Every digital signage on the roads of Australia leads to Melbourne Park come Monday. The 2009 Australian Open will be on January 19 to February 1.
Fast facts
Top seeds: Rafael Nadal and Jelena Jankovic
Second seeds: Roger Federer and Serena Williams
Defending champions: Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova (injured, withdrawn)
Bookies’ favorite to win: Andy Murray
Notable comeback: Kimiko Date Krumm
Additional notes: Rafa has new duds; Roger’s either wily or whiny
Two nights ago up until last night, I started having my panic face.
This morning it turned to this:
Why?, you might ask.
My DVD player stopped working!!!
Yeah, I need to get a life. Or not. Whatever!
When Tina Fey was announced at the Golden Globes as Best Actress in a TV comedy (for 30 Rock, which also won Best Comedy show, of course), she revealed her knowledge of the existence of her Internet haters and even called out their online “handles”:
“If you ever start to feel too good about yourself, they have this thing called the Internet, and you can find a lot of people there who don’t like you. I’d like to address some of them now. BabsonLacrosse, you can suck it. … Cougar Letter, you can really suck it, ’cause you’ve been after me all year.”
Well, the said detractors were not amused, as expected, and told Fey to “suck it right back.” I still think she’s funny, though.
Another highlight: During the acceptance of the Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy award, Tina Fey gave the stage to co-star Tracy Morgan because she promised that he will speak for the show if Obama wins the election.
I am not even halfway through Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore but I felt compelled to write down something lest I forget my thoughts on the excellent first few chapters. The book is powered by two characters, both I am just getting to know - a boy named Kafka Kamura, who has an imaginary friend named Crow (Kafka ran away from home to find his lost mother and sister) and an aging simpleton named Nakata who lost his “sanity” during the War and now spends his time looking for (and talking to) stray cats. Well, at least that’s what I got from the first few pages.
Another blogger recommended reading Haruki Murakami to me and I thought “Why not?” I first ventured on his After the Quake series of short stories and liked it so when the opportunity presented itself, I got a copy of this book and I’m currently loving it. He has this power over words that isn’t all too common. I’ve read novels from which I can get the flow of story and all, but cannot have the scenes play out in my head. I’ve always presumed I am the problem there. But with Murakami, the imagery is so rich that it is sometimes even frightening. I mean it’s frightening that I can clearly imagine even the most lurid images.
I still have a way to go to finish the book. Right now, I’m on the chapter where Kafka was taken to an isolated mountain house. During the long drive, his companion, a library personnel who for some reason can afford a shiny sports car, talked about driving fast and avoiding accidents. The driver has hemophilia, see. He cannot afford to get into any accident not because he doesn’t have auto insurance but he cannot have any injuries because then he’ll bleed to death since his blood does not coagulate. But then again, his philosophy is that when you get into a really ugly driving accident because of driving too fast, it wouldn’t matter if you have hemophilia or not; it wouldn’t matter if you have car insurance or not. The outcome is pretty much the same.
I’m still immersed in the Whedonverse so this post is about Dollhouse again. The official site at Fox is now up.
As Faith, the once-rouge slayer in Buffy, Eliza Dushku was all about being sassy and sexy but in this behind the scenes footage of Dolhouse, she implores the help of creator/writer/director Joss Whedon to teach her do the sexy confident walk.
Alternative link for the video: click here
New promo video for the upcoming TV show Dollhouse
Series premier February 13 (U.S. network FOX)
Some of the reasons why I’m so excited about Dollhouse (see above post):
There are three exceptional TV shows, all no longer airing but are well and alive in DVDs and in syndication, that Joss Whedon has created: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which I think is the best written, acted, and directed series I’ve ever watched, not to mention thoroughly affecting), Angel (a spinoff of the latter), and Firefly. I’ve finished watching Buffy and Firefly. My next assignment: Angel.
But let’s talk about Firefly for a bit. Joss described it as a story about “nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things.” Its premise is that hundreds of years from now, “nothing will change in the future: technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today.”
It’s a show that never really took off because the network, FOX, cancelled it after airing just 12 of its 14 prepared episodes. Which is a pity because, like Buffy, it has the interesting mix of witty dialogue, rich characterization, and self-effacing humor. It’s not all flying saucers and steel buildings and laser fights; it’s more of an exploration of the human condition, only in a futuristic setting. Which may be exactly why it didn’t get a wide-ranging audience. I loved it, anyhow.
Now on to Angel as soon as I get a copy. I’ve read its supposed to be darker than Buffy. I can’t really imagine how.
In a three-day exhibition featuring six ATP players, Andy Murray got the better of Roger Federer (again) and will be facing world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in the championship match later today. The pre-Australian Open exhibition dubbed as World Capitala Championship is being held at Abu Dhabi. I was supposed to watch the match online but I lost track of the time. I need one of those Fendi watches.
Looks like a pretty exciting year for the ATP. We have the new no. 1 Nadal, the rising star Murray, Djokovic is still proving himself, and Roger’s not going anywhere. The other young ones like Giles Simon may still prove to be forces to reckon with. The WTA, however, is another story. With the Williams sisters not really being consistent, the no. 1 player (Jelena Jankovic) not having won a Slam, Ana Ivanovic still trying to get her act together, and Maria Sharapova still nursing her shoulder (with the possibility of missing the Australian Open, of which she’s the defending champion.), the other girls need to be exceptionally sharp this year to generate some form of excitement. Otherwise, they have to wear really nice outfits to keep their audience.
Yes, that’s THE Phantom of the Opera I’m talking about.
Times Online reported that Andrew Lloyd Weber is all set to stage the sequel to the legendary musical, dubbed as Phantom: Love Never Dies. If all will go according to plan, the show will open in three continents by the end of 2009 - London, Broadway, and an Asian city. Are you thinking what I’m thinking now? Apparently, Weber is thinking of Shanghai.
The sequel will be set a decade or so after the first installment and will reunite the Phantom with Christine. I wonder what happened to Raoul, but I’m getting ahead of myself there. Talks about the possible lead actor point to either Gerard Butler (who starred in the 2004 movie version) or Hugh Jackman (who is a better singer and a certified Broadway star). I say get Anthony Warlow. He’s a veteran Phantom and seriously has one of the most gorgeous voices I’ve ever heard (sadly, not in person): AW singing “This Is the Moment” from Jekyll & Hyde and “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera.
I suppose Shanghai is a great city but can the powers that be put Manila in the short list? Pretty please?
