Samoa Time Travels Into The Future

Posted by Jeff in Education

Samoa time travels a day into the future as they switch to the other side of the international dateline.

In the strange world of time comes a reminder that, as Einstein once said, time is relative and not a fixed measurement.

The small country of Samoa has decided to switch to the other side of the international dateline in order to be in line with New Zealand and Australia.

The idea has taken hold because the countries major trading partners have shifted from America and Europe to Australia and New Zealand.

A similar decision was taken around 100 years ago when the country shifted to the other side of the dateline to be closer in time with America and Europe.

There are those that are upset by the decision however, the tourist industry says that it will lose out now that it is not the last place on earth to see the sun.

The Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been defending the move, saying that it will effectively they were losing up to 2 days of trading a week because they were out of step with the Australians and New Zealanders.

The change will come into effect from December 29th 2011 on a trial period and will be permanent from January.

The decision comes on the tail of the 2010 move to daylight savings and the 2009 change to the driving laws, switching from the right to the left. That change was brought in to reduce the reliance on expensive imports of cars from America.

Photo: Krystn Palmer Photography

Sebastian Vettel Leads From Start to Finish in the Australian Grand Prix

Posted by James in Formula 1, Sports

Sebastian Vettel lead from start to finish in the opening race of the 2011 Grand Prix in Australia staying comfortably in control throughout.

In qualifying he was, by a worryingly large margin for the other drivers, faster than anyone else (read here) and he carried this form into the main race, leading from the front with a calmness that belied his age and experience.

By the end of the first lap he had already built up a lead of over 2.5 secs and perhaps rather ominously for the others, the Red-Bull team had decided not to use the KERS energy system which gives a temporary power boost to the car.

Behind him finishing in 2nd place was Lewis Hamilton, who described his podium finish as a great achievement after poor results during pre-season testing meant that he feared he wouldn’t be competitive this season.

After the race it became clear that he had also achieved this with a malfunctioning car, the floor and undertray had broken off leaving him struggling for downforce. By the end, Hamilton said that he was just trying to nurse the car home rather than chase Vettel for 1st place.

The 3rd place belonged to the Russian Vitaly Petrov with his first podium finish for the Renault team, mainly thanks to a start which saw him propelled into 4th place. He then drove a great race to hold off alonso to seal 3rd place.

Photo: enanom

Earthquake Shakes Japan and Sends a Tsunami Through the Pacific Region

Posted by Jeff in Travel

A huge 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the north-east of Japan and triggered a Tsunami that sends more devastation across the island.

The wall of water, over 20 foot high, swept away anything in it’s path with such ease that no building was safe and ships were thrown miles inland.

The quake struck at 14:46 local time, about 250 miles north east of Tokyo and the area has since suffered from multiple aftershocks with many also more than magnitude 6.

Multiple fires have broken out and as a country running multiple Nuclear power plants, Japan has been put on high nuclear alert. Smoke was seen coming from one plant not long after the quake struck.

Japan’s previous worst disaster was the 8.3 magnitude quake of 1923 that killed approx. 143,000 people. In today’s more quake proof world it’s not thought that the death toll will reach anywhere near that number but it could still reach thousands.

The Tsunami waves are now travelling throughout the pacific and other countries are bracing themselves for it’s impact on their shores.

On one side there are the populous regions of the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand; on the other side there are the shores of Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Chile with Samoa and Hawaii in the centre.

Photo: Central Intelligence Agency
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Bahrain Grand Prix Cancelled

Posted by James in Formula 1, Sports

The Bahrain Grand Prix was supposed to be the grand opening of the Grand Prix season, but has become a victim of timing as Bahrain moves through social and political upheaval.

The Grand Prix season was due to start in the tiny Arab emirate of Bahrain on March 13th but will now be pushed back to Australia on 27th March.

It is unclear whether Bahrain will be re-added to the 2011 calender at a later date or whether the current events will make that impossible.

Bahrain has been a part of the Grand Prix calender since 2004 and Bernie Eccelstone placed the decision of whether to host the event or not, at the door of the Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa who said,

“After the events of the past week our nation’s priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together. Reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united.”

Photo: FlightReal

Novak Djokovic Smashes Andy Murray in Straight Sets

Posted by Gary in Sports, Tennis

It took only 2 hours 39 minutes for Novak Djokovic to brush aside Andy Murray in the Australian Open Mens Final.

Djokovic, who is the same age as Murray at 23, comprehensively outplayed his friend to win his second Australian Open title in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

Murray said afterwards,

“He had an unbelievable tournament and deserved to win, hopefully I’ll come back and have more chances in the future.”

In truth Murray will have to learn how to step up if he is ever going to break his duck and win one of the major titles, the final this year was very similar to the final last year when he was comprehensively outplayed by Roger Federer. He has now been in 3 Major finals and failed to win a set.

That is to take nothing away from Novak Djokovic though, who rarely put a foot wrong during the match. He served well and played some barely believable defensive play at times, at one point actually doing the splits during a rally.

Murray for his part was put under constant pressure, committing a large number of unforced errors that meant he rarely had the chance to break Djokovic’s serve.

Djokovic went into the game most people’s favourite after beating Roger Federer in straight sets in the previous round, he also had the experience of winning the tournament previously and the experience showed.

The turning point in the first set came when an amazing 38 stoke rally in which Djokovic looked to be down and out on a few occasions, but somehow he always got the ball back over the net; the point eventually ended with a tired looking shot from Murray slammed into the net.

The second set was all Djokovic as Murray’s game crumbled and at one point he faced set point at 5-0 down. He managed to avoid the dreaded bagel but by then it was too late and Djokovic took the set.

Murray dug deep in the third set to make a breakthrough but again made errors when the rallies went into double figures while Djokovic was relatively calm and collected.

Djokovic is now the world number 3 but on this form it looks like he is serious competition for the number 2 or 1 spot. Watch out Nadal and Federer.

Murray on the other hand, has the all round game to challenge the top 2 as well, but he needs to find a way to increase his focus during a match.

He needs to get into the headspace where he has the cast iron belief that winning the match, whether it is a final or not, is the only outcome possible in his mind.

Easier said than done when the top 2 in the world are quite possibly the finest tennis players the world has ever seen, and when you also have the added weight of history on your shoulders. A British mens tennis player hasn’t won a Major Open tournament since Fred Perry in the 1930′s.

Photo: mbevis

Andy Murray Makes the Australian Open Final

Posted by James in Sports, Tennis

Andy Murray came through in a tight match against the number 7 seed, David Ferrer to reach his third Major final and his second Australian Open Final in a row.

The nerves were obviously showing for Murray in the first set as he hit a large number of unforced errors into the net and Ferrer took a deserved lead.

Written off by most commentators as the underdog Ferrer certainly wasn’t playing like it as he controlled the baseline and the long rallies.

After Ferrer took the first set Murray had to wait until the second set to assert himself in a tie break as both players gave away points they would normally expect to win. Neither player really taking command of the match and it was difficult to call who would triumph at this point, it could have gone either way.

In the third set Murray began to gain some momentum and started to control the tempo of the match with an early break of serve. He then made a double break in game six and everything started to flow for him as he went, and crucially made his aggressive shots. He took the set 6-1.

In the 4th set Murray continued his run of good form,, but it didn’t last long and the errors began to creep back in again as he wasted an opportunity for a double break. Ferrer made the most of the opportunities that he was presented with and forced himself back onto even terms.

The momentum had shifted constantly through out the match but Ferrer’s serve started to let him down as the 4th set went into the tie break and Murray established a 5-1 lead as his serve fired him ahead.

After 3 hours and 45 minutes Murray finally made the shot, a half volley, that took him into the Australian Open final for the second time.

Obviously tired and with stiff muscles, Murray hobbled off the court to jump into an ice bath, and get himself fit for the clash on Sunday with his practice partner Novak Djokovic.

Photo: n.hewson

Murray & Nadal Breeze into the Australian Open 3rd Round. Federer Struggles.

Posted by Gary in Sports, Tennis

The first major tennis tournament of the year, the Australian Open, kicked off this week in Melbourne.

The tournament has so far gone to plan for the top mens seeds as the quarter finals get closer. Roger Federer was the only one to have a scare when he was in danger of losing his second round match with Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Federer initially looked to be cruising in the 3rd round as Simon showed no real spark in the first two sets. Simon then began to show why he had previously been ranked as 6th in the world before an injury forced a lengthy absence.

Forcing Federer to go all out for his shots by the sheer quality of his defence and counter punching, the defending champion began to make errors. It started to seem obvious why Federer had lost their two previous encounters with Simon.

If Simon manages to move his game into a move pro-active game rather than relying on counter punches and strong defence then he really will be a force to be reckoned with.

After evening up the sets at 2-2 the 5th set was a tense affair with Roger Federer eventually emerging as the winner after gaining an early break.

Andy Murray had a similar philosophy to Simon in previous years, his game mainly based on defence and counter attack, but this year there seems to have been a change.

It looks like, after losing the final here last year, that he realises that he has to come out all guns blazing and really take the game to his opponents rather than sitting back and soaking up pressure.

He did that in his 2nd round match with Illya Marchenko not really posing enough questions of the number 5 seed as he came through 6-1,6-3,6-3.

Nadal too had no problems beating qualifier Ryan Sweeting 6-2 6-1 6-1 comfortably.

Photo: n.hewson

England Win The Ashes at a Stroll

Posted by Gary in Cricket, Sports

For the first time for 24 years England have managed to retain the Ashes. Australia were dismissed for 258 in Melbourne with England winning by 157 runs and an innings.

Andrew Strauss praised his team saying

“These guys deserve everything they get because the players stood up and performed when it matters. It’s great for me but we all know a captain’s nothing without the guys who stand up and deliver under pressure. I’m not going to take the credit for this because it’s not my victory, it’s the team’s victory.”

England deserved their win having dominated the series with both bowling and batting being of the highest quality, even if their was a hiccup in Perth when Australia briefly turned the tables.

“Retaining the Ashes for the first time in almost a quarter of a century marks a very special end to the year for sports fans and a great late Christmas present for the country,” he said. “I look forward to welcoming them to Downing Street when they return.”

Australia for their part have been disappointing this series with their captain Ricky Ponting being fined at one point for dissent towards the umpire as the pressure mounted. No one wants to be the Captain during an Ashes defeat, they have become so rare that you will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Pointed commented that they had learned alot from how England had played test cricket and said

“I’m disappointed with the way this series has gone for us so far, really disappointed at the way this week has turned out for us after having such a good week last week.”

Photo: piesgardiner

Australia Level the Ashes Series at 1-1

Posted by Gary in Cricket, Sports

Australia showed grit and determination that has been missing from some of their recent performances against England to level the current Ashes series 1 – 1.

They won by a convincing 267 runs in the third Ashes test at the Waca in Perth, with the last 5 English lasting only 50 minutes.

The next test  takes place on Boxing Day in Melbourne, where England will need to recreate some of the earlier form that saw their opening batsman knock the Australian bowlers around the ground with disdain.

Australia named an unchanged squad for the up coming match in Melbourne straight after the game. Melbourne will be very different from Perth as a ground, the air is much damper whereas Perth has a very hard, dry wicket that keep the ball bouncing with some ferocity. It is likely to reminiscent of Adelaide where England had success earlier in this tour.

Whatever happens it looks like the Ashes are shaping up to be a real contest after it looked like England would run away with it after the astonishing form that they showed in the warm up games coming into the test.

Photo: piesgardiner