Christmas Shopping: Who Should Barcelona Buy?

 Barcelona's winter wish list...

There has not been a time in Barcelona’s history (nor will there likely ever be again) that has been as good as times are now. Winning an unprecedented six consecutive titles during the course of one year (Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercup, European Supercup, and the Club World Cup), it is hard to imagine Barcelona getting any better than they already are.

With just a few summer changes to the team—the exits of Samuel Eto’o, Eidur Gudjohnson, Jorquera, Sylvinho, Martin Caceres (loan), Aliaksandr Hleb (loan), Victor Sanchez (loan), Henrique (loan), and Keirrison (signed during the summer and subsequently loaned out) and the additions of Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Maxwell, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as well as Pedro Rodriguez and Jeffren Suarez promoted from the youth ranks—Barcelona have kept the core of their championship squad together and as is wont, the trophies continue to roll in. Coach Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola has seen his side succeed to such an extent, he would be hard-pressed to fix something that isn’t broken.

Currently in first place in La Liga, having finished (albeit with some difficulty) tops in their Champions League group, still alive in the Copa del Rey, and having already taken home three trophies in their current season (all the while exhibiting attractive football), Barcelona stand tall and confident as the best club in the world football.

Goalkeeper

While Victor Valdes may make be subject to an embarrassing gaffe every so often, he still manages to come up with some very impressive saves, especially in one-on-one situations. Barca were looking at strengthening the position over the summer with the possible signing of Sergio Asenjo (now at Atletico de Madrid), but instead opted to both live and die by the sword of Victor Valdes’ gloves, renewing the Catalan keeper’s contract. Backup keeper Jose Manuel Pinto is an adept player and had a very solid performance in the Copa del Rey last season, although is a little clumsy with the ball at his feet.  No changes are anticipated in the January transfer window.

Defence

With a back line featuring Dani Alves (arguably the best right-back in the world), Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique (the starting central defenders on the number-one-rated Spanish national squad) and Eric Abidal, the Barcelona back line is one of the most secure in European football and, considering the defensive pressure Guardiola demands out of his forwards, are rarely put under a great deal of pressure. With Rafa Marquez and summer signings Maxwell and Chygrynskiy, Barca have ample reinforcements. Gabi Milito, who has spent much of the past two years out injured, is finally healthy and, in effect, constitutes Barca’s ‘winter signing’. Before his injury, the Argentine was a regular for the Argentinean national team.

Midfield

With a team so dependent upon the multitude of passes through the midfield, it seems very unlikely that coach Pep Guardiola will look to bring a player in from the outside. Both Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure will be out for much of January serving their respective countries (Mali and Ivory Coast, respectively) at the African Cup of Nations, but Sergi Busquets should see more in terms of minutes as conductors Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez direct the midfield. During the absences of the two Africans, Lionel Messi may also drop back into the midfield and Rafa Marquez may also come up from his role in central defence to contribute to the defensive midfield, a position at which he is amply experienced.  While Barca may risk being shorthanded should one of their midfielders pick up an injury, it is unlikely that they will make any midfield signings until next summer, when they will reportedly make a push for either Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano, Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, or both.

Attack

The forward position is where there has been the most transfer speculation during the first half of the season. While Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi are undisputed starters at the centre and right forward positions, Thierry Henry has been less than convincing on the left side. Barcelona’s youth ranks continue to produce exceptional players as Pedro ‘Pedrito’ Rodriguez has burst into the first team in historic fashion, becoming the first player in history to score in six competitions during a season and has delivered crucial goals for his side that have won at least two titles (European Supercup and the Club World Cup). After having a breakout season last year, Bojan Krkic looks a bit displeased with the number of minutes he has been receiving this year, but it looks as if the young Serbian-Spaniard will not seek to leave the Catalunyan capital. Young Jeffren Suarez has recently made a case for the left-attacking position, but it is possible that Barca will look to the January transfer window to reinforce the position; the question remains with whom.

Former Real Madrid player and Manchester City star Robinho has been one option linked to a move to Barca, but rumours of the outspoken Brazilian’s transfer have since been rubbished after club president Joan Laporta’s negotiations in Abu Dhabi to have the player come on a loan (without an option to buy) fell flat. Another player who has expressed his interest in joining the Catalans and has thus been linked to the club is Ajax winger Luis Suarez.  The 22-year old Uruguayan has made it clear that he will finish the season with his Dutch club, but if Barca were to make a January offer, Ajax would reportedly seriously consider letting the captain take his leave. Barca could probably get away without making a winter purchase as Henry, Pedro, and Jeffren are more than capable of lasting the rest of the season, but if Suarez were to come cheaply, Guardiola may find a transfer to his liking.

25 Days of Weird Christmas: Kentucky Fried Japan

A note on some problems of cultural bias:
Okay, I understand that at some level a blog series called "25 Days of Weird Christmas" that includes entries about unusual traditions from around the world begs the question: what is "weird" anyway? Who are we to say that the Caganer is a bizarrely scatological addition to the classic nativity scene? Or that rampaging through the streets wearing demon masks and terrifying old ladies might be a bit off color? Obviously, to label something as a weird tradition is to make a normative claim that there really is a right or wrong way to celebrate and that American traditions are the standard by which to judge normalcy. Is that really the message we really want to send--do we really want Santas worldwide to sport six packs?
With that said, Japan is weird.
Or at least, it's hard to ignore the country's reputation for producing a huge volume of weird stuff. From the guy who wants to marry a pillow to the unique fashion sense of Goth Lolitas, the country seems to know how to churn out kooky trends and customs (at least in the normative gaze of the mainstream West, etc...)
Compared to something like the the lap pillow, the Japanese Christmas tradition of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken seems pretty mundane, but for the purposes of this blog series, it's worth a nod.
Blame it on savvy overseas marketing strategies by the fast food juggernaut or the mostly non-religious attitudes towards the holiday, but indulging in greasy buckets of KFC has become a commonplace practice on Christmas in Japan. Lines are known to stretch out the door on Christmas day as people wait for their annual treat. At only 5 bucks for the holiday special, "the Christmas Chicken," who needs to spring for a goose? And look how happy these people in the commercial are, it makes me want to pay a visit to Colonel Saunders myself.

Rise in Christmas sales

 

One year after a financial crisis that damaged the economies of countries throughout the region, shoppers in Asia and Australia are slowly beginning to open their wallets.

A number of countries, like India, Taiwan, Indonesia and Korea, have released strong economic data leading to strong consumer sentiment that's driving a general uptrend in spending.

And it couldn't have come at a better time, with Christmas only a couple of days away.

Xianfang Ren is a Beijing based analyst with IHS Global Insight, an industry forecaster.

She says China's retail sector wasn't too affected by the financial crisis.

Even though that private consumption of the share or GDP is quite low, retail sales has been quite stable over time, it has not been disrupted by the global financial crisis at all. This is because the structural Chinese consumption retail sales like food clothing, those necessities comprise a big portion of retail sales. Another is because China's government's tax incentives for retail sales of home appliance for autos, this has kind of helped for this year too.

A lot of the presents waiting under Christmas trees around the world would have been made in China.

So how has the lay off of millions of factory workers affected China's exports?

Xianfang Ren again.

Factories already started rehiring in the middle of this year and as in time, lots of factories in coastal China, manufacturing hubs like, Guangdong and Jojun province, they reported a rise in shortage in labourers so they've started rehiring lots of workers in July, August and September and that was actually the peak season of China's Christmas exports so the Christmas orders were already filled in the Summer.

She says western countries worst affected by the crisis, like the United States, haven't placed as many Christmas orders as previous years.

But she says there are signs foreign sentiment is on the increase.

We have seen a kind of stabilisation of China's export sector during the final quarter of this year, especially in September, a big upturn in exports so I think there is a possibility that it is quite likely that Christmas orders have picked up quite a lot compared with last year because last year's sentiment was brutally bad.

The situation isn't as positive in Japan.

The world's second largest economy is crawling out of its worst post-war recession and retailers are struggling to attract people into their stores.

Consumer prices were down two point two per cent year on year in October, the eighth consecutive fall.

It's the same in Thailand where retail sales have also dropped this year.

But in Australia, it's impossible to avoid the Christmas countdown.

The Australian Retailers Association is expecting retail sales this Christmas to hit almost 39 billion Australian dollars a four point seven per cent increase from 2008.

The association's executive director, Russell Zimmerman, says last week's spending wasn't as high as he'd expected but he's still confident.

The trading last week for 50 per cent of retailers was below or meeting expectations so therefore we're saying at the moment things aren't out there as buoyant as they should be but we believe the rush is about to begin and the retailers out there who are expecting 38.7 billion in retail sales this Christmas ,we hope are going to rushed off their feet from here on.

Mr Zimmerman says 62% of Australian consumers spend around $500 on Christmas presents.

And he expects that to be the same this year, despite a number of interest rate rises this year.

Generally speaking, from Christmas to Christmas we do find that things are better than the previous Christmas and we believe that this Christmas, everything is in place to get that increase being that the interest rates, although there's been three of them they're still historically low, fuel prices are well down, consumers are fairly confident, there's confident returning to the consumer so we believe the figures we've put out are still achievable.

Box Office Report: Avatar Obliterates The Kiwi Box Office

Monday, 21 December, 2009 

Opening to the fourth biggest opening of the year, James Cameron’s Avatar smashed into the New Zealand box office, pulverizing the opposition, collecting than TEN TIMES more than the second placed movie and grossing more than every other picture combined for the weekend.
Such was Avatar’s dominance it’s hard to remember a frame being so lopsided. With $1.6 Million since Thursday Avatar bested second placed Twilight: New Moon by an astonishing $1.5 Million. Adding in the Wednesday night previews and the sci-fi epic has pulled in a smidge over $1.7 Million to date.
While this total is impressive, it is a tad short of what might have been expected given the films’ audience awareness, the marketing blitz and the adding surcharge from dozens of 3-D cinemas. But the director’s follow-up to Titanic did fall on the final weekend before Christmas, which is traditionally a tough weekend for films to perform on.
Relinquishing the top spot for the first time on five weeks, New Moon slipped a moderate 38% and gobbled up another $141,000 from the Twi-hards, a final total north of $6 Million should be achievable.
Where The Wild Things Are continued to perform well both with adults and children as the film settled into third this weekend. With $879,000 already in the bank look for the Spike Jonze flick to crest the coveted $1 Million mark over the Christmas weekend.
Planet 51 showed the best legs in the top ten this weekend, falling a very respectable 7% to actually climb the charts from seventh into fourth. The film is finally gaining traction with the school holidays kicking in and will now be a viable option for families over the traditionally strong Boxing Day period.
The Time Traveler’s Wife saw its total boosted by $80,000 as it plopped into fifth place for the weekend. Already out-performing expectations, the romantic drama has collected over $660,000 and looks placed to give audiences a nice alternative to the bombastic top two blockbusters.
Falling 54% Zombieland was overtaken by The Time Traveler’s Wife as it slid into sixth place for the weekend; having already collected roughly 80% of its expected final total, look for the hit horror to shed theatres to make room for the Boxing Day releases this week. Following in seventh place was another animated extravaganza, with the oddly named Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. The Sony release has collected almost three times as much as Planet 51 and benefited greatly from a two week headstart on its main competition.
Tumbling an alarming 44% in its second week, the dark Kiwi novel adaptation Under The Mountain dropped to $52,000 to bring its total to only $193,000. Despite being heavily pushed on TV, radio and online, the Jonathon King production is disappointing in a big way and calls into question the feasibility of high-risk and high-investment Kiwi tentpole flicks.
The only film to open against Avatar was duly crushed and swept aside by the Jake Sully and his giant blue friend. Bandslam got slammed and could only manage a paltry $42,000 despite playing in 48 theatres. To put that into perspective, The Storm Warriors pulled just under that total last week, playing on only seven screens. Look for Bandslam to disappear over the next couple of weeks. Rounding out the top ten was 2012, which was most affected by the opening of Avatar, as its audience was stolen away and it could only manage $40,000.
Next week should see some impressive numbers at the Kiwi box office with Avatar facing strong competition on Boxing Day as Sherlock Holmes, The Lovely Bones, Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 and critically acclaimed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo all open. Avatar should easily win the weekend, thanks to the other titles only debuting on Sunday, but the overall box office should be smoking into next week.

Christmas Traditions in Australia

Deck the halls with boughs of holly - but do the Aussies?

As the festive season surrounds us, we thought we’d bring you our Christmas guide to Australia and the UK, including traditions, facts and tales from the two countries. I’ve got my santa hat on so let’s begin!
Christmas in Australia occurs at the height of summer where the temperature can reach a sweltering 30°C whilst here in the UK, us Brits are wrapping up warm to beat off an average temperature of just 1°C with only 1 to 2 hours of sunshine, whilst down in Oz the sun shines all day long!
Carol singing is a huge favourite in Australia as well as in the UK and every year thousands of people turn out in Melbourne for the annual Christmas Eve Carols by Candlelight, a tradition that evolved in 1937. Many other Australian cities now follow suit with their own carol singing events in the weeks before Christmas.
The traditional Christmas meal in Australia is much the same as in the UK, with a turkey dinner topping the list and a flaming plum pudding for dessert. The only difference is that they will probably have their turkey outside on the verandah whilst we huddle around an open fire (or gas or electric – whatever!). In fact Bondi Beach becomes crowded with thousands of Christmas Day picnickers.

Christmas Day on Bondi Beach is popular with backpackers.

In the UK it was tradition to put a silver coin in our Christmas pud which was said to bring good luck to whoever found it – if they didn’t choke on it first! In Australia the tradition was a small gold nugget although now they would bake the pudding with a small favour inside, much as the French do at Easter.
After the Christmas meal, the Brits favourite activity, apart from watching the TV, is playing games. Charades and board games being the most popular. Whilst in Australia, because of the warm weather, Aussies prefer to burn off that Christmas pud with a spot of cricket or swimming.
Australians also have their own version of a White Christmas. It’s a type of confectionery made of rice krispies, fruit and coconut oil and traditionally eaten around Christmastime.

Australians prefer this colourful Christmas bush to our prickly holly.

Our traditional Christmas decorations are holly, ivy and mistletoe – dating back to Pagan times. The Australians however like to decorate their homes with Christmas Bush, a native plant that has small, red flowered leaves.
Santa Claus arrives in Australia – by surfboard! Santa surfing is now popular down under as hundreds of people take to the warm oceans and ride the waves dressed as Santa. Many surfing clubs now hold Christmas charity events where participants done the famous red costume for charity.
Talking of Santa, in the hot Australian outback what better animal to pull Santa’s sleigh along than six white boomers? A boomer is a special kangaroo that Santa uses to pull his sleigh along the rough terrain of the outback. The boomers were made famous in the song by Rolf Harris and John Brown back in 1960. The boomers’ names are Jackaroo, Bluey, Two-up, Desert-head, Curly and Snow.
And can anyone name Santa’s reindeer? Go on, give it a go! Answers are at the bottom of the page – no peeking! We’ll give you a clue, there are 9 of them.
Australia’s worst Christmas was back in 1974 when, on Christmas Eve, Cyclone Tracey ravaged Darwin and by the following evening, almost 70% of Darwin was in ruins with many people left homeless and devastated.
Kim Kimeklis has won multiple awards in Brisbane’s Christmas lights competition and has earned the nickname of ‘Christmas Nut’ by her husband. The lights and decorations take over every inch of her house and garden and approximately 300 – 400 people visit each night from the 1 December when she switches them on. It costs her $100 a month for the low-voltage lights and they have to be checked for safety by an electrician before they are turned on.

The brightest house in the UK!

In the UK, the most brightly lit house award goes to Alex Goodhind in Melksham who actually paid workmen to fit an industrial sized cable under his house to accommodate his 100,000 lights that took him 3 weeks to assemble. He’ll also pay an extra £500 for his electricity bill.
Australia has some sporting Boxing Day traditions. A cricket test match is held on Boxing Day every year in the Melbourne Cricket Ground that can attract up to 90,000 spectators. And in Sydney, Boxing Day heralds the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, a 630 nautical mile race that can last several days.
Australia has it’s own version of Jingle Bells. Instead of riding in a one-horse open sleigh, you would be riding in a ute. It’s a two seater vehicle with an open tray behind it that was widely in use in the Australian countryside.
So that’s our Christmas fun guide to Australia and all that remains is for us here at Embrace Australia to wish everyone who visits us a very peaceful and prosperous Christmas and New Year.
Did you get all the reindeer names? Here they are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. All of the names apart from Rudolph are taken from the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Rudolph came from a story and colouring book created by Robert L May for his employer at the Montgomery Ward department store. His brother in law later penned the well-known song that turned Rudolph into a star!

Ladies Social Service League (LSSL) celebrated Christmas at Cheshire Home

Mangalore Dec 14: Ladies Social Service League (LSSL) celebrated Christmas at Cheshire Home for the Disabled in Kankanady on Saturday December 12. Bishop of Beltangady, Fr Lawrence Mukkouzhy was the chief guest, who in his Christmas message said that human life is not only about accumulating wealth, but also about responsibility of fulfilling the Lord’s message of helping others and living in peace as well as spreading love. God has sent the message to serve the poor, disabled and the needy and human beings need to follow these words, he said. MLA U T Khader, presiding over the function said that the LSSL is doing a great work towards helping poor and the needy. He assured his help to the future endeavours of Cheshire home. U T Khader inaugurated the Maruthi omni vehicle donated to cheshire home by Ashok Aranha, nephew of Wilma Aranha. Fr Lawrence Mukkouzhy blessed the vehicle. Guests honoured the Joe Pereira couple who are going to celebrate their golden jubilee year of married life the next month.  Octavia Albuquerque, former MLC and president of LSSL welcomed all. Inmates of the home Bina and Lilly rendered the prayer song. A lucky draw for the Christmas hamper was also arranged at the programme. LSSL ward members donated cakes to home. Octavia Albuquerque thanked the donors and presented the donations to mother superior of the home. Wilma Aranha, chairperson of Cheshire home proposed the vote of thanks. At the end of the programme Santa Cruz arrived and inmates of the home and guests celebrated his arrival with the carol, ‘Jingle bells’ carol. F M D’Souza and his team presented carols on the occasion.

Chicago, Dec. 21: The Mangalorean Konkan Christian Association

Chicago, Dec. 21:  The Mangalorean Konkan Christian Association Chicago celebrated Nathal Fest  2009 (Christmas) with great pomp and grandeur at the Courtland Square Community Hall, Des Plaines.  This event was organized with a noble cause of helping the recent flood victims of Mangalore and surrounding area in Karnataka, India; where thousands of households were left with no shelter and all their belongings were wiped out by this devastating flood.  The event organizers were surprised by the overwhelming response of its supporters, guests and friends who attended this program.  The attendees came from neighboring states and there was unique blend of people from different religious affiliation and ethnic background.
The program began by the celebration of Holy Mass in Konkani by Rev. Fr. Richie Vaz and wonderful Homily given by Rev. Fr. Henry Sequeira.  In his Homily Fr. Henry Sequeira summoned the attendees to entertain birth of Christ in everyone's heart, which signifies "Peace" to everyone.  He stressed that we need to share our wealth with less fortunate; which signifies the true meaning of "Peace".  His message was filled with sharing of "Joy and Peace" with all the humanity; especially the needy back in our motherland, India.  The Holy Mass was glorified by the beautiful MKCA Choir group under the leadership of Rexon DSouza and Dorothy Rego.  The wonderful hymns sung by this group in Konkani and English, mesmerized the attendees present.

Edna Mascarenhas, Fr. Richie Vaz, SVD, Fr. Henry Sequeira

Athena Saldanha, Roopa Misquita, Atina D'Souza

Choir Members

President, Lawrence Mascarenhas

Current and New Executive Committee members

Compere Austin D'Souza Prabhu

The cultural program was initiated by the welcome speech by Lawrence Mascarenhas, President.  In his speech he thanked all the members, who have worked hard in its success and thanked his executive committee for their hard work in the past two terms of his presidency.  He called the current Executive Committee to the podium and conveyed his sincere thanks for their hard work and selfless service to the Association and community in general.  He called upon the new Executive Committee to the Podium, which is lead by Queenie Mendonca, President.   He wished the new executive committee all the best and reaffirmed the leadership qualities of Ms. Mendonca, who is an Editor of manglorean.com website.  The incoming President Ms. Queenie Mendonca stated that she has a plan to collaboratively involve the youth of MKCA in all its future programs and presented her vision of more community involvement and help to the needy during her next two year term.

This was followed by Happy Hour, consisted of Mangalorean style snacks and open bar (courtesy Lawrence Mascarenhas) managed by Jossie Mendonca.  During the Happy Hour, there was wonderful group dance performance presented by Fernandes/ Mascarenhas cousins (Sherrie, Shaun, Stephanie and  Reena Fernandes; Shannon and Jessica Mascarenhas).  All the audience present conveyed their appreciation to the dance by thunderous applause.  There was ongoing door prize, raffle draws and silent auction throughout the program under the leadership of James and Rita Saldanha.  There was "Musical Chairs" game arranged for small children.

All the children present were spellbound by the grand entry of Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause, courtesy of Joseph Lobo.  Both the Santa and Mrs.  Clause looked so real, as if like they descended from North Pole and created a serene scene of fabled story.  They sang, sing-along songs with the children present, whose eyes were twinkling with disbelief to see them in-person.  All children and their parents thoroughly enjoyed the presence of Santa and Mrs. Clause in receiving gifts (courtesy Theresa D'Souza) and unique photo session with them.

The dinner was signified by unique Mangalorean dish of Dukra Maas (Pork meat, courtesy Rita Saldanha) complimented by Sannas (courtesy Vissia D'Souza and Edna Mascarenhas).  The authentic Indian dinner was courtesy of famous Indian Restaurants throughout the Chicagoland area ( Gaylord, India Garden, India House, BBQ Tonight and Pakwann).  The dinner was arranged by James and Rita Saldanha.   Entire Appetizers and Dinner was led by Alister and Alger Saldanha, who mobilized the youth group of MKCA.  The Chairperson of this successful program, James Saldanha thanked both the priests Fr. Vaz and Fr. Sequeira for conducting the Holy Mass.  He thanked all the members and Sponsors of this program for their generous contributions.  There was power point presentation of all the sponsors with ongoing commentary about their contributions.  

During dinner time there were Konkani, Hindi and English songs sung by Alphonse Mascarenhas, Roopa Misquita, Melissa Miranda, Lawrence Mascarenhas, Austin D'Souza Prabhu and Stany D'Souza.  All the couples joined the couple dance and the organizers selected Highly Dressed Couple amongst them and Ifan and Vanessa D'Souza bagged the honors.  There was balloon dance for couples and Steven D'Souza and Sabrina Wing won the contest.  The Konkani, Tulu, Hindi and English Baila songs presented by Rexon D'Souza made all the attendees present to hit the dance floor. At the end of the program, all the attendees were presented with a packet of home made Kuswaar prepared by MKCA members.

Anil D'Souza was the DJ of the entire program.  This program was wonderfully compeered by Austin DSouza Prabhu.  The program was conducted without a hitch under the able leadership of program chairpersons James and Rita Saldanha.  The hall ( courtesy of Lance Dias and Lawrence Mascarenhas)  was wonderfully decorated by the members of MKCA.  Mark Rodrigues was the official photographer of the program ably assisted by Arun and Anil D'Souza.