KELLY AND BRITTNEY REPRESENTING FLORIDA AT NATIONALS

Saturday, the Miss Earth Florida organization held their state pageant at the Downtown Hilton.

It was a lively evening with 6 delegates in the teen division and 9 delegates in the Miss division. There were 7 judges, among them Francisco and myself.

The judging started at 1:00pm, we interviewed and really drilled these ladies. We spoke about their goals, platforms and asked a variety of questions that we provided to us and also others we came up using key words they used as they introduced themselves.

We took a little longer than expected, we only had 5 minutes per delegate but these ladies had so much to say and we wanted to hear their views on so many topics including BP's oil spill.

As the pageant director pointed out anyone of these ladies could have been crowned. Unfortunately, we couldn't crown of them, we had to chose a winner in each category.

Congratulations Kelly Saks, Miss Earth Florida and Brittney Ronda, Miss Teen Earth Florida. They will be heading to Miss Earth United States and Miss Teen Earth United States nationals to be held in two weeks in Laughlin, Nevada, August 1 through 4, 2010.

I know Kelly and Brittney will do very well. LADIES BRING THE CROWN ONCE AGAIN FOR FLORIDA. Good Luck and many Blessings!

Viktor Franovik

Photographer: Christopher DeStefano

BITTEN BY THE BUG OF PAGEANTRY.....

Since it's inception, Franovik Designs has been involved with many pageants and beauty queens.

We are official costume designers for the Miss Earth United States organization, official designers for the Ms Latina International organization and have dressed delegates for the Miss Earth Cuba, Miss Cuba International, Miss Florida Intercontinental, Miss Essence and Miss Earth Florida organizations.

We have also been honored to judge at some of these events, (when we are not dressing the girls ofcourse); last night we judged at the Miss Earth Florida pageant.

With all this being said, we are proud to announce that FRANOVIK DESIGNS now has registered the MISS ECO AMERICA name.

We checked around for the other titles (World and International) but these have been taken and registered in Malaysia (duh). We happy to have at least the America portion of it, now we can focus on the Americas (the HOTTER side of the world) :-)

Now I have the daunting task to create the website, (domain is registered www.missecoamerica.com and under construction), logo, complete look, mission, vision and all the other things that come with being a titleholder.

I will rely on all my friends that have pageants as well. OMG, it just hit me, I am a Pageant Director too, am i crazy?.......

XOXOXO,

Viktor Franovik

Why Gulf oil is still gushing

July 12th, 2010

02:50 PM ET

Permalink

Cleanup workers scoop up oil along the Mississippi Gulf Coast earlier this month.

[Updated 2:50 p.m., July 12]

With oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for almost three months, every attempt to stop the leak has failed, or fallen short. We look at how we ended up here: what BP has tried and why it has yet to succeed.

July 10, 2010

Solution: New better-fitting containment cap
• BP said it was going to remove the old containment cap, replacing it with another that has a better fit. Robots removed six giant bolts from the apparatus July 11 so the new cap could be positioned.

• Scientists will then be able to gauge the pressure inside the well and determine whether the cap is holding in the oil or if crews will need to continue siphoning oil.

• BP says it will conduct a “well integrity test,” which involves closing the stack end and stemming the flow coming from the well.

• If it works, oil collection via the vessels, Q4000 and Helix Producer, will cease. BP will then close in on the perforated pipe. This process, which will be done in collaboration with U.S. government officials, could take up to 48 hours.

Expectation
• In the best-case scenario, the containment cap would have the ability to actually close down the valves and slowly contain all the oil – not plug the well.

• If oil collection was still necessary, over the next two to three weeks, 60,000 to 80,000 barrels (2.52 million to 3.36 million gallons) a day could be collected as part of the containment process, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said. That's because the containment cap would allow four collection ships to access the well, rather than the maximum of three allowed by the old cap.

• The oil giant said earlier as well that the cap "should improve containment efficiency during hurricane season by allowing shorter disconnect and reconnect times."

• Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said he approved the cap-switch plan to take advantage of favorable weather predicted for coming days and because, once the switch is complete, the resulting capacity to contain oil "will be far greater than the capabilities we have achieved using current systems." Allen also stressed that once the capping device is on, "we would get the most accurate flow rate to date."

Outcome
• Oil is still gushing as the new cap is being set in place. In the meantime, the first relief well BP plans to use to shut down the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is now just five feet away from the main well and 30 feet above the hoped-for intersection point, BP's Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said

What's next BP? What about our gulf and beaches? When will this tragedy end?

Worried Designers with a cause! Go Green!

Viktor Franovik

Franovik Designs - Lincoln Road Fashion Show

Green Fashion Miami '09 Season 1 FranciscoPerez

DISPOSABLE AMERICA...WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

I am sitting in my car heading to work and my stupid cell phone automatically shuts off or the battery dies on me and I left it charging all night....What's up with that?

I'm a child of the 70's era and trust me everything we had lasted forever. Why is that? It seems like everything made years and years ago lasted longer. Cars, computers, phones, appliances, etc.

I know we live in a country of needs and demands, and the economy is stimulated every time you spend money but the disposable stuff, Whats that all about?

My dad has a Lafayette receiver from New York made in the 70's and that receiver still works

and kicks ass; It's better than any new receiver made today. Trust me, I love technology and I am a tech whore; I've gone through several receivers, and not junk brands either but they konk out.

I think the life expectancy of any new device is about a year; or the product is recalled or 6 months later a newer version comes out (Ipad-hint, hint).

Let's face it people, we live in a disposable America, everything is made by cheap labor, and the parts used are not the best, we've gone smaller and not necessarily better just faster.

I'd like to go back to those days where devices and products were made to last; A big majority of us are impulse buyers, we want to be seen with the in gadgets. We don't need someone to make a crappy products!

Look we're vain and always going to get the new version of a product even if we can't afford it.

We want to be seen with new "IT" things and devices. We don't want our friends, or colleagues to ridicule us because we have the older version of any device, OMG. Same thing goes in our homes, especially for those that like to entertain.

Right now the BIG items to have is the IPAD, Iphone 4G or any other 4G cellphone, portable scanners and the 3D TV, not a 27 inch, we're talking 52 inch or bigger.

Now the question is how long will the new devices and products last? Trust me even those are disposables and you're paying top dollar.

My next issue to tackle computers, new programs, upgrades and those dreaded viruses. Yours thoughts?

Viktor

A HEADS UP ON WONDER WOMAN FROM THE BBC

Superhero Wonder Woman gets trendy makeover

Wonder Woman has been given a tougher image (Picture: DC Comics)

Wonder Woman has changed her looks and dons a trendy new outfit in issue 600 of the comic book series.

The super hero's star-spangled swimsuit is to be replaced by a radical new style that includes leggings.

The visual makeover goes hand in hand with changes to the Wonder Woman story, publisher DC Comics says.

DC Comics has hired a new writer, J Michael Straczynski, to give Wonder Woman's life a new direction.

Mr Straczynski told the New York Times that it had been time to bring the iconic character into the 21st Century.

"She's been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941," Mr Straczynski said. "What woman only wears only one outfit for 60-plus years?"

He said the redesign of Wonder Woman's outfit had been his priority when he took on the job.

"I wanted to toughen her up and give her a modern sensibility," Mr Straczynski said.

Superhuman powers

Wonder Woman is an Amazon with superhuman powers and the alter ego of Princess Diana of Themyscira.

During the last 69 years, she has fought a range of villains and also appeared in other comic series such as Justice League.

In the 1970s, Lynda Carter played the super heroine in the series The New Original Wonder Woman and The New Adventures of Wonder Woman.

An animated film was released last year, starring Keri Russell.

Taken from NEWS on the BBC

Viktor