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The Ivo empire finally was toppled Sunday at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, but there's no need to be nasty about it.

Tournament organizers even sent a cake and candles to center court following Ivo Karlovic's 6-2, 6-3 championship match loss, inviting a sympathetic crowd to sing Happy Birthday to the 6-foot- 10 Croatian with the shy smile and the sledgehammer serve.

Ernests Gulbis, a first-time winner on the ATP Tour, was the only player to draw a bead on Ivo's 140-mph missiles this week. At the end of the match, the mop-topped Latvian even served up some fire of his own, topping out at 137 mph, but the real difference was Gulbis' crazy court coverage.

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"He was really cool, calm," said Karlovic, "like nothing could impress him."

Playing in his first ATP final? Child's play for Gulbis, 21, who prepped for Sunday afternoon's match by driving PlayStation auto racing games until 2:30 a.m.

This is the familiar, yet fresh face of a Delray Beach champion, for Gulbis is the seventh to make this tournament his first career win. The only real surprise is that Andy Roddick, a local legend and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, isn't one of them.

Andy had a 4-4 record in the Delray event while commuting from his Boca Raton home, with a loss in the 2002 final as the top seed included in that, but has done fairly well for himself elsewhere. He was No. 1 in the ATP world rankings at 21, which is the same age of Sunday's Delray champion.

With Gulbis, anything is still possible, regardless of the fact that he's the fifth unseeded player to win at Delray and none of the others, not even last year's champion Kei Nishikori, has ever climbed higher than 35th in the world rankings.

Call this win a continuation of promising trends, then. Gulbis made Roger Federer play three sets in the season opener at Qatar, which shows he's out for more than autographs, and he reached the semifinals last week at Memphis before losing to eventual champion Sam Querrey.

The Bridesmaid dresses secret to further success may be never letting this game get under his skin. That means hanging on to the joy of the game. Sure, there's an occasional obscenity -- he got a violation for one Sunday -- but that may simply be an attempt at maintaining the professional standards of the day.

"Until the age of 13 or 14, I practiced four or five times a week for a couple of hours each time," Gulbis said. "That way, I was really happy to go to practice. I was going to school, doing what regular kids do, and tennis was something I was really happy to do. I see kids who are 14 practicing six to seven hours a day. That's crazy."

Every player finds his own path. John McEnroe, who lost to Patrick Rafter Tuesday night in the Champions Tour final of this Delray Beach combo affair, never met a linesman who wasn't blind and never lost a match that didn't rip out his heart.

Karlovic is more at ease with his lot in a lucrative life. He's the No. 3 player in Croatia alone and running a little late on his shot at joining the tennis elite, but this loss won't ruin him, even with a pair of double-faults to close out the match with a resounding kerplunk.

"What is important is that I'm healthy and overall I have played well all year and next week is the Davis Cup," said Karlovic, who joins his Beads countrymen in Croatia in a few days to take on Ecuador.

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Companies to Pursue Opportunities in the Recreational Marine Industry

NAPLES, Fla. -- Gulf Coast Capital Partners, LLC (鈥淕ulf Coast Capital鈥?, announced today that one of its affiliates has extended a credit facility to Global Marine Boats, LLC (鈥淕lobal Marine鈥? in order to pursue single asset and portfolio opportunities in the recreational marine industry. The new facility will provide Global Marine with capital to expand their market leading marine wholesale business.

Benjamin M. Statler, CEO, Gulf Coast Capital, commented, "We are excited to be partnering with Global Marine, a firm that has been focused on driving activity in what many view as an out of favor industry. We are bringing a creative capital solution to an industry experiencing a dire lack of liquidity, as well as an unprecedented downturn in demand. We look forward to working with the Global Marine management team and their dedicated associates during these difficult yet opportunistic times."

Joe Lieser, President, Global Marine, said, 鈥淭he capital being provided by designer handbags Gulf Coast will enable us to grow our business, increase Homecoming dresses the average size of our transactions, pursue larger and more diverse inventories, and to better serve our friends in the marine industry. While most firms would shy away from the boating industry during times like these, Gulf Coast saw this as an opportunity and moved quickly to make it happen.鈥?

Overview of Global Marine

Global Marine is one of the largest marine resellers specializing in the wholesale purchase and resale of used boats through domestic and international channels. The principals of Global Marine have over 35 years of combined industry experience affording them the knowledge to operate successfully in today鈥檚 challenging economic environment. Global Marine already enjoys well established working relationships with several leading marine retailers and is regarded as a trustworthy and reliable resource helping to provide capital to an industry that lacks liquidity.

Overview of Gulf Coast Capital Partners

Gulf Coast Capital (鈥淕CC鈥?, along with its affiliates, is a private investment firm focused on providing capital to middle market companies in special situations. GCC invests in quality companies with significant market share, blue-chip customers, strong brand equity, and high barriers to entry that are operationally challenged, financially distressed, or non-core subsidiaries of larger corporations. GCC focuses on a wide range of industries including industrials, services, commodities, consumer, and technology.

GCC鈥檚 investments can take the form of leveraged buyouts, control equity recapitalizations, debtor-in-possession financings, special situation loans, and acquisitions of distressed debt and real estate. GCC鈥檚 investment targets include underperforming businesses with below average or negative EBITDA margins, distressed companies in need of liquidity where speed and certainty are critical, non-core subsidiaries of larger corporations (corporate divestitures), businesses in cyclical or out-of-favor industries, companies undergoing balance sheet or operational restructurings, and acquisitions via out-of-court

Byline: GEMMA ROGERS

IF YOU'RE saving the pennies, where better to put them than in these pretty purses?

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Beaded, ?3,430, Bvlgari, 020 7872 9969

Red, ?2,240, Cartier, 020 7290 5150

Jewelled, ?1,160, Missoni, 020 7352 2400

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Green, ?250, Mulberry at mywardrobe.com

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Tan, ?1,415, Alexander McQueen, 01423 520 303

Blue, ?200, Pierre Hardy, 020 7518 0690

Patchwork, ?575, Etro, 020 7495 5767

Snakeskin, ?595, Mulberry, 020 7491 3900

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Shipper determines that CHEP pallet pooling has lower cost than alternative shipping platforms

DELRAY BEACH, FL -- Pero Family Farms Food Company, a leading grower/shipper of a wide range of vegetables, today announced it has moved almost all of its shipments to the CHEP pallet pooling system. The company is using CHEP pallets to transport Pero Family Farms and Freshwrap brand peppers, eggplant, zucchini, string beans and other commodities from facilities in Delray Beach, Omega, GA and Benton Harbor, MI to supermarkets, club stores, wholesalers and foodservice distributors in the Eastern half of the United States and Canada.

Pero Family Farms previously deployed a Akoya Pearl Jewelry combination of pallet exchange and limited use white wood pallets, but was encouraged to switch to CHEP by their customers. The company moved to CHEP after trying the system and seeing significant labor and storage improvements.

鈥淲e view the use of the CHEP pallet program as a best practice for anyone in the produce industry, providing us lower material and storage costs, the elimination of double handling and a series of environmental benefits,鈥?said Scott Seddon, Brand Manager of Pero Family Farms Food Company.

Seddon added that Pero Family Farms has made sustainability an on-going imperative for the company, and that CHEP pallets and reducing cardboard packaging are one of the highlights of the company鈥檚 efforts along with.

Based on third-party Life-Cycle Inventory Analysis findings, through its use of the CHEP pooling system as opposed to limited-use whitewood pallets, Pero Family Farms is reducing solid waste generation by more than 415,000 pounds each year, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 58 percent and saving enough energy to power about 34 homes with electricity.*

鈥淧ero Family Farms, like a lot of mid-sized produce companies, are initially attracted to the CHEP program at the urging of retail and wholesale customers, and then find a myriad of cost and productivity benefits from our pallets. We are committed to ensure that those benefits continue to reduce costs and boost productivity for both companies like Pero Family Farms and their trading partners,鈥?said Tim Smith, Vice President, New Business Development, CHEP USA.

Wholesale Coral Beads *Savings based on Life-Cycle Inventory Analysis of CHEP USA pallet pooling program conducted by Franklin Associates. The calculation is based on Franklin Associates, "Solid Waste Analysis And Life Cycle Inventory Of Pallet Systems", 2006 Update.

About Pero Family Farms Food Company

Pero Family Farms Food Company grows and markets Pero Family Farms and Freshwrap brand peppers, eggplant, zucchini, string beans and other commodities from facilities in Delray Beach, FL; Omega, GA and Benton Harbor, MI. The privately held company is based in Delray Beach and Turquoise Jewelry Wholesale employs more than 100 people.

About CHEP

CHEP is the global leader in pallet and container pooling services serving many of the world's largest companies. The company has more than 7Christian Louboutin Shoes
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Tigertail crimping, pearl knotting and all the other secrets of bead jewellery-making are being revealed at Brixham.

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Tutor Claire Voutsinas, who learned her design skills in Australia, is hunting for beginners who want to make their own unique pieces, at a Saturday workshop on May 16.

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The Brixham Community College session gives everyone a chance to be creative and Claire is expecting a wide variety of items to be produced.

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Antique beading and the use of gimp and cords are all part of the one-day syllabus, which costs pounds16. Materials are being supplied by the tutor at cost price. Call the college on 01803 853302.

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Charlie Dodge was training to become a make-up artist when she started making jewellery for herself.

Her beautiful, handmade pieces are all highly individual and covetable, but it was a while before she realised that friends and family "weren't just being nice" when they asked her to make similar pieces for them, too.

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Now she's been designing her own jewellery for six years, splitting her time between Dorset, just outside Dorchester, and London, and has just launched a website,

She makes all of her necklaces and bracelets herself, and prices range from pounds25 to pounds250.

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No Discount Beads two pieces are exactly the same but all feature brightly coloured stones and beads, including pearls, Swarovski crystals and semi-precious stones ranging from blue agate to citrine, mother of pearl and pink opals.

"I am constantly designing new pieces depending on my mood and the individual style of my customers," she says.

"I think they really love the fact that each item is different - and they are never going to bump into someone wearing the same piece."

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Pat Woodford's beaded jewellery course

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BEADED jewellery-making has been around for 5,000 years and Isle resident Patricia Woodford has been bringing this ancient art to people in 21st century Thanet for the last ten.

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Recently I went along to one of her workshops, held in her studio in Quex Park Craft Village, where she has taught for five years.

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Beaded jewellery, with its intricate designs and patterns, has been part of the traditions and rituals of ancient civilisations all over the world. Materials used have ranged from wood, ceramics, metal, glass and pearls to gemstones and precious stones.

Everyone at Pat's class spoke enthusiastically of the therapeutic benefits of beadwork and their passion for the craft was evident. They warned me it was addictive!

Would-be jewellery makers come from as far afield as Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and even London.

Classes are held on Tuesdays at 7pm and on Saturdays at 10.30am and 2pm. The Pounds 7 cost includes refreshments but the cost of materials is extra.

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E-mail or call 07877873370. Pat's colleague, Veronica Tinkler of Udelovich Designs also holds classes in chain mail and wirework. Visit or call 01843 836196.

Rosemary Stanford

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A giant bluefin tuna fetched $177,000 in an auction Tuesday at the world's largest wholesale fish market in Japan.

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The 513-pound fish was the priciest since 2001 when a 440-pound tuna sold for a record $220,000 at Tokyo's Tsukiji market.

The gargantuan tuna was bought and shared by the owners of a Cheap Steel Laser Rings Japanese sushi restaurant and a Hong Kong-based sushi bar, said a market representative on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

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Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood with Japanese eating 80 percent of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught. The two tuna species are the most sought after by sushi-lovers.

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By Scott Harper

The Virginian-Pilot

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Chip Holland arrived at work before 7 a.m. Friday to find three German soccer fans waiting for him at the door.

The trio helped Holland set up the bar at Murphy's, an Irish pub on 30th Street and Pacific Avenue at the Oceanfront, and then they turned on the big-screen TV.

It was game time. The World Cup, live from South Africa. Germany vs. Serbia. And the fans were thirsty.

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Soon afterward, amid the first (or second?) round of Jagermeister shots, American fans began to trickle in.

Some were decked out in red-white-and-blue USA jerseys, Mardi Gras beads and floppy hats. Others, such as Navy Lt. Michael Schenck, were in shorts and flip-flops, grabbing choice seats at the bar before the real match - United States vs. Slovenia - began at 10 a.m.

"You want to find a place where you can be surrounded by 100 other fans, a place where you can hug a stranger and not feel weird about it," said Schenck, 25, who is on leave from his ship for another week.

That much time off meant one thing to Schenck: more World Cup matches to see with friends and shipmates.

By kickoff at 10 , before most places are even open, Murphy's was packed. It was hard to find a parking space outside. Even the patio bar was filled with soccer fans, their eyes glued to a giant screen, hands wrapped around a pint of something cold.

"We cater to a soccer and rugby crowd anyway, so this is a big deal for us," said Holland, a manager and bartender at Murphy's. "We see a lot of the same faces in here around World Cup time. It can get crazy."

Murphy's is one of the few restaurants in the region that has been opening at 7 a.m. to show the first World Cup matches of the day.

On most weekdays, games start at 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Many sports bars and pubs have been opening early for the second match and definitely the third. But the first? Only a handful.

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Morning business has been "OK," Holland said, noting how only World Cup die-hards typically come in so early. But things definitely pick up when big-name teams such as Germany, Brazil or England are playing.

And when America is on, forget about it. The place is jumping.

"You couldn't get in here last Saturday," when USA played England to a 1-1 draw, Holland said.

Schenck was there, too. He said whenever an English fan walked in, the crowd started chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" until the fan found a place to hide in the mayhem, and everyone laughed and high-fived.

Things were not so rowdy Friday, as the Americans were down 2-0 to Slovenia by halftime.

"Might as well go back to work," said one young fan dressed in a shirt and tie and dress slacks. He did not want to give his name, worried his boss might learn he had skipped out to watch the match.

In Norfolk, at Baxter's Sports Lounge on Granby Street, the second half was all USA. And, all yelling at the wall of TVs by a group of mostly guys looking like they had skipped out of work, too.

When the Americans tied the score at 2-2, Baxter's erupted in a loud, universal "YEA!"Christian Louboutin Shoes
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