I have had email messages, Skype chats and - wonder of wonders today - Skype video calls from HWMBO, who is so far loving his time in Shanghai. He did admit to some exhaustion, but looked pretty chipper in the circumstances. He and the rest of the group have been racing around to pack one heck of a lot of sightseeing into two days. Tomorrow, they leave very early in the am by plane for Xian.
He reports that his accommodations in Shanghai are quite spacious. He has an entire suite to himself, although other members of the group have stopped by to use his Skype account to call their own loved ones, after discovering how much less expensive Skype is. He also says that the food has been fantastic!
It's been fun with the time difference. It turns out that there are still six hours between us. But now I am actually six hours behind him, instead of being ahead of him by the same amount of time as usual. So while it is nearly 19:30 (7:30 pm) here, it is nearly 01:30 (1:30 am tomorrow) in Shanghai. I hope that he's getting some sleep!
My "assignment" while he is traveling is to view the French Open tennis matches for him. Yes, the annual tournament at Roland Garros began today. Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - who lives in Switzerland, actually quite close to where I do - both won their first round matches. Unfortunately, my fellow American, Andy Roddick, fell to another Frenchman. Poor Andy is one of many excellent tennis players who have been cursed by having to play tennis during the era of the awesome triumvirate of Novak, Rafa, and Roger, currently somewhat bunched together in that order. Even Andy Murray, who has a distinct lead over Tsonga, the fifth ranked player, is still some distance behind the top three.
Anyway, I'm taking my assignment seriously. Believe me, HWMBO will be checking up to see!
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
27 May 2012
16 February 2012
Local Smatterings
A few things that have been in the news around here lately ...
Geneva's #OWS group, known locally as le mouvement des Indignés, originally set up their protest site in October 2011 at the Parc des Bastions but, following a death at the site in late January, moved the protest indoors until more moderate weather is here to stay. The deceased person, who was also a drug addict, was apparently not part of the protest movement but was simply found on the ground outside the tents and, as can be seen from the photo accompanying the story at the link above, it looked pretty darn cold there. The protesters have compromised with local authorities to relocate their tents elsewhere.
I'm usually a Federer fan, but am very happy to have seen my fellow countrymen do so well. Both Fish and Isner seem to be genuinely nice guys who will continue to inspire lot of young US tennis players. I'm hoping that the Bryan brothers will prove an inspiration to my own fantasy brother doubles team of grandsons Princes Tyger and Lightning. Just imagining that possibility brings on a chuckle ....
*****
You've seen some of my photos (from 2005) as representative of the mini-ice age we've had hereabouts and I've provided links to some of the more sensational photos that others have taken. The local Geneva Tribune announced a small photo contest and received more than 800 photo entries. The five winning photos, as selected by a three-panelist jury, can be seen here.
*****
We're all happy because the cold weather seems to be on its way elsewhere. Temperatures are hovering closely around 0 degrees Celsius (32 F) and, thankfully, the bise has also moved on. We had a few lazy snowflakes yesterday, but nothing seems to have remained on the ground, at least not here on the plain next to Lake Geneva. While more snow is forecast for later today, it really seems as if the worst of the cold spell is over. I hope that is correct. We've generally been very lucky because the local infrastructure is so good, but in places much further east, such as Romania, it has really been a life-and-death situation. For too many vulnerable ones who were already living very precarious existences, it meant death.Geneva's #OWS group, known locally as le mouvement des Indignés, originally set up their protest site in October 2011 at the Parc des Bastions but, following a death at the site in late January, moved the protest indoors until more moderate weather is here to stay. The deceased person, who was also a drug addict, was apparently not part of the protest movement but was simply found on the ground outside the tents and, as can be seen from the photo accompanying the story at the link above, it looked pretty darn cold there. The protesters have compromised with local authorities to relocate their tents elsewhere.
*****
Last weekend, the greatly anticipated Davis Cup match was held in Fribourg between the USA and Switzerland, with the Swiss team featuring the unquestionably great Roger Federer as well as local Vaud favorite Stanislas Wawrinka. Although the Swiss team was favored, to the great embarrassment of the players involved, it fell to the US dismally at 5-0. Wawrinka played a gutsy five-setter against Mardy Fish, that Fish ultimately won. Federer, to the great dismay and surprise of the Swiss, had a grim - for him - defeat at the hands of a brilliant John Isner, who played the match of his life. The Olympic Gold duo of Roger and Stan was also soundly defeated by Mike Bryan (sans usual partner, brother Bob) and Fish in their doubles match. After that, because the meeting had already been won by the US 3-0, both Roger and Stan let their teammates finish out the Sunday matches, which ended, to no one's surprise, in a US sweep. The US Team and their supporters were all naturally delighted; the Swiss Team and their supporters, not so much. Congratulations to US Team Captain, Jim Courier, who is also a nice guy!I'm usually a Federer fan, but am very happy to have seen my fellow countrymen do so well. Both Fish and Isner seem to be genuinely nice guys who will continue to inspire lot of young US tennis players. I'm hoping that the Bryan brothers will prove an inspiration to my own fantasy brother doubles team of grandsons Princes Tyger and Lightning. Just imagining that possibility brings on a chuckle ....
*****
That's the recap for today.
24 November 2011
Thanksgiving
As I write this, I am watching what is turning out to be a tennis duel between Spain's Rafael Nadal and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Barclay Masters tournament in London, the final tennis tournament of the season at which the top eight players play each other in two groups of "round-robin" matches. After each player in a group has played every other player in that group, the two with the top scores in each group will advance to the semi-final matches, with the winner of the semi-final in one group going on to meet the winner of the semi-final in the other group for the championship.
Incidentally, Tsonga is my neighbor here in Vaud, when he is not otherwise on tour. The French like this part of Switzerland, so much so that another of the top-ranked French tennis players, Gael Monfils, also lives nearby. So I must admit that when either one plays I usually root for them - unless, of course, my favorite player, Roger Federer, is their opponent.
Although Switzerland's Federer is currently ranked fourth, the three players ahead of him are having troubles in this tournament, most likely the results of a long and tough tennis season. Britain's Andy Murray, ranked number 3 and in the same group with the world #1, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, withdrew after losing his first match against the 5th ranked player, Spain's David Ferrer. This opened the way for another Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, ranked #9 and until Murray's withdrawal an alternate. Unfortunately Tipsarevic lost his match yesterday afternoon with 7th ranked Czech, Tomas Berdych. Meanwhile, the amazing Ferrer stunned everyone last night by thoroughly trouncing Djokovic, who has otherwise had an absolutely phenomenal year, including three Grand Slam titles. Tuesday evening, Federer dispatched his perennial adversary, Nadal, in near-record time and ensured himself a place in the semis. He consolidated his tournament front-runner status by trouncing the US's Mardy Fish this afternoon while I was teaching. Mardy has had a pretty good year himself, breaking into the top 8 for the first time ever and is a fun player to watch.
Yes, I was working today. Outside the US - and even for some in the US - today is not a national holiday but a regular workday. As it happened, my friend J and a colleague at my workplace actually wished me a Happy Thanksgiving, but otherwise the day has been very low-key. It has also been very cold. I think that it's about time to cut back the lavender plants on the balcony.
The only real excitement I had was receiving a telephone call this morning from a young man who introduced himself as "Sam" and proceeded to tell me that "mumble-mumble" had been receiving messages that my computer had been downloading several viruses that was slowing down its performance. He then wanted to know whether my computer was on. Perhaps it was the distinct South Asian accent that put me on guard. Perhaps it was the fact that both computers are equipped with excellent anti-virus software or perhaps it was because when my PC had actually sensed a virus several months back, the whole thing simply shut down on me altogether and did what computers do to fix themselves. [I was terrified to turn it on again until I had consulted with HWMBO, who gave me several tips if it was truly infected (fortunately, it was fine!). Nothing like that experience has ever been repeated.] Whatever the reason, I told the gentleman that I didn't believe him and simply hung up.
As HWMBO has taught me, I ran a Google search to see whether this call may have been related to a scam. Lo and behold, my search immediately brought up a couple 2010 articles from the Guardian, as well as a Q & A session from Microsoft. All confirmed my feeling that the telephone call was a scam. What I had heard as "mumble-mumble" was likely "Microsoft." Otherwise the call went as described in the newpaper. The Guardian reports that this scam has been going on since 2008. People receiving the calls are often confused and worried, so they follow the caller's directions and unwittingly grant remote access to everything on their computer.
While authorities are fairly certain that all activities can be linked to one man in India, they are so far powerless to stop the activity. As soon as sites are located and taken down, others spring up. It's like the mythological Hydra and its many heads. As soon as one was lopped off, others sprang up in its place. Microsoft itself simply does not make unsolicited calls. In comments following the article, one person noted cynically that Microsoft usually doesn't even answer if one calls them, so believing that they would actually be calling someone on their own takes a real leap of the imagination!
The comments following the Guardian article are actually a sociological study in and of themselves. Some people actually string the scammers along in very creative ways on the theory that, if they keep the scammer talking - without actually doing anything they are instructed to do - they may save some other poor soul that the scammer would otherwise have called. That really hadn't occurred to me this morning because I was quite busy at the time and more annoyed by the interruption than not.
My dinner tonight was not turkey, but a Moroccan style beef tagine. I love a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings,. But here even a small (actually, tiny!) turkey costs about CHF 50, so I will simply wait until I visit the US once again when HWMBO and I will share one.
No matter what my meal and my experiences have been today, I feel very fortunate and very blessed. So long as everyone in the family, especially including HWMBO, is healthy and happy, Thanksgiving is not simply a holiday that comes once a year. It is every day all year long.
I wish the same for all!
[Unfortunately, poor Rafa is having a day that he'd rather forget. It looks very much as if he will lose this match too. Correction: I first said that J-Dub would meet Roger again in the semi-final. That was wrong. J-Dub will face David Ferrer in the semi-final on Saturday. If he wins that match and Roger wins his semi-final match - against either Djokovic or Berdych - J-Deb and Roger could meet again in the final on Sunday.]
Incidentally, Tsonga is my neighbor here in Vaud, when he is not otherwise on tour. The French like this part of Switzerland, so much so that another of the top-ranked French tennis players, Gael Monfils, also lives nearby. So I must admit that when either one plays I usually root for them - unless, of course, my favorite player, Roger Federer, is their opponent.
Although Switzerland's Federer is currently ranked fourth, the three players ahead of him are having troubles in this tournament, most likely the results of a long and tough tennis season. Britain's Andy Murray, ranked number 3 and in the same group with the world #1, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, withdrew after losing his first match against the 5th ranked player, Spain's David Ferrer. This opened the way for another Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, ranked #9 and until Murray's withdrawal an alternate. Unfortunately Tipsarevic lost his match yesterday afternoon with 7th ranked Czech, Tomas Berdych. Meanwhile, the amazing Ferrer stunned everyone last night by thoroughly trouncing Djokovic, who has otherwise had an absolutely phenomenal year, including three Grand Slam titles. Tuesday evening, Federer dispatched his perennial adversary, Nadal, in near-record time and ensured himself a place in the semis. He consolidated his tournament front-runner status by trouncing the US's Mardy Fish this afternoon while I was teaching. Mardy has had a pretty good year himself, breaking into the top 8 for the first time ever and is a fun player to watch.
Yes, I was working today. Outside the US - and even for some in the US - today is not a national holiday but a regular workday. As it happened, my friend J and a colleague at my workplace actually wished me a Happy Thanksgiving, but otherwise the day has been very low-key. It has also been very cold. I think that it's about time to cut back the lavender plants on the balcony.
The only real excitement I had was receiving a telephone call this morning from a young man who introduced himself as "Sam" and proceeded to tell me that "mumble-mumble" had been receiving messages that my computer had been downloading several viruses that was slowing down its performance. He then wanted to know whether my computer was on. Perhaps it was the distinct South Asian accent that put me on guard. Perhaps it was the fact that both computers are equipped with excellent anti-virus software or perhaps it was because when my PC had actually sensed a virus several months back, the whole thing simply shut down on me altogether and did what computers do to fix themselves. [I was terrified to turn it on again until I had consulted with HWMBO, who gave me several tips if it was truly infected (fortunately, it was fine!). Nothing like that experience has ever been repeated.] Whatever the reason, I told the gentleman that I didn't believe him and simply hung up.
As HWMBO has taught me, I ran a Google search to see whether this call may have been related to a scam. Lo and behold, my search immediately brought up a couple 2010 articles from the Guardian, as well as a Q & A session from Microsoft. All confirmed my feeling that the telephone call was a scam. What I had heard as "mumble-mumble" was likely "Microsoft." Otherwise the call went as described in the newpaper. The Guardian reports that this scam has been going on since 2008. People receiving the calls are often confused and worried, so they follow the caller's directions and unwittingly grant remote access to everything on their computer.
While authorities are fairly certain that all activities can be linked to one man in India, they are so far powerless to stop the activity. As soon as sites are located and taken down, others spring up. It's like the mythological Hydra and its many heads. As soon as one was lopped off, others sprang up in its place. Microsoft itself simply does not make unsolicited calls. In comments following the article, one person noted cynically that Microsoft usually doesn't even answer if one calls them, so believing that they would actually be calling someone on their own takes a real leap of the imagination!
The comments following the Guardian article are actually a sociological study in and of themselves. Some people actually string the scammers along in very creative ways on the theory that, if they keep the scammer talking - without actually doing anything they are instructed to do - they may save some other poor soul that the scammer would otherwise have called. That really hadn't occurred to me this morning because I was quite busy at the time and more annoyed by the interruption than not.
My dinner tonight was not turkey, but a Moroccan style beef tagine. I love a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings,. But here even a small (actually, tiny!) turkey costs about CHF 50, so I will simply wait until I visit the US once again when HWMBO and I will share one.
No matter what my meal and my experiences have been today, I feel very fortunate and very blessed. So long as everyone in the family, especially including HWMBO, is healthy and happy, Thanksgiving is not simply a holiday that comes once a year. It is every day all year long.
I wish the same for all!
[Unfortunately, poor Rafa is having a day that he'd rather forget. It looks very much as if he will lose this match too. Correction: I first said that J-Dub would meet Roger again in the semi-final. That was wrong. J-Dub will face David Ferrer in the semi-final on Saturday. If he wins that match and Roger wins his semi-final match - against either Djokovic or Berdych - J-Deb and Roger could meet again in the final on Sunday.]
30 August 2011
Tennis Time
Well, yesterday marked the first matches and official opening ceremonies for the 2011 US Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a short introductory address, very smoothly indeed, considering that he had just passed an incredibly harrowing weekend weatherwise.
His speech was followed by another given by the President of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Then there was an original musical number presented by a talented 14-year-old named Greyson Chance, a YouTube video of which can be seen here. Is it just me, or are entertainers really getting a LOT younger? He looks like he's just barely out of diapers! Of course, that may be the influence of my weekend with toddlers and babes in diapers taking its toll.
Young Chance then sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" while US Marines unfurled the colors. Finally, the evening matches began. Venus Williams started things off by defeating a young Russian player who had only arrived in NYC hours earlier, a combination of visa problems and airline delays caused by Hurricane Irene. Then my hero, the truly Great Roger Federer, won his own match handily, although it certainly wasn't pretty at times. Federer admitted to being a bit flummoxed by all the havoc caused by the hurricane, including the near-total shut-down of the Big Apple. Will he make it to the final and win again for a sixth US Open championship? At least he's managed to tie Andre Agassi's second-best record of matches won during Grand Slams, no matter what else he does here.
Even though I'm hoping for it, only the Fates know for sure. As the commentators noted, there are a lot of excellent and "hungry" younger male singles players, among them Novak Djokovic, who would just LOVE to win the title, currently being defended by Rafael Nadal, who seems to be as bamboozled by Djokovic this year as Federer seems generally to be by him.
Anyway, they're currently the top three players in men's tennis and I have every expectation that one or more of them will be in the final match.
On the other hand, the women's side is a real toss-up. Defending champion Kim Clijsters is not there. Current World No 1, Caroline Wozniacki, has yet to win ANY Grand Slam. Serena Williams, if she stays healthy, is always a good bet, and it's never a good idea to rule sister Venus out, although the odds are longer for her this year. Maria Sharapova has been winning titles this year and I like her generally, even though I wish that she would get the excessive sound effects under control. I can understand some grunting, but all the noise all the time is a bit much. Anyway, there are lots of other women players who could make it into the final match. It'll be fun to see who they are.
So, right now, I'm enjoying the moment. After all the turmoil of the past week, it's fun to think about tennis rather than natural - or unnatural - disasters!
His speech was followed by another given by the President of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Then there was an original musical number presented by a talented 14-year-old named Greyson Chance, a YouTube video of which can be seen here. Is it just me, or are entertainers really getting a LOT younger? He looks like he's just barely out of diapers! Of course, that may be the influence of my weekend with toddlers and babes in diapers taking its toll.
Young Chance then sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" while US Marines unfurled the colors. Finally, the evening matches began. Venus Williams started things off by defeating a young Russian player who had only arrived in NYC hours earlier, a combination of visa problems and airline delays caused by Hurricane Irene. Then my hero, the truly Great Roger Federer, won his own match handily, although it certainly wasn't pretty at times. Federer admitted to being a bit flummoxed by all the havoc caused by the hurricane, including the near-total shut-down of the Big Apple. Will he make it to the final and win again for a sixth US Open championship? At least he's managed to tie Andre Agassi's second-best record of matches won during Grand Slams, no matter what else he does here.
Even though I'm hoping for it, only the Fates know for sure. As the commentators noted, there are a lot of excellent and "hungry" younger male singles players, among them Novak Djokovic, who would just LOVE to win the title, currently being defended by Rafael Nadal, who seems to be as bamboozled by Djokovic this year as Federer seems generally to be by him.
Anyway, they're currently the top three players in men's tennis and I have every expectation that one or more of them will be in the final match.
On the other hand, the women's side is a real toss-up. Defending champion Kim Clijsters is not there. Current World No 1, Caroline Wozniacki, has yet to win ANY Grand Slam. Serena Williams, if she stays healthy, is always a good bet, and it's never a good idea to rule sister Venus out, although the odds are longer for her this year. Maria Sharapova has been winning titles this year and I like her generally, even though I wish that she would get the excessive sound effects under control. I can understand some grunting, but all the noise all the time is a bit much. Anyway, there are lots of other women players who could make it into the final match. It'll be fun to see who they are.
So, right now, I'm enjoying the moment. After all the turmoil of the past week, it's fun to think about tennis rather than natural - or unnatural - disasters!
10 July 2011
No Excuses
No, I don't have any. It's simply as if I can't get up any gumption whatsoever these days and there is absolutely no reason for it. I could mention that my laptop hasn't been in its usual spot for a couple weeks and this fact allows me to forget about it unless I am parked right in front of it. There is also something about hot lazy summer days with no air conditioning that tend to sap one's will to work, to ruminate - indeed, to do just about anything - when there is no need to. But that isn't really a reason, or even an excuse. Heck, it's not even that hot here and my apartment has such good air circulation that, apart from about ten days every year when heat is not a friend, I really do not need and could not justify using air conditioning, even if I did have it.
My summer guests were somewhat shocked a couple weeks back when we had our hottest day so far (34 C = 93.2 F) to realize that my abode is not air conditioned. Fortunately, HWMBO reminded me that I had a couple fans in my basement storage area that have helped out since. We hadn't spent much summer time here since August 2007 and I literally had forgotten that I had them. For the hottest day so far, we kept the shutters down with the windows open and the fans on, thereby generating enough air circulation to make things tolerable, at least for those of us "oldsters" who, like I, remember routine 100+ F summer temperatures on the high plains of North Central Montana before we had even heard of the luxury of air conditioning. But the younger generation has been much more sheltered, less used to heat discomfort and doesn't like being uncomfortably hot unless that heat is coupled with a beach and they are lying on it. Still, my guests took things in stride. Having the temperatures drop almost immediately to more tolerable ranges helped immensely in retaining equanimity and they now have a fan to help out when it begins to get sticky. Right now, the weather is quite pleasant, although today has certainly been a day of microclimates, to be sure. After a dark and overcast early morning that developed into impressive thunderstorms and torrential rains by mid-morning, the sun came out in the early afternoon. Now, in mid-afternoon, it's clouding over once again.
HWMBO departed several days ago for the more humid clime of Maryland - where air conditioning is a necessary fact of life - and misses no opportunity to remind me of what I'm missing insofar as climate control is concerned. All things considered, I would rather take my chances with an environment where I can be almost as comfortable outside as inside in the summer. And I certainly do not miss the myriad and various bugs of Maryland, especially the awful recent invaders from China, stink bugs, of all things! Ugh! Or the noxious plants, especially after my painful brush with poison ivy - or one of its close relatives - last summer.
My visitors did have a scare last week when an large insect flew past them one evening while we were indoors watching television. The insect - I had at first feared that it was a bat because it was so large and a bat would have freaked them out even more - turned out to be an exceptionally large green grasshopper. I managed to trap it and free it outdoors, but not before it had made one desperate dash in their direction, obviously even more frightened of us. This caused both girls to scream bloody murder at the top of their lungs! It was quite amusing in retrospect, although none of us found it amusing at the time. Needless to say, the evening's television viewing was a casualty of this event.
An event that occupied quite a lot of my time and energy in June, especially while HWMBO was here, was the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Because I so love to watch Roger Federer play and because I would love to see him win a couple more Grand Slam titles before his inevitable retirement now that he is an "old man" of 30 this year, I really hoped that Wimbledon would be one of them. I'm sure that he himself would also have liked to win and this year the odds seemed good. He had played superbly throughout the opening rounds, while his perennial jinx, Rafael Nadal, had seemed more faltering and tentative than usual. Of course, Rafa kept gritting it out and winning his matches. Still, up until the quarter finals, it appeared that Roger had a good shot at making it into the semis for a finals match-up with Rafa once again. But a French player named Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had other ideas. Surprisingly, even after Roger had won the first two sets, Tsonga was able to pull off a real upset and that was that. Roger was out. Tsonga himself was beaten by the red-hot Novak Djokovic, whose only defeat this year has come at Roger's hands. As anyone who follows tennis now knows, Novak soundly defeated Rafa in the finals to win his third Grand Slam title, his first at Wimbledon, and take over the No 1 spot in the Men's Singles ATP rankings. Novak certainly does deserve it and has had an incredible winning streak. Rafa admitted afterwards to having the same sort of mental block when he's playing Djokovic as Roger seems to have when he plays Rafa. Ah well!
In any event, this weekend Roger, together with his Olympics Gold Medal doubles partner, fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, played for Switzerland in its Davis Cup match against Portugal. Both Roger and Stan won their singles matches Friday, although neither played top form tennis. At least, Stan won in three sets. Roger, almost unbelievably and to the shock of the hometown crowd in Bern, lost his first set. Then he settled down and got back to the business of winning. The pair also won their doubles competition yesterday so Roger sat back while replacement Marco Chiudinelli and Stan played out the singles match-ups scheduled for today. Anyway, it was good to see Roger in action again so soon, even if not at his best. The Davis Cup play reminded me of when HMWBO and I saw Roger play in Geneva for Switzerland against Serbia in 2006 (I believe). We were privileged to watch him play a then 19-year-old Novak Djokovic - who nearly stole the show! Novak has certainly lived up to the promise that he showed then.
Anyway, I haven't forgotten SD. In case of any concern, the e coli outbreak elsewhere in Europe has - fortunately - not affected us here at all, so there has been no reason for concern. I've not been writing for many reasons, but primarily out of sheer laziness! Sorry about that!
My summer guests were somewhat shocked a couple weeks back when we had our hottest day so far (34 C = 93.2 F) to realize that my abode is not air conditioned. Fortunately, HWMBO reminded me that I had a couple fans in my basement storage area that have helped out since. We hadn't spent much summer time here since August 2007 and I literally had forgotten that I had them. For the hottest day so far, we kept the shutters down with the windows open and the fans on, thereby generating enough air circulation to make things tolerable, at least for those of us "oldsters" who, like I, remember routine 100+ F summer temperatures on the high plains of North Central Montana before we had even heard of the luxury of air conditioning. But the younger generation has been much more sheltered, less used to heat discomfort and doesn't like being uncomfortably hot unless that heat is coupled with a beach and they are lying on it. Still, my guests took things in stride. Having the temperatures drop almost immediately to more tolerable ranges helped immensely in retaining equanimity and they now have a fan to help out when it begins to get sticky. Right now, the weather is quite pleasant, although today has certainly been a day of microclimates, to be sure. After a dark and overcast early morning that developed into impressive thunderstorms and torrential rains by mid-morning, the sun came out in the early afternoon. Now, in mid-afternoon, it's clouding over once again.
HWMBO departed several days ago for the more humid clime of Maryland - where air conditioning is a necessary fact of life - and misses no opportunity to remind me of what I'm missing insofar as climate control is concerned. All things considered, I would rather take my chances with an environment where I can be almost as comfortable outside as inside in the summer. And I certainly do not miss the myriad and various bugs of Maryland, especially the awful recent invaders from China, stink bugs, of all things! Ugh! Or the noxious plants, especially after my painful brush with poison ivy - or one of its close relatives - last summer.
My visitors did have a scare last week when an large insect flew past them one evening while we were indoors watching television. The insect - I had at first feared that it was a bat because it was so large and a bat would have freaked them out even more - turned out to be an exceptionally large green grasshopper. I managed to trap it and free it outdoors, but not before it had made one desperate dash in their direction, obviously even more frightened of us. This caused both girls to scream bloody murder at the top of their lungs! It was quite amusing in retrospect, although none of us found it amusing at the time. Needless to say, the evening's television viewing was a casualty of this event.
An event that occupied quite a lot of my time and energy in June, especially while HWMBO was here, was the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Because I so love to watch Roger Federer play and because I would love to see him win a couple more Grand Slam titles before his inevitable retirement now that he is an "old man" of 30 this year, I really hoped that Wimbledon would be one of them. I'm sure that he himself would also have liked to win and this year the odds seemed good. He had played superbly throughout the opening rounds, while his perennial jinx, Rafael Nadal, had seemed more faltering and tentative than usual. Of course, Rafa kept gritting it out and winning his matches. Still, up until the quarter finals, it appeared that Roger had a good shot at making it into the semis for a finals match-up with Rafa once again. But a French player named Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had other ideas. Surprisingly, even after Roger had won the first two sets, Tsonga was able to pull off a real upset and that was that. Roger was out. Tsonga himself was beaten by the red-hot Novak Djokovic, whose only defeat this year has come at Roger's hands. As anyone who follows tennis now knows, Novak soundly defeated Rafa in the finals to win his third Grand Slam title, his first at Wimbledon, and take over the No 1 spot in the Men's Singles ATP rankings. Novak certainly does deserve it and has had an incredible winning streak. Rafa admitted afterwards to having the same sort of mental block when he's playing Djokovic as Roger seems to have when he plays Rafa. Ah well!
In any event, this weekend Roger, together with his Olympics Gold Medal doubles partner, fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, played for Switzerland in its Davis Cup match against Portugal. Both Roger and Stan won their singles matches Friday, although neither played top form tennis. At least, Stan won in three sets. Roger, almost unbelievably and to the shock of the hometown crowd in Bern, lost his first set. Then he settled down and got back to the business of winning. The pair also won their doubles competition yesterday so Roger sat back while replacement Marco Chiudinelli and Stan played out the singles match-ups scheduled for today. Anyway, it was good to see Roger in action again so soon, even if not at his best. The Davis Cup play reminded me of when HMWBO and I saw Roger play in Geneva for Switzerland against Serbia in 2006 (I believe). We were privileged to watch him play a then 19-year-old Novak Djokovic - who nearly stole the show! Novak has certainly lived up to the promise that he showed then.
Anyway, I haven't forgotten SD. In case of any concern, the e coli outbreak elsewhere in Europe has - fortunately - not affected us here at all, so there has been no reason for concern. I've not been writing for many reasons, but primarily out of sheer laziness! Sorry about that!
19 August 2010
Whiling away a hot summer afternoon ...
A couple weeks ago, just after my return from the Southwest after visiting Princess Butterfly and her family, HWMBO and I travelled to Washington. As part of his birthday celebration, we attended the afternoon games at the Legg-Mason Tennis Classic, one of the tournaments that lead up to the US Open, which will be held at the USTA Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows in New York. This year the dates run from 30 August to 12 September.
The afternoon was very hot, but that didn't stop any tennis fans. Here is a shot of the ticket entrance. HWMBO had dropped me off to pick up our tickets while he went to park the car. All we had were our on-line receipts. The car parks were far enough from the entrance area that free shuttle buses had been arranged to bring fans back to the ticket entrance, so I just waited for him here. This year, however, we each had a cell phone - just in case.
The Legg-Mason Classic is a much smaller event than the US Open, which is one of the four Grand Slams of professional tennis. In 2009, we actually travelled to Flushing Meadows with a group from the county. And we managed to lose each other there among the huge mass of people. Unfortunately, between us, we had only one cell phone and there was a lot of ground to cover.
It made for several very anxious moments, but all was well in the end. Still, we learned a lesson from that and a couple of similar experiences. Last year, at the US Open, we were able to watch one of the early matches of Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, this year's defending champion, who beat Switzerland's Roger Federer in the 2009 final.
At 6'6", Del Potro towers over Federer and most of the other top seeds. He also has a wicked service game.
This year, however, Del Potro was injured earlier in the season. It appears that he will not defend his title in the 2010 US Open, although there are conflicting reports. Del Potro did not participate in the Legg-Mason Classic, but another one of Federer's nemeses, Tomáš Berdych from the Czech Republic, who beat Federer in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon earlier this year, did.
We were able to watch Berdych play Marcos Baghdatis, a Greek Cypriot, whose recent tennis matches have been nothing less than inspired. Baghdatis beat Berdych soundly.
Over the weekend, Baghdatis went on to become runner-up in the Legg-Mason against David Nalbandian, another Argentine player. We'll see what eventually happens at the US Open. As a Swiss resident, I am also a Federer fan, so I will be wishing Roger well.
The afternoon was very hot, but that didn't stop any tennis fans. Here is a shot of the ticket entrance. HWMBO had dropped me off to pick up our tickets while he went to park the car. All we had were our on-line receipts. The car parks were far enough from the entrance area that free shuttle buses had been arranged to bring fans back to the ticket entrance, so I just waited for him here. This year, however, we each had a cell phone - just in case.
06 June 2010
The Sport of Kings ... and others
Among the classic horse races held this weekend, the Belmont Stakes, the third race in the US Triple Crown for three-year old Thoroughbreds, was run at Belmont Park, NY yesterday. Because neither the winner of the Kentucky Derby nor the winner of the Preakness was in the Belmont, the usual hyperbolic media frenzy was largely absent in the days leading up to the race. As it turned out, the major drama in the race occurred when a horse named "Drosselmeyer" zipped by another horse, unfortunately named "First Dude" - apparently after the infamous husband of the erstwhile US Republican Vice-Presidential candidate - to cross the finish line first. Good for Drosselmeyer! Given the demonstrated US MSM tendency to give tons of press to the least deserving of personalities, a win for "First Dude" would have forced the barely half-term governor's presence on us all even more than ever. Thank God that bullet was dodged!
Meanwhile, on the European side of The Pond, there was quite a spectacular win at the Epsom Derby yesterday, with lightly-raced "Workforce" distancimg himself from the field and setting a new course record in his win. Veterans of the Derby remarked that the race reminded them most of the spectacular race run in 1981 by the ill-fated champion "Shergar." It was the fifth Derby win for trainer Sir Michael Stoute. I find it interesting that the Brits actually knight some of their sports heroes. And Derby Day at Epsom, with men dressed in top hats and tails, along with women in frilly dresses and splendid hats, is quite fun to watch. It was made famous in the musical "My Fair Lady." The Derby was also a victory for three-time champion jockey, Ryan Moore - his second of the day, in fact. Moore at 26 has already amassed an amazingly impressive array of racing records and trophies and is well on his way to making racing history in the UK.
Yesterday, a young Italian woman won her country's first French Open Women's Singles title. By the final, most of the top-seeded women had been eliminated, but that should take nothing away from Francesca Schiavone's win. Today, it was less of a surprise that Rafal Nadal, who met erstwhile giant-slayer Robin Soderling in the French Open final, romped away with the Men's Singles title for the fifth time. In doing so, he not only got his own back from Soderling for last year's defeat earlier in the tourney but also recaptured the No. 1 ranking that he forfeited to Roger Federer last season. Clay is Nadal's best surface. It will be interesting to see what happens during the rest of the tennis season. But if Federer wants to reclaim his No. 1 rank, he'll need more fire in his belly than he's demonstrated so far in 2010. Not that Federer needs to prove anything. At all.
Attention here now is turning towards the upcoming World Cup playoffs to be held for the first time ever in the Republic of South Africa. I received a flyer in my mailbox yesterday advertising that all matches will be retransmitted outdoors on a giant screen set up in nearby Nyon. Entrance is free. There are many other similar opportunities in the area. Because some of the visitors who will be arriving soon are major soccer (aka football everywhere in the world except in the US) fans, they may be interested in checking these out for the ambiance, if nothing else. We will, of course, also be able to view the games on TV at home.
Meanwhile, on the European side of The Pond, there was quite a spectacular win at the Epsom Derby yesterday, with lightly-raced "Workforce" distancimg himself from the field and setting a new course record in his win. Veterans of the Derby remarked that the race reminded them most of the spectacular race run in 1981 by the ill-fated champion "Shergar." It was the fifth Derby win for trainer Sir Michael Stoute. I find it interesting that the Brits actually knight some of their sports heroes. And Derby Day at Epsom, with men dressed in top hats and tails, along with women in frilly dresses and splendid hats, is quite fun to watch. It was made famous in the musical "My Fair Lady." The Derby was also a victory for three-time champion jockey, Ryan Moore - his second of the day, in fact. Moore at 26 has already amassed an amazingly impressive array of racing records and trophies and is well on his way to making racing history in the UK.
Attention here now is turning towards the upcoming World Cup playoffs to be held for the first time ever in the Republic of South Africa. I received a flyer in my mailbox yesterday advertising that all matches will be retransmitted outdoors on a giant screen set up in nearby Nyon. Entrance is free. There are many other similar opportunities in the area. Because some of the visitors who will be arriving soon are major soccer (aka football everywhere in the world except in the US) fans, they may be interested in checking these out for the ambiance, if nothing else. We will, of course, also be able to view the games on TV at home.
02 June 2010
Roland Garros 2010
Whoever wins the men's singles at the French Open this year, it will not be Roger Federer. The phenomenal Swiss tennis player lost a four-set match to Robin Soderling of Sweden in this year's quarterfinals yesterday. It was vengeance of a sort for Soderling, who was defeated in the 2009 final by Federer, when Roger won his first and only French Open title.
Federer took the first set easily and was up 5-4 in the second set when a 45-minute rain delay apparently stole his thunder. When play resumed, everything went Soderling's way for the next three sets. Federer had his chances, including a set point just before the rain delay, but Soderling, who also managed to knock Rafal Nadal out of the tournament in 2009, was clearly the better player for the match. Now Soderling will face Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the semifinals. Nadal, who won his match today, will meet Austrian Jürgen Melzer in the semis. It could be that Soderling and Nadal will meet in Sunday's final. If nothing else, Soderling has made tennis history by winning against both Federer and Nadal in the same Grand Slam tournament, even if not during the same year.
Switzerland, of course, adulates "le Grand Rodgeur" as well it should. He is a truly phenomenal champion, no matter what happens from now on. But, as a nation, Switzerland was probably most excited by last Sunday's match, when Federer played his fellow countryman and occasional doubles partner, Stanislas Wawrinka. (Together, they won the Gold for Switzerland in men's doubles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.) As expected, Federer won Sunday's match. But Stan is a favorite where I live, in part because he comes from the canton of Vaud. Many were pulling for him. He is also a really nice guy. He wins more brownie points locally than Federer does because Wawrinka almost always participates in the Swiss Davis Cup matches whereas Federer more often than not does not.
HWMBO and I attended the first weekend of play for the 1997 French Open and had a ball. That year, Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil was the winner. Kuerten went on to win the championship two more times. The matches we watched were fun because, at the time, we had no idea who would end up in the finals, or even the quarterfinals, and were simply able to enjoy ourselves cheering for whomever we wanted to. As always, it was a pleasure to visit the City of Light. We will long remember the atmosphere of actually being there although we must admit that we actually see the players and the games better watching our TV set at home.
Federer took the first set easily and was up 5-4 in the second set when a 45-minute rain delay apparently stole his thunder. When play resumed, everything went Soderling's way for the next three sets. Federer had his chances, including a set point just before the rain delay, but Soderling, who also managed to knock Rafal Nadal out of the tournament in 2009, was clearly the better player for the match. Now Soderling will face Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the semifinals. Nadal, who won his match today, will meet Austrian Jürgen Melzer in the semis. It could be that Soderling and Nadal will meet in Sunday's final. If nothing else, Soderling has made tennis history by winning against both Federer and Nadal in the same Grand Slam tournament, even if not during the same year.
Switzerland, of course, adulates "le Grand Rodgeur" as well it should. He is a truly phenomenal champion, no matter what happens from now on. But, as a nation, Switzerland was probably most excited by last Sunday's match, when Federer played his fellow countryman and occasional doubles partner, Stanislas Wawrinka. (Together, they won the Gold for Switzerland in men's doubles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.) As expected, Federer won Sunday's match. But Stan is a favorite where I live, in part because he comes from the canton of Vaud. Many were pulling for him. He is also a really nice guy. He wins more brownie points locally than Federer does because Wawrinka almost always participates in the Swiss Davis Cup matches whereas Federer more often than not does not.
HWMBO and I attended the first weekend of play for the 1997 French Open and had a ball. That year, Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil was the winner. Kuerten went on to win the championship two more times. The matches we watched were fun because, at the time, we had no idea who would end up in the finals, or even the quarterfinals, and were simply able to enjoy ourselves cheering for whomever we wanted to. As always, it was a pleasure to visit the City of Light. We will long remember the atmosphere of actually being there although we must admit that we actually see the players and the games better watching our TV set at home.
22 January 2010
Jet-lagging
Well, I've been up more or less since 2:30 this morning. Alas and alack! As is commonly recommended when traveling, I stayed up until my normal bedtime, hoping to sleep through the night without incident. I even eschewed (I love using that word!) the tiny bottle of gin from the transatlantic flight and instead sedately drank water. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake. At least I can look forward to having the gin tonight ... if I need it. I expect that I'll probably crash long before then.
I am not sure what woke me up, if anything. All I know is that I have been wide awake since 2:30 and none of the usual techniques have helped. I finally gave in at 5:30, got up and dressed and have been organizing various odds and ends, feeling quite virtuous. Feeling so fatuously virtuous should put me to sleep.
For the past half-hour, I've been watching the John Isner-Gael Monfils tennis match live from Melbourne. Monfils is an excellent, often brilliant, player, and he had John Isner, also excellent, on the ropes in the third set. But then Monfils lost his focus enough to let Isner back in. They're currently on serve in the fourth. Monfils may rue the outcome in that third set, as well he should. Update: Monfils lost. We've now moved on to cover the match of local Vaud tennis hero, Stan Wawrinka, with Marin Cilic. Surprisingly, because watching a tennis ball bounce back and forth can be soporific, I am still wide awake.
Yesterday, I didn't have much time to see the most recent changes in the third phase of the development that my apartment belongs to, principally because I arrived here as the daylight was waning but also because I wanted to unpack while I was still conscious enough to remember where things should go. As always, it was a small shock to see how gray it was below the clouds when the Alps had shown themselves so scintillatingly white in the blue sky above the cloud cover. It is always a pleasure to be greeted by Mont Blanc, the eternal Snow Queen of the French Alps. Her entire mountain court was splendidly attired as well.
When we bounced a bit on the tarmac while landing, many of us were surprised to see a large greeting committee of several police cars, airport security personnel, and several others standing about in fluorescent green vests. This was extraordinary. This morning's on-line Tribune de Genève gives the reason. No, it was not because there was a special welcome party for our flight, as we were at first flattered to believe. The group was there to see the huge new Airbus 380 (l'A380) take off from Cointrin Airport just after our plane landed.
I am not sure what woke me up, if anything. All I know is that I have been wide awake since 2:30 and none of the usual techniques have helped. I finally gave in at 5:30, got up and dressed and have been organizing various odds and ends, feeling quite virtuous. Feeling so fatuously virtuous should put me to sleep.
For the past half-hour, I've been watching the John Isner-Gael Monfils tennis match live from Melbourne. Monfils is an excellent, often brilliant, player, and he had John Isner, also excellent, on the ropes in the third set. But then Monfils lost his focus enough to let Isner back in. They're currently on serve in the fourth. Monfils may rue the outcome in that third set, as well he should. Update: Monfils lost. We've now moved on to cover the match of local Vaud tennis hero, Stan Wawrinka, with Marin Cilic. Surprisingly, because watching a tennis ball bounce back and forth can be soporific, I am still wide awake.
Yesterday, I didn't have much time to see the most recent changes in the third phase of the development that my apartment belongs to, principally because I arrived here as the daylight was waning but also because I wanted to unpack while I was still conscious enough to remember where things should go. As always, it was a small shock to see how gray it was below the clouds when the Alps had shown themselves so scintillatingly white in the blue sky above the cloud cover. It is always a pleasure to be greeted by Mont Blanc, the eternal Snow Queen of the French Alps. Her entire mountain court was splendidly attired as well.
When we bounced a bit on the tarmac while landing, many of us were surprised to see a large greeting committee of several police cars, airport security personnel, and several others standing about in fluorescent green vests. This was extraordinary. This morning's on-line Tribune de Genève gives the reason. No, it was not because there was a special welcome party for our flight, as we were at first flattered to believe. The group was there to see the huge new Airbus 380 (l'A380) take off from Cointrin Airport just after our plane landed.
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