bahamas pink sand
Bahama Islands News, Articles and Information
Seeking treasure
Three years after "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" sailed to box-office victory, Capt. Jack Sparrow and his cohorts are setting a course for more misadventures on the high seas in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."It seems unfathomable now, but the filmmakers at first were unsure whether this fantasy-adventure inspired by a Disney theme-park ride would connect with audiences. After all, Disney's previous theme-park-ride-based film, "The Country Bears," flopped in 2002.
"Everyone was very skeptical about it," recalls "Pirates" producer Jerry Bruckheimer. "It was daunting to try and convince everyone that we had something that we thought was real special."
For Johnny Depp, the pressure was even more intense during the making of "Curse of the Black Pearl." For all his popularity, the darkly handsome actor lacked box-office clout.
Hurricanes cost BTC $50m
The Bahamas Telecommu-nications Company Limited's (BTC) Chief Executive, Leon Williams, revealed yesterday in an exclusive interview with The Nassau Guardian that hurricanes cost the company $50 million last year.And despite predictions of an active season this summer, BTC is hoping to escape another massive financial hit.
Last year's storm season caused setbacks and delays, but BTC is setting up new technology that should en-sure minimal damage. "Hurr-icanes cost us $50 million last years," said Mr Williams. I'm hoping we don't end up with any setbacks this time.
"[Over the years], Hurricane Floyd cost us $34 million and Hurricane Michelle cost us another $16 million," he added. "The last thing we need this year is another hurricane," he added.
Al Casolare - traditional Italian cuisine at home
Unbeknownst to many Romanians, an exquisite Italian restaurant frequently visited by world-famous actors, business executives and expats lies among the country houses of Buftea.It's a busy day in the small kitchen of a countryside home in Buftea. The home-baked bread is sliced, the lobsters are boiled, the pasta is mixed with the marinara sauce. The two cooks - mother and daughter - make the final preparations for the evening. Everything is set for their guests to feel at home.
The rhythmic noise of the knife dicing fresh, aromatic herbs is stopped by the door slamming open.
It's Andy Garcia entering the room. "Ai, mama, che mi fai sta sera?" he says with his arms wide open and a big smile on his face.
This is not a scene from the famous actor's movie; it is a normal day at Al Casolare in the lown of Buftea, about half an hour's drive from Bucharest.
PartyGammon.com to Stage First Ever US$1 Million Backgammon Tournament
Offering the largest guaranteed prize pool in the history of backgammon, PartyGammon.com today announced that it will stage the PartyGammon.com Million at the famous Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in The Bahamas, on January 21st-25th , 2007. Half of the field of 128 players will be filled by online qualifiers and the other half from players who directly buy-in to the tournament.The location will be familiar to long-time backgammon enthusiasts because it was the venue where the World Championships of Backgammon was at its pinnacle of popularity between 1975 and 1978, when the legendary Paul Magriel reigned as the leading champion. That event has now moved to Monte Carlo, but the US$500,000 guaranteed first prize of the PartyGammon.com Million is estimated to exceed this year's World Championship top prize five times over!
Anticipated to become the game's most glamorous event, many of the globe's top champions and international celebrities will attend the PartyGammon.com Million, designed to complement the flourishing new era of popularity in the game.
Maybe NOW we'll dry out...
I've taken a bit of good-natured ribbing from some of my colleagues over the past couple of days because I said it looked likely we'd start drying out a couple of days ago, and of course, in some ways, we did. The low-pressure system that drifted through the Bahamas and over Florida finally moved north, taking with it strong, consistent rain. But as anyone who has lived in Florida knows, from May through October, it can and will rain at anytime in any location. So I apologize to anyone who thought that they would be completely dry. I'm sorry if it rained at your house, and not at mine, or at your work, and not across the street in the shopping center. I'm sure it'll get me back sometime this summer. The south and mid-Atlantic are now drying out too. For the first time in what seems like forever, Friday's forecast for the Washington DC area is just partly sunny - no chance of precipitation.
Mark Ritson on branding: Volvo is chasing fool's gold
On paper, at least, the latest activity for Volvo's SUV, the XC90, looks good. Its agency Euro RSCG has created an integrated campaign featuring TV ads, PR, internet, viral and the all-important integration with a summer movie.The trouble with the XC90 campaign is the movie Volvo has selected. I'm not sure about you, but if I was to promote a state-of-the-art SUV then Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest would probably not be at the top of my list. For a start, it is set 200 years in the past. Then there is the small problem that most of the movie takes place at sea.
I would love to have sat in on the blue-sky meeting in which the Volvo marketing team came up with the idea of promoting a 21st century SUV with an 18th century nautical swashbuckler.
I can imagine the room.
Pat Bain Concedes?
After almost a month of uncertainty over who would lead the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union it appears that the organisation is one step closer to having a new leader now that one of the two candidates who was vying for that post has missed a key election runoff deadline. .GERTRUDE ELIZABETH 'BETSY' COOPER BLUM
Gertrude Elizabeth "Betsy" Cooper Blum was active with community organizations, especially the YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas, where she helped develop programs for teens.Mrs. Blum, 81, died Wednesday of a heart attack at a hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.
A memorial service will be at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 4 at St. John's Catholic Church in Atlantic Beach, Fla., where she had lived the last five years.
Mrs. Blum is the wife of retired Belo Corp. executive Richard D. Blum. Mr. Blum was a Belo senior vice president when he retired in December 1983. Belo is the parent company of The Dallas Morning News.
"She was an extremely bright woman," said her daughter, Peggy Groppo of Sudbury, Mass. "She grew up on a little farm in Iowa and ended up in New York City working for Life magazine.