Sunday, May 8, 2011

Succes 2011: Jarno Trulli, Italian Formula One racing driver

Jarno Trulli (born July 13, 1974 in Pescara, Abruzzo) is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert. After Toyota pulled out of the sport, following the 2009 season, having received no offers from any of the remaining teams, he signed up to race for Lotus Racing in 2010.

After winning the Italian and then European kart championships he won the German Formula Three championship in 1996, and in 1997 made his debut in F1 with Minardi. After 7 races he replaced the injured Olivier Panis at Prost and impressed immediately, finishing fourth in Germany and even leading in Austria, looking set to finish second until his engine blew. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium in wet conditions at the 1999 European Grand Prix. However, this was a rare highlight in a race few of the main front-runners finished, and the poor performance of the Prost team convinced him that a switch to Jordan would bring improved results.

In 2000 he moved to the Irish squad, but the team was no longer the force it had been in the late 1990s. In his two years with Jordan, Trulli failed to score a podium, but did impress with a series of brilliant qualifying displays. During this period suggestions were made that Trulli was more of a qualifying specialist than an out-and-out fast race driver, a charge he frequently denied. Under long-term contract to personal manager (and Renault manager) Flavio Briatore, Trulli secured a contract with the Anglo-French squad for 2002.
Jarno Trulli driving for Renault at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2003

Alongside Jenson Button, he often outqualified his British teammate, but was generally shaded in races. Regardless of Button's improved pace that season, it was Trulli who stayed at Renault for 2003 to partner promoted test-driver Fernando Alonso. The 2003 Renault was a strong car and in Alonso's hands won in Hungary. Trulli struggled to attain similar results, but did achieve a podium in Germany, his first since leaving Prost.

Mindful of how much Alonso had outperformed him in 2003, Trulli improved markedly the next year. For the first half of the season he was the better of the two Renault drivers, racking up regular points and podiums. At Monaco he finally took his first victory after a brilliant display from pole position. Having performed so well, the Italian was eager to stick with the team for 2005, but his relationship with team-boss Briatore soured. A last corner error which allowed Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello onto the podium in France enraged the team, and from that point his days with the French manufacturer were numbered. For the second half of 2004, Trulli failed to gain any points and was consistently off the pace during races. He later accused the team of favouring Alonso, but the reasons why his 2004 season deteriorated have never been properly identified. He was sacked three races before the end of the season and replaced by 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. Trulli had already agreed to drive for Toyota in 2005, and his early exit from Renault allowed him to take up his new seat for the last two races of the 2004 season, replacing Ricardo Zonta.


In 2006, Trulli suffered a very poor start to the season. On the first lap of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, he was taken out by David Coulthard. He seemed to be outpaced by team-mate Ralf Schumacher more often than not, but his reputation was restored when he raced to 6th from 4th on the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix. Following this was a 4th place in the United States Grand Prix. From then on, he would only score 3 more times, with a couple of 7th place finishes in the German Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix and also a 6th place in the Japanese Grand Prix. There was even bad luck here, as his car became troublesome to drive mid-race, and Ralf Schumacher was delayed in the process. Trulli was racing very well in the season finale at Interlagos, but bad luck robbed him again, as his car suffered suspension failure in only the first 10 laps, a fate which befell his team-mate at the same time. He finished 12th overall.


Trulli scored his first points of 2007 in Malaysia, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 8th. A couple more points followed in Bahrain, but he stalled on the grid at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix and dropped out during the early laps due to mechanical failure. Monaco brought no better fortune for Trulli, as he finished down in 15th place, just ahead of team-mate Schumacher, after qualifying his season-worst 14th. Points were collected by Trulli at the Indianapolis for 6th place. After a series of non-scoring runs, Trulli said that the result was 'incredible'. He also qualified well for the French Grand Prix but crashed with the Renault of Heikki Kovalainen on the opening lap, and duly retired because of the damage. Trulli accepted the blame for the incident. The second half of the season was disappointing with Trulli's only point coming in the final race of the season at Brazil.

Post season there had been reports that Trulli's contract was not safe, and that he may have be replaced in the Toyota team for 2008 by Heikki Kovalainen. These proved unfounded as Kovalainen signed for McLaren.

In 2008, Trulli was hoping Toyota would make a big step forward. Timo Glock was confirmed as his team-mate for the season.Trulli started the season quite well, with several points scoring finishes, the height of which was a fourth place finish in Malaysia. Trulli's qualifying performances were also very good throughout the first few rounds of the Championship. His form then slumped a little, with disappointing performances in Turkey and Monaco, as he finished in non-points scoring positions.


However, he bounced back from this with a 6th place finish in Montreal. He then topped that in France by finishing on the podium in 3rd place, holding off the challenge of Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the closing laps.

He qualified on the front row alongside pole-sitter Felipe Massa for the season-ending Brazilian GP, which was to decide the 2008 world championship between Massa and Lewis Hamilton. During the race, Trulli had several close shaves in the changeable weather conditions, and eventually finished 8th. His team-mate Glock played a pivotal part in the title outcome as he was passed by Hamilton on the last corner of the race, which gave the Englishman the championship by one point from Massa, who won easily.

Trulli was confident going into 2009. In the first race of the 2009 season, the Toyotas of Trulli and Glock started the race from the pitlane as their qualifying times were disallowed due to Toyota's flexible rear wing breaching regulations. Although Trulli started from the pit lane, he finished in an impressive 3rd place before being penalised 25 seconds, dropping him to 12th position for passing Lewis Hamilton under the safety car. A few days after this decision, Hamilton was disqualified from the race results for 'misleading' the race stewards by insisting that Jarno Trulli had passed him under the Safety Car although Hamilton in fact let him pass on purpose due to an order given by the team from the pitlane. Jarno Trulli therefore regained his third place finish.[5] At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Trulli qualified on pole position but due to an unconventional tyre strategy finished third. However he did record the fastest lap, the only time he has achieved this in his career. He holds the record of having started the most Grands Prix before recording a fastest lap.
He crashed out of the Spanish Grand Prix after being forced off the track at the second corner and being collected by Adrian Sutil, and then had a poor performance in Monaco as the Toyotas qualified on the back row of the grid. Improvements saw him score points in three of the next four races, before the following four rounds saw him struggle again as he failed to finish in the Top 10. At the Singapore Grand Prix he placed 12th while team-mate Glock was second. Trulli then fought back at the Japanese Grand Prix (which would prove to be Toyota's last home race) by qualifying and finishing second. He then qualified fourth in torrential conditions in Brazil, but like in Spain collided with Adrian Sutil on the opening lap of the race, an incident which enraged Trulli as he blamed Sutil for the crash. His obvious display of anger towards Sutil (who also retired) afterwards earned him a $10,000 fine. Trulli finished seventh at the season finale in Abu Dhabi – Toyota F1's last race.

On 14 December 2009, Trulli was confirmed as one of the newly-formed Lotus team's drivers, joining former McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen.[6] He only finished one of the opening four races, a weaker reliability record than Kovalainen, leading him to note that "everything happens on my car and my car only – so to this day, my expectations have not been met".

At the launch of the Lotus T127, Trulli admitted in an interview with Autosport that US F1 and Sauber had been in contact with him.

In late 2009, Trulli was asked to test a NASCAR stock car in North America for Toyota. The car was set-up by Michael Waltrip Racing.


Trulli continues to drive for Lotus in 2011, with Lotus Racing being renamed Team Lotus. He is again partnering Heikki Kovalainen.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

25 de ani de la cea mai bună performanță a unei echipe de fotbal din România. Helmuth Duckadam, eroul de la Sevilla. Singurul portar din lume care a apărat toate penalty-urile unei finale de Cupa Campionilor

Helmuth Duckadam (n. 1 aprilie 1959, Semlac, județul Arad), este un fost portar de fotbal al României, supranumit „Eroul de la Sevilla”. A jucat la echipele Steaua București și Constructorul Arad.
Tatăl său, Josef Duckadam, este de loc din Șagu German, județul Arad. Mama sa, Elisabeth Kálmán, este originară din Semlac, care este și locul nașterii lui Helmut Duckadam. În timpul copilăriei a fost educat în special de bunica sa maternă, Elisabeth Kálmán (născută Schmidt, Germania).
Primii pași în fotbal i-a făcut în comuna natală, la echipa Semlacana, în 1974 când ajunge la Școala Sportivă Gloria Arad. În anul 1977, a debutat ca portar la Constructorul Arad, în Divizia C. Un an mai târziu este transferat de UTA, unde debutează în Divizia A (17 septembrie 1978, CS Târgoviște - UTA 2-0).
După 4 sezoane la gruparea arădeană, este transferat la Steaua București, unde se impune treptat ca titular. Este supranumit „Eroul de la Sevilla”, după ce în finala Cupei Campionilor Europeni cu FC Barcelona apără toate cele patru lovituri de departajare, executate de Alesanco, Pedrazza, Alonso și Marcos, având o contribuție enormă la câștigarea trofeului de către Steaua București. Performanța reușită de Helmuth Duckadam pe stadionul "Sanchez Pizjuan" din Sevilla este înscrisă în celebra Carte a Recordurilor.

În același sezon în care a reușit cea mai bună performanță a unei echipe românești, cariera sa a fost înteruptă brusc, din cauza unui anevrism care a impus o intervenție chirurgicală la brațul drept, aceasta determinându-l să iasă definitiv din fotbalul de performanță la vârsta de 27 de ani.

La 3 ani de la finala de la Sevilla, în anul 1989, Duckadam s-a reîntors pe teren, pentru ultimele două sezoane, la divizionara B, Vagonul Arad. În total are 133 de apariții în divizia A, 13 în Cupa României și 9 în Cupa Campionilor Europeni

După încheierea activității de fotbalist, Duckadam s-a angajat la Poliția de frontieră în localitatea de naștere, Semlac, din județul Arad. A ocupat funcția de maior în cadrul Poliției. S-a pensionat însă pe caz de boală.

În anul 2003, fostul portar a câștigat Loteria vizelor, primind dreptul de a emigra legal în Statele Unite ale Americii, și s-a stabilit alături de prima soție, Ildiko, și de fiica lor, Brigitte, în orașul Phoenix, Arizona, în toamna aceluiași an, dar a revenit după doar un an în țară.

În anul 2004, devine membru al Partidului Noua Generație, fiind ales ca vicepreședinte al PNG și președinte al filialei județene Arad.

La data de 25 martie 2008, Duckadam a fost decorat de către Președintele României, Traian Băsescu, cu Ordinul „Meritul Sportiv” pentru rolul avut în câștigarea Cupei Campionilor Europeni de către Steaua, în 1986.
Din 11 august 2010, Duckadam ocupă funcția de președinte la FC Steaua București.

Helmuth Duckadam (born 1 April 1959 in Semlac, Arad County) is a retired Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He was dubbed "the hero of Seville" due to his heroics in the 1986 European Cup Final, won by his main club, Steaua Bucureşti. He represented other three teams in an 11-year senior career.
Duckadam started his career playing in the regional league of Arad County, before moving to FC UTA Arad in 1978 to become professional. In 1982, he played twice for Romania and, subsequently, was signed by country giants FC Steaua Bucureşti.

Duckadam, who was instrumental in helping the capital side to two consecutive league titles, was also between the posts for the 1986 European Cup final against FC Barcelona, which was played in Seville, on 7 May 1986. Amazingly, he saved four consecutive penalty shots in the shootout, from José Ramón Alexanko, Ángel Pedraza, Pichi Alonso and Marcos, being the first one to do so in an official European competition. Steaua won it 2–0, and the main European trophy for the first time, and much of the credit for the surprise victory was given to Duckadam. He scored one goal for his main club, through a penalty kick against AFC Progresul Bucureşti in the domestic cup.


In 1986, Duckadam suffered a rare blood disorder only few weeks after the Seville performance, and would only resume his career three years later, finishing it with lowly Vagonul Arad, in the second division. According to a personal interview given in 1999, Duckadam had become a major with the Romanian Border Police (Poliţia de Frontieră) in his hometown of Semlac, in Arad County. Also, he opened a football school in the city, named after himself.

On 25 March 2008, Duckadam was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu, with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — ("The Sportive Merit" Order - class II), for his part in winning the of 1986 European Cup. Two years later, on 11 August, he was named Steaua's president.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Robert De Niro (Casino)

Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese. Although not a follow-up, the movie is produced by Scorsese and Pileggi in the same vein as their previous gangster movie hit, Goodfellas, even using the same two main actors (De Niro and Pesci) in similar roles, and it is set roughly in the same time frame.


Robert De Niro stars as Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a Jewish-American top gambling handicapper who is called by the Mob to oversee the day-to-day operations at the fictional Tangiers casino in Las Vegas. The story is based on Frank Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont and the Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for the Chicago Outfit from the 1970s until the early 1980s.

Joe Pesci plays Nicky Santoro, based on real-life mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro. Nicky is sent to Vegas to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and that the mobsters in Vegas are kept in line. Sharon Stone plays Ginger, Ace's self-obsessed and devious wife, a role that earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

In 1983, Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro) exits a restaurant and gets into his car, which explodes when he starts the engine. The film then shifts back 10 years, and Sam narrates most of the story, with occasional scenes narrated by Nicky Santoro.

Ten years earlier, Sam, then a sports handicapper for the mob, is entrusted by organized crime bosses to run the Tangiers Casino, which is under their control through corrupt representatives of the Teamsters. (Although Sam's real-life counterpart worked for the Chicago Outfit, the film never specifically states Chicago as Sam's bosses' home base. Instead, throughout the film the characters refer to "back home" and "The Midwest bosses," with occasional references to Detroit and Kansas City.)

Sam is at first reluctant to manage the Tangiers due to his criminal record, but is able to do so through lax gaming laws which simply require employees to make an application for a casino license; and can work at the casino while awaiting a license hearing, which often take years due to a large backlog. Sam's expertise enables him to quickly double the casino's profits, which are skimmed by the mafia before the records are reported to income tax agencies. Impressed with Sam's work, the bosses send Sam's friend, enforcer Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro (Pesci), to protect Sam and the whole business. Nicky, however, begins to become more of a liability than an asset, as his brash attitude quickly gets him banned by the gaming board from every casino, and his name is placed in the black book. Nicky then gathers his own crew and begins his own businesses, such as a restaurant and a jewelry store, but also engages in burglary, which is not sanctioned by the bosses.

Sam, meanwhile, meets and falls in love with a hustler, Ginger McKenna (Stone). Despite Ginger's reluctance, they soon conceive a daughter, Amy, and marry. But their relationship slowly begins to fall apart when Ginger is caught by Sam and Nicky aiding her former boyfriend, a con man named Lester Diamond (James Woods). Sam also makes an enemy in Clark County Commissioner Pat Webb (L. Q. Jones) by firing Webb's brother-in-law Donald Ward (Joe Bob Briggs) from the casino for his incompetence and resisting pressure from Webb to reinstate him. Webb retaliates by pulling Sam's casino license application from the backlog, forcing Sam to have a license hearing, but secretly arranges for the gaming board and State Senator Harrison Roberts of the State of Nevada (Dick Smothers) to reject the license. Sam responds by appearing on television and openly accuses the city government of corruption. The bosses, unappreciative of Sam's publicity, ask him to return home, but he stubbornly blames Nicky's reckless lawbreaking for his mess. In a heated argument in the desert, Nicky chastises Sam to never "go over his head".
The bosses soon notice that the suitcases of money from the skim have decreasing amounts of money, meaning that the money counters have begun skimming some for themselves. They put Artie Piscano in charge of overseeing the skims, but he complains about the expensive costs. Despite the bosses warning Piscano not to keep financial records, he secretly starts writing down how much he spends in a ledger. Piscano's rants about the extra work and the costs are overheard by the FBI, who had earlier bugged his grocery store. (Sam mentions that ironically they were looking for evidence on an unrelated crime.) Sam finally reaches the end of his patience with Ginger after she and Lester are in Los Angeles with plans to run away to Europe with his daughter Amy. Sam talks Ginger into bringing Amy back, but her addictions anger Sam so much that he kicks her out of the house. She returns, on Sam's condition that she carry a beeper on her for Sam to contact her whenever he must. Ginger turns to Nicky for help in getting her share of her and Sam's money from the bank, and they begin a sexual affair, which according to mob rules, could get the two of them killed (as well as Nicky's crew for covering it up). Sam reaches his limit with Ginger when she ties Amy to her bedposts to have a night with Nicky. Sam confronts Ginger in the restaurant and disowns her. She turns to Nicky, but he has lost patience with her as well. The next morning, Ginger goes to Sam's house, creates a domestic disturbance, and uses the distraction to take the key to their bank deposit box. She takes some of the savings, but is then arrested by FBI agents.

With Ginger's arrest and the FBI's discovery of Piscano's records, which are then matched with the skimming operation, the casino empire crumbles and the bosses are arrested. During a meeting, they decide to eliminate anyone involved in order to keep them from testifying. The slain include Andy Stone, the head of the Teamsters Pension Fund; John Nance, the money courier; and three casino executives. Ginger, who runs away from Sam to Los Angeles, sinks deeper into drug and alcohol addiction and dies almost penniless of a drug overdose. During the voiceover Sam comments that he had a second autopsy done on Ginger, and she died from "...a hot dose..." implying that she was also deliberately killed.

Nicky and his brother, Dominick, arrange a clandestine meeting in a cornfield, but are suddenly turned on and severely beaten with baseball bats by their own crew. Nicky is restrained while Dominick is beaten unconscious, then he is next. The brothers are stripped and buried in a freshly dug grave while still breathing. Sam narrates that the bosses ordered the hit on account of being fed up with Nicky's hotheadedness and disregard for order, and apparently granted Nicky's crew clemency in exchange for it.

Returning to the film's opening scene, Sam survives the car bomb, but knows that the bosses were not responsible for it. With the mob now out of power, the old casinos are purchased by big corporations and demolished to make way for much gaudier gambling attractions financed by junk bonds. Sam laments that this new "family friendly" Las Vegas lacks the same kind of catering to the players than the older and, to his perception, classier Vegas he saw when he ran the Tangiers. In the final scene, an older Sam is shown living in San Diego, once again as a sports handicapper for the mob, or in his words, "...right back where I started".

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Succes 2011: Ulrich Walter, astronaut german

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hans Walter is a German physicist/engineer and a former DFVLR astronaut.


Walter was born in Iserlohn, Germany. After finishing secondary school there and two years in the Bundeswehr, he studied physics at the University of Cologne. In 1980, he was awarded a diploma degree, and five years later a doctorate, both in the field of solid state physics.

After two post-doc positions at the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, Illinois, and the University of California at Berkeley, California, he was selected in 1987 to join the German astronaut team. From 1988 to 1990, he completed basic training at the German German Aerospace Center, and was then nominated to be in the prime crew for the second German Spacelab mission.

In 1993, he flew on board the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-55 (Spacelab D-2) as a Payload Specialist. He spent 9 days, 23 hours, and 40 minutes in space.

After his spaceflight. he worked for another four years at DLR, managing a space imaging database project. When the German astronaut team was merged into a European Space Agency, he did not transfer, but resigned to work at IBM Germany.

Since 2003, he has been a full professor at the Technische Universität München (Munich, Germany), holding the chair for spacefare technology at the University's faculty of mechanical engineering.

He is author of several books, and also does work as presenter of a popular science magazine show on Bavarian TV.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Succes 2011: Prem Joshua, pioneer of World Fusion Music. Multi-instrumentalist and composer. Sitar expert

Prem Joshua (Hindi: प्रेम जोशुआ) is a German musician, active since 1991.

Born in Germany, Joshua learned the flute at the age of five and played the flute and the saxophone for various local bands. At the age of 18, he traveled overland to India studying the indigenous folk music of countries along the way. Joshua was the name his parents gave him, he later added Prem to it, dropping the family name, to remind him of the essence of love (Prem literally means love in Hindi).

On reaching India, Joshua learned to play the sitar from Ustad Usman Khan and Osho. Osho inspired him and his music. His website states that "In the presence of this man with a long white beard, eyes as deep as the ocean and a strong sense of humor, he came in touch with the art of the “inner music” - Silence. This was really coming home!"



Throughout his career, he has experimented with various forms of music, creating a blend of the East and the West. He has also worked extensively with other producers, making remixes of his own songs and infusing traditional Hindustani acoustic instruments with lounge and trance beats. His music has immensely contributed to the Asian Underground and fusion scene.

In 1991, Joshua launched his first project, “Terra Incognita”, with Kora player, Ravi, and British Sarod player, Chinmaya Dunster, with which he released two albums. He subsequently released four solo albums and formed the band, “Hamsafar”, with which he released one album. Following this, Joshua began to experiment with genres like drum and bass, lounge, and trance, while still focusing on traditional Hindustani music.
Despite this breaking of boundaries, Prem Joshua’s ‘World of Fusion’ nevertheless retains a deep reverence towards its musical roots. One hears Indian temple chants with reminiscences of urban jazz; sufi poems set to reggae rhythms; unfettered and complex Indian classical music on sitar and tabla… and soaring melodies on the bamboo flute over driving trance loops sending the listener effortlessly spinning into dervish-like heights of ecstasy.

For his timely interpretation of the music traditions of the East, Prem Joshua has been especially honored in India. His music seems to touch the “mood of the moment” and one hears his music everywhere - from the Himalayas in the north, down to Delhi and Bombay, then south to the beaches of Goa and Kerala. The foremost Indian newspaper - the Times of India - has even lauded him as the 'New Guru of World Fusion Music’.
In 2005 his band played live on 'MTV Asia'.
In 2006 he and his band gave a private performance for the President of Malaysia.
In 2007 Joshua received the award "Best Film Music on Indian TV" at the Indian TV Awards in Mumbai. And more recently his band performed for the President of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and legendary Indian singers, Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar.

Today he is the number one best-selling World Music artist in India. However, his music is not only appreciated in the East. It has also ‘come West’. Most notably, in 2007 his band gave a private concert for the UK’s Prince Edward at the Royal Palace in London - and the 'BBC' nominated him for their ‘World music listeners award.’

Always a passionate live performer, Joshua tours the globe with his band for almost 10 months each year and is as much at home on the stages of Bombay and Dubai as in the clubs of New York and Paris. For the last 15 years he has shared the stage with internationally acclaimed musicians from East and West, and has performed in India, the Middle East, South East Asia, USA, Japan, Israel and all over Europe.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Succes 2011: Jim Bagnola, coach motivaţional al NASA. Expert aflat în topul mondial al celor mai bine cotaţi speakeri în materie de leadership

Jim Bagnola este Senior Partner la The Leadership Group, activand ca expert motivational din 1974. Cu peste 30 de experienta el este un coach authentic si unul din cei mai cunoscuti speaker internationali, ocupand locul 26 la nivel mondial conform Leadership Gurus, topul celor mai bine cotati speakeri in materie de leadership.

În Romania, Jim Bagnola a fost apreciat de peste 30 de companii lider de piata printre care Administratia Prezidentiala, Alliantz Tiriac, GFK, Lafarge, Leaders Romania, McCann Erickson, OMV, Solectron, ASE. In mediul international a ajutat multinationale ca Shell Oil Company, Kroger Company, Siemens, dar si organizatii ca NASA, NATO si Departamentul de Stat al SUA.

Cele doua evenimente se adreseaza Middle si Top managementului, manageri de comunicare si PR, companiilor mici si medii, antreprenorilor si persoanelor care aspira la o pozitie de conducere. Organizatorii acestui eveniment sunt HPDI (Human Performance Development International) si LEADERS Romania. Photo: jimbagnola.ro

Jim Bagnola’s expertise and passion is in the field of leadership and body-mind management with emphasis on the influence of thinking patterns on health, happiness, success, and the capacity to lead.

He has been speaking and educating worldwide—on six continents, as well as across the United States for over twenty-five years.

Jim’s workshop topics include Leadership, Stress Management, Customer Service, Coaching Skills, and Change—all in relation to “The Secrets of the Mind-Body Connection.” He inspires listeners to turn within and awaken to the reality of their own greatness. Jim’s goal is simple: to build Professional Human Beings.

Born in Canton, Ohio, and now residing in Austin, Texas, Jim has traveled to more than 70 countries for both adventure and work. He is an avid sports fan, health enthusiast, and lifelong reader.

He was educated in political science and communications at the University of Akron and has been a certified stress-management instructor since 1975. He is also an executive coach to Fortune 500 company leaders.

He has had varied professions throughout his life: He owned his own business, held corporate VP positions, served on university administrations, and managed world-famous magician, Doug Henning.

Jim is a member of the National Speakers Association and has earned the designation of Certified Speaking Professional, which qualifies him as one of North America’s top-rated speakers. Fewer than five hundred professional speakers worldwide have been awarded this designation.

He is also currently a senior partner with the consulting firm, The Leadership Group, and is a visiting faculty member of Western Management Development Center in Denver. He sits on the board of advisors for Leaders Romania and gives much of his time as a frequent lecturer for AIESEC, an international educational foundation based in Rotterdam. He is also a member of the board of trustees of Olive Branch Foundation in Ohio.

Jim highly values his on-going opportunity of influencing and interacting meaningfully with thousands of people in both private- and public-sector organizations, including Shell Oil Company, Kroger Company, U.S. Department of State, Department of the Air Force, NASA, NATO, and United Nations.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Curious Case of Brad Pitt. A sex-symbol waiting for an Oscar

William Bradley „Brad” Pitt (n. 18 decembrie 1963) este un actor american, producător de film și activist social. A devenit celebru la mijlocul anilor 1990 după ce a interpretat rolurile principale din filmele Interviu cu un vampir în 1994 și Seven în 1995. Pitt a fost nominalizat la Premiile Oscar pentru rolul său din filmul Twelve Monkeys din 1996 și pentru rolul din Strania poveste a lui Benjamin Button din 2009. El a fost etichetat ca fiind unul dintre cei mai atrăgători bărbați din industria filmului.


În timp ce se chinuia să se stabilească în Los Angeles, Pitt a luat lecții de actorie de la actorul Roy London. A avut diverse profesii ocazionale, fiind pentru o perioadă șofer și purtând costumul cocoșului "EL Pollo Loco" pentru a-și plăti lecțiile. Cariera pe ecran a lui Pitt a început în 1987 cu roluri minore în filmele No Way Out, No Man's Land și Less Than Zero. Debutul său la televiziune a fost în noiembrie, același an, cu apariția specială în sitcomul Growing Pains, de pe ABC.

A apărut în patru episoade din serialul Dallas, de pe CBS, între Decembrie 1987 și Februarie 1988, cu rolul lui Randy, iubitul lui Charlie Wade (interpretat de Shalane McCall). Pitt și-a descris caracterul ca fiind un iubit idiot care este prins în faptă. Discutând despre scenele sale cu McCall, Pitt a spus mai târziu că era cam sălbatic, pentru că eu nu aș fi întâlnit-o vreodată înainte. Mai târziu în 1988, Pitt a avut un rol surpziă în drama 21 Jump Street, de pe canalul Fox. În același an, co-producția Iugoslavia-US The Dark Side of the Sun, 1988, i-a dat lui Pitt primul său rol principal într-un film, interpretând un tânăr american dus de familia sa la Marea Adriatică, pentru a-i trata boala de piele. Totuși, filmul a fost pus deoparte datorită Războiului de Independență Croat și a fost lansat tocmai în 1997.

Pitt a avut două roluri în 1989: primul, într-un rol din comedia Happy Together; al doilea, un rol în filmul horror Cutting Class, primul dintre filmele în care a jucat Pitt și care a fost jucat pe scena teatrelor. A mai avut roluril în serialele TV Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Thirthysomething și, pentru a doua oară, Growing Pains. Pitt a jucat rolul lui Billy Canton, un dependent de droguri care profită de o tânără fugară, jucată de Juliette Lewis, în 1990, în filmul TV de pe NBC, Too Young to Die?, povestea unui adolescent abuzat, condamnat la moarte pentru crimă. Ken Tucker, recenzor pentru Enterainment Weekly, a scris: Pitt este, în rolul iubitului ei, un gunoi magnific; arătând și sunând ca un pizmaș John Cougar Mellencamp, e chiar înfricoșător. În același an, Pitt a jucat în șase episoade în scurt-metrajul de pe canalul Fox, drama Glory Days și a luat în sprijinire rolul în filmul The Image, de pe HBO. Următoarea sa apariție a fost în 1991, în filmul Across the Tracks; Pitt l-a impersonat pe Joe MAloney, un director de liceu cu un frate criminal, interpretat de Ricky Schroder. După ani de roluri ajutătoare în filme și apariții surpriză în seriale TV, publicul de peste graniță l-a recunoscut pe Pitt cu rolul său în filmul din 1991, Thelma & Louise. El a avut rolul lui J.D., un hoț mărunt care o ocrotea pe Thelma (Geena Davis). Scena în care el făcea dragoste cu Davis a fost citat ca fiind momentul în care Brad Pitt a fost văzut ca un sex-simbol.

După Thelma & Louise, Pitt a apărut în rol principal în filmul din 1991 Johny Suede, un film cu buget redus despre un star rock ce aspiră la faimă, și în filmul din 1992, Cold World, deși niciunul dintre acestea nu i-au furnizat lui Pitt succes necesar carierei acestuia, datorită recenziilor negative primite la box office. Pitt a obținut rolul lui Paul Maclean, în filmul biografic din 1992, A River Runs Through It, regizat de Robert Redford. Portretizarea caracterului a fost descrisă ca fiind una făcătoare de carieră, în sensul de a-l ajuta în ascensiunea sa ca actor, demonstrând că Pitt poate fi mai mult decât un cow-boy urât de toți, deși el a recunoscut că a fost sub presiune atunci când a făcut filmul.



Pitt a mai adăugat că a fost una dintre cele mai slabe performanțe ale sale și este ciudat că a fost singurul rol pentru care i-a fost acordată atâta atenție. Pitt a crezut că a avut de câștigat de pe urma colaborării cu o echipă atât de talentată, mergând până la a-l compara pe Redford tenis, spunând când joci cu cineva mai bun decât tine, stilul tău de a juca se îmbunătățește. În 1993, Pitt s-a reunit cu Juliette Lewis, co-star din Too Young to Die?, pentru filmul Kalifornia. El a avut rolul lui Early Grace, un criminal în serie și iubitul personajului Lewisei, cu o performanță pe care Peter Travers, jurnalist la Rolling Stone, a descris-o ca fiind "extraordinară, tot șarmul băiețesc, pentru ca apoi acesta să devină amenințare pură". Pitt a atras de asemenea atenția printr-o scurtă apariție în True Romance, cu rolul unui pietrar pe nume Floyd, aducând mult căutatul umor pentru filmul de acțiune, echilibrând astfel acțiunea filmului. A atins topul în anul respectiv prin câștigarea premiului ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow.

În 1995, a primit critici de succes pentru thrillerul Seven și SF-ul Twelve Monkeys, mai târziu aducându-i Globul de Aur pentru Best Supporting Actor și nominalizarea la Academy Award. In acelasi an a jucat alaturi de Anthony Hopkins in "Legendele toamnei" Patru ani mai târziu, în 1999, Pitt a jucat în filmul de succes Fight Club. In 1998 primeste rolul lui Joe Black din filmul "Meet Joe Black", jucand din nou alaturi de Anthony Hopkins.

Brad Pitt a avut 2 roluri principale în 2004 începand cu Ahile din filmul Troia și continuându-și succesul cu rolul Rusty Ryan în continuarea filmului Ocean's Twelve. El a petrecut 6 luni numai ca să se antreneze cu sabia, special pentru rolul din Troia. Cu un câștig de 497 de milioane de dolari în toată lumea, Troia rămâne cel mai mare succes comercial a lui Pitt. Filmul a reușit să câstige 133 milioane de dolari în Statele Unite și 364 milioane de dolari în restul lumii. Stephen Hunter a specificat că Pitt a reușit să se ridice la așteptări într-un rol așa de solicitant.


În 2005 Brad a început filmările pentru comedia Mr. & Mrs. Smith în care acțiunea principală se bazează pe o familie complet plictisitoare care era alcătuită din domnul Smith (Bradd Pit) și doamna Smith (Angelina Jolie).Amândoi descoperă În mod șocant că fiecare este un asasin plătit să îl omoare pe celălalt. Acest film a reușit să strângă 478 de milioane de dolari apropiindu-se de recordul deținut de rolul său din filmul Troia.

In 2006 Brad Pitt a fost repartizat în drama Babel. Filmul a fost lansat cu ocazia festivalului de film de la Cannes din 2006.

În 2007 el a fost distribuit în deja binecunoscutul rol Rusty Ryan în continuarea filmului Ocean's Thirteen.Apoi el și-a continuat cariera cinematografică în The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford adaptată după romanul lui Ron Hansen din 1983 cu același nume.

În 2008 el a avut rolul principal în filmul "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

Pitt deține o companie de producție numită Plan B Entertainment, care a produs filmul The Departed, în 2007, ce a câștigat premiul Academy Award pentru Best Picture și nominalizare pentru premiul BAFTA.