12 Year-old Mackenzie Brown Pitches a No-Hitter and Then Gets to Throw Out the First Pitch at a Mets Game!
Congratulations to Mackenzie Brown who became the first girl in Bayonne, New Jersey Little League History to pitch a perfect game! In recognition of her achievement, she got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a New York Mets game! Cool. Very cool.
Way to go Mackenzie!!
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Bayonne’s Mackenzie Brown Pitches a Perfect Game, Will Throw Out First Ball For Mets on Saturday
Bayonne Now, NJ.com
Bayonne Little Leaguer Mackenzie Brown pitched a perfect game on Tuesday — the first time in the city’s league’s history that a girl has hit that milestone.
She’s getting national recognition for the feat and has been invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday for the Mets — the real ones!
The feat comes on the heels of another first for Bayonne youngsters. Last week, Brandon Pilovsky became the first pitcher in the city’s Cal Ripken League to throw a perfect game. He, too, got national attention.
For Mackenzie, congratulatory calls turned to balloons and appearances on local television stations.
As the Star-Ledger reports, this morning brought a trip to New York City to do a national Fox TV morning program where she threw pitches in their studio.
Last night, the 12-year-old got to sit at home and watch ESPN show highlights of her pitching.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” she said. “In school I have all these teachers asking for my autograph. I wasn’t used to that.”
Mackenzie, who told the Ledger she plays baseball because she always has been successful against the boys and just wanted to continue with it, knew she had something special going midway through Tuesday’s game.
“In like the fourth inning I kind of knew,” she said. “Then I just tried to keep doing what I was doing and not try to mess it up.” More . . .
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Also click on the link below to see video highlights (LINK UPDATED!!!) from Mackenzie’s perfect game!!!!:
= Bayonne Girl’s Perfect Game Gains National Recognition (NJ.com)
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Picture Credit: Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger
Congrats J.K. Rowlings! Harry Potter Series Set to Be # 1 Film Series of All-Time/***See Official Trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Looks like its time to cue up the Congratulations for J. K. Rowlings!!
The Harry Potter Series is on deck to be the # 1 film series of all-time beating “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings”! And with the summer launch of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, we know it’s only a matter of time before her films surpass that milestone! Read below for detail (and to find out which series is currently #1) and also check below to see the Official Trailer for the new Harry Potter movie!
Stacking up the “Harry Potter” Film Series
Matt McDaniel, Yahoo! Movies
The novels of J.K. Rowling were already a global sensation when the movie adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone” hit screens in late 2001. Then the enormous success of the film franchise has turned her magical world into a full-fledged institution. Collectively, the five movies so far are the second most successful series worldwide in cinema history, beating “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings.” Only James Bond has earned more money (just over $5 billion, not adjusted for inflation), and with the upcoming release of “Half-Blood Prince,” Harry Potter ($4.5 billion) is sure to jump ahead into the top slot.
Let’s not forget, though, that the Harry Potter films aren’t just commercial successes. Every film has scored a “B” grade or higher with the critics on Yahoo! Movies along with a “Certified Fresh” rating from RottenTomatoes.com. Plus, the series has racked up six Academy Award nominations. Here is a breakdown of how each of the five movies performed at the box office, and how they were rated by both critics and fans. And we have a first look at new character banners and the latest theatrical trailer for movie number six, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
More: A Look at Each Harry Potter Movie By the Numbers . . .
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“Slumdog Millionarie” Child Star Rubina Ali for Sale by Her Father?
Rubina Ali – We loved her in the movie. We thought she was gorgeous in her Oscar dress. We smiled at the pictures of her at Disneyland and now we hear reports that her father is allegedly offering her for sale. . .
Her father says he isn’t.
Read below for both sides of the story.
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From News of The World.
Father Tries to Cash In on Daughter’s Fame
The poverty-stricken father of Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina Ali plans to become a millionaire himself – by SELLING his nine-yearold daughter.
In a bid to escape India’s real-life slums, Rafiq Qureshi put angel-faced darling of the Oscars Rubina up for adoption, demanding millions of rupees worth £200,000.
As he offered the shocking deal to the News of the World’s undercover fake sheik this week, Rafiq declared: “I have to consider what’s best for me, my family and Rubina’s future.”
Rafiq tried to blame Hollywood bosses for forcing him to put his daughter up for SALE.
As he tried to fix the illegal adoption deal, real-life slum dweller Rafiq declared: “We’ve got nothing out of this film.”
Then, almost embarrassed to speak it out loud, he whispered to an accomplice the price tag he has put on his innocent young daughter: “It’s £200,000!”
That was an astonishing FOURFOLD increase on his opening demand. But Rafiq’s equally demanding brother Mohiuddin insisted: “The child is special now. This is NOT an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child!” More . . .
Picture Credit: News of the World
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From Times Online (UK)
Rubina Ali’s Family Brawl After Father Denies Offering “Slumdog Millionaire” Actress For Sale
Rhys Blakely, Mumbai, Times Online (UK)
There were ugly scenes outside the home of one of the child stars of Slumdog Millionaire today when Rubina Ali’s mother demanded that the young actress be removed from the care of her father.
Rafiq Asghar Ali Qureshi is alleged to have offered the nine-year-old for sale for £200,000 in an illegal adoption deal.
“We are considering Rubina’s future,” he is claimed to have told an undercover newspaper reporter from the News of the World, who was posing as an interested buyer from the Middle East.
“We’ve got nothing out of this film. They haven’t looked after us. They gave some money at the start but they gave nothing afterwards. They gave us around 150,000 rupees (£2,000).
“They’ve been talking about giving us a house, but all they do is talk.”
Mr Qureshi and his brother-in-law Rajan More allegedly initially asked for £50,000 for Rubina – a sum that was hiked to £200,000 at a later meeting.
Picture Credit: Gautam Singh/AP
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2 Third-Graders Raise $24,000 for Cancer Research By Selling Lemonade
Young (S)Hero Alert!
As seen on Fox & Friends. An 8 year-old girl and her friend raised $24,000 for breast cancer research in one weekend by selling pink lemonade.
Click on the picture below to see the interview with Victoria Petrucelly and Jesse Theobald. FYI – It also looks like we’re going to have to issue a cuteness alert on this one! Their cuteness factor is through the roof!
Job well done ladies!
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Jesse Theobald and Victoria Petrocelly. Click on picture to see Fox & Friends interview.
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What is Bracketology? An Introduction to Bracketology 101
It’s that time of year again. My husband and his friends are stricken with that disease called March Madness and they subsequently lose their minds for all things basketball.
I have heard the term “brackets”. I have also heard the term “bracketology.” I even know enough to know that this past Sunday was “Selection Sunday” where the 64 teams were picked for the Men’s NCAA Tournament field and I also know that the Women’s NCAA Tournament Bracket was picked on Monday but what I don’t know is how to “complete my brackets.”
Here’s what I’ve figured out so far – you download a copy of the bracket from the web. You then go through each round of the tournament and pick who you think is going to win all the way through to the championship.
After completing your brackets, you submit them to whoever is managing the office pool (or you can upload them to a site on the web) and then you just watch, wait and pray!
The question then becomes how to make good picks. >:|
Check out the links below for some really great resources on “Bracketology 101” starting with one of our new favorite sites Stiletto Set Sports – A Girl’s Guide to Her Boyfriend’s Sports .
Okay people, it’s now time for a lesson in Bracketology:
Getting Ready for the Big Dance: What is March Madness? (Stiletto Sports)
Picking and Grinning: Secrets to Successful Bracketology (The Washington Post)
Picking Brackets: A 2009 Case Study (The Wall Street Journal) (Also check out Dan Shanoff on “The Sporting Blog”)
One Who Did It Best Tells How to Pick ’Em (The New York Times)
Bracketologists Raise Their Game (MSNBC)
Bracketology with Joe Lunardi (ESPN) FYI: Joe Lunardi coined the term “bracketology” and has been projecting the NCAA Tournament field for ESPN.com since its inception. He is also the resident bracketologist for ESPN.
ESPN’s The Ultimate Tourney Guide (ESPN)
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Picture Credit: The Associated Press
Obama Announces White House Council For Women And Girls
Phillip Elliott, The Huffington Post
“WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama invoked his grandmother, single mother and two young daughters on Wednesday in creating a White House panel to advise him on issues facing women and girls.
Obama, standing with prominent members of his administration and with his wife sitting nearby, signed an executive order creating an across-the-government council designed to help Cabinet agencies and departments collaborate on ways to make sure women were provided opportunities offered to men.
“I sign this order not just as a president, but as a son, a grandson, a husband and a father because, growing up, I saw my mother put herself through school and follow her passion for helping others,” Obama said. “But I also saw how she struggled to raise me and my sister on her own, worrying about how she’d pay the bills and educate herself and provide for us.”
He said he signed the order to honor all the women who came before him, such as his grandmother who was a bank vice president but was denied promotions because of her gender. He said the fight for gender equality is far from over.
“So now it’s up to us to carry that work forward, to ensure that our daughters and granddaughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements _ and that they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers never dreamed of,” Obama said. “That’s the purpose of this council; those are the priorities of my presidency.”
He also said his own experiences with the women in his life reflect the challenges of all women.
“I’ve seen Michelle, the rock of the Obama family, juggling work and parenting with more skill and grace than anybody that I know,” Obama said. “But I also saw how it tore at her at times, how sometimes when she was with the girls she was worrying about work, and when she was at work she was worrying about the girls. It’s a feeling that I share every day.”
Obama cited statistic to back up his case: Women earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make; 1 in 4 women still experiences domestic violence; women are 49 percent of the work force but only 3 percent of Fortune 500 chiefs.” More . . .
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Boys & Girls Go To School Together Yet Taught Separately
Schools try teaching boys and girls separately.
From Jennifer Medina, The New York Times
“Michael Napolitano speaks to his fifth-grade class in the Morrisania section of the Bronx like a basketball coach. “You — let me see you trying!” he insisted the other day during a math lesson. “Come on, faster!”
Across the hall, Larita Hudson’s scolding is more like a therapist’s. “This is so sloppy, honey,” she prodded as she reviewed problems in a workbook. “Remember what I spoke to you about? About being the bright shining star that you are?”
They are not just two teachers with different personalities. Ms. Hudson, who is 32 and grew up near the school, has a room full of 11-year-old girls, while Mr. Napolitano, a 50-year-old former special education teacher, faces 23 boys. A third fifth-grade class down the hall is co-ed.
The single-sex classes at Public School 140, which started as an experiment last year to address sagging test scores and behavioral problems, are among at least 445 such classrooms nationwide, according to the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education. Most have sprouted since a 2004 federal regulatory change that gave public schools freedom to separate girls and boys.” More . . .
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A Look at Children’s Books: Remembering Madeline and Other Classics
Remembering Madeleine and why we loved her!
In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines,
lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
They left the house at half past nine, . . .
The smallest one was Madeline . . .
Todd Leopold at CNN.com takes a look at what makes a children’s book a classic and one of the books he mentions is Madeline – one of our favorites.
Click here to read the article.
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7-Year-Old Girl Survives Groundbreaking Surgery That Removed 6 Organs & Tumor
Click below to see video from MSN Health:
From CBS News:
“Seven-year-old Long Island native Heather McNamara has overcome a deadly stomach tumor thanks to a risky and experimental operation involving the removal of vital organs. “
“(CBS) These days, 7-year-old Heather McNamara and her family are all smiles. But three months ago, they were losing hope.
CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace reports (Click here to see video from CBSNews) reports doctors had told the family that Heather’s stomach tumor — her second in three years — was tangled in her vital organs, making it inoperable and untreatable with chemo.
“They told us she was not going to make it,” said Tina McNamara, Heather’s mother. “It was horrible for her.”
But then the Long Island, N.Y., family heard about transplant surgeon Dr. Tomoaki Kato, the only transplant surgeon known to have dared this type of surgery before, on a 62-year-old woman with an abdominal tumor.
“He was the only one who said ‘yes, we can take it out’,” said Joe McNamara, Heather’s father.
To remove the tennis-ball sized tumor, Kato took out Heather’s liver, small and large intestines, and other vital organs. He then re-implanted everything but her stomach, pancreas and spleen, which were destroyed by the cancer.
In case Heather’s liver couldn’t be saved, her dad starved himself in preparation to donate part of his.” More . . .
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Barbie Turns 50
Barbie is 50!
Click on the link below to see a Forbes Special Report on Barbie edited By Anna Vander Broek and Michael Noer. They take a behind-the-scenes look at the business of Barbie.
She is an American icon, a business phenomenon and a real doll. Since her introduction on March 9, 1959, Mattel has sold more than 1 billion Barbie dolls, nearly 100 million of those last year alone. She is the ultimate career woman (108 different jobs); a strong, single woman (she dumped Ken in 2004); and a three-time presidential candidate. Along the way she has fired the ambitions of countless little girls.Happy birthday, Barbie.
The Special Report includes several articles that provide a variety of perspectives on Barbie. One of the articles in the Special Report is called “The Ultimate Career Woman” and it traces Barbie’s career path over the past 50 years from astronaut to Olympian.
In another article, they “interview” her; and in another that take a look at what goes in to making a Barbie. Did you know that 100 designers, tailors, beauticians and sculptors work on each and every Barbie?
Click here to learn more: Forbes Special Report: Barbie Turns 50
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