From the mine to the marathon

From the BBC News website:

“Edison Pena, the Chilean miner who famously jogged underground while awaiting rescue, has completed the New York City Marathon.

He came in walking on a bad knee to finish the 26.2-mile (42.4-km) route in less than six hours.

Speaking just before the race, he said he wanted to inspire others, especially children, to run.” Click here for the rest of the story.

(Video from ABC Action News)

If anyone was wondering which of the miners would become a global star, they can stop wondering now. The media have found a new Chilean icon and his name is Edison Pena.

I remember watching a BBC Panorama documentary called Trapped – The Chile Miners’ Story which came out just after the miners had been rescued.

The documentary focused on Edison Pena, who had been nicknamed “the Runner” for running up to 10 km each day while trapped in the mine. His partner Angelica Alvarez, who had found the mining job for Edison, described how she felt when she first heard the news on the television.

The San Jose mine – I heard it and I froze. My sore ached. I felt sick. I went to the bathroom, and I almost threw up.”

The team spoke to Edison after he had been released from hospital, and showed him running on a beach. It was obvious he was going to become a star, and I wasn’t surprised when I heard that he had been invited to appear on “The Late Show” with David Letterman.

(Video from CBS YouTube channel)

Edison Pena is becoming a global star and it looks like he has the perfect personality for TV. Good luck to him! I just hope he isn’t hounded by the media until he becomes burnt-out like so many other celebrities who suddenly become famous after extraordinary circumstances.

Related Articles

• Documenting Chile miner rescue at Camp Hope (liverpoolwired.co.uk)
• Rescued Chilean miner shows ‘yes you can’ in NYC Marathon (sports.inquirer.net)
• 2010 NY Marathon update – Edison Pena crosses finish line – video (risingsunofnihon.com)

The 50 best cheap eats in Britain

From The Independent website:

“Where can you find great meals that won’t break the bank? Samuel Muston tracks down the nation’s top spots for breakfast, lunch and dinner on a budget.”

Click here to see the list. To avoid clicking the website 50 times to see each place, click the blue Autoplay button at the top right-hand side of the first page.

Related Articles

• Eat Like A Girl (eatlikeagirl.com)
• Hollow Legs (lizzieeatslondon.blogspot.com)
• Young and Foodish (youngandfoodish.com)

What the f*** has Obama done so far?

Warning – this website was probably created by an angry liberal (no, not me! :)) and it contains swear words!

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com

Time traveller caught on film?

George Clarke is a film-maker from East Belfast, and he loves watching Charlie Chaplin films. He was watching the Hollywood premiere of The Circus (1928), and in one of the scenes, he noticed something very strange.

One of the women walking across the screen is holding a device to her ear. He looked at the scene carefully, and realised that she was actually talking into the device!

Was it a time-traveller using a mobile phone? Or was it just someone who was very good at predicting the future? Remember, this film was made in 1928!

There are two videos below. In the first one, George Clark is explains how he discovered the strange footage. It takes him a long time to get to the point; hasn’t he heard of a film editor?? The second video shows the actual scene with the woman (who actually looks like a man!); it doesn’t have any introduction or voice-over from the film-maker.

So, is the ‘woman’ a time-traveller or a super-smart genius who looked into the future and saw it was orange? 🙂

Related Articles

• “Time Traveler in 1928 Charlie Chaplin Movie Footage?” and related posts (okmagazine.com)
• Time Traveller Caught on Film: See It to Believe It: Time Traveller Caught on 1928 Charlie Chaplin Film, The Circus. Can You Explain This? (socyberty.com)
• Video: The Mystery of Charlie Chaplin’s Time Traveler (shoppingblog.com)

I Screwed You All…

Q & A with Lord Sugar of Clapton

I went to the Apple Store in Covent Garden for Adrian Chiles’ interview with Lord Alan Sugar of Clapton. Alan Sugar is a very successful businessman; he is also notable for being the chairman of Tottenham Hotspurs from 1991 to 2001 and for his role on the TV show The Apprentice.

Alan Sugar has just released a new autobiography called What You See Is What You Get, and he was using today’s interview to promote the book.

(to be continued…)

Change of blog title

I’ve changed the name of the blog again. It’s now called “The Daily Moja” to reflect how I’ve been adding posts to the blog on a daily basis. I’m also planning to change the URL to www.dailymoja.com. I’m still in the process of sorting out the new site, so it doesn’t look quite ready yet.

Ecuadorean wins sleeping contest in Spain

(AP Photo/Paul White) - Picture on http://www.beaumontenterprise.com

From the BBC News website:

“A jobless security worker has won a competition billed as Spain’s [first] siesta championship, napping for 17 minutes in a busy shopping centre. Ecuadorean Pedro Soria Lopez took first place and 1,000 euros (£890) for his efforts – or lack of them.”

“Judges awarded points for the speed with which participants fell asleep, the volume of their snoring, the most original sleeping position and the best-dressed sleeper.”

Click here for the rest of the story.

This sounds like a great competition, but I probably wouldn’t have won it. 🙂 I used to have a lot of trouble falling asleep in the past. Even when I went to bed early, I would spend hours thinking about all the things I had done that day. I would also think about all the things I should have done that day!

I would then go on to assess the current situation of my life. It was as though I was watching TV with my eyes closed! My thoughts would just keep on coming, like waves approaching the shores of the beach.

Blog editor: Hey! What’s with all the poetry nonsense?!

Moja: Oh yeah! Where was I?

I’m starting to sleep better now. Okay, so back to the competition. It was organised by the National Association of Friends of the Siesta, and they plan to take the competition abroad. Some of my friends love having afternoon naps, but I always thought they were a waste of time.

Should we encourage afternoon naps in the UK? People always look so tired on their way to work. Maybe a 30-minute “power nap” is just what people need after lunch. You never know, it might boost the morale of workers and have a positive effect on productivity. I’m going to consider having power naps on my days off. 🙂 Good idea or a waste of time?

Related Articles

• Beaumont Enterprise: Snoring Ecuadorean wins Spanish siesta contest (beaumontenterprise.com)
• You: Ecuadorean wins siesta contest (guardian.co.uk)
• Snoring Ecuadorean wins siesta contest (msnbc.msn.com)

20-year-old student is new police chief

Photograph: Jesus Alcazar/AFP/Getty Images (Guardian website)

Marisol Valles Garcia is only 20 years old, yet she has become the police chief of Praxedis Guadalupe Guerrero. It’s a Mexican town on the border of Texas and it has a population of 8,000 people.

The town was named after Praxedis Guadalupe Guerrero, a Mexican hero who was a journalist by day and a revolutionary leader by night. Okay, I made the day and night thing up, but he did start his career as a journalist and end it as a revolutionary leader.

Marisol Garcia was the only person brave enough to accept the job of police chief, and it’s not hard to see why. Her predecessor, Martin Castro, was kidnapped for several days, and his severed head was found outside the police station!

Click here for The Guardian’s take on the story. Ms Garcia is a criminology student and the mother of an infant son. She now plans to combine those challenging tasks with the job of tackling crime in a town that’s known for drug-related violence. Is she very brave or is she just being really foolish?

Related Articles

• Marisol Valles Garcia Heads Police In Crime-Addled Mexican Town (WATCH) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Marisol Valles Garcia: 20 Year Old Is New Sheriff in Town (blippitt.com)
• New Police Chief in Guadalupe, Mexico – a College Student (micah-6-8.soarchristiancoaching.com)

Rooney is staying at Manchester United

(I know… ANOTHER post about Wayne Rooney!!! This is what football does to us fans!)

Photo from soccernet.com

From manutd.com:

“Wayne Rooney has agreed a new 5 year contract to stay at Manchester United until at least June 2015. The agreement follows intensive discussions between the Club and the player’s representatives and means that by the end of his contract Wayne will have been a Manchester United player for 11 years.”

Click here for the rest of the story.

Here are some extracts from the statement:

Sir Alex Ferguson: “I’m pleased he has accepted the challenge to guide the younger players and establish himself as one of United’s great players. It shows character and belief in what we stand for.

“I’m sure everyone involved with the Club will now get behind Wayne and show him the support he needs to produce the performances we know he is capable of.”

Wayne Rooney: “I’m signing a new deal in the absolute belief that the management, coaching staff, board and owners are totally committed to making sure United maintains its proud winning history – which is the reason I joined the Club in the first place.

“I’m sure the fans over the last week have felt let down by what they’ve read and seen.  But my position was from concern over the future.  The fans have been brilliant with me since I arrived and it’s up to me through my performances to win them over again.”

Moja: “I wonder how much ‘ambition’ Manchester United are paying Rooney every week…. Seriously, though, this was all about money. Rooney said he was concerned about the club’s ‘future’. Now that his agent has negotiated a new deal, Rooney’s future, sorry, I meant the club’s future is now secure. 😉

Rio Ferdinand tweeted that today was a good day, and now we know why. I hope this gives the club a huge lift, and I hope we use this news to improve our performances this season.

Rooney has now apologised to Sir Alex Ferguson and to other Manchester United football players. I’m sure the fans are waiting for their own apology too.”

Rooney saga timeline:

1) News gets leaked that Rooney is thinking of leaving. Man Utd 0 – 0 Rooney.

2) Sir Alex Ferguson releases his statement. Man Utd 1 – 0 Rooney.

3) Wayne Rooney release his statement. Man Utd 2 – 0 Rooney.

4) Fans and other managers criticise Rooney. Man Utd 3 – 0 Rooney.

5) Rooney signs new deal, gets the money he wants. Man Utd 4 – 2 Rooney.

I wonder how Manchester City feel. It looks like Rooney and his agents were using them as a way to increase his new wage package at United. More importantly, I wonder how Uncle Woy feels now that Liverpool’s relegation saga will soon be back in the headlines! 🙂