Victory for Raikkonen in Belgian Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen became the sixth different victor in six races after putting Ferrari back in the winners’ circle for the first time in 2009, with a finely judged success in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, in which his KERS system played a crucial role in the opening stages. But he was dogged all the way to the flag by a gallant Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India, who kept him honest throughout on the first medium downforce circuit of the season. Behind them, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel drove strongly for third, closing on them both by the finish. Raikkonen crossed the finish line 0.9s ahead, with Vettel 2.9s behind Fisichella. Jenson Button’s hopes of adding to his points tally in the Brawn GP ended at Les Combes on the first lap when he was spun out by Romain Grosjean’s Renault, while in a separate incident Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren tagged Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso while trying to avoid the melee. Stewards looked at both collisions, but deemed no action necessary. After a safety car intervention, Raikkonen, who had sped up to second behind Fisichella on the opening lap, lost no time using his KERS to slingshot by the Italian on the run up Raidillon to Les Combes on the fifth lap, but Fisichella pushed him all the way. Red Bull’s Mark Webber looked strong initially until an unsafe release from his first pit stop nearly put rival BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld in the pit-lane wall. A drive-through penalty subsequently dropped him to ninth. Renault’s Fernando Alonso also seemed on course for a healthy helping of points after running the longest opening stint, but a brush with Force India’s Adrian Sutil in La Source on the opening lap had damaged the left front wheel, and after a disastrously long pit stop on Lap 24 he had to come in again to retire a lap later when the left front wheel could not be secured satisfactorily.

Vettel was able to vault past a fast-starting Robert Kubica after his second stop on the 35th lap and said his Red Bull was perfect thereafter, but the Pole brought his BMW Sauber home fourth ahead of closing team mate Heidfeld. The German has passed Toyota’s Jarno Trulli for second at the start but ran wide and lost ground, allowing Kubica to nip down the inside to run third initially. Heikki Kovalainen did a one-stop strategy in his McLaren to stay ahead of Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello for sixth place. The Brazilian, who bogged down off the grid, was saved to an extent by the intervention of the safety car which enabled Brawn to refuel him for a longer opening stint in a fast first-lap pit stop, but had to back off at the end when his Mercedes engine showed signs of failing. He just made it to the flag ahead of a closing Nico Rosberg, who drove yet another strong race for Williams to score the final point, while Webber just missed out with ninth after a frustrating race. Toyota’s Timo Glock had a fuel rig problem in his first stop which delayed him, and could not better 10th, under pressure at the end from Force India’s Sutil. Behind them Sebastien Buemi brought his Toro Rosso home 12th ahead of Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and an unimpressive Luca Badoer, who was the last finisher for Ferrari. Besides Alonso and the first lap crashers, the other retirement was Trulli, whose front wing was damaged when he made contact with Heidfeld's BMW Sauber on the opening lap. That ruined the Italian’s race, as did a later refuelling problem, similar to Glock’s. He ultimately retired with a brake problem. In the title stakes, Barrichello took two more points off Button, who still has 74 to the Brazilian’s 56. Vettel moves back ahead of Webber with 53 to the Australian’s 51.5.In the constructors’ championship Brawn have 128 points, Red Bull 104.5, Ferrari 56 and McLaren 44.

Giancarlo Fisichella gave points to Force india

Giancarlo Fisichella finally gave Force India their first ever points in Formula 1 on their 30th attempt.
He chased Kimi Raikkonen around every lap at Spa-Francorchamps, rarely more than a couple of seconds behind. With Raikkonen’s temporary team mate Luca Badoer enduring a second dire race, speculation is rife Fisichella will be a Ferraridriver at Monza.
Fisichella kept his lead from pole position at the start while Raikkonen used his KERS – and plenty of the tarmac apron at the first corner – to get a run pastRobert Kubica into second.

The Force India driver might well have stayed ahead of Raikkonen if the safety car hadn’t been scrambled following the first lap crash. But on the restart Fisichella was powerless to resist Raikkonen’s KERS-powered attacks and lost the lead on the run to Les Combes.

Raikkonen was never out of Fisichella’s sights all race long – the pair even pitted on the same lap twice. An extra lap of fuel at his first stop could have been enough to get Fisichella the lead – but even so what the team achieved was remarkable enough.

Fisichella has driven well this year, particularly at Monte-Carlo where he was ninth and only a few seconds away from scoring Force India’s first point.
With that milestone finally achieved – and their first podium to boot – can they go one place better at Monza?

The result lifts Force India from last in the constructors’ championship to ninth ahead of Toro Rosso. It means they’re in line to earn a lot more money at the end of the season, a precious lifeline for the cash-strapped team.

Stefania Fernandez crowned as the Miss Universe 2009

The Venezuelian beauty Stefania Fernandez has been crowned as the Miss Universe 2009 at the 58th beauty pageant held in Nassau, Bahamas. Miss Australia Rachael Finch and Miss Puerto Rico Mayra Matos Perez shared the first runners up title with the title of second runner-up went to Miss Kosovo Gona Dragusha.



As the results come out, the 58th beauty pageant has some historical significance too. Venezuela wins its sixth crown and for the first time, the same country won consecutive crowns. For the first time the Miss Universe preliminary competition was streamed online to a worldwide audience.
The presentation show, rehearsals, dress rehearsal and the grand final took place at the Imperial Ballroom.
At the Preliminary Competition, all contestants competed in the Swimsuit and Evening Gown categories as part of the selection of the top 15 finalists. The Preliminary Competition was hosted by Miss Universe 2008, Dayana Mendoza and Local Bahamas radio personality Ed Fields. London based singer Anthoney Wright performed his hit song "Wud if I Cud" during the competition. The presentation show, rehearsals, dress rehearsal and the grand final took place at the Imperial Ballroom, in the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort.

Kandhasamy Review

Kandhasamy is a commercial masala movie but comes with the Midas touch of master craftsmen like Susi Ganesan and Vikram. Also the film has been released at the right season when the audiences are tired of a series of crap movies. The Vikram-Thanu-Susi Ganesan combination is to become the biggest winner of this season with a perfect, hi-styled commercial film with an evergreen theme i.e., the emergence of superhero against the corruption in the system!

At the same time, we are sure that the film is not an usual superhero movie. Undoubtedly it is one of the finest imaginations of a creator like Susi Ganesan with the help of a good producer like Thanu. Really Thanu deserves this victory, as a producer who is passionate about Tamil cinema.

Buzz up!

The film opens with scenes which show the poor people praying at a Murugan Temple at the outskirts of Chennai. They simply send their prayers to Kandhasamy, another Tamil name of Lord Muruga in the temple through a letter and tie it to a tree (known as petition tree) in front of the temple. After few minutes, our Kandhasamy (also the name of our hero Vikram) collects the letters and helps them according to their needs. Mostly people request financial help from God!

After a few incidents Kandasamy becomes the local god for the prople. His Robinhood style of helping the poor soon catches the attention of the police. The local DIG of Police (Prabhu) suspects that there is something unnatural about it and starts his investigations. Meanwhile, our hero has the other face as a strict, powerful and intelligent CBI officer Kandhasamy! He is on a mission to find out black money and illegal wealth of the rich and corrupt Indians stashed in foreign banks, which he believes is responsible for all the crime in our society.

Soon he clashes with Pallur Paramajyoti Ponnusamy (Ashish Vidyarti), the man with a golden tooth and greedy heart. Kandhasamy conducts a raid in his palatial bungalow and finds unaccounted cash and documents of various foreign deals including his Mexican connections worth over Rs 1000 crore!

Ashish Vidyarthy is devastated after the raid and his only daughter Subbalakshmi (Shreya Saran) swears revenge and pretends to fall in love with Kandhasamy. At a stage it gets exposed that both the Kandhasamys are the same. But a senior official in the CBI protects Kandhasamy in this critical situation. What makes Kandhasamy to do all these Robinhood activities? Why does this senior officer protects him? Will the DIG succeed in proving that Kandhasamy is no God? For all these answers see the movie!

Though the story is looks like a mixture of Anniyan and Sivaji - The Boss, Susi Ganesan succeeds in providing a 3.15 minutes roller coaster entertaiment with all the needy ingredients without any questions even in some illogical moments. The introduction scene of the hero is outstanding. The Mexican portion is stunning. And technically this film is another milestone in Tamil cinema.

As per the limitations of the movie the length is definitely not a plus point. Susi must reconsider the length of a few portions particularly the scenes involving the villains.

Vikram rocks as a CBI officer Kandhasamy and as a local Robinhood. He has given a new dimension to the characters he play in the film and has steered it to the winning post. Particularly, his appearance with a rooster head and different costume steals the show. The highlight is Kandhasamy dressed as a woman (like Aishwarya Rai). The presence of Charly and Mayilsamy make the scene very hilarious.

Certainly, Kandhasamy is another feather in the golden cap of this fantastic actor. Ace comedian Vadivelu rocks in the role as Thenkakadi Thenappan. Surely he is a major plus point for this magnum opus. Prabhu fits well in the role of an investigating officer. Susi Ganesan also appears in a cameo role.

Shreya, as a heroine has done her role well. Her stylish look and impeccable professional approach makes her role close to the viewers heart. Devi Sri Prasad's music is another pleasing element in the film. All the songs have come out well and the outstanding camera work of NK Ekambaram makes the film as a high class entertainment.


Verdict: Visual extravaganza!

Cast: Vikram, Shreya, Vadivelu , Prabhu, Ashish Vidhyarthy, Alex, Susi Ganesan, Krishna
Camera: NK Ekambaram
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Direction: Susi Ganesan
Producer: Kalaipuli S Thanu
PRO: Diamond Babu

Rubens Barrichello win Europian GP

23 August 2009 by Keith Collantine

Hamilton gets revenge on Barrichello with a well-aimed champagne bottle

Rubens Barrichello ended his F1 victory drought of nearly five years with a classy win on the streets of Valencia.

A crucial mistake by McLaren on Lewis Hamilton’s final pit stop gave Barrichello the opportunity to snatch victory – but his 35-second lead over team mate Jenson Button showed how well the Brazilian had driven.

Barrichello went to his third spot on the grid with four laps’ more fuel than pole sitter Lewis Hamilton – a useful strategic advantage, providing he could stay within touch of the McLarens at the start.

With no KERS cars immediately behind him this was accomplished – although Kimi Raikkonen’s sprint from sixth to fourth briefly threatened to demote him.

Button’s bad start

Jenson Button, Brawn, Valencia, 2009

Team mate Jenson Button had a more difficult start. Although he got away from the line smartly, as he drew alongside Sebastian Vettel the Red Bull driver squeezed him, forcing Button to lift. That allowed Fernando Alonso through and Mark Webber got a run on him at the chicane.

As Button and Webber headed into turn four side-by-side Alonso out-braked himself and Button followed the Renault across the kerbs. A few corners later Button dived down the inside of Alonso – but ran wide, allowing him back through again.

It got worse for Button: his team reckoned he’d illegally stayed ahead of Webber by cutting the chicane, and judiciously told Button to let the Red Bull past in case the stewards handed down a penalty. Having done this, Button was now down in eighth.

Barrichello chases Hamilton

Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen, Valencia, 2009

With a slightly lighter car, Hamilton left Kovalainen behind. By lap six the two McLarens were separated by four seconds, with Barrichello 1.7s adrift followed by Raikkonen, Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Alonso, Webber and Button.

Hamilton came in for his first stop on lap 15, by which time he had a 7.5s advantage over Kovalainen, with Barrichello another 1.2s behind. After Hamilton’s stop Barrichello took between 1.5 and 2 seconds out of his lead per lap – meaning that, once all three had pitted, Hamilton remained ahead but Barrichello had jumped Kovalainen and left him well behind.

Now the race was all about Hamilton and Barrichello – and whether Hamilton could eke out enough of an advantage to stay ahead. Brawn told Barrichello on the radio that he needed to cut Hamilton’s lead to two seconds. But it crept up – hitting 4.3s by lap 27 and staying around the four-second mark before Hamilton’s pit stop on lap 37.

Pit stop problems

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Valencia, 2009

It looked very much like we were set for a close battle to the end – but Hamilton endured a fumbled pit stop, the team failing to get the tyres on the car quickly enough, which handed Barrichello the lead. Once the Brawn driver had pitted on lap 40 his advantage over Hamilton was six seconds. Hamilton’s pit stop had taken 13.4s – easily four or five seconds longer than it should have been. It seems that critical mistake robbed us of an exciting finish to the race and potentially cost Hamilton a win.

Afterwards McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh didn’t quite see it that way. His explanation was:

Barrichello was running longer than us so we tried to get extra lap. We made the call very late and we didn’t get tyres out in time. It cost us a few seconds but it didn’t lose us the race. We didn’t have the race pace so it didn’t make any difference to the outcome. It was an operational error but a consequence of the circumstances.
Martin Whitmarsh

McLaren’s explanation that they were trying to stretch Hamilton’s advantage by saving enough fuel for an extra lap makes sense. But there’s no denying that the effect of the fumbled pit stop cost Hamilton real time, without which the outcome might have been different. However, McLaren also suspected Barrichello could have pitted later than he did – his lap 40 pit stop may have been brought forward out of a concern that the safety car was about to be summoned following Kazuki Nakajima’s puncture.

Whatever happened, the outcome was clear – the fight for the lead was over and the race was now Barrichello’s to lose.

Tough times for Badoer

Luca Badoer, Ferrari, Valencia, 2009

Hamilton wasn’t the only driver suffering misfortune. Romain Grosjean’s debut was compromised on the first lap when he damaged his front wing. The same thing happened to Sebastien Buemi, who swiped his wing off against Timo Glock’s right-rear tyre, giving the Toyota driver a puncture.

Ferrari’s stand-in Luca Badoer profited from this to move up from last to 14th on the first lap – but it didn’t stay that way for long. He was back down to 17th before the first tour was complete. He later picked up a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line while letting Grosjean past in the pit lane exit, and had a spin. The only driver he finished in front of was Nakajima, who’d spent much of one lap dragging his three-wheeled car to the pits.

There doesn’t seem to be any need to labour the point that Ferrari are taking quite a risk by keeping him in the car. He will be expected to do much better at Spa next weekend – a track he knows, and when explanations about ‘inexperience’ won’t cut any ice.

Raikkonen on the podium again

Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Valencia, 2009

Meanwhile the other Ferrari of Raikkonen quietly nabbed third place off Kovalainen at the final round of pit stops. Kovalainen in turn fell back into the clutches of Nico Rosberg, the man who is tipped to take his place at McLaren next year, who had another strong race in the Williams.

Behind Alonso, sixth, was Button, who finally succeeded in passing Webber at the final round of pit stops when the Red Bull driver was delayed on his in-lap. This came after Button spent a chunk of his middle stint stuck behind Giancarlo Fisichella’s late-stopping Force India.

Button’s race had all the hallmarks of a driver who has one eye on the title and doesn’t want to take any risks. He shied away from going wheel-to-wheel with Vettel at the start, and let Webber past to ensure he didn’t get a penalty. The approach paid off – despite finishing seventh for the second race in a row his championship lead has grown to 20.5 points over Webber.

Robert Kubica snatched the final point having started tenth. He fell behind Nick Heidfeld’s more heavily-fuelled BMW at the start but his team mate let him through early on.

We go from one of the least-loved circuits in Formula 1 to its grand, all-time classic: Spa-Francorchamps. Valencia showed us that Brawn are back, but can the championship-leader emulate his team mate’s winning ways in the Ardennes?

England win Ashes

England snatched the Ashes back this summer at the end of a hugely fluctuating series. Here is how they did it match my match.

FIRST TEST, CARDIFF - DRAWN:

Unlikeliest of venues for the start of a famous series, yet this was perhaps where England overcame their toughest hurdle.

In somehow lasting out for a draw, they stopped Australia putting a stamp on the series. Kevin Pietersen top-scored on day one and promptly claimed England’s 336 for seven at stumps was competitive. He was wrong. But after Australia’s four individual hundreds in a mammoth 674 for six declared, Paul Collingwood batted almost six hours second time round - and most memorably last-wicket pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar just about did the rest, with a little help from 12th man Bilal Shafayat.

SECOND TEST, LORD’S - ENGLAND WON BY 115 RUNS:

England reaped the rewards of halting the Aussie steamroller in Wales. They had not beaten Australia at HQ since 1934. But England’s two Andrews were not reading the history books.

Captain Strauss led the way with a big hundred, and near double-century opening stand with Alastair Cook. Then after Anderson and Graham Onions had hustled out Australia’s reply and Matt Prior’s

strokeplay set up a declaration, Flintoff took his third Test five-wicket haul to snuff out Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin’s second-innings resistance.

THIRD TEST, EDGBASTON - DRAWN:

No re-run of the great 2005 contest - largely because of bad weather, which took out a day-and-a-half.

Australia’s imaginative choice of Shane Watson as emergency opener paid off.

But Anderson and Onions again stopped Australia posting a major first-innings total, and four half-centuries helped England into a three-figure lead.

Australia looked in trouble chasing the game, but Clarke’s second hundred of the series put some balance back into the match - until rain intervened again.

FOURTH TEST, HEADINGLEY - AUSTRALIA WON BY AN INNINGS AND 80 RUNS:

England’s great 2009 aberration was prefaced by an almost comically unsettling morning before start of play.

From the 4.30am fire alarm in the team hotel, to news that Flintoff was not fit to play because of his knee injury, to Prior’s back-spasm scare, events conspired against England.

The response, after Strauss won the toss, was a hapless procession to 102 all out in less than 34 overs. There was no way back on a perfectly feasible pitch.

Clarke and Marcus North again scored heavily - and despite Stuart Broad’s career-best six for 91 and some belated yet evidently vain second-innings defiance from the England tail, Australia levelled the series in under two-and-a-half days.

FIFTH TEST, THE OVAL - ENGLAND WON BY 197 RUNS:

It was all supposed to be about Flintoff, in his final Test before injury-hastened retirement. Yet it was heir apparent Broad who proved the game-breaker.

The jury was out at stumps on day one - had England blown their chance, or was 307 for eight a decent haul on an unusually slow Oval wicket already taking spin?

By lunch on day two, it seemed the former was true. By tea, England were favourites again - cheered off with a standing ovation after Broad and Graeme Swann had taken eight wikets in the session.

Jonathan Trott’s hundred on debut helped set Australia a mammoth world record 546 to win, or six-and-a-half sessions to survive.

Flintoff duly had his impact after all, running out Ricky Ponting with a moment of brilliance before Australia - and even Michael Hussey’s brave 121 could not stop his team being bowled out for 348 on the fourth evening.

Vinitha marriage

• vinitha marriage on sunday 23
• on that day vinagar chartuthi
• i came before day to salem single and with bride brother to kuality marriage hall which is back of salem bus stand
  
• on that night make party with vinish college mate
• next day vinitha weds john bosco
  
• on 10 am in infant jesus church in selem
• it was the wonder full day with kerala peoples and make it best day
• i saw jijin,akil,paatoos ect..
• then i moved back at 6:00pm
• then vinish care of kerala people then my relatives went by using bus with wedded couples
  

Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

The Charge
When all else fails, they don’t.

Opening Statement
Pre-release buzz hasn’t been kind to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Even hardcore fans lambasted the film as a failure, with only the preview to support their theory. Rumors started to circulate that director Sommers was replaced in the editing room and screen tests had resulted in G.I. Joe becoming the lowest scoring movie in Paramount history. The filmmakers and the studio both denied these allegations, though this didn’t deter the fanboys from continuing to deride the property as a surefire flop and probable artistic whitewash.

One look at the film, however, and you should be able to deduce that it’s the haters and not the makers who are lying. It may not be a masterpiece but boy is the new G.I. Joe a whole heap of fun. There is no way this well-executed actioner is the worst testing movie in Paramount history. It’s far from cerebral, but there is simply too much to enjoy for any semblance of hate to creep inside a viewers mind. The film falls flat in a few areas, typical for a blockbuster (story, dialogue), but the action is fantastic and the performances are a hoot and a half.

Facts of the Case
The film picks up as U.S. soldiers Duke (Channing Tatum, Step-Up), Ripcord (Marlon Wayans, Scary Movie), and their platoon are ambushed, as they attempt to move a set of devastatingly powerful missiles across the country. The thief happens to be an old squeeze of Duke’s who now goes by the name "The Baroness" (Sienna Miller, Stardust). She steals the weapons but, thanks to intervention of a secret unit called G.I. Joe, the men escape with their lives. G.I. Joe immediately take Duke and Ripcord back to base where the pair join up under the watchful eye of General Hawk (Dennis Quaid, Flight of the Phoenix). After completing a series of initiation trials, Ripcord and Duke prepare to help the squad find out if the mastermind behind the theft is a sinister weapons dealer (Christopher Eccleston, Doctor Who) or is something bigger behind the Baroness’ violent actions.

The Evidence
If you’re the sort of filmgoer who has no trouble tapping into your inner 15 year old, then go see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. It’s that simple. The film packs everything into its two hour runtime that one loves about blockbusters: great action, cool characters, cheesy comedy, a dash of romance, and plenty of sex appeal. Stephen Sommers carries with him a love/hate stigma amongst film fans — you either find his brand of high octane action awesome or grating. I have always maintained a soft spot for the man. The Mummy and Van Helsing are unfairly maligned and his forgotten monster movie Deep Rising is pleasantly entertaining. G.I. Joe stays true to past form, so your feelings concerning his directorial ability will probably once again come to play. If you’ve detested past efforts, I doubt this picture will change your mind. However, if you’re prepared to forgive a thin plot and a few other faults, you’ll receive a straight up dose of fun.

The performances throughout are affable and never taken too seriously, the filmmakers having assembled an odd collection of thespians to bring this world to life. Channing Tatum takes his leading man duties and executes them solidly, displaying a knack for action, drama, and a little comic relief, whilst showcasing a natural and likable charisma. For the ladies, he also provides an obvious blast of sex appeal, though on that front the film’s biggest star is a leather clad Sienna Miller. The British actress prances around in interchangeably sexy outfits, while totting guns and villainous smirks like they’re going out of fashion. Miller has done some good work in the past, but has been slow to embrace Hollywood. G.I. Joe proves she’s as game as anyone for kickass action and blockbuster credentials. The rest of the cast is sound. Old stalwarts Dennis Quaid and Jonathan Pryce do good work in smaller roles, while a younger generation of actors such as Rachel Nicols and Marlon Wayans carry out their efforts remarkably well. Until the final 20 minutes, the film lacks a clear bad guy — Eccleston’s arms dealer is adequate, but never terrifically imposing — though further sequels should sort out this problem by default.

The story is pretty linear and underwhelming, but the writers have at least written a batch of characters more intriguing than the average blockbuster inhabitants, with several of the personalities having been gifted surprisingly dense and effective back-stories. These little flashbacks play second fiddle to the explosive action and athletic sword fights, but one has to admire the writing team for adding a little extra meat to their characters’ bones. The dialogue certainly clunks around in places, but hey, even the original Star Wars movies had the odd ear-splittingly awful one-liner.

The action sequences are exhilarating and the use of CGI is sharp and effective, Sommers having perfected the ratio of banging thrills to plot dramatics present in good summer movies. The finale is an unstoppable rush of FX-driven adrenaline, but even in its smaller moments of carnage and gun blasting this is a movie that knows how to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Never do the set pieces grow stale or repetitive like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This is action at its most sublime; a missile-induced pursuit through the streets of Paris is quite possibly the best action sequence of 2009 thus far. The neat CGI is definitely a bonus. Sommers’ lively and energetic direction gifts these moments with excitement and enticing scale, marking them as the best sort of set-pieces the genre offers.

Closing Statement
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a total blast from start to finish, the sort of blockbuster where the story is padding for celebratory action and keen performances. Not being a fan of the enterprise, I can’t say if this is the movie G.I. Joe devotees have waited so long for nor if their hatred is deserved and rightfully placed. However, for those in search of seasonal thrills and monstrously entertaining filmmaking, I suggest you give it a chance. This is a better action movie than I or anyone else was seemingly expecting. Fans of delightful popcorn cinema would be unwise to miss it.