My Blog

INTRODUCTION

Perhaps I should start by asking the question “What is a Home Based Business? This is any business operated from the comfort of the residential home of the owner.

The next question is who is a Home Based Business owner? This refers to an Entrepreneur who decides to run his business from the comfort of his home.

I decided to clarify these terms because there is a huge difference between a Home Based Business owner and a Home worker who might be working with a government/private organization but decides to be working from home once or twice during the week.

Evolution of Home based Business

Many businesses operated from home usually start as a Micro or Small Enterprise. Some eventually metamorphose into Medium Scale Enterprise and others eventually grow into quite large companies.

The desire by Entrepreneurs to start operating businesses from home actually started in the 1980s. During this period, a lot of things combined to precipitate this massive desire by people to own Home based businesses.

In the main, the combination of many factors like socio- economic change, improved technology and new management thinking resulted in the loss of otherwise permanent paid employment and this encouraged people to attempt to revalidate their freedom by opting to set up a business at home.

The advent of new management thinking and theories like downsizing to make an organization Lean and more agile and efficient created fears in the mind of the average worker

So mass lay- offs helped create the right environment business for some workers to go it alone and set up a Home based business.

The period of late 1990 to 2010 can be appropriately described as the period of massive explosion in the establishment of businesses at home. The use of Computer, Internet and Mobile Technology helped in the growth of this idea.

I strongly believe the idea of setting up business at home will continue to be positive and will remain so for a long time.

The continued upsurge in the desire of people to own businesses has attracted the attention of Universities and other higher institutions. They have responded by introducing different courses and programs on Entrepreneurial studies to cater for these needs.

Unlike earlier belief that businesses run from home are not well managed and don’t make good money, the present situation is that many Entrepreneurs motivated to set up business at home now have college degrees including a lot of high level professionals with business exposure.

The entrepreneurial spirit is innate in all of us and we only need to be adequately motivated to take the necessary action.

It’s really an exciting world out there.

THE HOME BASED BUSINESS EXPLOSION

As stated earlier, though the crave for running businesses from home started way back in the 1980s, what can be termed the explosion of this way of doing business was between the late 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium.(2010+)

This coincided with the time when the setting up of a Home based business became a Fad. According to Mr Lewis of the National Association of Home Based Businesses, Home based business in the United States grew from about 6 million in 1984 to 23 million by 2007.

With the help of modern technology like computers, mobile phones, printers and the huge power of the internet, more work is being done virtually than ever before and more global businesses are routinely being run from home.

According to the 2012 GEM report, 69 percent of American entrepreneurs start their business at home from either a spare room in the house, the dining table or from the garage. The report further revealed that more than 50 percent of entrepreneurs continue to operate from home even after the business has taken off successfully and stabilized.

Again according to Mr. Lewis of the National Association of Home Based Businesses, his own companies do training in 20 countries, import eyeglass frames from China and also develop condominiums.

Mr. Nuyten of the Home Based Business Statistics in America quoted the following statistics as at 2012:

38 million Businesses were operating from residential homes in America

A new business is started from home every 12 seconds in the United States

The Home Based Business sector in the United States earned Four Hundred and Twenty Seven billion dollars.

It revealed that 70 percent of Americans would like to be self- employed.

Entrepreneurship has become entrenched in the psyche of the average person. The Baylor University study of 2005 revealed then that more than 5 million jobs had been lost in Fortune 500 companies since 1980 while 34 million were created in small businesses.

The United States Census Bureau data of October 2012, also revealed that the number of businesses being operated from home have been on the rise since 1999.

The United Kingdom Experience

The continued growth in the Home based business sector appears to be a global phenomenon as the report from the United Kingdom will show shortly.

The United Kingdom department of Business, Innovation and Skills released a report titled ” Backing for Home Business” which revealed that 2.9 million home based businesses in the United Kingdom contributed 300 billion pounds sterling to the UK economy. The report also stated that 70 percent of all new businesses in the United Kingdom started from home.

According to Home Business report compiled by Enterprise Nation, 1,400 new businesses are started from home each week.

This report also confirmed that out of a total of 4.5 million small and medium enterprises, 2.1 million are Home based businesses.

Every year, as the Atlantic hurricane season approaches many businesses have a nagging realization that they are at risk due to a catastrophic “Black Swan ” event. Black Swan events are a constant source of risk in states like Florida where many communities are subject to disruption due to coastal storms. This risk is particularly acute for businesses that depend on the storage of on-line data if there is a chance their critical data could become lost or corrupted. But the threat from Black Swan events isn’t limited to Florida, nor is it limited to large scale disruptive events like hurricanes.The black swan theory or theory of black swan events describes a disruptive event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based on an ancient saying which presumed black swans did not exist, but the saying was rewritten after black swans were discovered in the wild. Consider the following scenario…

“We tend to think of disasters in terms of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina, or other mega events. Sometimes, however, less notable events occur that can have a catastrophic effect on a business. In February 1981, an electrical fire in the basement of the State Office Building in Binghamton, New York, spread throughout the basement of the building setting fire to a transformer containing over a thousand gallons of toxin-laden oil. Originally thought to be PCBs, the toxins were soon determined to contain dioxin and dibenzofuran, two of the most dangerous chemicals ever created. The fire was smoky and quickly filled the 18-story building with smoke. As the transformer burned, the soot entered the buildings ventilation shafts and quickly spread toxic soot throughout the building. The building was so badly contaminated that it took 13 years and over $47 million to clean before the building could be reentered or used. Because of the nature of the fire, the building and its contents, including all paper records, computers, and personal effects of the people who worked there, were not recoverable. This type of event would be irrecoverable for many businesses.” – Operations Due Diligence, Published by McGraw Hill

What affect would a catastrophic hurricane that affected an entire region or a localized disruptive event like a fire have on the operation of your business? Could you survive that kind of interruption or loss? As the dependence on on-line data has grown in virtually every type of business, so has the risk that loss of their data could disrupt the operation of the business and even result in its complete failure. In response to these threats, there has been an evolution in the approaches used to mitigate these risks as the volume of on-line data has continued to grow. Originally, the concept of Disaster Recovery (DR) emerged as a mitigation strategy that focused on the recovery of critical data after a disruptive event by giving the business the ability to restore disrupted IT operations.

Disaster Recovery (DR) involves a set of policies and procedures business that enable the restoration of critical business data and allows the IT infrastructure to be restored to a prior state. DR was originally seen as the domain of the IT department who were given responsibility for mitigating the risk. To minimize the risk, system backups were scheduled frequently and aggressive DR plans that included server cold start procedures and data backups were implemented.

The goal was to restore the infrastructure to the last point where the data had been backed up (at the time, typically on tape). The acceptable DR practices at the time allowed the IT system to be rebooted when the facility power was finally restored… Unless it was in a flood zone or the off-site backup storage facility had also been impacted. In either case, the operation of the facility could potentially be disrupted for some period of time and the data restoration was also potentially at risk depending on where backups were stored.

Now let’s roll the calendar ahead… As technology evolved so did the Disaster Recovery strategies, which lead to new concepts that evolved to the requirements for a Business Continuity solution as a means of mitigating risk. Still seen as the domain of IT, as technology moved towards solutions like shadow servers, distributed data locations and high speed bulk data transmission with hyper connectivity. Data no longer had to be “recovered”, it just had to be connected in distributed locations where it could be remotely accessed. Business Continuity mitigated the risk of data loss and allowed a business to recover much more quickly and efficiently from a Black Swan event because its servers never went completely down.

Business Continuity originally encompassed planning and preparation to ensure that an organization’s IT infrastructure remained intact enabling the business to efficiently recover to an operational state within a reasonably short period following a Black Swan event. Technology today has evolved towards cloud solutions that put both the data and the applications into remote “cloud” locations so it would seem the IT responsibility for mitigating the risk of on-line data loss or corruption has been solved. With highly connected, fully distributed solutions, some people feel the need for business continuity may be fading in criticality. Nothing could be further from the truth…

The fact is the risk was never solely in the loss of the data but the loss of the businesses ability to operate. There are businesses that cannot tolerate any disruption to their operations. These include healthcare, insurance, and communications companies, critical logistic suppliers, transportation providers and local governments. It is during Black Swan events that the services and products these businesses provide may be most needed. The requirements of other, less critical businesses, whose operations could be interrupted for days or even weeks, but who might face a significant financial risk, may also make their continued operation a matter of corporate survival.

Today’s technology has completely abstracted business processing and

Ready to be at the wheel?
March 10 and 11, 2018 gave aspiring and budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to connect and collaborate. As the best and brightest minds came together and brainstormed on on how to fuel their business growth. It is the most important aspect in any of the business. The conference at IIT Mumbai brought together the best breed of entrepreneurs, innovators, venture capitalists, business model creators, consultants, policy-makers, academicians, and business practitioners to present and discuss innovation and success under the aegis of entrepreneurship for Small and Medium Businesses.

Over the past decade or so, in the dilemma between joining family owned businesses and higher studies. The scales have been tipping towards entrepreneurship and joining family owned businesses.

Let us explore the genesis and the reason why:

The Genesis
Today, family-owned businesses account for two-thirds of the world’s businesses and generate most of the world’s economic output, employment and wealth. In many regions of the world, family companies dominate the economy. “Family-controlled firms now make up 19% of the companies in the Fortune Global 500,” states The Economist. In India alone, 67% businesses are family run. McKinsey forecasts, that by 2025,there will be more than 15,000 companies worldwide with at least $1 billion in annual revenues, of which 37% will be emerging-market family firms.

The need
There is a need for Family Business Management Programs whether you are in a successful family business or you are into a business facing challenges and trying to bring about a changeover.

Successful family business:

Successful family businesses are successful because families Business see important changes in their industry. Simply put, successful families are entrepreneurial. Also,families succeed because they invest in productive activities, emphasise growing assets, and consume relatively little of their wealth. These families maintain a culture that encourages family members to create things of lasting value. It’s not surprising that these families encourage entrepreneurs. Furthermore,successful families remain reasonably united, keeping supportive members loyal to one another and to the family’s mission. Over generations, as families become more diverse, it is likely that only a few relatives per generation will directly work in the business.

Outside-the-business members might still support family philanthropic efforts or social activities, and sometimes that level of involvement is enough to maintain family unity. But investing in family entrepreneurs can also keep talented members contributing to the broader family’s wealth and mission. Investing in family entrepreneurs has to be done objectively based on the feasibility of their business plans, and also fairly within the family. Even if some entrepreneurial projects don’t succeed, these investments will help you spot talent to keep your business growing. And you are sending an important message: this family is committed to creating value.

Family businesses – facing challenges
While family businesses on average are stronger performers than other types of enterprise, they face distinct challenges that need to be managed. This constraint often kills the family business.

This creates the need for a course of study in Family Business Management that helps students understand how to capitalize on the strengths, navigate the challenges, and guard against the weaknesses of the companies and the families that own them.

How is Family Business Management program different from an MBA in Entrepreneurship?
Both Family Business Management and an MBA in Entrepreneurship prepare you for setting up and gearing your own business. However, there is a subtle difference. Unlike MBA in Entrepreneurship which prepares students for a setting up a business, the Family Business Management programme is targeted at family business owners looking to sustain, scale and grow their businesses. The content and pedagogy includes concepts of entrepreneurship, business sustainability, market trends which thereby lead to portfolio expansion and business growth. The program would help you evaluate the state of your family businesses and gear you towards accelerating your business to the next level.

Colleges/Institutes for Entrepreneurial Management
Xavier School of Management (XLRI),Jamshedpur, offering a full-time six-month Post Graduate Programme for Certificate in Entrepreneurship Management (PGPCEM).

Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gandhinagar,offering a two-year, full-time, residential Post Graduate Diploma in Management-Business Entrepreneurship (PGDM-BE).

SP Jain Institute of Management and Research – Mumbai,Start Your Business Certification Program (SYB), Grow Your Business Certification Program (GYB), The Entrepreneurial Manager (TEM).

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies,Mumbai,M.B.A in Social Entrepreneurship

Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship – Bangalore, offering one year Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP)

Nirma Institute of Management,Ahmedabad,offering regular two-year MBA specialising in Family Business & Entrepreneurship.

Amity Business School,Noida, offering two year M.B.A in Entrepreneurship

IIM, Bangalore, specialization in Entrepreneurs & Family Businesses.

IIM Udaipur, Management Development Program for Women Entrepreneurs.

National Institute for Entrepreneurship & Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Delhi
The NIESBUD is an apex institute in the area of entrepreneurship and small business development under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. It oversees the activities of various institutions and agencies engaged in entrepreneurship development, particularly in the area of small industry and small business. It also provides numerous training and development courses for budding entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Many people enjoy travelling and will always do so at any available opportunity. Some people travel often because it is part of their job requirements. There are those who rarely travel but will gladly do so once in awhile especially during vacations. When leaving your home for a night or more, it is always very important to take along with you everything you need to make yourself as comfortable as possible for the period you are away from home. Also take with you everything you need to fulfill the purpose of your travel, such as things you may need if you are on official/ business trips. If you forget something you would have taken for your travel, it may not only frustrate you but also sour your spirit, You may even incur extra expenses because you may be forced to buy something you would otherwise not have bought. So it is important you plan ahead and decide what you need for your journey and what kind of suitcase or luggage bag will be most suitable for your journey. What you may need for your journey and the type of travel bag you will need depends on the length of time you will be away from home and also the mode of your travel. What you may need for a business trip will be different from your needs when going for a vacation. When you have made a good mental recollection of what you need for your travel and your mode of travel (travel by air or drive yourself to your destination), you then have to decide on the type of travel bag to pack your things in. You have to choose the type of suitcase or travel/ luggage bag that will give you the greatest flexibility and allows you to travel light.

Traveling With Luggage Bags /Garment Bags for Official/ Business Trips

Most people prefer to fly if they are travelling for official or business purposes such as attending business meetings or going for conferences. In this case you may be spending a night or two away from home, then your best choice of travel bag may be a carry-on bag with wheels or a messenger bag. The messenger bags and rolling bags are available in many sizes ranging from 13″ to 21″. Each of these travel bags lets you travel light because you can fit your computer into your travel bag. The unique design of each bag allows you to comfortably store your notebook/iPad in addition to clothing and personal accessories in the same bag. Each bag has special overnight luggage section that provides enough room for the clothes you need while on your journey. Each bag is perfect for short official/business trips. Each type of carry-on case has all necessary notebook case features including a zip-down workstation with storage for your mobile accessories, pen loops, key clip and business card holder. The rolling carry-on bags have smooth-rolling wheels and telescoping handle that makes the rolling case a perfect companion for the businessperson on the go.

Some people may prefer to travel with a garment bag, computer /notebook carrying case or a multipurpose handbag (for women). The garment bag is great for protecting clothes while traveling. The clothes stay neat and wrinkle free. The garment bag has multiple pockets and can hold up to 4 garments. It has four interior pockets that provide enough travel room for shoes and accessories like cosmetic/makeup bags, toiletry bags and curling hot iron cases. It also has one exterior pocket where you can put the book you want to read on the plane or any other thing you want to be handy while you are on the plane. This garment bag is very stylish, lightweight and durable. It has full-length center zipper that gives you easy access to the inside. It also has full exterior zipper closure that ensures that everything inside the bag is secured. When you have packed everything you want inside the bag, you can fold the garment bag into two. The bi-fold bag has two handles that makes it easy to carry. It also has a metal hanging hook that allows you to hang it on a wall. You can then use your multi-purpose handbag or computer/notebook carrying case to carry your computer/iPad.

Some other travelers may prefer to travel with an overnight bag. The overnight bag has zippered main closure with three zippered side pockets and two Velcro end pockets. It has adjustable shoulder strap and carrying handle. It also has a black linen inside lining that makes it great for wiping out and keeping clean.

Travel Accessories- Snoozer – Travel Neck Pillow / Blanket in Velura

Beside the travel/ luggage bags that you need to pack everything you need for your journey, you may consider other travel accessories such as a luxurious Velura covered neck rest that not only carries a soft, easy care Velura 40″ x 60″ blanket inside, but also has an inflatable pillow that allows you to enjoy a warm and comfortable trip. The PVC inflatable pillow is easy to inflate and deflate and the blanket is so soft that it easily folds back into the pillow cover. This snoozer-travel neck pillow/blanket in Velura is a compact, easy to carry travel item that you can use to provide comfort for yourself on any journey. This travel accessory is ideal for business or recreational travelers.

What You May Need When going on Family Vacation

Many families choose to travel by road when on a family vacation; Travelling together in a car is part of the close family experience that every family cherishes and long for every year. Preparing for this long travelling experience for the families can be a sweet challenge for parents, especially when the journey involves very young kids. The thought of how to keep them engaged and entertained all through the long journey can also be daunting.

It is no brainer to say that you need suitcases to pack the family’s clothing

Thanksgiving will soon be here. If you’d like to spend the holiday doing something more exciting than eating and drinking, then consider going on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. There is no better way to see the Canyon than from a helicopter and there are plenty of tours and options available when you depart from Vegas. These tours fill up fast during holidays, so if you want the best deal and confirmed seats, you need to book your tour in advance.

Helicopter tours out of Vegas go to the West Rim only because tour the South Rim is too far away for the choppers to make the round trip. The flight path from Vegas to the West Rim passes right over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, so you get a great view of them from the air. When you book your tour, you can choose a landing tour or one that just flies over the Canyon. You’ll have to pay more for a landing tour, but if you can afford it, you should go for it because you’ll get the chance to have some adventures you’ll never forget.

About The Landing Tours

My favorite tour to recommend is the Champagne Picnic tour that lands on the Canyon floor where you can enjoy the picnic and then explore the area on foot. This particular tour is one of the most popular helicopter tours to the West Rim, so the seats fill up fast, in fact, the tours often sell out three days ahead of time.

You can add other adventures to this tour too, such as a boat tour along the scenic Colorado River. You’ll appreciate the view from the river as your boat wends its way along the base of the towering walls. Another fun add-on is a helicopter flight to the top of the rim so you can walk on the Skywalk. In case you don’t know, the Skywalk is a huge viewing platform that hangs over the edge of the Canyon for about 70 feet. You’ll have a spectacular view of the Canyon, and you can peer through the glass floor all the way to the Canyon floor 4000 feet below you.

Choose Your Helicopter

In addition to choosing your tour and add-ons, you’ll also have to choose the type of helicopter you will fly on. Do that by booking a standard or deluxe tour, and here are the differences between the two. AStar and Bell Rangers are used on standard tours. While these are dependable and safe helicopters, they are not modern or designed specifically for sightseeing. You will have a great view on the standard choppers, but you may still want to upgrade to a deluxe tour for a better tour experience.

Deluxe tours fly on EcoStar 130 helicopters. These helicopters are designed for the ultimate sightseeing experience, and you’ll see why. Your flight will be much quieter in an EcoStar, and the cabins are 20 percent larger than the older model choppers, so your flight will be more comfortable. The best thing about flying on an EcoStar is that it has a massive 180-degree viewing window that gives you the best panoramic view possible during your flight. In addition, every seat has a great view since they are arranged stadium style.

More Benefits

The standard tours take off from an airfield in Boulder City, which is near Vegas. It takes about 30 minutes for the shuttle to get from The Strip to Boulder City. Deluxe tours on the other hand, take off from the Vegas Strip, and you’ll be picked up and taken back to your hotel in a limousine rather than a standard shuttle bus. The deluxe tour makes your Vegas trip and Canyon tour even more enjoyable since you’ll feel like a VIP with all the nice perks. Plus, the deluxe tour comes with a flyover of The Strip, so you get an impressive view of the attractions, resorts, and neon lights of the city.

Buy Your Tour Early

Just remember, these tours sell out because they are so popular. Try to get your seats locked in two weeks ahead of your tour. This not only secures your seats, it also helps you get the lowest price on your tour. By using your credit card and buying the tour online, you get to use the low Internet rate and you’ll get instant confirmation of your purchase. It’s possible you’ll save up to 35 percent when you buy online and that adds up when you’re buying seats for your family.

Celebrate A Unique Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday for taking a quick getaway to Vegas. Forget about spending Thanksgiving stuffing yourself and napping on the couch, take a helicopter tour of the Canyon instead! Just go online to buy your seats and be sure to do it soon. While a landing tour is highly recommended, there are so many tour choices available, you can pick the one that suits your budget and interests, so you can have a fantastic time at one of America’s most beautiful natural landmarks.

Are you always looking for ways to save money? Well, Black Friday is the bargain hunter’s holiday because discounts are marked so low, it’s sometimes unbelievable.

One thing you might not realize is you can find Black Friday deals at places other than shopping websites and retail malls, in fact, if you’d be interested in taking a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon on Black Friday, you’ll be able to snag an amazing deal.

This Is How It Works

You’ll have to buy your tour online in order to get the best Black Friday discount. Pay for your tour with your credit card and you can instantly reserve your seats for the tour and take advantage of the lowest price.

Discounts are available for helicopter tours of the West Rim and South tour Rim that depart from Vegas and from Tusayan. Also, you’ll get your choice of an air-only tour or a landing tour as long as you get your tour booked before it is sold out.

You should definitely consider taking a landing tour because they are a lot of fun, but if you want to take one, you’ll have to depart from Vegas. And since the Black Friday discounts make the tour more affordable, it is the ideal time to book a landing tour that comes with fun upgrades.

Add-On Adventures

Thanks to lower prices, you can include some fun add-ons for your landing tour. The lower pricing allows you to upgrade your tour so you can have a fun-filled day without busting your budget, something you might not be able to do if you had to pay full price for the tour.

Some add-ons for the Vegas helicopter landing tours include VIP passes for the Skywalk and a Champagne picnic at the Canyon.

There are no landing tours at the South Rim, but there is a fun ground tour you can take that is a lot of fun. This upgrade lets you tour the Canyon on a 4×4 Jeep ride. On this tour you get the whole package that includes scenic views of the Canyon from the air as well as ground views on the Jeep tour. You’ll see a lot on the Jeep tour that lasts over two hours, and then you’ll top it off with an IMAX experience of the Canyon.

Choosing A Deluxe Tour

You’ll find good deals on both basic and deluxe tours, so here’s what you need to know about how they compare. Basic helicopter tours fly on the older, more traditional Bell Rangers. While the aircraft is completely safe and suitable for touring, it isn’t the best option available today. If you want to fly on a superior helicopter, just book a deluxe tour.

The deluxe helicopter tours fly on EcoStar 130 choppers. These choppers are customized to provide superior sightseeing and you can really tell the difference. These helicopters have a huge panoramic viewing window for the best view possible, and the cabin is larger so the seats are arranged in a way that no one has an obstructed view. A deluxe tour is worth the upgrade, and since you’ll be paying a discounted price anyway, it is very hard to pass up on a more comfortable ride with better viewing.

Another advantage of the deluxe tours that depart from Vegas is that the helicopters take off right from The Strip, and you’ll get complimentary transportation to and from the helipad in a limousine.

Summing Up

There is no better way to tour the Canyon than on a helicopter. If you’ve held off on buying a tour until you could get a good deal, then your lucky day will be here on Black Friday.

You need to be quick to get the best deals though, but you can do that by booking your tour online with your credit card. You can choose upgrades or not, go with basic or deluxe, choose an air tour or a landing tour, and go to the West Rim or South Rim, and you’ll still get a fabulous deal on one of America’s most scenic and exciting helicopter tours.

There are plenty of sports movies out there, but which ones are worth not only watching, but potentially owning? Which ones are not just great sports movies, but good movies in general? Here’s a list of fifteen of the best sports movies to ever find their way onto the silver screen.

The Waterboy
Funny to think of Adam Sandler on a list that’s praising movies, but here we are. Looking past the initial issues with praising Adam Sandler, the movie was sweet, heart-warming, funny, and home to some great tackles,, including one by Kathy Bates that’s worth the price of admission alone.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Another SNL alum, another great sports movie. During the time that many consider the height of Will Farrell’s humor, this movie about a simple man that just wanted to go fast featured Jane Lynch before her Glee days and the always funny Gary Cole (Office Space).

Major League
Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, and Corbin Bernsen in one movie together? While it would spawn numerous sequels, each one less successful and less filled with original cast members, the original was unique, fun, and played on our love of an underdog and the Yankees losing.

Days of Thunder
Featuring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman before they were the Cruises, the film was essentially Top Gun in cars, which was not a bad thing. Making NASCAR cool before it enjoyed the popularity it does now, it features intense race scenes and cameos from some of racing’s biggest stars.

A League of Their Own
Tom Hanks, Gina Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnel headline one of the few sports movies to feature women. Set during World War II, the film follows the female baseball leagues that sprung up and reminds us all that there’s no crying in baseball.

The Bad News Bears
A curmudgeonly Walter Matthau leading a rag-tag group of child baseball players? What could possibly go wrong? Also starring Tatum O’Neal and a young Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), the movie is more about the game and having fun than about actually winning.

Brian’s Song
Based on the true story of Hall of Fame running movie back Gale Sayers, played by Billy Dee Williams, and Brian Piccolo, played by James Caan, the story details the friendship between the two teammates as Brian battles and eventually loses his battle with cancer while on the Chicago Bears. Originally made for TV, it was so popular that it was actually shown in some theaters.

Rudy
It’s one of the few movies that men are allowed to cry during. Based on a true story, the film featured Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) in the title role as the under-sized walk-on football player at Notre Dame that finally got his shot and was carried off the field by his teammates. It’s the quintessential “never say die” movie.

Slapshot
A comedy starring Paul Newman and the creation of the iconic hockey goons the Hanson brothers, this movie was so influential that many of the terms used in the movie invaded the hockey lexicon used to this day. The actors that portrayed the Hanson brothers still do appearances in character and appeared in supporting roles in the two straight to DVD sequels.

Caddyshack
Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Chevy Chase in a single movie? How can shenanigans not ensue, especially when you throw in a golf course for good measure. Bill Murray trying to blow up a gopher that’s been terrorizing the course is just one of the many highlights of this film.

Bull Durham
Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins in a baseball movie that most studios passed on. Kevin Costner is brought in to help prepare Tim Robbins for the major leagues, and throwing Susan Sarandon into the mix certainly doesn’t help. This is a classic movie that is regularly voted one of the top sports movies of all time and was where Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon met before entering into a relationship.

Field of Dreams
Another film featuring Kevin Costner, and one of the other films that men are allowed to cry during. Everybody knows that “If you build it, he will come”. Also starring James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta, it’s the quintessential baseball movie and a heart-warming story about a game of catch and the relationship before a father and son.

Hoosiers
Inspired by true events, this movie featuring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper is the underdog story of a high school basketball team in Indiana that was undersized and undermanned, yet still went to the state championship game. Regularly listed as the best sports movie ever made, Dennis Hopper received an Oscar nomination for his role in the film.

Rocky
The film that helped launch Stallone’s career, as well as five sequels. Undersized Rocky Balboa gets a shot at the title held by Apollo Creed, with Rocky’s only goal for the fight being to go the distance against the champion, something that no other person to face Creed has managed. The scenes of Rocky training by punching frozen meat carcasses and running up the steps in Philadelphia are iconic. The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won three, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Free horoscopes are readily available online these days, which can guarantee more or less accurate predictions about the future. Today horoscope reading is much sought after especially as very effective astrological techniques are being employed to examine it. The horoscope is basically an assembly of planet placements during the time of one’s birth which is represented in a diagram. This diagrammatic representation is called one’s birth chart based on which astrological predictions are eventually made. The free horoscopes websites help you understand your related horoscope without spending a penny and this facility is available online.

Horoscopes typically comprise 12 houses and represent Horoscope the 360 degrees of what is called the celestial horizon. Free horoscopes help individuals get an idea about the astrological meaning of their birth charts. In free horoscope services, the astrologers observe and analyze an individual’s astronomical diagram studying the effects of different planets. All details are pondered upon and deliberated extensively to predict health, prosperity, and future of family affairs. Some individuals even get love horoscopes made to know more about compatibilities.

Reasons to use my horoscope

Advantages of free horoscopes are many and there are countless websites which can help you find and obtain results from your horoscope readings.

• Surfing through these sites can be entertaining and informative. These free astrology readings enable an individual to gain valuable insight into what is happening in their personal lives as well as in the lives of others around them. It helps you figure out why you behave the way you do and better deal with others.
• Love horoscopes for free demonstrate compatibility checks between couples. Checking your romantic compatibility is a good idea when you are new in a relationship.
• Weekly horoscopes provide weekly predictions and are read by people from all walks of life.

Free horoscope readings are services offered by plenty of online companies. These are unarguably beneficial because horoscope reading symbolizes a unique blend of art, sciences, and craft. There can be daily, weekly, or monthly forecasts depending on your preference. These companies offer a wide range of astrology services like creating baby horoscopes, checking partner compatibility, business-related astrology, forecast for the whole year, career forecast for an individual, numerology, and drawing up the Vedic birth chart.

A lot of our life changes can be attributed to the planetary rotation of celestial bodies. Free horoscopes which are astrological predictions based on these planetary rotations can help us achieve a greater level of consciousness. Like tarot cards and numerology, horoscope offers a useful insight of the past, the present, and the future. In this sense, the free online horoscopes, which are easily available today through the Internet, is slated to become the next big Internet phenomenon, considering the large numbers of followers they have.

Watch TV 9 News Online FREE: Live Stream Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati Channels

Do you always want to watch fresh news from the leading Indian TV 9 channels, but find it hard??

You can now watch your TV9 News, follow the latest in Telugu news or be on tabs with ‘who did what in’ Kannada, all these and much more for FREE. Yes, regardless of where you are all over the world, you will never miss anything from home – Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati, again.

Introducing Tv9 Live

Tv9 Live is probably the best place to get the latest from all over India, of course, at no cost. It is a website that conveniently streams exclusively fresh and exciting Indian news in four different languages live.

Telugu: We have tv9 Telugu News live where you get to follow news the latest from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Watch tv9 Telugu news live for breaking news and what’s making headlines in politics, business, sports, agriculture, cinema news and practically everything in Telugu.

Kannada: Tv9 Live has another channel that streams news in Kannada. Tv9 Kannada live is here to update you on what’s happening in the state of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa and abroad. By streaming tv9 Kannada news live, you get to watch the latest news about what’s happening in regional politics, cinema news, and sports among other events.

Marathi: You can never miss anything in Marathi, thanks to tv9 Marathi News live, another TV channel from Tv9 Live. By streaming live through tv9 Marathi news live, you will get updated on everything happening in Western India’s states of Maharashtra and Goa as well as the latest news from all over India.

Gujarati: Need to watch TV 9 Gujarati news live? Well, it’s through tv9 Gujarati news live channel that you get to know what’s happening in Gujarat and Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli areas. These channel streams live News, headlines and all the breaking news from India in Gujarati.