| Cruel sea takes lifesaver's life
THE flag above Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club flew at half-mast yesterday, limp against its mast in the still air. At the club's bar beneath, they came as they were, in boardshorts and in thongs, some still salty and wet from the beach, to toast Tim Gates, a favourite son lost too soon. On the beach outside, nippers still paddled and played, and the surf, tiny and calm, rolled in. Only the shorebreak, dumping sand-coloured water on the long straight beach gave any hint of the dangers this stretch of coast can hold. But the dangers are there. Gates, 55, died early yesterday morning, three days after a freak boarding accident left him unconscious in the water. In tricky conditions, the champion lifesaver was teaching nippers to board-paddle when a wave dumped him, his head hitting the board.
The Super Bowl Blitz Expands in Online Arena
MySpace, which News Corp. owns, is posting all of the commercials broadcast during the game on a special section of the social-networking site at no extra charge to those advertisers. Google's YouTube, Time Warner's AOL and Yahoo are doing the same for their commercial polls. Hosting those commercials helps the sites build viewer traffic, which then allows them to sell more paid advertising. That paid advertising ranges from small banner ads on a network of sports-related sites to taking over all the ad space on a Web site. Prices can be as small as a $1 bid on a search keyword (if a person searches on that keyword, the advertiser's link shows up in the results) to hundreds of thousands of dollars to sponsor the sites. Paramount Pictures is using its ad spending to promote the May release of superhero film "Iron Man." People who watch the game on TV will see a commercial for the movie.
December 2007 Archives
Britney Spears' New Year's Resolutions! From improving her parenting skills to going on a diet, find out how Britney Spears plans to transform herself in 2008.
Get all the juicy gossip on Daily Blabber TV
Daily Blabber TV with Emily Stone .
City Council candidate receives second threat letter
Two days after an article was published in this newspaper about an anonymous threatening letter to City Council candidate Jefferson Wagner, another one arrived at his surf shop, Zuma Jay's. The letter warned that further information about Wagner would be turned into this reporter.This second letter was handwritten. The first one was typed. At the top of the letter, it says "IRS." It addresses Wagner as "Mr. Zuma Jay," and then lists eight first names, with an initial following three of them. Wagner told The Malibu Times some of these names are of current or former employees at Zuma Jay's.The letter states, "Well let me remind you that you did not pay tax's [sic] for each. Big Problem [sic] Don't run for office or these names will be turned inTo [sic] IRS and Jonathan Friedman w/Much More Details."Wagner said the person who sent the letter was "probably somebody following the business very closely," but he did not think it was an employee."I kind of doubt it, because they [an employee] would have come up with a better list," Wagner said.
Rowers cross shark-infested waters for record
A WELSH university lecturer rowed into the record books last night after an epic 3,000 mile voyage across shark-infested waters. Stuart Kershaw, 27, from Aberystwyth, is among a crew of 14 who set off from the Canary Islands on December 15 to break the Atlantic Ocean-rowing record. Last night they were celebrating after beating the 1992 Transatlantic Rowing Record of 35 days, eight hours and 30 minutes set by French Legionnaires. The rowers landed in Port St Charles, Barbados, at 8.40pm GMT beating the previous record by more than two days. Hours earlier, speaking to the Western Mail via a satellite link on the last leg of the gruelling journey, Mr Kershaw said he was "elated" and looking forward to eating green vegetables again. During their weeks at sea the British and Irish crew of La Mondiale had no more than 90 minutes' sleep at a stretch.
|
