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Monday, June 24, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Amazon launches India website, begins with books and movies categories
Amazon.com, the global retail giant, on Wednesday entered the Indian e-commerce space with its online marketplace Amazon.in.
Amazon's announcement comes nearly three months after its Vice-President Paul E Misener met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, seeking relaxation in FDI policy in retail.
Currently, India allows 100 per cent FDI only in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading online.
"E-commerce is at a very nascent stage in India and we see it as a exciting opportunity for us. There's lot of opportunity for innovation and to provide value to our customers," Amazon India Vice President and Country Manager Amit Agarwal said.
He said the company, which had entered the Indian online shopping with its price aggregator and selection website Junglee.com in February 2012, will continue to focus on both the ventures.
Amazon will begin operations with just two product categories for now - books and movies - and later add other selections.
India is the tenth marketplace for the company and it will offer seven million books and 12,000 movies to start with.
"We wanted to be in India. We are entering now because we are ready. We have long-term view on this...We have long-term vision for both Amazon.in and Junglee.com. We will invest in both," said Agarwal.
The website will not sell products directly to customers but only provide a platform to sellers, he said, adding the company was offering an online marketplace for buyers and sellers.
Amazon will charge a referral fee, monthly subscription charges and stores fee from retailers that choose its services.
In the first year of operation, Amazon will not charge any monthly subscription and has also slashed its charges for storage.
As a launch offer, Amazon.in is also offering free home delivery for a limited time and cash on delivery. When the offer expires, only orders above Rs 500 will be home delivered free of charge.
Agarwal said Amazon complied with the existing India FDI policy on retail.
"Marketplace is an established and allowed operating model and several marketplaces are already operating in India," he said.
Despite being a late entrant in the e-commerce space, Agarwal feels that there is enough room for many players in many formats.
When asked about investments, Amazon officials declined to disclose the capital that the company has put in India.
"We're excited to get started in India and we will relentlessly focus on raising the bar for customer experience in India," said Greg Greeley, Vice President of International Expansion at Amazon.com.
Amazon's announcement comes nearly three months after its Vice-President Paul E Misener met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, seeking relaxation in FDI policy in retail.
Currently, India allows 100 per cent FDI only in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading online.
"E-commerce is at a very nascent stage in India and we see it as a exciting opportunity for us. There's lot of opportunity for innovation and to provide value to our customers," Amazon India Vice President and Country Manager Amit Agarwal said.
He said the company, which had entered the Indian online shopping with its price aggregator and selection website Junglee.com in February 2012, will continue to focus on both the ventures.
Amazon will begin operations with just two product categories for now - books and movies - and later add other selections.
India is the tenth marketplace for the company and it will offer seven million books and 12,000 movies to start with.
"We wanted to be in India. We are entering now because we are ready. We have long-term view on this...We have long-term vision for both Amazon.in and Junglee.com. We will invest in both," said Agarwal.
The website will not sell products directly to customers but only provide a platform to sellers, he said, adding the company was offering an online marketplace for buyers and sellers.
Amazon will charge a referral fee, monthly subscription charges and stores fee from retailers that choose its services.
In the first year of operation, Amazon will not charge any monthly subscription and has also slashed its charges for storage.
As a launch offer, Amazon.in is also offering free home delivery for a limited time and cash on delivery. When the offer expires, only orders above Rs 500 will be home delivered free of charge.
Agarwal said Amazon complied with the existing India FDI policy on retail.
"Marketplace is an established and allowed operating model and several marketplaces are already operating in India," he said.
Despite being a late entrant in the e-commerce space, Agarwal feels that there is enough room for many players in many formats.
When asked about investments, Amazon officials declined to disclose the capital that the company has put in India.
"We're excited to get started in India and we will relentlessly focus on raising the bar for customer experience in India," said Greg Greeley, Vice President of International Expansion at Amazon.com.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Still Searching for the Promised Land
For its third production this season, Gioachino Rossini's "Moses in Egypt" (1818), the itinerant New York City Opera returned to New York City Center, where it was born as "the people's opera" in 1944 and spent the first two decades of its life. The opera world has undergone major changes since then, and City Opera, still battling back from a near-death experience four years ago, continues to search for a distinctive contemporary identity, one that will attract sufficient audiences and donors to sustain it.
"Moses in Egypt" is an intriguing step towards that goal: The staging, directed and designed by Michael Counts, is groundbreaking, using video created by Ada Whitney of Beehive and an absolute minimum of physical scenery. Ms. Whitney's remarkable images—a field of stars, a slowly scrolling desert panorama, a cave mouth that is at first in front of the singers and then behind them as they seem to move deeper inside—could solve the problem of cumbersome sets once and for all. Perhaps City Opera will become the country's first virtual opera company. Imagine how much the Metropolitan Opera could have saved on its gigantic Ring Cycle if it had forgone the Robert Lepage "machine" and done it all with video.
A grand opera with a big cast and full chorus, "Moses in Egypt" is a good candidate for video treatment. Based on the Book of Exodus, with an interfaith love story added to spice things up, it depicts three of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea—all of which can be headaches for a producer.
It is also a showcase for dueling bass-baritones, Mosè and Faraone (Moses and Pharaoh). Faraone keeps promising to let the Israelites go, and reneging; each time he does so, Mosè calls in another plague. Faraone's son Osiride wants to keep the Israelites around and continue his clandestine love affair with the Israelite Elcia, so he urges Faraone to break his promise and ends up a casualty of the last plague, the Slaying of the First-Born.
The City Opera cast is made up almost entirely of debut artists, with some nice finds among them. David Salsbery Fry replaces the original Mosè, who was ill. Without the necessary vocal weight and gravity, it is hard to see Mr. Fry as much of a threat to the Faraone of Wayne Tigges, a powerful presence despite a tendency to sing sharp. But the tenor and soprano pairs (one in each camp) are happier matches. As Osiride, Randall Bills works hard and acquits himself with distinction but little finesse in this high, difficult role. Aldo Caputo has effortless volume as Aronne (Aaron). Siân Davies uses her pure, agile soprano and sculpted phrasing to bring some pathos to Elcia. Keri Alkema, the only returning singer in the cast (she was an impressive Donna Elvira in the company's "Don Giovanni" in 2009) brings a burnished intensity and clean coloratura to Amaltea, Faraone's wife and an Israelite sympathizer. Potent in smaller roles are Zachary Finkelstein as the scheming Egyptian priest Mambre and Emily Righter as the Israelite Amenofi.
Jessica Jahn has dressed the Egyptians in sculptural black-and-gold hats and breastplates for the royals, and the Israelites in flowing pastel-hued robes. Mosè, in a white dress, looks more like a benign Bible-story Jesus than an Old Testament patriarch. Ryan O'Gara's lighting mostly works well with the video.
Mr. Counts and the conductor, Jayce Ogren (now also the company's music director), could certainly do more with this good material. Channeling Robert Wilson or Achim Freyer, Mr. Counts and choreographer Ken Roht set up tableaux and some slow gestures (rigid vs. fluid, with Faraone apparently signaling traffic and Elcia drawing serpentine arcs) and otherwise leave the characters to stand and sing. The acting is minimal and amateurish. When Osiride takes Elcia into the cave to persuade her to run off with him, the two never generate any mutual intensity; all the visual interest comes from the video projection. As Mr. Lepage did with the Ring Cycle, Mr. Counts fatally relies on the wow factor of technology and forgets about the people.
Mr. Ogren's pedestrian conducting tends here to plod rather than soar. The orchestra is adequate, with some hints of inspiration in the woodwind solos. This is too bad, because the piece is rarely performed (this was billed as its first full staging in New York in more than 180 years) and is well worth hearing, with spectacular ensemble and chorus pieces and a vigorous story that all lend themselves to more interpretation than they received here.
City Center, which is now beautifully renovated with a clear but cold acoustic, seems a comfortable setting for its prodigal child. But expectations are higher than they were six decades ago and life is a lot more expensive. City Opera has more work to do.
"Moses in Egypt" is an intriguing step towards that goal: The staging, directed and designed by Michael Counts, is groundbreaking, using video created by Ada Whitney of Beehive and an absolute minimum of physical scenery. Ms. Whitney's remarkable images—a field of stars, a slowly scrolling desert panorama, a cave mouth that is at first in front of the singers and then behind them as they seem to move deeper inside—could solve the problem of cumbersome sets once and for all. Perhaps City Opera will become the country's first virtual opera company. Imagine how much the Metropolitan Opera could have saved on its gigantic Ring Cycle if it had forgone the Robert Lepage "machine" and done it all with video.
A grand opera with a big cast and full chorus, "Moses in Egypt" is a good candidate for video treatment. Based on the Book of Exodus, with an interfaith love story added to spice things up, it depicts three of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea—all of which can be headaches for a producer.
It is also a showcase for dueling bass-baritones, Mosè and Faraone (Moses and Pharaoh). Faraone keeps promising to let the Israelites go, and reneging; each time he does so, Mosè calls in another plague. Faraone's son Osiride wants to keep the Israelites around and continue his clandestine love affair with the Israelite Elcia, so he urges Faraone to break his promise and ends up a casualty of the last plague, the Slaying of the First-Born.
The City Opera cast is made up almost entirely of debut artists, with some nice finds among them. David Salsbery Fry replaces the original Mosè, who was ill. Without the necessary vocal weight and gravity, it is hard to see Mr. Fry as much of a threat to the Faraone of Wayne Tigges, a powerful presence despite a tendency to sing sharp. But the tenor and soprano pairs (one in each camp) are happier matches. As Osiride, Randall Bills works hard and acquits himself with distinction but little finesse in this high, difficult role. Aldo Caputo has effortless volume as Aronne (Aaron). Siân Davies uses her pure, agile soprano and sculpted phrasing to bring some pathos to Elcia. Keri Alkema, the only returning singer in the cast (she was an impressive Donna Elvira in the company's "Don Giovanni" in 2009) brings a burnished intensity and clean coloratura to Amaltea, Faraone's wife and an Israelite sympathizer. Potent in smaller roles are Zachary Finkelstein as the scheming Egyptian priest Mambre and Emily Righter as the Israelite Amenofi.
Jessica Jahn has dressed the Egyptians in sculptural black-and-gold hats and breastplates for the royals, and the Israelites in flowing pastel-hued robes. Mosè, in a white dress, looks more like a benign Bible-story Jesus than an Old Testament patriarch. Ryan O'Gara's lighting mostly works well with the video.
Mr. Counts and the conductor, Jayce Ogren (now also the company's music director), could certainly do more with this good material. Channeling Robert Wilson or Achim Freyer, Mr. Counts and choreographer Ken Roht set up tableaux and some slow gestures (rigid vs. fluid, with Faraone apparently signaling traffic and Elcia drawing serpentine arcs) and otherwise leave the characters to stand and sing. The acting is minimal and amateurish. When Osiride takes Elcia into the cave to persuade her to run off with him, the two never generate any mutual intensity; all the visual interest comes from the video projection. As Mr. Lepage did with the Ring Cycle, Mr. Counts fatally relies on the wow factor of technology and forgets about the people.
Mr. Ogren's pedestrian conducting tends here to plod rather than soar. The orchestra is adequate, with some hints of inspiration in the woodwind solos. This is too bad, because the piece is rarely performed (this was billed as its first full staging in New York in more than 180 years) and is well worth hearing, with spectacular ensemble and chorus pieces and a vigorous story that all lend themselves to more interpretation than they received here.
City Center, which is now beautifully renovated with a clear but cold acoustic, seems a comfortable setting for its prodigal child. But expectations are higher than they were six decades ago and life is a lot more expensive. City Opera has more work to do.
Monday, March 25, 2013
NCAA wrestling national championships onships
They say it's easier to climb to the mountaintop of any sport than it is to defend that high ground. That old axiom was proven to be true Saturday at the 2013 NCAA Div. 1 Wrestling Championships.
Penn State walked out of Wells Fargo Arena with its third consecutive team championship, but it wasn't easy. The Nittany Lions had to fend off a spirited challenge from Oklahoma State.
Penn State finished with 123.5 points. Oklahoma State was second with 119.5, followed by Minnesota (103), Iowa (73) and Cornell (65).
"We're super happy. Our guys did a great job. It was back and forth. Our guys came through. I think every year is a little - you have different challenges," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. "It certainly doesn't get any easier. The first one was super special. It doesn't get easier."
In 2011 in Philadelphia, Penn State beat Cornell, 92.5-75. In 2012 in St. Louis, Penn State outdistanced Minnesota, 143-117.5.
Two Nittany Lions - junior 184-pounder Ed Ruth and senior 197-pounder Quentin Wright - won championships. It was the second for each of them.
Three Nittany Lions lost in the finals: sophomore Matt Brown (174), sophomore Nico Megaludis (125) and junior David Taylor (165). It was the second finals loss for Megaludis and Taylor. Megaludis lost last year. Taylor lost in the finals in 2011 and won the title at 165 a year ago. It was Brown's first trip to nationals.
"I think all of our finalists, they just wrestled. They wrestled great matches. I'm really proud of them," Sanderson said. "It's my job to make sure they're ready, each one, each individual. I'm not sure I did a very good job. That's the hard part as a coach because you're always, 'man, we just won the nationals, but we had guys that didn't reach their goal.'"
Brown won the NCAA Elite 89 Award. The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships. Brown has a 3.97 GPA in Crime, Law and Justice.
Taylor won the NCAA award for most technical falls in the season. He also won the Gorriaran Award for most falls in the tournament in the least amount of time. He had four falls, pinning his way to the finals.
Those two awards are hardly any consolation for Taylor, who lost to Cornell's Kyle Dake, 5-4, in what was arguably the most anticipated bout in NCAA history.
Taylor scored the initial takedown on now four-time champion Kyle Dake, who is the first to win four at four different weights and just the third four-time champion.
Dake escaped and converted on a takedown of his own and the first period ended with Dake in the lead, 3-2. As an amped up Wells Fargo Arena was raucous.
Dake escaped in the second and led, 4-2, heading into the third. Taylor took bottom and escaped, but not before Dake had amassed more than a minute in riding time. That was crucial as Taylor coaxed a stalling point but couldn't convert on a takedown. Dake's 1:13 in riding time was the difference in a 5-4 win.
"It hurts. I don't lose. It's something that's going to eat at me for awhile," Taylor told the Des Moines Register.
Sanderson focused on Taylor's contributions to the team.
"David Taylor, he led Penn State to three national championships through his great leadership, his hustle, his love of competing, leading with a passion and bonus points," Sanderson said. "He's made this sport a better sport and I couldn't be more proud of the kid. He's great. He's an awesome, awesome wrestler and an even better leader."
Ruth, as he often does, struck quickly with a takedown early in the first period and rode Lehigh's Robert Hamlin for 2:33 of the first period. An escape and takedown in the second increased his lead to 5-1 at the end of two. In the third, he gained momentum, scoring three takedowns, the last one in the final 15 seconds to secure an extra team point. He earned a riding time point for 3:55 in riding time for the 12-4 major decision.
For Ruth, it was his second consecutive championship after winning 13-2 in 2012 over Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui. He is now a three-time All-American and is riding a 68-match winning streak. His career record now stands at 102-2
After Ruth had his hand raised, Sanderson picked him up and put him over his shoulder.
"Oh, man. It wasn't even when the whistle blew. It was when the guy came over counting down. He was like three, two, and I'm like, 'oh, I'm about to win. I'm about to win.' As soon as he said one, the crowd is cheering and everything. I felt like my heart exploded," Ruth said.
Wright, the No. 2 seed, beat previously unbeaten and No. 1 seed Dustin Kilgore of Kent State, 8-6.
Brown's match with No. 1 seed Chris Perry of Oklahoma State was decided in the tiebreaker period, with Perry taking a 2-1 decision.
Brown escaped in three seconds to start the second and Perry escaped in eight seconds. Neither scored in the sudden victory period. Brown chose bottom to start the first tiebreaker period. After a restart, Perry threw in legs and a borderline chokehold and rode out Brown. Brown chose to cut Perry and couldn't score a winning takedown.
Megaludis dropped a 7-4 decision to Jesse Delgado of Illinois.
Neither Megaludis nor Delgado scored in the first. Delgado escaped quickly in the second, as Delgado did to start the third. But with Megaludis in deep on a shot, Delgado countered and caught him on his back for five points. Megaludis eventually escaped and took down Delgado. Megaludis cut him loose but couldn't take him down late.
"Nico wrestled a great match and ended up getting beat there at the end, but he wrestled great," Sanderson said. "Matt Brown, he did an awesome job."
Penn State walked out of Wells Fargo Arena with its third consecutive team championship, but it wasn't easy. The Nittany Lions had to fend off a spirited challenge from Oklahoma State.
Penn State finished with 123.5 points. Oklahoma State was second with 119.5, followed by Minnesota (103), Iowa (73) and Cornell (65).
"We're super happy. Our guys did a great job. It was back and forth. Our guys came through. I think every year is a little - you have different challenges," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. "It certainly doesn't get any easier. The first one was super special. It doesn't get easier."
In 2011 in Philadelphia, Penn State beat Cornell, 92.5-75. In 2012 in St. Louis, Penn State outdistanced Minnesota, 143-117.5.
Two Nittany Lions - junior 184-pounder Ed Ruth and senior 197-pounder Quentin Wright - won championships. It was the second for each of them.
Three Nittany Lions lost in the finals: sophomore Matt Brown (174), sophomore Nico Megaludis (125) and junior David Taylor (165). It was the second finals loss for Megaludis and Taylor. Megaludis lost last year. Taylor lost in the finals in 2011 and won the title at 165 a year ago. It was Brown's first trip to nationals.
"I think all of our finalists, they just wrestled. They wrestled great matches. I'm really proud of them," Sanderson said. "It's my job to make sure they're ready, each one, each individual. I'm not sure I did a very good job. That's the hard part as a coach because you're always, 'man, we just won the nationals, but we had guys that didn't reach their goal.'"
Brown won the NCAA Elite 89 Award. The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships. Brown has a 3.97 GPA in Crime, Law and Justice.
Taylor won the NCAA award for most technical falls in the season. He also won the Gorriaran Award for most falls in the tournament in the least amount of time. He had four falls, pinning his way to the finals.
Those two awards are hardly any consolation for Taylor, who lost to Cornell's Kyle Dake, 5-4, in what was arguably the most anticipated bout in NCAA history.
Taylor scored the initial takedown on now four-time champion Kyle Dake, who is the first to win four at four different weights and just the third four-time champion.
Dake escaped and converted on a takedown of his own and the first period ended with Dake in the lead, 3-2. As an amped up Wells Fargo Arena was raucous.
Dake escaped in the second and led, 4-2, heading into the third. Taylor took bottom and escaped, but not before Dake had amassed more than a minute in riding time. That was crucial as Taylor coaxed a stalling point but couldn't convert on a takedown. Dake's 1:13 in riding time was the difference in a 5-4 win.
"It hurts. I don't lose. It's something that's going to eat at me for awhile," Taylor told the Des Moines Register.
Sanderson focused on Taylor's contributions to the team.
"David Taylor, he led Penn State to three national championships through his great leadership, his hustle, his love of competing, leading with a passion and bonus points," Sanderson said. "He's made this sport a better sport and I couldn't be more proud of the kid. He's great. He's an awesome, awesome wrestler and an even better leader."
Ruth, as he often does, struck quickly with a takedown early in the first period and rode Lehigh's Robert Hamlin for 2:33 of the first period. An escape and takedown in the second increased his lead to 5-1 at the end of two. In the third, he gained momentum, scoring three takedowns, the last one in the final 15 seconds to secure an extra team point. He earned a riding time point for 3:55 in riding time for the 12-4 major decision.
For Ruth, it was his second consecutive championship after winning 13-2 in 2012 over Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui. He is now a three-time All-American and is riding a 68-match winning streak. His career record now stands at 102-2
After Ruth had his hand raised, Sanderson picked him up and put him over his shoulder.
"Oh, man. It wasn't even when the whistle blew. It was when the guy came over counting down. He was like three, two, and I'm like, 'oh, I'm about to win. I'm about to win.' As soon as he said one, the crowd is cheering and everything. I felt like my heart exploded," Ruth said.
Wright, the No. 2 seed, beat previously unbeaten and No. 1 seed Dustin Kilgore of Kent State, 8-6.
Brown's match with No. 1 seed Chris Perry of Oklahoma State was decided in the tiebreaker period, with Perry taking a 2-1 decision.
Brown escaped in three seconds to start the second and Perry escaped in eight seconds. Neither scored in the sudden victory period. Brown chose bottom to start the first tiebreaker period. After a restart, Perry threw in legs and a borderline chokehold and rode out Brown. Brown chose to cut Perry and couldn't score a winning takedown.
Megaludis dropped a 7-4 decision to Jesse Delgado of Illinois.
Neither Megaludis nor Delgado scored in the first. Delgado escaped quickly in the second, as Delgado did to start the third. But with Megaludis in deep on a shot, Delgado countered and caught him on his back for five points. Megaludis eventually escaped and took down Delgado. Megaludis cut him loose but couldn't take him down late.
"Nico wrestled a great match and ended up getting beat there at the end, but he wrestled great," Sanderson said. "Matt Brown, he did an awesome job."
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Chad grapples with loss of wrestling
How do you drop wrestling from the Summer Games? Heck, if the International Olympic Committee ran NASA, it might eliminate astronauts from the space program.
Wrestling is about as pure and organic of an athletic competition as it gets: You try to outmaneuver your opponent with your mind and your body. It’s like a California gubernatorial race, minus the PAC money.
Wrestling made its first appearance at the ancient Olympics in 708 B.C., or four years before Bob Costas anchored his first Games.
The Olympics without wrestling is like McDonald’s without French fries.
If it were up to me, I’d drop the entire Winter Olympics before I’d drop wrestling.
This nation – and the Olympic movement – was built on the backs of wrestlers.
James Madison and Benjamin Franklin used to wrestle in the rear hallways near the cafeteria at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.
Who among us didn’t grow up wrestling? Even I – the ultimate Couch Slouch – wrestled in junior high.
(After winning my first two intramural matches one year, I lost to a close friend, Howard Yablon, who pinned me late in the first period with a surprise Fisherman’s Suplex. “Where did you learn that move?” I asked him afterward. “While you were watching TV.” Smart ass.)
Wrestlers from the world’s top wrestling nations lied on the mat and observed a moment of silence Thursday at the World Cup in Tehran to protest the IOC’s action; coincidentally, the Kardashians did the same thing Friday after Neiman Marcus got rid of valet parking at its Beverly Hills location.
At the moment, wrestling will be excluded starting with the 2020 Summer Games. However, in May the IOC will vote on adding a 26th sport for 2020 – wrestling will be considered, along with baseball/softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.
(Those are all great sports – I actually was offered a wushu scholarship at Dartmouth but turned it down to go to Maryland, which had better parking – but none of them resonate Olympic-wise like wrestling.)
Frankly, there are several Summer Games sports that should get the heave-ho before wrestling:
Javelin throw. How is it still part of track and field? How many kids – outside of a handful of Norwegian suburbs – are dragging a javelin to school every day, hoping to fulfill their Olympic dream?
Golf. Indeed, golf has been added to the 2016 Games. Does anyone really want to hear Johnny Miller telling us that some Malaysian duffer just “choked” on his approach shot at 17?
Modern pentathlon. What’s so modern about the pentathlon, other than the shooting part?
Water polo. For this “sport,” you need a swimming pool, a ball and a net; in wrestling, you just need a mat. For that matter, you can grapple on any flat surface – Tom Hanks probably wrestled with Wilson on that island in “Cast Away.”
(Speaking of which, good wrestling movies for a rainy weekend: 1985’s “Vision Quest” and 2011’s “Win Win.”)
Best I can tell, the IOC’s baffling decision to drop wrestling is tied to television; apparently, wrestling’s not a prime draw with the younger TV audience.
Alas, the world revolves around the 18-to-34 demographic; I half-expect the Vatican to name One Direction as the next pope.
(Here’s what you need to know about today’s Olympics: It has less to do with “Citius, Altius, Fortius” and more to do with “Cashius, Wealthius, Greedius.”)
Anyway, since it’s all about ratings – and now that the Olympic movement has foregone that whole “amateur” pretense – why not replace freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling with Vince McMahon-style professional wrestling?
Another idea: In ancient Greece, wrestlers trained and competed in the nude. That’s right, naked wrestlers – you think that might move the meter? Also, back then, many matches ended in death. Sure, you’d create the problem of having to replace your athletic pool every year, but – and I hate to give the IOC and NBC any ideas – wrestling-to-the-death would produce GINORMOUS RATINGS, no?
Wrestling is about as pure and organic of an athletic competition as it gets: You try to outmaneuver your opponent with your mind and your body. It’s like a California gubernatorial race, minus the PAC money.
Wrestling made its first appearance at the ancient Olympics in 708 B.C., or four years before Bob Costas anchored his first Games.
The Olympics without wrestling is like McDonald’s without French fries.
If it were up to me, I’d drop the entire Winter Olympics before I’d drop wrestling.
This nation – and the Olympic movement – was built on the backs of wrestlers.
James Madison and Benjamin Franklin used to wrestle in the rear hallways near the cafeteria at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.
Who among us didn’t grow up wrestling? Even I – the ultimate Couch Slouch – wrestled in junior high.
(After winning my first two intramural matches one year, I lost to a close friend, Howard Yablon, who pinned me late in the first period with a surprise Fisherman’s Suplex. “Where did you learn that move?” I asked him afterward. “While you were watching TV.” Smart ass.)
Wrestlers from the world’s top wrestling nations lied on the mat and observed a moment of silence Thursday at the World Cup in Tehran to protest the IOC’s action; coincidentally, the Kardashians did the same thing Friday after Neiman Marcus got rid of valet parking at its Beverly Hills location.
At the moment, wrestling will be excluded starting with the 2020 Summer Games. However, in May the IOC will vote on adding a 26th sport for 2020 – wrestling will be considered, along with baseball/softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.
(Those are all great sports – I actually was offered a wushu scholarship at Dartmouth but turned it down to go to Maryland, which had better parking – but none of them resonate Olympic-wise like wrestling.)
Frankly, there are several Summer Games sports that should get the heave-ho before wrestling:
Javelin throw. How is it still part of track and field? How many kids – outside of a handful of Norwegian suburbs – are dragging a javelin to school every day, hoping to fulfill their Olympic dream?
Golf. Indeed, golf has been added to the 2016 Games. Does anyone really want to hear Johnny Miller telling us that some Malaysian duffer just “choked” on his approach shot at 17?
Modern pentathlon. What’s so modern about the pentathlon, other than the shooting part?
Water polo. For this “sport,” you need a swimming pool, a ball and a net; in wrestling, you just need a mat. For that matter, you can grapple on any flat surface – Tom Hanks probably wrestled with Wilson on that island in “Cast Away.”
(Speaking of which, good wrestling movies for a rainy weekend: 1985’s “Vision Quest” and 2011’s “Win Win.”)
Best I can tell, the IOC’s baffling decision to drop wrestling is tied to television; apparently, wrestling’s not a prime draw with the younger TV audience.
Alas, the world revolves around the 18-to-34 demographic; I half-expect the Vatican to name One Direction as the next pope.
(Here’s what you need to know about today’s Olympics: It has less to do with “Citius, Altius, Fortius” and more to do with “Cashius, Wealthius, Greedius.”)
Anyway, since it’s all about ratings – and now that the Olympic movement has foregone that whole “amateur” pretense – why not replace freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling with Vince McMahon-style professional wrestling?
Another idea: In ancient Greece, wrestlers trained and competed in the nude. That’s right, naked wrestlers – you think that might move the meter? Also, back then, many matches ended in death. Sure, you’d create the problem of having to replace your athletic pool every year, but – and I hate to give the IOC and NBC any ideas – wrestling-to-the-death would produce GINORMOUS RATINGS, no?
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Civil society organisations mark International Human Rights Day
The Aurat Foundation, in collaboration with civil society organisations – ROZAN, WLP, AMAL, WORD, We Can and RSPN – organised the launch of One Billion Rising campaign in Pakistan on the International Human Rights Day on Monday.
The ceremony was organised at the auditorium of the Department of Earth Sciences, Quaid-e-Azam University. The participants included university students and members of civil society organisations, NGOs, academia and the media.
One Billion Rising is the collective voice of one billion women, men, children and transvestites across the globe for zero tolerance to violence against women.
According to international statistics, one out of three women in the world is rapped or beaten in her lifetime, which comes to more than 1 billion women. In Pakistan, approximately 70-90 percent of the women are subjected to domestic violence each year.
It is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, started by Eve Ensler, a prominent activist who addresses issues of violence against women and girls. In 1998, her experience performing an episodic play inspired her to create V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day raises funds and awareness through annual benefit productions of the play.
Speakers urged youth to speak up against any kind of violence around them. Nighat Rizvi from AMAL briefly introduced the participants with the history of One Billion Rising and V-Day. Dr Farzana Bari, chairwoman of the Department of Gender Studies, QAU, gave a detailed presentation on the ‘situational analysis of violence against women in Pakistan.
She said that creating awareness and personal commitment to refraining from inflicting violence on others, especially on women, was imperative but “we should not forget that gender-based violence is a structural issue and power imbalance between men and women is central to all forms of violence against women”.
Dr Ambreen Ahmed from ROZAN gave an overview of the One Billion Rising campaign’s activities. She told the audience that today peoples, both women and men in 177 countries of the world are raising their voice to end violence against women.
While elaborating the campaign’s activities, she informed the participants that the activities included a signature campaign, music programmes, theatre performances, and a poster competition.
She said that so far, 3,666 signatures had been put down to end violence against women.
Renown poet Kishwar Naheed recited two of her famous poems – ‘wo jo bacheon sey bhi dar gaey..., written for Malala Yousufzai, and ‘tum swami ram baney mery, tum majnoon qais baney merey, kabhi chhorr dia, kabhi …iss khel saraey sey niklo, tum merey jaisey insaan ho, merey dost bano’.
ROZAN Managing Director Babar Bashir highlighted the importance of involving men in ending violence against women and in the One Billion Rising campaign. He said that unfortunately, most of the perpetrators of violence against women are men, which highlights the importance of focusing men in this campaign.
WORD Executive Director Aqsa Khan spoke on the sexual harassment laws in Pakistan. She gave a full background of the sexual harassment at workplace law and the institutional procedures to deal with the cases of sexual harassment at workplaces. Aurat Foundation Legislative Watch Programme Manager Farkhanda Aurangzeb in her concluding remarks said that the event was just a beginning and the campaign had a long way to go and see much success. She urged the audience that the when back at home, office or class, each one should further spread the message of standing against violence against women.
Meanwhile, a poster competition was organised among the students of NUST, Fatima Jinah University, Bahria University and Arid Agriculture University. The event also included a musical performance by renowned singer Arieb Azhar, and emerging artist Yaruq and his band.
The ceremony was organised at the auditorium of the Department of Earth Sciences, Quaid-e-Azam University. The participants included university students and members of civil society organisations, NGOs, academia and the media.
One Billion Rising is the collective voice of one billion women, men, children and transvestites across the globe for zero tolerance to violence against women.
According to international statistics, one out of three women in the world is rapped or beaten in her lifetime, which comes to more than 1 billion women. In Pakistan, approximately 70-90 percent of the women are subjected to domestic violence each year.
It is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, started by Eve Ensler, a prominent activist who addresses issues of violence against women and girls. In 1998, her experience performing an episodic play inspired her to create V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day raises funds and awareness through annual benefit productions of the play.
Speakers urged youth to speak up against any kind of violence around them. Nighat Rizvi from AMAL briefly introduced the participants with the history of One Billion Rising and V-Day. Dr Farzana Bari, chairwoman of the Department of Gender Studies, QAU, gave a detailed presentation on the ‘situational analysis of violence against women in Pakistan.
She said that creating awareness and personal commitment to refraining from inflicting violence on others, especially on women, was imperative but “we should not forget that gender-based violence is a structural issue and power imbalance between men and women is central to all forms of violence against women”.
Dr Ambreen Ahmed from ROZAN gave an overview of the One Billion Rising campaign’s activities. She told the audience that today peoples, both women and men in 177 countries of the world are raising their voice to end violence against women.
While elaborating the campaign’s activities, she informed the participants that the activities included a signature campaign, music programmes, theatre performances, and a poster competition.
She said that so far, 3,666 signatures had been put down to end violence against women.
Renown poet Kishwar Naheed recited two of her famous poems – ‘wo jo bacheon sey bhi dar gaey..., written for Malala Yousufzai, and ‘tum swami ram baney mery, tum majnoon qais baney merey, kabhi chhorr dia, kabhi …iss khel saraey sey niklo, tum merey jaisey insaan ho, merey dost bano’.
ROZAN Managing Director Babar Bashir highlighted the importance of involving men in ending violence against women and in the One Billion Rising campaign. He said that unfortunately, most of the perpetrators of violence against women are men, which highlights the importance of focusing men in this campaign.
WORD Executive Director Aqsa Khan spoke on the sexual harassment laws in Pakistan. She gave a full background of the sexual harassment at workplace law and the institutional procedures to deal with the cases of sexual harassment at workplaces. Aurat Foundation Legislative Watch Programme Manager Farkhanda Aurangzeb in her concluding remarks said that the event was just a beginning and the campaign had a long way to go and see much success. She urged the audience that the when back at home, office or class, each one should further spread the message of standing against violence against women.
Meanwhile, a poster competition was organised among the students of NUST, Fatima Jinah University, Bahria University and Arid Agriculture University. The event also included a musical performance by renowned singer Arieb Azhar, and emerging artist Yaruq and his band.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Top 3 Health Tips: Wear skinny jeans with confidence.
It's the region most of us love to hate — our hips, thighs and
backsides. For a lower body you'll love, you need to do two things: burn
fat and lift and firm your tush. Women's Health magazine, published by
Rodale, has a routine that does both. Do these seven moves one after
another with no rest in between. Then repeat the circuit so you perform
it a total of two times. Do this workout four to six times a week.
Squat, lunge, curl
Stand with your arms at your sides and squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Push back up to the starting position. Then take a giant step forward with your left foot and lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the ground. Push up onto your left leg and immediately curl your right heel toward your glutes. Return to start. That's one repetition. Repeat, stepping forward with your right foot. Continue alternating the sequence for 20 reps. Tip: For a challenge, add dumbbell1s.
Source http://articles.mcall.com/2012-12-07/health/mc-top-3-health-tips-allentown-1208-20121207_1_skinny-jeans-thighs-push
Squat, lunge, curl
Stand with your arms at your sides and squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Push back up to the starting position. Then take a giant step forward with your left foot and lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the ground. Push up onto your left leg and immediately curl your right heel toward your glutes. Return to start. That's one repetition. Repeat, stepping forward with your right foot. Continue alternating the sequence for 20 reps. Tip: For a challenge, add dumbbell1s.
Source http://articles.mcall.com/2012-12-07/health/mc-top-3-health-tips-allentown-1208-20121207_1_skinny-jeans-thighs-push
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