text:
Abhishek Chitranshi-E-Steward Interactive Device For Restaurants
At Design Interviews
Interview with Abhishek Chitranshi : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Abhishek Chitranshi : To introduce the design which fulfills the basic need when we go out for good dining experience. The inspiration was my self experience and observation whenever I go to restaurants and hotels. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I observed - 1. To order food we have to call waiter by hand gesture or just wait for them. 2. After placing order there is always a question that how long our order will take to be served. 3. How to spend the waiting time. 4. Keep asking waiter about when the food will be served. 5. Ask for menu and don't know which food is really good here. Not sure to take risk of new recipe. 6. Sometimes we feels like we know the person on next table or just like him/her but its bit uneasy to go and ask him/her. 7. If you are with a kid in restaurant it goes challenging to manage and enjoy your meal. The focus was to solve all these problems and design which not only solve them but also add the flavor of enhanced dining experience. .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I am looking forward if any company offers to develop this product and launch it in the market. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Abhishek Chitranshi : Its taken 10 weeks from inception to shape this concept. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Abhishek Chitranshi : My self experience and observation whenever I go to hotels, restaurants and food kiosks. Yes... to pursuit an inspiration .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Abhishek Chitranshi : As of now I have not explored any production possibilities. Now looking forward if any company offers to develop it. I will go with the sell or lease the production rights. .Frank Scott: What made you design this particular type of work?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I am always fascinated with the high-tech interactive devices which enhance the social and entertainment experiences. Which are slowly but merging the difference of man-made and god-made. They are taking place fast around and fulfills the small to big needs of our daily life. When I say it I found that not much is happening in the restaurants/hotels dining/hospitality services in terms of solving the basic needs. .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Abhishek Chitranshi : None .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Abhishek Chitranshi : The IT companies who interest to make products for the hospitality services like restaurants, food kiosks and hotels or any IT (Software/Hardware) company who interests to look into the new product possibilities. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I think there are few order taking digital devices for waiters and account management applications like POS etc. being used but they are small individual pieces. The uniqueness of this design - It is a single system with 3 units those communicate each other and take care the every aspect of the restaurant customer interactions between cook, chef, waiter, accountant and the customer. A complete package. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I wanted to give this system a class identity as exactly is the performance of it. Steward - The ship's officer who is in charge of provisions and dining arrangement. I found perfect to name it "e-Steward". .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I used Rhinoceros 3d Modelling and Adobe Photoshop to communicate my design. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Abhishek Chitranshi : Dining, social, entertainment and the information need at one platform. Like - know food details, decide your own recipe, know historical information of dishes, interact with cook, chef and waiter, know the serving time, enjoy the games, city news/movies, interact with other like-minded customer while you food is being served and swipe for payment yourself. All these activities has seamless performance. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I did lot of user study, interacted with restaurants, hotels, roadside food vendors, college professors and did web-study etc. I pursued it as one of my college project. Later, I worked more on its interface in Bangalore. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Abhishek Chitranshi : Wireless technology plays an important role here to render the true user experience and for seamless performance. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I made time-activity matrix and analyzed psychological & behavioral patterns. .Frank Scott: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I wanted to design something which is not only simple but also accessible and affordable. This made me to split the system in three units- for cook, waiter and customer. It was quite challenging to maintain the usage, hygiene and ease. Also it should not take user's extra attention out of their basic activities in the restaurant. Like the busy cook do not have time to operate device if that would be complex. .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I wish to make this design globally recognized and get a platform from where I may look forward to develop and place it in the real world, which may add new dimension to the dining management and experience. .Frank Scott: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?. Abhishek Chitranshi : I realized that user experience is not only about to design the good product keeping ergonomic, interaction design and the usability issues but also the psychological, financial and behavioral needs of the end-users. .Frank Scott: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?. Abhishek Chitranshi : This design uniqueness also include that it is the complete combination of Interface and Industrial design. There were many challenges for Industrial design aspects as well. Like how much should be the size of the units which sits nicely in the limited table space, easily used by cook, easily held by waiter. How to operate easily in the situations like multiple users, with kid, while eating, turning the screen to other, hold the unit in hand etc. .
Abhishek Chitranshi-E-Steward Interactive Device For Restaurants Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to 5px Design News homepage.


text:
Dec. 5, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University women's basketball team held UC Davis to 10 second-half points in a 90-42 victory this evening at the Leavey Center. Reserves Michelle Cozad and Tracey Walker combined for 29 points as the Broncos shot 54.3 percent to improve to 3-3 on the season. The 48-point win is the seventh largest margin of victory in program history, and second largest when considering only home contests.
Aggie Jessica Campbell scored all 12 of her points in the first half to lead her squad, and UC Davis falls to 2-4 on the season. Ellen Porshneva also finished with 12 points, and Lara Gray posted a game-high eight rebounds for the Aggies.
Cozad led all scorers with 15 points and Walker added 14 as the Bronco bench outscored the starting lineup 56-34. Tori Markey posted seven points, six rebounds and three assists in 11 minutes of action in another notable performance. Chandice Cronk, Yasemin Kimyacioglu and Kayla Huss added nine points apiece in the balanced SCU attack. Kasey Monteith and Cronk nabbed seven rebounds each to lead the squad.
As a team, the Broncos bettered 54 percent from the field, and added a .478 clip from three-point range, posting 11 treys. The squad also posted season bests in two categories, dishing out 20 assists and nabbing 10 steals.
Santa Clara led the entire contest, and pushed open its first double-digit lead midway through the first half, when a Huss three made it 23-12 just under the 12 minute mark. UC Davis reduced that lead to three just three minutes later, as Campbell scored eight points to spark a 12-2 run. Santa Clara kept making shots and pushed the lead back to double digits in the final three minutes. A Markey jumper with 11 seconds remaining sent the teams into the locker room with SCU holding a 47-32 advantage.
The Aggies only made four baskets in 30 attempts after intermission, including 0-9 from long range as the Broncos pulled ahead. A Cronk jumper made it 56-36 with 14:26 remaining. UC Davis went almost six minutes without a point, before Proshneva's score ended the drought. The Broncos made it a 40-point lead on a basket by Huss with seven minutes remaining.
Santa Clara remains at home and will host 18th-ranked Minnesota on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Leavey Center. The Golden Gophers are 6-1 on the season, and were a 2004 Final Four participant.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Since when did it get so hard to be a mom? Ten years ago, we didn't worry about sending a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into school with our children; we didn't medicate our eight year olds to get them through the school day; and the movie, Rain Man, was all we knew of autism. Today it is estimated that 50 per cent of Hispanic and African-American children will develop diabetes, that 1 in 90 boys has autism, and that 1 in 4 children has asthma. Pediatrics just reported that from 2002-2005, there was a 103 percent increase in diabetes medication for children, a 47 per cent increase in asthma medication, a 41 per cent increase in ADHD medication and a 15 per cent increase in high cholesterol medicine.
How did our children get so sick?
As a proud, American mother of four children, I was stunned to learn that chemicals that have been added to the U.S. food supply over the last ten years that have either been banned or labeled in countries like Australia, Europe, the UK, Japan….even Russia because of the health risks they present. I was stunned to learn that no human studies have ever been conducted on the long term safety of these chemical additives, so our children have literally been engaged in a live human trial for the last ten years without our informed consent!
- Did you know that food additives and dyes have been linked to asthma and ADHD?
- Did you know that insecticides have been engineered into our food supply? Yikes!
- Did you know that there is a synthetic growth hormone was introduced into milk in 1994? Yuck!
- Did you know that Kraft doesn't include Yellow #5 in the mac 'n cheese boxes they sell overseas?
- Did you know that allergies are one of the first indicators that a child's immune system is compromised? Some might even say that children with allergies are our "canaries in the coalmine", warning us of how dangerous our food supply has become.
If we stop to listen to these little "canaries", we can learn a lot! And we can go a long way in protecting the health of our little ones!
I will be writing for Dr. Greene's site all this week, so do come back often, but if you need a little more inspiration or a bit of background information on what's going on with our food, log onto to www.allergykids.com, search our Resources page, learn a little (or a lot!) about simple steps that you can take to protect the health of your family. And feel free to ask me a question. We've built out a great team of experts, including pediatricians, scientists, neurologists and researchers from around the world to help you take care of your family! So check out www.allergykids.com and then circle back to www.DrGreene.com and let's get to work, as there is so much that you can do to take control of what may seem like an out of control situation!


text:
Topic: The Hunt - Creative
Quaas looked around. He carefully looked around to see if she was still there. She was dangerous, the hunter that had killed his wife and son years ago........
She must die...........
Quaas checked his blaster ammo. It read.
Capacity: 6 rounds per firing spree.
He was safe............
For now
He checked again. She had a sniper poised at his head. He shuddered to think what she'd do with his head.
She was a famous collector that murdered animals and other people for glory and treasure. Quaas had learnt about her head collection in her base, The Revix. He should attack. He should, but somehow he couldn't.
Their was history he didn't want to discuss about, no matter how painful it was.
Quaas felt a bead of sweat break out on his forehead. He was scared.
He knew what she was really like. Vicious, cruel, torturing.
He turned round only to be met with a beam of sniper fire. Then another following it. Quaas felt angry. He wasn't going to let this Bounty Hunter best him.
He turned round and fired several shots at her. She dodged them easily. Bantha Poodoo! he thought, cursing under his breath. He jumped out and couldn't see her. Where the heck was she? He reloaded his blaster pistol....
And turned.
That was his mistake...............................
She fired at him. he dodged it, but how long could he continue doing that?
" Die! No-one can best me, slime! " she shrieked. She then switched to her Blaster pistol and fired four shots at him. Two missed but the other couple bounced into his armour. Mark X. It should hold........
He switched to a concussion grenade and hit her in the head with it. She cursed and spat at him.
he then decided to actuallt throw it at her. He could risk himself being knocked unconcious but he was too blood-thirsty for vengence just now. He unclipped the stopper and threw it at her. Three seconds, he thought. Come on! That's all I need!
Quaas dragged her back to her base. She was unconcious for over two hours now. He had taken her weapons and took them. She deserves it though, Quaas thought.
He dropped her at Revix and walked back to his Transport vessell.
He had shown her the way of forgiveness...............................


text:
Available in 8 and 16GB Capacities, the SanDisk Netbook SDHC Card Enables Netbook Users to Increase Storage While Maintaining Size and Cost Benefits
Milpitas, Calif.,June 2, 2009 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced the SanDisk Netbook SDHC™ removable flash memory card, offering consumers an easy and affordable way to significantly increase their netbooks' storage capacity. Consumers simply insert the SanDisk Netbook SDHC card into a netbook's card slot to add capacity instantly. This news expands upon the previously announced next-generation SanDisk® pSSD™ product family, which serve as drop-in replacements for hard disk drives (HDDs) in netbooks.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced the SanDisk Netbook SDHC™ removable flash memory card, offering consumers an easy and affordable way to significantly increase their netbooks' storage capacity. Consumers simply insert the SanDisk Netbook SDHC card into a netbook's card slot to add capacity instantly. This news expands upon the previously announced next-generation SanDisk® pSSD™ product family, which serve as drop-in replacements for hard disk drives (HDDs) in netbooks.
The SanDisk Netbook SDHC card gives consumers the ability to increase the netbook's storage capacity by 8 or 16 gigabytes1(GB), effectively doubling the storage space offered in most solid-state drive (SSD) powered netbook models. The card resides within the netbook, which decreases the risk of it being damaged while the netbook is moved.
Netbooks are small, low-cost computers that offer consumers a highly portable means of surfing the Internet, accessing email as well as enjoying their favorite music and videos on the go. Market researchers, IDC, project consumer purchases of netbooks to rise from 11.5 million sold in 2008 to 50 million in 20132. Despite their growing popularity, many netbook models are capacity-constrained, causing users to run out of storage space quickly, with few options for increasing memory.
"SanDisk is committed to offering flash memory products that create the best possible consumer experience," said Eric Bone, vice president, retail product marketing, SanDisk. "Our Netbook SDHC card helps consumers get the most out of their netbooks by increasing storage capacity and providing a reliable means of transferring data from the netbook to a removable storage device or another PC."
Pricing and Availability
The SanDisk Netbook SDHC card is currently available at shop.sandisk.com. The 8GB card carries an MSRP of $39.99 and the 16GB card carries an MSRP of $79.99. The card comes with a 5 year limited warranty.
In addition to the Netbook SDHC card, SanDisk offers a comprehensive product portfolio of SSDs for the netbook and notebook markets.SanDisk pSSD drives' combination of capacity, performance, weight, pricing and power advantages make them ideally suited to serving the needs of designers, manufacturers and users of netbooks. SanDisk G3 SSDs are designed as drop-in replacements for HDDs in notebooks, and offer users a convenient upgrade with industry-leading performance at an affordable price.
About SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation is the global leader in flash memory cards - from research, manufacturing and product design to consumer branding and retail distribution. SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders; digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices; and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company with more than half its sales outside of the United States.
11 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes
2 IDC, Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, June 2009
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. SanDisk pSSD is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. SDHC is a trademark of SD-3C LLC. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder (s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, applications, features, markets, and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or there may be a slower adoption rate for these products in new markets that we are targeting, these products may not perform as expected, these products may not be available, and may not be available at the prices, in the regions, or at the time expected, and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent Annual Report filed on Form 10-K and our subsequent Quarterly Reports filed on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.
|Media Contact:
|Wendy Sept
SanDisk Corporation
|Bryan Pope
Cohn & Wolfe


text:
A test of 32 lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in Bay Area stores detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals at levels that may raise health concerns, a new study reveals.
Researchers at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health selected lip products used by members of the Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice Youth Program, a group of Asian girls ages 14 to 19 who live in low-income neighborhoods in Oakland.
The prices for the lip products ranged from $5.59 to $24.
The study will be published online Thursday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It does not reveal statistics for specific lipstick brands.
Among the findings:


text:
Miley Cyrus Delivers Subdued 'Wrecking Ball' Performance on 'X Factor U.K.' [VIDEO]
Miley Cyrus delivered a powerful performance of 'Wrecking Ball' on U.K. 'X Factor' this weekend, and she did so without any twerking, nudity, teddy bears, mallet-licking, little people ... are we missing anything?
Perhaps taking a cue from frenemy Selena Gomez, Cyrus appropriated some culture from the East, this time an Arab-inspired headpiece and a (relatively) modest gold dress for the performance, singing in front of a desert-like backdrop.
The performance was simple, and the vocals on point. What makes this special? Cyrus insisted to producers that they let her sing live and not prerecord her segment.
That was a point of contention for Cyrus and the show's producers, who were terrified of what sort of stunts she'd pull after her VMA and EMA debacles.
"Miley has been read the riot act and told it's a family show and none of her recent behavior will be acceptable," a source told the Daily Star (via SugarScape). "She has been banned from smoking, swearing, twerking provocatively or implying any kind of sex act while on stage. She has been warned her performance will be cut short if she breaks any of the rules."
Apparently the show was booked way before Cyrus' 2013 VMA twerkfest and EMA smokefest, and as a result, it was too late to bail on her completely. We're glad it worked out -- she sounded great!


text:
The original word, both in Hebrew and Greek, means messenger, and is so translated, it is often applied to an ordinary messenger, (Job 1;14, Samuel 11;3, Luke 9;52) the prophets, (Isaiah 42;19, Haggai 1;13) and priests (Ecclesiastes 5;6).
Under the general sense of messenger, the term angel is properly applied also to Christ, as the great angel or messenger of the covenant,(Malachi 3;1) and to the ministers of his gospel, the overseers or angels of the churches (revelation 2;1,8,12).
Generally in the bible the word is applied to a race of intelligent beings, of a higher order than man, who surround the deity, and whom he employs as his messengers or angels in administering the affairs of the world, and in promoting the welfare of individuals, as well as of the whole human race.
The English word originated from Latin, Angelus, which is itself derived from the Greek Angelos, meaning "messenger". According to Jewish interpretation "Bnei Elim" (sons of Gods) were general terms for beings with great power, (some kind of super powerful human beings). Angels are referred to as "holy ones"(Zecharia 14;5) and "watchers"(Daniel 4;13) or the "hosts" (Sebaoth in Hebrew - Joshua 5;14) alternately, Adonai-Tzvaoot, lord of hosts, identified "hosts" with the stars. The stars were thought of as being closely connected with angels, the idea of a being partly identified with God, and yet in some sense distinct from him, illustrates a tendency of Jewish religious thought to distinguish persons within the unity of deity.
During the Persian and Greek periods, the doctrine of angels underwent a great development, partly under foreign influences, "angel-princes" appear as guardians or champions of the individual nations.
Angels are a common theme in art through the times. Some of these angels can be seen in amulets, pictures and other Victorian themed artwork available at MostOriginal.com.
Angels In Gifts And Jewelry Artwork
Posted in Unique Gift Ideas By
Original Jewelry & Gifts Blog


text:
Reported by Mike Tedesco of WrestleView.com
Smackdown Results - 3/13/09
On Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 2:05 PM EST
WWE Smackdown
March 13, 2009
Uncasville, CT
Report by: Mike Tedesco of WrestleView.com
No WWE promo video to open us up as we jump into a recap of what happened on Raw this past Monday during the contract signing for the World Heavyweight Championship! Edge and Big Show are pretty cordial with one another until John Cena comes out. Edge says that he and Show should kick him out of the ring until Vickie quickly (and loudly) keeps them back! It turns out she invited Cena out there because, in fairness to us, she�s allowing Cena to compete for the title at WrestleMania! John Cena said he�s going to tell the truth � he interrupted the contract signing last Friday to tell Vickie something � he loves her! They now play some love music as Cena fakes his way through it! He leaves the ring only to go up the ramp and admit he lied � he doesn�t love her! He told Vickie that Raw was in Boston on March 2nd and he has �friends.� We then saw footage of a security camera in Vickie�s office where, while Edge was in the shower, she made out with Big Show then slapped him on the rear! Cena did his best Desi Arnaz impression saying, �Vickie, you�ve got some �splainin to do!�
The Smackdown video plays and we�re brought into the Mohegan Sun Arena with a great pyrotechnics display! However right off the bat I�ve caught some RARE sloppy editing by WWE. This was the second show of a double taping. On the stage it says WrestleMania XV is in 30 Days however as of Friday, the 13th, it�s only 23! No one�s perfect!
Jim Ross and Tazz welcome us to Smackdown. The Road to WrestleMania continues as Undertaker seeks retribution against Vladimir Kozlov for that defeat two weeks ago! Also tonight Matt Hardy tells all! Tazz isn�t sure what that means but we�ll find out tonight!
Edge�s music hits and the World Heavyweight Champion comes out dressed for a match! He looks a little flustered to say the least. His opponent? Kofi Kingston!
Edge vs. Kofi Kingston
This will be Kofi�s revenge against Edge for eliminating him before entering the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out! Some retribution as this is a non-title match!
Mike Chioda calls for the bells and Kingston has Edge cornered and goes to lock up but Edge puts his body through the ropes, prompting Chioda to call him off. Chioda has to force him away � Kofi�s still steamed! Kingston and Edge lock up and Kingston gets Edge in a side headlock and soon after wrenches the arm! Kingston goes for a hammerlock but Edge reverses him into one of his own but Kingston elbows out, locking Edge in a side headlock and viciously wrenching his neck a few times before backing up and clotheslining the Champion down! Kingston covers for a one count.
Kingston quickly gets up and reapplies that side headlock. Edge is able to power out and get Kingston in a headlock of his own! Kingston elbows Edge in the midsection and pushes him into the ropes only to get knocked down with a shoulder tackle! Edge goes into the ropes, jumps over Kingston, goes back into the ropes, and gets taken down by a nice dropkick by Jamaican Me-Crazy!! Kingston covers for a two count. Kingston then whips Edge into the ropes but Edge holds on to the top rope and exits the ring, leaving Kofi to jump by himself. Edge is regrouping as we go to commercial.
-Commercial Break-
As we come back we see Kingston go into the ropes and get taken down by a back elbow by Edge! During the commercial break we saw Kingston attempt to rush Edge only to get back dropped over the top rope to the outside!
In the arena we see Edge bounce Kingston�s head off the top turnbuckle and lay a right hand into him. Kingston tries to come back with a kick to the midsection and some punches but Edge cuts him off with a kick and a hard Irish whip into the corner! Kingston writhes in pain as Edge covers him for a two count! Edge now locks on a waist lock! Kingston fights up to his feet and elbows Edge in the face, breaking the hold! Kingston goes into the ropes and gets dropped with a one man flapjack! Edge covers for a two and a half count!
Edge uncharacteristically goes to the top rope, only for Kingston to punch his legs out under him, putting him across the corner chest first! Kingston then kicks him in the sternum, putting Edge on the apron, and dropkicks him off the apron to the outside! Kingston then does a beautiful vaulting body press over the top rope! Kingston quickly puts Edge back in the ring.
Kingston ducks a clothesline by Edge, going into the ropes, and knocking him down with a flying clothesline! Edge quickly gets up only to get taken down by two Karate slaps! Kingston is now going all �Jamaican Me-Crazy� as he dances around the ring before doing the Boom-Boom Leg! Kingston follows it up with a big splash for a two and a half count!!
Kingston waits for Edge to get up. Edge gets up in the corner and Kingston goes to whip him into the opposite corner but Edge reverses it only to have Kingston jump to the second rope! Edge charges and Kingston jumps over him! Kingston then high jumps to the top rope, sitting on Edge�s face while punching him. Tell me that�s not weird looking. Edge brings him out for a powerbomb but Kingston counters with a hurricanrana and hooks the legs for a two and a half count! Edge then pulls Kingston through the second rope to the outside just as Tazz is suggesting that Edge is off his game and distracted. Bad timing � he�s been acting that way all match � I�m just saying it was bad timing!
Edge goes to the outside and goes to put Kofi into the stairs but Kofi stuns him with a punch to the midsection and throws Edge head first into the steel stairs! Kingston throws him into the ring and climbs to the top rope! Kingston comes off with a BEAUTIFUL cross-body for a two and a half count!! Kingston has an Irish whip reversed on him and Edge takes him down with the big boot!
Edge now crazily waits for Kingston to get up for the Spear! Edge charges and Kingston vaults over him, hitting a sunset flip for a two and a half count!! Kingston goes for Trouble in Paradise but Edge blocks it, locking on Bret �Hitman� Hart�s finisher, the Sharpshooter!! Edge really has Kingston bent as he desperately tries to reach for the ropes but has no choice but to tap out!!
Winner by Submission: Edge
Match Rating: ** �
Later tonight we�ll see more of that Triple H breaking and entering crap. That was really silly.
Coming up next Carlito and Primo will attempt to unify the Tag Titles as they take on Miz and Morrison for the World Tag Team Titles!
-Commercial Break-
World Tag Team Championship Match
Miz & Morrison (c) vs. Carlito & Primo
Carlito and Primo make their way to the ring with the Bella Twins as we see a replay of the match for the WWE Tag Team Championships on Smackdown two weeks ago, where Carlito and Primo retained their titles.
Carlito and Morrison lock up in the center of the ring, starting the match for their teams. Carlito, quick as lightening, rolls up Morrison for a quick one count! Carlito then hits a quick small package for another one count! Morrison then charges and is hit with a backslide pin for a two count! Morrison angrily gets to his feet as Carlito smiles.
They circle the ring and lock up and this time Morrison gains the upper hand with a knee to the midsection. Morrison hits a European Uppercut, sending Carlito into the corner, and pummels him with punches and a knee to the midsection before the referee makes him back up. Morrison taunts Carlito and then whips him into the ropes. Carlito ducks his clothesline and springboards off the second rope with a back flip, landing on his feet when Morrison dodged it! Carlito then knees him in the midsection, goes into the ropes with a Million Dollar Knee Lift, continues into the ropes, and hits a clothesline for a two and a half count! Carlito whips Morrison hard into his corner and tags in his brother Primo!
Morrison holds on to the top rope as Carlito and Primo pull his legs, making him do a 180, landing on his face!! Primo covers for a near fall!! I like that move!! Primo picks Morrison up but is quickly stunned by a thrust to the throat! Morrison clubs Primo down and quickly (and desperately) tags in Miz!
Miz rushes in only to get a leap frog and a hurricanrana by Primo! Primo ducks a clothesline and hits a Russian Leg Sweep, with Primo rolling through for a two count! Primo has a whip into his corner reversed on him and Miz charges into Primo�s boots! Carlito makes the blind tag as both brothers springboard off the top rope with a double clothesline, Carlito covering for a two count! While this is going on, that referee must have seen his life flash before his eyes as Primo came close to falling on him after dropping Morrison with a dropkick!
Carlito bounces Miz�s head off the top turnbuckle and hits him with a left hand! Carlito whips him into the ropes but lowers his head and eats Miz�s boot! Miz goes into the ropes but Carlito ducks the clothesline, getting a waist lock on. Carlito pushes Miz towards Morrison but they stop before colliding. Miz then ducks Carlito as Morrison gets forearmed off the apron! Carlito then turns around and gets dropped by Miz with a leg sweep face buster! Miz grounds and pounds Carlito before pulling him to his corner and letting Morrison get the tag!
Miz catapults Carlito into Morrison�s forearm, causing him to fall back onto Miz�s knee, and Morrison vaults over the top rope with an elbow! Morrison gets a two and a half count! Morrison tags Miz back in and they do a double gut buster! Miz then tags Morrison back in and they hit a double team hot shot on Carlito! This gets Morrison another two and a half count! Morrison digs his knee into Carlito�s lower back and pulls back on his chin. He then converts it into a grounded Cobra Clutch. Somewhere Sergeant Slaughter is calling someone a maggot. The Bella Twins and Primo get everyone into it and Carlito gets to his feet! He tries to elbow out but Morrison catches him with a knee to the midsection and whips Carlito into the ropes but Carlito holds on! Morrison charges and eats a STIFF back elbow! Carlito ducks Miz�s interference on the apron, dropping him with a left hand! Carlito rolls under Morrison�s clothesline and tags in his brother!
Primo jumps over the top rope and blocks a punch by Morrison, coming back with a flurry of lefts! Primo takes him down with two nice clotheslines whips Morrison into the corner! Primo charges and hits a knee lifter in the corner before going into the ropes and taking him down with a diving back elbow! Primo does his cartwheel and jumping touching toes routine before dropkicking Morrison down for a two and a half count! Morrison stuns him with a punch to the midsection and an uppercut. Morrison whips him into the corner and charges only to eat some boots! Primo goes to the second rope, does the sign of the cross, and hits a diving head-butt! Miz runs in and gets thrown over the top rope! Primo whips Morrison into his corner and charges, jumping to the second rope, and tagging in his brother Carlito!
Primo hits the monkey flip and Morrison lands on his feet, smiling, then turns into a clothesline by Carlito, turning him inside out! Carlito covers for a two and a half count when the pin is broken up by Miz! Primo runs in and Miz ducks him, sending him over the top rope! Carlito then clotheslines Miz over the top rope but turns into a kick in the midsection and the Moonlight Drive!! Morrison covers Carlito to retain the World Tag Team Titles!
Winners & STILL World Tag Team Champions: Miz & Morrison
Match Rating: ** �
The Bella Twins don�t look happy about this but the celebrating champions make them come with them! Carlito and Primo look upset while one of the Bella Twins actually holds Morrison�s hand while the other one doesn�t want anything to do with this! Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella at WrestleMania! You heard it here first!
Our Main Event for tonight will be Undertaker trying to avenge his loss against Vladimir Kozlov! The Deadman vs. the Moscow Mauler! Also we�ll see more breaking and entering crap that played out like a B-Movie � and that�s actually an insult to all B-Movies!
-Commercial Break-
Tazz thanks AC/DC for the use of their song �War Machine,� one of the official theme songs they�ve given for WrestleMania 25!
We now get the Raw Recap with Triple H breaking into Randy Orton�s house for no reason. Why did he do it on live TV and not sometime over the weekend? I know it�s wrestling � that�s the name of the game. Why were there so many screaming women in the house? That was just so stupid. I�m not eating this up because this is a �Raw� storyline and I�m the Smackdown guy � I�m eating this up because this was just stupid and insulting as a fan. I hated that garbage segment but I fear there�s more to come. That build is really rough.
R-Truth is coming out to the ring NOT through the crowd. He�ll be in tag team action next!
-Commercial Break-
WrestleMania 25 is 23 days away!! That�s about three weeks!!
R-Truth & MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chavo Guerrero
Three out of four of these men have qualified for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania! Poor Chavo!
R-Truth and Chavo Guerrero will start the match for their teams. They circle the ring before locking up. They struggle until Guerrero shoots behind and goes for a Full Nelson but R-Truth spins out only to get a snapmare! Guerrero goes for a chin lock but R-Truth quickly slithers down and kicks him in the temple! R-Truth gets up as Guerrero angrily charges with a clothesline but R-Truth splits under it, and takes him down with a deep arm drag, much like the soon to be Hall of Famer Ricky �The Dragon� Steamboat would do! R-Truth then takes him down with a jumping heel kick, covering for a two and a half count! R-Truth wrenches the arm and tags in MVP!
MVP comes in and punches Guerrero in the midsection along with some knee lifts! MVP whips Guerrero into the ropes and takes him down with a flapjack! Guerrero�s tighty-Kerwin Whities are showing! MVP hits a knee on him for a two count! MVP locks on a butterfly on Guerrero and R-Truth tags in, punching Guerrero in the ribs!
R-Truth hits a nice suplex but Guerrero quickly rolls to his stomach and begins to get up. Guerrero then surprises him with a single leg takedown and pummels him with right hands. Guerrero gets R-Truth in a side headlock and goes to tag in Benjamin who just coldly stares at him, not offering his hand! He�s obviously upset over Chavo hitting him with the Frog Splash a few weeks back! R-Truth counters out of the headlock with a back suplex! R-Truth covers for a one count. Guerrero gets picked up by R-Truth but he�s able to power R-Truth into the corner and Benjamin makes the blind tag finally.
Benjamin and Guerrero stare at each other, leaving R-Truth to capitalize on a distracted United States Champion with right hands! Guerrero tries to get involved but gets dropped with a right. R-Truth hits a kick to the midsection and a European Uppercut. R-Truth has an Irish whip reversed on him and he�s taken down by a nice kitchen sink! This only gets him a one count. Benjamin shoots a half-nelson and knees R-Truth in the ribs. Benjamin then hits a gut buster while looking at MVP! He covers R-Truth for a two count! Guerrero wants the tag and, after thinking about it, Benjamin tags him in!
Guerrero kicks R-Truth in the ribs upon entering. Guerrero picks him up only to hit him again with a European Uppercut. R-Truth reaches for MVP but Guerrero is in his way so he starts shooting some right hands into his midsection but the crafty Guerrero hits him with a belly to belly side suplex and covers for a two count! Guerrero gets him in a side headlock and tags in Benjamin.
Benjamin comes in and punches a wide open R-Truth in the ribs Benjamin then methodically locks him in an abdominal stretch. MVP is going crazy on the apron getting people into it. It appears to be working and R-Truth punches out of it! He hits Benjamin with a knee to the midsection and hits a right hand. R-Truth goes into the ropes and jump on Benjamin, doing a wheelbarrow into a nice bulldog! Both men are down and their partners want the tag! R-Truth scores the tag to MVP!
MVP comes in like a house on fire, knocking Benjamin down with a clothesline, then a back elbow, and then a nice right hand! MVP whips Benjamin into the ropes and hits a belly to belly overhead suplex, covering for a two and a half count! MVP whips him into the ropes and gets a nice knee to the midsection and a European Uppercut. MVP goes into the ropes and takes Benjamin down with a flying forearm for a two count! MVP ducks a clothesline and hits Benjamin with a throat thrust and a face buster! MVP now gets the tired crowd into it and hits his BALLIN� Elbow! MVP covers for a two and a half count again!
MVP sizes Benjamin up and then stops Guerrero interfering, punching him and then hip tossing him into the ring! R-Truth charges Guerrero but is made to look a fool when he�s back dropped over the top rope, landing with a thud! MVP then clotheslines Guerrero over the top rope but turn into Pay Dirt giving Benjamin the easy 1, 2, 3! I don�t like how they used this finish two matches in a row. Poor planning there.
Winners by Pinfall: Shelton Benjamin & Chavo Guerrero
Match Rating: **
Backstage Matt Hardy is walking with a cold look on his face. He�ll be telling all next!
Friday Night Smackdown�s 500th episode is next week!! Superstars on all three brands will be there!! You be there too!!
-Commercial Break-
The WWE Smack of the Week is brought to us by AutoZone. It�s the Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin Money in the Bank Qualifying Match last week. Hardy looked to have it locked up but his evil brother Matt punches Benjamin, causing the disqualification!
Matt Hardy now makes his way to the ring to a chorus of boos. He gets in the ring and says as we all know the black cloud continues to loom over Jeff Hardy�s head, and will continue to do so until he sucks it up, becomes a man, and decides to fight him! Matt says he came out tonight to get things off his chest � some things he tried to communicate to Jeff Hardy but, of course, he didn�t listen. Tonight he�s going to FORCE him to listen!
Matt mentions that Jeff went through a lot this past year. A lot of ups, downs � highs, and lows. He couldn�t compete last year at WrestleMania because he was suspended because he was out having a little too much fun. As for him he couldn�t compete at WrestleMania because he was injured � he had a LEGITIMATE injury. However since day one of Jeff�s suspension no one cared about Matt. �No one gave a damn about ME or my injury!� Everyone wanted to know about Jeff � �Is Jeff getting the help he needs,� �Is Jeff going to be returning to the ring,� �What is Jeff thinking?� Matt says Jeff didn�t have a care in the world at that time � everything was business as usual. He locked himself in his studio and recorded songs, painted pictures, and refused to be responsible for his own actions, and like always everyone expected Matt Hardy to come over and pick up the pieces. He looks disgusted.
Matt then mentions that Jeff has suffered a lot of unfortunate accidents. He was attacked in the stairwell, his car was run off the road, and there was the pyro incident. Hardy wonders who could have done this � a group of people, someone holding a grudge, or perhaps just ONE person! There is one day in particular that Matt remembers clearly. Shortly after Jeff�s suspension, Jeff and his girlfriend Beth left their house. While they were gone they received a call by Matt, saying Jeff�s house was on fire! Matt didn�t watch it � he could only picture in his mind Jeff losing everything he�d worked so hard for. All his recordings and art work. Jeff wanted Matt to rescue his dog Jack but Jack didn�t make it. Sometimes accidents turn into tragedies that are incredibly hard to believe!
Matt now pulls out a dog collar, presumably Jack�s. He smells it and looks repulsed. He holds it up to the camera and asks Jeff if he remembers it or what�s left of it. He found it the day after Jeff lost everything in a heap of ashes and he�s been holding on to it for a very long time. He�d decided he�d give it to him when the time was right and the time is now. He wants to give it to him now as a token of his love for his brother Jeff Hardy!
Jeff Hardy now walks out to no music and just gets right in the ring. Jeff circles him a few times before ripping the microphone out of Matt�s hands. Jeff says this is so hard to believe � Matt�s behind everything that�s happened to him! Jeff can�t believe Matt would try to blow him up and he never believed his own flesh and blood could be capable of something so horrible! Jeff tells him not to bring up his house, dog, and everything he loves! Jeff says that Matt wants to hurt him and that he hates him! Matt doesn�t love Jeff � he hates him! Jeff then says, �But you know what, Matthew Moore Hardy? You hate yourself more than you could ever know!� Jeff says Matt is sick, twisted, and demented� and so is he!!
Jeff then spears Matt down and pummels him with right hands!! Matt Hardy rolls out of the ring cowering and pleading his sorrow!! He says he loves Jeff and is sorry!! Jeff is in the ring looking sad and intense!! Matt walks up the ramp looking scared but halfway up he smiles!! What a segment!!
-Commercial Break-
We see replays of what just happened between Matt and Jeff Hardy!
We see a replay of what happened on Monday Night Raw with Maryse beating Melina and then the big brawl afterwards. Jim Ross then mentions that the winner of the Diva Battle Royal would be named �Miss WrestleMania!�
Michelle McCool & Maryse vs. Maria & Melina
Maria and Michelle McCool will start the match out. They lock up but McCool quickly gets a knee in her midsection! McCool hits a right hand and whips her into the ropes only to be taken down by a Lou Thesz Press, with Maria bouncing the back of McCool�s head off the canvas! Maria kicks McCool in the ribs, clotheslines her down, and hits some forearms! Maria whips her into the ropes but lowers her head and McCool slams her back by her hair! McCool then forearms her in the back of the head and pummels her with some European Uppercuts and punches. McCool wrenches the neck and uses the second rope for leverage, prompting the referee to make her break the hold! She then knees her a few times in the face and face plants her. Maria is selling well as McCool kicks her down. McCool hits a European Uppercut and whips Maria into the corner but Maria is able to put the brakes on and charge out, with both Divas clunking heads!
The referee is counting them down. He gets to eight and they both make the tags! Melina cuts Maryse off with a kick to the midsection and some forearms! Melina then goes into the ropes and kills her with a clothesline! Melina throws her down and covers for a two count! Melina has a whip into the corner reversed on her. Maryse runs into her boots and Melina comes off the second rope with a senton! Melina stands over her and Maryse stuns her with a kick in the head! Maryse gets a front face lock on and goes for the tag to Michelle McCool but she won�t tag in, similarly to what Shelton Benjamin did in the previous match. Melina then locks her in an inside cradle for the win!
Winners by Pinfall: Maria & Melina
Match Rating: *
Michelle McCool walks away and Maryse turns her around and they brawl! They brawl all over the ring until Maryse is able to escape! Jim Ross mentions this means it�s Smackdown 1, Raw 1. Actually it�s Smackdown 2, Raw 1 as Maria was in this match as well! So I guess you could really say it�s Smackdown 1.5, Raw .5. Whatever!
Backstage Edge is lamenting his woes over to Chavo Guerrero. Edge asks if Chavo saw it and he did. Edge says John Cena humiliated him on Raw and now he has to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show AND John Cena! Edge wonders how she got them in this mess and how she could cheat, since he�s such a �loving� husband. Oh, yeah, summer 2008 was a real happy time for them! He says he�s loving and faithful! Chavo says he knows her better than anyone and Edge speculates whether he went with Vickie too! Chavo says he doesn�t know her that well but that they�re related by marriage, not blood! Edge then puts his hands around Chavo�s throat and pushes him against the wall! Edge asks if everyone is conspiring against him. He says he won�t be played that way and NO ONE is going to take his championship!!
Up next is the final Money in the Bank Qualifying Match between Finlay and The Brian Kendrick!
They profile WrestleMania XX, which I was at. It�ll be interesting to see how they do this without Chris Benoit in it! They profile most of the matches but strangely leave out Undertaker�s return and the World Heavyweight Championship match! Sad that they just can�t get over it � everyone else did. What he did was horrible but you can�t erase history � he did exist and win your top prize!
-Commercial Break-
Did you know WWE is available in more television households in China than the MLB and NFL combined?
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
Finlay vs. The Brian Kendrick
This will determine the final participant in a match also featuring CM Punk, Kane, Mark Henry, Christian, Kofi Kingston, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin!
Before the bell rings Ezekiel Jackson drills Finlay with a forearm! Charles Robinson kicks him out of the ring! Robinson then checks on Finlay�s condition but he looks more pissed than hurt!
Robinson calls for the bell and The Kendrick charges and Finlay scoops him right up and slams him down hard! Finlay hits a European Uppercut and twists his arm a few times before pulling him down by his hair and covering for a one count! Finlay tries to drag The Kendrick away but The Kendrick kicks him off. The Kendrick then gets on the apron and Robinson forces Finlay away!
The Kendrick comes in and slaps Finlay in the face, pissing Finlay off more! The Kendrick then bails and Finlay chases! The Kendrick gets right behind Ezekiel, stopping Finlay in his tracks! Jackson then grabs the shillelagh and throws it away! Finlay now is telling Jackson to bring it and The Kendrick blindsides him with a suicide dive! The Kendrick poses before bouncing Finlay�s head off the apron, and putting him back in the ring.
The Kendrick climbs to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick on Finlay! The Kendrick covers for a two and a half count! The Kendrick hits some crossfaces and locks on a sleeper hold with his legs wrapped around Finlay! Finlay eventually gets to a knee, turning it into a side headlock, and Finlay takes him down with a sit-out jawbreaker, which looks like a Stone Cold Stunner. The Kendrick no sold it and dropkicked him down!
The Kendrick went to baseball slide him out of the ring but Finlay just stepped out and pummeled The Kendrick with some punches! Finlay eggs Ezekiel on and then catches The Kendrick in the ring apron, pummeling him with forearms! Finlay puts The Kendrick in the ring and clotheslines him down hard! Finlay does it again and hits his running seated splash! Finlay goes to the second rope and Ezekiel distracts him by getting on the apron. Finlay gets off to yell at him and turns into a jumping heel kick by The Kendrick!
Finlay counters The Kendrick going for The Kendrick by driving his shoulder into his midsection! Finlay then hits the Celtic Cross for a three count! Finlay is going to WrestleMania!
Winner by Pinfall: Finlay
Match Rating: * �
Finlay celebrates his win with his son Hornswoggle! Finlay is the final man entered into Money in the Bank!
Coming up next is Undertaker vs. Vladimir Kozlov!!
-Commercial Break-
Tazz thanks Kid Rock for the use of the song �So Hott,� another official theme song of WrestleMania 25.
We now take a look at John Cena�s nemesis in 12 Rounds Miles Jackson. I�m not impressed at all. This looks like crap. Who has money to waste in this economy?
Jim Ross and Tazz now break some major news! It�s official � it�ll be Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy at WrestleMania 25! Also we�ll see Edge take on Big Show and John Cena with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line! Undertaker will take on Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton will attempt to take the WWE Championship!
Undertaker makes his entrance. He�ll face Vladimir Kozlov next!
-Commercial Break-
The WWE Rewind is brought to us by Resident Evil 5! It�s Vladimir Kozlov defeating Undertaker two weeks ago on Smackdown!
Undertaker vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Jim Ross mentions that Vladimir Kozlov has never lost on Friday Night Smackdown.
The referee calls for the bell and Undertaker immediately big boots Kozlov down! Undertaker puts Kozlov in the corner and pummels him with right hands and a kick to the midsection! Taker whips him hard into the opposite corner and clotheslines him down! Undertaker hits some elbows for a two count! Undertaker approaches Kozlov, who is near the ropes, and he pulls Undertaker out of the ring!
Kozlov follows Undertaker to the outside and bounces his head off the announcer�s table! Kozlov hits him with a punch and bounces his head off the table again! Kozlov puts him back in the ring and walks right into a right hand by Undertaker! Kozlov under-hooks both of Taker�s arms and head-butts him three times in the heart, sending Undertaker through the ropes!
Kozlov follows Undertaker to the outside and poses to the crowd. He peppers Undertaker with some punches and goes to whip him into the barricade but it gets reversed on him and Kozlov lands with a thud! Undertaker rolls in the ring to break the count and then clotheslines Kozlov over the barricade!
-Commercial Break-
We come back to see Undertaker hits a leg on Kozlov on the apron! Undertaker walks around outside for a second before getting back in the ring. Kozlov is in the corner and Undertaker charges him with a high knee! Undertaker then hits some right hands on him and some kicks! Undertaker than chokes him in the corner and rolls his eyes back, much like he did when he first debuted in 1990! That�s old school and that makes me happy! Undertaker than intimidates the referee away.
Kozlov hits Undertaker with a punch in the midsection but it doesn�t faze him as he simply punches him in the face! Undertaker than has an Irish whip reversed on him in the corner. Kozlov charges and eats a big boot! Undertaker quickly goes into the ropes and gets powerslammed for a two count! Kozlov punches him in the kidneys and drives his shoulder into his midsection in the corner! Kozlov does the old �rope-a-dope� (though Undertaker is no dope!) and chokes him against the ropes! Kozlov assaults Undertaker with more punches and drives his shoulder into his midsection again. The referee backs him away.
Undertaker is dazed in the corner but when Kozlov approaches he springs to life, grabbing him by the throat, and throwing Kozlov in the corner, pummeling him with punches! Out of no where Kozlov shoots a single leg takedown and punches him a few times, covering for a two count! Kozlov then gets a chin lock on Undertaker on the ground. The crowd tries to get Undertaker in to it but Kozlov really has him locked in. Undertaker eventually gets to his knees and punches out! Undertaker punches him again but Kozlov just clotheslines him down and covers for a two and a half count! Kozlov then goes right back to the chin lock! Undertaker eventually powers to his feet and back suplexes out of it!!
Both men are down and in pain but Undertaker sits up! Kozlov and Undertaker trade punches with Undertaker coming out on top! Taker whips him into the corner and hits a corner clothesline! Taker whips him again, hits snake eyes, and goes for the big boot but Kozlov hits him with the Battering Ram Head-Butt!! Undertaker barely kicked out!!
Undertaker then sits up and hits him with a ton of punches! He whips him into the corner and viciously clotheslines him down! Undertaker goes for Old School and hits it perfectly unlike two weeks ago! Undertaker signals for the Chokeslam and hits it!! Undertaker now signals for the Tombstone!! He lifts Kozlov up and hits the Tombstone Piledriver, pinning Vladimir Kozlov for the first time on Friday Night Smackdown!!
Winner by Pinfall: Undertaker
Match Rating: ** �
Undertaker poses while Jim Ross and Tazz are left wondering if this was Undertaker sending a direct, violent message to the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels! This will conclude Smackdown for Friday the 13th!
Quick Match Results
Edge def. Kofi Kingston via Submission (non-title)
World Tag Titles: Miz & Morrison* def. Carlito* & Primo to RETAIN
Shelton Benjamin* & Chavo Guerrero def. R-Truth & MVP*
Maria & Melina* def. Michelle McCool & Maryse*
MITB Qualifier: Finlay def. The Brian Kendrick
Undertaker def. Vladimir Kozlov
Bump of the Night: R-Truth getting back body dropped over the top rope!
Match of the Night: Edge def. Kofi Kingston ** �
Mike�s Thoughts
Before I start I�d just like to mention how excited I am about Smackdown�s 500th episode next week! It�s going to be a terrific show � don�t miss it!
This was a very good, wrestling heavy Smackdown, and since this is a wrestling show, I�m VERY happy about that! On the flip side not much was done in terms of build for WrestleMania as most of that was done on Raw� and not done well.
The World Heavyweight Championship match is officially determined even though we all knew it was coming since last week. I liked sitting on the edge of my seat and wishing I knew what secret Cena had told and I wish they�d kept that going. Cena got what he wanted � why would he just give up his big secret just like that? I wish they kept that going so we�d have more stuff to hang on. Now that it�s all out in the open we had no Vickie Guerrero or Big Show tonight � how does that help build for Smackdown�s title main event? I was disappointed with that.
On the other hand I wasn�t disappointed with the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels segment. That�s old school and that works best. It was just enough to leave the fans salivating and wanting more! Undertaker doesn�t need to �break into� Shawn Michaels� home to drive the angle home � all you need is a microphone and a little talent. That segment with Triple H and Randy Orton was just so blatantly phony it was almost embarrassing� and that�s the real Main Event. Yikes!
The Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy match is official after tonight. Another great segment by the two brothers! They�re pretty similar, in my view, to Bret and Owen Hart in that maybe they weren�t the best promo guys (�and that�s why I kicked your leg out of your leg!!�) but they were close enough to bring real feelings and emotion into their feud. That�s what�s going on here. I hope to see them go at it into the summer. I can�t wait for their match at WrestleMania!
My one criticism of tonight is the three tag matches. The first one for the World Tag Team Titles was fantastic but the next two used almost the same finish as the Tag Title Match or employed one of its spots. Did the same agent produce all three of these matches? Was his mind a little blank so he just used the same finish twice in a row and then used a spot in the second one in the third one? That was a little strange but it didn�t really hurt the show or the matches. There just needs to be some attention to detail sometimes.
My friend Lisa Arpino was at this event like I mentioned last week � I�m still jealous a week and a half later!
All in all a very good Smackdown, wrestling wise, and it did some good for the Road to WrestleMania. I expect Smackdown 500 will be even better!
Final Smackdown Rating: ** �
As always I�d love to hear all those who liked the recap and even those who didn�t!
E-Mail � email@example.com
See you next week for Smackdown�s 500th episode!!
Thanks for reading!


text:
Prodigy Of Mobb Deep Live @ The Middle East "Last Performance Before 3 Years In Jail" [2-7-08]
Prodigys last show before getting locked down for 3 years&IP=188.8.131.52
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
Kelly Brook snubbed I'm A Celeb... for risque revue
KELLY BROOK snubbed an offer to appear on I'M A CELEBRITY... GET ME OUT OF HERE! to take a role in a risque revue show in London.
The Piranha 3D star joined the cast of Crazy Horse's Forever Crazy at the start of the month (Nov12) and extended her week-long run due to popular demand.
Brook now reveals TV bosses offered her the chance to fly to the remote Australian jungle to take part in the reality series, but she declined their invitation because she wanted to join the stage show.
She tells the Daily Mail, "We are so overwhelmed with reality shows that there isn't much opportunity to showcase your talent because it's not as entertaining as watching someone eating bugs in the jungle.
"I might have the wrong attitude when it comes to my career, but I felt that I would rather be in this (revue) show, watched by 400 people than be on a show I am not passionate about being watched by 10 million."
Brook approached promoter Harvey Goldsmith about her role in Forever Crazy, and the businessman admits he was stunned by her direct behaviour.
He adds, "I was a bit gobsmacked, to be honest. Kelly and her boyfriend came up to me after the show and she said: 'I love this show and I want to be in it.' Then her managers started calling me up saying she wanted to be in the show. Then she started tweeting about it."
The star's run in the show came to an end on Thursday (22Nov12), and Brook was surprised with a cake backstage to mark her 33rd birthday on Friday (23Nov12).


text:
Maryland and Rutgers are in discussions with the Big Ten to possibly join the conference in 2014, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
The person spoke Saturday night on condition of anonymity because neither the conference nor the schools want to publicly discuss their plans.
ESPN.com first reported that the Big Ten was looking into expanding to 14 teams by adding Maryland and Rutgers.
The person says Maryland would have to be ``the first domino to fall,'' but added that an agreement could be reached as soon as this week for both schools.
Text messages and phone calls to Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson and Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti were not immediately returned.
Several officials with Big Ten schools, reached at football and basketball games on Saturday, declined to talk about the report.
``If there was any news to come out of expansion, it would come out of the conference office,'' Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta said
The Big Ten has 12 members after adding Nebraska last season.
Maryland is in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which recently added Notre Dame as a member in all sports except football and hockey. The ACC is scheduled to become a 14-team football conference next season with the addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
When the ACC added Notre Dame in September, its members also voted to raise the exit fee of the league to $50 million.
Rutgers is a member of the Big East, which is on target to become a 12-team football conference next season when Boise State and five others join. The Big East has been hammered in realignment over the past year with the losses of Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia and Notre Dame.
In rebuilding the league into a coast-to-coast conference, the Big East also raised its exit fee to $10 million. The conference also has a 27-month notification period, but West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse have all negotiated early exit deals.
If Maryland were to leave the ACC for the Big Ten, Connecticut of the Big East would seem to be the most logical replacement with the ACC having already built a northern base in the conference.
Adding Maryland and Rutgers would give the Big Ten schools in two more huge television markets - Washington D.C. and the New York/New Jersey area - while expanding the conference's footprint east and south.
Penn State is currently the easternmost school in the Big Ten.


text:
Behind This Week's News about the Big Bang main content.
by AMNH on
Wondering what this week's breaking story about the Big Bang theory means for our knowledge of our universe? Or why you're suddenly reading about "inflation" in a story about astrophysics? And just what are "cosmic ripples"?
Astrophysicist Mordecai-Mark Mac Low, who curated the Museum's new Space Show Dark Universe—which is all about how we know what we know about the formation of the universe more than 13.8 billion years ago—helped us break down the exciting headlines.
First, the findings. On Monday, an international team of researchers using data from a South Pole radio telescope announced they had detected direct evidence of the universe's earliest expansion in a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
What kind of evidence? In the first instants after the Big Bang, the observable universe was minute and as dense as the interior of a black hole. "Then, for a brief moment after the Big Bang, the universe appears to have expanded at astonishing velocity," explains Dr. Mac Low. Theorists call this phenomenon "inflation."
This violent expansion, researchers hypothesized, formed the "ripples" that recently made international headlines—gravitational waves that still permeate the universe today. Researchers using the South Pole observatory data reported the first direct evidence of these gravitational waves.
They gathered the evidence by making long-term observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the remaining light of the Big Bang, which was emitted about 380,000 years after the formation of the universe. The researchers were able to see that the light had been polarized in a pattern that could only have been produced by the hypothesized gravitational waves. "The light making up the cosmic background radiation was distorted by a bath of gravitational waves left over from inflation," explains Mac Low.
Learn more about the cosmic microwave background in this video with Dr. Mac Low.
What's next? Later this year, other teams of researchers, including those using data from the European Space Agency/NASA Planck satellite, may confirm these findings from the earliest moments of the universe. "Before this work, the earliest period we had direct evidence for was a few minutes after the Big Bang," says Dr. Mac Low. "Now we have data from the first 10-36 seconds."
Learn more about what we know about the universe—and see amazing visualizations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, Planck satellite, and dark matter—in Dark Universe, playing now at the Hayden Planetarium.


text:
- News
Modern F1 'a fake show' - Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve has criticised the current state of Formula One, saying the modern sport has become "artificial" thanks to sponsors and rule changes.
The 1997 world champion - who is set to race in FIA World Rallycross in 2014 - is critical of the controversial double points plan, but also innovations such as DRS, which came in during the 2011 season. Villeneuve has been out of the sport since losing his BMW drive in 2006 and believes the sport has changed for the worse since then.
"I don't get modern Formula 1. They started going the artificial way to create a fake show," he told BBC Radio Five Live.
"Imposing DRS where you press a button to overtake someone else - once you start going down that route you cannot stop, you have to make more and more of it.
"So now we have double points for the last race. What's the next thing that will come? It becomes more and more artificial and instead of having a positive effect, you end up making it where people don't respect it anymore."
During his career, Villeneuve was known as an outspoken member of the paddock, but the Canadian believes the new PR age of F1 has made it impossible for similar figures to become prominent in the sport.
"It's a habit now to not have a personality any more in Formula 1," he added.
"You can imagine a driver that gets a lot of sponsor money being told 'don't say that please' and he will toe the line. So they are not fast, paid to race and highly uninteresting on top of it. It is tough for F1 right now."


text:
Spa & wellness experiences in New Zealand
Embrace wellness to keep up your energy levels and immune system. Healthy diets, exercise, and relaxation are key to a wellness lifestyle.
1 / 3
It is important to embrace wellness to keep up your energy levels and immune system. Healthy diets, exercise, and relaxation are key to a wellness lifestyle. New Zealand offers great choices for relaxation and wellness experiences.
In the North island, the natural mineral waters at Polynesian Spa provide a variety of bathing areas; adults only, luxury, private and family pools. The uniqueness of the two hot mineral springs that feed in to the 27 pools at Polynesian Spa with their own unique curative properties have seen guests from all over the world visit this location for centuries as a place of healing. The Priest Spring provides great relief for tired muscles and sore joints due to its acidity level, whereas alkaline water from the Rachel Spring is very soothing on the skin. Historically, it was said that those who swam in the Rachel Spring water would be blessed with ageless beauty.
The new reflexology walk is located in the Adult Pools at Polynesian Spa. It stimulates pressure points in your feet that correspond to all major body organs and areas - encouraging vital energy and blood flow throughout your body, relieving stress, improving balance and enhancing physical and mental well-being.
The new cold plunge pool located in the Lake Spa is perfect for hot cold hydrotherapy. The extremes of hot and cold water cause your muscles to expand and contract which offers gentle detoxification as toxins are squeezed from your muscles. It also improves circulation and the benefits of improved circulation shouldn't be underestimated. When your body has poor circulation, it's impeded in delivering fresh blood to all areas of the body. As a result, the body can't cleanse the blocked and stagnant areas regularly - and toxins, filth and disease accumulate in these oxygen and fresh blood deprived areas. Hot cold bathing is beneficial for muscle pain recovery and increasing the body's immunity. We recommend you alternate between hot and cold pools 2-3 times for the best results.
At Hanmer Springs in the South Island, enjoy Aqua therapy. AquaTherapy originated in Europe and is a new form of water relaxation and massage to benefit the body. It is credited with increasing flexibility and strengthening muscles, improving balance and agility, decreasing joint swelling and pain and helping with a number of medical conditions.
Each of our three pools uses different elements of AquaTherapy. One features a waterfall, the second has a series of water jets to massage your body and the third has powerful water and air jets which should be on your 'must do' list.
The water flows between the three pools via waterfall creating a relaxing, bubbling sound that adds to the sense of escape. It is no wonder these pools are so popular.
New Zealand has many great spas and mineral pools to add to your wellness.


text:
John Connor is a fictional character appearing in the American science fiction Terminator franchise. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator and first appears portrayed by teenage actor Edward Furlong in its 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The character is subsequently portrayed by 23-year-old Nick Stahl in the 2003 film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and by 19-year-old Thomas Dekker in the 2007 television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. English actor Christian Bale portrays Connor in the film series' fourth installment, 2009's Terminator Salvation.
In the narrative of his fictional universe, John Connor is a messianic figure who will lead the Resistance to defeat an empire of robotic "Terminators" amassed by the rogue military supercomputer, Skynet following Judgement Day (a cybernetic revolt doomsday event). When his mother Sarah Connor became the target of a time travelling Terminator unit in the first film The Terminator; John sent resistance fighter Kyle Reese to protect her, knowing Kyle and Sarah would later conceive John himself. With foreknowledge from his parents, John fends off Terminator assassination attempts in the second and third films before Judgement Day. In the fourth film, John fights with the Resistance in a post-apocalyptic setting after Skynet has taken over. As the series' central plot heavily involves the concept of time travel, the story of the character is often non-linear and portrays many possible outcomes, for example The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Terminator 3 both continue from the ending of Terminator 2 but are depicted as taking place in alternate timelines.
In this film, set in 1984, a T-800 (Model 101) Terminator is sent back in time to 1:52 am on May 12, 1984 by Skynet from a post-apocalyptic 2029. The Terminator's mission is to kill Sarah Connor before she can give birth to John Connor, the leader of the human resistance in the future war. John Connor of the future sends a soldier, Kyle Reese, to 2:01 am on the same day to protect Sarah, knowing that Reese is his father and that he and Sarah will conceive during the mission.


text:
September 22, 2011
LOS ANGELES -- Could working with an openly gay individual undermine a co-worker's on-the-job performance? Not likely, according to a recent UCLA Anderson School of Management study. In fact, concealing one's sexual orientation may actually have an adverse effect on workplace function.
The findings of a six-month study, conducted by Benjamin Everly and Geoffrey Ho, Ph.D. candidates at UCLA Anderson, and Margaret Shih, Associate Professor in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior at UCLA Anderson, suggest that policies that introduce uncertainty into social interactions, such as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," may harm rather than protect performance.
The study results, recently published online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, come at a controversial juncture of US politics with the Congressional repeal of the 18-year-old 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT) military policy, effective Sept. 20, 2011.
"While much research examines what happens to individuals who conceal an identity, there is almost no work examining what happens to a person who interacts with someone forced to hide their sexual orientation," says Everly. "Our studies are the first to examine how policies such as Don't Ask, Don't Tell affect the performance of people working with gay teammates."
These studies focused on providing a deeper understanding of the role concealable identities may play in social interactions and determining whether disclosing or revealing sexual orientation hinders or improves performance. To that end, the researchers designed tests to measure the cognitive and sensory-motor skills of more than 50 UCLA undergraduate men, each of whom were paired with a gay confederate who would either disclose or conceal his sexual orientation.
Participants were asked to complete different tasks in two separate studies. The first examined whether participants working with openly gay partners performed better on a series of math problems compared to participants who worked with ambiguously gay partners. The second tested whether participants working with openly gay partners performed better on a Nintendo Wii shooting game compared to participants who worked with ambiguously gay partners.
The results of each study showed that the participants paired with openly gay partners performed on average 32% better on the cognitive task and 20% better on the sensory-motor task compared to participants paired with ambiguously gay partners.
Previous research has indicated that ambiguity in interactions may hurt performance, as individuals need to be able to predict behaviors and attitudes with their partners to facilitate social interaction. Disclosure of sexual orientation by a gay partner reduces ambiguity and makes the interaction less psychologically demanding.
"The results of our studies suggest that there may be beneficial effects from the abolition of DADT," suggests Shih. "It's possible that service men and women may perform better at their jobs when they no longer need to wonder about the sexual orientation of their comrades."
More information on the study and its results are available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103111002186.
For media inquiries, contact UCLA Anderson media relations at 310-206-7707 or Benjamin Everly at firstname.lastname@example.com.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management
Celebrating 75 years of Business Beyond Usual, UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty members are globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides a distinctive approach to management education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in its MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Global Executive MBA, UCLA -UAI EMBA for the Americas, Master of Financial Engineering, doctoral and executive education programs. Combining selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a world-wide network of 39,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.


text: Driven by an unwavering passion for the art of hair design, Naeemah LaFond is one of the industry's most sought-after editorial stylists and educators. Growing up with New York City as her playground, and with constant exposure to the city's vibrant art scene, Naeemah had been introduced early on to the concept of self-expression—ultimately using a comb to sculpt her creations. Naeemah's focus is in creating works of art through High fashion Editorial, Special Occasion, and Avant Garde hair styling. Having been a lead educator for the first blow dry bar in the country she is also known for her luxurious and glamorous blowouts, which have been known to turn heads around the world. She is a regular face behind the scenes at NYFW working her magic on the strands of today's top models. Naeemah has traveled the Globe (France, Germany, Britain, Norway, Sweden, Guatemala, Denmark, Honduras, El Salvador, and Iceland to name a few) as a Platform Artist and trainer, sharing her techniques and training up-and-coming Session Stylists. Her work has been featured on the pages of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Allure, InStyle, Glamour, and Teen Vogue, among many other international fashion publications, and has recently been named one of the industry's movers and shakers by lead trade publication, Beauty Launch Pad. Today, as Global Artistic Director for amika, Naeemah has fused her love for the art of hairstyling with her passion for education. She has created and implemented the brand's educational curriculum, performs as a Master Platform artist at trade shows around the world, and creates the looks behind the brand's campaigns that are released every season. In all that she does, it is evident that Naeemah lives and leads by her favorite quote: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."


text:
The Most Underused Compiler Switches in Visual C++, March 11, 2014 Microsoft's Visual C++ team explains the nine most underused switches and why you should make sure to include them in your build.
/favor: options produce code that is optimized for a specific architecture or for the specifics of micro-architectures in the AMD and the Intel architectures. Choose from the options below based upon the micro-architecture you care most about:
/favor:blend (x86 and x64). While
/favor:blend may not give the best performance possible on a specific processor, it is designed to give the best performance across a broad range of x86 and x64 processors. By default,
/favor:blend is in effect.
/favor:ATOM (x86 and x64). This produces the code that is optimized for the specifics of the Intel Atom processor and Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology. Code that is generated by using
/favor:ATOM may also produce Intel SSSE3, SSE3, SSE2, and SSE instructions for Intel processors.
/favor:AMD64 (x64 only), This optimizes the generated code for the AMD Opteron and Athlon processors that support 64-bit extensions. The optimized code can run on all x64 compatible platforms. Code that is generated by using
/favor:AMD64 might cause worse performance on Intel processors that support Intel64.
/favor:INTEL64 (x64 only). This optimizes the generated code for Intel processors that support Intel64, which typically yields better performance for that platform. The resulting code can run on any x64 platform. Code that is generated with
/favor:INTEL64 might cause worse performance on AMD Opteron and Athlon processors that support 64-bit extensions.
Additional Comments
If you know your application is destined to run a lot more often on particular architectures in this list, this option can come in handy! Try it out, for example, when writing apps for the Intel Atom micro-architecture found in tablets, microservers, and smartphones. From our internal benchmarking, we know users can except low single-digit percent performance gains on CPU cycles.


text:
For a little over a century, starting with the end of the Revolutionary War, Maryland craftsmen were producing some of the finest home furnishings anywhere. Inlaid bellflower furniture, painted furniture, repousse silver, case clocks and other goods made in Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick and elsewhere during this period are still admired for their design, quality and craftsmanship.
Today, furniture from all over the world is easy and often inexpensive to come by, but there remains a demand for quality furnishings made by hand. Maryland is home to dozens of businesses producing hand-crafted, often one-of-a-kind furniture, mirrors, lighting and other items for the local market and beyond.
So we're turning the spotlight on some of the Maryland companies that produce top-quality furnishings for the home. Some are small shops, consisting only of one or two people crafting custom pieces for clients with specific needs. Others have grown to become large companies with a national footprint, establishing a presence in some of the country's toniest locales.
Russell & Mackenna, a company that started small and made it big, is one of those Maryland-born businesses making an impact on the home design scene.
Known for its fun, colorful and relaxed cottage-style furniture, Russell & Mackenna is the creation of Lauren Russell and her father, Larry Strassner. The company got its start in a one-car garage in Severna Park, the spark of inspiration from newlyweds figuring out how to furnish their home.
"When my husband and I were first married, I put a photo of a bright blue beadboard bookshelf from a company called Maine Cottage on my refrigerator," says Russell. "I would look at it every day in the hope that I'd eventually save up enough pennies to buy it."
When she became pregnant with her first child, Russell needed a place to store baby books, but she hadn't saved up enough to purchase the shelf, so her husband, Kevin, built something similar for her.
Little did Russell imagine that bookshelf would launch a furniture-making business, catering to clients and furniture stores across the nation.
"The idea to start a furniture company was actually a fluke," says Russell.
While she was working as a marketing design consultant, a client stopped by her home and saw a vanity Russell had designed for her husband to build.
The client asked if Kevin could build one for her. One vanity quickly turned into five. Five vanities soon became a master bedroom suite as well as beds, dressers, and storage for all five of Russell's client's children.
"At that point, we were most definitely in business. But there was one problem: Neither my husband nor I knew anything about business, let alone manufacturing."
As fate would have it, Strassner was a recently retired corporate CEO with plans to play golf for a whole year straight. But his daughter had other ideas.
"I figured he could help us with a business plan instead," says Russell.
In 2003, Russell & Mackenna was launched, combining the family's last name along with their newborn daughter's middle name. For the first year, all of the furniture was still being manufactured in the Russells' garage. Recognizing that they needed to increase their fledgling business in order to afford a much-needed move to a proper workshop, Russell and Strassner decided to exhibit at a trade show.
"When we agreed to do it," says Strassner, "we only had a couple pieces of furniture, no marketing materials or a catalog, but the rush to prepare for the show was worth it." At the show, the company sold its line to two furniture stores, one in Palm Beach, Fla., and one in Pawleys Island, S.C.
With Russell, 38, guiding product design and marketing and Strassner, 68, managing the operations, Russell & Mackenna grew quickly, winning fans of brightly painted wood furniture all over the country, opening a flagship store in Severna Park and adding upholstered pieces to its range of offerings.
"We knew we would need upholstered furniture to support the product line and grow into a national brand that could fill an entire house with product," says Russell.
Lacking the background to build upholstered pieces, Russell & Mackenna began their search for a manufacturer.
"Kevin could build wood furniture, so we knew how to manage that, but making an upholstered sofa or chair seemed like it would a much greater challenge," says Russell, who eventually settled on a domestic manufacturer.
"Sometimes they design new pieces that work perfectly for our look, and sometimes it is more of a collaboration," says Russell.
For inspiration, Russell often looks to flea markets, taking pictures of her finds to the manufacturer to see what they might be able to reproduce. Russell & Mackenna designs all of its fabrics to ensure the upholstered pieces are unique.
From one wood shelf to dozens of product designs and an upholstery line, the Russell & Mackenna evolution came full circle this spring when the company purchased the Maine Cottage brand, maker of the bright blue beadboard bookshelf that Russell had always wanted.
"Maine Cottage fell victim to the recession," says Russell. "When we learned that it might be possible to acquire all, or part, of Maine Cottage, our largest competitor, we decided to make it happen."
So what's next for Russell & Mackenna now that Maine Cottage is part of the family?
"From Day 1, our goal has been to build furniture that lifts the spirit and holds its value over time," says Russell. "The Maine Cottage brand will help us do this more quickly and accomplish that goal on a national basis."
Dennis Hockman is editor of Chesapeake Home + Living magazine. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Where to buy Russell & Mackenna
A showroom is available at the Maine Cottage signature store, 8R Evergreen Road, Severna Park 21146, 410-315-9011; russellmackenna.com. The showroom is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday -Friday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Russell & Mackenna and Maine Cottage home furnishings are also available locally through Fern Hill in Baltimore, Urban Country in Bethesda, Bountiful in Easton and Well Built in Washington, as well as J. Conn Scott in Selbyville, Del., and Rehoboth Beach, Del. Check online for a list of other dealers.
About the owners Lauren Russell
Russell & Mackenna's founder and creative director, she is responsible for all aspects of product design and marketing. With an academic background in fine arts and professional experience as an ad agency art director and a marketing consultant specializing in consumer products, Russell created her own dream job when she launched her furniture business in 2003. "I love coming to work," says Russell. "Right now we are merging two companies and are definitely feeling some growing pains, but is exciting to see our sales volume grow."
"My favorite part of the job is managing the process of designing and marketing a new collection, and then seeing how people receive it," says Russell.
Larry Strassner
The CEO of Russell & Mackenna is also Lauren Russell's father. He relocated from Norfolk, Va., to Severna Park to help run the business. A graduate of West Point, where he received a degree in engineering, Strassner also holds an MBA in finance from Loyola University Maryland. His professional background includes military service and a career in finance and management. His passion for business balances his daughter's passion for design.
"What I like most about the job is getting to work with Lauren and to watch this team we have put together function. I spent my carreer in meetings around conference tables, and I would put our group up against any management team I have worked with. I would hate to compete against this company," says Strassner.
Kevin Russell
Lauren Russell's husband is a shareholder in the company and helped start it, but he currently works for the Severn School. He earned a bacherlor's degree from Salisbury University in 1995, and then worked as a financial service representative at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore before joining the staff of the Severn School.
Kevin and Lauren live in Severna Park with their three daughters: Sawyer, 9; Gretchen, 7; and Libby, 4.


text:
The World's Largest Sea Cave
Rikoriko Cave inside the Poor Knights Islands is the world's largest sea cave - a must visit spot off the Tutukaka Coast, Northland.
1 / 4
10 million years ago the volcano that created these islands was 25 km in diameter and stood 1000 metres above the surrounding landscape.
An eruption formed a giant gas bubble that became Rikoriko Cave
How do we know it is the biggest in the world?
Using a sophisticated 3D laser scanner for the above water section of the cave, and traditional hydrographic surveying techniques for the seafloor, above and below water models were calculated as well as a volume for combined surface.
The survey of Rikoriko in itself was significant in setting a standard for accuracy and mathematical analysis that might be applied elsewhere in the world.
Its calculated volume is 221, 494 cubic metres (or 7.8 million cubic feet).
This is over twice the volume of two other known sea caves that claim biggest status.
The sea surface inside is roughly a hectare.
The cave is 130 metres long, a depth below water of 26 metres, and a height to the ceiling above water of 35 metres, and a width of 80 metres.
Rikoriko means waning light in Maori, twilight, or dancing light due to the patterns that the sunlight makes when reflected off the surface of the water upon the cave ceiling.
There is plant life in the cave that is different from anywhere else. There are ferns hanging from the ceiling that only receive light for photosynthesis from sunlight coming in the entrance and bouncing off the water surface up to the roof.
At the rear of the cave there is an underwater cup coral that normally grows at depths of 200 metres. The amount of light that reaches the coral, tricks it into thinking it is deeper than it is, so it grows at about 10-15 metres.
The under water life out at the Poor Knights is very lush and the kelp is deeply forested. Inside the cave however, there is no kelp growing at all. The seascape is very stark and moon like.
The visibility is intense and lucid. Visibility underwater is measured in the distance that you can see horizontally through the water. Normal conditions at the Poor Knights can give us between 15 and 25 metres, but inside Rikoriko we often get 35-45 metres visibility.
Artikel von
Dive! Tutukaka
Dive! Tutukaka travels to the famous Poor Knights Islands, is New Zealand's friendliest and most professional dive charter operator, Qualmark endorsed, PADI 5 Star IDC, with streamlined and personal service. Diving worth crossing the world for.


text:
Your list is empty.
Save musicians, entertainers, speakers, and services, and they'll appear here.
Superhero Parties Near You
Where do you need a Superhero Party?
Select your event location in Kentucky:
Kentucky Counties:
Why Book Superhero Parties
How did that caped superhero find the time to come to my birthday party? And how is he keeping my city safe while he's playing with me and my friends? These are all things your child will be thinking when you throw them a rockin' superhero party. These entertainers will make your child and their friends feel like they're the superheroes behind the mask!
Click here to get quotes for Superhero Parties near you!
About Booking Superhero Parties
Children love to pretend they can fly, fight villains, and crush boulders, just like their favorite superheroes. Hiring superhero party characters is a great way to celebrate your child's upcoming party. Sooner than you know it, they will be saving your community by fighting crime with their super powers and cape!
But how are you supposed to know who to hire for your superhero party? First, determine what your child would really like for their party. Do they want an actual superhero to show up at the party? If so, figure out what the superheroes offer - many will offer reenactments, face painting, storytelling, balloon twisting, etc. If your child would rather just be treated like a superhero, check out entertainers or services that provide more general party services. Whoever you decide to hire, they will make your child's day unforgettable!
You might also like:
Want more Superhero Party gigs?
If you provide Superhero Party services in the United States or Canada, get more gigs by joining GigSalad.


text:
As a woman, your body is a crucial part of your femininity. It should make you feel comfortable, beautiful, and yourself. Thanks to technological advancements today, you can improve the appearance of your breasts by either using implants or natural breast augmentation with body fat. Prior to the use of natural breast augmentation enhancement procedures, silicone and saline implants were the common procedures offered by many doctors. However, many people dislike the idea of going under the knife and having foreign materials inserted in their bodies to enhance their breasts. Many prefer a more natural breast enhancement method.
At Boston Breast Center, we offer natural breast augmentation using the method of fat grafting or fat transfer. Our MD, Dr. Daniel Del Vecchio, is a world-renowned cosmetic surgeon who specializes in this method of breast enhancement because of its many merits over the use of implants.
Our liposuction and tummy tuck services are here to help you with your breast augmentation - we transplant the fat from one area of the body to another for natural breast enhancement surgery.
Despite the ability to extract stem cells from fat, the large volumes of fat required in natural breast augmentation suggest using stem cells is not currently practical. In addition, devices used to separate stem cells from mature fat cells are not currently FDA-approved, making stem cell-assisted breast augmentation a procedure that is not considered standard -of-care. Consequently, we therefore do not employ stem cell assisted breast fat grafting techniques for breast augmentation at this time, but achieve exceptional results with simpler, more practical methods of effective pre-expansion using the BRAVA bra and the EASYBreast System.
Breast augmentation with fat transfer, or fat grafting, is simply a natural breast enhancement method. This procedure uses advanced techniques to increase and improve the overall shape of breasts, using your own body fat. The method entails extracting excess fat cells from one region of your body through liposuction, commonly through the buttocks, arms, thighs, waist, abdomen or back, and transferring them to the breasts until the desired outcome is achieved.
Natural breast augmentation provides plenty of benefits for women with different needs and concerns. Depending on your desires, health goals, and cosmetic ambitions, our natural breast enhancement services will be able to help you with:
Dr. Daniel Del Vecchio holds a B.A. degree summa cum laude from Yale University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and completed his residency in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery at Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital. After that he completed a fellowship in craniofacial surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1998, Dr Del Vecchio received an MBA at Columbia Business School, where he specialized in corporate finance. Since 1998, he has worked as a consultant at Ferrer Freeman and Company ("FFC"), a private investment firm focusing on healthcare. Dr. Del Vecchio specializes in medical device technology.
Dr. Daniel Del Vecchio is also unique among Boston cosmetic surgeons. Besides obtaining undergraduate and medical education at Yale and Harvard, Dr. Del Vecchio earned a MBA from Columbia Business School in New York City. At Columbia, he was trained in providing superior customer service to better serve his Boston cosmetic surgery practice. When you visit the Boston Plastic Surgery office, you will gain an understanding of not only his superior cosmetic surgery skills but also his commitment to customer service.
In summary there are a few things you should consider:


text:
Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is right to be disturbed by the Obama administration's flawed Middle East policy ("As Mideast burns, Obama fiddles," Sept. 30).
Arab nations that formerly had governments that may not have been friendly but at least tolerated the U. S. now have rulers who mostly represent the Muslim Brotherhood and an agenda that is not only anti-democratic but anti-American.
An even more serious foreign-policy failing in that region is the current administration's ambivalence and ambiguity regarding the security of Israel. It has issued conflicting statements as to what we plan to do as Iran gets closer to building a nuclear weapon capable of destroying Israel.
Although Congress has long supported strong sanctions against Iran, the administration has fought for major exceptions, thus casting doubt on whether the U.S. actually would prevent Iran from obtaining a bomb. Words backed by action are more convincing than words alone.
Nelson Marans, Silver Spring


text:
Easter is a fun holiday. But we want it to be fun for our pets as well. If you have a mischievous pet you will definitely want to make sure your party is pet proofed. Chocolate is toxic for pets. Easter grass, if ingested out of the basket, can cause serious gastrointestinal illness. The same can be said if a pet eats an egg shell or an Easter Lilly plant. So while these items help to celebrate Easter, when it comes to our pets we must be careful of where these items are placed and keep them away from our pets.
Central Veterinary Associates Valley Stream location is open 24/7/365 including on Superbowl Sunday. If your pet is sick, please give us a call at
1-888-4CVAPETS, http://www.centralvets.com.