I was very impressed with Matt’s proposal to his girlfriend Ginny, but now he’s gone and raised the bar so high for those of us who are still unmarried!

How are we supposed to top this marriage proposal? Will we have to get into a space shuttle and write “Will you marry me?” on the moon? I wonder how much NASA would charge to broadcast it to the whole world…. Hmmm….

Do you think this is the best marriage proposal you’ve ever seen, or do you know of any better ones?

Image from Enjoy The Journey

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• Greatest marriage proposal ever? Really? (jameslsy.wordpress.com)
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A Russian news reader has trouble reporting a story about a cannabis farm in Canada that was being guarded by 13 bears. It’s very funny!

Check out the full story of the bears and the pot farm below:

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The BBC’s excellent crime drama Luther will soon be returning to our screens. Check out the new trailer below, and read what I wrote about Luther a while ago in my article ‘Luther is back’.

I know it wasn’t liked by everyone, but I can’t wait for the second series to begin. I’m going to watch all six episodes of the first season (only six episodes!) to remind myself why I liked it so much.

This new series is only four episodes long. I guess those coalition spending cuts are really biting into the BBC’s budget…

Related articles

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• Luther – Crime Drama – Dark & Bright (chin512.wordpress.com)
• BBC America to Co-Produce Second Season of ‘Luther’ (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

This is the Volkswagen advert that was shown during last night’s Super Bowl match between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Super Bowl is the last game of the National Football League season, and it’s the most watched sporting event in the world.

The game was constantly being paused, and each pause was filled with an advert. Some of them were amusing, like the Teleflora advert with Faith Hill, and some of them were controversial, like Groupon’s advert which made fun of Tibetans.

My favourite one was the above advert by Volkswagen. Enjoy.

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• Were The Black Eyed Peas Really That Bad? (stormtyy.wordpress.com)
• Volkswagen Takes The Best Superbowl Ad Award? (kefferautomotivenews.com)

Rating: OOOOO

This is an awful film! I was really looking forward to watching this sequel of 28 Days Later, but now I wish I hadn’t bothered.  The film starts brightly enough, with a group of survivors  from the first film (including Robert Carlyle) getting attacked by hordes of zombies.

However, it starts going downhill, and it just continues getting worse until the end. The story of how the virus once again spreads around Britain was silly, and the method the army uses to control the spread of the virus seemed too immoral! Maybe the film-makers think that ALL soldiers are evil? Who knows?

At one point in the film, we were shown the point of view of the humans (still and calm) and the point of view of the zombies (mad and angry).  That was a good idea.

However, the story of tragedy, then hope, then tragedy again was unnecessary, and the presence of a ‘main’ zombie bad guy was a stupid idea too! One to avoid.

Picture courtesy of Fox International

(Reviewed on 18th Oct 2008)

Related articles

• Danny Boyle To Return For 28 Days Weeks Months Later? (perezhilton.com)
• Cuba’s first zombie movie limps along (mnn.com)
• 127 Hours Review: Boyle Comes Close to a Bungle (blazingminds.co.uk)

I ordered some business cards from a reputable business card company, and the cards arrived today.

Disappointed

I was excited when I opened the box, but disappointed with what I saw. The cards felt weak and flimsy, and it was difficult to read the text printed on them. I was now stuck with 500  business cards that I wasn’t going to use.

Money

I eventually ordered 200 business cards from another company. It cost more than the amount I had paid for the 500 cards, but I was confident that the new cards would be of a better quality.

Enter Twitter

I wrote on Twitter that I wasn’t happy with the cards I had received from the first company.  They saw the tweet and offered a full refund. I was surprised to see their tweet because I had not expected to be offered a refund.

I sent them my order number and they paid back the full amount.

Everyone’s a winner

• I was pleased to get my money back.
• I was impressed with the first company’s response to my tweet, and will consider using them for other business items in the future.
• Twitter has shown once again how quickly it spreads information (both good and bad)

Have you had any similar experiences (good or bad) with Twitter?

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• 8 Sentence to Immediately Cut From Your  Twitter Bio (marianlibrarian.com)
• Kimberly Kinrade: A Twitter Case Study of an Author Brand (marianlibrarian.com)

I was thinking of listing all the books I would like to read this year, but I now think it would be better to look at the books I want to read each month.

I have a lot of unfinished books on my shelf, and I’m determined to finish most of them by the end of the year.

Simultaneous Reading

Blog Editor: You mean, you want to add to the list of books that you start but NEVER finish?
Moja: No, I’m going to finish them. All of them.
Blog Editor: How many books are you reading at the moment?
Moja: Three.
Blog Editor: And how many books have you bought since you started reading these three?
Moja: Three. But that’s not the point!

These are the three books that I’m reading in January.

1. CCENT/CCNA ICND1 Official Exam Certification Guide by Wendell Odom

This is an I.T. networking textbook. I’m reading it because I want to take a networking exam at the end of January. I know it’s not very exciting, and I wasn’t even sure whether I should be mentioning textbooks in this list. However, I read this book almost every day, so it’s been included. What do you think? Should I be talking about my textbooks here?

2. 50 Economics Ideas You Really Need To Know by Edmund Conway

This is an amazing book. I’ve been looking for this kind of economics book EVERYWHERE!

I’m not very good at economics, but I can see how important it is to know the key concepts.

If you’re looking for a book to gently guide you through the confusing world of economic theories, this is the book for you.

Each “economic idea” is explained over 4 pages. Examples of ideas include ‘The invisible hand’, ‘Capitalism’, ‘Division of labour’, ‘Bond markets’, ‘Game theory’ and ‘Criminomics’.

There is a nice timeline showing when the important events occurred in the history of the idea. The author gives us real-world examples to make the ideas easier to understand. There is also a one-line description of the idea at the end of each chapter.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the basics of economics.

3. The Five-minute Writer by Margret Geraghty

This book has almost 60 writing exercises that are designed to make you think more creatively. The exercises are fun, and they can be done in 5 minutes.

Well, most of them can be done in 5 minutes. Some of the exercises are very challenging, such as, name 101 uses for a newspaper, but they are still very fun.

Blog Editor: I don’t see a single novel in this list.
Moja: This month is for learning, not relaxing.
Blog Editor: In other words, this is a boring month.
Moja: Okay, okay. I’ll read a novel in February.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Related articles

• Book Challenge 2011 (someoneelsealwayssaysitbetter.wordpress.com)
• What’s Rob reading in January? (robaroundbooks.com)
• 3 Countries I’d like to visit (lisaxuan.wordpress.com)

FIFA have announced the winners of the FIFA Ballon d’Or and a host of other FIFA awards. Let’s take a look at the people who won the prizes for 2010.

• FIFA BALLON D’OR (MEN)
• Winner: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)
• Runners-up: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain), Xavi (Barcelona & Spain)

• Why did he win it? Messi scored 60 goals in total for Barcelona and Argentina. According to Opta Sports, he scored the most goals in the league (42), made the most assists (15), and made the most dribbles (166) in 2010.

• Who should have won it? Xavi. He is the most influential player in both Spain and Barcelona. His passing skills are amazing, he rarely loses the ball, he won the league with Barcelona, AND he won the World Cup with Spain.

• FIFA BALLON D’OR (WOMEN)
• Winner: Marta (FC Gold Pride & Brazil)
• Runners-up: Fatmire Bajramaj (Turbine Potsdam & Germany), Birgit Prinz (FFC Frankfurt & Germany)

• Why did she win it? She won the United States’ WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer) league title, she was the top goal scorer in the league, and she won the award for Most Valuable Player in 2010. She was also part of the Brazil side which qualified for this year’s world cup by winning all seven of their games. Plus, she’s still only 24.

• Who should have won it? I’m going with the experts on this one…

• COACH OF THE YEAR (MEN)
• Winner: Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid coach)
• Runners-up: Vincente Del Bosque (Spain coach), Josep Guardiola (Barcelona coach)

• Why did he win it? Mourinho’s former club Inter Milan won the league title, the Italian Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. The UEFA Awards of 2010 were all won by Inter Milan players. Need I go on?

• Who should have won it? Mourinho.

• COACH OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
• Winner: Silvia Neid (Germany coach)
• Runners-up: Maren Meinert (Germany U-20s coach), Pia Sundhage (USA coach)

• Why did she win it? Hmmm… I’m not sure. Something about being the coach of the best women’s national team in the world. Ask FIFA.

• Who should have won it? Once again, I defer to the learned experts. I will learn more about women’s football when the world cup starts in Germany this year.

• FIFA/FIFPRO WORLD XI (TEAM OF THE YEAR)
  
• Goal keeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid & Spain)
• Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan & Brazil), Lucio (Inter Milan & Brazil), Gerard Pique (Barcelona & Spain), Carles Puyol (Barcelona & Spain)
• Midfielders: Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan &  The Netherlands), Xavi (Barcelona & Spain), Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain)
• Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina), David Villa (Barcelona & Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)

• Do you agree with this team? Yes.

• FIFA PUSKAS AWARD (GOAL OF THE YEAR)
  
• Winner: Hamit Altintop (Bayern Munich & Turkey)
• Who voted for this: Millions of football fans from around the world.
• Do you agree with this choice? No, I wanted Matthew Burrows to win
• Can we see the goal? Of course!

• PRESIDENTIAL AWARD
  
• Winner: The great Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
• What’s this award all about? I’m not sure to be honest! Ask FIFA.
• Do you agree with this choice? I would agree with him winning ANY award!

• FAIR PLAY AWARD
  
• Winner: Haiti’s U-17 women’s national team.
• Why did they win it? They bravely played their qualifying matches, despite losing family members only 2 months earlier in January’s horrific earthquake.
• Do you agree with this choice? Absolutely. I wish them and Haiti all the best in 2011.

Related articles

• Messi takes Ballon d’Or honour (best-football-players.com)
• 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or: It’s Messi, Marta, Mourinho (vanguardngr.com)
• Messi wins 2010 Fifa Ballon d’Or ahead of Xavi and Iniesta (guardian.co.uk)

It’s the start of a new year, and most of us have thought of our New Year’s Resolutions. I’m pretty sure that many people plan to drink less alcohol, join a gym and eat more healthily. I always think of doing these things at the start of every year.

Fortunately for us, this month’s FHM comes with a free copy of their fitness magazine, FHM Bionic. I have read both magazines, and I have been impressed with the articles and the fitness tips inside them. FHM usually costs £3.90 but you can get this month’s issue for £2.90 when you buy it online.

Train like a pro

At the moment, my exercise routine consists of dancing non-stop for 30 minutes a day. Yes, I know, I need to start training more seriously if I plan to shift the extra pounds that I gained during the festive season.

In this month’s FHM Bionic, we learn about the fitness techniques of sports stars such as the world’s best football player Lionel Messi, England rugby player Toby Flood, French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and AAA Marathon champion Andi Jones.

Breakfast for Tony Flood consists of steaks, chicken, eggs and vegetables, while Lionel Messi’s diet includes (lots of) pasta, fish, chicken, fresh fruit and vegetables.

The cover girl

This month’s cover girl is Zoe Salmon, the presenter of The World’s Strongest Man and dating show The Love Bus. She talks about how she loves watching sports, what she looks for in men, and she tells us why we should stop eating ready-meals.

The first rule of fight club

There is an interview with Britain’s top MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter Michael Bisping, who has set his sights on winning a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) world title.

I really enjoyed reading the 19 rules which he uses to keep in shape, and I think they apply to most situations in life. I’ve listed my 6 favourite ones below:

• Rule 2: Get up, Get out, Get going
• Rule 3: Train hard or don’t bother
• Rule 10: Compete for a reason
• Rule 12: Enjoy what you’re doing
• Rule 13: Learn from your losses
• Rule 18: Reward yourself

How to train for a marathon

I’ve always thought of entering a marathon but I’m scared to think of what the training would involve. The fitness experts at Timex have prepared a training programme which we can use if we’re thinking of entering the Virgin London Marathon, which takes place on 17th April.

9 steps to a winning mentality

British heptathlet Jessica Enis won the gold medal at the European Champions in Barcelona in 2010. Here, she gives us nine simple steps that we can follow to achieve a winning mentality. These include training with others, listening to our bodies and getting addicted to endorphins!

£1 off FHM

There’s more

As mentioned earlier, your copy of FHM Bionic comes free with the main FHM magazine. This month’s issue includes:

• Interviews with actor Matt Damon (The Bourne Trilogy) and actress Moran Atias (The Next Three Days)
• 50 New Year’s Resolutions (chosen by 50 beautiful women)
• A preview of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
• An interview with the cover girl Nicole Scherzinger
• Tips on how to impress your boss, get a pay rise, and never lose a work argument

Please click this link if you’re interested in getting a copy of FHM and FHM Bionic for £1 less than the normal price.

This is a sponsored post – however, it was written by me, and all the views expressed are my own.

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I’ve signed up to the ‘challenging’ Post A Day challenge started by WordPress.com and I’m finding it difficult to think of what to write about. The nice people at WordPress have been kind enough to provide us with daily topics, but I don’t want to use today’s suggestion: Describe a recent Aha! moment.

I’m going use a poem that I wrote in response to the excellent poem that MelodyDenome wrote on her blog post In writing everyday for 2011. I know it’s not perfect, but I’ve got loads of other things on my mind, and I kinda like my little poem.

Your poem is very good
So easily understood
And the skills that you have shown
Have inspired me to write my own

We all have a lot to say
In our own original way
And thanks to Post A Day
We can share posts every….

Blog Editor: Do NOT give up the day job!
Moja: The last sentence is incomplete. Sort it out, blog editor!

@@@@@ Post update [12 Jan 2011] @@@@@

Blog Editor: I’ve found a new ending for your poem.
Moja: Really? What is it? Where did you find it?
Blog Editor: What do you mean by “really?” This is my job, after all!
Moja: This is the first bit of work you’ve done this year!
Blog Editor: Do you want this ending or NOT?
Moja: I do. I was only joking! What is it?
Blog Editor: “And thanks to Post A Day / Our creativity we display”
Moja: It’s perfect.
Blog Editor: Then say thank you to MelodyDemone for sending it in.
Moja: Thanks MelodyDemone.

[New version]

Your poem is very good
So easily understood
And the skills that you have shown
Have inspired me to write my own

We all have a lot to say
In our own original way
And thanks to Post A Day
Our creativity we display

Photograph courtesy of Creative Thinkers International

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