Wimbledon 2007 Fantasy League Updates

Interesting, both my unseeded picks are through to the third round. (Yey!)

More edits: Henin is out? What happened there? I go out for coffee, with Roddick leading 2 sets to love, and they both crash out. Oh well.

Congrats to our winner kapuso and the rest of the 700+ club! Apologies for stanleygoulden for a scoring error.

Random Rants While It's Raining

Yes, London rain strikes again, and it's delaying all the games over at Wimbledon. While we're waiting (or trudging through Vijay's reruns), lemme rant some more, and this time, it'll be random. Haha.

1. London rain!!! Oh. I'm already done with that.

2. My parents have been keeping me up late the past couple of night because of TV (ironic, I know). They've been watching 24 in real-time! All 5 seasons in my room!

3. Where the hell is that package I bought from Amazon? It's my first time to buy for myself, and have it delivered here in the Philippines. It's been two weeks, and I need to watch the 2nd season of The Office in a very clear copy, complete with bonus features.

4. Speaking of The Office, I can't find a complete Season 3! Anywhere! If anyone out there knows where I can buy, kindly point me that-a-way.

5. I've been downloading Saturday Night Live episodes. Hugh Laurie and Rainn Wilson were just fantastic, Jake Gyllenhaal's Dreamgirls was pretty off, and the season ender by Zach Braff (what took them so long?) was honestly a disappointment.

6. Work has been nasty the past couple of weeks. I want a vacation!!! I'm thinking Seoul to Pusan. Any recommendations?

7. I went to see my first play (my first musical ever) since Shakespeare's Comedy Of Errors. Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah: Ze Musical was downright brilliant. You know how hokey those song-and-dance ditties you see in Regal movies? They're definitely better in theater. The writing and music was definitely spot on.

8. I've been archiving my CD collection. I'm at 77% complete (of about 220+ albums). In a few days, all my music will be at my finger tips. Mwahahahaaaaaahaaaaa!

Wimbledon 2007

Gentlemen's Singles
Defending Champion: Roger Federer

QF Matches:
Federer vs Kohlschreiber
Roddick vs Gasquet
Davydenko vs Djokovic
Bjorkman vs Nadal

Notable matchups:
R3 - Federer vs Safin
R4 - Gasquet vs Murray
R4 - Hewitt vs Djokovic
R3 - Grosjean vs Nadal
R1 - Clement vs Mahut
R1 - Moya vs Henman
R1 - Fish vs Nadal

Federer's draw is fairly soft, in contrast to the bloody draw he had last year (yet he only lost a set at the final). I'm hoping the Kohlschreiber earns a spot at the quarters, the Germans make a pretty well representation on the grass.

Same goes for Roddick, with the mercurial Gasquet going heads-up against an injured Murray. Either way, a spot at the semis should be in the works. ETA: Whoops, Murray is out. I think I'll pick Gasquet instead.

The only other winner in the draw, Hewitt will be up against the rising Djokovic. This should have all the spectators crapping their pants over at Centre Court.

Nadal, on the other hand, has as tricky draw, and it starts on Day One. After Mardy Fish, a probable meetup with Grosjean could be an upsetting prospect.

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Ladies' Singles
Defending Champion: Amelie Mauresmo


QF Matches
Justine vs Serena
Jelena vs Martina
Ana vs Amelie
Tatiana vs Maria

Notable matchups:
R4 - Venus vs Maria
R4 - Martina vs Anna
R1 - Sania vs Yaroslava
R1 - Tamarine vs Shahar

They met on clay, and they meet again on grass. Justine and Serena will again highlight the quarterfinals for the second slam in a row, and this time, it's Serena with the advantage. What a difference two weeks and a change of surface makes.

Martina, this is your ticket to the semis. But how is that injury? It's a fairly workable draw (apart from the fact that your in the same half as Serena and Justine), with your biggest test to be Anna C in the quarters. Hardworking Jelena would make it probably through the 4R, but after playing 10 weeks straight? ETA: Anna C wins in Dutch grass. Hope she's exhausted by now.

Looks Like I'm Staying

Remember the post a couple of entries below about setting sail and all that? Well that ship has sunk. I didn't get accepted to the job I terribly wanted, and before I go in a long, whiny, depressed, shotgun-to-the-head woe-is-me speech, I will say: I'm over it, you sick bastards. (Not you, my beloved readers, them, with their terse, and succinct rejection letters).



Pardon my French, just had to say that out. See, all better!

Hah! I Got A B!

My Lakbayan grade is B!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.


Good thing I got to travel much during my Davao stay. Otherwise, I'd probably get a D.

By the way, nice job with this one, Eugene!

The Six Weird Things Tag

Not once, but twice! So I decided to do a blog-tag where I will admit my weirdness (Way to go Sneexe and Lisa!).

1. I'm a music junkie. That's not weird, but I do have a database of all the music records I've purchased over the past years; organised alphabetically, sorted by Genre 1 (Rock, Pop, Soundtrack) and Genre 2 (Greatest Hits, Remix, Live). It also has a prerogative field Rating where (duh) I give them a score from 1 to 5. Only a select few get 5s. I'm somewhere around 220 original CDs.

If that's not weird enough, I have an annual music countdown. It started in 1995, peaking in 1997 and 1998 where I was able to rank 100 songs. There's an entry about the Best Music of 2006 somewhere here, and I'm currently compiling the list for 2007. So far, I have 30 songs for the year.

2. I am a product of what I watch. Therefore, I'm a little John Dorian, part Jim Halpert, yet mostly Seth Cohen. Sarcasm! Irony! Wit! Torpe!

3. I'm an Amazing Race nerd. Sans The Family Edition of course. I think I spent one whole evening talking to my best friend about Seasons 1-10, plus All Stars. This included all the cast, order of elimination, places they visited, and all sorts of trivia. (We met again the following day to continue the conversation) My favorite season? The third one, won by Flo and Zach. I saw it 3 times a week (yes, that's the premiere and the two reruns) during its first run.

Must take a break from embarrassing myself........... there. Onwards!

4. My trademark photoshot wherever I go: I must place the camera on the floor, and take a vertical shot of me, and the landmark I'm at. My profile picture here serves as proof. More? Can you guess where I took them?





5. I talk to myself. Really, like a full-blown conversation. With accents. In the car. There's also some singing involved; and hand-/finger-waving like a rabid Mozart or a drugged Italian.

6. I think that's enough. Scared yet?

Oh yes. I would pass the torch to AM, to my sister Michelle, Mida, Benj and Tanya. I hope you have the time (and enough sanity, courage, blah blah) to write down your little quirks. Allez!

My Office Just Got Better!

Though an officemate of mine handed me five seasons of 24, and I laboured through the first season, I ended up being a fan (correct that, super-fan) of another show, The Office. Since one of the main sources of the laughs is an overblown ego, childish pranks, and crossing taboo matters, you know I'm talking about the American version.



Anyway, I love the show!!! It's a big departure from the laugh-out-loud series Scrubs. Where Scrubs stands out as a floozy-dreamy, all-in-your-head sitcom, The Office is a can't-laugh, prudish, yet totally hilarious mockumentary. And I must say, that I am a Jim-Pam fan. They are so adorable together. In Scrubs, JD was an absolute jerk, while here, everyone is in torpe-land.



This would also drum up some close references to Dilbert and friends, but while the Scott Adams creation focuses on mocking engineers, skewering idiot managers, and the menagerie of office workers, the show is more on overconfident yet earnest bosses, clever office pranks, and blasting racial/gender/ethical decorum, all in the name of teamwork, motivation and whatever cliche you may have heard from HR.



I've yet to finish Season 3, where a gorgeous Karen is added to the cast, so if anyone knows where to find a complete set, maybe you'd like to point me there.



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Recently installed WinDVD on my laptop, and well, I took some screencaps. Woohoo!

You Don't Know Jack

Just Jack that is. As a final salvo to Summer 2007 (too late now, I know), I chanced upon a really cool video late at night on MTV. It was Glory Days by Just Jack. It was so catchy that I literally went on a witch hunt for his latest album, Overtones.

The comparisons to Mike Skinner/The Streets are unavoidable - with easy beats, almost spoken word delivery, and a quick wit that matches it, I'm afraid the similarities end there. The cockney accent, acerbic commentaries, and rants on louts and geezers are definitely Mike's specialty. Jack on the other hand, focuses on lighter things, like having a good day, telling stories and disco people.
While you're thinking that he's just humdrumming daily news, he also provides inside perspective to celebrities and the pop music factory, to the ups and downs of relationships.

I was pondering on a weasely solution to a major boo-boo I did at work; my epiphany came when I was listening to the final song of the album, excluding the hidden track (which sounds more like LCD Soundsystem). The song was Spectacular Failures; yeah, the irony almost killed me.

Anywaaaay, so far it's this year's best "new" music discovery.

2007 Roland Garros Quarterfinals

Justine vs Serena
Watch the drama unfold here! The winner here should be apt to take home the crown. Henin is definitely the favorite, yet no one should strike out Serena anywhere. Though Serena leads the H2H 6-3, Justine leads on clay, 3-1. Hope the crowd in Paris (and here as well) gets a treat, a thrilling 3 setter again, with drama, scandal, and hopefully, a pending three-peat for the queen of clay.

Jelena vs Nicole
Though Nicole has figured more here on clay as a semifinalist last year, and Melbourne earlier this 2007, I still would tip Jelena, the hardest working player on the WTA the advantage. Great spring results, and a steadier nerve would push the Serbian through in straight sets.

Ana vs Svetlana
Now this matchup would be my favorite of them all. It may not have the pedigree of previous champions, nor the nubility of the matchup above, but this is one square duel, with the Serb leading 2-1, the tiebreaker won last month in Berlin. I would cheer for Ana, it's about time that she figured in the important events. Three long sets.

Anna vs Maria
I'm honestly surprised how a limping Sharapova squeaked past a crafty Schnyder in the previous round - like I said, it hurts more to lose with tight score. Maria defeated Ana here in RG two years ago, but this seems like the opportune time for Anna to skip past Maria and make a SF debut. Straight sets for Anna.

Final
I'm really torn on who to pick for the final, but let's cross fingers - Justine claiming three straight trophies in Paris, with Ana (single N) having wisp of glory as runner-up.




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Federer vs Robredo
All this should only be an exercise. Federer, all the way to the finals! Sure hope that Robredo gives him a good workout in three sets in preparation.

Davydenko vs Cañas
The hardworking Russian is looking for another SF appearance, and I'm crossing all fingers that Canas be avoided by Federer. Hahaha. Four arduous sets.

Djokovic vs Andreev
I hope that Federer's only heir apparent does not retire in the QF like he did last year. Also, it's nice to see Andreev go deep in the draw, and he could probably take a set off Novak.

Moya vs Nadal
Come on, no way veteran Moya can outrun and outhit the defending champion.

Final
Watch history happen right here. 11th time lucky for Federer, as he finally completes his collection of trophies, and be the first man since a long long time ago to hold all Grand Slams at one time.

Crash Memories

I initially planned to put a different entry on my blog, but something happened on the way home this afternoon. Northbound on Commonwealth, I saw a green Lancer (XFW 213) near Philcoa. The plate number seemed familiar.

Two years ago in January, as I was heading home from Starbucks Libis via Katipunan, a car swerved into the car I was driving, deliberately. The hit was on the rear passenger side, and due to the sudden impact, this caused my vehicle to cross the divider island, mowing down the trees. The result was 2 flat tires, a damaged rear, and a smashed front. Fortunately, I was able to steer myself from oncoming traffic, and not one of the other 3 passengers were hurt. The car that hit us? It stopped some 50 meters away, and after some 2 minutes, drove away.

I took note of the plate number for proper reporting to the authorities - yup that green Lancer was the one.