ALEX ADAM'S

By Matt Maytum



Googie (born Georgette Lizette Withers) died in her home in Australia on Friday. She was 94 years old



She was born in British India in 1917, and she took up acting at 12 years old, when her family returned to England.

She worked on a huge number of British films throughout the '30s and '40s, including The Lady Vanishes, Powell and Pressburger's One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing and Ealing Studios' portmanteau spooker Dead Of Night.

Withers met her husband, Australian actor John McCallum, on the set of The Loves Of Joanna Godden in 1947, and they were married the next year.

The pair starred in nine more films together, as well as a number of plays. McCallum, who is remembered for co-creating Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, died last year, aged 91.

Withers final film performance was in Shine in 1996. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to her family and friends.




RIP





Source: BBC/TotalFilm.com

Happy Birthday guys. God bless.

FRANKFURT, Germany – Abby Wambach’s brow creased as she shook her head in disbelief. Hope Solo’s expression smoldered with anger and frustration. Alex Morgan could not hold back a few tears – a moment of glory that should have belonged to her and her teammates was somehow stripped away.

The amazing ride was over for the United States women’s soccer team, a week of drama and thrills and what seemed like a pre-written tale of destiny instead turned out to be one of heartache.

Yet what stung the most for the USA in those pained moments after its penalty shootout defeat to Japan in Sunday’s World Cup final was that this was a game, and a tournament, that it had within its grasp.

Not once but twice the Americans let a goal advantage slip, first towards the end of regulation and then with four minutes remaining in extra time. That meant goals from Morgan and Wambach counted for nothing in the end, and once the U.S. missed its first three kicks in the shootout, Japan had the unlikeliest of tournament victories in the bag.

However, it should never even have gotten that far. A catalogue of missed chances was what really denied the USA its first Cup final since 1999, with a dominating first-half performance somehow failing to result in any goals.

Wambach, Lauren Cheney, Megan Rapinoe and a string of others all had opportunities to put the Americans ahead early but could not find the net. Wambach came closest, rattling the crossbar with a fearsome left-footed drive that would have been the goal of the tournament if it had been a couple of inches lower.

By such small margins are trophies decided.



“You don’t explain this,” U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage said. “You can’t. We could have put it away and we didn’t. We created a lot of chances and we could not put them away. It is a final and there are small differences between winning and losing so you can’t afford that.”

When the USA eventually got on the scoreboard, thanks to Morgan running onto Rapinoe’s long ball forward and firing into the bottom corner after 69 minutes, it looked as though the side was on course for the triumph that seemed so likely ever since it squeezed past Brazil in the quarterfinals and survived France in the semis.

But a dreadful mix-up between Rachel Buehler and Ali Krieger allowed Aya Miyama to pounce for the equalizer and force extra time with nine minutes to go.

Wambach produced yet another crucial header near the end of extra-time’s first period, deflecting Morgan’s cross into the net, and once more the Americans were within touching distance of the Cup. However, player of the tournament – Homare Sawa – produced a goal for the ages with four minutes left, striking the ball past Solo with the outside of her right boot from a Miyama corner.

It was a goal worthy of a final, and worthy of a champion. This was arguably the best World Cup final – men’s or women’s – since 1966, what with the drama and emotion and sheer twists and turns of it all.

Just like Wambach’s goal against Brazil late in injury time, Sawa’s desperation equalizer shifted momentum and set the tone for the shootout. Shannon Boxx and Tobin Heath had their penalties saved, Carli Lloyd blasted her shot over the bar and Solo could only stop one Japanese effort.

“We worked so hard and we all believed in each other,” Wambach said. “This is going to hurt for a while.”

And so, an extraordinary ride came to an end in a way that few could have predicted. All the incredible events of the past week served to propel the USA into the hearts of a nation back home, and that won’t be forgotten even when the public eye moves swiftly onto something else.

For now, it will share the heartbreak of the players – America’s pain for America’s team.




source:yahoo.com

Happy Birthday. God bless.






source:imdb.com

As the Italian government struggles to stave off a biting debt crisis, thousands of university graduates are scraping the barrel for any job going or abandoning Italy altogether to try their luck abroad.

"I did really well at my Master's degree but it makes no difference. I'm lucky to have found a job in the local pet shop," said 28-year old Siriana Malavita, who speaks five languages and had hoped to go on to do a doctorate.

"I had to give up on that dream. The university professors tend to favour their own students and personal projects, so unless you have the right connections -- and money to pay your own way -- then forget it," she said.

In an attempt to use her languages, Malavita sent out reams of CVs to export companies in her hometown of Modica in Sicily -- a farming industry centre which produces prized olives, dried fruit and chocolate.

"But the businesses don't want graduates; they hire their brothers, cousins, friends," she said.

Friends of hers who have studied law, economics or modern languages find themselves in the same position, fighting over temporary summer jobs, working as industrial cleaners to pay the rent or giving up and seeking work abroad.

Photo journalist Matteo Pellegrinuzzi, 31, tired of scraping by and being paid months late by unreliable employees, left Milan for Paris in 2009 -- where his work gets snapped up by top magazines -- and has never looked back.

"It's sad to think that to avoid ending up an odd-job man, a painter or a street-cleaner, I've had to leave home," he said.

"But if Italy is facing this sort of crisis, it only has itself to blame. Where is the financial aid or support for young people?" he asked.

According to a study by the education think tank AlmaLaurea, unemployment among graduates "has gone up over the last 10 years, while pay packets have shrunk and contracts are harder to come by."

The report, based on the most recent data available, said that 16.2 percent of graduates were unemployed in 2009 a year after finishing their studies.

The proportion of unemployed graduates in 2007 was 11.3 percent.

"Italy invests shockingly little in its young people. Compared to countries such as France, Germany and the United States we really risk being marginalised," AlmaLaurea director Andrea Cammelli told AFP.

"The so-called 'brain drain' is real -- graduates who take the plunge and go abroad are more satisfied, they earn more and they are made to feel like they are worth more," he said.

But not all those who have failed to find a job in their chosen field are ready to try their luck abroad or believe that things there will be any different.

Unemployed 28-year-old Chiara Lemmolo said she felt frustrated and defeated.

"I see others who are more accomplished than me wearing themselves out and still getting nowhere. Why should it be any different for me? Why would I have ambitions when I have no future?" said the literature graduate.

Some of Lemmolo's fellow graduates have tried to get work experience in their chosen field in Italy but "the pitiful amount of pocket money they give you often doesn't even cover the bus fare," she said.

Others face a stark choice between accepting a fixed contract for a low-skilled job which allows them some financial independence, or continuing to live at home into their 30s while they do years of grinding work experience.

Thirty-three year old Maurizio Petralia was the first in his family to go to university and now works in a pub and pizzeria during the week to earn some spending money during his two-year unpaid training period at a law firm.

"I still live at home. My parents are worried about me, they've invested a lot of time and money in my degree," he said.

"My 22-year old brother started working when he was 15 in my dad's marble company. He's now much better off than me! I'm going to hang on in there for now but I wouldn't rule out going abroad," he added.

Even the head of one of Italy's top universities -- the Luiss in Rome -- is urging the country's young to abandon Italy, where "clan, political or family ties are the only way to get ahead."

In an open letter to his son, Pier Luigi Celli urged him to "go where loyalty, respect, merit and results are valued.

"This country does not deserve you. We wanted it to be different and we failed."





source:yahoo.com

source:allocine.fr

source:allocine.fr