There’s a good chance that I looked something like this guy, but I must admit, I don’t remember a thing from my recent curling accident.

All I know is that curling = one fractured tailbone and one embarassed gal.

Seriously, who breaks their BUTT curling? It’s like the most non-contact sport on earth.

My poor derrière is not pleased.

I have to admit that when I heard Princes Street was to re-open to buses, taxi’s and cycles I was sceptical.  Visiting Princes Street often for a variety of reasons it was hard not to notice the mess made to it by the current tram-works so when it was announced that it would re-open, albeit temporarily, on November 29th I have to admit I said “Ha, ha”.

I suppose the idea behind it is to have it all open for Christmas and New Year.  After all, those two festivities would hardly be the same if Princes Street were completely closed off as it has been.

At the East end there is the German market plus the Christmas market, ice rink and big wheel plus some other attractions.  These are all very hard to access when Princes Street is closed off.  I’m sure the council pictured a nightmare when they thought of it.

Princes Street Gardens is always a hive of activity over Christmas and especially New Year so it made sense that it is completely open.

I believe that there was a slight delay of a couple of hours on Sunday the 29th of November but that Princes Street was opened fairly successfully.

I was there today, meeting a friend for dinner.  I can’t say that I noticed anything special about the street being re-opened, it barely felt like it had been closed.  There were a lot of people wandering about looking for their bus-stop as Lothian Buses  haven’t necessarily returned them all to the same place but they have done their best in helping people to locate them.  Every Lothian Bus has had leaflets placed on them and the signs are fairly readable on the bus stops, plus bus-trackers have been installed.  So hopefully people weren’t put out too much by the transition.

Happy travelling,

OneEdinburghBlog

Hey, Theres A New Snow And Sports Catalog! And Heres The Cheats:

So Theres Lots Of Hockey Stuff So You Can Go And Play Some Hockey With Your Freinds! Who Are You Gonna Be Red? Blue? Or Green?

~Pizza Bar~ Penguin Insider 2 Owner

Hey, The Ice Rinks Back! I Love The Ice Rink Slidding Around And Scoring That Round Think ROFL xP, Look At The Map Its Been Added:

And Heres A Picture Of The Rink Its All Dressed Up xD

Do You Like The Ice Rink Or Football Pitch Better?

~Pizza Bar~ Penguin Insider 2 Owner

Yesterday the Great Snow Maze was opened and the fun began. CP Team started out with updating the game on Ski Hill. You can now purchase Racing Sleds. There is also a free blue pompom togue also located at the Ski Hill. Next the Ice Rink returns and the Soccer Pitch is gone for the season. There is a new Sports Catalog that is apperently going to stay the same for 4 months. Now for the maze. The maze is located in the Ski Village. You can attemp it yourself or use the given map for help. If you make it to the end, you will recieve a prize (Yeti Constume). Next week, there will be a new Winter Clothing Catalog for the Month of December. That’s all for this week. Check back soon for more updates.

The Ski Hill:

The Ice Rink:

The Sports Catalog:

The Maze:

~Qez

The Soccer Pitch has been replaced with an Ice Rink in time for the winter celebrations! This area is decorated for the festivities and is open to free and member penguins. To travel here you can click on the map on the left hand side of the screen and then click on Ice Rink.

Hey

Scroll Down for The Great Snow Maze Cheats. Or Click Here

After a very long time the Ice Rink has been brought back to Club Penguin to replace the Soccer Pitch.

Waddle On

Eddersm

hey guys the ice rink is bak and is decorated for its coming backness!! Here is a picture of what it looks like along with all the decorations.

Hello Penguins!

There is some great news today!

The Ice Rink has came back! My favorite place!

Look at those sweet decorations!

I hope you guys like it!

Here are the new hidden item Club Penguin cheats in the new November 2009 Snow and Sports Shop catalog.

Here’s how to find the first hidden item, the Green Hockey Jersey:

1. Go to the 1st page of the Snow and Sports catalog.
2. Click on the green penguin outside of the Ice Rink.

Here’s how to find the second hidden item, the Green Goalie Gear:

1. Go to the 2nd page of the Snow and Sports catalog.
2. Click on the light green penguin in the top right.

Here’s how to find the third hidden item, the White Pom-poms:

1. Go to the 3rd page of the Snow and Sports catalog.
2. Click on the letters, “ICE” in the top left.

After months of having the Soccer Pitch, the Ice Rink has finally returned to the Club Penguin map. It has replaced the Soccer Pitch. You can find the Ice Rink next to the Snow Forts.

The Ice Rink has returned (again, after being replaced… again) at long last. Honestly, I like it much better than the Soccer Pitch.

That’s all!

~Powerflare

Club Penguin finally released back the Ice Rink!It replaced the Soccer pitch.You can find the Ice Rink next to the Snow Forts.Check it out:

What do you like more Soccer Pitch or Ice Rink?

Ok so its a busy busy Friday folks! Here is the one, AND ONLY, Zxz192 bringin’ you todays cheats!

Ok so shall we start off with the new Snow and Sports Catalog. Of course we should. Well here we go!

Click on the Dark Green Penguin for the Green Hockey Jersey!

Click on the Lime Green Penguin for the Green Goalie Gear.

Click on the word “ICE” for the White Pom-Poms.

Ok, you may be wondering why all this Ice Hockey stuff has come back. Well here is the answer. THE ICE RINK IS BACK!! WOOT!!

See ya next summer Soccer Pitch!

Ok, because of the Snow Maze coming out today, CP realised that non members may want to get into the spirit of things too, so they brought out a NEW free item!!

Go to the Ski Hill for Blue Pompom Toque!!!

Ok now its Snow Maze time!! I know that many of you members are having trouble solving the maze. WELL NEVER FEAR!! I marked out the route that you follow on this map so you can complete the maze easily.

Remember everyone, the maze is MEMBERS ONLY. Sorry non members.

When you get to the end of the maze, look what you can get. A YETI COSTUME!!

Cool huh?

Card-Jitsu Fire Guide page coming soon!

-Zxz192

This party is very good! The maze is REALLY hard, but I want to start with the non-member free item! It’s in the ski hill!

Also, THE ICE RINK IS BACK!

I missed you icey!*hugs puck*

Here are the directions for the Great Maze:

left
first up
straight
sraight
straight
left
left
right
straight
right
left
up

Video showing directions:

<embed width=”440″ height=”420″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” src=”http://v6.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=1zd17d0&s=6″><br><font size=”1″><a href=”http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=1zd17d0&s=6″>Original Video</a> – More videos at <a href=”http://tinypic.com”>TinyPic</a></font>

I think it’s a VERY hard maze, I had to keep going back to the map!!!
~~oisin1001~~

Recently there have been more and more stories of job losses and factory closings in the news. I cannot report these every time it they appear because I have no opinion on them and everyone knows they are happening. Cargotech cuting 168 jobs in Finland is one recent example of more job less. I have seen a few shops in the local area that have been announcing their closing sales (most noticeably Koti Idea but again just how many furniture shops do we need??!) but while visiting the unemployment office yesterday I didn’t see a huge lineup of people searching for work. In fact there was my wife and one other fellow who was searching on the computer. I took the time to flip through the apprenticeship opportunities and there were quite a few different career paths to choose from at the moment. Including a local flower shop just down the street from me searching for a sales person. That experience along with reading an article about UPM having no further plans to close any more paper mills is very nice to see but in no means gives me hopes that the economy is getting better. I know better than to be so naïve.

Speaking of being naïve lets take a look at what Imatra is doing about the “economical downturn”: Imatra’s Future Ice Rink.

“What??? Whaaaaaat?” You may be shouting. Okay okay, close your mouth and rub the amazement from your eyes. Back down to reality.

Imatra is no different than the rest of the world. Slow economy, tight budget. These are desperate times. Parents are struggling to keep their jobs and food on the table. But Imatra is not worried! They cut jobs and layoffs employees to save some million euros as well as build a brand new ice rink which will cost around 8-10 million euros!

My wife and I saw this last night on the news after Smilla’s kids show on channel 2. Both of our mouths dropped. When these city workers are suffering and losing their jobs the city of Imatra decides to go ahead with an 8 million euro project. Shouldn’t that money be saved to assure the jobs of these others? Which is more important? The hopeless dreams of your child reaching the NHL or supporting the local economy?

Yes, I realize that in the short term there will be jobs created at the new ice rink. People are needed to keep it in running order. But weigh those jobs to the city workers who were let go before the announcement of the arena took place. In the long run (5-6 years down the line) if the economy goes into depression who will be arriving at the arena for hockey practice? No one. No one will be able to afford ice time. Then it continues down the line, the lack of ice time rental will lead to lack of funds to finance maintenance costs (everyone knows artificial ice rinks require a lot of energy). Then 10 years later the arena is sitting empty and 8 million euros have been wasted and unnecessary jobs lost all because a few city council members hopes and dreams of their kid in the NHL.

Conflict of interest.

Before pointing a finger at me and accusing me of being against possible future hockey stars, construction workers, zamboni drivers, concession workers or steamed hot dogs. I support hockey and recreational sports. I played both lacrosse and hockey in my youth and enjoyed both. I strongly believe in encouraging our young to be physically active instead of sitting at home watching TV and playing video games. Yes, a lot of construction workers are going to miss out on building this structure and that is a shame but there will be other opportunities. In order for you to get your few months work a few dozen city workers had to lose theirs. I do not believe hockey players should be making millions of American dollars per contract to shoot a puck into a net. But when people’s jobs are at stake what comes first? A 8 million euro arena project with the potential of crumbling before their very eyes in the economical state we are in or the chance to stay level headed and save jobs and keep the money flowing?

A question that needs to be asked first and seriously discussed is: which decision will save/create more jobs and make money flow better?

I will eat my words if Pertti Bird can propose a plan to show how the economy will truly benefit from this but until then I don’t buy it.

A new issue of the Club Penguin Times will be released on Thursday November 26th, 2009.

The ice rink will be returning to replace the soccer pitch on Friday November 27th.

A new catalog for Snow and Sports will be released on November 27th, 2009. Make sure to check for new backgrounds!

A new pin will be released on December 4th, 2009.

Hey Everyone! Club Penguin Times Issue 214 is here! And finally Club Penguin have listened to my E-Mails asking for the Ice Rink to return, and they have listened to me! You have to admit the Soccor Pitch sucks compared to the Ice Rink! Well, if you have never seen the Ice Rink before, it looks like this:

They are going to bring back the Red and Blue Hockey Jerseys, and the Hockey Stick which I already have in my inventory. I am so glad they are bringing it back! Comment to say what you think!

And also, The Newspaper tells us that the new Winter Sport Catalog will have new items, and there is a picture of penguins with Plastic Sleds

now these sleds can be seen at the Ski Village and in the Sports Shop, they have been there since I can remember, and have never been brought out, just like the skis you can see outside the Sports Shop!

And also, a yellow sled can be seen at the Sports Shop in the corner!

To View the Newspaper Issue 214 without logging in to CP, click the image below!

In Other News, Screenhog discussed Card-Jitsu Fire on the Club Penguin Developer Blog yesterday, to check out what he has to say, click here. Plus, they gave us a new sneak peek of the Volcano Fire Challenge!

I also found another Fire Dojo Sneak Peek, but this one is of the full room! I don’t know how people find this stuff, but I got this one from Coolchazman’s blog!

Until Then…Waddle On!

Yesterday evening I worked in the Science museum for a leukemia research gala.

I got out of the underground in South Kensington and just around the corner, there is my favourite cheese shop La Cave a Fromage. Already the window display shows the amazing range of cheeses offered. When entering the shop, the room is filled with wonderful smells of cheese and bread. It is definitely worth a visit.

Later I walked along exhibition road, when suddenly the Natural History museum was to my left, all lit up in red colours and beautiful trees with little white lights. In the corner of the museum is an ice rink which is open until the 17th of January from 08:45 until 22:00 on weekends and from 10:00 until 22:00 during the week.

Ticket prices are:

• Children (12 and under): £8.50 peak / £8 off-peak
• Adults: £13 peak / £11.50 off-peak
• Family ticket (2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children): £34.50 peak / £31 off-peak
• Concessions: £10.50 off-peak only

Although I find the tickets a bit expensive, I will want to ice- scating as soon as possible.

Hey CP, its thursday and you know what that means!Club Penguin Times!

Ok so their is going to be a new better igloos catalog, a new upgrde catalog and a new pin coming out tommorow! On november 24th Card Jitsu Fire will start! On November 27 their is goingto be a new snow and sports catalog and the Ice rink returns! Oh by the way the catalogs are goingto be for christmas! =D

That’s all!

~Thunderman87~

Follow Thunderman87 on Twitter!

The ice rink has opened at Embarcadero Center this week. I was wondering what they were constructing there, although I expected ice rink.

You can enjoy skating from November 11 through January 3. Please visit their website for more information.

And the Ferry Building is illuminated by blue lights. Cool.

I obviously haven’t “graduated” in the world of online dating according to eHarmony’s recent TV ads that pose them as the graduate school of online dating websites…for people who are ready for REAL grown-up relationships. There’s been an interesting shift in their advertising strategy from TV ads featuring stories by gooey eyed couples at ice rinks and nature trails to self-proclaiming themselves as the “relationship” website and targeting older audiences.

Apparently being THAT in love gives you the strength and balance to do a push-up against the rail of a ferryboat- while kissing your ethnically diverse girlfriend and making sure you don’t throw her overboard. Cool. Sign me up.

While this may work for some, I’m probably too liberal and not Christian enough to join eHarmony; led by Christian founder Dr. Warren (who only believes in matching heterosexuals). I’m also just too lazy to fill out their long ass questionnaire and am not interested in marrying my twin soul or someone who’s compatible with me on 29 dimensions. All this being said, I’m still a freshman at the online school of dating…and I’m on eHarmony’s competitor site, that is “based on pictures and 1-paragraph profiles”. I guess I’m just THAT shallow. I have friends who’ve tried eHarmony and complain about the lack of profile pictures, being matched with people who live far away and who are way too old for them. I think eHarmony should watch and learn a bit before pretending to be the Ivy League of online dating- oops, I mean online “relationships”.

And can we just talk about how much freaking money these “success story couples” are making every time they fucking re-appear in a commercial, or are in magazine and online ads?! Let me just say they’re wealthier than most people you’ll ever meet! You think they’d get sick of each other after spending hours together driving to shoots, posing for the camera, waiting in between takes, and dancing around in their socks in their pretend living room…but nooo…it only makes their bond stronger- because they’re just THAT perfect for each other. I liked this ad about the artsy couple the best- nothing like finishing one another’s sentences, creating art together, and dancing until 5am to no music splattered in clay and dust, a la Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in Ghost.

So takeaways- unless you:

a) Enjoy answering 450 questions
b) Are ready to spend hours on the phone with a complete stranger
c) Want to nosedive into a relationship
d) Are irrational

…you should probably be content if you’re only a freshman in the online dating world…or even better, have never tried it! Only sign up if you’re convinced you can become a poster couple and roll in the dough.

BEAT STAFF REPORT

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Union Square.

The tree is up, the Holiday Ice Rink opens to skaters Wednesday. Some shots from this week when workers were busy getting the thing up and running in time for opening day.

This week we’ve been feeling all festive (we know there are about 50 days to go til Xmas but we don’t care!)

Big sparkly jingle bells to:

• Ice Skating: the lovely rink at the Natural History Museum has fairy lights and a big tree as well as mulled wine, green and blacks chocolate and the rink itself. Thanks to Amy at Amazing Media for inviting us and here’s Zoe’s footage…

• Snowball Martini: one of the Xmas cocktails at the Mandeville Hotel. It’s like a snowglobe in a glass and tastes like After Eights mints…

• Luke Blackall: thanks for writing the Justin Sandercoe biog for us And yes, Mr Bling will be in safe hands…

• Marshall: girl band The Kut have an endorsement with the king of the amps and big thanks to their press office for being helpful…
• The nice people working on the train from Arundel to Victoria: how refreshing to have ticket inspectors who are friendly and have a sense of humour!
• Pearl Lowe for Peacocks: we have a selection of dresses in the office that are really cute. Great collaboration
• Matt Wells from DV8: we’re loving working with you. The greatest things are so often the simplest…
• Nic Carrington from Voltz: thanks for coming all the way up from Bournemouth to have lunch with us!

And lumps of coal:

• Gloves and mittens: Dan and I have both lost ours and it’s pretty chilly in the tube train…

• This Dating Coach Guy: check him out… £20 to get all the *advice* he has to offer on finding a man. We wonder how much Sam Young could charge for this service!

• Anyone who thinks it’s too early to put up tinsel: come and hang out in our tube carriage and we’ll change your mind. And bring some mince pies…

This week’s Happy Birthdays: Simon Ward, Rich Hendry and my mum…

Firgas