Monday, August 31, 2009

US Open 2009 Predictions

Too short to be a blog post, but too long for a tweet. Curse you Twitter!

Since I was out for a couple of days with no net access (more on that later), and I'm still catching up with my mails, here's a quick run down of the predictions I meant to do:

Men's
Federer vs Davydenko
Djokovic vs Roddick
Berdych vs Nadal
Del Potro vs Murray

Of note is Nadal's opening matchup with Gasquet.

Women's
Dinara vs Jelena
Elena D vs Caroline
Victoria vs Venus
Flavia vs Serena

Kim has a good chance of making it to the quarters, all hinged on how godd Venus will play. Same goes for Demebtieva's run to the final - it all depends on that 3R match up with Sharapova.
Monday, August 24, 2009

Two Rallies

First of all, I must say that it's been quite a while since I posted - more than a month! It's been a tremendously busy month, but no excuses. No travels, but here are some major gatherings that I attended recently.

One thing that I would let pass was to pay my last respects to Cory Aquino. The feeling of sadness was minute compare to the sense of gratitude and pride brought by a singular person. We have much to be thankful to her for these past decades: and it was truly felt on her last parade through the grateful city of Makati. That bright sunny day, enveloped in yellow confetti? We seem to have taken it for granted, but I'd like to call that freedom.

Goodbye Cory!
Maraming salamat po.

Was definitely in a great spot to say my "Thanks Cory!". But I guess you don't have to stand so close to her monument to appreciate her enduring legacy for our country. She may not have been the best president that our country has had, but it will take another generation to see someone as loved.

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In weird news, I attended an El Shaddai rally, their 25th anniversary celebration. I've always been curious to check that out, and the view surprised me:

Music festival, here I come!

It was more Woodstock than I thought. Tents and campers, plenty of waving flags (that ubiquitous "ES panyo"), revelers in jeeploads and truckloads, and of course, plenty of singing and dancing. I remember complaining about (not having) Glastonbury or Coachella here, but if you're searching for atmosphere, maybe this will be an interesting substitute.