Peter Wilson Wins GOLD for Team GB in Olympic Double Trap

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Peter Wilson won an incredible gold in the men’s Olympic Double Trap shooting event. Wilson qualified in first position after shooting extremely well in the three qualifying rounds. He finished on 143/150 giving him a significant three point lead going into the final.

The final was incredibly tense and difficult to watch let alone compete in. Wilson started well before dropping a shot in his final shot of the first end.

Having done a bit of clay shooting (although never this discipline) this looked incredibly hard. This being trap shooting the targets fly away from the competitors two at a time at great speed. Any hesitation or the slightest error in judgement and the target would be missed.

Another miss from Wilson in the middle of the competition and his lead was down to just one point. I don’t know how on earth he was able to hold his nerve the pressure was huge. At least in most sports you can just get on with it but in shooting you have to wait and watch as your opponents hit their targets and pile the pressure on you. Wilson was by far the youngest shooter in the competition being 13 years younger than the next finalist.

A few mistakes from the other competitor and Wilson managed to extend his lead back up to four shots with just ten shots remaining.

Surely the gold would be his now. But No! A double miss at the beginning of the final end and his lead was cut to just two! If he did it again the gold medal would be gone. My heart was pounding at this stage goodness knows what Peter was feeling.

Somehow Peter composed himself and nailed the last six shots, but so did the Swede Hakan Dahlby leaving Peter needing to hit one of his last two remaining clays. He didn’t disappoint and smashed  the final two clays to become Britain’s 4th Gold medal winner at London 2012 and the first British shooter to win a medal since Richard Faulds won in Sydney in 2000. Brilliant! Well done Peter!

Peter Wilson 188 – Great Britain

Hakan Dahlby 186 – Sweden

Vasily Mosin 185 – Russia
see more on shooting at www.positiveshooting.com

Win Incredible VIP Trip to United States Grand Prix with Road to Austin Comp

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Win Incredible VIP Trip to United States Grand Prix
with Road to Austin Competition from Mobil 1

 

  • Enter ‘Road to Austin’ online racing competition and set fastest time to win VIP
    Grand Prix trip to Austin, Texas
  • Use your driving skills and knowledge of motorsports and Mobil 1TM to unlock time bonuses and reach Austin faster than your opponents from across Europe
  • Winner and a friend to meet Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and experience Grand Prix from ‘behind the scenes’

 

With the 2012 motorsports season shaping up to be one of the most exciting in years, Mobil 1 is offering fans the chance to get in on the action with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team at the 2012 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

 

The free to play Mobil 1 Road to Austin competition, available at http://www.mobil1.co.uk/performance/racing-academy-game.aspx tests players’ driving skills and motorsports knowledge.  To win, fans race against the clock on a route which takes them through Europe, passing famous monuments such as the Eiffel Tower, Brandenburg Gate and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, finishing in Austin.

 

Throughout the race, players are challenged with multiple-choice questions to test their knowledge of Grand Prix racing and Mobil 1, with correct answers taking 15 seconds from their overall time. Once players reach the end of the track, they can either enter their details and submit their score or return to the start to have another shot at improving their time and chances of winning.

 

Competitors will also be offered the option to play the Mobil 1 Racing Academy game – upon which the Road to Austin competition is based. Here they can race through different racing series such as karting and midget cars, as they follow the careers of Lewis Hamilton and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

 

The winner and a friend will fly business class to Austin, Texas, where they will enjoy luxury accommodation before joining the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team for the duration of the race weekend at the new Circuit of the Americas.

 

The exclusive access includes a private tour of the team’s garage and the opportunity to meet the team’s drivers, with the chance to watch the qualifying sessions and Grand Prix from exclusive Mobil 1 hospitality. The experience also includes spending money and a gift pack.

 

Terms and conditions of entry apply. To view full competition Terms & Conditions please visit http://www.mobil1.co.uk/performance/racing-academy-game.aspx.

62 Per Cent Increase in Rent During Games in London

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LONDONERS RACE TO CASH IN ON THE GAMES

· 62 per cent increase in short term property rentals listed on Gumtree.com

· Average rental price drops as homeowners look to fill their properties over July and August

Gumtree.com has seen a 62 per cent increase in adverts posted by Londoners looking to cash in on their homes and spare rooms in prime Olympic hotspots.

The average asking price for London short-term rentals has actually dropped by 24 per cent between May – June 2012, as homeowners become more realistic in their price expectations and the Games draw closer.

From studios to five-bedroom houses, Gumtree has seen more than 10,500 replies for London properties for rent during the Olympic period. According to the latest Gumtree.com site data, the average asking price for a 4-bedroom family home during the Olympics period is currently £2,377 per week and for a 1-bedroom apartment or room, it is £892 per week.

Gumtree.com has seen hundreds of savvy Londoners advertising spare rooms or sofas, renting their property out in its entirety, while other advertisers are trying to secure themselves a holiday by swapping their property for a week with those living overseas or in other parts of the UK.

Current ads live on the site include:

·         3-bedroom apartment, Euston £995 pw

·         2-bedroom apartment, Wapping £700 pw

·         2-bedroom apartment, Shoreditch £2,495 pw

·         1-bedroom apartment, Stratford £1,000 pw

 

 

Hamish Stone from Gumtree.com said: “With the Olympics starting this week we are seeing more and more Londoners looking to capitalise on their prime locations and get in on the Olympic fever sweeping the country. For anyone interested in renting out a room or home at the last minute, make sure that you highlight how close you are to the Olympic venues, flag transport links, and talk about any local events that visitors might be interested in in your area.”

Kate Middleton Tops Vanity Fair Best Dressed List

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Kate Middleton has Topped Vanity Fairs Best Dressed List again. Katie Nicholl has also written an in-depth story on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. According to Vanity Fair.

“There’s a happiness in the House of Windsor generally at the moment for the first time ever,” a royal pal tells Vanity Fair contributor Katie Nicholl in the September issue. “Charles and Camilla are genuinely happy. William is happy because Charles is troubled less, and he has Kate to share his future with,” the friend adds. And while the pair have dazzled Britain and Olympic watchers the globe over with their Games-related appearances—Kate’s fashionable turn in Christopher Kane at the opening ceremony only confirms her status atop the 2012 International Best-Dressed List—they innately prefer a life out of the spotlight, one categorized by homey activities like cooking and walking puppy Lupo three times per day. Nicholl gets their friends and those in their orbit talking for a those in their orbit talking for a blockbuster piece on Kate’s married life—revealing, among many other details, that:

Despite their lean physiques thanks to deerstalking, tennis, and Buckingham Palace swims, Will and Kate are foodies, and tuck in regularly to homemade roast chicken (Kate does the cooking and shopping, and employs no cook at their home on the Welsh island of Anglesey). They also own a sausage-maker (!) to make their own links, and for the holidays, Kate puts away jars of homemade strawberry jam and plum preserves to dole out as gifts. On the average day off, the pair just potter around, “making tea and toast,” per a family friend who recently swung by to find them living a simple home life on Anglesey.

They splash out for DVD box sets. Right now, the royal couple are obsessed with The Killing, which they recently devoured in a marathon session—and they often stay in to binge on various new series rather than hit up society events.

The duchess’s schedule requires up to five clothing changes per day. The rigorous outfit swapping attendant to royal protocol is said to stress out the duchess—not that the stress shows.

And even though the bill for her couture and jewels was printed in the tabloids with raised eyebrows earlier this year—$55,000 for six months of duties—Kate defrays the cost by bargain-shopping. The duchess also continues to decline the services of a royal dresser, preferring to personally shop for herself at chains like Topshop.

Gore Vidal Dies: His Greatest Quotes

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Gore Vidal died yesterday at the age of 86. Frost has gathered some great quotes, a story and a video of his wit and genius. Enjoy and RIP Gore. The New York Times’s brilliant obituary has this gem:

In 1968, while covering the Democratic National Convention on television, he called William F. Buckley a “cryptofascist.” Buckley responded by calling Mr. Vidal a “queer,” and the two were in court for years. In a 1971 essay he compared Norman Mailer to Charles Manson, and a few months later Mailer head-butted him in the green room while the two were waiting to appear on the Dick Cavett show. They then took their quarrel on the air in a memorable exchange that ended with Mr. Cavett’s telling Mailer to take a piece of paper on the table in front of them and “fold it five ways and put it where the moon don’t shine.” In 1975 Mr. Vidal sued Truman Capote for libel after Capote wrote that Mr. Vidal had been thrown out of the Kennedy White House. Mr. Vidal won a grudging apology.


“As the age of television progresses the Reagans will be the rule, not the exception. To be perfect for television is all a President has to be these days.”

“A good deed never goes unpunished.”

“All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself.”

“Andy Warhol is the only genius I’ve ever known with an IQ of 60”

“There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.”

“Sex is. There is nothing more to be done about it. Sex builds no roads, writes no novels and sex certainly gives no meaning to anything in life but itself.”

“The more money an American accumulates, the less interesting he becomes.”

“The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.”

“Congress no longer declares war or makes budgets. So that’s the end of the constitution as a working machine.”

“We should stop going around babbling about how we’re the greatest democracy on earth, when we’re not even a democracy. We are a sort of militarised republic.”

“Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die.”

“There is no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual person. There are only homo- or heterosexual acts. Most people are a mixture of impulses if not practices.”

“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”

“Fifty percent of people won’t vote, and fifty percent don’t read newspapers. I hope it’s the same fifty percent.”

“I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.”

“It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.”

“A narcissist is someone better looking than you are.”

“Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically by definition be disqualified from ever doing so.”

“Democracy is supposed to give you the feeling of choice like, Painkiller X and Painkiller Y. But they’re both just aspirin.”

“Envy is the central fact of American life.”

“Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.”

“Some writers take to drink, others take to audiences.”

“The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return”

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”

And check out this great video:

Couch potatoes have had their chips

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More and more men are being cajoled into losing weight by their fed-up wives, a survey has revealed.

 

Twenty per cent of men have been told to shed the pounds by women who are no longer prepared to put up with husbands who blame middle-aged spread as a get-out to staying trim.

 

Yet only half as many women have slimmed down under pressure from their spouses.

 

The survey of 2,000 men and women conducted by weight management company LighterLife, also revealed that 64 per cent of women diet for their own self-esteem, while only 42 per cent of men slim for the same reason.

 

And flying in the face of accepted logic, men do not lose weight to lure their partners into bed more often. Only six per cent of men admitted to dieting to improve their performance between the sheets, while 16 per cent of women said they do see weight loss as an aphrodisiac.

 

Mandy Cassidy, Psychological Director of LighterLife, said: “What we are seeing here is further evidence that it is women who call the shots at home, in the bedroom and with their own self esteem. They are no longer the junior partner in the relationship. Women know what they want and they go out and get it, whatever their age.

 

“However, women must be careful not to over-pressurise their partners because our experience is that men will only truly weight if they want to, not because they have been pushed to do it. Many men wake up to the benefit of dieting when they see how their wives have grown in confidence after losing weight – they realise they need to follow suit to keep their marriage on an equal footing.”

 

Reasons Why You Should Plan a European Cruise

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Vacations are a rare commodity in this economy. In many cases, people have become so strained for money that they have had to give up simple things like hobbies just to make ends meet. However, what if someone told you that it was possible to experience exotic European locales while avoiding the cost of a typical European vacation? Such a prospect is possible aboard a European cruise.

 

As someone who is ready to plan their well-deserved vacation, it might be time to consider a cruise through Europe as a viable option. From luxurious on board environments to breathtaking destinations, booking a European cruise has many obvious advantages. Below are a few of the most notable benefits covered in more detail.

Luxurious Comfort

In general, European cruises are the epitome of luxury. Whether you want to lie out on the deck or enjoy a drink at the bar, there are many compartments on cruise ships that provide that sense of relaxation and comfort. Simply put, you tour your favorite sites around Europe in style; not from the confined seats of a crowded bus.

Additionally, you generally travel with people who are in the same kind of situation as you – in that they all speak English and are out to enjoy a European vacation for the first time. This helps you become acquainted with local culture and hotspots without having to worry about a language barrier or getting lost in translation.

Exotic Locations

Europe is notoriously full of exotic locations. Whether you want to experience the breathtaking natural beauty of the continent or see some of the most historically significant sites in existence, there are plenty of desirable locales to keep you on your toes.

There is a wide array of cruises available that tour all the most popular destinations throughout Europe. As such, it is typically a simple process to find a particular cruise route that travels to one or more of your favorite places.

Affordable

Unfortunately, European hotels, restaurants and other amenities are more costly than in the U.S. due to the poor exchange rate. As an American leaving American soil aboard a cruise ship, you do not have to worry about the exchange rates between U.S. currency and the Euro.  Thus, taking your tour of Europe aboard a ship that deals with U.S. currency, will save you more money than if you were to travel by plane or tour by bus.

European cruises are a unique way to get that exotic vacation to Europe without the hassle of flying or putting up with stagnant bus rides. As you plan for your next vacation, consider the above benefits to decide if this is the year you finally get to take that trip to Europe as part of a European cruise.

Rowers Heather Stanning And Helen Glover Win First Team GB Gold.

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Team GB won it’s first gold today as Rowers Heather Stanning And Helen Glover came first in their race. Stanning and Glover were clearly ahead at Eton Dorney Lake.

They made a good start and left the competition well behind. They may have looked knackered towards the end but the also looked elated. Well done gals, you done us proud!

Zara Phillips was in tears yesterday because she thinks she cost Team GB the Gold after her horse clipped the fence. Don’t worry Zara, we think you still did amazing and Team GB still got a Silver medal.