Accomplishment As Artwork

A familiar race circuit consists of a piece of straight road on which the starting grid is located. The pit lane, where the Formula One drivers stop for petrol and replace tyres during the F1 race, and where the Formula One teams operate on the vehicles before the Formula 1 grand prix motor race, is typically to be found next to the starting grid. The outline of the rest of the course changes immensely, even though in countless occasions the race course goes in a clockwise way. Those couple of race courses that do run anticlockwise (C181& therefore have mostly left-handed turns) could cause Formula One drivers health issues as a result of the massive amount of sideways forces generated by Formula 1 engines pulling their body in the reverse direction to normal.

Most of the circuits currently in use are specially constructed for racing days. The modern street race courses are the Circuit de Monaco & Melbourne, although street races in other cities come and go (For Example, Las Vegas and Detroit) and suggestions for such grand prixs are time & again considered ? lately London & Beirut. A number of other courses are also totally or partially laid out on normal roads, such as Spa-Francorchamps. The beauty & history of the Monte Carlo Formula One race are the most important reasons why the circuit is still in use at present, since it’s believed not to meet the important safety requirements obligatory on other circuits. Three-time World champion Nelson Piquet notably depicted racing in Monte Carlo as “like riding a bike in your own living room”. Visit F1Tribute.com today to find information about Formula 1.

“There was a farmer had a dog…” You know the rest.

For most of us, our first encounter with Bingo is as a farmer’s dog. Bingo’s legacy as a children’s campfire song is undeniable.

As we grew up, so did that dog. Bingo mutated from a song to a game. Five column cards filled with random numbers became the essential game of chance. That dog’s name became a shout of victory, filled with the joy and satisfaction of beating the odds.

For several decades, bingo was played in large halls, where hundreds of people played on game cards of cheap cardboard, hoping for the big score. Over the past decade, the game that owns the name of a farmer’s dog has made the jump from the VFW to the WWW. Bingo as a song is still tailor-made for young kids at the campfire, but the game has changed with the times and moved online.

Bingo has always been one of America’s hidden pastimes. According to IGWB (http://www.igwb.com), an estimated 1.6 billion people attended bingo halls across the country in 2003. To put things in perspective, that staggering attendance number is almost more than the amount of people who attended movie theaters and bowling alleys, combined.

Over the past four years, the number of bingo sites on the internet has increased twenty-one fold, from five in 1999 to 105 in 2003. Free bingo sites definitely seem to be the most popular place to get a game going. According to WhichBingo.com (http://www.whichbingo.com), over 45% of bingo sites are free play only. Around 70% of all online bingo sites are either totally free to play, or mostly free with a few premium, pay-to-play games.

Online bingo shows overwhelming popularity here in the States. According to Bingo.com (http://www.bingo.com), 90% of online bingo players who use free play sites are North American.

Eighty percent of those who played free, online bingo last year were female, according to Bingo.com. Surprisingly, the average age of an online bingo player (male or female) was 41, with over 80 percent of those players being between the ages of 25 and 55. Somewhat more surprising is the low percentage of players over 65. Traditionally, bingo is associated with senior citizens who spend their twilight years hoping for the jackpot. However, Bingo.com found that only two percent of free, online bingo gamers are over the age of 65.

While grandma still finds her way to the hall to get her game on, mom is sitting at home dialing-up to find her game. Bingo.com estimates that over 85% of online bingo gamers access their games from home, and over 50% play every day.

One major reason mom is addicted to the online version of grandma’s game is because of an autoplay function many sites feature. In an autoplay game mode, players simply let the cards play the game for them. As long as the cards are purchased and a game screen is up on a computer, mom can do things around the house while games are played. Also, many webpages include ongoing chat screens in addition to their games, so online players can get the bingo hall atmosphere right from the comfort of their own home.

“Keeping active chat lines running takes up a lot of bandwidth, so we tried to create several games without it,” said Anthony Wayne, an online consultant for Curacao-based Bingo site BingoHouse.com (http://www.bingohouse.com). “Each game failed miserably. Chat is very important to the success of these games.”

Before long, grandma could even be logging on for her games. If she does, as traffic trends seem to indicate, the online bingo market could soar in revenue. According to Parlay Entertainment (http://www.parlayentertainment.com), 70% of players in bingo halls already play online games. If 1% of remaining hall-only bingo players move to the internet in the next two years, online bingo could become a $700 million market.

The old song tells of a farmer who had a dog. That dog’s name now belongs to a game of luck. Over the years, that game has received a new look. As more and more bingo games move out of the hall and onto the net, players will move right along. The future of bingo is online… and so is the money to be made.

Jonathan is a starving, struggling writer who aspires to work in public and media relations when he graduates college. He is a marketing intern with Advanced Telecom Services (http://www.advancedtele.com) and a freelance Web Consultant.

With Larry Hughes leaving to join LeBron James in Cleveland, how much left is there of the Wizards? More than Chicago and Phoenix, Washington was the surprise team last year. After all, Arenas, Hughes and Jamison failed as teammates with the Warriors. Now it’s a two-man show and a playoff appearance would again be amazing. Can they prove everyone wrong?

Some players are stepping up. Brendan Haywood has shot 56%, 3rd best in the NBA. But he’s only averaging 6.4 RPG. Antawn Jamison is averaging a crazy 11.5 RPG along with his 19.7 PPG. Caron Butler is a 6th man candidate averaging 14.5 PPG off the bench, and Jarvis Hayes has displayed a great form in shooting. Of course Gilbert Arenas can’t be ignored with his 27.7 PPG. It’s going to be interesting to see whether Arenas and Jamison both make the all-star team, their team might not be good enough to warrant two all-stars.

Most aren’t though. Jared Jeffries is on the last year of his contract, and if he keeps playing like he is now, he won’t get a new one. Jeffries as the starting Power Forward is only getting 5.1 and 4.6. Antonio Daniels provides a defensive presence but hasn’t contributed at all offensively with just 4.7 PPG.

This team completely relied on the big three of Jamison, Arenas and Larry Hughes to carry them last year. But with Hughes gone, Jamison and Arenas have been carrying the load. Either Hayes or Butler should sub in for Antonio Daniels to give them more scoring. Jarvis Hayes has major potential to be more than just a bench player. Etan Thomas is a hustler like Chris Kaman who needs more playing since Jeffries isn’t delivering.

I wasn’t sold on Washington with Hughes and I definitely am not now that they don’t have him. Arenas and Jamison can only compensate so much before teams start to adapt. Getting it out of Arenas’ hands is the best way to stop Washington. When it comes to the playoffs, they are but one of many teams looking on the outside in. They don’t have enough offensive and defensive weapons to compete with the other Eastern teams. Their only hope is to milk Jamison and Arenas for 50 a night.

We independently monitor the best and worst sports handicapping services and picks and let you know who is good.

Chain saws come in many shapes and sizes, and echo chain saw is one of the more powerful chain saw in the Echo family. Generally used for more heavy-duty work like feeling large trees, it can be utilized for other matters limited only by your imagination. For example, you can clear underbrush around your property. It has a two-stroke engine and vibration reduction mechanism that are built into the system. This powerful echo chain saw is easy to use, with reduced need for employing excessive muscular power. The starting process is easy, and the echo chain saw is smooth running and definitely appealing.

After the purchase of an echo chain saw, one might want to keep the model number in mind. If some thing were to go wrong instead of buying an entirely new machine you could just replace the parts that have worn out. In most cases this works well to extend the life of a machine, and sustains the performance levels. Dealers are available who offer parts for the echo chain saw. If you know the model number all you have to do is get hold of a dealer manual and voila, you have access to all the chainsaw parts that you could possibly want.

An Echo chain saw is a solid piece of machinery. With proper care and maintenance it will provide years and years of solid performance. Whether you’re clearing large trees from a tract of land, or trimming up some dead-wood for firewood you’ll be satisfied knowing you can rely on an Echo chain saw.

About the author:

Mike Yeager
Publisher
http://www.my-chainsaw-4me.com/

Most of us assume we know how to run, after all it’s just putting one foot in front of the other, just like walking only a bit faster - right? Well, not quite. Although walking and running are quite different activities, you can learn a lot from the act of walking that will help your running.

Whether an experience runner or beginner, we all have bad ‘movement’ habits that will show up in our running technique. But because they are habits (subconscious conditioned reflexes) they are not easy to see for yourself. Walking, rather than running, provides you with a good opportunity to assess your concept of movement. What you learn from observing your walking technique can be taken into running.

Try the following experiment.

1. Go for a gentle stroll in the park and leave your competitive runner’s attitude at home.

2. As you walk be aware of the movement in your hip, knee and ankle joints. Please note your hip joints are at the front of your pelvis and not the sides. Allow your legs to swing from the hip and let your lower leg swing from the knee without effort - like a pendulum.

3. See how much effort you can take out of the act of walking and just allow your limbs to swing.

4. Think about releasing muscles and joints rather than the effort involved.

5. Be aware of the ground beneath your feet and think of ‘walking tall’ by using the upward thrust from the ground in response to your body weight coming down.

6. Start slowly and start to build up speed but not by trying harder. To increase your speed let your arms swing a little faster but without lifting your shoulders. If you can leave your legs alone they will increase speed to match your arms so you will be moving faster without the effort you probably think is necessary.

The purpose of this experiment is to appreciate gravity’s role in movement. You are pulled down towards the planet but then there is 8000 miles of solid rock beneath you that pushes back up (Newton’s 3rd law - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). So let the ground push you up and let your legs stroke the ground away from underneath you like a giant treadmill.

If you can learn to walk with minimal effort and lessen the strain on you joints and muscles, you can learn to apply the same principles to your running, Lighten up and let your limbs flow to propel you forward and up without the tension many use in a misguided effort to run faster. Running becomes a whole lot easier, and more enjoyable, if you can let your body move as nature intended.

Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied performance enhancement in sport for the last 10 years. In 2001 he published a book called ‘The Performance Paradox: Challenging the conventional methods of sports training and exercise’ and is currently working on a new project about The Zone. More information about his unique approach to training can be found at http://www.fitness-programs-for-life.com

Golf is a sport, and like every other sport, it requires practice in order to be the best that we can. Yet, many players not only don’t practice, but they hate the word itself, it seems. I know a lot of players who only swing a club when they are on the course, playing a round of 9 or 18 holes, and many of these same players are the first to complain that their game never seems to improve.

Well, duh.

Truth is, I’ve found myself in that same mind-set a few times over the years. And like many players, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to practice, it was that I didn’t have the time (or at least I thought I didn’t have the time to practice).

While I’m not sure if the following tips will help you get some practice in, I can attest that they helped me considerably. Here’s what I did:

I took one year (2004) and told myself at the beginning of the year that half of the golf that I would play during the year would be “practice” golf. Yes, I did go on the course with my golfing buddies and play “competitive” golf, but only half the time. The other half of my games were played with no interest whatsoever in the scorecard. Every other round of golf that I played, I played for myself. I would take shots that were not my usual shots, just to see what happened and to see if I could get out of them. Breaking my usual routine was invaluable in learning new skills and new ways to approach the hole.

And it wasn’t nearly as hard as it may sound.

If you play a certain course a lot, you simply look at each hole as if it were brand new. Don’t take the safe shot that you’ve trained yourself to take on a particular hole. Think of another way to get off the tee, a different trajectory for the ball and then follow each later shot from these new lays. It’s fun, it’s challenging, and it will improve your arsenal of shot skills.

To take the pressure off me, I did this (as I mentioned earlier) without a scorecard. I wasn’t trying to “win” on these practice days. I was trying to “learn”.

The second thing I did during this year was think about “time management”. Like most of you, I can’t just disappear for hours to play or practice on the course. So, I decided to come up with some home based practice techniques. It was during this time that I learned how valuable it is to record yourself on video tape for later review. You don’t need to hit a real ball (you can use a plastic practice ball for drives and chips) in your back yard. The important thing is to make the same swing that you always make and then review that swing to determine your weaknesses.

Practice isn’t something that we “should” do. Practice is something we “must” do if we want to improve our game. The thing is to find the practice sessions that work for you and for your schedule.

Robert Partain has been an avid golfer for over 40 years. He publishes a golf blog that is updated 4 times a week with golf tips, techniques, and information.

Golf fitness exercises that are the most effective are
rotational in nature, incorporating your core. This is the
engine to your swing! If your core is weak or restricted, you
will have a very difficult time generating clubhead speed and
power at impact.

Golf fitness exercises don’t need to be grueling, sweaty and in
a gym to be effective. The beauty of athletic training is the
value of using your own body and minimal equipment to get
maximum benefit.

Many golfers feel they don’t have the time or resources to
implement a golf fitness exercise training program; and yet
they’ll hit balls 2-3 times a week and spend hundreds of dollars
on clubs and gimmicky training aids.

If many of these golfers took a step back and asked themselves
“have I improved with this approach”, I’ll bet most of them
would say no. The reason being it’s not your equipment, it’s
YOU! Your body dictates your performance. Period! If the machine
is broken, the swing will be too.

I can’t say this enough. Until golfers realize it’s their body’s
keeping them from a better game, they’ll continue to walk off
the course frustrated and contemplating quitting the game.

I read a statistic the other day quoting how many golfers quit
the game every year. It was a HUGE number! I wonder why so many
golfers are quitting? I can only guess it’s because they are not
enjoying it, because they have invested time and money and not
seen results.

Implementing a few simple golf fitness exercises can make all
the difference. I want you to picture the “main movement” in the
golf swing. It’s “rotational!” So why wouldn’t you improve your
rotational strength and flexibility?

This is a must!

You’ve got to come up with a program; hire a golf fitness
trainer; or search for a program on the web by typing in terms
like golf fitness, golf exercises, even golf training. Talk a
little time reviewing the results and then ACT.

Get it going right away! Don’t put it of any longer. The sooner
you start the sooner your game will improve.

To get the quickest results, take a look at core rotational
exercises when reviewing these programs that implement golf
fitness exercises.