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Great Britain's golden weekend

Sunday, August 17, 2008
A stunning weekend of medals at the Beijing Olympics has seen Great Britain leap up to third in the medal table, powered by triumphs in the cycling, rowing, sailing and swimming.

Flying the flag: Ben Ainslie blew the competition away in a rain storm to win gold in the Finn sailing, his third Olympic gold

Britain took a phenomenal haul of 17 medals over the two days, eight of them gold. They have now
passed their gold medal tally from Athens in 2004 and equalled their tally of 11 from Sydney eight years ago.
One more gold will make it the most successful Olympics since 1920 – and with several Britons hotly tipped to claim further cycling titles in the velodrome, it's looking good

Sunday saw four more golds added to Saturday's haul. First up, the sailing trio of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson produced a superb run in the Yngling, winning the race in heavy weather to keep out the Dutch team, the only competitors left who could still deny them gold.

Golden girls: The Yngling trio of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson protected a slender lead to take victory

The British trio entered the regatta as heavy favourites after dominating the Yngling class for the past two years – but they went into the medal race with only a slender one-point, meaning that it was a winner-takes-all head-to-head with the Dutch.
Then Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter continued Britain's excellent performance in the rowing, claiming the men's lightweight double sculls title.

Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase, apparently attempting to eat their gold medals

Purchase and Hunter came into the final unbeaten in 12 races, but any fears of falling at the unlucky 13th hurdle were dispelled by a commanding race in which they led from start to finish. Greece were half a length behind in second.
After that, it was back to the sailing regatta, where two-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie made it three in a row with victory in the Finn class.
Ainslie had endured a frustrating few days, with unsettled wind conditions causing the race to be abandoned on Saturday, and then strong winds and heavy rain descending on the waters off Qingdao this afternoon to delay the start of the race for nearly two hours.
But he held off his only challenger, Zach Railey of the United States, and won the final race – meaning he finished a massive 22 points ahead of his nearest rival.

Cyclists Rebecca Romero (left) and Wendy Houvenaghel celebrate their gold and silver medals in the Women's Individual Pursuit

And finally at the Laoshan Velodrome, Rebecca Romero won cycling gold in the women's pursuit, beating fellow Brit Wendy Houvenaghel in the final.
Romero became the first British woman to win two medals in two different summer Olympic sports, having won a silver in rowing in Athens four years ago.
And there was more success in the rowing, where the women's quadruple sculls and the men's eight both claimed silver to ensure that Britain topped the rowing medals table.
And finally, 19-year-old Louis Smith rounded off a brilliant weekend with a surprise medal in the gymnastics, taking bronze on the pommel horse - become the first British man to win an individual gymnastics medal.

You don't see that very often: Great Britain are now third in the medal table

There was, however, agony for Paula Radcliffe, who missed out on an Olympic marathon medal once again. Plagued by injury coming into the race, she could only manage 23rd place as her disrupted preparations unsurprisingly caught up with her on the streets of Beijing. She had to stop with four kilometres to go to stretch against railings as cramp tugged at her muscles – but battled on to finish in a time of 2:32.38, before being embraced and crying on the shoulder of team-mate Liz Yelling.
But in the same race, which was won by Romania's Constantina Tomescu, Britain's Mara Yamauchi ran brilliantly and was the best-placed Briton in sixth place.
On Saturday, Team GB kicked off their golden weekend with victory for Rebecca Adlington in the women's 800m freestyle – smashing the world record in the process, and becoming the first British woman ever to win two golds in the pool.
Then in the men's fours, Britain continued their domination of the event, with the crew of Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge timing their race perfectly to win BG's third consecutive gold in the event.
After that, the cyclists provided more golden moments, as the seemingly invincible Bradley Wiggins romped to victory in the men's individual pursuit, and the enormous Chris Hoy destroying the competition in the keirin – with Ross Edgar making it a one-two for Britain with a superbly raced silver
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phenomenal
highly extraordinary or prodigious; exceptional: phenomenal speed
synoyms : uncommon, outstanding, surpassing, unprecedented
haul
something that is taken or acquired: The thieves' haul included several valuable paintings

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Weddings choosing cheese cakes

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Cheesy: the savoury alternative to a wedding cake?

No, it's not a wedding cake that's been left at the back of the fridge for too long - it's a wedding 'cake' made from cheese.
The savoury alternative to the traditional fruit cake is rocketing in popularity, makers say

One cheese company is taking up to six orders a week as more and more newlyweds turn to the tiers of brie, cheddar, Cornish yarg and Stilton to add an 'original touch' to their reception.
'The craze for wedding cheese cakes is really taking off. We spend a lot of time preparing these cakes as they need to be of the right dimensions and perfect for the couple,' said Kai Peacock, of the Bath Fine Cheese firm
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savoury
morally wholesome or acceptable; "a past that was scarcely savory
syn:savory ant:offensive
cheddar
a hard, smooth-textured cheese, made usually from the whole milk of cows and varying in color from white to deep yellow and in flavor from mild to sharp as it ages

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Easy lover Phil hands over £25m for divorce

by ANTHONY PHILLIPS - Sunday, August 17, 2008

Payout: Phil Collins

Rock star Phil Collins has given his former wife £25million in what is believed to be the biggest divorce settlement in British showbiz.
Collins, 57, handed over more than a third of his estimated £70million fortune to his third wife, Orianne Cevey, following the end of their six-year marriage.
The payout tops the £24.3million Paul McCartney gave Heather Mills and the £17million Collins paid to his second wife, Jill Tavelman, after infamously dumping her by fax in 1994

Cevey, 35, is said to be living in the £20million matrimonial home in Geneva while Collins also lives in Switzerland to be near his sons, aged eight and four.
The former Genesis frontman has since been linked with American newsreader Dana Tyler, 49. His first wife, Andrea Bertorelli, left him. Collins, whose solo hits include You Can't Hurry Love and Easy Lover, also starred in the lead role of the 1988 Great Train Robbery movie, Buster.
The London-born musician, who won an Oscar in 2000 for his soundtrack to the Disney film Tarzan, announced he was retiring from touring earlier this year
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payout
an act or instance of paying, expending, or disbursing
matrimonial
of or pertaining to matrimony; marital; nuptial; connubial; conjugal

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Amy's amazing recovery at weird weekend

by ANDREI HARMSWORTH - Monday, August 18, 2008

Amy looked grey and sick on Saturday, buy was glowing on Sunday
After being booed by thousands, Amy Winehouse managed to transform herself from a sickly vision of death to a bubbly success at the Virgin Mobile V Festival.
The ropey singer shocked the audience and drew boos from the crowd as she struggled to work her way through her first performance at the Staffordshire Weston Park leg of the festival on Saturday.
MORE V FESITVAL GOSS BELOW
Looking grey, gaunt and with full rib cage on show, she turned up on stage 15 minutes late and then was booed heavily after dedicating a song to Blake

Then just 24 hours later the star emerged cleaned up, with make up intact and three roses in her hair, to turn up only ten minutes late at the Chelmsford leg on Sunday.
However, this time her camp blamed her tardiness on Lenny Kravitz over-running on the set before.
Pulling at her dress and trying to give her second performance some welly, the 24-year-old was let down by the festival's sound system as her famous gravelly voice could barely be heard, again drawing boos.
Her showing comes as friends say her long awaited third album has been heavily influenced by The Wizard of OZ.
An insider said: 'She loves the surreal look, sound and score' of her new obsession.
'One of her new songs heavily samples the theme tune
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boo
to show disapproval of by booing
gaunt
extremely thin and bony; haggard and drawn, as from great hunger, weariness, or torture; emaciated

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Dancing dolphin teaches tricks

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Now, repeat after me...
A wild dolphin has been teaching others in her group to perform tricks she learnt in captivity 20 years ago.

Billie picked up 'tailwalking' when she was rescued after getting trapped in a marina lock.
The bottlenose was kept for three weeks - though not trained like performing animals

But she passed on the skill - Wave (pictured) is regularly seen surging out the water and 'walking' on her tail fin.
'We can't for the life of us work out why they do it,' said Mike Bossley of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, who has studied the group in Adelaide, Australia
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fin
a membranous, winglike or paddlelike organ attached to any of various parts of the body of fishes and certain other aquatic animals, used for propulsion, steering, or balancing

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Stroke of good luck turns man into artist

by ROSS MCGUINNESS - Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Already left disabled and existing on benefits, life seemed to take an even worse turn for former engineer Ken Walters when he had a stoke.

One of Ken Walters' creations for Spore

But the seizure turned out to be his salvation as it 're-wired' his brain, transforming him into a gifted artist.
He has now been snapped up by computer giant EA Games to design 100 creatures for the highly anticipated 'evolution simulation' game Spore, and another company wants him to create visuals for mobile phones.
Life had seemed over for Mr Walters, of Ormskirk, Lancashire, when his spine was crushed by a fork-lift truck in 1986

Two heart attacks followed and, while talking to a friend over the phone, he suffered a stroke in 2005.
The 51-year-old battled depression for 19 years after the accident confined him to a wheelchair.
Desperate to relieve his boredom in hospital, he started doodling. 'I had the stroke and this passion for art just came out from nowhere,' he said.
'I wasn't actually drawing anything, just letting my hands do whatever my brain was telling them.'
Doctors encouraged him and he went on to develop his own software and sell his work before EA hired him.
Mr Walters added: 'Having a stroke was the biggest blessing in disguise I ever could have wished for
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boredom
the state of being bored; tedium; ennui
disguise
to conceal or cover up the truth or actual character of by a counterfeit form or appearance; misrepresent: to disguise one's intentions

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008 10:01 am EDT
Paraguayan heartthrob breaks our collective hearts

By Chris Chase

Leryn Franco is just your run-of-the-mill javelin thrower/pageant queen/model with her own calendar. But during the Beijing Olympics the 26-year old Paraguayan became so much more to the American people; she became our javelin thrower/pageant queen/model with her own calendar. So, my fellow Americans, it is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you that our favorite Paraguayan athlete (sorry Jose Luis Chilavert) was eliminated from the Olympics this morning after failing to qualify for the javelin finals. Take all the time you need.
Ms. Franco became the object of our attention after she was noticed by NBC cameras during the Parade of Nations at the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Fourth-Place Medal's fledgling Investigative Unit discovered her identity eight magical days ago and since then our schoolboy crush blossomed into unrequited love.
Leryn -- can we call you Leryn? -- didn't return our collective calls, but we didn't mind. We knew she was busy preparing for her event: the javelin throw. She competed this morning, finishing second-to-last in the qualifying round with a throw that was 12 meters short of her personal best. It was a disappointment, to be sure, but not altogether surprising. After all, Leryn's goal was never to medal; it was to win the hearts of men and women worldwide. And in that event, Leryn Franco won gold.
Photo via Getty Images

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Photo Coverage

BEIJING - AUGUST 19: Leryn Franco of Paraguay competes in the Women's Javelin Qualifying Round held at the National Stadium on Day 11 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 19, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

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... Once you start, you can't Lego

Thursday, August 21, 2008





The winter nights will just fly by if you invest £200 in buying this Taj Mahal model from Lego.
At 50cm wide, 41cm tall and almost 6,000 pieces, it is the largest model produced by the toymaker in its 74-year history.
Lego's Jenny Brown said it was 'designed for very experienced Lego builders', and may take up to 40hours to complete.
It has 800 more bricks than the next biggest model – the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars

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Rachel and Teddy hit the dance floor

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Teddy will battle it out on the dance floor

A new season of reality TV shows are hitting our screens again, X-Factor's new series kicked off last week and now a new cast of celebs, including Rachel Stevens and Teddy Sheringham, are going to be shaking their tail feathers on Strictly Come Dancing.
The new series of the dancing show will air on September 13 and Lisa Snowden, Jodie Kid, Katie Price, Peter Andre, M People's Heather Small, Melanie Sykes, Emma Barton and chef Gary Rhodes are rumoured to be joining the former football legend and pop star
The show has been fantastic publicity for celebrities such as Kelly Brook in the past and former S Club 7 star Rachel will no doubt be hoping for the same success.
A source told the Daily Mirror: “Rachel has met her dance partner. She is excited about the show and is going to get stuck into training.”
The 30-year-old, who was once voted the world's most beautiful woman, will be getting back into tip top shape for the gruelling dance routines that the show demands.
Danielle Lloyd's ex squeeze Teddy will also be practicing his dance moves for the new series and a source told The Sun that sportsmen and women always do well on the show
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kick off
the initial stage of something; start; beginning: the campaign kickoff

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HOT OR NOT? Coleen vs Alice

By JESSICA SATHERLEY - Friday, August 22, 2008
Metro has carefully chosen the best and worst dressed celebs this week to find out who has hit the fashion jack-pot and who has missed.
HOT
Coleen McLoughlin brought a new meaning to festival chic when she arrived at the V Festival this week.

Coleen looks glam even when dressed down in wellies!

The wife of Wayne Rooney teamed up patent black wellies with a funky black skirt, leather jacket and colourful shirt.
The 22-year-old WAG is normally dressed to the nines and has openly expressed her love for Christian Louboutin kicks but she shows us here she can look equally as glamorous in good old gumboots.
This week both our best and worst dressed celebs derived from the festival based in Essex and Staffordshire and what a variety in style there was!
NOT
Model, it-girl, new face of Mango, you'd think she has it all, but is this really what fashion has come to?

Alice Dellal dressed to kill, literally, at the V Festival

She is hailed as a fashionista and style guru but this barely there pink mini, black chunky soled boots, baggy ripped T-shirt and messed up hair like she has been sleeping in a dumpster looks more hobo than high street.
Her trademark semi-shaved hair might not be conventional but that is probably the point of it, as she has said previously, “I like my style. If people don't like my hair, then they don't have to book me

The model has introduced a new kind of arrogance to bad fashion which has branded her the epitome of cool; however can anyone honestly say they think this is a hot look?
Maybe this is the look of the new millennium but are we ready for it? If this outfit was worn by anyone other than Dellal they would probably be mistaken for a working lady of the night, rather than the queen of cool
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fashionista
a very fashionable person, esp. one who works in the fashion industry
guru

an intellectual or spiritual guide or leader

chunky
thick or stout; stocky