3-Pointer by Gary Whittaker – Recreation
3-Pointer by Gary Whittaker
Gary Whittaker
1 - Red Sox World Series win anti-climatic
Yawn.... apparently, sometime between Bostons history making series comeback victory over the Yankees, and me falling asleep in front of the television, the Red Sox actually won their first World Series championship in 86 years. So the curse of the Bambino is lifted, albeit in a less than thrilling fashion...at least for the baseball fans outside of Boston anyway. Aside from "the worst base running in the history of baseball", nothing else in this series was newsworthy. Sure, game 1 had potential, with the Sox losing the lead 3 times before taking it home, but the rest of the series fell flat. It became more fun after game 2 to think about how the Yankees were going to dismantle their team. We were treated to all kinds of Yankee predictions, interviews with George, and a look at their free agents. Even the victory celebrations ended with less drama then the party after the victory over the Yankees. That was where a 21-year-old aspiring news anchor name Victoria Snelgrove made news for the last time, as she was shot dead by Boston police with a "non-lethal" pepper spray bullet. This time, only 18 people were arrested, and no serious personal injuries were reported. There are some interesting points to look forward to: Pedro Martinez going to a new team and admitting to having some jealousy over Curt Shilling, Manny Ramirez never playing outfield again, except for comic relief, and Theo Epstein, trying to prove that his philosophy of Sabermetrics was no fluke.
2 - Fans are heating up over the Cold War
Or at least, this is what some in the media want us to believe. Personally, I think most of these guys just want their old jobs back. Fans understand that they are simply witnessing to big dogs fighting over their money. The players union NHLPA, are trying to get the fans on their side by trying to get the owners to agree to lowering ticket prices. Yeah...right. Thats intelligent. The NHL does not have the same sources of revenue as the other big 3 leagues, or even some College sports. Ticket revenue and merchandise, thats about it. So if the owners are losing over 300 million a year collectively, and the players are countering with a 5% reduction in salaries, where is there room for the average fan to see his ticket prices go down. Players are also the ones bringing up this free-market economy crap. Well, part of a free-market economy is the concept of supply and demand. If there is demand for a product, people will pay. Why would a company that can sell its product to capacity for 20$, lower the price to 15$ What I find truly said about all this, is there is a HIGH percentage of players making around the league average. Why is the union fighting so hard for a very SMALL percentage of players in the upper percentile The younger players are starting to speak out now, and you can beat that that trend will continue. They understand that no matter what is decided, their salaries will decrease. It is in their best interests to force their union to come to terms now, before they lose an entire years pay.
3 - Tea Party anyone
What a year this is turning out to be for Boston! Red Sox win the world series, and beat New York to get there. New England wins the supper Bowl, and just beat the 5-0 Jets, and Boston College beat Notre Dame in college football. Outside of sports, you have Matt Damon with another hit movie, Ben Affleck still makes bad movies but got rid of Bennifer for Jennifer, and their Senator may become President of the United States. Lets all break out the tea cups and celebrate!
About The Author
Gary Whittaker is the editor of T.E.N Magazine, a social commentary webzine with balls! Check out more articles at http://www.tenwebzine.com
editor@tenwebzine.com
Extend the Life Of Your Flowers By Steaming Them – Recreation
Extend the Life Of Your Flowers By Steaming Them
Gerry Belvedere
This method of extending cut flower life may sound a bit drastic but it is quite effective.
Have two clean buckets ready. Rinse them out with some bleach solution first.
Boil some water in a kettle and fill bucket No.1 with 2 inches of the boiled water.
Fill bucket No. 2 with 4 inches of cool water.
Cut a half inch or so from the stems of your flowers or foliage and put them in the hot water for 20 seconds, no longer.
Take them out and put them in the cool water.
You should add 2 teaspoons of household bleach and a pinch of citric acid to each bucket to inhibit any further bacterial growth.
The steaming induces a rush of natural sugars to the flower heads and gets the stems "drinking". Steaming is beneficial to flowers that may have been out of water for a length of time.
Enjoy your flowers!
About The Author
© Gerry Belvedere
Gerry Belvedere is a former artist who now runs her own online florist service at http://www.rosaflora-flowers.com. Rosaflora delivers flowers Australia wide and overseas and offers tips on getting the most out of your cut flowers.
How to Earn More by Visualizing Your Marketing Success – Marketing
How to Earn More by Visualizing Your Marketing Success
Charlie Cook
Did you ever imagine yourself lying on a beach enjoying the sun or spending the holidays relaxing with relatives We all daydream and picture ourselves in places wed like to go to, or doing things we enjoy or have always wanted to try.
What do you do next if you want to make your daydream real If you want to take a vacation you make plans, buy your plane tickets and reserve a hotel room. When the date arrives you head off to enjoy the rewards of your daydreaming and planning.
Olympic athletes do a similar thing before a competition. They imagine themselves skiing a course or moving through their sequence of gymnastic moves. As they prepare, they see themselves doing each move to perfection and then standing on the podium with a medal around their necks.
Visualization may apply to planning a great vacation and to winning athletic competitions, but can it help you succeed in business
You may remember the Harvard Business School study where recent graduates were surveyed about their goals and then ten years later. The result of visualizing their success Graduates who had had clear goals in mind were making two to ten times as much money as their classmates.
Put this strategy to work; do some directed daydreaming.
Visualize Your Goals -
Create a vivid image in your mind of what success means to you. Write down the answers to the following questions about your image of success:
What would you be doing with your time
Who would your clients and customers be
How many clients and customers would you have
How much money would you be making
How much could you afford to give away to your favorite causes
What would your lifestyle be
Visualize Your Objectives -
To reach your lofty goals, youll need to identify specific marketing goals:
How many clients or customers do you want or will you need to be working with each month
How many new clients do you want to add per month In order to bring in new clients, youll need to generate qualified prospects. How many prospects do you want to target each month How will you find them
Visualize Your Marketing Strategy -
You need a plan. Most small businesses owners struggle with this part. Begin by asking yourself:
What can I do to attract attention and prompt interest by prospects
What can I do to increase the number of qualified leads I generate each month
How can I build the credibility of my firm so prospects trust that we deliver
How can I ensure that prospects remember my firm when they have a need and are ready to buy
What is the sequence of decisions prospects need to make to become clients
Visualize Your Marketing Tasks -
Just having a marketing message, or an advertising campaign or a web site doesnt ensure you of anything. Each of these needs to achieve the specific goals and objectives you have set. The best way to evaluate these efforts is from your prospects perspective. Ask yourself:
What are my prospects primary concerns
Are my marketing messages interesting to prospects What would my response be to my own marketing calls Without mentioning the name of the company, its credentials or products, is the value of what I provide clear to prospects What do I want prospects to do when they visit my web site
Just visualizing success wont get you there, but it is an effective way to begin planning. Develop your marketing goals, strategy, objectives, and tasks from this big picture, and youll create a plan that will lead you to become wildly successful.
About The Author
2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.
The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook, 7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
ccook@marketingforsuccess.com