Tennis: And Rafael Nadal takes the trophy!
Jun 8, 2008 News Breaks, People
I am sitting here watching on television a very solemn Roger Federer half-heartedly lift up his runners-up plague on the prize giving platform at Roland Garros, while Rafael Nadal tears up as he looks at the Spain flag being hosited up to the country’s national anthem.
Considering the amount of times he’s won there, they might as well play a Rafael Nadal song.
Yes, this clay-court genius has just won his fourth-straight title in the French Open Grand Slam - equaling the record held by the great Bjorn Borg. Borg won six French Open titles in his career, four of which was won 1978-1981. Borg presented Nadal with his trophy.
Roger Federer didn’t even play THAT badly in the match where Nadal tamed him 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. But Nadal was spectacular - absolutely brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!
These are the two best players in the world at the moment (plus the upcoming Novak Djokovic) and I’m so glad that I was able to watch the two of them play in Kuala Lumpur live when they were here last year.
I do feel bad for Roger Federer but I would rather Nadal beat Borg’s record (which means he has to win again next year!) before Federer takes the only elusive Grand Slam trophy to rightly be declared the world’s greatest tennis player ever.
The French Open is over. Now, we can really look forward to the Wimbledon. Bring it on!
11.22pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: French Open, Grand Slam, novak djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Tennis
The Invincible Woman concedes - Thanks Hillary
Jun 8, 2008 News Breaks
The sound of the sudden rain woke me up from sleep, and I felt like I needed to rush to the loo, except that I felt excruciating pain when I stepped off my bed. The pain from slipping on a tennis ball this morning has arrived.
So, I couldn’t get back to sleep and decided to check on Hillary Clinton’s expected concession to (and endorsement for) Barack Obama in the Democratic Presidential Race. Yes, folks, Hillary Clinton has suspended her campaign and thrown her support behind the first African-American Presidential candidate in the United States.
I have been a staunch Hillary fan (yes, Nicholas, you can laugh now) and wanted to watch the speech live but considering I have to be up at 6ish in the morning today, it wasn’t an option. Looks like a massive crowd showed up for her though.
Well, I missed it by just a few minutes but judging from this transcript I found, she rocked. The speech was classic Hillary - little anecdotes, lots of references to the trail she’s blazed for women and of course, in pledging her support for Obama, spoke fondly of the African-American community that have for so many years supported her and her husband (and vice versa).
My favourite lines:
Thank you very, very much. Well, this isn’t exactly the party I’d planned, but I sure like the company.
Eighteen million of you, from all walks of life … women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African- American and Caucasian … rich, poor, and middle class, gay and straight, you have stood with me. And I will continue to stand strong with you every time, every place, in every way that I can.
You know, I’ve been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. And during those … 40 years, our country has voted 10 times for president. Democrats won only three of those times, and the man who won two of those elections is with us today.
I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.
Children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States.
Say what you will about the Iron Lady, she has made history with this campaign - and hopefully, has opened the doors for a woman to someday become President of the United States. One of the articles I read counted the Hillary mentioned Obama’s name 13 times - I hope this is enough to kick some Republican ass in November.
Obama’s supporters have welcomed the move with open arms, while party leaders, including House speaker Nancy Pelosi, have praised the campaign she ran. Her speech gathered rave reviews, while the media have started the analysing.
So long Hillary, and thanks for all the fish.
4.30am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, US Presidential Elections
Tennis: Ana Ivanovic wins the French Open!
Jun 7, 2008 News Breaks
She is arguably my favourite player in the tournament (considering that Andy Roddick isn’t playing) and she just won her first ever Grand Slam!
Yup, the 21-year-old Serb beat Dinara Safina, sister to my other favourite player Marat Safin in the Women’s Finals of the French Open. I was a bit worried for Ana eventhough she won the first set because throughout the tournament over the past fortnight, Safina has scrambled back from a set down to win the games. I watched three of the latter’s matches this year, funny enough, because I’ve never seen her play before.
The score was 6-4, 6-3 but the match really was closer than that. Both played amazing tennis but Ivanovic’s forehand, OH MY GOD!
With this win (actually, she’s already made it by enterting the finals), Ivanovic will jump straight to the #1 spot on the WTA rankings when it is updated on Monday - the first time ever for the young lass.
She takes over the spot from Maria Sharapova (who entered the tournament as the #1 seed) who technically became #1 when Justine Henin retired barely three weeks ago. Henin was also the defending champion at Roland Garros (where the French Open is played) having won the throphy a whopping four times. It was really nice to see Henin on the podium tonight, presenting the throphy to Ivanovic.
And on to Wimbledon!
(Except wait, there’s the replay of last year’s final in the Men’s tournament tomorrow where Rafael Nadal takes on Roger Federer. I’m all for Nadal!)
Tags: Ana Ivanovic, Andy Roddick, Dinara Safina, French Open, Grand Slam, Justine Henin, Marat Safin, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Tennis, WTA
World Environment Day: Green Every Day - Act Now
Jun 7, 2008 Events
Wow, my web hits just spiked, thanks to a tag from Joyce. I think I’ve peaked! Now, everyone who came here from there, please keep coming back! Pretty please? :P
And on to the post.
In case some of you didn’t know, Thursday was World Environment Day.
So, here’s a plug for an event The Star is organising. StarYouth, the desk I work with, will have our own space, so please come by and say hi (I don’t bite!).
The event is called Green Every Day - Act Now, and is held in conjunction with WED. The Star has for many years taken to the Green cause, and this event is one of the ways we show it.
At the StarYouth booth there will be:
1. P2P Greeniz
For the past couple of years, StarYouth has organised a peer-to-peer educators event, where we help equip youths with the knowledge and skills to go back to their community to spread the word on the environment. Last year, they went to Taman Negara and exhibited their work at the Green Day event at FRIM. This year, the P2P Greeniz had just come back from Kinabatangan, Sabah and have some things to show - including a human-sized board game and ringtones for download.
2. Drum Circle
Last year, we organised it ourselves with the help of Paul Lau. This year, I asked John Hagedorn who I met when I took a Drum Circle Facilitators course by Arthur Hull in 2006. He has mobilised lots of drummers but the fun thing about a drum circle is that you don’t really need to know how to play a drum. You just need to know how to make noise. The Drum Circle will run three sessions tomorrow: 10.30am, 1pm (kid’s circle) and 3pm. Please come and join in the fun, and bring any drums, percussion instruments or anything that makes noise. I’ll be jumping in during jump time too!
3. Food stuff
Candy floss, bubble tea. Enough said.
4. Carnival stuff
Some of the BRATs (Bright, Roving, Annoying Teens) will be selling balloon scultures and doing facepainting to add some carnival athmosphere to the event.
I hope I’ve convinced you to join us. It’ll be quite fun. The event will be held at Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and will go on from 9am to 4pm. Click the thumbnails below to look at the map. There’s also the map of our event - look for StarYouth at #10 and the drum circle beside us at #7.
See you there!
12.57am
Tags: arthur hull, brats, drum circles, green every day - act now, p2p greeniz, staryouth, The Star, the star brats, world environment day
KLX Postponed
Jun 6, 2008 Events
Terribly upset ‘cos I’ll be in Laos on the new date :( Visit RandomAlphabets for more details.
Official word from Zain HD:
Hello RandomAgents,
Due to recent developments, we must postpone KLX to 5pm Saturday 14 June.
The last time there was an oil hike, there was also a public demonstration in KL during the weekend. This will significantly affect the safety, smooth running and fun of our KLX.
KLX is similar to the MP3 Experiment done by Improv Everywhere in New York, except ours is far more sophisticated. We studied their videos and developed the idea to something more bizarre. Which in flashmob language, more exciting
-Zain HD
Have fun guys, if you can make it.
3.35pm
Tags: klx, randomacts, RandomAlphabets, zain hd
