cymru66

HUNDREDS of Cardiff City fans have queued outside a city centre megastore to meet their heroes and get their hands on copies of Bluebirds Flying High, the club’s official FA Cup song.

Popstar James Fox and City players, Roger Johnson, Peter Whittingham, Joe Ledley and Darren Purse turned up to greet fans at HMV on Queen Street, Cardiff, yesterday, May 5th, for the single’s launch.

City centre-back Roger Johnson said

It’s a top tune and all the boys are behind it. I’m surprised to see so many people here but it’s wonderful support.

All we ask is that the fans buy the song and then maybe we can have a double success if it goes into the top 10.

Click on the button below to purchase Bluebirds Flying High on iTunes.

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August 31st, 2008 will be the 8th Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA. “Rock ‘n’ Roll” as its known locally is a tremendous event and one of the major races of the year for runners in the Hampton Roads area. However, not everyone loves the course and you’ll often hear people moaning and groaning after the race finishes on Labor Day weekend.

Looks like a lot of the complaints will be eliminated though, as Elite Racing have listened to the feedback and “designed a new course that will enhance your running experience and allow more elbow room at the finish line”. The final route is being fine tuned and details will be unveiled on June 17, but for now here are the highlights (courtesy of the Rock ‘n’ Roll web site).

Expanded finish area enhances runner experience.

New Finish Area – Bigger & Better
A longer runner recovery zone will begin at the 13th Street finish line and extend up towards 17th street. Happily, Refreshment Bags will be distributed in the same area as your medal and iced towel. There’s more room for both participants and spectators to spread out on the beach too.

Less Running on the Boardwalk – Quick Race to the Finish Line
The Boardwalk is beautiful, but a little tough on the legs – so we’ve shortened the Boardwalk to 9 blocks so you can sprint to the finish.

Shuttles – Starting Earlier from the Finish Line
Shuttles from the finish line to the Amphitheater and Oceanfront stops will start earlier on race morning! Stay tuned for the exact schedule.

Mileage Added in Camp Pendleton – PowerBar Gel Earlier on Course
We’ve added miles in Camp Pendleton which allows the PowerBar Gel stop to be earlier along the course. Exact location to come.

All positive changes which I’m sure will make a great race even better!

By the way, if you still haven’t entered “Rock ‘n’ Roll”, make sure you sign up before the $15 May 15th price increase. Actually, if you use discount code POCKET you can save an additional $10 - making a cool saving of $25! You better hurry though, as the code expires May 15th too.

This year will be my 7th “Rock ‘n’ Roll” and I’m hoping the changes will inspire me to a new RnR PR! See you Labor day weekend….

Coldplay.com are give away Coldplay’s brand new single, ‘Violet Hill’! The song is now available as a free download exclusively from Coldplay.com for one week starting today, April 29th, at 12.15pm UK time which is a full week ahead of the single’s conventional paid-for digital release, on Tuesday May 6th.

Just visit this page on the Coldplay.com site and enter a valid email address, zip/post code and country. Within minutes you’ll receive an email containing a link to download a zip file containing an 192kbps mp3 of Violet Hill. Excellent - thank you Coldplay!

Joe Calzaghe is just days away from making his United States debut in his fight against Bernard Hopkins and as with most big fights nowadays, the verbal exchanges are almost as good as the fight itself.

Calzaghe vs Hopkins is no exception, as their war of words took a comic twist earlier this week. Here’s Joe’s response after being told Hopkins said he was going to give him a facelift during the bout:

He’s the one that needs the facelift. He’s the ugly one…I’ve really struggled to make him look any uglier than he is. He’s ugly. His nose is flat across the face…So much for a great defense. He must have walked into a lamp post to get a nose like that. That’s all I can say.

Classic! Let’s hope Joe does the business in the ring on Saturday night and puts Hopkins in his place once and for all….

An independent tribunal considering Leeds’ 15-point deduction is set to start today.

Leeds were docked the points by the Football League for allegedly breaking competition rules on insolvency.

But the club denied any wrongdoing and agreed to the independent arbitration hearing after initially serving the League with a High Court writ.

A three-man panel reviewing the penalty is expected to make their ruling before Leeds’ trip to Millwall on 19 April.

The outcome of the private arbitration hearing is unclear, with many results possible.

The panel could back the Football League’s ruling, reinstate all 15 points to Leeds or return just some of the lost points, with five being the most likely added to Leeds’ current point total of 67.

Leeds are demanding a maximum return of points, as they see the punishment as unproportional. The West Yorkshire club had already been docked 10 points for originally entering administration while still in the Championship, so in total they have had 25 points taken off them.

If Ken Bates’ club were to receive all 15 points back, as things stand they would move up to second in League One and could clinch automatic promotion back to the Championship with a win at Millwall on Saturday.

However, this outcome would upset other League One clubs.

Promotion hopefuls Carlisle United and Doncaster Rovers have already hinted they would take legal action if the hearing ruled in Leeds’ favour.

Should Leeds get their points back??

Original article: BBC SPORT

The Mini Coopers in the ever-popular film The Italian Job have been named the all-time top movie cars.

The iconic models in the 1969 movie, starring Michael Caine, came first in a survey of more than 2,000 film fans by Uniroyal tyres.

The computer car KITT from Knight Rider came in at number two, followed closely by James Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish from the 007 film Die Another Day.

From Wikipedia: “Set in London and Turin and filmed with vivid colors in anamorphic format, The Italian Job remains an iconic evocation of the swinging sixties, although its rose-tinted view of London’s criminal underworld was in sharp contrast to the brutal reality. In fact, Caine has stated that he took the lead role in Get Carter (which portrays the same underworld with brutal realism) largely in order to correct the overly romantic picture of organized crime painted in The Italian Job. An example of the lighthearted and comedic characterizations is that Mr Bridger’s gang is run by an effeminate-seeming dandy called Camp Freddie, played by Tony Beckley.

Apart from the colorful vision of a certain time and place, the film is also notable for its inventive and exciting car chases and stunts, arranged by Rémy Julienne. The film’s cars were almost as much part of the cast as the people: the ill-fated Lamborghini Miura in the opening sequence, various Aston Martin DB4 convertibles, Jaguar E-Types, a Land Rover and an array of police Alfa Romeo Giulias which are out-driven by the heroic British Mk1 Austin Mini Cooper S’s.

The Alpine setting through which some of the chases passed was another memorable aspect of the film. The getaway sequence is the film’s highlight, however……”

Great film, great cars and great movie poster! Grab yourself a copy by clicking on the link above.

What a crazy MINI Cooper! This particular model was created by MINI Switzerland to impress visitors at the New Spaces exhibition in Zurich. [click thumbnail for larger image]

The vehicle is covered with real cow skin and makes for one of the most bizarre cars you’ll ever see. I wonder if it runs on semi-skimmed??

Not sure which is more bizarre - the MINI Cowper or the Sheep Chair?

More photos can be viewed at the Funtasticus web site.

Beefeater Gin is soon to launch a competition where consumers will have the chance to win a Union Jack MINI Cooper.

For a limited period, a re-designed Beefeater bottle will be packaged in a limited-edition gift pack featuring the “Forever London” imagery used in the brand’s current advertising campaign.

Brand owner Pernod Ricard said the promotion will be running in Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, Threshers, Booths and Somerfield.

A microsite, www.beefeaterwinamini.co.uk, has been created to support the offer.

The war of words is starting to build ahead of the Joe Calzaghe vs Bernard Hopkins clash at the Thomas & Mack Center, Les Vegas. Hopkins originally claimed he would “never lose to a white guy”, but now the verbal exchange surrounds the unlikely figure of Mary Poppins.

Before the match was made Calzaghe likened the American to Poppins in a press release, saying:

Bernard Hopkins should be called Mary Hopkins, in fact, there is more fight in Mary Poppins. Every time he says my name it’s: Supercalzaghefragilisticexpialidocious.

Hopkins has now come out with an impassioned defense of the character from PL James’ children’s books, saying:

He called me Old Poppy Hopkins, or Mary Hopkins, but she was a very, very powerful lady.

He can’t have been calling me a female, because he called me Poppy, and if you know the history of Mary Poppins… She was a powerful lady who had magical powers with that umbrella.

Mary Poppins was one of my favourite bedtime stories when I was small, and if anyone knows the history of Mary Poppins it’s nothing to laugh at.

Come 19 April, I’m going to be glad I was called Mary Poppins.

Can’t be bad. Word on the street is that David Beckham has been presented with a gold 32GB iPod Touch by his English teammates after participating in his 100th appearance for the national team.

The cost? A very “affordable” $1,188, which isn’t too bad considering the current $499 US price tag on the regular version.

The extra $689 must have been for the custom engraving!

At least it’s not encrusted with diamonds, gold and platinum like this $20,000 monstrosity….