Wednesday 27 January 2010

Shameless Series 7

I've been an avid fan of Shameless since the beginning so I was excited about the new series. Rather than ramble on about the two series I just wanted to point out a few things I found interesting.

Does anyone think that Carl has grown a lot! He doesn't look like a boy anymore - mainly due to the hairstyle change and the deeper voice. It's quite weird actually seeing him like this because last series he was still like a little boy!

Liam's going to get more airtime. I like Liam but I just don't think he's up for more screentime. I'm not all that interested in him.

Karen - crazy! I sympatise with Karen, it's obviously tough being in her situation, I can't wait to see what happens when the truth gets out.

Where's Norma?

I can't wait to see Paddy and Mimi a happy couple again, I loved their relationship. Please be a lovely couple again :)

I wonder how Mickey and Ian are going to develop? Will be interesting.

Does anyone feel that Debbie not being here is a bit weird. We've been use to the family being held together by a dominant female - Fiona then Debbie, now Debbie's left the role seems to be gone - maybe because Liam's the only kid now.

I'm still sad that Mandy left, such a shame.

The new characters - not really excited about the new characters, instead I'd rather some old ones came back! The last series should be a reunion series where everyone comes back at least for like 4 episodes :)

Australian Open; into the semis!

This Australian Open is definitely turning out to be a very interesting one indeed. In the men's draw we have Federer Vs Tsonga and Cilic Vs Murray for the two semifinals. I'm betting strongly on a Federer Vs Murray final which I actually believe Murray will win, making it his first Grand Slam. For the women's draw it will be Serena Williams Vs Na Li and Justine Henin Vs Zheng Jie - 2 CHINESE PLAYERS! WOW! I'm so shocked that they made it, especially Na Li since she beat Venus to get through. But sadly I predict a Serena Vs Justine final with Justine winning! Then we'd have 2 comeback queens Clijsters and Henin! It'd be ironic if Henin wins 2 Grand Slams in the first year of her return.

To sum up my moments of the singles tournament so far:
Day 1
Maria Sharapova loses to Kirilenko (reaches QF) in 3 sets. Obviously this was a shock but I predicted Sharapova's early exit right from the beginning.
Andy Murray shows great form in thrashing Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-1,6-1,6-2. Whilst Juan Martin Del Potro takes 4 sets - raising concerns about his chances.
Elena Dementieva thrashes Vera Dushevina, putting her mark down against her 2nd Round opponent Justine Henin.
Radek Stepanek - the guy who destroyed Nicole Vaidisova's career - loses to ivo Karlovic in 5.

Day 2
Mikhail Youzhny beats Richard Gasquet in a tight 5 setter.
A plethora of middling seeds crash out, one of which is my predicted 4th Rounder Dominika Cibulkova.

Day 3
Justine beats Elena 7-5, 7-6(6). This really doesput Henin's chances of winning this tournament into the stratosphere as Elena could easily have reached the QF's.
Marin Cilic scrapes through an insspired Bernard Tomic.
Yanina Wickmayer Vs. Flavia Pennetta - cruel cruel match up. Yanina wins in 2.
Elena Baltacha makes the 3rd Round! Beating Kateryna Bondarenko
Berdych loses in the 2nd Round

Day 4
Not much of note

Day 5
Juan Martin Del Potro continues to struggle through the draw
Jelena Jankovic loses to Alona Bondarenko (reaches 4th Round) am I the only one who feels sorry for Alona - she used to be above her sister by so much but now her sister is one seed above her!
KIM CLIJSTERS is thrashed by Nadia Petrova 6-0,6-1. Nadia Petrova now becomes a plausible threat - of course Henin will beat her!
John Isner beats Gael Monfils - both favourites of mine but finally John shows the world he'll be Americas future in tennis.
Jie Zheng beats Marion Bartoli - thank god my fearful prediction didn't come true.

Day 6
Mikhail Youzhny (withdrew) , Juan Monaco and Tommy Haas all fall - 3 of my favourites :(
Novak Djokovic was doing so well. So sad he was ill when playing Tsonga, he so would have won if he wasn't.

Day 7
John Isner's run ends with a defeat to Andy Murray.
Justine beats another Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer.
Andy Roddick scrapes past Fernando Gonzalez in 5.
Juan Martin Del Potro loses to Cilic, after scraping through Tomic I thought Cilic would not get much further but now he's in the SF's!
Dinara Safina retires capping another top seed falling.

Day 8
Davydenko and Verdasco have a tough 5 setter, Davydenko prevails.
Most Australians are now out of the draw - oh well Melbourne.
Azarenka beats Zvonareva - I like them both, didn't use to like Zvonareva but now I do.
Na Li beats Wozniacki - hey wait Na Li and Jie Zheng !?!?!? When haas this happened before?
Tsonga scrapes through but Djokovic is fine - so who would have predicted Tsonga beating Djokovic!
Hewitt loses easily to Federer - it always happens so I don't understand the hype.

Day 9
Justine beats Petrova - as I said.
Kirilenko loses, sadly the interest on her was lost as after beating Sharapova she had a flurry of nonseeders. She loses to Jie Zheng by the way.
Marin Cilic beats Andy Roddick
Nadal retires against Murray - is Murray finally going to win it?

Day 10
Na Li beats Venus, after Venus being in the lead for most of the first half.
Federer beats Davydenko in 4. I was so hoping Davydenko would at least make it 5.

and so tomorrow we'll find out the womens final and whether Murray will make the mens final.

Interesting note - Djokovic will overtake Nadal in points, I think Djokovic will be the new No.2 as I'm not sure how much Andy Murray could get. Actually I think if Murray wins he'll be World No.2. Marin Cilic will definately make the Top 10.

For womens Caroline Wozniacki will become the new No.3! WOW!
Victoria Azarenka will be the new No.6 and sadly Elena Dementieva will be No.7 - poor Elena, she was handed a tough draw.
Na Li will make the Top 10!!!!!!! Possibly even 8th if she can get to the finals. Vera Zvonareva becomes the victim to Na Li.
Will Justine get a rank after possibly winning the Australian? as she's only played 2 tournaments like Kim Clijsters was only in her 3rd I think after the US, and only then did she receive a rank.

Monday 25 January 2010

TVB Series 2010: A Great Way To Care

This series will probably not make Hong Kong but this is the first series that I've watched in 2010 that wasn't aired in Hong Kong as part of the 42nd anniversary so I'll consider it 43rd.

Note: I've only watched half of this series. I'll update this exact post when I've finished.

For all the series that I watch this year I will give nominations which will stack up at the end of the year so that I know who my favourites of the year were, so without further ado let the nominations from A Great Way To Care begin!


Best Actor
No Nominees


Best Actress
No Nominees


Best Supporting Actor
Raymond WongHe really has improved his eyes so much, I just liked watching him in this series and he's quickly becoming one of my favourite actors to watch. His character is likable but he also portrayed his annoying devotion to his ex-girlfriend really well.


Best Supporting Actress
Astrid Chan
She portrays different emotions well here, though there are still some stiff areas I enjoyed watching her character in this series such as her couple relationship with Ram Tseung and her mother in law relationship with Suet Nei.


Best Couple
Vivien Yeo & Raymond Wong
I'm anticipating the return of Vivien Yeo. When Vivien was fat I loved how Raymond Wong stuck to her like a true friend. Their moments were sweet and adorable, definitely a great couple.


Most Improved Actor
No Nominees


Most Improved Actress
Kate Tsui
She may be considered as a "leading actress" in TVB's eyes but I still deem her as improving, she did well in this series, she's not as theatrical as before and she portrayed her character well.

Yoyo Chen
I like her "real" character, unlike all the nicey nicey's her character was more three dimensional, a bit annoying - like most of her characters, but she played this character better, she wasn't annoying and in fact I was able to concentrate on her character.


Favourite Male Character
Raymond Wong
I just liked his character, his relationship with everyone around him was a joy to watch. Go Raymond! Of course he still has room for improvement in the eye area but come on there are bigger botox eyes in this drama ...cough...Alex Fong...cough...


Favourite Female Character
No Nominees


Breakthrough Performance
Unlike how TVB graded it my definition for a Breakthrough Performance has been lowered a few notches, this award is given to anyone who usually wouldn't catch my attention but did this time around.

Mandy Lam
I've always liked Mandy but she suffered the curse of the MHK2000 crop and never really made a name for herself.

Joey Mak
A recent MHK contestant, I like Joey and with more series under her belt she'll be able to improve.

Joe Yau
I saw a sensitive, caring side to his character - an interesting change to his typecast character.

Suki Chui
I didn't like Suki Chui before but I'm slowly warming to her. I liked her friendship with Kate Tsui, it made me remember her character.

Vivien Yeo
She portrayed a 300 pound lady, that's enough to garner her some recognition. I loved her scenes with Raymond Wong and can't wait to see her thin and with Raymond again - but I'd love to see her fat for a bit longer.


Best Chemistry
This award goes to relationships besides couples.
No Nominees


Most Annoying Character
Suet Nei
Just the stereotypical annoying mother in law - but there's a story to that... interesting.


Recognition Award
Rachel Kan
Another to have suffered the MHK2000 curse. I like her, she's a decent actress but she hasn't gained attention from the HK media. I was upset she didn't get cast into Off Peddar - even though it wasn't as successful as Best Selling Secrets. I liked her in Burning Flame as well.

Yvonne Ho
Though not necessarily in this series, she has played some interesting characters before but she doesn't seem to get any recognition.

Sunday 24 January 2010

Australian Open Day 7

Justine's going to get into the final! How couldn't she! She's defeated Elena Dementieva and Yanina Wickmayer now she only has a spirited Nadia Petrova and possibly Maria Kirilenko to beat. Petrova could be difficult I must say considering she thrashed Kim Clijsters but I believe Dementieva and Wickmayer were tougher opponents. So happy that Zheng and Kirilenko beat won, amazed that Dinara Safina retired - I didn't see that coming and now the draw is really given to Justine! She could even win it!

On the men's Cilic beat Del Potro, didn't see that one coming. Nadal and Murray went safely through and will play in the quarters - could be tough but I think Nadal will win in 4 sets, great if Murray could win.

Saturday 23 January 2010

Australian Open; into the 4th Round

By on large i've predicted the 4th Round players in the mens draw.

Federer VS Hewitt will be an interesting but one sided affair I think.
Verdasco VS Davydenko, I think Davydenko will win but it could be a tough one.
Djokovic VS Kubot, if Djokovic doesn't win in straight sets this will be worrying - shame that Youzhny retired.
Tsonga/Haas VS Almagro, most likely Tsonga
Roddick VS Gonzalez, I am leaning towards Roddick
Cilic VS Del Potro, Del Potro
Murray VS Isner, Heart says Isner but Head says Murray - most likely Murray
Karlovic VS Nadal, Nadal

DREAM FINAL: Djokovic VS Isner! GO ISNER lol!

But my predictions does not include any shocks and I doubt that.

On the women's side the big shock is Kim Clijsters losing to Nadia Petrova 6-0,6-1. An utter whitewash. Jelena Jankovic losing was not all that shocking but losing to Alona Bondarenko was quite shocking.

S.Williams VS Stosur; Serena in 2
Zvonareva VS Azarenka, Azarenka in 3
Wozniacki/Peer VS Li, Wozniacki in 3
Schiavone VS Williams, Venus in 3
HENIN! VS Wickmayer, a tough one! Henin in 3
Petrova VS Kuznetsova, Petrova in 3
Bondarenko VS Zheng, can't decide - 2 sets
Kirilenko VS Safina, Safina in 2

DREAM FINAL: Serena Williams VS Henin

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Australian Open 1st Round

Interesting notes - David Ferrer nearly triple bagled Frederico Gil but Gil decided enough was enough and retired 2 games in the third set.

Youzhny Vs. Gasquet - from the scoreline this match looks fantastic! Hope I could watch it.

Tommy Robredo out! Wasn't expecting that. Well that gives Mikhail Youzhny an even better chance of making the 4th Round.

Vania King beat Dominika Cilbulkova! I think I only predicted Yvonne Meusburger winning out of those 4 matches in that section. Now that Sharapova and Cibulkova are out that bit of the draw looks open to anyone.

Monday 18 January 2010

Australian Open Day 1

The shock today is probably Maria Sharapova losing to Maria Kirilenko. If you have read my previous post you'd know that I predicted Maria Sharapova would losse before the 4th Round - it came true! I didn't expect it to be Maria Kirilenko to beat her but all in all I saw this happening.

Bernard Tomic made it through! REJOICE AUSTRALIANS!

2nd Round Matches to watch - JUSTINE HENIN VS ELENA DEMENTIEVA! Who wouldn't watch that match! I'd also recommend Yanina Wickmayer Vs Flavia Pennetta (cause I like both of them and hate for either to lose!)

...and Elena Baltacha made the 2nd round!

Oh I didn't know Gilles Simon withdrew, why?

Saturday 16 January 2010

Australia Open Women's Draw

Serena is the first seed in the women's draw with a possible match up against Petra Kvitova is the 2nd Round, this should be a nice warm up for the defending champion. Carla Suarez Navarro had a dream run to the QF's last year beating Venus along the way but she has faded since then so I wouldn't put too much hope on her. I'm not too sure on who'll be Serena's most likely 4th Round opponent. The educated decision would be Samantha Stosur, out of the 8 she's got the best record here, but I think Stosur tends to buckle under home pressure in singles.

Prediction: Serena Williams VS (Lisicky or Stosur)

Will Ana Ivanovic ever return to her Grand Slame winning potential? I don't think so, therefore I'm leaning towards Vera Zvonareva taking this group. Am I being too optimistic though? Vera did retire last week mid match 3-3. Victoria Azarenka will probably be her 4th Round opponent with a small possibility of Elena Vesnina I'd say. It'd be interesting to see how far Kimiko Date Krumm gets, she lost in the first round last year but she arguably has an easier draw this year.

Prediction: Vera Zvonareva VS Victoria Azarenka

Caroline Wozniacki is the 4th seed - wow already! I don't see that much opposition. Daniela Hantuchova has a decent record here but she's just been on and off recently. I hope Na Li will pose a threat seeing she beat her at the Medibank International!

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki VS (Up in the air)

Agnieszka Radwanska has an awkward record here: 2r, QF, 1r. I wonder how she'll fare this time. Will Melanie Oudin make a statement in Australia as well? I don't know. She does however have a simple first 3 rounds I'd say. Venus Williams will be facing Lucie Safarova in the first round, potentially a difficult match. If she gets through that there should be an easy road until the 4th round. To be honest I do think if Caroline wants to get deep into the tournament she's got a relatively easier draw up against her.

Prediction: Agnieszka Radwanska Vs. Venus Williams

This draw is the most interesting I'd say. Elena Dementieva comes from a win this week to be one of the possible frontrunners in this tournament but alongside she has Justine Henin to fight off - in the 2nd round! Why is the draw so harsh to Justine! Though Justine made the final in her first tournament back sshe didn't play any current Top 10 player so it'll be interesting to see how she fares against an in form Elena Dementieva. Jelena Dokic made the QF's here last year whilst Alisa Kleybanova made the 4th Round last year also, losing to none other than Jelena Dokic! This time around they'll be facing each other in the 1st round! eek! That's aa shame. Difficult to say who'd win.

Skip one quartet and we have Yanina Wickmayer - what'll happen! Anna Chakvetadze or Flavia Pennetta could be her 2nd round match - why is this draw so tough! Flavia and Justine have it bad here!

Prediction: Elena Dementieva (sorry Justine!) VS Yanina Wickmayer (Sorry Flavia!)

On the other hand Kim Clijsters has a much easier first few rounds with Nadia Petrova a potential threat - however she's lost in the 1st round in both tournaments this year already!

Skip another quartet and we reach the Svetlana et Anastasia's quartet! Three Anastasia! Well 2 Anastasia's and 1 Anastasija! I remember Svetlana doing badly recently so I'm not convinced with her

Prediction: Kim Clijsters VS (Inclined to say Svetlana but not going to. Rezai, Govortsova and Pavlyuchenkova potential threats)

Jelena Jankovic is in the 4th Quarter with a relatively easy draw - she did however lose to Agnes Szavay at Medibank, Agnes being a fallen potential star in my opinion.

But seeing how a lot of the seeds dropped at Medibank I'm not sure if the Australian Open will be that straight forward - I expect to see at least 2 big names dropping before the 4th Round. Alona Bondarenko did win last week so maybe she could pose a shock! I hate to say this but I think Marion Bartoli may make it! aaaahhhh! Hopefully Jie Zheng will show her the way out.

Prediction: Jelena Jankovic Vs. Marion Bartoli

Maria Sharapovaa against Maria Kirileno - sob, two of my favourite players up against each other in the 1st round :(. Anyway I'm actually predicting Sharapova to lose before the 4th Round. I just think Sharapova will have a slow but steady comeback rather than an easy road. She'll probably make the Top 10 this year but I doubt she'll make the Top 5. It's unwise to predict Dominika Cibulkova doing well as she lost 4 straight matches before she retired for the 2009 season, she did however beat Svetlana at Medibank before losing to Azarenka.

Kateryna Bondarenko could be a threat to Dinara Safina but besides that I think Dinara Safina is safe for the first 3 rounds

Prediction: Dominika Cibulkova VS Dinara Safina

QF
Serena Williams Vs. Victoria Azarenka
Caroline Wozniacki Vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
Elena Dementieva Vs. Kim Clijsters
Marion Bartoli! EEEKKKK Vs. Dominika Cibulkova WOW!

I'm being unpredictable here!

Australian Open Men's Draw

Everyone is saying how difficult Federer's draw is but the first thing I thought was - poor Igor Andreev. He's been doing consistently in the Australian Open but hhe'll have no chance of making it to the 3rd round with Federer as his 1st opponent. The winner of Chela Vs. Hanescu shouldn't be a problem for Federer. The lucky draw of Stephane Robert, Potito Starace, Oscar Hernandez and Albert Montanes will pose no threat to Federer as all 4 of these possible 3rd Round opponents of Federer have never been to the third round! In my opinion this draw already seems quite simple for Federer, yes he may have more difficult opponents further ahead but to make the 4th round already shows that the draw isn't that tough - everyone has to play difficult players by the QF's so what's the fuss.

Lleyton Hewitt could be a possible 4th Round opponent of Federer but from knowledge the hype this match up brings pales in comparison to the result. Some relatively inexperienced Grand Slam players such as Ricardo Hocevar (BRA), Donald Young (USA), Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) and Frederic Gil (POR) will make Hewitt a favourite to play Federer is the 4th round. Of course though we could see a rematch of Hewitt Vs. Baghdatis where Baghdatis won this week. David Ferrer is a threat, but losing early in Auckland hasn't done his pre-Australian preparation any good.

My prediction: Federer Vs. Hewitt (despite Hewitt losing to Baghdatis last week, who's in his draw for the Australian)

Fernando Verdasco had a great Australian Open last year but will he emulate that success? I'm not sure but he should be fine for the first three rounds at least in my opinion as there is very little competition.

Juan Monaco could be a possible opponent of his, though a first round opponent against Ernests Gulbis could be tricky. But of course the trickiest part would be facing the in-form Nikolay Davydenko. Could he possibly topple Roger Federer three times in a row? I hope so! But he's never made it past the quaterfinals here, is that something to worry about.

My bet on Verdasco Vs. Davydenko could be a tough match considering that Verdasco won the AAMI Kooyang Classic but Davydenko does seem to be on great form.

Predictions: Fernando Verdasco Vs Nikolay Davydenko

I don't predict any major shocks in the first quarter because there are a number of newbies and people who generally have failed at the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic heads the 2nd quarter, this will be his first tour match this year so will he be in form? He should be safe for the first 3 rounds at least. A nasty match up between Mikhail Youzhny and Richard Gasquet in the first round means one of my many favourite players will lose in the 1st round. Though neither are in the form which took them to the top of their game this should still be a difficult match. Tommy Robredo could possibly be a 4th round opponent against Novak Djokovic but I'm not convinced he can reach that far. However what is worrying is that Novak Djokovic lost 2 of his 3 matches at the AAMI Kooyang Classic, one of which was against Bernard Tomic - is that a bad sign?

Prediction: Novak Djokovic Vs Unexpected player!

Jo Wilfried Tsonga is one of the plausible QF match ups against Novak Djokovic. A repeat of the 07 Aussie final. But Tsonga seems to have faded away over the more consistent new Top 10 players such as Del Potro (he did however beat Del Potro at the Kooyang Classic). Janko Tipsaveric and Tommy Haas could pose a threat to Jo Wilfried Tsonga, though not a strong enough threat to beat him I think. However after that his threats come in the form of Nicolas Almagro and Robin Soderling, both have not been deep into the Australian Open.

Prediction: Jo Wilfried Tsonga Vs Robin Soderling - no idea so best off chose the top seeds!

Andy Roddick and Juan Martin Del Potro make the 3rd Quarter. Andy Roddick won in Brisbane so his first 3 round opponents shouldn't be too much of a problem. Tomas Berdych has been a consistent 4th Round player for the last 3 years so he could possibly be Roddick's 4th Round opponent, however Sebastien Grosjean and Fernando Gonzalez have a decent record at the Australian Open. I don't know how well Fernando Gonzalez has been getting on but I've basically not heard about Sebastien Grosjean for the past 3 months.

Prediction: Andy Roddick Vs. Fernando Gonzalez

Marin Cilic Vs. Fabrice Santoro could be interesting but I favour Marin more here. I think Marin will be through to the 4th round as I don't see Wawrinka, Kunitsyn, Acasuso or Garcia Lopez making a challenge. James Blake could be a threat but he seems to have dissapeared as of late so the safer bet is Juan Martin Del Potro

Prediction: Marin Cilic Vs. Juan Martin Del Potro

Andy Murray has dropped to 5th after playing in the Hopman Cup, shame considering now he has Nadal to worry about, he's not the best at the Australian so I'm worried he may be one of the early shocks. Jurgen Melzer is a likely 3rd round match which Murray should excel against. John Isner's great run took him to the title this week so he could possibly be a threat, Gael Monfils will probably be his 3rd round match considering his inexperienced opponents. I'd like Monfils to do well but on the other hand I think Isner may have the lift to go further.

Prediction: Andy Murray Vs. John Isner!

The next section is a difficult one and therefore Nadal should have an easy path. Personally I think Nadal may have the easiest draw to the QF's. There are a few plausible threats such as Stepanek, Fish, Ljubicic and Kohlschreiber but I'm not convinced they'll go far.

Prediction: Ivan Ljubicic Vs. Rafael Nadal

Monday 11 January 2010

WTA TOUR: 8th January, Medibank International

This tournament is getting interesting! Besides having most of the top players it's also seeing a lot of seeds tumbling! Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic lost to Na Li and Agnes Szavay respectively leaving their quarter of the draw seedless. Now Flavia Pennetta could possibly get further! Vera Zvonareva also fell to Elena Vesnina making Serena the only seed at the top of the draw. Nadia Petrova also sadly lost in the first round again, this time however she hasn't got much excuse. Though Kimiko Date Krumm is a valiant player she is by no means as tough as Justine Henin even with a 20 month layoff. I must say the bottom half of the draw is looking very interesting. All the seeds plus Date Krumm, Cibulkova, Hantuchova and Radwanska.

Friday 8 January 2010

Tennis Update 8th January

Loving the WTA, Kim Clijsters Vs. Justine Henin in Brisbane, Flavia Pennetta Vs. Yanina Wickmayer in Auckland. I hope it will be Justine and Flavia who come out victorious but it's going to be tough.

And as I predicted it wasn't a Federer/Nadal final, I just thought it was too early for that - gut feeling. Instead it's now a Davydenko/Nadal final. Whilst the Top 4 seeds are in the semis in Brisbane (nearly the same in Qatar if Mikhail Youzhny made it to the Semis.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Desperate Housewives Season 6 Episode 11 - If

If. I'm a "what if" person myself. I love to know what would happen if I did something different and this is what the housewives did in the first episode of 2010 - the new decade.

The first "what if" was Susan, what if she was still with Karl, who by the way died without much of a bang to be honest. Susan dreamed that she'd become fat enough that she'd miss her opportunity with Mike and therefore live a life feeling like utter crap. It was cool seeing Susan not in her ultra skinny Teri Hatcher body, in fact she wasn't that fat - just overweight.

Bree was next, what would her life be if she did marry Karl. I would have liked to see Karl make a 360 degrees change from playboy to decent father but sadly the honest truth would be that Karl would go back to his two timing ways. Bree then obviously leaves Karl and finds out 10 years later that Orson loved her till his death. Just as I thought it was all going to go back to the boring norm with Bree and Orson I find out that Orson could be paralysed - that'd be interesting! However, I hope that this is permanent - unlike the Carlos being blind thing.

Angie, next. Her "what if" sequence made me even more confused with what she actually did. So she's now some sort of protestor who acidentally killed someone whilst protesting? She's running away from Logan, some terrible guy and that her husband Nick was a traitor? Ooh is Nick a detective/agent or something? It's just all a bit confusing to me - hope Angie doesn't actually get sentenced for life in the future when the truth comes out. Wonder if this Logan guy will ever appear and who'll play him.

Lynette's story was my favourite. Sadly one of her twins was injured in the crash and could be born with physical defects. The scene where she was adamant in not making her disabled son a sandwich so that he'd be able to do it himself when she couldn't help him was brilliant. Seeing the emotions Lynette went through and specifically seeing her hands shaking like that was so emotional. Lynette really did win on acting and storyline this episode. Sadly the baby died, boo. I would have liked to see Lynette coping with a disabled baby, more interesting than just another Scavo baby.

Gaby was the last housewife in line. Her "what if" was being so desperate for her daughter, Celia, to be talented that she drove her to depths in order to make her a famous actress - interesting, and very old Gaby-esque. I wasn't too keen on seeing the selfish Gaby back, to the point that she even drove Carlos away and aged a lonely, unhappy woman. I didn't like her head full of long white hair, a bit unbelievable when she'd probably only be late 50's to 60's when Celia is in her 20's.

In general I liked this episode but I did find the disposal of Karl in that way a bit uninspiring and a tad nasty for a main role like his. I'd much prefer if Orson was gone, never liked him, but I know that a Bree/Orson reunited plot would be more interesting to watch than a Bree/Karl, - Bree getting dumped and becoming a Susan plot would.

I wonder how Katherine is going to come back into this, I kind of feel that Katherine is slowly being disposed of, I want to know whether she'll finally become normal again! Will Angie last another season? Or will she go like most other housewives of mystery storylines.

Monday 4 January 2010

Justine wins first match!

Justine beat Nadia Petrova, her first official WTa tour match since her comeback. That's no easy feat, Nadia Petrova is the 2nd seed after Kim Clijsters and is a sturdy top 20 player who has a strong career behind her. However Justine's 11-2 head to head record against Nadia Petrova suggested that Justine still had the upper hand even though she hasn't played on the pro tour for more than one year. It's quite interesting that the two are the same age and there birthdays are a week apart.

Saturday 2 January 2010

WTA TOUR: 4th January, ASB Classic

Great to see Flavia Pennetta and Na Li as No.1 and 2 seeds - two of my many favourites in tennis! I also like Yanina Wickmayer but sadly I think I remember her more from the Belgium ban thing more than her success last year. I'd be interested to see who wins here as the draw seems quite tough with Dominika Cibulkova, Elena Vesnina, Francesca Schiavone, Aravane Rezai, Anabel Medina Garrigues to compete with and then some potential dangers such as Sania Mirza, Anna Chakvetadze, Shahar Peer and Tatjana Malek, whilst also a few girls who have been great before but lost their groove e.g. Kaia Kanepi, Alize Cornet and Carla Suarez Navarro as well as the ever gorgeous Maria Kirilenko and comeback queen Kimiko Date Krumm, lol. I think I've listed the whole field!

WTA TOUR: 3rd January, Brisbane International

Wow Kim is No.1 seed! That's quite shocking I never thought I'd see Kim back there. Alicia Molik is also close by - wonder how she'll fare. Wozniak could be tricky, could be not. Iveta Benesova started well last year, I don't remember much about the end of her season but hopefully she'll reinvigorate my interest. Looking forward to seeing how Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova does as well as the obvious JUSTINE HENIN's return! Call them evil, they put Justine right next to Nadia Petrova - not an easy returning match. I've heard that she's been doing well in friendlies and stuff so maybe, just maybe she'll do a shocker and win the whole thing! Jelena Dokic Vs. Ana Ivanovic will be interesting - in my terms anyway.

Anyway, can't wait for Justine's return.

ATP TOUR: 4th January, Qatar Exxon Mobil Open 2010

Federer Vs. Nadal possibly? Nikolay Davydenko is the next closest rank but then we drooped down to 19th, 29th and then 31st etc etc. I don't know though, I have an inkling feeeling it's not going to be Federer Vs. Nadal, well lets see. Nikolay Davydenko could do some damage but I daren't say he'll beat Federer, he's done it before but I'm not sure he'll do it this time round. Maybe Mikhail Youzhny could break the dominance as he has been doing better recently and is back in the Top 20.

ATP TOUR: 4th January, Aircel Chennai Open 2010

I'm only really interested in Marin Cilic here. Hopefully he'll do well. He's improving year on year so maybe he could do some damage here as there aren't that many strong opponents with Rajeev Ram - ranked 79 seeded 8th.

ATP TOUR: 3rd January, Brisbane International

Andy Roddick is set to return in Brisbane after a few set backs towards the end of 2009. This is the first time he's played in Brisbane so I don't know what to expect from Roddick as I don't know what type of form he's in. However his draw doesn't look too strenuous. I hope Richard Gasquet does better this year; after a somewhat average year defined bby his drugs ban, sadly. Marcos Baghdatis is in this tournament; I remember reading something about his form improving - but I still don't like him! So hopefully he wouldn't do too much damage. It's weird seeing James Blake unseeded whilst Sam Querrey seeded at 5th. I virtually don't remember what Blake did for the whole of 2009 actually.
Gael Monfils is seeded 3rd, looking possibly to make the Top 10 this year. I've always trusted his ability, hopefully he'll finally deliver and reach the Top 10.
I've found a new liking of Jeremy Chardy who's seeded 7th, he'll be next to Radek Stepanek - last year's champion. I also hope Bernard Tomic does well because I do like him. Scary that he's younger than I am.

This may fall so flat back at my face but I see Gael Monfils doing well here. I bet you he goes and loses in the 1st Round now. I guess Radek Stepanek and Andy Roddick are safer bets to do OK.