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Tae Kwon Do fighters will pack a punch September 20, 2007

Posted by grhomeboy in Sports.
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Tae Kwon Do fighters will pack a punch at Nottingham Arena on Sunday, October 14, as the TAGB British Open Championships 2007 are staged.

The Tae Kwon Do Association of Great Britain is Europe’s largest single martial arts organisation with more than 450 clubs and this is Europe’s biggest martial arts competition. It will involve men, women and children of all ranks, right up to black belt. There will also be world and european champions competing on fighting areas spread across the bowl.

Tae Kwon Do, which means ‘way of the foot and fist’, uses punches, strikes, kicks and blocks for self defence and is one of the most popular martial arts.

Tickets are £7 (plus booking fee) and are available on 0870 121 0123 or visit www.nottingham-arena.com

Madcap one-man show September 20, 2007

Posted by grhomeboy in Entertainment, The Royals.
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Avalon Productions presents Jim Tavare at the Guildhall Arts Centre in Grantham on Friday, September 28, at 7.30pm.

This brilliant comic blends witty jokes with deadpan delivery and more bizarrely, a double bass, in this madcap one-man show. Hugely successful as a live performer, Jim has built up a loyal fan base across the country with his special brand of humour, including some blue blooded ones.

After several appearances at the Royal Variety Performance, Prince Charles invited Jim to perform at a private party at Highgrove before the Queen and 13 heads of state for the King of Greece’s birthday, so if you fancy seeing Jim perform you’re certainly in good company. Hailed by the Independent as “the natural heir to the Tommy Cooper Fez”, you’d be mad to miss him!

Tickets cost £12 each (concessions £10) and are available from the box office on telephone number 01476 406158.

The medicine ball September 20, 2007

Posted by grhomeboy in Health, Sports.
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According to training experts at www.allspiritfitness.com, in ancient times, wrestlers in Persia trained using sand-filled bladders, while doctors in ancient Greece used animal skins filled with sand for rehabilitation therapy.

In modern times, the sand has been replaced by a variety of materials including gel, rubber, leather and synthetics.

Romania debates Dracula Castle deal September 20, 2007

Posted by grhomeboy in Culture.
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Romanian lawmakers began to debate yesterday whether Bran Castle, commonly known as Dracula’s Castle, was legally returned to owner Dominic Habsburg and whether he is allowed to sell it.

The Transylvanian castle, which has featured in many movies, was returned to Archduke Dominic Habsburg, the son of Princess Ileana, in May 2006. The princess had been given the castle in exchange for good deeds done by the royal family, which ruled Romania from 1866 until the communist era. The 14th century castle was confiscated by the communists in 1948.

Habsburg, 69, an architect from North Salem, New York, in the United States, pledged to keep it open as a museum until 2009. He offered to sell the castle last year to local authorities for US$80 million (57 million euro), but the offer was rejected because it was too expensive.

Opposition lawmaker Dumitru Ioan Puchianu said yesterday during a parliamentary debate that the return of the castle to Habsburg was illegal due to procedural errors. He said that Habsburg is legally not allowed to sell it. Lawmakers ended the debate without voting on the issue.

In a letter released yesterday, Habsburg’s lawyers said he would launch a lawsuit for 150 million euro (US$210 million) in damages if Parliament voted that the restitution and sale plans were illegal.

“I live once more with the feeling of dread in which I once lived, as a child, when my family and I were forced out of our home and thrown out into the streets in midwinter,” he said in a letter addressed to Parliament and calling on lawmakers not to allow “such a dreadful injustice to happen.” Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a major tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula.” Legend has it that Vlad, who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies, spent one night in the 1400s at the castle.

Bran Castle was built as a fortress to defend against the invading Ottoman Turks. About 450,000 tourists visit the castle every year.

Bears break in September 20, 2007

Posted by grhomeboy in Odd World.
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Patients at a psychiatric hospital in central Romania were startled yesterday when a bear and her two cubs smashed a window, pushed open a door and entered in search of food.

The bear dug into some food in a metal canister, which she dragged outside. Staff at the hospital called hunters, who arrived at the hospital, which is in a forest near the mountain resort of Predeal, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Bucharest. “We shot her with a tranquilizer,” said Aurel Iordache, one of the hunters. Television footage broadcast by Realitatea TV showed the bear with her head stuck in the canister. She was seen waddling into the forest, woozy from the effects of the tranquilizer.