From Wikipedia.
Lin Dan (born October 14, 1983 in Longyan, Fujian) is a professional badminton player from China.
He is a two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion and five-time All England champion.
Widely considered to be the greatest badminton player of all time, Lin had completed the Super Grand Slam by 28, having won all nine major titles in world badminton: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games and Asia Championships, the only player to achieve this feat.
Lin Dan also became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic gold medal by winning in 2008 and defending his title in 2012.
He has been nicknamed Super Dan by his fans.
Lin has played badminton since he was five.
He joined his national badminton squad at 13.
He is married to former world champion Xie Xingfang.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Datuk Lee Chong Wei - Malaysia's Badminton King
From Wikipedia.
Datuk Lee Chong Wei (born October 21, 1982 in Bagan Serai, Perak) is a professional badminton player from Malaysia who hails from Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 199 consecutive weeks from August 21, 2008 to June 14, 2012.
He is the third Malaysian men's singles shuttler after Rashid Sidek and Roslin Hashim to achieve such a ranking and the only Malaysian shuttler to hold the ranking for more than two weeks.
Lee is a silver medalist in both the 2012 Olympic Games and 2008 Olympic Games, the first Malaysian to reach the final of the men's singles and ended Malaysia's Olympic medal drought since the 1996 Games.
His 2008 achievement earned him the title Datuk from the 13th King of Malaysia Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, the Sultan of Terengganu.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is an ardent fan of Lee.
He is the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history.
In his early years, Lee favoured basketball.
Lee took interest in badminton at 11.
He joined the national squad at 17.
Lee's autobiography Dare To Be A Champion was published on January 18, 2012.
Datuk Lee Chong Wei (born October 21, 1982 in Bagan Serai, Perak) is a professional badminton player from Malaysia who hails from Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 199 consecutive weeks from August 21, 2008 to June 14, 2012.
He is the third Malaysian men's singles shuttler after Rashid Sidek and Roslin Hashim to achieve such a ranking and the only Malaysian shuttler to hold the ranking for more than two weeks.
Lee is a silver medalist in both the 2012 Olympic Games and 2008 Olympic Games, the first Malaysian to reach the final of the men's singles and ended Malaysia's Olympic medal drought since the 1996 Games.
His 2008 achievement earned him the title Datuk from the 13th King of Malaysia Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, the Sultan of Terengganu.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is an ardent fan of Lee.
He is the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history.
In his early years, Lee favoured basketball.
Lee took interest in badminton at 11.
He joined the national squad at 17.
Lee's autobiography Dare To Be A Champion was published on January 18, 2012.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
About The Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony
From Wikipedia.
The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, called Isles Of Wonder began at 9pm (UK time) in the Olympic Stadium, London.
It was designed and co-ordinated by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, with musical direction by electronica duo Underworld.
The Games was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
Boyle acknowledged that the scale, extravagance and expense of the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony at Beijing was an impossible act to follow: "You can't get bigger than Beijing" and that this had in fact liberated his team in their approach to designing the 2012 ceremony.
The budget of the 2012 ceremony was £27m (as opposed to Beijing's £65m).
The cast of the ceremony was mostly made up of volunteers - some 15,000 of them - who had given up hundreds of hours of their time to rehearse over the preceding months.
The Isles Of Wonder name was taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest, with the giant bell used in the ceremony inscribed with a line from a speech by Caliban: "Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises".
It was the second Games opened by the Queen. She had also opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal as Queen of Canada.
Most of the music chosen was either British or Irish.
Survival, a single released by Muse was announced as the official song of the Olympics.
It will be played before medal ceremonies and international broadcasters will also play it while reporting on the Games.
A R Rahman, who worked with Boyle on his film Slumdog Millionair composed a Punjabi song for the opening ceremony, intended to be a part of a medley which would showcase Indian influence in the UK, according to Boyle's wishes.
Sir Paul McCartney was the ceremony's closing act.
Paolo Nutini and Duran Duran played before the opening ceremony was shown to the audience on big screens.
Stereophonics and Snow Patrol then played during the athletes' parade, before the lighting of the torch was shown.
At exactly 8.12 pm (2012 on the 24-hour clock) the Red Arrows performed a flypast over the Olympic Stadium.
At 9pm the ceremony began with a two-minute film directed by Danny Boyle and produced with the involvement of the BBC.
Beginning at the source of the River Thames in Gloucestershire, the film traced the river to the heart of London, juxtaposing images of contemporary British life with pastoral shots.
As it passed Battersea Power Station, a Pink Floyd pig was flying between its towers.
The soundtrack featured clips from various pieces of music, including the theme tune of The South Bank Show (Lord Lloyd-Webber's Variations), the theme tune of EastEnders by Simon May and Leslie Osborne, London Calling by The Clash and the Sex Pistols' God Save The Queen.
The film's track ended in the Olympic Stadium, where groups of children held balloons numbered from 10 to 1 that popped in sequence with an audience-led countdown.
Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour De France just five days earlier, emerged to open the ceremony by ringing the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world.
The bell was cast for London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry by Royal Eijsbouts of the Netherlands.
The opening section of the ceremony encapsulated British economic and social development from rural economy to Industrial Revolution to the 1960s.
At the beginning, the floor of the stadium had at its centre a model of Glastonbury Tor and a model village as promised by Boyle, replete with live animals and actors portraying working villagers.
Youth choirs began a cappella performances.
The informal anthems of the four constituent countries of the host nation were then sung: Jerusalem (from England, sung by a live choir in the stadium), complemented by filmed performances of Danny Boy (from the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland), Flower Of Scotland (from Edinburgh Castle in Scotland) and Bread Of Heaven (from Rhosilli Beach in Wales, but sung in English).
The anthems were inter-cut with footage of notable Rugby Union Home Nations' tries.
As the performances progressed, vintage London General Omnibus Company stagecoaches entered the stadium, carrying men in Victorian dress, complete with top hats.
Led by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (played by Sir Kenneth Branagh), the men exited the carriages and surveyed the land approvingly.
After walking up Glastonbury Tor, Brunel delivered Caliban's "Be not afeard" speech from Act 3, Scene II of Shakespeare's The Tempest, reflecting Boyle's introduction to the ceremony in the programme.
As the villagers rolled away the grass and other props, chimney stacks with accompanying steeplejacks symbolising the Industrial Revolution rose from the ground and workers mimed forging what was to become a large Olympic ring.
Boyle described this section of the ceremony as Pandemonium (in reference to the capital of Hell in Paradise Lost) and said that it celebrated the "tremendous potential" afforded by the advancements of the Victorian era.
This part of the show also included a silence in remembrance of the sacrifice and loss of life of both the World Wars, featuring British 'Tommies' and a field of poppies.
Accompanied by 1000 percussionists led by Dame Evelyn Glennie, actors paraded around the stadium representing historical groups who changed the face of Britain, including the woman's suffrage movement, the Jarrow Crusade, the first Caribbean immigrants arriving in Britain on board The Empire Windrush and The Beatles as they appeared on the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Included in this parade were real-life Chelsea Pensioners and a group of Pearly Kings and Queens.
Many of the participants, including the Victorian gentlemen, mimed the repetitive mechanical movements associated with industrial processes, such as weaving.
As the parade progressed, four Olympic rings were flown into place above the stadium floor and, when the fifth was raised into position, they ignited and rained fire.
The ceremony then cut to Happy And Glorious, a short film featuring James Bond (played by current Bond actor Daniel Craig) entering Buckingham Palace.
Bond escorted Queen Elizabeth II (who played herself) out of the building and into a waiting helicopter, which flew across London to the stadium.
At the end of the film, Bond and Her Majesty jump from the helicopter and this was interspersed with live footage of actors playing the pair who parachuted out of a helicopter over the stadium (using Union Jack parachutes).
The actual jump was carried out by BASE jumper and stuntman Gary Connery.
The Queen and The Duke Of Edinburgh (as well as Count Rogge, President of the IOC) were then introduced in the stadium.
The Union Flag was then raised by members of the British Armed Forces, with the national anthem performed a cappella by the Kaos Signing Choir For Deaf And Hearing Children.
There followed a sequence celebrating the National Health Service (NHS).
Nurses from the NHS entered the stadium with children on hospital beds, some of which functioned as trampolines.
Among the performers were hospital staff and nine children who are long-term patients at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The beds' blankets illuminated, and the beds were arranged into a smiling face (the logo of Great Ormond Street Hospital) and its acronym GOSH, visible from above.
After a dance sequence, a celebration of children's literature by British authors began with J K Rowling reading a section from J M Barrie's Peter Pan (from which Great Ormond Street Hospital receives royalties) and inflatable representations of children's literature villains The Queen Of Hearts, Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil and Lord Voldemort.
The Child Catcher appeared amongst the children.
Dozens of women playing Mary Poppins descended on flying umbrellas as the characters deflated and the actors resumed dancing.
The entire sequence was set to music performed by Mike Oldfield and a backing band.
Their selections included partially rearranged sections from Tubular Bells (played in part on a giant set of tubular bells at the rear of the stage).
Sir Simon Rattle was then introduced to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Vangelis' Chariots Of Fire.
Mr Bean (played by Rowan Atkinson) appeared, comically playing a repeated single note on synthesiser.
He then lapsed into a dream sequence in which he joined the runners from the film of the same name (about the 1924 Summer Olympics), beating them in their iconic run along West Sands at St. Andrews by riding in a car and tripping the front runner.
The performance was followed by a sequence concerning British popular culture.
To the accompaniment of famous signature tunes, including Going Underground by The Jam and the theme song from The Archers, a young mother and son drove up to a house in the centre of the venue in a Mini Cooper.
The house's sides each served as a projection screen showing clips from various British films, television programmes and music videos including Billy Elliot, Gregory's Girl and Boyle's own Trainspotting.
A large group of dancers, centred around a boy and girl (Jasmine Breinburg) flirting by mobile phone, performed to an assortment of British popular songs arranged chronologically, ending with a live performance of Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal.
At the close of the sequence, the house was raised to reveal Sir Tim Berners-Lee, working at a NeXT Computer like the one on which he invented the World Wide Web.
He tweeted: "This is for everyone", instantly spelled out in LED lights held by 70,500 people in the audience.
A filmed sequence then showed David Beckham driving a motor boat up the River Thames and under Tower Bridge, carrying the Olympic torch accompanied by footballer Jade Bailey.
In tribute to victims of war and the 2005 London bombings, (which happened the day after the announcement that London had been awarded the 2012 Olympics), the hymn Abide With Me by Henry Francis Lyte to music by William Henry Monk, was performed by Emeli Sande and a group of dancers including Akram Khan, while a screen showed photos of people who had died, contributed by members of the public as a memorial.
The Parade Of Nations followed, accompanied in part by popular songs including West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys, Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees and Beautiful Day by Irish band U2.
According to custom, Greece led the parade, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order and finally the host nation Great Britain.
The British delegation entered to David Bowie's song Heroes.
Each nation's flag was planted along the model of Glastonbury Tor.
After the Parade, the Arctic Monkeys performed their song I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and a version of The Beatles' Come Together, the latter whilst cyclists carrying LED representations of the Doves Of Peace circled the stadium.
Speeches by Lord Coe and Count Rogge followed, and the Queen officially opened the Games.
Seated near the Queen and the Duke Of Edinburgh was Reverend Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop Of Canterbury.
The Olympic Flag was then carried by eight people chosen from around the world as symbols of the Olympic values: Daniel Barenboim, Sally Becker, Shami Chakrabarti, Leymah Gbowee, Haile Gebrselassie, Doreen Lawrence, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Marina Silva.
This was a break with tradition as the Olympic Flag has previously been carried by Olympic athletes.
Before reaching its destination the flag paused in front of Muhammad Ali, who touched it.
Ali, who lit the Olympic flame at the 1996 games in Atlanta, Georgia and who was accompanied by his wife, had not made a public appearance since 2009.
The Olympic Flag was received by a colour guard of British Armed Forces personnel and hoisted to the sound of the Olympic Hymn.
David Beckham, on arriving at Olympic Park, assisted Sir Steve Redgrave, six-time Olympic rowing medallist, in lighting his Olympic torch from that on the boat.
Redgrave carried his torch into the stadium, through a guard of honour formed by construction workers who built the Olympic Park and handed it to one of a team of seven young athletes: Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds and Adelle Tracey, each nominated by a famous British Olympian to convey the 2012 Games' aim to "inspire a generation".
After completing a lap of the stadium, each was hugged by their nominating Olympian and each presented with their own torches, which were lit from the original.
They then completed another partial circuit of the stadium, before each lighting one of 204 copper petals — one for every nation competing in this competition — mounted on long, hinged arms.
When the flame had spread to all of the petals, they were raised up in rings and converged to form the Olympic cauldron, which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick and was described as "one of the best-kept secrets of the opening ceremony".
Before the cauldron lighting, Alex Trimble, the lead singer of Northern Irish rock band Two Door Cinema Club, performed the song Caliban's Dream.
The song was written specifically for the ceremony by Rick Smith of Underworld.
The cauldron lighting was followed by a fireworks presentation, the climax of which was soundtracked by Pink Floyd's song Eclipse.
Sir Paul McCartney and his band performed the ending of The End and Hey Jude, with its anthem-like finale sung by the entire stadium, to close the ceremony.
The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, called Isles Of Wonder began at 9pm (UK time) in the Olympic Stadium, London.
It was designed and co-ordinated by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, with musical direction by electronica duo Underworld.
The Games was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
Boyle acknowledged that the scale, extravagance and expense of the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony at Beijing was an impossible act to follow: "You can't get bigger than Beijing" and that this had in fact liberated his team in their approach to designing the 2012 ceremony.
The budget of the 2012 ceremony was £27m (as opposed to Beijing's £65m).
The cast of the ceremony was mostly made up of volunteers - some 15,000 of them - who had given up hundreds of hours of their time to rehearse over the preceding months.
The Isles Of Wonder name was taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest, with the giant bell used in the ceremony inscribed with a line from a speech by Caliban: "Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises".
It was the second Games opened by the Queen. She had also opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal as Queen of Canada.
Most of the music chosen was either British or Irish.
Survival, a single released by Muse was announced as the official song of the Olympics.
It will be played before medal ceremonies and international broadcasters will also play it while reporting on the Games.
A R Rahman, who worked with Boyle on his film Slumdog Millionair composed a Punjabi song for the opening ceremony, intended to be a part of a medley which would showcase Indian influence in the UK, according to Boyle's wishes.
Sir Paul McCartney was the ceremony's closing act.
Paolo Nutini and Duran Duran played before the opening ceremony was shown to the audience on big screens.
Stereophonics and Snow Patrol then played during the athletes' parade, before the lighting of the torch was shown.
At exactly 8.12 pm (2012 on the 24-hour clock) the Red Arrows performed a flypast over the Olympic Stadium.
At 9pm the ceremony began with a two-minute film directed by Danny Boyle and produced with the involvement of the BBC.
Beginning at the source of the River Thames in Gloucestershire, the film traced the river to the heart of London, juxtaposing images of contemporary British life with pastoral shots.
As it passed Battersea Power Station, a Pink Floyd pig was flying between its towers.
The soundtrack featured clips from various pieces of music, including the theme tune of The South Bank Show (Lord Lloyd-Webber's Variations), the theme tune of EastEnders by Simon May and Leslie Osborne, London Calling by The Clash and the Sex Pistols' God Save The Queen.
The film's track ended in the Olympic Stadium, where groups of children held balloons numbered from 10 to 1 that popped in sequence with an audience-led countdown.
Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour De France just five days earlier, emerged to open the ceremony by ringing the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world.
The bell was cast for London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry by Royal Eijsbouts of the Netherlands.
The opening section of the ceremony encapsulated British economic and social development from rural economy to Industrial Revolution to the 1960s.
At the beginning, the floor of the stadium had at its centre a model of Glastonbury Tor and a model village as promised by Boyle, replete with live animals and actors portraying working villagers.
Youth choirs began a cappella performances.
The informal anthems of the four constituent countries of the host nation were then sung: Jerusalem (from England, sung by a live choir in the stadium), complemented by filmed performances of Danny Boy (from the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland), Flower Of Scotland (from Edinburgh Castle in Scotland) and Bread Of Heaven (from Rhosilli Beach in Wales, but sung in English).
The anthems were inter-cut with footage of notable Rugby Union Home Nations' tries.
As the performances progressed, vintage London General Omnibus Company stagecoaches entered the stadium, carrying men in Victorian dress, complete with top hats.
Led by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (played by Sir Kenneth Branagh), the men exited the carriages and surveyed the land approvingly.
After walking up Glastonbury Tor, Brunel delivered Caliban's "Be not afeard" speech from Act 3, Scene II of Shakespeare's The Tempest, reflecting Boyle's introduction to the ceremony in the programme.
As the villagers rolled away the grass and other props, chimney stacks with accompanying steeplejacks symbolising the Industrial Revolution rose from the ground and workers mimed forging what was to become a large Olympic ring.
Boyle described this section of the ceremony as Pandemonium (in reference to the capital of Hell in Paradise Lost) and said that it celebrated the "tremendous potential" afforded by the advancements of the Victorian era.
This part of the show also included a silence in remembrance of the sacrifice and loss of life of both the World Wars, featuring British 'Tommies' and a field of poppies.
Accompanied by 1000 percussionists led by Dame Evelyn Glennie, actors paraded around the stadium representing historical groups who changed the face of Britain, including the woman's suffrage movement, the Jarrow Crusade, the first Caribbean immigrants arriving in Britain on board The Empire Windrush and The Beatles as they appeared on the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Included in this parade were real-life Chelsea Pensioners and a group of Pearly Kings and Queens.
Many of the participants, including the Victorian gentlemen, mimed the repetitive mechanical movements associated with industrial processes, such as weaving.
As the parade progressed, four Olympic rings were flown into place above the stadium floor and, when the fifth was raised into position, they ignited and rained fire.
The ceremony then cut to Happy And Glorious, a short film featuring James Bond (played by current Bond actor Daniel Craig) entering Buckingham Palace.
Bond escorted Queen Elizabeth II (who played herself) out of the building and into a waiting helicopter, which flew across London to the stadium.
At the end of the film, Bond and Her Majesty jump from the helicopter and this was interspersed with live footage of actors playing the pair who parachuted out of a helicopter over the stadium (using Union Jack parachutes).
The actual jump was carried out by BASE jumper and stuntman Gary Connery.
The Queen and The Duke Of Edinburgh (as well as Count Rogge, President of the IOC) were then introduced in the stadium.
The Union Flag was then raised by members of the British Armed Forces, with the national anthem performed a cappella by the Kaos Signing Choir For Deaf And Hearing Children.
There followed a sequence celebrating the National Health Service (NHS).
Nurses from the NHS entered the stadium with children on hospital beds, some of which functioned as trampolines.
Among the performers were hospital staff and nine children who are long-term patients at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The beds' blankets illuminated, and the beds were arranged into a smiling face (the logo of Great Ormond Street Hospital) and its acronym GOSH, visible from above.
After a dance sequence, a celebration of children's literature by British authors began with J K Rowling reading a section from J M Barrie's Peter Pan (from which Great Ormond Street Hospital receives royalties) and inflatable representations of children's literature villains The Queen Of Hearts, Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil and Lord Voldemort.
The Child Catcher appeared amongst the children.
Dozens of women playing Mary Poppins descended on flying umbrellas as the characters deflated and the actors resumed dancing.
The entire sequence was set to music performed by Mike Oldfield and a backing band.
Their selections included partially rearranged sections from Tubular Bells (played in part on a giant set of tubular bells at the rear of the stage).
Sir Simon Rattle was then introduced to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Vangelis' Chariots Of Fire.
Mr Bean (played by Rowan Atkinson) appeared, comically playing a repeated single note on synthesiser.
He then lapsed into a dream sequence in which he joined the runners from the film of the same name (about the 1924 Summer Olympics), beating them in their iconic run along West Sands at St. Andrews by riding in a car and tripping the front runner.
The performance was followed by a sequence concerning British popular culture.
To the accompaniment of famous signature tunes, including Going Underground by The Jam and the theme song from The Archers, a young mother and son drove up to a house in the centre of the venue in a Mini Cooper.
The house's sides each served as a projection screen showing clips from various British films, television programmes and music videos including Billy Elliot, Gregory's Girl and Boyle's own Trainspotting.
A large group of dancers, centred around a boy and girl (Jasmine Breinburg) flirting by mobile phone, performed to an assortment of British popular songs arranged chronologically, ending with a live performance of Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal.
At the close of the sequence, the house was raised to reveal Sir Tim Berners-Lee, working at a NeXT Computer like the one on which he invented the World Wide Web.
He tweeted: "This is for everyone", instantly spelled out in LED lights held by 70,500 people in the audience.
A filmed sequence then showed David Beckham driving a motor boat up the River Thames and under Tower Bridge, carrying the Olympic torch accompanied by footballer Jade Bailey.
In tribute to victims of war and the 2005 London bombings, (which happened the day after the announcement that London had been awarded the 2012 Olympics), the hymn Abide With Me by Henry Francis Lyte to music by William Henry Monk, was performed by Emeli Sande and a group of dancers including Akram Khan, while a screen showed photos of people who had died, contributed by members of the public as a memorial.
The Parade Of Nations followed, accompanied in part by popular songs including West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys, Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees and Beautiful Day by Irish band U2.
According to custom, Greece led the parade, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order and finally the host nation Great Britain.
The British delegation entered to David Bowie's song Heroes.
Each nation's flag was planted along the model of Glastonbury Tor.
After the Parade, the Arctic Monkeys performed their song I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and a version of The Beatles' Come Together, the latter whilst cyclists carrying LED representations of the Doves Of Peace circled the stadium.
Speeches by Lord Coe and Count Rogge followed, and the Queen officially opened the Games.
Seated near the Queen and the Duke Of Edinburgh was Reverend Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop Of Canterbury.
The Olympic Flag was then carried by eight people chosen from around the world as symbols of the Olympic values: Daniel Barenboim, Sally Becker, Shami Chakrabarti, Leymah Gbowee, Haile Gebrselassie, Doreen Lawrence, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Marina Silva.
This was a break with tradition as the Olympic Flag has previously been carried by Olympic athletes.
Before reaching its destination the flag paused in front of Muhammad Ali, who touched it.
Ali, who lit the Olympic flame at the 1996 games in Atlanta, Georgia and who was accompanied by his wife, had not made a public appearance since 2009.
The Olympic Flag was received by a colour guard of British Armed Forces personnel and hoisted to the sound of the Olympic Hymn.
David Beckham, on arriving at Olympic Park, assisted Sir Steve Redgrave, six-time Olympic rowing medallist, in lighting his Olympic torch from that on the boat.
Redgrave carried his torch into the stadium, through a guard of honour formed by construction workers who built the Olympic Park and handed it to one of a team of seven young athletes: Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds and Adelle Tracey, each nominated by a famous British Olympian to convey the 2012 Games' aim to "inspire a generation".
After completing a lap of the stadium, each was hugged by their nominating Olympian and each presented with their own torches, which were lit from the original.
They then completed another partial circuit of the stadium, before each lighting one of 204 copper petals — one for every nation competing in this competition — mounted on long, hinged arms.
When the flame had spread to all of the petals, they were raised up in rings and converged to form the Olympic cauldron, which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick and was described as "one of the best-kept secrets of the opening ceremony".
Before the cauldron lighting, Alex Trimble, the lead singer of Northern Irish rock band Two Door Cinema Club, performed the song Caliban's Dream.
The song was written specifically for the ceremony by Rick Smith of Underworld.
The cauldron lighting was followed by a fireworks presentation, the climax of which was soundtracked by Pink Floyd's song Eclipse.
Sir Paul McCartney and his band performed the ending of The End and Hey Jude, with its anthem-like finale sung by the entire stadium, to close the ceremony.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Sherman Hemsley - The Black Archie Bunker
Veteran American actor Sherman Hemsley aka George Jefferson passed away at the age of 74 on July 24, 2012.
He will be best remembered as the straight-talking bigot George Jefferson in The Jeffersons, the popular 1970s sitcom.
George Jefferson is regarded as the Black Archie Bunker in comparison with the late Carol O'Connor's bigoted bar owner from All In The Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place.
The Jeffersons is itself a spin-off of All In The Family.
Read all about Hemsley from Wikipedia.
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the television series All In The Family and The Jeffersons.
Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who was a factory worker.
He joined the United States Air Force, where he served for four years.
On leaving the Air Force, he worked for the Post Office during the day while attending acting school at night.
He then moved to New York and starred in the early 1970s Broadway play Purlie.
Norman Lear called him in 1971 to play the role of George Jefferson on his burgeoning new sitcom, All In The Family.
The characters of Hemsley and co-star Isabel Sanford were secondary, but were given their own spin-off series, The Jeffersons, less than two years after Hemsley made his debut on the show.
The Jeffersons proved to be one of Lear's most successful shows, enjoying a run of 11 seasons through 1985.
Hemsley and Sanford appeared together in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s, reprising their roles in guest spots on television programmes such as The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.
In recent years Hemsley lent his voice to the animated series Family Guy.
Hemsley was also a jazz keyboardist and released a single in 1989 titled Ain't That A Kick In The Head.
He will be best remembered as the straight-talking bigot George Jefferson in The Jeffersons, the popular 1970s sitcom.
George Jefferson is regarded as the Black Archie Bunker in comparison with the late Carol O'Connor's bigoted bar owner from All In The Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place.
The Jeffersons is itself a spin-off of All In The Family.
Read all about Hemsley from Wikipedia.
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the television series All In The Family and The Jeffersons.
Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who was a factory worker.
He joined the United States Air Force, where he served for four years.
On leaving the Air Force, he worked for the Post Office during the day while attending acting school at night.
He then moved to New York and starred in the early 1970s Broadway play Purlie.
Norman Lear called him in 1971 to play the role of George Jefferson on his burgeoning new sitcom, All In The Family.
The characters of Hemsley and co-star Isabel Sanford were secondary, but were given their own spin-off series, The Jeffersons, less than two years after Hemsley made his debut on the show.
The Jeffersons proved to be one of Lear's most successful shows, enjoying a run of 11 seasons through 1985.
Hemsley and Sanford appeared together in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s, reprising their roles in guest spots on television programmes such as The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.
In recent years Hemsley lent his voice to the animated series Family Guy.
Hemsley was also a jazz keyboardist and released a single in 1989 titled Ain't That A Kick In The Head.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Rajesh Khanna - Bollywood's Elephant Man
Veteran Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna passed away of cancer on July 18, 2012.
Read all about him from Wikipedia.
Rajesh Khanna (December 29, 1942 - July 18, 2012) was an Indian actor in Hindi films and film producer.
He appeared in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the protagonist.
He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same 14 times.
He received the maximum BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and was nominated 25 times.
In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the protagonist in a span of 25 years.
In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
Khanna was referred to as the "First Superstar" of Hindi cinema.
He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence in the films Haathi Mere Sathi, Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana.
Haathi was his most popular film, the story of a young man and his elephant friends.
Born in Amritsar, Punjab, Khanna lived in Thakurdwar near Girgaon and attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School in Girgaon with his friend Ravi Kapoor who later took the stage name Jeetendra.
Khanna became interested in theatre and did a lot of plays in his school and college days.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Khanna fell in love with the then fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru. They were in a relationship for seven years.
Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in 1973, six months before Dimple's debut film Bobby released. They had two daughters. Khanna and Dimple separated in 1984.
Their elder daughter Twinkle, an interior decorator and former actress is married to actor Akshay Kumar while their younger daughter Rinke Khanna, also a former actress is married to London-based investment banker Samir Saran.
Khanna was a life member of the International Film And Television Research Centre, the International Film And Television Club and the Asian Academy Of Film And Television.
He also served as a Member of Parliament in New Delhi.
Read all about him from Wikipedia.
Rajesh Khanna (December 29, 1942 - July 18, 2012) was an Indian actor in Hindi films and film producer.
He appeared in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the protagonist.
He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same 14 times.
He received the maximum BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and was nominated 25 times.
In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the protagonist in a span of 25 years.
In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
Khanna was referred to as the "First Superstar" of Hindi cinema.
He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence in the films Haathi Mere Sathi, Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana.
Haathi was his most popular film, the story of a young man and his elephant friends.
Born in Amritsar, Punjab, Khanna lived in Thakurdwar near Girgaon and attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School in Girgaon with his friend Ravi Kapoor who later took the stage name Jeetendra.
Khanna became interested in theatre and did a lot of plays in his school and college days.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Khanna fell in love with the then fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru. They were in a relationship for seven years.
Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in 1973, six months before Dimple's debut film Bobby released. They had two daughters. Khanna and Dimple separated in 1984.
Their elder daughter Twinkle, an interior decorator and former actress is married to actor Akshay Kumar while their younger daughter Rinke Khanna, also a former actress is married to London-based investment banker Samir Saran.
Khanna was a life member of the International Film And Television Research Centre, the International Film And Television Club and the Asian Academy Of Film And Television.
He also served as a Member of Parliament in New Delhi.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Stephen Covey - World Class Motivational Guru.
Stephen Covey passed away from complications from a bicycle accident on July 16, 2012.
Read all about him from Wikipedia.
Stephen Richards Covey (October 24, 1932 - July 16, 2012) was an American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker.
His most popular book was The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People.
His other books include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit and The Leader In Me — How Schools And Parents Around The World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child At A Time.
He was a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School Of Business at Utah State University at the time of his death.
Covey was born to Stephen Glenn Covey and Irene Louise Richards Covey.
Louise was the daughter of Stephen Richards, a counselor in the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).
He was the grandson of Stephen Mack Covey who founded the original Little America (Mormon church) near Granger, Wyoming.
Covey earned a degree in business administration from the University Of Utah, an MBA from Harvard University and a Doctor of Religious Education from Brigham Young University.
He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. He was awarded 10 honorary doctorates.
Covey established the Covey Leadership Centre which in 1997 merged with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey, a global professional services firm and specialty retailer selling both training and productivity tools to individuals and organisations.
Their mission statement reads: "We enable greatness in people and organisations everywhere".
In March 2008 Covey launched the Stephen Covey Online Community.
The site was a collection of online courses, goal management and social networking.
Covey used it to teach his thoughts and ideas on current topics and self leadership.
In February 2010, Covey became a professor of the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair In Leadership at the Huntsman School Of Business at Utah State University.
Huntsman and Covey were longtime friends. At USU, he taught courses, performed research and helped to establish the Stephen R. Covey Centre For Leadership.
Covey toured the world and gave lectures. He visited Malaysia in 1997.
Read all about him from Wikipedia.
Stephen Richards Covey (October 24, 1932 - July 16, 2012) was an American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker.
His most popular book was The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People.
His other books include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit and The Leader In Me — How Schools And Parents Around The World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child At A Time.
He was a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School Of Business at Utah State University at the time of his death.
Covey was born to Stephen Glenn Covey and Irene Louise Richards Covey.
Louise was the daughter of Stephen Richards, a counselor in the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).
He was the grandson of Stephen Mack Covey who founded the original Little America (Mormon church) near Granger, Wyoming.
Covey earned a degree in business administration from the University Of Utah, an MBA from Harvard University and a Doctor of Religious Education from Brigham Young University.
He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. He was awarded 10 honorary doctorates.
Covey established the Covey Leadership Centre which in 1997 merged with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey, a global professional services firm and specialty retailer selling both training and productivity tools to individuals and organisations.
Their mission statement reads: "We enable greatness in people and organisations everywhere".
In March 2008 Covey launched the Stephen Covey Online Community.
The site was a collection of online courses, goal management and social networking.
Covey used it to teach his thoughts and ideas on current topics and self leadership.
In February 2010, Covey became a professor of the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair In Leadership at the Huntsman School Of Business at Utah State University.
Huntsman and Covey were longtime friends. At USU, he taught courses, performed research and helped to establish the Stephen R. Covey Centre For Leadership.
Covey toured the world and gave lectures. He visited Malaysia in 1997.
Azmi Anshar's Tribute To Paul Ponnudorai.
Azmi Anshar is an editor in the New Straits Times.
Paul Ponnudorai came into the national psyche as a guitar virtuoso, picking and yodelling his way into the 1975 ‘Bakat TV’ talent contest.
WHEN Paul Ponnudorai was hitting it on his own, paying his dues, the journey was occasionally fraught with moments of comedic terror: raucous watering holes for fat-bellied patrons, money-grubbing musical philistines cursing loud expletives if he refused to play the latest punch-drunk Top 10 tune in any ethnic configuration.
Legend has it that one gangster showed Ponnudorai the size of his pistol snug in the belt: he decided that being pragmatic was better than maintaining integrity and being shot at, so he indulged the thug with face time by unleashing a Paul Ponnudorai original cover of Careless Whisper - a personal record of 17 times in a row to the howls of drunken stupor!
Friends often quipped to Ponnudorai that during his 15th rendition, he should have taken the pistol and just pulled the trigger himself, just to flee the diabolical torment.
This fact was known to rabid Ponnudorai followers. The man was a guitarist able to navigate any given tune with the eye of a fine sommelier, the risk-taking of a rogue archaeologist and the mischief of a loveable prankster.
With his passing at age 51 (he did say that he walked into a bar in 1979 gigging with his siblings and "I haven't walked out of a bar since"), his supremely-natural gifts on the guitar, the engaging sense of humour inter-played with a rapturous audience and that personal charm he exuded is forever etched in memory.
Ponnudorai was a musical pugilist from the 1970s generation, a bunch too young to dig Flower Power but old enough to avoid the Generation-X slacker rap, but he was a genius of a musician living life to the fullest.
He even survived a horrific car crash where he needed metal screws bored into his skull after a surgery to neutralise a blood clot.
Ponnudorai was soaked in the brine (his favourite phrase) of the Bible and gospel music, 1970s avant-garde rock and other metallic-like structures, and disco with a genteel focus on jazz and blues.
But the coyness of the 1970s did not subvert Ponnudorai. It turned him into a peerless virtuoso of the guitar. Medium-built but stout in physique and blessed with a propelling tenor voice, Ponnudorai's years of gigging before musically-illiterate audiences in dingy nightclubs was a profound woodshedding experience.
But his obsession for the outrageous guitar riff and chord progression during those halcyon years elevated him into a cult guitar hero. Ponnudorai's thumbs are unmercifully bent, which was consistent with the plausible theory that bent thumbs are the physical characteristic of fabulous musicians.
Ponnudorai came into the national psyche as a guitar virtuoso, picking and yodelling his way into the 1975 Bakat TV variety talent contest which became the springboard into greatness, reinforced soon with successes in competitions in the Yamaha Guitar and Southeast Asian Guitar Festivals.
Following gigs at pubs and lounges, he was snared as lead singer/guitarist for the Drifting Cowboys, the Waves and the Sweet Notes. That improvisatory spirit though was too vexing: he formed his own band, Made In Malaysia, playing notably at the now defunct All That Jazz, with a selection of sweet pop, rock and blues numbers but inevitably went solo again.
Ponnudorai never wavered nor did he compromise his faith in the blues while riffing it up in jazz and rock, though his true musical religion was spontaneous improvisation.
Brandishing his electro-acoustic axe on stage was as enthralling as watching a firebrand preacher on a pulpit. Ponnudorai was spiritual in that sense as he adapted popular tunes, then twisted and artistically tortured them into something insanely subliminal.
Ponnudorai passed on with his precocious talent intact, but even with a single under-the-radar 2005 album Back In Time, his reputation preceded him.
One night, while playing a routine hotel club gig in Singapore, a certain gentleman by the name of Wynton Marsalis, perhaps America's greatest living jazz cat, jumped on stage and began jamming on his trumpet against a very startled Ponnudorai.
Ponnudorai was assuredly the antithesis of everything we assumed in the age of MTV and Billboard ratings.
Many Malaysians aren't aware of the existence of Ponnudorai, the rich heritage he bestowed upon his native country, even as he had to eke a living across the border.
The passing of such a gifted man in our midst is not the real tragedy. Ignorance of his existence is.
Paul Ponnudorai came into the national psyche as a guitar virtuoso, picking and yodelling his way into the 1975 ‘Bakat TV’ talent contest.
WHEN Paul Ponnudorai was hitting it on his own, paying his dues, the journey was occasionally fraught with moments of comedic terror: raucous watering holes for fat-bellied patrons, money-grubbing musical philistines cursing loud expletives if he refused to play the latest punch-drunk Top 10 tune in any ethnic configuration.
Legend has it that one gangster showed Ponnudorai the size of his pistol snug in the belt: he decided that being pragmatic was better than maintaining integrity and being shot at, so he indulged the thug with face time by unleashing a Paul Ponnudorai original cover of Careless Whisper - a personal record of 17 times in a row to the howls of drunken stupor!
Friends often quipped to Ponnudorai that during his 15th rendition, he should have taken the pistol and just pulled the trigger himself, just to flee the diabolical torment.
This fact was known to rabid Ponnudorai followers. The man was a guitarist able to navigate any given tune with the eye of a fine sommelier, the risk-taking of a rogue archaeologist and the mischief of a loveable prankster.
With his passing at age 51 (he did say that he walked into a bar in 1979 gigging with his siblings and "I haven't walked out of a bar since"), his supremely-natural gifts on the guitar, the engaging sense of humour inter-played with a rapturous audience and that personal charm he exuded is forever etched in memory.
Ponnudorai was a musical pugilist from the 1970s generation, a bunch too young to dig Flower Power but old enough to avoid the Generation-X slacker rap, but he was a genius of a musician living life to the fullest.
He even survived a horrific car crash where he needed metal screws bored into his skull after a surgery to neutralise a blood clot.
Ponnudorai was soaked in the brine (his favourite phrase) of the Bible and gospel music, 1970s avant-garde rock and other metallic-like structures, and disco with a genteel focus on jazz and blues.
But the coyness of the 1970s did not subvert Ponnudorai. It turned him into a peerless virtuoso of the guitar. Medium-built but stout in physique and blessed with a propelling tenor voice, Ponnudorai's years of gigging before musically-illiterate audiences in dingy nightclubs was a profound woodshedding experience.
But his obsession for the outrageous guitar riff and chord progression during those halcyon years elevated him into a cult guitar hero. Ponnudorai's thumbs are unmercifully bent, which was consistent with the plausible theory that bent thumbs are the physical characteristic of fabulous musicians.
Ponnudorai came into the national psyche as a guitar virtuoso, picking and yodelling his way into the 1975 Bakat TV variety talent contest which became the springboard into greatness, reinforced soon with successes in competitions in the Yamaha Guitar and Southeast Asian Guitar Festivals.
Following gigs at pubs and lounges, he was snared as lead singer/guitarist for the Drifting Cowboys, the Waves and the Sweet Notes. That improvisatory spirit though was too vexing: he formed his own band, Made In Malaysia, playing notably at the now defunct All That Jazz, with a selection of sweet pop, rock and blues numbers but inevitably went solo again.
Ponnudorai never wavered nor did he compromise his faith in the blues while riffing it up in jazz and rock, though his true musical religion was spontaneous improvisation.
Brandishing his electro-acoustic axe on stage was as enthralling as watching a firebrand preacher on a pulpit. Ponnudorai was spiritual in that sense as he adapted popular tunes, then twisted and artistically tortured them into something insanely subliminal.
Ponnudorai passed on with his precocious talent intact, but even with a single under-the-radar 2005 album Back In Time, his reputation preceded him.
One night, while playing a routine hotel club gig in Singapore, a certain gentleman by the name of Wynton Marsalis, perhaps America's greatest living jazz cat, jumped on stage and began jamming on his trumpet against a very startled Ponnudorai.
Ponnudorai was assuredly the antithesis of everything we assumed in the age of MTV and Billboard ratings.
Many Malaysians aren't aware of the existence of Ponnudorai, the rich heritage he bestowed upon his native country, even as he had to eke a living across the border.
The passing of such a gifted man in our midst is not the real tragedy. Ignorance of his existence is.
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