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July 05

Wimby Final

16 - 14

15


Legend belongs to Roger Federer. Applause goes to Andy Roddick.


July 04

Wimby 2009: Semifinal

My Federer - Roddick final meet-up prediction was so spot on!
Fed - Haas
These two are good friends, practice partners and familiar foes. Tommy had a great run coming into the semi-s, and has almost single-handedly brought serve-and-volley back to the stage. Really this is how grass court tennis should've been played:  Fast and No-nonsense. For nearly two sets, Roger wasn't even able to touch Tommy's service games, and vice versa. He only raised the bar on a few crucial points. As always. Never in doubt.

A great moment occurred when Fed was about to smash off a drop shot, and Tommy tried to stop him with his arms wide open....and wavering. Nobody expected it to work, not even himself, but Roger cut the ball wide outside the line. Everyone had a good laugh about it.

Roddy - Murray
I couldn't be happier that A-Rod schooled Murray on grass court tennis, after the press totally wrote him off.  I know I didn't. A-Rod, has always been my second favorite with a champion's heart.

Technically Roddy brought on the correct game plan and executed it with 100% focus. He volleyed the hell of himself and took every opporntunity on Murray's pitiful WTA second serves. His forehand crosscourt were gorgeous and backhand slices uncanny. He mixed it up well.

Murray, if i have to be honest, couldn't live up to any of the media hype. Seriously he needs to get a FOREHAND and start winning points with it for christ's sake. He played as if he was on clay, merely content with getting the ball in. I'm afraid to me he would just be a slightly smarter version of Jelena Jankovic if he believes thats all it takes to win a grand slam.

Before the Final:
For some inexplicable reasons, Roddy would be my sentimental favorite this time. Yes, over Roger. That's a first. Those teary eyes have got into me I am sure.

The logical prediction would be Fed in 3. He reads Andy's game like an open book.

June 21

INXS

  
Living proof that a great riff could really turn a mediocre make-out song into a camp classic...

June 07

GOAT

The entire French crowd was rooting for Roger Federer to win the title, cheering him on deliriously throughout the tournament. Meanwhile that streaking clown running to Fed in the middle of the game did seriously give me a horrible flashback of the Seles incident. So much for the french hospitality...

But this is all irrelevant. At the risk of being despised as a complete Fedtard, I believe a RG title has sanctioned him as the indisputable GOAT.

May 17

Samson and Delilah: Bacchanale

The first time I ever heard about Samson and Delilah  was like in the 7/8th grade, on television. It was introduced in one of those Masterpiece-Opera-House programs. And Bang...Dance Bacchanale, there it was, right in my face, at length...Well let's face it, the whole scene is meant to be an orgy.  I am not ashamed to say that was one of my sexual awakening moments, in addition to being my initial artistic impression of Saint-Saens. Over the years, this piece has really come out to become an all-time favorite of mine. Very much like Dance Macabre, which is wickedly dramatic as well, Bacchanale shows Saint-Saens' lush and exotic touch. Along with the Dance of the 7 veils, it will always belong to the erotic sanctuary of my operatic memories lol
May 10

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Mendacity is the keyword that Tennesse Williams tries to rub in our faces, and truely the whole play can be reduced to a one-liner as simple as "Big Daddy is gonne die and everyone wants a piece of him. Some his money and some his affection..."
 
Wait, that wasn't a one-liner, was it? LOL, of course thats just me and my stale attempt to synopsize a script with so many facets, as well as a very bold display of the tragic dynamics within dysfunctional families: the yearning for love and recognition of those who never get it; The bitterness which is never professed; Instead they merely keep on punishing each other by shutting themselves down. 

So rightfully Williams named his male protagonist "Brick", who was brilliantly brought to the screen by Paul Newman. Indeed as stubborn as a brick, he's loaded with self-hatred and refused any sort of emotional infiltration from his wife. Whats worth mentioning, is that the movie production took some liberty in accentuating the sexual tension between the couple. When you look at Liz Taylor, who played the wife "Maggie", sauntering around in her underwear, talking about things like "your technique as a lover", you would imagine this had pushed the envelope at the time when Hays Code was still in effect. Even more so, an undertone of homosexuality, although generally averted, lurks in the air when trying to analyze the perhaps more than platonic relationship between Brick and his late friend Skipper. Williams has, on several occasions, admitted he intentionally left this part ambiguous. This doesn't quite bother me, as Brick, characteristically, is emotionally confused as he is.

The cast was more than a lovely one. You would remember Dame Judith Anderson from her legendarily eerie performance as Mrs Danvers in Rebecca. But all in all, this is Taylor and Newman's blockbuster collision. Both were rising superstars at the time of the shoot, and needed

something to consolidate their reputations as capable actors, since they were each being "cursed" by their ravishingly good looks. One may look at the play and conclude that Brando, who is sorta considered a "Tennesse Williams" leading man, would have been perfect for the role of Brick. I would agree but Newman was hardly a secondary choice. He has that classic war-hero-ish righteousness in him that Brando couldn't stand up to. Besides, Brando, as I assumed, would've turned down the role of a limp anyway lol. The other two in the "Quartet", so to speak, would be just plain-wrong: Clift is too meek, which would've made Brick a dreadful invalid, while Dean wasn't mature enough. Newman filled in the blanks with the right ingredients, and he sure had talents. Liz, on the other hand, was a surprise as she took this difficult role well enough to redeem herself out of my doubts. I don't think I ever give her enough credit, but she had a knack for playing sassy out-spoken animated personalities. I also heard she returned to the set only days after her then husband Todd died in a plane crash. She managed to put herself together, and the chemistry between the two was sharp. I saw Liz and said to myself "wow what man in his right mind would leave liz taylor in the lurch?" and then the camera turned to a stone-cold Newman, and i was like "ok...even more interesting". The two just clicked from the right beginning.
April 29

The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army

Never liked them much...except for this one maybe.
 
  
 

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