A picture can speak a thousand words.Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reacts to Australia’s first home-series defeat in 16 years
Cry Baby
But it’s been 16 Years of Dominance make that err..15 you could have easily lost the home series against India Albeit the umpires decisions,The famous Monkey gate scandal saved your sorry ass. 16 years that are gone forever
Cricket Australia will never be the same again its time to say goodbye ..
Roger returned from his five-week break to beat Radek Stepanek (ATP 30), 6-3, 7-6 (6), yesterday in the second round of the Madrid Masters.
“I think I moved with a spring in my step. My feeling out there was positive and confident which is a good feeling to have in the first match which tends to be very tricky,” Roger said after the match.
Roger had a perfect start and took a 3-0 lead as Stepanek’s serve fell apart. But the world number 30 stepped up in the second set, winning all but one of the points on his first serve, and seized the advantage in the set decider. But our champ did what he can do so well: increase the pressure in critical moments. He rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the tiebreaker with some excellent shotmaking, including a backhand that landed in the far corner on match point. Roger went on to take the tie break 8-6 and the match in one hour and 26 minutes.
In doing so, Federer surpassed Pete Sampras as the all-time leader in career prize money in men’s tennis. The Swiss, who earned 24,200 Euros ($32,428) for reaching the third round in Madrid, increased his career total to $43,300,847. Sampras earned $43,280,489 during his outstanding career.
Photo:Yahoo sports
Metal bands have their own style and when it comes to their band mascots some of them are household names lets explore Iron Maiden’s “Eddie”.
Eddie, whose full name is Eddie the ‘Ead or Edward the Head also known as Edward the Great (see below), is the mascot for the British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture in the often violent album cover art, as well as ever present in their live shows. Eddie also featured in a first-person shooter video game, Ed Hunter. The entire bio of Eddie can be found here on Wikipedia.
History
Eddie was designed by “Derek Riggs” this is what he has to say in his own words;
Riggs: Well years and years and years ago, in fact two years before I ever met the band (Iron Maiden), and before they had a recording contract..erm…I was sitting alone in my shed trying to get my painting together..I was doing a lot of work on Symbolism. Reading a lot of books (about Symbolism), trying to..erm…work out what it was all about…reading a lot of horror books too, because I’m sick and twisted inside…(both laugh) There was an idea that H.P. Lovecraft came up with that you can make things more horrible by putting them up in your own environment, rather than sticking it out in Transylvania, or somewhere. It was in the late 1970’s and punk was big, There was this ‘wasted youth’ concept going around…you know…we’ve all been thrown on the dustbin…help, we’re dying now…(both laugh) …So I designed this character with punky hair, and I thought I’ll put a corpse in a T-shirt, because I had a picture from the 1960’s of this dead American’s head stuck on a Vietnamese tank…that’s what they said it was…but it may not be true…anyway, I painted this head with punk hair on…and stuck it up where I used to live. I used to walk a lot at night and I came upon this wall which was all yellow because it had street lights above it, and the moon was out too… which was kind of blueish looking. It was quite a stunning contrast…So used it ! So, I finished this picture and gave it to an agent who kept it for a few weeks and then gave it me back telling me ‘it wasn’t very commercial’… (both laugh) You get a feeling when something is right. I knew Eddie was right. He just had that look. He wasn’t called Eddie then in fact, he was called Electric Matthew. It was called ‘Electric Matthew Says Hello’. I used give my pictures stupid names. If you went round to Sci-Fi conventions you would see pictures called, ‘The Last Of The Few’ and ‘The Few Of The Many’. Silly titles…you know…
The various incarnations of Eddie can be seen below save them if you like it.
check out Kheldan for more eddie pics its kool!!
Eddie on Maiden Studio Albums
Iron Maiden 1980
Killers 1981
The Number Of The Beast 1982
Piece Of Mind 1983
Powerslave 1984
Somewhere In Time 1986
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 1988
No Prayer For The Dying 1990
Fear Of The Dark 1992
The X Factor 1995
Virtual XI 1998
Brave New World 2000
Dance Of Death 2003
A Matter Of Life And Death 2006
some part of information used from Maiden fans & covers used from Maiden commentary
Most of us are familiar with “Air Force one“. Well lets now talk about “Ed Force One” The official Iron Maiden plane which features band mascot “Eddie” on the tail wing it has been used for the Iron Maiden “Somewhere Back In Time” world tour.
Maiden plane spotting has become ravishingly cool you can check out the photographs below it looks spectacular and its piloted by none other than the “Air Raid Siren” Bruce Dickinson the lead singer of the band.The “Ed Force One” has been dubbed as “Possibly the coolest plane ever” .The plane carries 60 Maiden crew members.Iron Maiden are the first metal band to use a single aeroplane to take them, their crew and equipment on tour.
Images used from Google check out more pics here “ED FORCE ONE”
Scarlett Johansson in Universal Pictures' The Black Dahlia
A pouty and pretty strawberry blonde New Yorker who commenced her career a child actor with instincts, skills and a streetwise grace that far outpaced her age, Scarlett Johansson first came to attention playing the daughter of Sean Connery and Kate Capshaw terrorized by Blair Underwood in “Just Cause” (1995). Having made her stage debut at age eight in 1993’s “Sophistry” at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, the young player also studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Her screen debut in Rob Reiner’s disastrous “North” (1994) was less than memorable, but Johansson has maintained an even career, impressing with her fully-realized characterizations in nearly every showing.
Scarlett Johansson in Focus' Lost in Translation
She got noticed as one of Eric Schaeffer’s wise charges in “If Lucy Fell” and took a co-starring role in the understated independent “Manny & Lo” (both 1996), a perfect vehicle for the actress to prove her talents. Johansson’s finely crafted portrayal of Amanda (Manny), a rather sensible 11-year-old who escapes from a foster home and runs away with her 16-year old sister Laurel (Lo) earned her critical praise and led directly to her casting in the high profile but disappointing 1997 release “Home Alone 3″ and the highly-anticipated romance “The Horse Whisperer” (1998). In the latter, Johansson landed the coveted role of Grace, a youngster who suffers a physically and emotionally debilitating riding accident. When her mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) turns to a horse trainer (Robert Redford) for assistance, romance blooms, and as Johansson turned what could have been little more than a two-dimensional plot device into a full-fledged character, an actress bloomed.
The entire biography of Johansson can be found on Yahoo movies
Here are some pictures of the Sexy Scarlett Johansson more pictures of Johansson can be found in the links provided below!
Entire Red carpet gallery can be found here on Scarlett Johansson.org a wonderful fan site!
Scarlett at Barack Obama’s Rally in Iowa
click on the above link to see the Obama rally pics.
Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum, New York – May 5
pictures used from Scarlett Johansson.org a wonderful fan site check it out for tons of Pictures and videos.
Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss in Lionsgate Films' The Spirit
If you are familiar with Iron Maiden or if you are into Metal most of the fans know who Steve Harris is. Steve “arry” Harris is the legendary bassist and founder of the iconic British heavy metal band “Iron Maiden”.Its wise to say Steve Harris is Mr Maiden himself regardless of who your favourite Maiden band member is…
Biography:
Stephen Percy Harris (born March 12, 1956 in Leytonstone, London, England) is the bassist, band leader and primary composer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. In addition, he plays keyboards, sings backing vocals. He founded the band as a teenager in 1975. He and Dave Murray are the only members of the band to have appeared on all of the band’s albums, and Harris is the only member to remain in the band throughout its duration. He used to work as an architectural draftsman in the East End of London but gave up his job upon forming Iron Maiden. During the mid 1970s he was a youth team footballer for West Ham United. He still is a talented amateur football player and often has the crest of West Ham on his bass,and he has stated his first ambition in life before music was to become a professional footballer.
Career:
Harris is a self-taught bass player. His first bass was a copy of a Fender Precision Bass that cost him £40 when he was 17 years old. He went on to use a signature Lado “Unicorn” model and an early 1970s Fender Precision with RotoSound strings. He now uses his own signature RotoSound flatwound bass strings. The strings that Harris uses, SH77, have a brightness not usually associated with flatwound strings. The Bass has no Tone control and Steve taps his head or body to cue the tech for treble or bass adjustments.
Harris’s influences include such bass players as Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Chris Squire of Yes, John Deacon of Queen, Mike Rutherford of Genesis, Geddy Lee of Rush, Andy Fraser of Free and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, John Entwistle of The Who, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and particularly Pete Way from UFO.
Harris’ first band was named first Influence then Gypsy’s Kiss. He later joined Smiler, of which all the band members were several years older than he was. He ended up leaving, as the members of the band made it clear that they did not care for a bassist who leapt around the stage and wrote songs. After Smiler, Harris went on to create Iron Maiden, getting the name from seeing an iron maiden, a type of torture instrument, in the movie The Man in the Iron Mask.
Steve Harris is Maiden’s principal composer and lyricist. His songwriting typically showcases his trademark galloping bass patterns (see below) and features long songs with epic lyrics that feature many tempo changes, influenced by 1970’s progressive rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Harris frequently writes lyrics about mythology, history or topics inspired from books and movies.
Steve Harris is often considered among the best and most influential heavy metal bassists. He is most known for his “galloping” bass lines – usually an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes at fast tempo (e.g., “The Trooper”) or eighth note triplets – which he plays with two fingers. Before playing, Harris often chalks his fingers, to make these fast patterns easier to play, as shown on the bonus DVD for the A Matter of Life and Death album. Besides this he is very adventurous on the bass and plays intricate accompaniment in many of Maiden’s songs. He also uses power chords, which are unusual on bass, on several songs. Harris has also stated that he never uses a pick and that he never warms up before a show.
He plays a specially-painted bass guitar which has been featured on every Iron Maiden album. The guitar has gone through three colour changes since construction. Originally black, it was then changed to blue, then white.
Trivia:
Here are some pictures of Steve Harris and a couple of vids where you can know more about Steve’s world class writing skills and check out his Gallop sound!you will know its Steve Harris if you are into Maiden.
Steve Harris Bass influence can be found on these songs you can view them by clicking on them
you can buy official band mechandise below!
Steve Harris bio used from Wikipedia
NBC olympics:BEIJING — Michael Phelps won the men’s 200-meter butterfly Wednesday and not even an hour later helped lift the U.S. 4×200m freestyle relay team to victory, becoming the winningest athlete in Olympic history, now with 11 gold medals — and counting.
Michael Phelps wins the 200m butterfly on Day 5 of the Beijing Games for his record-setting 10th career Olympic gold medal.
BEIJING - AUGUST 11: Michael Phelps of the United States celebrates finishing the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final in first place to win the gold medal held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 3 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
The U.S. men didn’t just set the world record, they destroyed it. Their 6:58.56 was 4.68 seconds faster than the previous record, also set by the U.S. men at the 2007 World Championships.
Phelps swam a 1:43 31 leading off the relay, just short of his personal best, and the world record, set the day before in winning the 200m freestyle. Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay did the rest, as the silver medalists from Russia finished more than five seconds behind.
“For four years we knew we could probably get under 7 minutes,” Lochte said in a poolside interview with NBC. “It’s great to finally do it.”
Phelps is now five-for-five in Beijing, with a world record in every final.
But the race was closer than Phelps expected. Two others went under 1:53. Laszlo Cseh of Hungary was second in 1:52.70 and Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda won the bronze in 1:52.97.
As he came off the pool deck, Phelps disclosed that his goggles had filled with water, adding, “I could not believe how close to me those guys were.”
“I can’t see anything,” Phelps said to his coach, Bob Bowman.
Later, after the relay, Phelps admitted he was bothered with the goggle problem even though he broke his own world mark.
“As soon as I dove in, they filled up,” he said. “I was more or less trying to count my strokes, hoping I’d be dead on at the turns,” he said. “I’m disappointed because I know I can go faster, but there was nothing I could do. I handled it the best way I could.”
Along with the five golds he has now won in Beijing, Phelps won six at the 2004 Athens Games. Phelps also won two bronze medals in 2004.
Coming into Wednesday’s action at the Water Cube, Phelps stood at nine career Olympic golds, tied with four others for most career golds, among them Mark Spitz and track star Carl Lewis.
“I’m almost at a loss for words,” Phelps said of breaking the career record. “To be in the same group with the greatest Olympians who ever lived, to have the most golds in history is unbelievable.
“After the fly, I was trying to focus, but I just kept thinking, ‘Wow, the greatest Olympian of all time.’ That’s a pretty cool title.”
Spitz still holds the mark for most golds won by one athlete in a single Olympics, seven in Munich in 1972.
That’s the next goal in Phelps’ sights.
“It’s not over yet,” Phelps said. “Anything can happen in the next three events.”
Yet to come: the 200m individual medley Friday; the 100m butterfly Saturday; and the 4×100m medley relay, with prelims on Friday, the final Sunday.
Check out the biography of Michael Phelps here on NBC olympics.
What more can you expect from Phelps he is the greatest swimmer alive on planet earth!
Photo:Yahoosport/GettyImages
1. The Band and their Birthdates
2. What Bands were Maiden inspired by?
Wishbone Ash, Montrose, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, UFO, Rainbow, T. Rex, Free, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Genesis.
3. Where does the mascot’s name, EDDIE, come from?
The original Eddie was just this theatrical mask. You can kind of see it in the band photos on the first album and on the “Running Free” single picture sleeve. It’s a face right next to the band logo.It was connected to a pump that would spurt out various kinds of liquids and it would drool all over Doug Sampson or Clive Burr or whoever was at the drums that time. People would also try to sling stuff into it. Its full name was “Eddie The Head” (Edward T.H. on the Live After Death cover) and it comes from the following old joke:
Eddie was born with no body and no arms and no legs. Just a head. But despite this slight birth defect his parents loved him very much cared for him and were always giving him all these presents like hats and blow things at parties and other cool stuff. So on his sixteenth birthday they run into a doctor that says “Hey, I can give Eddie a body” so the parents are going totally nuts because finally their kid can have a body and be like other normal people. They go home and are really excited and say “Have we got a surprise for you. It’s the best present ever!” and Eddie says “Oh, no, not another fucking hat!”
They gave the name “Eddie” to that mask. By the time of them being signed to EMI Records, they got Derek Riggs to do cover artwork. The first was the cover to the “Running Free” single, and you see that zombie in the back missing an arm (which somehow is in front of a guy who looks a lot like Bruce Dickinson running away from that zombie). The band liked the zombie guy so much that the name Eddie was transferred over to the zombie when they lost that mask with the pump.
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You can find Maiden & other great bands Merchandise here at
Instrumental Songs:
Transylvania, The Ides Of March, Genghis Khan, and Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra).
Losfer words check out the instrumental below!
Adrian’s new Jackson guitar was stolen after the show in Athens on Saturday night.
Can all Maiden fans please be on the lookout for the guitar.
It will be extremely hard to get rid of as it’s the only one in the world.
There will be a reward of a Maiden tour jacket and I’m sure a hand written letter of thanks from Adrian for anyone with information leading to the recovery of the guitar.
DESCRIPTION:
JACKSON STRAT COL. WHITE ADRIAN SMITH SIGNATURE MODEL, WHITE SCRATCH PLATE
EBONY FRETBOARD
ADRIAN SMITH SIGNATURE ON FRONT OF HEADSTOCK
HUMBUCKER BRIDGE PICK-UP
TWO SINGLE COIL PICK-UPS
RECTANGULAR BLACK MOULDED JACKSON GUITAR CASE.
The serial number of the guitar is 8467
If you have any info, please contact fanclub@ironmaiden.com
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Adrian Frederik “H” Smith (born February 27, 1957 in Hackney, East London, England) is a guitarist and one of three guitarists/songwriters in the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He also sings backing vocals on some songs, along with Steve Harris.Here is a clip of Adrian Smith on lead vocals singing “Reach out” with Bruce Dickinson on backing vocals.This was on a Maiden B- side songs.
Biography:
While at school, Adrian befriended Dave Murray and founded his first band Urchin as lead singer and lead guitarist. Adrian had bought his first guitar from Murray, a Woolworths’ Top 20, for five quid. Murray left Urchin to join Iron Maiden, the new band of another local musician, Steve Harris. Smith continued to front Urchin, with limited success, until joining Maiden in late 1980 for the Killers album (released in 1981), replacing Dennis Stratton. Smith first wrote songs for Maiden on the 1982 album The Number of the Beast, and was the band’s secondary songwriter from then on (often in co-operation with Bruce Dickinson). Smith and Dave Murray combined playing dual lead guitars helping to forge the trademark sound of Iron Maiden. Some notable lead duets are “2 Minutes to Midnight”, “Alexander the Great” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Notable solos include “Wasted Years”, “Stranger in a Strange Land” and “The Wicker Man”.
Adrian’s solos are usually composed rather than improvised. His legato playing is very smooth and fast, and typically even his very fast passages have a musical function and relationship to the chord structure behind the solo, drawing from modes and arpeggios which are more often from blues licks.
Smith released a solo LP with the band ASAP (Adrian Smith And Project) titled Silver and Gold in 1989. Following its release, Smith departed from Iron Maiden in 1990 when recordings for the No Prayer for the Dying album were about to start, and was replaced by Janick Gers. It is widely believed that Adrian left due to his unhappiness with the direction the band was taking: after releasing the experimental Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son albums, Steve Harris had decided to take the band back to a more traditional hard rock direction which can clearly be heard on the No Prayer for the Dying album. This album featured one last song co-penned by Adrian with Bruce Dickinson, “Hooks in You”.
Advert:Official Band Merchandise
Bruce Dickinson’s comment on Adrian:
“When he left the band in 1990, I think everybody was a bit surprised at how much we missed him and certainly, I don’t think anybody had realized how much the fans would miss him – big time. I wouldn’t have rejoined Iron Maiden if he wasn’t in the band. I just don’t think it would have been complete without Adrian, and now, it’s great having three guitarists.”
In 1996, Adrian joined forces with former Helloween vocalist, Michael Kiske on Kiske’s solo album Instant Clarity. He plays guitar on a few tracks and co-wrote a few songs.
Later, Adrian formed his alternative rock-influenced band Psycho Motel. This band was a progression from an earlier music project of his, The Untouchables, which had featured some of the members from ASAP and Jamie Stewart. The band recorded two albums, State of Mind (1996) and Welcome to the World (1997). Smith would also play on Bruce Dickinson’s Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding albums. The influence of this more progressive direction, as well as Adrian’s heavier rhythm guitar playing, on Iron Maiden’s own performances since he rejoined the band is clear.
On August 22nd 1992 Smith made a brief appearance onstage with Maiden to play “Running Free” during the Donington Festival.
In 1999, Smith re-joined Iron Maiden for the “Ed Hunter tour”, a tour in support of the video game of the same name. Since then, Iron Maiden have released 3 studio albums, Brave New World in 2000, Dance of Death in 2003 and A Matter of Life and Death in 2006. He remains with the band to this day.
In his spare time, Adrian loves fishing, as can be seen on the Rock In Rio DVD.
Adrian has a wife named Nathalie, and three children, son Dylan Smith (born in 1989) and twin daughters Natasha Smith and Brittany Smith (born in 1991).
Equipment:
Guitars
Smith’s preferred guitar is the Fender Stratocaster, though he has used a variety of others over his career including several different Dean models, a custom built Jackson, Ibanez Destroyer, Gibson Les Pauls, a Gibson Explorer, Gibson SGs and Lado Guitars. On the A Matter of Life and Death DVD he says the first guitar he bought was a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that cost him £235 when he was 17; he’s still using it, and “it’s still probably the best guitar I’ve got”. He had to work on a building site all summer to pay for it. His current Stratocaster features a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker in the bridge position, which is the pickup he uses almost exclusively, and a Floyd Rose locking tremolo system. On the H/S/S strats he has been playing recently he uses the bridge humbucker almost exclusively. Adrian uses gauge 9 strings and has his action set slightly higher than average. Contrary to common belief, Adrian does not use the Seymour Duncan JB Junior pickup, which is favoured by fellow Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers. For his solo work with Bruce Dickinson he has used (at least live) a Jackson King V guitar tuned down to D, providing a darker and heavier sound. He has also used this setup on occasion after re-joining Iron Maiden. In the booklet of their album A Matter of Life and Death, Adrian is shown with a custom made two neck Jackson Soloist. Smith used the guitar, a 6/12 string, for the song “Children of the Damned” during Iron Maiden’s 2007 tour. As of August of 2007, Adrian Smith is being endorsed by Jackson guitars, the first time in over fifteen years since he was endorsed by a guitar company.
* A Fender American Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose tremolo system with a backup Fender.
* A Gibson SG with a backup Gibson.
Adrian has around 30 guitars in his collection find more information on “H’’s equipment &s
most of the Information used from Wikipedia
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