FIFA Is Sorry About Bad Ref Calls, Will Reconsider Using Video Technology

by Stan Schroeder from Mashable.com

Everyone that watched Sunday’s World Cup match between England and Germany on TV saw that Frank Lampard scored a goal — everyone except the referee, and thus England was denied the goal.


That call, together with another bad call later that day when the referee missed a clear offside when Argentina took the lead against Mexico, spurred a heated debate about using technology to aid the refs in football games.

For more see: http://bit.ly/bKUWSP

Do You Remember These?

As a kid in Iran, I loved Negrokiss. The dome shaped chocolate-coated marshmallow treats that were so... just so... Perfect! Cracking the choco layer to get to the smooth filling... and then... YUM! How the chocolate melted soothingly with the marshmallow.. Heavenly! A perfect combination. Chocolate with Marshmellow, black and white, smooth and crackly. Thin layer, thick filling and it all ended with a sweet little wafer that you'd lick before just finishing the treat.

In the States these treats are known as Mellomars. And alas not as tasty but they will do. Here they are seasonal cookies. Every October I buy a box, devour it with relish and then do not dare go near them again - fearing weight gain. I just found out that 70% of all Mellomars produced (by Nabisco) between October and April are sold in New York! Wow...

Check out it's history on the Wiki!

Feeling Nostalgic for Childhood Friends and Favorite Candies

As I am re-connecting with childhood friends on Facebook - I find myself becoming very wistful for the days gone by. There are times I have a hard time believing that I'm no longer a child. When did that happen? All in the blink of an eye as if I just rode a roller coaster and suddenly found myself at the end of the ride that is the here and now. No, I'm not that old. But the trip to this age seems just as fast-a-ride as a roller coaster ride.

I'm happy to find for single moments that I have no difficulty connecting to that child of so many years ago, specially when I find a new old-friend again.

Sweets were always a part of that interaction and connected to my childhood happiness.

In Switzerland my favorite candy was Sugus... Such innocent pleasure and best shared with friends. Lemony Yellow! Orangey Orange! Raspberry Red! Bright Red Cherry! and Pinapple is Blue? Oh, it doesn't matter sweety! And oh so chewy chewy chewy!

- "Hey, look! I got a bright red one, again!"
- "Do you want my blue for your orange one? No? Ok..."

We'd quickly each chew one - as quick as the candy would allow itself to be chewed only to dig into the bag for the next flavor again and again.

Sometimes we'd make a game by closing our eyes and putting our hand in the bag, searching around and around a couple of times as if for a lottery ticket among the colorful squares. And after a few rounds in the bag, we'd finally pick one out. Still without looking, we'd rip the paper off the candy carefully, and pop it into our mouth to see if we could recognize the taste. We'd guess the taste, then open our mouth for our friend to look inside our mouth to verify the color. That's how we'd know whether we guessed right. It didn't matter if you guessed right or wrong. You did it for the fun, for the interaction. For feeling the sweet juice make it's way down your throat.

Soon our tongues would be raw with the sweet tangy taste of the square pieces, we could no longer decipher the taste and the bag would be finished and we'd be all happy.

How wonderful was it that I didn't have to think about my teeth or my weight? There was nothing bad about eating the candy. It was all good. All of it. Friends and all.

But we grow up and rudly have to face those teenage years that bring along pimples and the years that you somehow manage to choose THE worst hair styles to go with your pimply face.

Next just as you are relieved to no longer being a teenager, college comes along. That's the time that all you need to do is simply look at food to make your hips grow (tempting you to think "maybe the pimples weren't so bad?") That's the age of the most silent competition with your friends - that of being the thinnest among them. And so you find that even the nature of your friendships have changed and you are getting farther and farther away from that child. And that soon you have to become more responsible. You find that you are thinking about your teeth and that you are thinking about your weight.

And then much later - much later - you realize you have forgotten how wonderful and freeing a little piece of candy could taste, and how close you could feel to your friends over a little colorful square.  You realize that with many of those friends that maybe it wasn't really that candy that was the sweetest but that time of your life with other children as friends.

No wonder I miss those years.