Dance after the rain
Had a lively game of 'dancing' on the courts earlier this evening, drizzling aside.
Now, enjoy one of Chopin's well-known tunes for dances, the "Grande Valse brillante".
Happy Sunday,
-tmsh-
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
[Miami] QF Roddick def. Federer
The world is spinning
Can hardly believe it. Fed just lost to Roddick. Andy Roddick. Whom he had (easily) beaten 11 times in a row just before this.
Not really unexpected (seeing all the weirdness that's happened these past few months), but somehow... I'm speechless.
Fed's human after all - as he's apparently proven these last 3+ months - losing to Djoko (shocking but somewhat expected), Murray (still somewhat acceptable), Fish (of all people?!), and now A-Rod (absolutely takes the cake).
It was a tight match. He lost 67(4) 64 36. Excuse me for not even considering a play-by-play because I'm pretty much heartbroken and incoherent right now.
Oh well. I'm more sad than disappointed really. But life goes on.
Best of luck to Rog for the upcoming months, hope he takes a good rest, good practice (get a coach perhaps?), and be all set for the clay court season.
Bummed but will get over it soon,
-tmsh-
PS: Hope Rafa takes the title in Miami now. 100% behind his back.
Can hardly believe it. Fed just lost to Roddick. Andy Roddick. Whom he had (easily) beaten 11 times in a row just before this.
Not really unexpected (seeing all the weirdness that's happened these past few months), but somehow... I'm speechless.
Fed's human after all - as he's apparently proven these last 3+ months - losing to Djoko (shocking but somewhat expected), Murray (still somewhat acceptable), Fish (of all people?!), and now A-Rod (absolutely takes the cake).
It was a tight match. He lost 67(4) 64 36. Excuse me for not even considering a play-by-play because I'm pretty much heartbroken and incoherent right now.
Oh well. I'm more sad than disappointed really. But life goes on.
Best of luck to Rog for the upcoming months, hope he takes a good rest, good practice (get a coach perhaps?), and be all set for the clay court season.
Bummed but will get over it soon,
-tmsh-
PS: Hope Rafa takes the title in Miami now. 100% behind his back.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
SongVid-post #1
Easter has passed this year, but His blessings never will
Two weeks ago on easter, my church's choir, Eklesia, was privileged to bring forth a song with the most beautiful lyrics.
"In Christ Alone", a modern hymn, has a very simple melody but words with such intense meaning and power.
Here's a solo rendition performed by Keith & Kristyn Getty, the co-writers of the hymn. Hope it blesses you as it has me.
-tmsh-
"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
Source: gettymusic.com
Two weeks ago on easter, my church's choir, Eklesia, was privileged to bring forth a song with the most beautiful lyrics.
"In Christ Alone", a modern hymn, has a very simple melody but words with such intense meaning and power.
Here's a solo rendition performed by Keith & Kristyn Getty, the co-writers of the hymn. Hope it blesses you as it has me.
-tmsh-
"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
Source: gettymusic.com
[Miami] QF Nadal def. Blake
Blake and Nadal Clash in Quarters, Bryan Brothers swing into Semis
What a difference a set makes. Facing James Blake in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday, Rafael Nadal found his switch at the beginning of the second set and turned it on to finish off the ninth-ranked Blake and punch his ticket to the semifinals.
Nadal, who lost his first three career matches against the American, made it two straight against Blake, also topping him in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells last week.
“I think we play very tough matches, both at Indian Wells and here. He started playing so aggressive, and I didn’t have many chances in the beginning.” Nadal said. “So later I won a very important point. One 15-30 with one long volley (I won) with a backhand. That changed the match a little. And later I had the break in the 4-3. That was the turn of the match.”
With the point came a lion’s roar from Nadal, and a 3-6 first set characterized by sluggish play gave way to a second and third set in which the Spaniard allowed Blake only one more game. Nadal finished out the final two sets 6-3, 6-1.
“I felt like I wasn’t volleying very well, and I wasn’t attacking that much. I got a little too passive and let him dictate play,” Blake said. “Today I felt like towards the end of the match I was playing much, much too passive, and that’s frustrating.”
Nadal will face the winner of the Nikolay Davydenko and Janko Tipsarevic quarterfinal matchup, which will take place Thursday at 1 p.m. Other intriguing quarterfinal matchups Thursday include 2004 Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles champion Andy Roddick taking on the 2005 winner Roger Federer at 7 p.m. and last year’s women’s champion Serena Williams facing Svetlana Kuznetsova, who bested sister Venus Williams in the fourth round Monday.
Source: Official website of 2008 Sony Ericsson Open
---
PS: I think there's a bit of misinformation there... Isn't Roger the one that's supposed to face Nico/Tipsy in the semis? Can the official website make such an obvious mistake in its news report?
PPS: Apparently it can. Oh well...
What a difference a set makes. Facing James Blake in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open Wednesday, Rafael Nadal found his switch at the beginning of the second set and turned it on to finish off the ninth-ranked Blake and punch his ticket to the semifinals.Nadal, who lost his first three career matches against the American, made it two straight against Blake, also topping him in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells last week.
“I think we play very tough matches, both at Indian Wells and here. He started playing so aggressive, and I didn’t have many chances in the beginning.” Nadal said. “So later I won a very important point. One 15-30 with one long volley (I won) with a backhand. That changed the match a little. And later I had the break in the 4-3. That was the turn of the match.”
With the point came a lion’s roar from Nadal, and a 3-6 first set characterized by sluggish play gave way to a second and third set in which the Spaniard allowed Blake only one more game. Nadal finished out the final two sets 6-3, 6-1.
“I felt like I wasn’t volleying very well, and I wasn’t attacking that much. I got a little too passive and let him dictate play,” Blake said. “Today I felt like towards the end of the match I was playing much, much too passive, and that’s frustrating.”
Nadal will face the winner of the Nikolay Davydenko and Janko Tipsarevic quarterfinal matchup, which will take place Thursday at 1 p.m. Other intriguing quarterfinal matchups Thursday include 2004 Sony Ericsson Open men’s singles champion Andy Roddick taking on the 2005 winner Roger Federer at 7 p.m. and last year’s women’s champion Serena Williams facing Svetlana Kuznetsova, who bested sister Venus Williams in the fourth round Monday.
Source: Official website of 2008 Sony Ericsson Open
---
PS: I think there's a bit of misinformation there... Isn't Roger the one that's supposed to face Nico/Tipsy in the semis? Can the official website make such an obvious mistake in its news report?
PPS: Apparently it can. Oh well...
-tmsh-
[Miami] pre-QF Andy vs Roger
Can Roddick Conquer Federer?
By: Sandra Harwitt
If there is one special thing that fans should admire about Andy Roddick it’s that he doesn’t give up.
Some players might take a look at the fact that he's lost 15 of 16 matches against a player and assume their chances of winning another match are slim to none. That reaction would leave a player feeling defeated before they even walk on the court.
But not the case when Roddick thinks about another shot at world No. 1 Roger Federer.
Roddick is an optimist, a guy who thinks the glass is half-full and not half-empty. So when he looks at the possibility of playing Federer for a 17th time and maybe winning, he revels in the challenge.
After Roddick came back from one set down to beat Julien Benneteau in the fourth round, he had a lot to say about his quarterfinal encounter against Federer today.
“I always look forward to it (playing Federer) and I do believe that I’ll beat him one of these times. Hopefully that will be this time around.”
Now Roddick didn’t stop there with his thoughts on playing Federer again. He gave quite a dissertation about the upcoming battle, and because it shows Andy’s personality so well it’s worth putting down all the words.
“You know, he's one of the few guys that I've probably played three or four really, really good matches against him and came up short. I think I have brought out the best in him a couple of times. Sometimes I've walked off the court shaking my head and wondering, but then a couple of times he hasn't played that great and I've matched him.”
“You know, it's just ‑‑ all I can do is put my best foot forward, and hopefully right now he's thinking about it a little bit. You know, obviously I think I have to serve well. Just goes down to the basics: You serve well, you return well, you're going to give yourself looks against anybody.”
All that said, Roddick didn’t hesitate to admit that all those losses are not easy to stomach saying, “If I'm being frank, it is hard. But at the same time, I feel like, I'm out here because I feel like I can still win a Slam. You know, if I'm 1 and 26 against Roger and that one win leads me to a Slam, or leads me (to) something that can get that, then I'm okay with that. Good thing about tennis is you pretty much start over at the beginning of every day. Even after some of my tough losses, I think I've always been pretty clear that I would get up the next morning and keep going. You know, I've had a pretty good career doing that so far.”
And what does Roger have to say about Andy you might say? Well, Roger as expected was ever the gentleman and very complimentary of his colleague, “He’s beaten me before, but I have a definitely very, very good record against him. Toughest places to play against him is always in America. I’ve had some close ones here with him over the years. (He’s) a guy I always enjoy playing against, we have a lot of respect for each other. I think it will be a great matchup for this tournament.”
So now that we’ve heard how the players feel let’s look at the math.
Federer has won 37 sets, while Roddick has won six sets in their 16 clashes. And it’s been quite a while since Roddick scored his one victory at the 2003 Master Series Montreal tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win.
However, the score line doesn’t really indicate how close some of those encounters have been, such as their four-set final thriller at Wimbledon 2004.
If Roddick was going to have a shot at Federer, this might be the place considering the Swiss is just off a bout with mononucleosis. But as Federer’s exceptional showing against Jose Acasuso in the fourth round indicated, he is feeling just fine these days.
I’m feeling the possibility of another good battle here, but when all is said and done, I fear for Roddick that Federer will be standing tall in the semifinals.
Excerpted from: Official website of 2008 Sony Ericsson Open
---
Sorry, Andy.. gotta go with the stats... 15-1 is pretty overwhelming... ^^;
Best of luck to you both, though!
-tmsh-
By: Sandra Harwitt
If there is one special thing that fans should admire about Andy Roddick it’s that he doesn’t give up.Some players might take a look at the fact that he's lost 15 of 16 matches against a player and assume their chances of winning another match are slim to none. That reaction would leave a player feeling defeated before they even walk on the court.
But not the case when Roddick thinks about another shot at world No. 1 Roger Federer.
Roddick is an optimist, a guy who thinks the glass is half-full and not half-empty. So when he looks at the possibility of playing Federer for a 17th time and maybe winning, he revels in the challenge.
After Roddick came back from one set down to beat Julien Benneteau in the fourth round, he had a lot to say about his quarterfinal encounter against Federer today.
“I always look forward to it (playing Federer) and I do believe that I’ll beat him one of these times. Hopefully that will be this time around.”
Now Roddick didn’t stop there with his thoughts on playing Federer again. He gave quite a dissertation about the upcoming battle, and because it shows Andy’s personality so well it’s worth putting down all the words.
“You know, he's one of the few guys that I've probably played three or four really, really good matches against him and came up short. I think I have brought out the best in him a couple of times. Sometimes I've walked off the court shaking my head and wondering, but then a couple of times he hasn't played that great and I've matched him.”
“You know, it's just ‑‑ all I can do is put my best foot forward, and hopefully right now he's thinking about it a little bit. You know, obviously I think I have to serve well. Just goes down to the basics: You serve well, you return well, you're going to give yourself looks against anybody.”
All that said, Roddick didn’t hesitate to admit that all those losses are not easy to stomach saying, “If I'm being frank, it is hard. But at the same time, I feel like, I'm out here because I feel like I can still win a Slam. You know, if I'm 1 and 26 against Roger and that one win leads me to a Slam, or leads me (to) something that can get that, then I'm okay with that. Good thing about tennis is you pretty much start over at the beginning of every day. Even after some of my tough losses, I think I've always been pretty clear that I would get up the next morning and keep going. You know, I've had a pretty good career doing that so far.”
And what does Roger have to say about Andy you might say? Well, Roger as expected was ever the gentleman and very complimentary of his colleague, “He’s beaten me before, but I have a definitely very, very good record against him. Toughest places to play against him is always in America. I’ve had some close ones here with him over the years. (He’s) a guy I always enjoy playing against, we have a lot of respect for each other. I think it will be a great matchup for this tournament.”
So now that we’ve heard how the players feel let’s look at the math.
Federer has won 37 sets, while Roddick has won six sets in their 16 clashes. And it’s been quite a while since Roddick scored his one victory at the 2003 Master Series Montreal tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) win.
However, the score line doesn’t really indicate how close some of those encounters have been, such as their four-set final thriller at Wimbledon 2004.
If Roddick was going to have a shot at Federer, this might be the place considering the Swiss is just off a bout with mononucleosis. But as Federer’s exceptional showing against Jose Acasuso in the fourth round indicated, he is feeling just fine these days.
I’m feeling the possibility of another good battle here, but when all is said and done, I fear for Roddick that Federer will be standing tall in the semifinals.
Excerpted from: Official website of 2008 Sony Ericsson Open
---
Sorry, Andy.. gotta go with the stats... 15-1 is pretty overwhelming... ^^;
Best of luck to you both, though!
-tmsh-
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Classical-post #4
Gloom looms
It's been a gloomy day for the most part, but it doesn't mean a gloomy mood.
Have a thoughtful twist with "Alborada de gracioso", the first movement from Ravel's all-famous Miroirs.
-tmsh-
It's been a gloomy day for the most part, but it doesn't mean a gloomy mood.
Have a thoughtful twist with "Alborada de gracioso", the first movement from Ravel's all-famous Miroirs.
-tmsh-
[Miami] R4 results & QF line-up
It's all good Rog & Raf are both through to the QFs in straight sets. Good job, guys!
Was too tired to do the usual play-by-plays, so here's a recap:
Round 4 results:
[1] R Federer (SUI) d J Acasuso (ARG) 76(5) 62 - 1h14 ... no coverage so didn't get to watch this (am disappointed in you, starsports!), but a win's a win. i'll take it. :-)
[6] A Roddick (USA) d J Benneteau (FRA) 46 63 61 - 2h07
[4] N Davydenko (RUS) d [WC] M Ancic (CRO) 46 63 75 - 2h29
{upset!!!} J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [11] M Youzhny (RUS) 36 60 63 - 1h58
[10] T Berdych (CZE) d D Tursunov (RUS) 62 62 - 1h04
[31] I Andreev (RUS) d [15] G Canas (ARG) 64 76(6) - 2h03
[9] J Blake (USA) d [27] R Stepanek (CZE) 63 64 - 1h22
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [16] P Mathieu (FRA) 64 64 - 1h30 ... good fight from PHM, but a bit too many backhand UEs. in the end, not good enough to take down an on-fire Rafa.
Quarterfinal line-up:
[1] R Federer vs [6] A Roddick
[4] N Davydenko vs J Tipsarevic
[10] T Berdych vs [31] I Andreev
[9] J Blake vs [2] R Nadal
Hoping for Fed-vs-Tipsy (AO rematch!) and [whoever]-vs-Rafa in the semis. *fingers-crossed*
-tmsh-
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Classical-post #3
April has arrived
And it's looking to be a fantastic month ahead.
On this day of fools, let's take it lightly with Dvořák's "Humoresque". ^^
-tmsh-
And it's looking to be a fantastic month ahead.
On this day of fools, let's take it lightly with Dvořák's "Humoresque". ^^
-tmsh-
Fool around with this
Are you right or left-brained?
Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?
Source: HeraldSun.com.au
If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.
LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS uses logic, detail-oriented, facts rule, words and language, present and past, math and science, can comprehend, knowing, acknowledges order/pattern perception, knows object name, reality-based, forms strategies, practical, safe
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS uses feeling, "big picture"-oriented, imagination rules, symbols and images, present and future, philosophy & religion, can "get it" (i.e. meaning), believes, appreciates spatial perception, knows object function, fantasy-based, presents possibilities, impetuous, risk-taking
-tmsh-
For the curious
Who, me? First I kept seeing her move clockwise, and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't make her go the other way. After frustrating myself for 10 mins, I went to read a book, and an hour later when I came back, there she was going anti-clockwise. Now I can pretty much choose the direction at will. Go, brain.
[Miami] R3 play-by-plays
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
