Albert Einstein Rare Photos

His Father

His MotherHis HouseHis School Days PhotoAt Bern Patent Office

PostWar Signing

During his Studies in Berlin

Einstein in Berlin with Politician

Playing Charity Concert at Berlin 1930

Solvay Congress of 1937

E=MC2

Einstein in his home at New Jersey

Two Sides to Atlas, But He's His Own Man

I've been following the ongoing saga with Teddy Atlas and his seven day suspension from his position as a color analyst with ESPN2 Friday Night Fights with a keen interest as to what will come of it all.

If you know Teddy Atlas, you know there's two sides to the man. There's the side that is abrasive and ornery and that would never back down from a confrontation. It's the side that once counted former New York City mafia characters John Gotti and Sammy The Bull" Gravano as close associates. It's the same side of Atlas that once held a gun to a young Mike Tyson's head and also had laid out plans to murder former world champion Donny LaLonde. It's the same Teddy Atlas that has a scar that runs down the entire side of his face - compliments of being on the wrong end of a knife.

The other side of Teddy Atlas is a tireless charitable giver, a husband and father and a man of great integrity. Through the "Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation" named after his father and which he created, Atlas is the head of a charitable organization which helps those who can't help themselves. Atlas sees to it that the needy are cared for, given the basics to eke out a meager existence and he does it all without ever expecting anything back. His annual fund raising dinner has grown tremendously over the past several years and as it has expanded Atlas has been able to give more and more to those that need it the most.

Atlas admits that he has a temper that gets the best of him and certainly he has been known to fly off the handle when something takes place that he doesn't agree with. However, Atlas is a man with the best of intentions who more often than not, is acting to right something that he perceives to be a wrong.


From his perch in the corner, Atlas intently watches the action in the ring.

In his 2006 book, simply titled "Atlas" he describes who he is. "I can be sensitive and compassionate and giving to the point where it's almost too much. If somebody has needs and problems, I get moved and affected so much it almost controls me, that's how much I feel compelled to help. At the same time, if somebody acts disloyal, if they betray me, and then try to avoid taking responsibility, if they hide behind the excuses of convenience or weakness or selfishness, I'll go to a place of wanting to hurt them. I'll be ready to give up everything to right what I consider a wrong - even though I know that my response might not be socially acceptable."

Throughout this industry known as boxing it's rare that you find a person with deep moral convictions and an internal code that steers toward truth. For the most part, boxing is a cut-throat business with an every man for himself attitude. Like some sort of drifting ship it lacks a compass - a moral one. Even now, decades after the late, great, fight writer Jimmy Cannon wrote the infamous sentence describing boxing as "the red light district of sports" it still holds true.

I don't know the exact details of what led Teddy Atlas to be suspended from his ESPN position - and it's not the first suspension he has served while working for the network. However, I do know that it's what multi-national corporations do when they need a little time to think things over and sort out a situation. ESPN, of course, is owned by The Walt Disney Company and they don't come much bigger or more multi-national than that.

What I know is that Atlas got into some sort of confrontation with a person named Doug Loughrey who apparently decides what fights get the nod and then ultimately appear on the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights telecasts. Atlas perceived that something shady and under-handed was taking place with Loughrey's decision making process. Whether it was favoritism, poor judgment or something more sinister on Loughrey's part, we may never know. However, Atlas perceived something was amiss and to him it was beginning to reek like a dank sewer.

The long and the short of it is that Atlas spoke up and said something about it.

Now, some people may not agree with Atlas' methods or his approach to sorting out what he sees as a problem, but that's Atlas. He's not a diplomat and he's not the type of person to sit in the backgound and not speak up when he sees something that isn't right.

Everybody knows that Atlas is outspoken and that has has chastised the fighters he has trained and that he has tirelessly lectured to them about the outcome of the choices they make. But what you need to know is that it's something that Atlas did for their benefit in the hopes that it would make them, firstly, into a better person and secondly into a better fighter. Everybody knows that Atlas will criticize a match-up, on his own network no less, if it is poor matchmaking or a bad fight that shouldn't have been made. Atlas is one of the few people that you will encounter in life that has the courage to speak his mind.

Simply put, my experience in the presence of Teddy Atlas has been this - What you see is what you get, and there aren't too many types of people like that around anymore.


Ever the teacher and disciplinarian, Atlas works the pads in the gym.

Atlas' strong moral fiber has caused him to walk away from situations that he didn't have the power to change or that he disagreed with. He left millions of dollars on the table when he decided to no longer continue training a young Mike Tyson. Atlas disagreed with the manner in which Cus D'Amato allowed Tyson to get away with transgressions and Atlas decided to leave as Tyson's trainer. Atlas also had a long and tumultuous relationship, although very successful, with former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer. But eventually, that became another untenable situation where Atlas decided to leave when he saw that Moorer refused to make the best use of his talents.

Say what you will about Atlas, and many don't agree with his outspoken manner, but the one word that continues to come up when you ask someone to describe Teddy Atlas is "integrity".

Atlas trained actor Willem Dafoe for the 1989 movie, "Triumph of the Spirit" and in Atlas' 2006 biography, written with Peter Alson, Dafoe describes Atlas this way: "Teddy Atlas taught me a lot about human nature through boxing. That world that he loves so much conspired to corrupt and compromise him at every turn, yet he never took a dive. His plainspoken struggle to keep his integrity is heroic...inspiring."

Certainly Atlas did not act to serve his own self interests when he opened up this entire can of worms. Ask yourself these questions: What would Atlas have to gain by getting fired from a plum position with the largest sports network on the planet? What would Atlas have to gain in being suspended and making headlines that he had a verbal confrontation with a fellow employee?

The answer is that Atlas gains nothing personally, except maybe he can sleep through the night knowing that he decided to shed some light into a dark corner.

Strangely, ESPN has been silent regarding this developing situation and it reminds me of the old line, "Cockroaches scurry when the light is shone on them."

The ESPN network proudly calls itself "The worldwide leader in sports."

How they handle this situation will be a good chance to prove it.


January 2008

On the Road at Foxwoods

Matt Remillard, left, shoots a shot to the body of the game Manuel Perez.

MASHANTUCKET, CONNECTICUT - There's a sign on Route 2 as you're heading into Foxwoods that lets you know, "The fine for littering is $219."

Well, there was no danger of that happening tonight as Jimmy Burchfield and his CES Promotional team put on a fast moving, nine-bout card that was free of trash and witnessed by a full house inside the Fox Theater. The card was co-headlined by rising featherweight Matt Remillard and heavyweight Jason Estrada who participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In the main event, scheduled for ten rounds, Matt "The Sharp Shooter" Remillard, 124, 11-0(7)KO's from Manchester, Connecticut returned from a 16-month layoff caused by a broken wrist, to meet Manuel Perez, 125, 11-3(2)KO's from Denver, Colorado. Perez, born in Honolulu, but fighting out of Denver was defending his WBC Youth featherweight title.

I used to live in Denver, and the fighters from out there are tough customers. The "front range" mentality was evident in Perez and he reminded me of many of the fighters I watched while living in the "Rocky Mountain State." However, Perez' two main problems tonight were that he had a porous defense and his punches were not as fast as Remillard's - who showed little effect from his long lay-off. Perez, although extremely game, was simply outclassed by the stronger and quicker Remillard.

The fight was competitive and the rounds were fairly close, but it was Remillard, "The Sharpshooter" who was able to unholster his guns and fire off the quicker rounds. It was a workman-like performance for Remillard and he scraped off the rust that had accumulated. By the end he appeared to have really found his groove. He showed a nice variety of punches and after ten rounds the judges got it right with unanimous verdicts of 98-92, 96-94 and 98-93 all for Remillard. I had it 97-93.

Afterwards, Remillard who is soft spoken and articulate said, "It took about three rounds to shake the rust off. I was shooting like a shot-gun. Boxing is an 80% mental game and it feels good to be back."

In the co-main, a scheduled ten, former Olympian Jason "Big Six" Estrada, 241, 10-1 (2)KO's from Providence, Rhode Island, went head-to-head against veteran Charles Shufford, 248, 20-7(9)KO's fighting out of Las Vegas. In his day job, Shufford works as a bodyguard and has protected, among others, paparazzi princess Britney Spears. Given a choice, Shufford would likely have decided to trail Spears around, but tonight he found himself on the wrong end of Estrada's punches.


Jason Estrada, left, and Charles Shufford pictured getting to know one another.

Shufford did come to fight and he looked as good as he has in years, but at age 34 time seems to have passed him by and Estrada was simply fresher and hungrier. Estrada, 27, is fleshy, but he has quick hands and he can move well when the urge strikes him. However, with a combined 11 knockouts in 38 fights between the two of them, this was like watching a heavyweight pillow fight. Somehow, Estrada's right eye began to swell in the sixth round from Shufford's pesky left hooks and he also began spitting blood. The drama was sucked out of the fight by the slapping punches from both guys and as they meandered along it stifled the crowd.

When the final stanza was announced the crowd cheered for the end. However, the tenth turned out to be the best round of the fight as both guys unloaded everything they had left. Estrada appeared the worse for wear at the end, but he did enough to win. The judges had it unanimous for the former Olympian by scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92. I had it 97-94 for Estrada. The "hometown" crowd actually booed the lopsided scores in Estrada's favor.

In a fight scheduled for four, Brian Macy, 169, making his pro debut and hailing from right here in Ledyard, Connecticut, faced Pete Guthy, 168, 1-1-1 (1)KO from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Macy is a card dealer here at Foxwoods and the crowd went wild when he was introduced. Both guys were in shape and the fight was fought at a quick pace. In the second round, Macy landed a left hook that had "mark down" stamped all over it. Guthy went down like the prices at Macy's after Christmas sale and he hit the deck with a thud that sounded like a bag of lady's shoes being dropped. Guthy showed guts by rising at the count of eight, but he was in no shape to continue and the referee rightfully closed the sale, and Guthy's night, before closing it out at 1:34 of round two. Macy's stock price could be on the rise here locally.

In a wild four-rounder, Manuel Antonio Lopes, 171, 4-0(1)KO from Brockton, Mass. and trained by Marvin Hagler's former trainer, Goody Petronelli, went right to work against John "The Baptist" Terry, 171, from Portsmouth, Virginia who sported a spotty record of 2-7-2 (1)KO's. Lopes was handily winning the first round until he was shockingly decked just as the bell sounded to end the first, but it was a flash knockdown. Lopes probably lost the round 10-9. Lopes came out for revenge in the second, and tried to trap "The Baptist" into confession against the ropes. Lopes christened him with some hellacious bodyshots. Lopes won the third with sharper punching and he showed better class than Terry who is much tougher than his losing record suggests. The fight was up for grabs in the fourth and after winning the first two minutes, Lopes was stunned by another left hook from "The Baptist" and he reeled around the ring with spaghetti legs for the final minute.

After four, it was anybody's guess as to who won and the judges scored it 38-37 for "The Baptist", 38-37 for Lopes and 38-38 even. I also had it 38-38. It was later announced that Lopes broke his right hand in the second round. "The Baptist" should have prayed harder, maybe he would have went home a blessed winner.

In a tight six, "Irish" Joe McCreedy, 173, 5-1(4)KO's who comes from the same streets of Lowell, Mass. that spawned "Irish" Micky Ward, came face-to-face in a grudge match versus Iraqi War Veteran Chris Traietti, 174, 7-0(4)KO's from down the road in Quincy, Mass. At the end of the first, McCreedy unloaded his full arsenal on Traietti, who sports a large tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his back with the words "No Regrets...No Remorse." Traietti looked thereafter as though he may have had some regrets as McCreedy continued with the heavy artillery and landed thudding shots to the head and body.

To borrow a phrase from the movie Slingblade, "off and on and from time-to-time" the crowd chanted "Let's go Joey!" It was a fight fought at close quarters and although Triaetti was competitive it was McCreedy who was busier and more damaging - particulary to the body. Both guys let it all hang out in the last round and the fight went to the cards with McCreedy the rightful victor via majority decision with scores of 59-55, 57-57 and 59-55. I saw things 58-56 for "Irish" Joe.

In a women's cat fight, scheduled for four rounds, local favorite Addy Irizarry, 142, 3-1(2)KO's from Hartford, Connecticut had a tiger by the tale with Tonya Gallegos, 143, 4-6(2)KO's who came east from my old hometown of Denver, Colorado.

The claws came out early in this one and it was a free swinging affair that brought the crowd to life. The heavily tattooed Irizarry, who also sported a crew cut, bloodied Gallegos' nose in the first round causing her pink trunks to look much less feminine. Gallegos was a tough customer but Irizarry simply possessed better fundamentals and quicker hands. Irizarry was also better conditioned than the lady from Colorado. This one was not for the faint of heart as Gallegos was repeatedly beaten to the punch and she bled heavily from the nose all night. It was a spirited affair and in the end it was local favorite who prevailed with three scores of 40-36. The crowd had catch scratch fever after this one.

In the third bout of the night, Las Vegan Cruiserweight "Awesome" Aaron Williams, 200pounds, 15-0(11)KO's and a nine-time US National Amateur Champion, squared off against Manu Ntoh, 194, 17-13-1 (10)KO's fighting out of Atlanta, Georgia via Cameroon in a fight scheduled for eight rounds.


Aaron Williams, left, fends off another rush from the aggressive Manu Ntoh.

Williams had former WBA Light Heavyweight champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad serving as his chief second. Williams is promoted by Jimmy Burchfield and is a great looking prospect who shows a lot of poise for a youngster. However, he has a tendency to stand straight up and lay on the ropes. This allowed the stout and thickly built Ntoh, a former kickboxer, to chug his way in from time-to-time. The fight took on a predictable pattern where Ntoh would charge forward looking to land his heavy hooks while Williams moved around and picked his shots . Think of it as a poor man's version of Ali vs. Frazier. Ntoh is tough personified and he absorbed a lot of shots especially in the last three rounds. When Williams used his jab and got up on his toes he was dominant, but when he stopped moving he lost his advatages in reach and speed. It was a great test for Williams, who will likely grow into a heavyweight, and he won this stern test unanimously by scores of 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73. I had it 79-73 as well.

In an old fashioned border war, southpaw Bobo "The Bull" Starnino, 159, Providence, Rhode Island, 8-2 (1)KO faced-off against Eric Pinaretta, 163, 1-1(1)KO who hails from the whaling city of New Bedford, Mass. It was bad intentions all around in the contest scheduled for rour rounds. With no time spent on feeling each other out, both guys looked to land big shots from the sound of the first bell. The first round was relatively even, but it was Pinaretta who threw more punches, cut a tiring Starnino on the bridge of the nose and backed him up in round two. After retreating to his corner at the end of the second stanza, Bobo and his corner decided he had enough of Pinaretta's punches and the affair was wavied off in between rounds on the advice of the ringside physician Dr. Michael Schwartz. It was reported at ringside that Starnino was "ill" and that "he tried to fight through it."

In the four-round opener, switch-hitting Angel Camacho, Jr. 8-0(4)KO's, 170 pounds, Johnston, Rhode Island took on Terrence "TJ" Jones, 10-10 (6)KO's, 168 pounds, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Young prospect Camacho showed solid fundamentals and fairly heavy punches and he took advantage of the slower Jones who had John Scully working his corner. Camacho opened up in rounds two and three after a relatively slow first round. In round four Camacho picked his shots nicely and teed off on the game Jones. The fourth round was the most hotly contested as both guys opened up in the last twenty seconds in a bit of fury. In the end, all three judges scored the fight 40-36 for Camacho which was the same as I had it.


Inducted into the CES Ring of Honor Hall of Fame, during an in the ring ceremony was, "Sucra" Ray Oliveira. Seen at ringside were former world champions Virgil "Quicksilver" Hill and Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza. Also in attendance were Joe Mesi, Cruiswerweight contender Matt Godfrey and recently emerged from the witness protection program - Norman "Stoney" Stone - former trainer of Johnny Ruiz.


At ringside, January 25, 2008.

De La Hoya is the Architect of His Own Destiny

He always wanted to be an architect, so it’s fitting that Oscar De La Hoya is now carefully drafting the final blueprints that will lead to the end of his long career as a prizefighter. With precise measurements and a keen eye to all of the angles, Oscar says that 2008 will be it for him - and that he’ll punch and then get punched no more.

Some wonder why De La Hoya still continues on in what the great fight writer, Hugh McIlvanney, calls "the hardest game" - yet the answer to that question rests solely in the mind of Oscar himself. He literally fought his way out of the barrio of East Los Angeles. Hailing from the little triangle of a city called Montebello that’s wedged in between the Santa Monica, San Gabriel and Santa Ana freeways he has become one of the most well known and wealthiest figures in sports.

He has done it all, won it all and it would seem that, indeed, he has it all. He became the personification of the "Golden Boy" when he won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and later garnered pieces of professional championships in six different weight classes. Along the way he faced the biggest names the sport of boxing had to offer him. From the left hooking Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez to the former Philly convict Bernard Hopkins, De La Hoya has fought the best of a generation.

And don’t forget that he was once nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for his compilation of love songs on a CD that was aptly titled "Oscar De La Hoya." Also remember that he’s currently the captain of Golden Boy Promotions, the world’s most lucrative boxing promotional company. Aside from all of those achievements, he recently eclipsed Mike Tyson as the most watched pay-per view boxer in history when his fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. smashed all previous benchmarks.

He’s movie star handsome, too. With dark features, soft brown eyes, a boyishly white smile and a head full of inky black hair, he easily makes you forget that he’s spent nearly his entire life exchanging punches with hard men trying to mar his good looks. The elder statesman of this racket they call the fight game, HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant, once described De La Hoya as, "George Clooney with fists."

But like the other pugs that have come before him, the lure of the ring has a hold on him and the call to test his luck one more time on the roulette wheel called boxing is simply too much for him to turn his back on. He once said, "I’m going to retire by the time I’m 30 years old." He will be 35 when he fights again.

Despite the fact that he added over $50 million to his already morbidly obese bank account for his fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. last May, and despite the fact that his wife, the beautifully demure Puerto Rican songstress Millie Corretjer recently gave birth to their second child, Oscar says he’s going to climb through the ropes three times in 2008.

Certainly he has no more to prove to the public. He’s likely a first ballot hall of fame inductee and he will go into the books as the most financially successful boxer in the history of the sport. His celebrity status and crossover appeal put him on par with fighters such as Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Mention the name "Oscar De La Hoya" on street corners from Bangor, Maine to London, England to Beijing, China and the people will immediately know who you are talking about.


Just before stepping into the ring against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May 2007, husband and wife share an intimate moment together.

He comes from two generations of fighters and maybe that helps to explain why, despite the enormous wealth he has amassed and the notoriety that will forever be a part of him, that he just can’t walk away. His grandfather, Vicente was an amateur fighter in Mexico and his father Joel, who dragged Oscar off a dusty baseball field and into a boxing ring, was once a pro lightweight.

And it’s Joel, it sometimes seems, who still has the same grasp on the nape of Oscar’s neck that he once used to drag him into the ring. It was Joel who transformed the shy, meek, little boy, who never once fought in the street – into a fighter. It’s always been Joel who has not necessarily watched over his son, but has watched him.

Even now, nearly 30 years after Oscar first laced on a pair of gloves, Joel can be seen sitting at ringside with a judgmental and stoic look on his face. Peering down his nose at his son, he watches every move, every punch, every action and reaction as though none of it is good enough. Or at least it could be better. It’s Joel who can be seen standing silently like an omnipresent sentinel at the back of the room while Oscar is at the dais speaking at various press conferences.

In fact it wasn’t until after he lost a razor thin decision to Felix Trinidad in 1999 in a fight that many figured Oscar had won, did his father tell him for the first time that, "You did a good job."


In his last victory against Ricardo Mayorga in May 2006, De La Hoya was at his destructive best and won via a sixth round stoppage.

So it’s anyone’s guess really as to why De La Hoya has decided to forge on with his career. He’s laid out plans that will see him fight in May in an open air stadium in either the United States or Mexico. He’ll fight again in September in a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. that will likely be held in Las Vegas, and one final fight in December as a going away present and a tribute to his fans.

But the answer as to why Oscar De La Hoya still fights may lie in the fact that at his core he is simply a fighter. Forget about the bloodlines and the domineering father. Were you to strip away the veneers of good looks, wealth and near legendary ring accomplishments you would likely find a fighter no different than the ones who tread across the Rio Grande in the middle of the night to make a few bucks in a Texas club show.

He's on record as saying that, "I want to fight good fights, exciting fights, that make the fans jump to their feet." He has shown great admiration for fighters that are warriors and that give their all in the ring to win at all costs, but he typically doesn't fight in that manner.

As in his life outside the ring, De La Hoya has rarely shown all of himself. He's guarded and as a result the native Mexican fans to whom he has a strong affinity, have never clung to him like they did to Chavez or even Erik Morales or Marco Antonio Barrera. He is not held in the same high regard as those warriors that were willing to leave themselves in the ring if need be.


Against Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Oscar came up short. He'll get a second chance to beat Mayweather in September 2008.

De La Hoya has always been a tad too cautious to just let himself fight with that type of same reckless abandon - to show himself. He fights like he's keeping a secret and he doesn't always march ahead with a clear and confident plan of attack. Perhaps because of the numerous trainers he has employed over the years he seems stuck in between the different styles that each of those trainers has preached him to employ.

Many of his fights have often meandered along with a blandness and lack of drama. Most criticized his performance in the Mayweather fight for just this reason as he seemed unable or unwilling to step up his game to the next level and he lost a close split decision after holding an early lead before fading down the stretch. On the few occasions over the 15 years that he has let himself forget that he’s the Golden Boy, a primal ferocity has reared its head and he has been electrifyingly vicious.

He has alluded to the fact that there is a void in his boxing career where he has never truly been tested in a war of attrition nor, except for the Ike Quartey fight, has he been in a good, old-fashioned, knock down, drag out brawl. There have been no Arturo Gatti-like comebacks in his fights. No battles with sustained ferocity where he has had to peer through blood to snatch victory from the jaws of certain defeat. When he was felled by a Bernard Hopkins bodyshot in 2005, he stayed down, which led many to question his internal fortitude. And he has never engaged in a "fight of the year" bout.

In conversations, De La Hoya has said that he would like for those types of fights to happen. 2008 will give him the final chances to make them happen.

The Golden Boy, the would be architect, has drawn up the plans. Now it's time to cement the final blocks into place.


January 2008

m400 sample manual

SELECTING APPOINMENTS

SELECTING RINGTONES

Cloverfield Monster Design?

Wonder what the monster in this movie looks like but some says it look like this.
Di ko pa kasi nakita sa trailer ang movie na to.But sure i gonna watch it.
Click pic to enlarge.

The concept for the monster (affectionately known simply as “Clover” in-house) is simple, says Abrams(the director). “He’s a baby. He’s brand-new. He’s confused, disoriented and irritable. And he’s been down there in the water for thousands and thousands of years.”

And where is he from? “We don’t say – deliberately,” notes Goddard. “Our movie doesn’t have the scientist in the white lab coat who shows up and explains things like that. We don’t have that scene.”

Not only is the creature disoriented – he’s downright angry. “There are a bunch of smaller things – humans – that are annoying him and shooting at him like a swarm of bees,” observes Reeves. “None of these things are going to kill the monster, but they hurt it and it doesn’t understand. It’s this new environment that it finds frightening.”

For the monster’s design, Abrams engaged veteran creature designer Neville Page, who had just finished creating characters for James Cameron’s upcoming “Avatar” (and is currently working on Abrams’ “Star Trek”).

May parasites ding ang monster na to. What about that?

“The parasites have a voracious, rabid, bounding nature, but they also have a crab-like crawl,” Reeves explains. “They have the viciousness of a dog, but with the ability to climb walls and stick to things.”

Wait and see ko na lang movie na ito....soon

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

My Rating: 1-10: 6
Not exciting as the first specially the last part when they see the City of Gold. I think it is the same set up (city of gold) as the first only this time they introduce water in the set.

play alone. The blond man asks Gates if he can “decode” something that he has. It is several sets of letters and he says he cannot do it without a key and begins to work on it. The dark haired man gets up and leaves, walks through a back door to a theatre, upstairs and shoots President Lincoln in the back of the head. At this point in time, you realize he was John Wilkes Booth. He jumps from the balcony to the stage and runs off. Flash back to the pub and Gates realizes that what he is decoding is a treasure map, the blond man shoots him and Gates rips out the piece of paper and throws it into the fire burning part of it. The blond man stands over him pointing the gun toThe movie starts out with entrance into an old pub in the 1800’s. A dark haired man and a blond haired man walk up to a man sitting at a table with his grandson. The dark haired man asks if he is Thomas Gates. He says yes and ushers the boy off to go his head when the grandson runs over and hugs his grandfather asking the other man to stop. The man walks off and Gates says his last dying words "the debt that all men pay" with the boy asking for help to an empty pub.

Flash forward to Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) speaking at a college with his father Patrick Gates (Jon Voight) about the assassination of President Lincoln. The previous story was told by Patrick’s grandfather (the little boy in the pub.) Dr. Nichols thanks him for coming and there is a man in the background claiming the story was a lie. Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) stands up claiming that Gates was one of the co-conspirators and the architect in the Lincoln assassination and is just as guilty as Booth. Mitch says he also has proof; the missing page of Booth’s diary that Gates attempted to burn. Turns out Mitch is the great grandson of Booth and was told the story by his father, passed down.

The class leaves and Ben, Patrick, Dr. Nichols and Mitch are all standing around talking about the assassination. Dr. Nichols asks to see the page and it matches with the diary that Dr. Nichols has. Both Gates seem to think there is a mistake.

Next, we see Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) at a book signing at a bookstore. A funny scene involving a woman thinking he is Ben and walking away when realizing he is not and his Ferrari getting towed because he did not pay taxes on it. Riley is walking home and Ben is sitting on his door step. Turns out Ben and Abigail (Diane Kruger) split up at some point and Ben needs help getting to see the back of the missing page of Booth’s diary to see if there is in fact a treasure map on the back of it.

Ben and Riley go over to Abigail's house (used to be Bens but she has taken it over) and they need to get her card to see the page. Abigail is out on a date with Connor (Ty Burrell) who works at the White House (important later.) Ben and Riley break into the house, find the card and are getting ready to leave just as Abigail is coming home from her date. Abigail knows what he is doing and the jig is up. She says goodnight to Connor and Ben convinces her to let him look at the back of page. They see that there is in fact something on the back several letters that should start them off on the right track. While this is happening, Mitch Wilkinson breaks into Patrick's house and duplicates his cell phone so all the calls he receives Mitch receives too (important later).

Riley, Patrick and Ben go back to Patrick's house to decode it. Patrick remembers that his grandfather was told "The debt that all men pay" and they know that this is "Death." After using it as the key,"Laboulaye" is what they come up with. This was the man who was the creator of the Statue of Liberty. Ben says which one. Turns out there are three of them and this sends them to Paris to the original Statue. After Riley flies a mini-helicopter next to, Ben figures out (through two French policemen) that they need to go to Buckingham Palace to look at one of the two Resolute Desks. When he is there, Abigail shows up and Ben causes a scene getting throw into a mini-lockup. Causing the scene was part of the plan because Riley is able to unlock doors to get them out, they go to the desk and through a series of clues figure out that if they pull them out the right drawer the right length, it unlocks a secret part that reveils an ancient piece of wood with cryptic code on it. Mitch shows up to try to get the wood piece but Ben being smart runs a red light showing the wood to the front of window and the London traffic cameras take a picture of the piece. Ben throws it into the lake and gets Riley to hack into the database to retrieve a copy. One of Mitch's goons gets it from the lake.

Ben knows there is one person that can translate it, his mother Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren) (Patrick's ex-wife) and Patick does not want to see her. Finally Ben convinces him, they go to her office where Ben is very cordial, but Patrick and Emily are very cold to each other. She translates the pieces she can, but claims it is partial because there is a piece missing. This leads them to the other Resolute Desk, inside the White House, in the Oval Office. Ben convinces Abigail to use Connor to get into the Oval Office, claiming she dropped her ear ring and for Connor to help her look for it. This gives Ben enough time to look at the desk and realize the part where the wood piece should be is missing, but there is an interesting mark on the inside bearing the seal of the Book of Secrets.

Riley informs Ben that the only way to see the book is to become President. Ben states that he is going to kidnap the President. He goes to the President's birthday party at Mt. Vernon and convinces the President to go on an excursion to a secret tunnel and gets him alone to confront him about the Book of Secrets. The President informs him that it does in fact exist and that he needs to go to the Library of Congress to find the book XY 234786, he needs to remember a four digit code (it escapes me at this time) and look at page 47. The President informs him that if Ben finds the city of gold that he will free him of all charges, but if not, he will be charged with kidnapping the President. At this time, he is a known convict because he kidnapped the President and things need to be done in a hurry.

He gets into the Library, uses the four digit code to get in a secret door, finds where the book should be and there is a latch above the books with six numbers. He puts in the six digits the President told him, finds the book, finds a picture of the wood, takes a picture of it with his phone and sends it to his father, which Mitch intercepts and Mitch goes to Emily before Patrick gets a chance. Patrick is informed by his wife that they need to go to Mt Rushmore for the last secret. Mitch hears this from the other room and decides to go too. Waiting for them are Abigail, Patrick, Ben and Riley, but Mitch has Emily in captivity. Ben convinces Mitch to come with him, but no weapons will be brought. Ben uses the next clue to figure out they need to use all their water to find a hidden spot and Ben pulls a lever to open a door covered with rocks. The place they are looking for is Cibola, the legendary city of gold.

Emily and Patrick and separated from the others. Ben, Riley, Abigail and Mitch all walk onto a large platform with a central wood piece holding it up and all people need to balance the others. The way to get out is through a rope ladder much higher then they can reach. They figure out that three of them need to be on one end lifting one of them up. Mitch goes first with the others at the other end, then Abigail goes next, but the contraption begins to buckle, Riley makes a run for it, grabs the ladder and Abigail pushes a large gold piece that will counteract the weight and get Ben to the ladder. They get up there with the help up Mitch and walk into an area where water is pouring down and they realize the water mush be draining somewhere. So they stop the water and walk down to reveal the city of gold. Emily and Patrick show up from a different part. Riley hears a cracking and the water is starting to come through. There is a turntable-style object that opens the drain and people are able to get out, but it has to be held open by someone. Mitch forces Ben to stay and hold a drain open while the rest them escape, but the water is too much and forces Ben off the turntable-style thing keeping Mitch there saving the rest of them. Mitch tells Ben to tell the rest of the world that he found Cibola.

Ben, Abigail and Riley are escorted into a hangar with the President standing there freeing them of all charges. The President informs Ben that there will be an article in tomorrow's paper showing that he found the City of Gold. Ben tells him that it was also Mitch that helped. Ben and the President then walk away and the President asks if Ben saw what was on page 47 and Ben says he thinks he can help with that. Abigail and Ben make up and Riley is walking home and notices his red Ferrari with a note from the President. Inside it says "Tax-free."

HOSPITAL WINDOW STORY

Hospital Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

Turn Off These Titans

Felix "Tito" Trinidad and Roy Jones, Jr. will meet at the Mecca of Boxing, New York's Madison Square Garden, on January 19th.

You can spend your fifty bucks on Saturday night to watch a diminished Roy Jones, Jr. take on an equally spent Felix Trinidad, who must have received a day pass from his Puerto Rican retirement home to be in New York, but you can count me out. It’s debatable, but I think you just might get more entertainment by throwing fifty bucks in your fireplace or off the back of a train.

I won’t be on the scene nor will I be watching it on the screen.

Don King is calling his latest dog and pony show “Bring on the Titans” but he should’ve called it “Send in the Clowns” because this fight is nothing more than a sad joke that is being perpetrated on boxing fans.

Forget about the ludicrous pay-per view asking price of $49.95 - that’s small potatoes. The real laugh is the price of a ringside seat at Madison Square Garden, in the VIP seats, which has a cool asking price of $15,000.

Somebody should contact the Better Business Bureau.

The last time Felix “Tito” Trinidad was seen in a boxing ring he was embarrassed in a whitewash and was totally shut out by Winky Wright. A passive and puffy version of his former welterweight self, the 160-pound Trinidad was befuddled and confused by Wright’s southpaw jab and he lost the fight by unanimous decision with barely a whimper in protest. He and his father, Don Felix, then counted up their millions and hopped on the first flight back to San Juan to enjoy the rest of their life in retirement.

That was two and a half years ago.

And then something happened that usually does to boxers with too much time on their hands and not enough youth left in their bones. Trinidad decided he wanted to fight again. "Tito" and his father/manager/trainer, obviously got bored while lounging around in sunny Puerto Rico. Then they got to thinking that a comeback was necessary and that Roy Jones, Jr. would be the perfect foil.

But the big question is why?

"There were a couple of decisions I had to make,” explained the affable 35 year-old Trinidad last week. “First of all, I had to think about my family. The fans have driven me to be back into boxing because they are always telling me to fight. Everywhere I went people were screaming for me to come back. And then you have my promoter, Don King, who has been pursuing me to come back and box. And finally myself. After the reaction of everyone and my promoter, I felt the passion to come back and I am back. At the end, I made the decision because I wanted to come back.”

The fight is taking place at a “catch-weight” of 170 pounds and there will be no recognized word title at stake. It’s a far cry, at least for Trinidad, from his glory days as a 147-pound welterweight great who began boxing at age 17 and defended the IBF welterweight title 15 times.

The match against Jones will be the first time that Trinidad has fought above 160 pounds and he will be coming off a retirement that has lasted 32 months. Never a speedster on his feet, it’s difficult to see how Trinidad will catch Jones, who still maintains some of his amazing speed and quick reflexes - even at his diminished age of 39.

But that hasn’t stopped Trinidad, who still has the bright smile and quick wit of his youth, from confidently declaring that he’s not only going to be victorious on Saturday night in the Garden, but that he could win by knockout.


In spite of all that he has accomplished, Roy Jones, Jr. is not yet ready to wave goodbye to his career in boxing.

“It all began at a press conference when he told me he was going to knock me out in four rounds,” said the excitable Trinidad. “I told Roy Jones then that he wouldn’t be able to do that because he won’t last two rounds with me. Since then, everyone has been talking about knockouts, but I’m ready to fight twelve rounds. I can beat him under two, under four or the full twelve, it really doesn't matter. It’s going to be a great fight and I don't think anyone should miss it.”

As for Jones, his recent past is as checkered as Trinidad’s. He’s lost three of his last five fights and was knocked out twice. Jones hasn’t won a fight by knockout since 2002. He has managed a couple of lowly decision wins against somebody who calls himself “Prince” Badi Ajamu and over the unknown Anthony Hanshaw.

If anything, Jones is probably further removed from his heyday than Trinidad. For a number of years, Jones was considered the best boxer on the entire planet and he is likely the best fighter that ever fought at 168 pounds. He used to refer to himself in the third person, fight exclusively on HBO, and he made millions by fighting sub-par opposition - including a New York City cop and an Australian garbage collector. Jones even went so far as to win a heavyweight title belt. Since 2003, however, he has lost much of his luster and many also wonder why he has continued with his boxing career.

Jones, who sometimes refers to himself as “Superman” claims the reasons for his losses were his weight gain to go up and fight as a heavyweight and then having to lose 25 pounds of muscle to return to the light heavyweight division. Jones says that the weight fluctuations played havoc with his body and mind, and he offers that as part of the answer as to why he is still around.

“I want to go out the way I want to go,” he says. “If they beat me being myself, then that's it. Right now, I am back to being me. I am back - one hundred percent.”


Trinidad, the unmistakable promoter Don King and Roy Jones, Jr. pictured at the final pre-fight press conference, are ready for a big fight.

But we’ve all heard this same schtick before from Trinidad and Jones. They’ve spent a lifetime in the company of boisterous promoters and they’ve learned very well from them the right things to say in order to sell a fight. Both men were great fighters in the 1990’s, but this is 2008. Both are likeable and have engaging personalities. But none of that means they should be fighting each other.

And it’s a fight that you should just tune out.


January 2008

Lagot kay misis c manny pacquiao

Wonder why if it will increase the traffic in my blog?let us see..just for fun
Found this one,manny at embassy bar

It's Time for Hopkins to Fight Like He Talks

Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe came face-to-face last month in Las Vegas and they engaged in a heated exhange of words.

The impending announcement that Bernard Hopkins will face Welshman Joe Calzaghe on April 19th in Las Vegas will likely come with the same hype and blather that comes from Hopkins each time he announces his next fight.

In his own world, “The Executioner” continues to talk a good fight, but when he’s gotten in the ring over the past few years his words have rung hollow. In his advancing years he's become a cautious miser with his punches who methodically shuffles around the ring in an effort not to lose - instead of really fighting to win.

Hopkins, the minimalist, will turn 43 in a couple weeks and in his role as the "Old Man River" of boxing, his career continues to flow on despite the fact that father time is breathing down his neck.

Few boxers have been able to fight effectively into their late 30's, but Hopkins, several years removed from his best days, defies the trend and has scored signature wins since he turned 40 over Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright.

And he continues to talk trash as though he were a man in his 20's.

He doesn’t think much of Calzaghe, his popularity in Great Britain or his undefeated record. And while Hopkins talks a great fight and is a tireless promoter, his comments and analysis of himself and his true worth in the boxing marketplace often border on being delusional at worst and comical at best.

"I'm known around the world and he's not,” says Hopkins of himself and of Calzaghe. “You take Joe Calzaghe and put him on 54th and Broadway (in New York City) at 12 noon and you guarantee ten people won’t know him. You put Bernard Hopkins in New York and I will shut it down,” says Hopkins, who thinks of himself in terms that are quite far removed from reality.


Hopkins, pictured above in New York City's Times Square and the scene appears far from being "shut down" by his presence.

His fighting style has morphed from once being busy and aggressive to now being picky and careful. His defensive-minded efforts are not exactly crowd pleasing as Hopkins throws few punches and every move seems carefully thought out well in advance. While it may be an effective way to win it's boring to watch. His last fight against Wright caused those in attendance who were not sitting on their hands to boo the lack of sustained action.

There is no question that Hopkins is a brilliant tactician in the ring who has forgotten more than most will ever know, but in the sport of boxing, fans who spend money to see him do so with the expectation that there will be at least some entertainment value.

As it is, Hopkins, who is known to be frugal with the millions he has earned during his twenty years in boxing, dispatches with punches as though they were hundred dollar bills. He has scored only one knockout in the past four years.

“I don’t see how he can possibly beat me,” says Calzaghe of his aging and cautious foe. “He knows I throw over 1,000 punches a fight and he throws what, 200 punches a fight?”

But what about the greatness of Bernard Hopkins?

“He’s not great. How is he a great fighter?” asks Calzaghe. “He’s been beaten twice by Jermain Taylor. He thinks he is. He was lucky against Winky Wright and he was a middleweight. He ain’t gonna’ win, he’s going to lose. I know that and I think he knows that. I don’t think he really wants to fight me.”


Joe Calzaghe believes he has what it takes to be victorious over Hopkins.

As a result of Hopkins’ less than scintillating boxing style his box-office clout and his pay-per view numbers have sagged in relation to other fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Hopkins' star power has never crossed over to the mainstream and his fights usually draw in the vicinity of 350,000 pay-per view buys.

Ever the businessman concerned with the bottom-line, Hopkins is aware of his comparative lackluster drawing power and when his July 2007 bout with Winky Wright threatened to be a box office disaster, Hopkins created a scene at the weigh-in by placing his hand on Wright's face and pushing him. The action caused a minor melee, but it did make headlines around the world the day before the fight and clips of the fracas were replayed time and again on national sports telecasts.

Hopkins was later fined $200,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the shove but he first claimed he did it only to drum up interest and hopefully sell more pay-per views. In front of the commission members he changed his tune by saying that Wright had insulted his mother.

Whatever the case, most observers and pundits believe Hopkins is only fighting for the money now. He admits that even if he lost all of his future fights that he would still be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and rightfully so. He holds the record for title defenses (20) by a middleweight champion which is likely a mark that will stand the test of all-time.

Outside the ring he oversees various real estate holdings in and around his hometown of Philadelphia and is a well known philanthropist. He also makes time to help educate inner city youths and at-risk adolescents about the dangers and temptations of the streets. Hopkins knows full well about the traps in the ghetto as he spent 56 months in Graterford State Penitentiary before turning his life around.

So why does Hopkins continue to fight?

He is an equity partner and a very active player in Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. He is married and has a daughter that he swore he wanted to spend more time with in order "to watch her grow up." He also promised his mother, before she died, that he would retire before his 41st birthday and he once claimed that when he broke his own promises it always came back to haunt him. He made a half-hearted attempt to make good on that promise and he did stop fighting, but only briefly, after besting Antonio Tarver for The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight title in June 2006 before returning to face Wright.

Ask Hopkins then, why he is still around and he offers this as an answer.

"I have an agenda, it's a good thing for my bank account," he says about his continuing journey as a prize fighter. "I'm already who I am. I'm a hall-of-famer. If I lose my next five or six fights - if I fight that long - I am already cemented in the books."

While he made over $3 million for his last fight against Wright, Hopkins claims that he gets paid $250,000 per press conference for his promotional work with Golden Boy Promotions. He also proudly states that he has over $25 million stashed away in various bank accounts.

He had grandiose visions for the fight with Calzaghe, but the realities of his plight in the marketplace forced him to scale back his plans. Hopkins has a sense for boxing history and counts 'Sugar' Ray Robinson as an idol. As a result, he was pushing for the Calzaghe fight to be held in New York's Yankee Stadium where many of the great fighters of the past appeared in front of tremendous crowds, including Robinson.

However, the logistics and economics of such an undertaking proved insurmountable and the demand for tickets that would have filled the cavernous 57,000 seat 'House that Ruth Built' was questionable. Besides, the last boxing card that took place in Yankee Stadium was the third fight between Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton - in 1976.

Bob Arum promoted the Ali vs. Norton fight and when asked what he thought about Hopkins’ desire to fight in Yankee Stadium, Arum was, as usual, blunt. “Hopkins was talking about fighting at Yankee Stadium but that's crazy,” said Arum. “If he fought at Yankee Stadium even the ushers wouldn't want to watch him. Bernard Hopkins couldn't draw a breath.”

Predictably, Hopkins' plans were scaled back dramatically. The fight could have drawn over 50,000 in Wales but Hopkins never seemed open to that scenario. Now the fight against the undefeated Calzaghe will take place at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas - which seats 19,000.

The fight is coming at the perfect time for the 35 year-old Calzaghe who has been the 168-pound titlist for over 10 years and is coming off his biggest career victory over Mikkel Kessler in November. Calzaghe was recently named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and says that he sees no way that Hopkins can beat him and calls Hopkins, "an old man." The Welshman is an active southpaw who consistently throws a high volume of punches and possesses a quirky style that frustrates opponents.

“Hopkins is the only fight out there for me at the moment,” says Calzaghe. “I’ve got to chase a 43 year-old man. At the end of the day he talks, he wants fortunes, but we all want to get paid. Boxing is a business as you know.”

Initially, Hopkins also demanded the lion’s share of the purse, but he eventually relented and settled for a 50/50 split with Calzaghe who is the proven box-office draw in this fight. After all, Calzaghe’s fight against Kessler drew 50,000 fans in November to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and even his April fight with the little known Peter Manfredo, Jr. drew over 35,000 to the same venue.


A smiling Calzaghe stands high in the upper deck at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. In November 2007, over 50,000 partisan fans showed up to cheer him to victory over Denmark's Mikkel Kessler.

Hopkins, on the other hand, once defended his middleweight title in 2003 in his hometown of Philadelphia to an arena that was half empty. In 1999, he defended his title against Antwun Echols in Miami, Florida in front of a group of less than 300 people. While Hopkins sells more tickets now, he is still a tough sell on his own and needs a name opponent to draw a large crowd.

But, as usual, Hopkins fired the first verbal shot when he met Calzaghe face-to-face in the lead up to the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton last month in Las Vegas.

Hopkins, who is an intimidating presence with a dark glare said he was “going to give cute Calzaghe a face-lift” and later caused a stir when he said, “I’ll never let a white boy beat me.”

It would be nice if he would only fight as nasty as he talks.


January 2008