AO Day 1, Golden Globes, Amazing Race...
Here I am...back at work...with NOTHING to do. YAYYYYY!!! I l love this time of year. So today's update concerns the Australian Open, the Golden Globes, Amazing Race and a book update...
Australian Open:-This morning I experienced the first (and hopefully the last) AO scare of 2008. First round...Rafa versus generic unseeded player. It goes to a tiebreak in the first set which, thankfully, Rafa wins. At that point I start to get ready for work. By the time I'm ready to leave I check the score....Rafa is down a break in the second set. *panics* I trek to work and arrive to the joyful news that Rafa came from behind to win the second set and went on to win the match in straight sets. *breathes deep sigh of relief* With that match behind him, hopefully it will be a lot easier in the next round against Florent Serra. My Rafa AO happiness quota will only be fulfilled if he reaches the QF...I'll be ecstatic if he goes any further. Good news (well, sorta good news, depending on how you look at it) = Andy Murray and Carlos Moya are both out in the first round. That makes Rafa's path to the finals a little easier. Moya was a potentially dangerous 4th round opponent. It looks like a relatively simple path to Roddick in the QF but nothing is set in stone yet. Other winners of note on Day 1 included: F-Lo, Shahar and Flavia. F-Lo will face Gasquet in the second round. *squee* Last night's feature match on TSN was Jankovic vs the unseeded Paszek and it was painful to watch - particularly in the third set and subsequent tie-breakers when neither was able to hold their serve. Jankovic managed to pull through in the end but unless she gets her act together I really don't see her lasting very long. We've only made it through Day 1 and Serena has already manged to monopolize the broadcast!! ARGH!!! She is a complete media-whore!! Tonight some of the featured matches include Nole, Baggie, Ferrer, Berdych, Monaco, Tursunov, Del Potro & Nalbandian as well as Marion Bartoli on the women's side. Federer plays the last match of the evening. I've read that Rogelio is allegedly recovering from the stomach flu...umm, yeah, we'll see how it goes. *dubious look*
Golden Globes: I was really looking forward to a straightforward,simple press conference announcing the winners - in fact, I expected something similar to when they announce the nominees. Unfortunately I was stuck with what appeared to be an Access Hollywood version of the GGs - complete with Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell providing their take on the results. That was indeed superfluous information I did not care to have. As for the winners, a lot of surprises but nothing too shocking. Best Drama was Atonement and that is good news as I am really looking forward to seeing it soon. Best Comedy/Musical was Sweeney Todd over the much-acclaimed Juno and Hairspray. That was a shocker. And Julien Schnabel as Best Director - that was another unexpected victory. No wins for the Tudors in the TV categories but that is not a big deal - Rome is/was much better in terms of a period piece historical series. As for my predictions of the top six acting awards, I went 3 for 6 choosing the both lead actresses (Julie Christie & Marion Cotillard) and the supporting actor (Javier Bardem). I fully expect some dramatically different results come Oscar time.
Amazing Race: although truthfully none of the remaining teams deserve to win as they are all idiots (or at least have, at one or more times during the race, proved to be less than fully functioning) I am thankful that T.K. & Rachel have made it to the final three. How can you not want an incredibly cute and extremely mellow hippie (complete with dreadlocks and freckles!!!) to win??? Finals are next week.
Books: Completed Dante's Purgatorio which was a more fluid read than Inferno. I enjoyed the fact that Dante wrote each Cornice with a similar structure...you knew exactly what to expect when (sin, penance, examples of the sin and the virtue, prayer, angel, benediction). What I didn't enjoy was the fact that Dante, the character, reached Earthly Paradise way too quickly (Canto 27/28 of 33). I enjoyed the journey more so than the conclusion. I also hated the fact that Vergil was relegated back to Limbo once his guiding duties had concluded. It was sad to see him depart and I can't say as I'm very happy with the fact that Beatrice will be the guide through Paradiso, the next and final Canticle, which I will commence reading this evening. As for The Dante Club, it has been rather difficult to put down. I have about 50 pages left - I forced myself to stop reading it this weekend so I could finish Purgatorio. Truthfully though, and much to my dismay, the third section of The Dante Club has taken a very uninspiring and unoriginal turn and I'm hoping it doesn't continue that way till the end. I plan to finish up the novel on the bus ride home and move on to Paradise Lost which will be read in conjunction with Paradiso.
2008 Booklist
2 / 36 (5.56%)
Australian Open:-This morning I experienced the first (and hopefully the last) AO scare of 2008. First round...Rafa versus generic unseeded player. It goes to a tiebreak in the first set which, thankfully, Rafa wins. At that point I start to get ready for work. By the time I'm ready to leave I check the score....Rafa is down a break in the second set. *panics* I trek to work and arrive to the joyful news that Rafa came from behind to win the second set and went on to win the match in straight sets. *breathes deep sigh of relief* With that match behind him, hopefully it will be a lot easier in the next round against Florent Serra. My Rafa AO happiness quota will only be fulfilled if he reaches the QF...I'll be ecstatic if he goes any further. Good news (well, sorta good news, depending on how you look at it) = Andy Murray and Carlos Moya are both out in the first round. That makes Rafa's path to the finals a little easier. Moya was a potentially dangerous 4th round opponent. It looks like a relatively simple path to Roddick in the QF but nothing is set in stone yet. Other winners of note on Day 1 included: F-Lo, Shahar and Flavia. F-Lo will face Gasquet in the second round. *squee* Last night's feature match on TSN was Jankovic vs the unseeded Paszek and it was painful to watch - particularly in the third set and subsequent tie-breakers when neither was able to hold their serve. Jankovic managed to pull through in the end but unless she gets her act together I really don't see her lasting very long. We've only made it through Day 1 and Serena has already manged to monopolize the broadcast!! ARGH!!! She is a complete media-whore!! Tonight some of the featured matches include Nole, Baggie, Ferrer, Berdych, Monaco, Tursunov, Del Potro & Nalbandian as well as Marion Bartoli on the women's side. Federer plays the last match of the evening. I've read that Rogelio is allegedly recovering from the stomach flu...umm, yeah, we'll see how it goes. *dubious look*
Golden Globes: I was really looking forward to a straightforward,simple press conference announcing the winners - in fact, I expected something similar to when they announce the nominees. Unfortunately I was stuck with what appeared to be an Access Hollywood version of the GGs - complete with Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell providing their take on the results. That was indeed superfluous information I did not care to have. As for the winners, a lot of surprises but nothing too shocking. Best Drama was Atonement and that is good news as I am really looking forward to seeing it soon. Best Comedy/Musical was Sweeney Todd over the much-acclaimed Juno and Hairspray. That was a shocker. And Julien Schnabel as Best Director - that was another unexpected victory. No wins for the Tudors in the TV categories but that is not a big deal - Rome is/was much better in terms of a period piece historical series. As for my predictions of the top six acting awards, I went 3 for 6 choosing the both lead actresses (Julie Christie & Marion Cotillard) and the supporting actor (Javier Bardem). I fully expect some dramatically different results come Oscar time.
Amazing Race: although truthfully none of the remaining teams deserve to win as they are all idiots (or at least have, at one or more times during the race, proved to be less than fully functioning) I am thankful that T.K. & Rachel have made it to the final three. How can you not want an incredibly cute and extremely mellow hippie (complete with dreadlocks and freckles!!!) to win??? Finals are next week.
Books: Completed Dante's Purgatorio which was a more fluid read than Inferno. I enjoyed the fact that Dante wrote each Cornice with a similar structure...you knew exactly what to expect when (sin, penance, examples of the sin and the virtue, prayer, angel, benediction). What I didn't enjoy was the fact that Dante, the character, reached Earthly Paradise way too quickly (Canto 27/28 of 33). I enjoyed the journey more so than the conclusion. I also hated the fact that Vergil was relegated back to Limbo once his guiding duties had concluded. It was sad to see him depart and I can't say as I'm very happy with the fact that Beatrice will be the guide through Paradiso, the next and final Canticle, which I will commence reading this evening. As for The Dante Club, it has been rather difficult to put down. I have about 50 pages left - I forced myself to stop reading it this weekend so I could finish Purgatorio. Truthfully though, and much to my dismay, the third section of The Dante Club has taken a very uninspiring and unoriginal turn and I'm hoping it doesn't continue that way till the end. I plan to finish up the novel on the bus ride home and move on to Paradise Lost which will be read in conjunction with Paradiso.
2008 Booklist
2 / 36 (5.56%)