| LANGMEAD: STRIKING OUT IN DEFENCE AT THE NEW STADIUM
In a classic case of poacher-turned-gamekeeper, Shrewsbury Town's Kelvin Langmead last season made a big success of swapping his role as striker for the centre of defence as the Shrews went all the way to the League 2 Play-Off Final at Wembley. The 22 year-old former Preston trainee, signed from Deepdale three years ago, was the overwhelming choice of supporters as the club's Player of the Year in what was Shrewsbury's final season at their famous old Gay Meadow stadium. As the Shrews and their fans now settle into life at the sparkling New Stadium, officially opened recently by Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney, he is rumoured to be a potential transfer target for clubs much higher up the League pyramid.
But Langmead is thinking only of helping his team make up for the disappointment of losing May's Play-Off Final to Bristol Rovers by climbing up to League 1 at the end of the current campaign.
Warren Buffett, Ponzi pyramids, and Albania
Warren Buffet is the most successful money manager in recorded history. In January 1990, one share of his Berkshire Hathaway fund cost US$8,350. Today, it is worth about US$137,000. This works out to an average return rate of about 17 per cent per year. No one else has ever produced such large returns for so long. A return of 10 per cent per month works out to 314 per cent a year. This is over 18 times Warren Buffet's historical average. A sporting equivalent to this would be scoring 18 times as many goals as Pele. Ponzi Pyramid Schemes Here are word-for-word excerpts from two Wikipedia articles. Nothing has been changed or added. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme#What_is_and_is_not_a_Ponzi_scheme) "A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, usually without any product or service being delivered.
Bill’s books of wisdom
The reading habits of successful business people are often revealed at this time of the year, when leisure is foremost.Mostly, they seem be top-of-the line thrillers or solid works of history or biography.So I was pleasantly surprised to learn of Bill Gates’ holiday reading list while in central Otago at Christmas.You might expect some heavy duty stuff on technology and the future.But, no, the world’s richest philanthropist is more interested in poverty and how to cure it.In fact, his books are an economist’s work list: Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), William Easterly’s The White Man’s Burden (2006), Professor C K Prahalad’s The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid (2004) and Paul Collier’s The Bottom Billion (2007).Incidentally, Collier, an Oxford professor, is a keynote speaker at the Global Development annual conference in Brisbane this week along with the likes of Jeffrey Sachs and New Zealander Graeme Wheeler, managing director of the World Bank.Other books on Bill's list included Hernando de Soto’s The Mystery of Capital and Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism (2007).
Mouton touts accountability; boots Giles
The foundation of Kevin Mouton's pyramid of success is accountability.So one of his first acts as Oregon State's interim men's basketball coach on Monday was to kick talented but undependable junior center C.J. Giles off the team."He was dismissed, and that's just pretty much how we want to keep it," Mouton said at his first media session since being elevated to head coach on Sunday night after former coach Jay John was fired. "He's just going to move on and pursue his other options, be it the NBA, or a Division II transfer."We just want to wish him the best and go from there. We felt it was time for us to make a move and go from there."Mouton gave no specific reason for booting Giles, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Kansas who also wore out his welcome in Lawrence in 21/2 troubled seasons before transferring to OSU in January 2007.
Who's Blogging
The spillover effect of the U.S. housing crisis and economic downturn will slow the global economy this year, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. But some observers insist such forecasts could be worse, noting that America's role in the global marketplace is not as dominant as it once was. .
Notes: Fish loses his composure, then his match
A misdirected ball sailed near an official in the third game of the third set. "I was just a little frustrated because we were having a fine match," Fish said after the 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-1 loss. "Jarkko and I are good friends and were obviously trying to beat the ... out of each other, and the umpire jumps in and says I tried to hit the linesman with a ball, which is just not the case." Fish's reaction on the court was not so measured. The video feed of the match picked up a clearly upset Fish berating chair umpire Damian Steiner of Argentina, accusing him of ruining a "great match." Fish went on to serve out the game, but won just two more games the rest of the match. He appeared frustrated and angry for throughout the last set, muttering to himself and scowling at the umpire and his opponent.
Romero Britto: Becomes the Visual Art Image of Miami
Romero Britto's Company is attempting to become the Dale Chihuly of Miami. Like Chihuly in Seattle, Britto is basically a local boy that is achieving worldwide artistic fame from home and thus emerges as an image for the City itself. Unlike Chihuly, the Britto Company ignores the museum circles or artculture. His team follows Peter Max nearly step-by-step minus some association with Rock and Roll or equal. Both Max and Britto Have sold on cruise ships, designed United Nations stamps, created imagery for international sports events, volunteered for good will fiberglass sculpture events and painted airplanes and cars. According to the New York Times, the company's 2006 revenues exceeded $12 million dollars. Normally, the public art establishment would ignore Britto as they ignore the other mass producers of colorful or slightly sexual prints and small sculptures.
Briefly in Tompkins
The children participate in a bi-lingual, bi-cultural educational program. Contact Brian Eden, action@kolhaverim.net, for more information. T-burg conservatory plans Benefit Snow Ball The Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts has scheduled its first Benefit Snow Ball from 8-11 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26 in the conservatory at Congress and McLallen streets in Trumansburg. The evening will feature live music and refreshments, with a ballroom dance lesson at 7 p.m. Dress is "creative black tie." Tickets are $15 each and are available at the conservatory or Hickey's Music in Ithaca. Proceeds benefit the conservatory's dance programs. For more information, call 387-5939. Empire Zone coordinator to speak at Landlords Association meeting The Landlords Association of Tompkins County has scheduled its monthly meeting for 4:30 p.m.
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