Monday, January 30, 2012

Djokovic Has That Unbeatable Feeling

Novak Djokovic has that unbeatable feeling. And well he should.

The Serb outlasted Rafael Nadal to defend his Australian Open title in the longest ever Grand Slam final and become the fifth man to win three straight majors in the Open Era. Djokovic now has the French Open — the one major to elude him — in his sights. He won't even rule out the ultimate: the Grand Slam.

Australia Open 2012 winner - Novak Djokovic

"One player (Rod Laver) has done it, so it is possible," he said at the post-victory photo shoot in Melbourne Park on Monday. "Obviously the times are different and tennis nowadays is much more competitive and much more physical. And that makes that challenge more difficult to achieve. But everything is possible."

"The facts are that I'm at the peak of my career," Djokovic said. "I feel physically and mentally at the peak, I feel strong, I feel motivated, I feel eager to win more trophies."

Djokovic completed a 5-hour, 53-minute 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory over Nadal at 1:37 a.m. — ending an epic match with a forehand winner that finally finished off the Spaniard.

Tournament director Craig Tiley, celebrating a record attendance of 686,006 over two weeks, described the final as "the greatest match of all time."

Reference: http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/djokovic-unbeatable-feeling-15469610

Monday, January 23, 2012

Underworld: Awakening takes big bite of box office

Audiences haven't tired of Kate Beckinsale as a butt-kicking heroine — the fourth installment of Sony Pictures' "Underworld" series debuted to healthy ticket sales over the weekend.

The vampire action-thriller "Underworld: Awakening" opened to $25.4 million, according to an estimate from the studio's Screen Gems label. Meanwhile, George Lucas' "Red Tails" — about the Tuskegee Airmen — exceeded industry expectations, selling $19.1-million worth of tickets.

Kate Beckinsale - Underworld Awakening

"Underworld: Awakening" cost Sony and Lakeshore Entertainment about $70 million to produce. The film is the first in the vampire series to be offered in 3-D, and 59% of those who saw the movie this weekend opted to buy the pricier ticket to see it in that format. Audiences liked the film, assigning it an average grade of A-, according to marketing firm CinemaScore.

"Awakening" had a better opening than the third entry in the series, "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," which started with $20.8 million in 2009. It still debuted with slightly less than the franchise's second installment, "Underworld: Evolution," which opened to $26.9 million in 2006. That film ultimately grossed more than any other picture in the series, totaling $62.3 million in sales by the end of its run.

The movie appealed largely to an African American audience this weekend, and 66% of the crowd was older than 25. Those who saw the film loved it, giving it an average grade of A. Like the new "Underworld" film, "Red Tails" has received overwhelmingly negative reviews.

The movie played to an older demographic, with 82% of the crowd over 25. It appealed to a broad audience across the country: The No. 1 theater in the U.S. was in Oklahoma City, and other top markets included cities as diverse as Boca Raton, Fla., and Chino Hills.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Rescue effort suspended after cruise ship shifts

The cruise ship grounded off Tuscany shifted again on its rocky perch, forcing the suspension Friday of search and rescue operations for the 21 people still missing.

It was not clear if the movements registered overnight by onboard sensors were just vibrations as the Costa Concordia settles on the rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio or if the massive ocean liner is slipping off the reef.

The ship's movements are being carefully monitored since any significant shift could be dangerous for divers trying to locate those missing after the Concordia ran aground Jan. 13. An additional fear is that any significant movement could damage tanks holding a half-million gallons of fuel oil.

"The ship is not in safe enough conditions for rescue operations to continue," said Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro. The $450 million Costa Concordia was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew when it slammed into well-marked rocks off the island of Giglio.

Late Thursday, Costa-owner Carnival Corp. announced it was conducting a comprehensive audit of all 10 of its cruise lines to review safety and emergency response procedures in the wake of the Costa disaster.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Florida Panthers win Vacouver Canucks by 2-1 - NHL

Marcel Goc scored the tiebreaking goal at 10:52 of the second period and the Florida Panthers beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 Monday in Sunrise, Fla.

Dale Weise scored for Vancouver in the first period and Roberto Luongo stopped 20 shots. The Western Conference-leading Canucks lost for the fourth time in 12 games.

Vancouver outshot Florida 26-22, but was outshot 14-2 in the second period and seemingly played with less emotion than usual.

"We know in here when it's not good enough, and tonight it wasn't close to good enough," Canucks forward Henrik Sedin told The Vancouver Sun. "It's going to be back tomorrow."

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for five games by league officials because of a second-period hit on Canucks defenseman Sami Salo on Saturday.

Marchand, 23, received a major penalty and a game misconduct on the play. He will forfeit $150,000 in pay. Salo has concussion symptoms and didn't play Monday.

How Designer Evening Dresses stands popular among all dresses?

In the past few years the attention of women has tending headed for designer evening dresses. Earlier these dresses only meant for rich and high class women. Now a days, women from middle class also start consider having a collection of these dresses. The reasons that it is fast becoming popular as evening wear is shown below.


First-rate Quality dresses
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Better-quality Stitching dresses
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Extensive Life dresses
Since better quality clothes and improved stitching, the costume can provide for longer than the normal costume. Designer dresses uphold their appearance and worth for long and grant the unsurpassed price for money.