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Guinness World Records New Twinikie Eating Record

Chance Gates — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:25:54 +0000

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/1/kobayashi-bags-new-twinkie-eating-record-on-wendy-williams-show/

Speed eating legend Takeru Kobayashi has set a new record, this time setting a new benchmark for the most Twinkies eaten in one minute.

The Japanese competitive eater managed to scoff 14 of the cream filled sponge cakes on set of the Wendy Williams Show in New York, USA earlier today.

Today’s record adds to Kobayashi’s five other Guinness World Record titles (Fastest time to eat a bowl of pasta, most hamburgers eaten in three minutes, most hot dogs eaten in 12 minutes, most hot dogs eaten in 3 minutes, and most meatballs eaten in one minute).

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As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates . You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates . To checkout some of my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

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If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home. To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Mortgage Rates Reach New Record Lows

Chance Gates — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:59:11 +0000

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, January 13, 2012

Mortgage rates were back to hitting record lows again, pushing housing affordability even higher to home buyers, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. For the sixth consecutive week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among buyers, has averaged below 4 percent — unheard of until a few weeks ago.

“Mortgage rates eased slightly this week to all-time record lows following mixed indicators in the labor market,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement. The economy added 1.6 million jobs in 2011 — the highest number since 2006 — but overall unemployment still remains high, Nothaft noted.

Here’s a closer look at rates and the new record lows they posted for the week ending Jan. 12:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.89 percent, with an average 0.7 point, reaching a new all-time low. Previously, 30-year mortgages’ record low was last week’s 3.91 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.71 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.16 percent, with an average 0.8 point, dropping from last week’s 3.23 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 4.08 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.82 percent, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 2.86 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.72 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.76 percent, with an average 0.6 point, this week, falling from last week’s 2.80 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.23 percent.

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Wednesday Quotes: Bear Bryant 1913-1983

Chance Gates — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:40:01 +0000

I’ll put you through hell, but at the end of it all we’ll be champions.
Bear Bryant

I’m happy with the coach we have. I think any one of the ones I asked them to consider would’ve been good.
Bear Bryant

I’ve had many a player tell me all through high school and right up until signing day that they were coming to Alabama, then they signed with somebody else.
Bear Bryant

If I miss coaching that much, I could go to some little school where they didn’t recruit, where all the kids wanted to go. I believe I could find somewhere to coach.
Bear Bryant

It’s been years since I’ve had a real input in the game anyway. For this game, I’ve just tried to keep all the other stuff away from the players and coaches.
Bear Bryant

Nearly every coach I’ve talked with tells me that the attention you get from media and other people is the thing you miss most. I don’t know if that’s right.
Bear Bryant

Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it. Never quit.
Bear Bryant

The fun never goes out, but it changes with the years, with winning and losing.
Bear Bryant

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Football field goal record set in New York’s Times Square

Chance Gates — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:03:22 +0000

From Mike Janela in New York, USA http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com

One of America’s greatest sports traditions is “Bowl Season” – that wonderful time each year marking the end of the American college football season end. More than 30 games match some of the nation’s best and most prestigious programs in battles to end their years on high notes.

Of all the bowls played, one of the most prestigious is the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which this year sees the No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys take on the No. 4-ranked Stanford Cardinal, as part of the Bowl Championship Series. But while many eyes will turn to the game itself on Jan. 2 in Glendale, Arizona, USA, the spotlight on this game starting shining back on 16 December, when I adjudicated an attempt for the “most people to make an American football field goal in six hours” at the Tostitos Fiesta in the Square celebration.

With temperatures low, winds high, and former football stars in abundance, participants from around the world lined up in the middle of Times Square in New York to attempt their chance at history in the temporary football field assembled by Tostitos.

Requiring 100 different people to successfully make a field goal of at least 20 yards, the Fiesta in the Square saw a total of 181 different participants put one through the uprights and into Guinness World Records lore.

What struck me most while adjudicating the event was the wide range of participation. An event like this truly brought a huge variety of people together, running the gamut from foreigners to locals and football professionals to those who had never even put toe to pigskin before.

Former football stars who attempted (and all converted) field goals included Jim Kelly, Eddie George, Antonio Pierce, Rodney Peete, and Bill and Martin Gramatica. Other participants included visiting tourists from Turkey, Australia, Mexico, and the UK. In total, 965 attempts were made by countless hundreds of people throughout the day, with the aforementioned 181 finding success.

The teamwork resulted in more than just a Guinness World Records achievement, too. As a result of the final record total, Tostitos donated $200,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters charity. This was aided in part by Big Brothers Big Sisters advocate and entertainment personality Nick Lachey stepping up and drilling a successful field goal of his own.

In all, a great exhibition was put on for sport, for charity, and, of course, for record-breaking history. The Fiesta Bowl itself already has a lot to live up to!

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Wednesday Qoutes: Tennessee Ernie Ford 1919-1991

Chance Gates — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:47:39 +0000

I snapped my fingers all through it. Sometimes I set my own tempo during rehearsal by doing that.
Tennessee Ernie Ford

Sixteen Tons was written eight years before I recorded it.
Tennessee Ernie Ford

We decided to do some of Merle’s things with modern instrumentation. We used a flute, a bass clarinet, a trumpet, a clarinet, drums, a guitar, vibes and a piano.
Tennessee Ernie Ford

When you do a show five days a week and one night a week, the way I was doing, you use up so much music every day that pretty soon you find yourself hustling for material.
Tennessee Ernie Ford

You can keep rummaging around until you find a song you like, but you can’t predict whether it’ll hit or not.
Tennessee Ernie Ford

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In the News

Chance Gates — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:41:36 +0000

Pending home sales, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, rose 7.3% in November after a 10.4% increase in October. On a year-over-year basis, pending home sales are up 5.9%. The number of pending home sales in November was the highest level in 19 months.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index — on a non-seasonally adjusted basis — fell 1.2% in October after a revised 0.7% decrease in September. On a year-over-year basis, prices fell 3.4% compared with October 2010.

Retail sales rose 0.9% for the week ending December 24, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 4.5%.

The consumer confidence index rose to 64.5 in December from a revised 55.2 in November. It was the highest level since April. The index was benchmarked at 100 in 1985, a year chosen because it was neither a peak nor a trough in consumer confidence. Economists consider a reading of 90 to be the threshold for a healthy economy.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to 381,000 for the week ending December 24. However, the four-week moving average for initial claims — considered a less volatile measure — fell to 375,000, the lowest level since June 2008. Continuing claims for the week ending December 17 rose by 34,000 to 3.6 million.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

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Guinness Book Of World Records: Australian couple take Christmas lights world record

Chance Gates — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:08:46 +0000

Santa won’t have any trouble finding the home of the Richards family this Christmas.

The property in the Canberra suburb of Forrest in Australia is illuminated with 331,038 fairy lights making it the Guinness World Record holder for the Most Christmas Lights on a Residential Property.

David Richards, a barrister and father of three, has worked on the decorations for over four years, with the number of lights having doubled from last year. David said: “It started four years ago with one string above the door and has really grown from there”.

David is reluctant to say how much the decorations cost, but all the money he receives from visitors goes to the charity ‘SIDS and Kids’ which he says helped his family out during a difficult period in 2002.

Despite the four year investment in the light display David said that he won’t be doing it again next year, saying he hoped to be able to donate the lights to someone else who would continue to use them to raise money for charity.

Watch video

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Silver Springs, Nevada Development Possibilities

Chance Gates — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:25:46 +0000

THE PROJECTS THAT ARE MOST URGENTLY NEEDED BY OUR SILVER SPRINGS COMMUNITY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Commercial mall containing a national brand grocery store, pharmacy bank, family
restaurant and retail stores is greatly needed by our community.
2. Solar farm: We have many acres of available land for the
production of energy.
3. Wind farm: Silver Springs is known as one of the most affluent areas
of wind in the USA and would like to attract investors for wind farm development to
produce energy.
4. Train terminal for commercial and public use to stop
centrally in Silver Springs, Nevada.
5. Defense Training Facility: Silver Springs has many secluded
open areas suited for the development of a special defense training campus.
6. Amphitheater with seating and stage for public performances
and events, including farmers markets/flea markets/craft booths and exhibitions near
the intersection of Hwy 95A and Hwy 50.
7. Job Center to provide a building for job training classrooms
and job recruitment. This could act as teaching facility if equipped with classrooms
and computers.
8. The development of Lake Lahontan shoreline with commercial
outlets, services for outdoor recreation and boat storage. This is a state run park so any business would have to be off site.
9. Community Center and Convention Center with indoor events
stage, meeting rooms, possibly Boys and Girls Club room, areas for indoor and outdoor
events. Possibly a public pool, commercial kitchen, boce ball court and outdoor
courtyards. Possibly just a one room movie theater as in #11 below.
10. Hotel accommodations along highway 95A or 50 with family style
restaurant.
11. Movie theater as well as old school open-air theater for mild
seasons.
12. Mixed use housing built around community gardens.
13. Old Western Town experience built like a village setting with
real retail stores (souvenir), a bank (hopefully Wells Fargo for the stagecoach logo), a
blacksmith shop, a old time saloon, and a restaurant with a hotel façade and tickets
to see gun fighters on certain days.
14. Provide a link to commercial property and land available for
sale here (from local realtors). Hopefully, all can work together and cooperate to get
the growth moving in Silver Springs, Nevada
15. Also Events that need to be developed to attract tourism:
a. Kite Flying competitions- create an event in open area of SS
by contacting the National Kite association.
b. Have model airplane contests at the airport just before or just after the Lyon county
Fly in.
c. Food Festival like Stew competition, or micro beer brewing as
a yearly event-advertised as a competition with prizes.
d. Lake festival with boating competitions in summer and ice
snow-mobiles in winter- can we get an EPA grant to clean lake and put in catfish
for fishing competitions?
e. Art competition, Trash Art: Invite artists to pick up desert
trash and turn it into sculptures to be used for target practice. We would clean our
area, provide art and entertainment.
Contact the Chamber of commerce for land availability and details for possible
investments in Silver Springs. Telephone: 775-5774336.
Other local contacts for showing potential investors
the design renderings and project ideas we have. Our contact info here: Jean at
wolfladyjj@aol.com or Mojra at mojra@arkablue.com

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Christmas Gift Ideas

Chance Gates — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:38:43 +0000

As the holidays approach, Its that time of year to think of the perfect gift for that special someone. How do you buy something great for that person who has everything?

It’s time to think outside the box,
Nearly everyone gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants — all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner-operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Finally Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

What is your favorite gift to support your local community?

Mongolia Grapples Wrestling Tournament record

Chance Gates — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:26:36 +0000

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2011/11/mongolia-grapples-wrestling-tournament-record/

A new record for the largest Mongolian wrestling tournament was set recently when 6,002 competitors descended on the nation’s capital of Ulaanbaatar for the biggest contest of its kind.

Organized by the Mongolian National Wrestling Federation (Mongolia), the nine-day festival of takedowns took place between September 17 and 25.

Opened by the Prime Minister of Mongolia Sukhbaatar Batbold and the head of the Mongolian National Wrestling Association Regjiibuu Nyamdorj, the event saw wrestlers aged between 14 and 80 from 21 different provinces and 325 “soums” (sub-provinces) take part, with some travelling as far as 1,700 km (1,050 miles) to attend.

Wrestling is the most important of Mongolia’s “Three Manly Games”; the historic national festival called “Naadam”, which also includes horse racing and archery.

The tournament, which took place at Ulaanbaatar’s Central Stadium, brought the record title back to Mongolia, with the previous record which was set in 2004 with 2,048 wrestlers, having been set in Xiwuzhumuqinqi in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China.

Mogonlian wrestling holds a pivotal position in the nation’s culture, with the sport regarded as the most important of the countries historic “Three Manly Skills” that also include horsemanship and archery.

The tournament ended with Chimedregzen Sanjaadamba victorious in the headline “Wonder of Mongolian National Wrestling”

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