Chick of the Week: Wimbledon Special

Alright, been a loooooong time since I last blogged. Not much material really and just a plain laziness to actually do it.

Anywhooo, this is my attempt to revive this dieing blog and what better occasion to do it than in conjunction with Wimbledon? Yes, no Rafa this year, but what tennis gives us year after year, is fit, good looking girls who prance around in skimpy dresses while screaming and grunting. Fun? Definitely.

Actually though, I just needed a reason to post up some Hantuchova pics, but anyways here we go!

To mark the 50th post on this blog, Some of the hottest chicks playing Wimbledon this year:
(Click on the pics to maximize them should you want to.)

Maria Sharapova
The 22-year old has been out for the game close to 10 months due to injury and is slowly making her way back. Sadly though she lost to Gisela Dulko in the 2nd round, still looks beautiful as ever though, even if she's not my favourite.

Famous, or infamous rather, for her screaming, she seems to have lost focus on tennis slightly, being caught up in the glam of being tennis's poster girl and also earning millions in terms of endorsements. We do hope she makes a comeback cause boy does women's tennis need a boost now.



Caroline Wozniacki
You might not know her if you don't follow tennis, but that would be your loss. The 18-year old Danish beauty is definitely one of the sweetest looking girls on the tour, especially when she gives us that megawatt smile. Turning pro in 2005, she is the only Danish woman in the top 300.



Elena Dementieva
Ahh, the lovely Elena Dementieva. If you've followed my blog you will know that I absolutely adore her. Well, she is Russian and 26 this year. She has won 2 Olympic singles medals, including the gold at Beijing 2008. Here's hoping she does well at Wimbledon this year, and we love you Lena.



Gisela Dulko
Most of you might know her by now, seeing that she knocked Maria Sharapova out of Wimbledon. She might not be your typical stick-thin hottie but I just find her beautiful. She's Argentinian and 24 this year, and an interesting fact is, she previously dated Fernando Verdasco.



Maria Kirilenko
Another Russian beauty, Maria Kirilenko. Once again not your typical "bombshell" but she looks like a cute angel. Turning 22 this year, she's affectionately known as Makiri and a very close friend of Sharapova. She is also the face of Stella McCartney's Adidas range. As you will see at the bottom, she posed for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit edition 2009, cute angel? Hmm, maybe slightly wrong description eh?



Zheng Jie
Some Asian flavour to the mix! Zheng Jie, is the pint sized cutie from Chengdu, Sichuan, China. 25 this year, she is Asia's highest ranked player at 15th. She has also already won 11 WTA doubles titles with partner Yan Zi. Standing at only 5 ft 4, she must be one of the smaller girls on tour. I find her so adorable though, very cute especially when she's laughing or smiling, and also with a good heart. She donated her 2008 Wimbledon winnings to the Earthquake victims of the Sichuan Earthquake 2008.


Daniela Hantuchova
Okay, basically I've been building up to this point in the post. I present you, the legs of Slovakia, Daniela Hantuchova. She's actually the sole reason I watch women's tennis, hoping I somehow get to watch her play. Her play has been up and down, mainly due to weak mental strength. 26 this year, she has dropped to 32nd in the world rankings.

Nicknamed Dani, I truly believe she is the perfect woman in every single way. Don't ask me why, I'm just obsessed with her and would like to marry her. She also posed in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Shoot as you will see below. We(I) love you very much Dani, and hope you do well this year.

legssssssDAMN





Song of the Week: Nine Inch Nails - Head like a Hole

This is..... Your Final 7.

Okey Dokey!!! It's been like lightyears since I last posted. I'm afraid this post will most likely turn out crap due to me actually physically forcing myself to post to avoid this blog from being deader than it already is. Well, the last thing I had on my mind was American Idol since I just watched it.

I will post my upcoming rant on the current state of the Music Industry if I can get myself to post after this.

So anyway, AI's top 7. We have, Kris, Lil' Rounds, Adam, Danny, Anoop, Matt, and Allison. In short, AI should have ended last week or 2 weeks ago and should just have crowned Adam winner, seems the show week after week is just a formality that will eventually lead up to that.

There, could've ended this post there. Oh but I won't, not to worry, I'll have a breakdown of the current state of the competition.

So, I'll start from the judges. Kara has actually proved me wrong in a way. I think her opinion actually makes sense most of the time, even if she still does seem a bit bitchy at selected times. I still think she was highly unnecessary though, and the farce that was last weeks episode where only 2 judges got to speak proves my point. Paula, on the other hand has gone off worse than ever, I seriously won't be surprised if someday they reveal that she snorts a truckload of Coke just before every show. Jumping around, pulling stupid faces and making far-out metaphors.

Crazy.

Contestants wise. I firmly think Adam is the winner of this season. I mean seriously, it's like man against boys here. Everyone is competing on 1 level and then Adam comes out and looks like a guest performer.

Closest we can get to an actual competitor is Danny but as much as I like the guy, I will admit that he fails to surprise us. Every week is a great performance though, very solid and consistent. But he dosn't have the same pull that Adam does, where you tune in week after week just to see what he will do next.

Anoop, Lil' Rounds, Kris and Matt are obviously just fillers even if Kris is slowly getting better. I really dislike the guy cause he's absolutely average but I'll have to say that, his performance today was pretty awesome. Today being Disco week, for those that aren't reading my blog on a day-to-day basis. Lil is definitely out, and shoulda been earlier. Same boring shit every week. Anoop meanwhile, I think he saved Matt for another week. Those 3 should be the bottom 3 but comparing Anoop and Matt, I think Anoop actually did worse.

The judges meanwhile fawn over their dark-horse, who has a face to match her title, Allison. Haha sorry, that was a cheap shot but yea I really don't like her and I don't see why the judges praise her every week. I get the feeling that people just support the youngest there everytime because... hmm, come to think of it, I dunno people do it, underdog votes perhaps?

So yea, she's just another chubby 16 year old who wants to be a rocker chick. I'll admit the tone of her voice is alright, husky and pretty suitable for rock n roll. But I see her being marketed as just another gimmick. If she wanted people to take her seriously, she would be in a band because thats what her talents would be best utilised. Then again maybe she will after this, after an increased profile.

So, thats the verdict so far to anyone who gives a damn. Danny Adam final with Adam winning it cleanly. Lil Rounds and Anoop to be eliminated next.

Until my next post,
See yas.

Fashion often starts off beautiful and becomes ugly,
Art meanwhile, starts out ugly, and sometimes, becomes beautiful.

This is..... American Idol

Okay, got off my lazy ass and decided to post something, just to get the flow going again. I'm sorry if this post will sound half-assed but I'm gonna just write it off the cuff cause I need a kickstart.

Alright, anyone who watches TV knows that American Idol 2009 has started and as of today has swung into full gear by starting with our Final 13. I would've done week by week updates from hollywood week but was frankly just abit too lazy.

So I'm gonna keep this brief and summarize what I have to say about the show since the first episode of this season. Right, here we go.

American Idol is something that everyone subconsciously waits for if you've been following it from seasons before. It just gives you something mini to look forward to on TV. And of course is a talking point.

However, I really felt this season's AI is starting to get jaded and frankly a little boring. It's obvious they feel the same on their side, wringing the changes left right and center. I think this year's show should be the last but as we all know, franchises will be milked for all they're worth and I can still see it going, 2 or 3 years from now, nothing but a bag of gimmicks.

So, anyway. First and most obvious change Kara Dioguardi. Up yours if you think I care that I spelt it wrong. I think they attempted to maybe make it fresh by bringing another unnecessary addition to the well balanced judging table. FAIL. I, like many people, think that the reason why AI is so popular and entertaining is due to the right balance of things on the show. Brilliant host in Ryan Seacrest, entertaining judging table in the 3 judges, etc. Add one more to that and the show slows down a little.

Firstly, just look at her and you can tell she can be a bitch, and she showed it to Bikini Girl during the earlier rounds. Also I don't see why they need her, she can't grasp the concept of speaking into a microphone or the concept that the mic picks up your hands banging on the table. We have Paula, who's constantly high so she only says good things, then Simon to counter-balance that by speaking sense, albeit in an overly harsh way. Then we have Randy to be a balance between the 2. Kara has some weird mood swings, sometimes she is as nice as Paula and sometimes she verges on being Simon. In any case, absolutely unnecessary and a clear sign the producers feel the show has stagnated.

I feel the different way of qualifying to the finals is actually a pretty good audition and out of the pool I think the system did select the best 13, even if Jamar from hollywood didn't even make it to the final 36.

This is getting a tiny bit long so I'm gonna cut to the exciting part, the contestants. I feel this years contestants are pretty average and some of them are just there to make up the numbers. But first of all, let us thank god that Tatiana did not make it through.

OK, in a nutshell, there are only 5 of them that are even worthy listening to.

Danny, who already sounds like a recording artist, and also sings with so much emotion and this combined with the fact that his wife died a few weeks before the competition and he's doing this for her, means he is a clear favourite. I will say that he will at the very least be in the top 3, if not the final 2.

Adam Lambert. Boy, this guy, to borrow the judges words, is in a class of his own. I personally feel he has an unfair advantage over the rest in that he was part of the cast of the stage play, Wicked which is a fairly large production. That obviously means he has the singing chops and as we saw, he is supremely confident on stage. Problem is I think he's the typical emo kid. If America accepts him, easily into the top 3.

Lil' Rounds. Your typical black singer. This girl reminds me of Fantasia, Latoya London and Mary J all rolled into one. With the lack of blacks in this years edition, she might just nick it. At least top 4 for me. Only problem being that with typical black singers like she is, it might get a little boring after a few shows.

Scott McIntyre. Not sure of the spelling but he's the blind guy. His courage is just stunning. I really feel this guy whenever he sings and he's just so likeable. I'm just waiting for the week where he can sing Josh Groban and I hope he does "You raise me up". He'll obviously get sympathy votes but realistically I don't think he will win it. Top 5.

Apart from the 4, which I feel are clear favourites, I also really like Alexis, she's just such a cute little pixie and boy does she have soul. The tone of her voice is really something special. I also think Matt is pretty cool. He looks a bit like Justin Timberlake and he knows what he wants to do. They'll fall somewhere along the wayside though, but maybe appear on the music charts sometime in the future?

Alright, now for the rest of them. I think the fillers are Sawyer or whatever his name is, the oil rig dude. He's such a nice guy but do we really need another Rubben Studdard or Taylor Hicks? Average at everything. Same goes for Kris. Absolutely average in every way.

Jasmine is such a sweet girl but her voice borders on being irritating with all the screaming. She'll always be in Lil Roundss' shadow so I doubt she will go far. I like the other girl purely for her hair but she's such a gimmick, the one with red hair. Just another typical rocker chick wannabe. These girls would do so much better in bands. She actually reminds me of the nurse from last season.

Last girl, Megan. This one is a pure and utter joke. I have no idea why she's in the final 13. Her singing is so average and from tonights performance, she made a mockery of the show. What do you think this is? The 70s? Her dancing is also irritating as hell, with her hips swaying thing. As usual though, beauty can take you places, as we saw with Kristy last season. I think her tattoo is cool though. But kick her out fast.

And lastly Anoop and Jorge. Anoop has such a smooth voice and he looks like a cool dude but I don't think he has the consistency to make it far. His lack of experience shows on stage and in song choice. Jorge is just such a lovable guy. He's funny and he does have a great voice. But not for American Idol, the fact that he has to work on his accent makes it a little to hard for him. Unless they allow him to sing Juanes or something every week cause I think he can break into the Latino market.

Oh well, thats about it. If I missed anyone they probably didn't deserved to be mentioned anyway. Lets see what new system they put into the results show. I'm guessing it will give the judges some form of control. Prediction on elimination, hmm. If 2 are out, I would say Megan and maybe Kris, cause his votes are split with Matts and who performs better out of the 2 will stay, and Matt did pretty well. Bottom 4 would be Megan, Kris, Anoop and Jorge though. But the fact that Anoop and Jorge have their own independant voters in Indians and Puerto Ricans mean that I think they're in slightly stronger positions. However as we all know, surprises do happen. The voters are the same ones who once voted Bush into Presidency and Taylor Hicks all the way to winning.

Life, is too short when we're having fun,
but too long when we're not.

Chick of the Week: Scarlett Johansson

Sigh busy busy busy has been keeping me from my beloved blog so this week I will give all of you a treat. Scarlett Johansson!! There's just something about her that really draws me to her. She's really beautiful and in a classy way too, with a beautiful smile. Enchanting.

The fact that she's only 24 might be surprising as the New York-born girl has been in quite a few movies, namely The Horse Whisperer and Lost in Translation. She has also released an album covering Tom Wait's songs. Unfortunately though, it's not that good, speaking from experience. However 2 movies that really have me captivated and first got my attention were The Island and The Prestige. I thought she was absolutely stunning in both.

Unlike the rest of Hollywood which is stick thin, Miss Johansson actually has some curves and apparently dosn't believe in Hollywood diets. Unfortunately for us though, she IS married to Ryan Reynolds. Oh well, we can see her next in He's Just Not That Into You which is due this year. Until then, enjoy.

Absolutely captivating.

Oh god....

Favourite of the bunch.

Isnt it Ironic,
That Rush Hour, is the slowest time of the day.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ah, hello again dear readers, as usual the preliminaries, Uni work, inter-department football training and playing games has prevented me from updating more frequently. Nevertheless, I was at Signature, the Gardens to catch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which much like it's name, made me curious to watch it soon as I heard it's "story".

What the story is about.
The movie starts showing us a dieing woman telling her daughter her life story, details are not made clear but it seems the daughter almost regrets not spending more time with her mother and they're not exactly close. Anyway the brief outline of the story is, after the war, a baby is born, his mother dies in the process of giving birth. His father, so distraught, picks up the baby and it's the ugliest thing ever. He runs out and leaves the baby at a welfare house. The caretaker of the home takes the baby as her own and nurses it. It appears the baby is affected by all kinds of diseases, the kind old dieing people get.

This is where the movie "begins". Benjamin Button starts growing up, but he is no normal child. Physically he grows younger every year, but mentally he is normal, growing older. As you can probably tell his life will not ever be normal and the movie sweeps us into his life as he attempts to find his purpose in life, and find love among other things along the way.

Who is in the movie.
Brad Pitt adds another feather to his cap, doing so well as Benjamin Button. He pushes through the age dimension and you recognise him, no matter at what age. Cate Blanchett really ups my respect for her again. Thoroughly versatile, she ages beside Brad Pitt and is really his contrast. Holding her own against him, I really thought she did extremely well. Well the movie is really based around these 2 but other notable members of the cast included, Tilda Swindon, whom you might remember from Constantine, Jason Flemyng as Thomas Button, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali plays Tizzy and last but not least Taraji P. Henson as Queenie, the caretaker, who was brilliant.


Why you must watch this movie.
When I left the cinema and the movie finished, I felt a little blown away by what I had witnessed for the past 3 hours. Yes, the movie is very long, almost 3 hours but when your in there, it definitely does not feel like 3 hours. It really just flows on by. From Benjamin's childhood all the way to his "old age".

The first thing I would compare this movie to is Big Fish. If you loved Big Fish, you will most definitely love this movie. The idea of it is so farfetched but it works. They manage to put it across in a manner that dosn't have you asking questions every few seconds. Going into the movie I was already questioning myself how it would turn out. But they do it extremely well, making everything simple to digest and in the process just nudging the story on, making it easy to follow.

I really take my hat off to Brad Pitt. His portrayal of Benjamin Button really sucks you in, you feel for him, you want him to do well, you cheer him on. Even from a young age they somehow manage to make it look like Brad Pitt and boy does he transform in front of your eyes. The makeup is simply mindboggling but I'll come back to that later. The fantastic thing about Brad Pitt is not only does his character transform physically, he mentally transforms too, one going younger and one going older. The way he manages to do this really is just astounding. He grows as a man and slowly finds his place.

Any review of this movie wouldn't be complete without mentioning Cate Blanchett though. She is the normal person in the movie and is the "control" unit to Brad Pitt, showing you what age they are at the moment in time. She plays his love interest, Daisy and boy does she pull this one off. Much like Benjamin, you watch her grow throughout the movie, from a young girl, to a ballerina, a grown woman, and finally a dieing one. This woman is seriously versatile and I would say she is definitely one of the best drama actresses of our time. She exudes a beauty I did not notice before and she is one classy lady. Breathtaking performance.

Coming back to make-up though, I think they will win, or come close to picking up an Oscar in this department. This really just stands out in the movie. The visual effects used on Benjamin are superb as you see him grow backwards, from a 70-year old Brad Pitt to a teenage one. Very believeable. Same goes for Cate Blanchett, she grows from a young pretty Ballerina into a beautiful mother and gracefully ages in front of you.

There are so many quotable quotes from this movie, quirky ones similar to those in Forest Gump. The way he moves around questions of his age and quotes that shape his life. The script does not bore in a way some 3 hour movies can. No babbling on about nonsense, very to the point, and witty.

Unlike Big Fish though, where it's a happy and quirky through out, Curious Case is different. It's a slightly darker tale of a misfit in life, trying to get by. While your not laughing with him or cheering him along, you want to cry for him. The movie is a sad tale of how this man can never live properly cause in a way, he's old his whole life. When he was "young" he had to act old because it was simply how he was treated for looking that way, and when his appearance grew younger he was old in though and mind. The things he had to sacrifice along the way and how he has to live his life are pretty sad as well.

Overall though, you want to watch this movie. It's something so different, unique. It might drag along a little in the middle but you'll hardly feel it. All the actors do brilliant jobs and it's just enjoyable through-out despite it being a sad story. Go out, take the time to enjoy this in the cinema and you'll be glad you did.

8.5/10

We're meant to lose the people we love.
How else would we know how important they are to us?