ice dancer who was competing in the Olympics after giving birth just a few months ago. It’s an fascinating article, and it describes some intense challenges (fear of her dance partner’s reaction, after years and years of preparation for the Olympics; the hard work it took to get back in shape), but it also shows the strength of this athlete, and that life isn’t over with pregnancy.

Also, there was another Olympian who was pregnant at the games (don’t worry—just curling)!

[Via http://utsfl.wordpress.com]

Nike Tennis Shoes And How To Buy Them Wholesale

Nike has always been a leader in the upscale tennis shoe market and since the 80’s they have pretty dominated the market by signing big name sports stars like Michael Jordan and more recently LeBron James and Tiger Woods. Nike spends big money on getting these celebrity sports star endorsements to the tune of nearly 500 million dollars a year so it must be working for them. The signature Michael Jordan shoes called Air Jordan continue to be popular even after 20 years on the market and his no longer playing basketball.

Nike Air Jordans can be easily distinguished from other tennis shoes just by their logo alone. The earlier releases featured a winged basketball and could be found near the ankle area on both sides of the shoe as well as the tongue. When Nike introduced the 4th generation of the shoe the logo was changed to a basketball player in air as if he were dunking a basketball. This logo is known as the “jumpman” and appears in numerous places on the shoe.

Air Jordan tennis shoes are innovators in technology in the industry, the whole technology behind designing the shoe to bring in air to the soles gives them the comfort that everyone is looking for. This feature is standard in all of the Air Jordan tennis shoes but the newer ones of course are much better and even feature an adjustment pump which enables the wearer of the shoe to adjust it to suit his own needs.

These are not cheap tennis shoes, I can remember as a kid buying tennis shoes for no more than $20 but Air Jordans sell for as much as 300 bucks or more. This has created a great secondary wholesale market, especially on the internet where prices are even more competitive. In order to get into this market you will have to do some work.

Like other high products such as Gucci and Prada handbags and Rolex watches their exists a large black market of counterfeiters so you must be extra careful to make sure you are dealing with a reputable company. The best way to start is to simply type in the term “wholesale tennis shoe” or in the case above, “wholesale Nike Air Jordan tennis shoes” into the search box of your favorite web browser. This will get you a list of wholesalers to investigate and narrow down.

Next check them out with the Better Business Bureau, both online and where they are located and if they have complaints take them off your lists. Now that you have the list narrowed down, call them up and ask for references of satisfied clients, they should be more than willing to do so. If they pass this test then find out what there pricing, shipping, and return policies are and if they are acceptable you are in business. Don’t judge just on price alone, if they are far cheaper they are probably knock offs.

Friends Link : Sanuk Luichiny

[Via http://buywomensshoes.wordpress.com]

Impressions from the 2010 Australian Tennis Open

The 2010 Australian Tennis Open was a celebration of exciting all court tennis. With Murray, Federer, Henin and Tsonga amongst the main protagonists the tennis was both thrilling and beautiful. This style of tennis is making a comeback as top players seek to conserve energy by shortening grinding rallies and create a competitive advantage in a game often dominated by ground strokes…read more>>>

[Via http://tennisinstruction.wordpress.com]

Woulda, coulda, shoulda

In its development stage, this property at 309 Massachusetts Ave was a yogi’s dream: a beautiful new space for yoga and wellness led by some major names in Cambridge / Boston yoga. Despite the hype, the project withered and the space never opened. According to the neighbors, the yogis overspent on construction and the project was shuttered mid-project. But this prime empty Mass Ave location is not a victim of the economy, but rather a victim of MIT’s new policy of “evaluating” all of its current property holdings in Cambridge. Learning this made me curious-how much property does MIT own in Cambridge, and what are its policies towards community development with regards to its vacant commercial properties?

[Via http://emptymassave.wordpress.com]

Day 19 – Legs and Back

I had a good workout today.  I was able to increase my reps/weight/time in almost all of the exercises, and it’s the first time I’ve noticed a real improvement on any pull-ups/chin-ups.  I’m still terrible at the wide-grip pull-ups, but the close-grip and the chin-ups I went up both sets.  Improved balance helped me increase my reps in the deadlift squats too.  I felt good about myself when I finished today, although my back is starting to tighten up now!  And that good feeling didn’t last long, because up next was ab ripper x!  I really pushed myself during it, and had a significant increase from last friday, up to 269 reps.  I find that pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, since the first time I did this ab workout three weeks ago, I only did 209, and now on the third day in a row that I’ve done some ab moves, I beat that by 60!  Only one more workout before the recovery week.

[Via http://likethebeanp90x.wordpress.com]

Feats of Strength

“Therefore, carrying your bow and arrows, take Sita with you and find shelter in an impassable cave, covered with overgrown trees. My dear Lakshmana, please do not go against my wishes. After swearing by My feet, please go from here and protect Sita. We do not have much time. You are a strong and valiant warrior, and I have no doubt that you could defeat all these Rakshasas, but I wish to slay these night-rangers myself.” (Lord Rama speaking to Lakshmana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 24.12-14)

God’s devotion to His votaries is unflinching. In this passage, Lord Rama is asserting His power over all that be. Living in the forest, Rama’s younger brother, Lakshmana, was more than capable of handling the impending attack from the Rakshasas, yet just to show the world an example of His prowess, Rama decided to take on the battle by Himself. He wanted to personally teach the demons a lesson.

There are many established beliefs of who is God, what He looks like, and what type of form He takes, if any. Many religious systems espouse the belief that God is impersonal, or that He is an old man, or even that He doesn’t exist. The Vedas tell us otherwise. The ancient scriptures emanating from India certainly do describe the Lord in an impersonal manner from time to time. This is done more as a comparison technique. Any spirit soul that takes birth in the material world must assume a body that is both temporary and miserable. God, being the all-knowing and all-powerful, can never be limited to a temporary body, thus He is sometimes described as having no arms or legs. Nevertheless, God is still one, and He is a person. The Vedas tell us that the original form of God is Lord Krishna. He is also known as Bhagavan, Vishnu, Hari, Vasudeva, etc. These names all refer to the original God, and they exist simply to describe His various potencies.

The original Veda was imparted to the first created living entity, the demigod Lord Brahma. The difference between a demigod and God Himself is that a demigod is a living entity just like us. They may be elevated in material powers, and they may live a lot longer than we do, but their time on earth is nevertheless controlled. They have been granted special powers and jurisdiction over various aspects of the creation by Krishna Himself, but their reign of power eventually expires, similar to how members of Congress serve for a certain number of years after being elected. The Vedas describe God and His endless glories, but due to man’s fallibility, he has a tendency to either forget this knowledge or to not believe in it. Taking this into consideration the Lord personally appears on earth from time to time. In one sense we are all expansions of God since we are equal to the Lord in quality. God is eternally blissful and full of knowledge, and the same holds true for our spirit souls. However, we are subordinate to God and are thus prone to falling down into this material world. Assuming the body of a human, animal, or even a plant, our blissful nature becomes covered by the three gunas of goodness, passion, and ignorance. God, on the other hand, can never be subject to the illusory forces of maya. There is no difference between His body and spirit. When He appears on earth in the form of a human or an animal, His body should never be considered material or a product of maya.

One of God’s appearances took place during the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation. At the time, the demons of the world, the Rakshasas, were ascending to power. The Vedas tell us that there are 8,400,000 varieties of species that exist due to the unlimited combinations of goodness, passion, and ignorance that a living entity can possess. The Rakshasas are one such species. They are demonic by nature, taking the gross material body to be everything.

“They (the demoniac) say that this world is unreal, that there is no foundation and that there is no God in control. It is produced of sex desire, and has no cause other than lust.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.8)

A sober person realizes that they are eventually going to die. Knowing this fact, an intelligent person tries to figure out what the meaning of life is and why they are put on earth. The famous Vedanta-sutras actually address this issue. Their very first aphorism is “athato brahma-jijnasa”, which means “Now is the time for inquiring about Brahman, or God’. The atheistic class, the asuras or Rakshasas, never ponder this question. Thinking that death is the end of everything, they work as hard as they can to secure as much sense gratification as they can in their present life. This has been the philosophy of atheists since time immemorial. Thinking along these lines, the famous Indian philosopher, Charvaka Muni, advised everyone to eat as much clarified butter as they could, and to beg, borrow, and steal their way to money and fame if they had to.

The Rakshasas of the Treta Yuga were no different in their thinking. Their leader was Ravana, a ten-headed monster who defeated many of the demigods in battle. Lord Vishnu, at the insistence of the demigods, appeared on earth in human form. Vishnu’s appearance was carefully crafted in such a way so as to adhere to the boons that were bestowed upon Ravana. The demigods granted Ravana the boon that no celestial being, animal, etc. could ever defeat him. Human beings were exempt from this list since Ravana never thought a lowly man could ever defeat him. Lord Rama, though in the guise of a human being, was God Himself. Born and raised in the kingdom of Ayodhya, He and His brothers were expert kshatriya warriors. Their fighting skills were unmatched. The arrows shot from Rama’s bow were no ordinary weapons. They were more powerful than any modern nuclear weapon.

As part of His pastimes, Rama accepted banishment to the forest for fourteen years. This occurred due to a misunderstanding in the kingdom, but the real purpose of the exile was to give Rama an excuse to take on the Rakshasas, and more importantly Ravana. Rama’s wife, Sita Devi, and His younger brother, Lakshmana, accompanied Him during the exile. The group set up a temporary camp in Janasthana. One day they were visited by Ravana’s sister, Shurpanakha. She propositioned Rama, who then jokingly led her to Lakshmana. An argument ensued, and Lakshmana ended up lopping over her nose, disfiguring and humiliating her. Shurpanakha returned to Ravana and complained about what happened. Eventually, Ravana’s brother, Khara, decided to attack Rama. The demon brought an army of 14,000 Rakshasas with him. This shows the nature of the demons. Rama wasn’t bothering anybody, for He was living a peaceful, secluded life with His wife and brother. Yet the demons have no problem harassing the saintly people of the world. With Lord Rama, however, they picked the wrong person to mess with.

In the above referenced quote, Rama advised Lakshmana to take Sita to a cave and protect her. Rama wanted to take on these Rakshasas all by Himself. The result of the battle was quite predictable. Rama wiped the floor with the demons. He defeated 14,000 Rakshasas in Janasthana without blinking an eye. People who hear of such feats might often be led to think that this is just part of the mythology. “No one can fight that many demons all at once and emerge victorious. This must be part of the mythology, intended to teach us a lesson.”

This incident definitely teaches a lesson, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. God created an enormous astral body that provides heat and light to the entire world. This star, known as the sun, has power that is inconceivable to the human brain. Scientists have studied it since the beginning of time, yet they haven’t even come close to understanding how it works. Not only did God create the sun, but all the other planets as well. These massive planets all float on their own in space. The solar system is certainly not a myth, but a reality. In the same way, when we hear about God appearing on earth and performing miraculous feats, the incidents relating to His life most certainly did occur.

“I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit. I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 15.13)

As mentioned before, the human mind is incapable of truly understanding God. This is because, by definition, anything material must be fallible. Why is this so? Because our gross material body composed of earth, air, water, fire, and ether, and our subtle body made up of mind, intelligence, and false ego, are given up at the time of death. The soul is eternal, but the body is not. Thus every part of our body, except the soul, is temporary and thus flawed. God is completely the opposite. He is eternal and unlimited in power. Due to His causeless mercy, He appears on earth from time to time just to give the human mind a taste of spiritual life.

One who hears about Rama killing 14,000 Rakshasas in Janasthana with faith and devotion will certainly be taking steps towards rekindling their lost relationship with God. The Lord is neutral, by default, to all living entities, but He makes an exception for His devotees. This is because the bhaktas don’t want to associate with the material energy. They want to always connect with God, thus the Lord happily obliges and takes great care to ensure their safety. Rama performed many great feats of strength, including the slaying of Ravana, simply to give protection to His devotees at the time and to allow future generations to bask in the glory of God’s triumph.

God is beautiful at all times. Most people don’t like violence, for it is the nature of the soul to be peaceful and happy. Yet violence is necessary sometimes, and when God acts violently to give protection, it is certainly a thing of beauty. There is actually no difference between the Lord’s peaceful pastimes, such as those performed in the forests of Vrindavana with the gopis and cowherd boys, and Lord’s violent actions, such as those performed by Lord Rama and Narasimha Deva. Whether He is killing demons or melting hearts, God is always glorious.

[Via http://krishnasmercy.wordpress.com]

Stoke V Arsenal: Fans Need A Statement Of Intent

Over the last few weeks many people have analyzed the run-in for the top teams. Most are of the opinion that Arsenal have the easier path when compared with United and Chelsea. In such an analysis people tend to focus on the top four and other contenders like Villa, Citeh and the Tiny Totts. There is nothing wrong with that but I feel it does not do justice to teams like Stoke who offer just as big a challenge, especially at home. This fact is evident from the way Stoke have troubled the moneybags from Manchester in the last three games.

To my mind this game is easily our toughest in the run-in, on par with the trip to the Totts or the visit from the moneybags. Stoke are on an 11 game unbeaten run, their style has always troubled us, and in Delap they have a weapon no team has completely neutralized.

On the positive side, Stoke have just won a tiring mid week FA Cup fixture that took them to extra time. We will see if Wenger’s theory of a team lacking sharpness due to midweek excursions holds any water.

Tactics

Stoke will do what they have done effectively against us in the last two home games. They will pressurize the man on the ball with some heavy challenges flying in. They will also try and win a set piece on every opportunity, especially in the first few minutes. This gets the crowd going and it plays on the opposition’s nerves.

Arsenal need to come out of the blocks fast. If our players are fit and fresh we should control the speed of the game early on as that is the best way to negate their threat. If we can push them back and draw a few fouls it will put them under pressure for the rest of the game.

For us it’s important not to concede an early goal. The whole team has to contribute defensively and we should not expect the goalkeeper to deal with everything thrown into the box. Defender’s have to win the individual battle with the man they are marking.

The longer this game goes without a goal or if we get an early goal, we will be in better control.

Trivia

Since winning promotion to the Premiership a couple of years ago, Stoke have lost all six games in which Peter Walton has been the referee.

Stoke have scored 14 of their goals at home from Set-Pieces. That’s more than one per game!

Stoke have not conceded more than one goal in their last nine games in all competitions and are unbeaten in eleven.

Line-up

Stoke are getting their key defender’s back after suspension. I would particularly keep an eye on Andy Wilkinson as he is quite likely to injure someone with his rough tackling. Hopefully, Peter Walton will stamp his authority early on.

We don’t have any real positive news on the injury front. Although as an Arsenal fan, not losing players to injury should be good enough. Eduardo might be back but I’ll be surprised if he starts.

There might be some changes to the starting line up from the one that played against Sunderland. I expect Sol Campbell will come in for Silvestre, Denilson for Ramsey and Rosicky for Walcott.

I would certainly prefer if we played Nasri or Rosicky in the middle and move Eboue on the wing. For such games we need players who can hold their own in a physical midfield battle. I am not sure if Denilson can do it. On the other hand, this could be a good opportunity for the Brazilian to redeem himself after some costly errors in recent games.

In the goal Almunia needs to continue his recent form. A couple of good moments early on can really lift the team.

The starting line-up I’d like to see is,

Almunia; Sagna, Campbell, Vermaelen, Clichy; Song, Cesc, Nasri; Eboue, Bendtner, Rosicky.

Walcott would be a good introduction in the last half hour when Stoke are tiring.

Bottom-line

I am sure we will concede one goal, most probably from a set piece so we need to score at least two. Normally, the Arsenal website previews are quite dull but this time they have it spot on,

Chelsea and Manchester United have both taken away maximum points from the Britannia Stadium this season. If Arsenal can do likewise, it will inject pure, unadulterated belief directly their veins.

[Via http://desigunner.wordpress.com]

Kevin Colbert on with Seibel and Starkey

The guys are joined by Director of Football Operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers Kevin Colbert to start the show off. 

Kevin confirms that getting a deal done with Casey Hampton was a priority for the team this offseason.  The upcoming draft has a great deal of depth at many postions.  The team would also like to get deals done with Jeff Reed and Ryan Clark but they might explore free agency.

[Via http://937thefan.radio.com]

JO Vancouver 2010 – buletin olimpic (luni 22 februarie)

Ieri s-au acordat mai putine medalii, dar asta nu inseamna ca nu a fost o zi interesanta. Dimpotriva.
La sarituri cu schiurile marea favorita la castigarea aurului la concursul pe echipe a evoluat fara greseala. Austria, in componenta Gregor Schlierenzauer, Andreas Kofler, Wolfgang Loitzl si Thomas Morgenstern, nu le-a dat nicio sansa adversarilor. Cel mai motivat a fost Schliri care, dupa ce a luat de doua ori brozul in probele individuale, a vrut mai mult. Si a reusit, avut cele mai lungi sarituri in ambele manse, 140,5 m si 146,5. Pe locul 2 a venit Germania, iar pe locul 3 Norvegia. La finlandezi s-a simtit lipsa lui Ahonnen, au terminat pe 4 iar Elvetia nu a participat, avand doar doi saritori la Vancouver, nu a putut forma o echipa.
La patinaj artistic, patinatorii Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir au adus prima medalie de aur din istoria probei de dans pentru Canada. Fiind lideri in clasament dupa primele doua zile de concurs, canadienii i-au devansat pe americanii Meryl Davis/Charlie White si pe campionii mondiali, rusii Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin.
In sfarsit, la schi fond s-au disputat probele de sprint pe echipe. ambele probe incheindu-se cu surprize.
La baieti, prima surpriza a venit chiar in semifinale, cand a fost eliminata campioana olimpica de la Torino, Suedia. Medalia de aur a fost castigata de Norvegia, formata din Peter Northug si Oeystein Pettersen, pe locul 2 a venit Germania, iar bronzul a mers la Rusia.
La fete a castigat Germania, formata din Claudia Nystad si Evi Sachenbacher Stehle care le-au invins pe marile favorite, sportivele din Suedia. Pe locul 3 tot Rusia.
La hochei pe gheata – feminin am ajuns in faza semifinalelor. Favoritele s-au impus fara probleme: SUA a zdrobit Suedia cu 9-1, iar Canada a castigat meciul cu Finlanda cu scorul de 5-0. O finala asteptata de toata lumea: SUA – Canada.
Cu medaliile castigate ieri, una de aur si doua de argint, Germania a trecut pe locul intai in clasamentul pe medalii, la egalitate de titluri (7) cu SUA, dar cu o medalie de argint mai mult. 6 medalii de aur are Norvegia, iar Canada si Elvetia cate 5.

[Via http://nichipercea.wordpress.com]