Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Let's see the 10 best summer signings of the season!!!


Premier League ending soon..Let us look at who is the Top 10 summer signings of the season..We'll start from number 10 and count it down to the best signings of the season..

10.Damien Duff - Newcastle to Fulham, £4m
While this season has been heartbreaking on the international front, and he missed a gilt-edged chance to win the play-off with France, things have gone swimmingly at Craven Cottage. Duff has weighed in with eight goals and added experience and a touch of quality to Roy Hodgson's midfield. With the Europa League run still going strong, he can be delighted with his contribution and reassured that his career is back on an upward curve.



9. Jamie O'Hara - Tottenham to Portsmouth, loan
O'Hara has proved himself to be Premier League class and his determined displays have lifted the Fratton Park faithful. Although he misses out on the big FA Cup semi-final against his parent club, there will be other grand occasions for him later in his career - obviously starting with the final in May if Spurs are beaten. He won't stay on the south coast when Portsmouth go down and it's unlikely he'll remain at White Hart Lane. But he'll have a choice of where to play his football next term, that's for sure.



8. Kevin Doyle - Reading to Wolves, £6.5m
Wolves had been accused of not scoring enough goals until their recent win at West Ham, but there's no blame attached to their record buy. His goal return of seven from 28 matches is almost identical to his international record but his game is not all about putting the ball in the net. Doyle has developed into an ideal lone striker, capable of shielding the ball, keeping possession and putting in a lot of selfless work. Mick McCarthy's system is bringing the best out in him and he's worth far more than what they paid Reading for him now.




7. Antonio Valencia - Wigan to Man United, £16m
Ferguson had the Ecuadorian earmarked as the replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo for some time and he's exceeded expectations in his first season at Old Trafford. An old-fashioned winger who likes to beat his man and deliver the ball into the box, he has supplied Wayne Rooney with plenty of chances this term. His manager has admitted he just needs to come out of his shell because he has a shy personality, and there is the feeling that he doesn't realise how good he can be. That said, he was man of the match in his first major final with United and there could be more medals on the way this season.




6. Joe Hart - Man City to Birmingham, loan
Birmingham have benefitted hugely from having the England hopeful on board. The youngster has developed into a top-class goalie and the only problem is trying to convince City to sell him permanently. Scott Dann and Roger Johnson were also astute acquisitions from Alex McLeish but Hart has been the pick of the bunch.




5. Niko Kranjcar - Portsmouth to Tottenham, £2m
Harry Redknapp likes a bargain and the Croatian was an absolute steal. With Pompey about to endure the worst year in their history, the midfielder was picked up for a song and has adapted well to life at White Hart Lane. With his fellow countrymen Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka at the club, he has been made to feel at home and become an important member of the side. Undoubtedly one of the biggest bargains over the past year or so.




4. Darren Bent - Tottenham to Sunderland, £10m
When Bent got the move he craved, he hasn't stopped hitting the net and managed goals against all of the 'big four'. With his tally standing at 20 in 32 league games, there is no denying he has been one of the shrewdest signings of 2009. His record has always been impressive but it was a gamble from Steve Bruce - one that has struck gold for the Black Cats manager.




3. Richard Dunne - Man City to Aston Villa, £6m
The uncompromising Irishman was a popular figure with the supporters at Eastlands but jettisoned by former boss Mark Hughes to make way for Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott. Yet he's had better seasons than both of them and been a rock at the back for Villa. Reliable and rugged, he has helped the Midlanders go all the way to the Carling Cup final and book a return to Wembley to face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.




2. Thomas Vermaelen - Ajax to Arsenal, £10m
Some scoffed when Arsene Wenger splashed out on the Belgian centre-back, with rumours in Holland suggesting the Gunners had overpaid. Now he looks like a steal after an accomplished first campaign at Premier League level. His partnership with William Gallas was rock-solid before the Frenchman got injured and he's already an Emirates favourite. Composed and cultured in possession, he weighs in with more than his fair share of goals.




1. Carlos Tevez - Unattached to Man City, £25m
After a few games, the knives were out for the South American striker. Sir Alex Ferguson was right not to sign him, his first touch wasn't good enough, his goal return was poor. But he worried his old club in a thrilling derby and, once off the mark in the league against another of his former teams in West Ham, he hasn't looked back. 19 goals in 26 starts is some record and he also weighed in with another six in six in during the Carling Cup run, which included three strikes against the Red Devils. The main man behind City's push for fourth spot and, if he gets them into next season's Champions League, it'll definitely be a case of money well spent.




Do you know who hold the record for fastest hat-trick scored in Premier league history?


Manchester City laboured at times against Wigan Athletic on Monday night but a 13-minute (12 mins 30 seconds to be precise) hat-trick by Carlos Tevez sunk the unfortunate Latics at Eastlands.


What's more, it was the second time this season that Roberto Martinez's side have been at the wrong end of a rapid treble.


After watching Tevez hatrick against Wigan..It makes me wonder who scored the fastest hatrick in Barclays Premier League history..




As the table below shows, Tevez's three-goal haul is the ninth quickest in Premier League history and the second entry from 2009-10 in the list after Jermain Defoe's first three against Wigan in November, the second fastest treble in the division's history.


The fastest ever hat-trick in the Premier League remains Robbie Fowler's four minute 33 second effort against Arsenal in 1994, a record that looks certain to stand for some time.


Completing the top three is Gabriel Agbonlahor with his eight minute burst against Manchester City early last season.



It is interesting to note that despite the influx of foreign players into the English top-flight, Tevez is only the second non-Englishman in this list, after Manchester United poacher Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.



One similarity for the fastest hat-trick this season>>> both fastest hat-trick was scored against Wigan..Terrible defence!!

Given that arguably the most famous hat-trick in football, Geoff Hurst's in 1966, was also English in origin, perhaps the three-goal haul is a national speciality?

Andrey Arshavin hates woman drivers!! for a reason...


He's complained about the congestion charge, London parking and women drivers - and now Andrey Arshavin has another reason to hate driving in the capital.

The Arsenal star has revealed he got into a prang on the road while travelling with his wife Yulia, but escaped with just a damaged bumper. A cheerful Arshavin revealed: 'It was a sunny day here in London and even a small traffic accident that has happened to Yulia and me, wasn't able to spoil our spring mood.


'The second car involved got slightly scratched and my car’s bumper got damaged. 'It took us five minutes to solve this problem, we exchanged our data and left.



The 28-year-old did not reveal the identity of the other driver, or who was to blame, but he once memorably told reporterl: 'I would never give driving lessons to women.


'We need to build new roads for them. Why? Because you never know what to expect from a woman on the road. 'If you see a car behaving weirdly, swerving and doing strange things, before you see the driver you know it is a woman. It is always a woman.'



Arshavin has faced a culture shock on the roads since leaving Zenit St Petersburg 13 months ago. Russians are not used to parking rules, while the congestion charge has been even more difficult to get accustomed to.



'I struggle with the parking,' he once said. 'I can’t park where I want, I’m not used to this.


'Then there’s the congestion charge. It’s not the money I object to but all the things you have to do – codes to enter, SMS messages you have to send, etc.'

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Selling life size "sculptures" made entirely by LEGO for £10,000 each

Parents the world over have watched their sons playing with Lego and dreamed they'll go on to build successful careers as, say, high-flying lawyers.


Well, quite what the parents of Nathan Sawaya are now thinking - the 36-year-old quit his job as corporate lawyer in 2001 to return to his boyhood obsession - creating shapes with those colourful building blocks.



But before you smirk, the artist is proving there is more to Lego than child's play - by selling his brick-based creations for a staggering £10,000 each.


This piece of Lego art of a man rising up is called Red.




His works, which are shown in galleries across the globe and are in demand by top art dealers, include life-size 'sculptures' and can each use 150,000 of the familiar little bricks .

Nathan Sawaya's Lego work Swimmer.


Sawaya spends between eight to 12 hours each day creating with Lego, but it depends on what he's working on. 'Sometimes when he get really into a sculpture, I can spend 18 hours at a time. He spend a lot of time sketching out his ideas on special graph paper that has the brick shapes printed on it. Then the rest of the day is spent building.


Buyers needn't worry about the artworks coming apart though, when Nathan is happy with a creation he rebuilds it, this time glueing the bricks together.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Putting your hand into gigantic Great White Shark mouth? Don Carpenter done that!!!


Despite staring into the jaws of death, this diver still had the presence of mind to take a picture.


This amazing image from photographer Don Carpenter show him fending off a Great White shark, pushing its snout, then putting his hand in its mouth. More astonishing photos, taken from a nearby cage, show how powerful these killers are as the 15ft, one-and-a-half ton shark attacks.


The shots were taken off Guadeloupe Island, Mexico by Mr Carpenter, who spent two days diving with the female Great White.



Due to local regulations, he was not allowed to scatter fish guts, known as 'chumming', or put decoys in the water to attract the beasts - so meeting this shark really was a natural experience.


The group of divers were in the cages 30 feet down when the Great White approached, first checking out Don's cage, where he got snapped the close-up - and avoided being snapped himself.


Mr Carpenter said 'Don't kid yourself for one minute - when you're practically touching the nose of a Great White you're thinking two things: how fast can I get back into the cage and will it hurt when she rips my torso off and leaves my legs standing there.


The shark then switched its attention to the other cage. 'Without a reference point this Great White wouldn't look particularly big, but next to the cage filled with divers you can see how big she is.



'It was all very quick but you can see the diver pushing the shark away. Don even captured him with his hand in her mouth at one point. (this guy is crazy)


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Brave robbery at daylight (watched and taken pictures by public)


It could have been a scene from a gangster movie and passers-by who witnessed this robbery in London yesterday certainly treated it like one.


While self-preservation may have stopped them from intervening, the robbers weren't too scared to stand there and enjoy the show. It was extraordinary because there were dozens of people watching and taking pictures. At least 60 people were on the pavement opposite.


One older gentleman was so unconcerned that he strolled right past the motorbike riding gang breaking into the branch of jewellers Mappin & Webb at 11.20am.

(Four robbers break into a jewellery store as another stands guard, while witnesses simply watch or stroll past)


The store's staff were probably a little more concerned as the robbers, still wearing their helmets, smashed the window on Old Bond Street. Luckily, no one was hurt. The gang grabbed tens of thousands of pounds worth of loot, and then roared away.


There were claims that police officers took 25 minutes to arrive on the scene, giving the robbers plenty of time. Witness Petra Remias, 25, who works in a shop opposite said: 'The men started banging on the window with a huge hammer - it made a horrible noise.


(A gang member smashes the glass and then leans in to snatch fistfuls of gems and watches)


'It was like a gangster movie. People in the street started gathering around in a semi-circle to watch. 'The raid lasted between five and ten minutes, it wasn't quick.'

(A forensic officer gathers evidence at the site)


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