Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Update from Colleen Malia Wilcox

Surf Photographer - Shelli Bankier

Welcome to our latest featured surf photographer; Shelli Bankier from the Gold Coast of Australia. The beauty of the blue sphere…

www.clubofthewaves.com/surf-photographer/shelli-bankier.php

Teahupoo, Tahiti by Shelli Bankier

www.bluespherephotography.com

'VMAs Revealed': Peek Behind The Scenes At Last Year's VMAs

Beyonc頭 Best Thing I Never Had

Beyonce's 'Best Thing I Never Had' Video Premieres

Clip for 4 single features B in a gorgeous ornate wedding dress.
By Kara Warner


Beyoncé in her "Best Thing I Never Had" music video
Photo: Columbia

Anyone who's heard the two first singles off Beyoncé's new album, 4, knows they are about as different as night and day. The same can be said for the songs' music videos: Where "Run the World (Girls)" is fierce, upbeat and explosive, "Best Thing I Never Had" is also strong, but more subdued and slow.

The clip opens with Beyoncé in an elegant dressing room or boudoir. She is scantily, but very tastefully, clad in a fancy, lacy corset/lingerie combo, complete with garters. As she begins the song — co-written by Babyface and all about telling a former lover she was the best he'd ever have and that she no longer has any feelings for him — B plays to the camera, directing her words at the former lover via the camera's lens.

From there, she moves from playing with a tiara, a veil and lots of tulle on a bed to various stages of getting dressed. Between her half-dressed and fully dressed stages, there is a quick cut to old video footage of who viewers are to believe is a young Beyoncé and her former high school flame at their prom. B and her date are dancing, she is spun away briefly, and her date cozies up to another girl on the dance floor.

Now that we know what ended that romance, we follow a confident Beyoncé in her final preparations before she walks down the aisle on her wedding day. There are shots of Bey singing at sunset atop a grassy hill in a beautiful princess gown, followed by the walk down the aisle and the exchange of vows.

This is followed by one final shot of the former lover at the prom deep in thought, with what looks to be his prom king crown sitting askew on his head. Perhaps he is re-thinking his philandering ways?

The last few scenes of "Best Thing I Never Had" are full of more shots of Beyoncé's gorgeous dress, which will likely land on a few style blogs soon, given its embroidered and jeweled details, not to mention the silk bows and ruching on the sides. We see the newlyweds celebrating at a happy and well-attended reception: groom removing bride's garter with his teeth, dancing with their younger family members.

The final shot features Beyoncé looking into the camera, with a look of total satisfaction and happiness. She then walks off confidently, probably to re-join her wedding party and new husband, and then the screen fades to black.

Share your review of the "Best Thing I Never Had" video in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666967/beyonce-best-thing-i-never-had-video.jhtml

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Strikeforce on tap: Healy looks to ride hot streak

Back in 2001 at just 17 years old, Pat Healy jumped into MMA without much guidance and zero fear. He'd fight anyone, anywhere and at any time. The result is an odd looking 26-17 career record. But don't be fooled by the less than stellar numbers, Healy, now 28, is still an emerging prospect especially since he dropped from 170 to 155 pounds.

Healy gets to showcase his skills at the Strikeforce Challenger 18 card (Showtime 11 p.m. ET/PT) tonight in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort.

He's a massive lightweight who's given several Strikeforce opponents a rough go down at 155.

Lyle Beerbohm learned the lesson the hard way. Beerbohm, entered the Feb. 2011 match with an unbeaten mark, but was dominated and handed his first loss by Healy. Before that, Healy gave former Strikeforce lightweight champ Josh Thomson all he could handle.

Healy says records can be very misleading.

"He really had fought a lot of opponents and guys from his local area," Healy told the Las Vegas Sun. "He didn't get out and fight other guys. Records can be really misleading. I think it's the same case with mine."

Healy's losses include UFC veteran middleweights Denis Kang, Chris Leben and lower weight fighters Dave Strasser, Carlo Prater, Jay Hieron, Chris Wilson, Rory Markham, Jake Ellenberger, Chris Lytle, and Brad Blackburn (two times). He's also posted wins over Paul Daley, Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy, Tiki Ghosn, Brandon Melendez, Mike Guymon and Ryan Ford.

Healy is 6-2 at lightweight and points to his desire to train all over the country as a big reason. He started with Team Quest (Randy Couture, Matt Lindland and Chael Sonnen) in Oregon, but has since bounced around to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and B.J. Penn's camp in Hawaii.

"A lot of guys are too worried that they might have to fight someone they train with in the future or that they'll know too much about them," Healy said. "I don't really worry about that. I think whenever you go somewhere with different guys, you learn a lot. That outweighs the negatives."

Tonight, he'll try to put together a rare two-fight win streak against Eric Wisely (18-5). Wisely is making his Strikeforce debut. He comes in riding a four-fight win streak with victories over Matt Veach and Hermes Franca.

Strikeforce Challengers 18 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

MAIN CARD

Jorge Gurgel (154) vs. Joe Duarte (155)
Nate James (185) vs. Danillo Villefort (186)
Pat Healy (155) vs. Eric Wisely (156)
Sarah D'Alelio (146) vs. Ronda Rousey (146)
Roy Jones Jr. (204) vs. Derrick Mehmen (205)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Keith Berry (204) vs. Gian Villante (205)
Nah-Shon Burrell (171)* vs. Lukasz Les (169)
Mike Bronzoulis (169) vs. Chad Leonhardt (171)
Sterling Ford (156) vs. Milton Vieira (155)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Strikeforce-on-tap-Healy-looks-to-ride-hot-stre?urn=mma-wp5705

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Following UFC on Versus 5 Loss, Jason Reinhardt Released From UFC

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Jason Reinhardt hoped to reinvigorate himself by dropping down to bantamweight for his last fight.

He may have done that, but his loss to Edwin Figueroa at UFC on Versus 5 10 days ago was enough for the promotion to hand him his walking papers. Sources close to Reinhardt told MMA Fighting on Tuesday that Reinhardt has been released by the UFC.

Reinhardt, who was the oldest active fighter in the UFC, was in his second stint with the promotion. All three of his career losses came in UFC fights.

Reinhardt (20-3, 0-3 UFC) first fought in the UFC at UFC 78 in November 2007. After starting his career 18-0 fighting mostly in his native Illinois, as well as Iowa and Indiana, Reinhardt was picked up by the UFC for a fight against Joe Lauzon. Lauzon submitted him just 1:14 into the first round.

After picking up two more wins on regional shows, Reinhardt again got the call from Zuffa, this time to fight Tiequan Zhang at WEC 51 in a lightweight fight on short notice. But he had to withdraw from the bout when he failed his eye exam.

Reinhardt got his shot at Zhang several months later at UFC 127 in February - with both he and Zhang dropping to featherweight for the fight. Zhang submitted him 48 seconds into the first round.

But despite another quick UFC loss, Reinhardt got another shot - and reportedly at the urging of matchmaker Joe Silva, dropped to bantamweight. Against Figueroa at UFC on Versus 5 earlier this month, Reinhardt heard the boo-birds when he circled around the outside of the cage for more than a minute without engaging, then taunted Figueroa to engage him and was seen telling him, "I can do this all night." Once Figueroa caught him, Reinhardt needed to be saved by the bell in the first round. And in the second round, Figueroa ended things quickly with a TKO.

In Reinhardt's three UFC fights, he competed in three weight classes for a total of just 7:52 in the Octagon. Reinhardt's fight against Figueroa was just the third time in his career he had seen the second round. Eighteen of his 20 wins have been first-round stoppages, and he has 16 career submission wins. But his success outside the UFC - as what critics have called a can crusher - didn't translate to success in the UFC.

Reinhardt recently began training in Las Vegas with Wanderlei Silva's Wand Fight Team, and he has said his plan is to move to Las Vegas permanently to continue training.

On his Facebook page, Reinhardt said he plans on getting back to the UFC: "I'm staying positive, recovering, and I will have my (butt) back in the gym ASAP," Reinhardt said. "I love the UFC and how they treated me ... All I have to do is win a couple fights in another organization and I will be back."

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/08/24/following-ufc-on-versus-5-loss-jason-reinhardt-released-from-uf/

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