REVIEW: Azeen's Afghani Restaurant (Pasadena, CA)

Recently I had lunch at Azeen's Afghani Restaurant in Pasadena, CA. Pictured above is an excellent dish called mantu (Steamed dumplings filled with chopped beef, onions and herbs topped with yogurt and sautéed Mixed vegetables, $4). My lunch companion ordered pakawra-e-badenjan (Batter dipped, sautéed slices of eggplant topped with yogurt and meat sauce, $4). I don't even like eggplant, and I thought this was very tasty. These were both appetizers. For our entrees we ordered the chicken and lamb kabobs, which came with pallaw, an interesting seasoned rice (the rice is cooked in the juices and gravy of the meat, so arrives infused with flavor) and Afghani bread which was described as a cross between Indian naan and Italian focaccia. It was served with a very interesting spicy/minty green chutney. The bread had a look of corrugated cardboard and the texture of somewhat dry toast. To be honest, I enjoyed the appetizers more than the entrees (cooked meat on skewers is nothing new). The pallaw was a dry shadow of the Caribbean pelau, which is a similar gravy-infused wet rice dish (reminiscent of risotto or paella). The meals were served with delightfully refreshing Afghan iced tea with cardamom. Afghani cuisine appears to be an interesting hybrid of sources from India, Persia and the Middle East.

I definitely intend to return to Azeen's in the near future, for some more mantu, and to sample the rest of their interesting appetizer menu.

GRADE: B+.

TerranceDC's Amazing Post On Hate Crimes

Run, DO NOT WALK, over to Pam's House Blend or Republic of T to see TerranceDC's latest round up on hate crimes raising awareness of the federal hate crimes bill, S. 1105, currently pending before the United States Senate.

The post is lengthy, well-written and powerful. Read it now!

Democrats Lead Money Race

Bloggernista yesterday posted a summary of the actual cash on hand available to Democratic presidential candidates:

Barack Obama - $34 million
Hillary Clinton - $33 million
John Edwards - $12 million
Bill Richardson - $7 million
Chris Dodd - $6.4 million

The Los Angeles Times published an article today outlining that the Democratic campaign committees are also raising more money than their Republican counterparts.

In the first six months, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee reported raising $31.2 million; its GOP counterpart garnered about half that — $15.7 million.
On the House side of the ledger, the Democratic campaign committees reported raising about $36 million from Jan. 1 through June 30.

The comparable GOP group has not yet released a final figure, but it is expected to lag the Democrats. The gap, however, may not be as pronounced as it is for the Senate campaign committees.

Oh, I wish it were 2008 already! Or January 21, 2009.

L.A. Times Covers Plight Of Same-Sex Binational Couples

Monday's Los Angeles Times carried an article by Teresa Watanabe in the California section entitled "Line in sand for same-sex couples" which documents the plight of same-sex binational couples who are negatively impacted by the lack of a provision in U.S. immigration law for a citizen or permanent resident to sponsor a same-sex partner to remain legally in this country. The tag line for the article below the main headline is "Unlike a heterosexual spouse, a gay U.S. citizen cannot sponsor his or her noncitizen partner for a green card."

About 36,000 same-sex binational couples were recorded in the 2000 census, although researchers believe that figure could be undercounted by anywhere from 10% to 50%, according to an 2004 Urban Institute analysis conducted for Immigration Equality, a New York-based advocacy group for gays and lesbians.

The analysis by Gary J. Gates, now at UCLA's Williams Institute, showed that nearly one-third of the couples live in California, and that Mexico was the home country for the largest number of foreign partners, followed by Canada.

Same-sex binational couples say the legal restrictions cause them financial and emotional devastation. Some couples endure long-distance relationships, spending thousands of dollars on flights, phone calls and legal advice on how to obtain visas to reunite.

The problems don't end for those lucky enough to obtain a visa, however. Visas expire, and then what? Some foreign partners go underground and live in the United States illegally. Those who refuse to do so face a wrenching choice: Break up or leave the country.

The article has some important background information about the history and current state of the fight for LGBT immigration rights:

The battle over immigration rights for gays and lesbians has been fought in Congress and the courts for more than four decades. U.S. immigration law banned the entry of gays and lesbians in 1952, amid the Red Scare that linked homosexuals with Communists as subversive, according to a report on the same-sex immigration issue last year by Human Rights Watch and Immigration Equality.

The ban was repealed in 1990. But HIV-positive gays and lesbians are still barred from entry.

To turn the political tide, gay and lesbian activists and their friends have turned to lobbying, networking and greater public outreach on the issue.

The biggest push is in support of federal legislation by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to allow Americans in a same-sex relationship to sponsor their "permanent partners" for legal residency in the United States. The Uniting American Families Act, which was first introduced in 2000, would require that applicants be adults in "committed, intimate relationships" who intend a lifelong commitment to one another.

According to Nadler's office, at least 16 other countries grant immigration benefits to same-sex couples, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

In California, the San Francisco-based Out4Immigration advocacy group has focused on local advocacy. In 2004, the California Assembly and Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution supporting immigration benefits for same-sex binational couples.

This is quite a coup by the Out4Immigration group, which I guess is a rivial to the group Immigration Equality that Mad Professah was involved in founding in the mid-1990s.

$660 million for L.A. Catholic sex crimes

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed Monday to a further payment of 660,000,000 dollars to settle lawsuits by 508 individuals who alleged they had been sexually abused by Catholic priests. Previously the Church had paid out $114 million to settle 86 abuse claims. Amazingly, the Church has absorbed this bill without impacting it's central activities:

In the $660 million Los Angeles deal -- easily the largest payout yet in the crisis -- Cardinal Roger Mahony said the settlement will not have an impact on local ministries. He said he won't sell parish properties or schools to cover the cost, but the archdiocese will have to sell buildings, use some of its invested funds and borrow money.

The Los Angeles archdiocese will pay $250 million, insurers will pay $227 million and religious orders will chip in $60 million. The remaining $123 million will come from litigation with religious orders that chose not to participate in the deal, which a California judge approved Monday.

REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Mad Professah saw the new Harry Potter movie, the fifth one in the series, called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, on Thursday at the Edwards Renaissance Theaters in Alhambra. The screening was packed so I'm not surprised to see that the movie mad $140 million dollars in its first 5 days of release, with an opening weekend gross of nearly $77 million. Nikki Finke over at Deadline Holllywood Daily had predicted a big debut early in the week. "Never bet against Harry" she said, and Mad Professah agrees.

But how is the movie? Actually I think it's easily the most entertaining movie made of the J.K. Rowling books. The users (86%) and critics (76%) at rottentmatoes.com agree with me. It's very clear now that these are not "kid's books" just as the movies are not "kid's movies." The actors portraying the 15-year old main characters in the books of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), his best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and know-it-all Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) are 17, 18 and 17 respectively. The lead actor has appeared nude on the London stage, and those picture are widely available on the Internet.


The adaptation (by Michael Goldenberg, Contact) of the novel does an excellent job of not including any extraneous of superfluous plot threads. The main thrust of the narrative energy is bestowed to the idea of a political rift in the Ministry of Magic and the wizarding populace at large about whether it is true that He Who Shall Not Be Named (Lord Voldemort, chillingly actualized by un almost unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes) has returned. At the end of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,the reader and Harry have no doubt that Voldemort has returned because he kills the most popular boy at Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches, Cedric Diggory at the culmination of the quadrennial Tri-Wizard Tournament. Unfortunately since Harry was the only person who witnessed Voldemort's murder of his friend and he has no physical evidence to substantiate his story the Ministry mounts a campaign to maintain order among the Wizarding community by denouncing Harry and denying The Dark Lord's return.

In the meantime, Harry has become a real life teen-ager with a requited crush on Cho Chang and typical teenage angst about his place in the world, which is made worse by his family situation, since he is an orphan and the person who killed his parents and failed to kill him as a child is very much out there and gathering strength to make further attempts to assassinate him. The director, Peter Yates, makes some hard choices to not include fun but distracting story elements like John Cleese's Nearly Headless Nick and Moaning Myrtle. The casting is again impeccable, with Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton as the latest Defense Against The Dark Arts professor, Dolores Jane Umbridge, who is deeply involved in the political machinations at the Minstry of Magic to denounce Harry Potter and Hogwarts' Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, played with great impact by Michael Gambon. However, even among these great actors and actresses (Dame Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham Carter also make appearances) Alan Rickman steals every one of his scenes as the ambiguously sinister Severus Snape. I'm hoping that Dame Judi Dench and Patrick Stewart make an appearance before the Harry Potter series concludes.

In Book 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, there are some shocking developments and Rowling has stated that at least two main characters will die in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is released worldwide on Saturday July 21, 2007. It will be interesting to see if film makers can top Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with the last two books, which are according to IMDb set for release in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

GRADE: A-.

The Simpsons Movie Is Coming!!

I finally checked out the website for the upcoming Simpsons movie which comes out on July 27th. It's very fun. Mad Professah created his own Simpsons avatar; you can too! If you can't see me in the above picture (I'm in the lower left corner :)), here's a close up (note the color-coordinated outfit!):

Congratulations to Larkin's Joint!

Apparently Larkin's restaurant in Eagle Rock, serving high-end southern cuisine, has finally officially opened; the Los Angeles Times' main food critic S. Irene Virbila reviewed the joint (relatively favorably) in Thursday's paper. Mad Professah reviewed it over three months ago.
From the Times:

ACROSS from the Eagle Rock Baptist Church, a new soul food restaurant has
opened in a sweet little 1911 bungalow with a wraparound porch. Partners Larkin
Mackey, the chef; Joshua McBride, who runs the front of the house; and sous-chef
Rick Rowan have been working overtime for months to make it all happen, after
long delays. But it's here, and none too soon.

Finally, something that's not Italian or tapas or sushi. Larkin's revels in
Southern cooking with a contemporary spin. The copy on the restaurant's website
goes a bit over the top, hailing Larkin's debut as "a new era in soul food." But
you have to love the partners' enthusiasm.

The fact is, Larkin's cuisine really is something different. That's because
Mackey, who can trace roots back to New Orleans, grew up in Southern California
— a vegetarian. And he weaves the Mexican spices and California accents of his
youth through his tribute to all things Southern.

[...]

For those always on the lookout for a good fried chicken, I can say that
Mackey makes a mean one — cooked the way it should be, in a heavy cast-iron
skillet to give it the requisite crunch. It comes with red garlic mashed
potatoes and a little gravy. Jambalaya is nice and spicy. There's corn-battered
and fried catfish too. Southerners, though, may find the fish somewhat lacking
in that tasty funk they expect from catfish. It could be any fish at all under
that batter. And the smothered pork chop comes not only without the bone, it's
enclosed in a pasty gravy. Back to the drafting board on that one.

Most main courses come with sides, but you can order extra, or different
too, including "Aunt Carolyn's potato salad," the creamy old-fashioned kind,
both sweet and spicy, or skillet-sauteed collard greens with tomatoes, hot
pepper and garlic. Sweets include sweet potato pie — how could you not? — as
well as banana pudding, strawberry red velvet shortcake, fruit cobblers and
whatever else strikes the cook's fancy.

I agree the pan-fried chicken is excellent and Larkin's is worth checking out for that alone!

The Algebra Project on PBS Tonight

The public television show Now will be airing a segment tonight on The Algebra Project, a non-profit group who is trying to improve the teaching of elementary and high school algebra in low-income and minority schools throughout America. Mad Professah met the founder of the group, Bob Moses, at a Math and Social Justice conference in Brooklyn, NY this past April.

Celebrity Friday: Shemar Moore Nude on Gay Beach

Towleroad alerted me yesterday to the existence of nude pictures of hottie Shemar Moore who has appeared on numerous television shows (Criminal Minds, Moesha, Birds of Prey) and worked as afashion model:

Anyway, if you wipe that drool off your face long enough, listen to this. The beach that Shemar was frollicking in the buff was apparently a well-known gay beach in Hawaii. Shemar is 37 years old and unmarried. His mom is white (Dutch) and his dad is African American. He learned to speak Dutch before English and has reportedly dated Halle Berry and Toni Braxton. (Source: IMDb)

Wimbledon 2007: 5 Most Memorable Matches

Now that Wimbledon 2007 is history, I want to follow in the footsteps of Mary Carillo and John McEnroe and provide a list of Mad Professah's Most Memorable Moments at Wimbledon 2007 (with apologies to On The Baseline news):


1. R. Federer SUI (1) d. R. Nadal ESP (2), 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(3) 2-6 6-2, Final.

Regardless of who won this match, history would be made in that something would have been done for the first time since 1980: Either Federer would be the first person since Bjorn Borg to win 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles or Nadal would be the first to win the French Open and Wimbledon double in the same year.


This match is the most memorable of the tournament for me because of the closeness of the match with the stakes so high. In addition, both Federer and Nadal both played well, with Nadal arguably playing better in the first three sets but unfortunately losing two of the three in tiebreakers, mostly thanks to Federer's more effective serve (24 aces and 38 unreturnables).

It was clear to me (and probably most people who watched the match) that Nadal can win this tournament, that he does have the game which can defeat Federer on just about any surface and that he probably will defeat Federer at a Grand Slam other than Roland Garros, sooner rather than later.


2. V. Williams USA (23) d. M. Sharapova RUS (2), 6-1 6-3, 4th Round.

To me this was an even more memorable match than Venus' win over Marion Bartoli in the final for her fourth Wimbledon title a few days later, because just a few days before she had been staring defeat in the face at the hands of Akiko Morigami when the Japanese player served for the match at 5-3 in the third set. By winning the last four games of that match, Venus was able to set up a rematch with the reigning U.S. Open champion and current World #2 who had beaten her in a heartbreakingly close match ni Miami earlier this year. She made ample use of the opportunity, turning her game around and for the first time in the tournament (and possibly the year) she played a match with more winners than errors (22 to 14). Sharapova for the third time this year had absolutely no chance against a Williams sister. This time she only lost 6-3, 6-1. But by showing that she could easily dispatch Sharapova, Venus sent the signal that other high ranked players, #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova and #6 Ana Ivanovic and possibly even #1 Justine Henin would have fared no differently.

3. S. Williams USA (7) d. D. Hantuchova SVK (10), 6-2 6-7(2) 6-2, 4th Round.

The most dramatic moment of the tournament occurred during this unsurprising matchup between the hard-hitting Slovak Daniela Hantuchova and the most powerful female player on the planet after Serena was cruising along at 6-1, 5-5, 15-15 when suddenly she experienced a massive cramp in her left calf muscle which caused her to collapse to the ground.

Despite what Serena-haters have been saying ("She faked the injury!" "She was over-dramatic! She used gamesmanship!") there's no question in my mind Serena was in extreme pain. It took incredible guts to play on despite very limited mobility and force a tiebreaker until the rains came down and granted a 2-hour reprieve which she could use to regroup. In the third set, despite injuring herself again (which no-one saw!) she was still able to overpower a rather good grasscourt opponent.

4. N. Djokovic SRB (4) d. M. Baghdatis CYP (10), 7-6(4) 7-6(9) 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5, Quarterfinal.

To me this was the best men's match of the fortnight. A five-hour classic of high quality tennis from two extremely talented and emotive combatants. The 20-year-old Serbian phenom, the heir apparent to Federer and Nadal who is currently the third best player in the world versus the flashy Cypriot shotmaker who is two years older and has already been two Grand Slam semifinals and a Grand Slam final and is attempting to return to the top of the game after the emotional rollercoaster such early heady success landed him on.n In the end Baghdatis had more winners 74 to 58 but also more errors, 60 to 50, than Djokovic who had 17 breakpoints to Baghdatis' 8 but they both converted just 5 times. At 4-4 in the final set, the total number of points won was tied, but the Serbian ended up winning 7 more, and thus the match.

5. M. Bartoli FRA (18) d. J. Henin BEL (1), 1-6 7-5 6-1, Semifinal.


The upset of the year, and possibly the decade. The completely unheralded French player, who is shunned by the French Tennis Federation and managed and coached by her father in a completely unorthodox manner, knocked out the World's #1 player, after previously beating the World's #3 player two rounds before--both times coming back from a set and break down! Bartoli plays with two hands on both sides and takes the ball early. She's also a tenacious fighter which compensates for her less than stellar fitness, although she is faster around the court than she looks thanks to heightened "ball awareness." Henin had been even-odds or better to win her first grass court championship, especially after the defending champion Mauresmo was dismissed in the 4th round, but Bartoli was a 100-to-1 shot. Absolutely no one thought that after Henin had won the first set easily at 6-1, and come back in the second set to lead 4-3 that she would lose the match but Bartoli won 10 of the last twelve games from that point. An incredible win and a devastating loss for the Belgian.

UPDATE 07/11/2007
Craig has added pictures to the version of this article I posted to his Tennis Blog, which also includes bonus "honorable mentions."

Controversial HIV Testing Bill Faces Crucial State Senate Hearing Today

Today Mad Professah will be in lovely Sacramento, CA attending a hearing by the California State Senate Health Committee chaired by out lesbian State Senator Sheila J. Kuehl which will be considering AB 682 (Berg), a controversial bill to drastically alter procedures for conducting HIV tests in the state of California.



Previously I blogged about the bill when a story about the battle to amend the bill hit the pages of the local LGBT media and discussed the ongoing battle of state legislatures to implement the U.S. Center for Disease Control's misguided revised recommendations on HIV testing the federal agency issued in September 2006.



The issue pits large AIDS service organizations like AIDS Project Los Angeles, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Services Center against groups staunchly protective of civil rights (like the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, etc) and smaller AIDS organizations like Being Alive Los Angeles, HIV/AIDS Legal Services Alliance and Center for Health Justice. The groups in the first camp think that an "HIV test should be just like a cholesterol test" and that "all mental barriers to HIV testing should be removed" while the groups in the second camp think that in no way does society or the law treat being HIV positive like having high cholesterol and that there is a long-standing constitutional doctrine enshrined in California jurisprudence called "informed consent" which this bill attempts to nullify. It is clear that AB 682 goes much further than Illinois' recently enacted law would go in modifying HIV testing protocols and does not conform with the CDC's recommendations themselves which stimulated the legislative activity or with the 15 guiding principles of HIV testing announced by a wide coalition of groups on national HIV Testing day as recently as 2 weeks ago.



Mad Professah will be attending the hearing representing Being Alive Los Angeles. We're asking that the bill be amended so that whenever a person conducts an HIV test they have to make a notation in the medical chart that the person consented to the test and the consent was informed consent (which can be done through the distribution of an information sheet about the HIV test); that protections against using HIV tests to discriminate in the provision of medical services be strengthened; that the effect of AB 682 be studied to see if it increases the percentage of people who take HIV tests and that people who test HIV-positive have their results told in person and not through any telephonic or electronic medium and are immediately counselled and linked to treatment and care. The current version of AB 682 eliminates the current state requirement for both pre- and post-test counselling when conducting HIV tests.



I'll try and report back later on today to let you know how it goes. It should be interesting to see the public health policy of the state of California determined rihgt before my eyes...

HRC and LOGO TV Partner To Air Presidential Forum on LGBT Issues

The LGBT blogosphere (Pam's House Blend, Bloggernista, Joe.My.God, Towleroad, etc) is buzzing about the news reports that the Human Rights Campaign and Viacom's LGBT cable channel Logo are joining forces to put together and broadcast a presidential forum specifically devoted to LGBT issues. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Christopher Dodd have all confirmed their attendance.

In light of the recent stories circulating about his use of the Spanish pejorative maricón (faggot), Mad Professah would not be surprised to see Vice President-wannabe Bill Richardson also attend the event also.

Hopefully, since it will be taped in Studio City, CA on August 8 at HD Vision Studios (according to Pride Depot) maybe MadProfessah can wangle an invite! Stay tuned!

Electronic Line Calling Defended

Electronic line calling is being defended by it's creator in today's Times of London

In the third game of the fourth set, with Roger Federer a break down and
serving at 30-30, he did not play at a ball near the baseline. He thought that
it was out, the line judge thought it was out, the umpire thought it was out and
a BBC freeze frame seemed to confirm this, too.

[...]

Hawkins said that the ball had landed in by 1mm. He claimed that the naked
eye was deceived because of the way a tennis ball compresses and skids on
landing.

“The ball will be in contact with the ground for about 10cm,” he said.
“In the very first impact, it will compress so that the bottom half is flat.
Then it will start to roll and skid and uncompress. The freeze frame the BBC
used showed the ball about 7cm after it touched the ground.” He said tests had
showed that his technology was accurate to within 3mm. “The ball was definitely
in,” he added.

Hmmmm, how do you know the call was in by 1mm if the error is +/- 3mm? Any engineer knows that if the result is within yuor margin of error you really can't make the call. The ball might have been 2mm out. But, regardless I doubt that Federer or the umpire could distinguish that difference.

What The War in Iraq Costs

Think Progress has some metrics of war

Bloomberg notes, “Four thousand U.S. service members have
died in U.S. President George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’ in Iraq and
Afghanistan 5 1/2 years after American forces ousted the Taliban in December
2001.” AP adds, “All told, Congress has appropriated
$610 billion in war-related money since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror assaults,
roughly the same as the war in Vietnam. Iraq alone has cost $450 billion.” The
wars cost approximately $12 billion a month, according to a new Congressional
Research Service report.

REVIEW: Live Free Or Die Hard

The first Die Hard (1988) movie by director John McTiernan is one of the great action movies of all time. The latest installment, the fourth in the series is called Live Free or Die Hard and stars Bruce Willis as John McLane, divorced New York City cop with the estranged family and a Superman complex even more over-developed than Jack from ABC's Lost. This edition Willis' sidekick is played (quite well) by Justin Long, "that guy from the Mac commercials."

What makes (or breaks) the Die Hard movies in the end are their villains. In the past, the villains have been played by veritable scene munchers like Alan Rickman (Die Hard) and Jeremy Irons (Die Hard: With A Vengeance, 1995). The main reason why Die Hard 2 sucked is that the producers didn't spend the money to find a convincing villain. In the third Die Hard we were also treated to the lovely buddy repartee of Bruce Willis and Samule L. Jackson. Plus it takes place in New York City, on location.



Sadly, this time the villain is played by Timothy Olyphant (HBO's Deadwood) who really is just the poor man's Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Match Point, Showtime's The Tudors). If you want a young, slightly British, pretty boy villain I don't think you should settle for someone who can barely communicate a sense of displeasure, to say nothing of malice and violence which are requisite job requirements of any well-reviewed cinematic villain.



Despite this lack, the first 90 minutes of the movie are crackling fun, with well-directed, suspenseful action sequences and a terrorist plot with enough verisimilitude to plausible real-world events to forestall instant dismissal. Unfortunately, the film is 130 minutes long with what seemed like a 30-minute action sequence of Bruce Willis in an 18-wheel truck battling a military fighter jet on a subway overpass inserted for no other reason but to enthrall 12-14 year old boys. Once McClane saves the country again (surprise, surprise!) the film is over for all intents and purposes but it keeps spooling on, like some kind of party guest who refuses to leave even though the party's over and the music has been turned off for a half hour.



"If they had real guts, the producers would have killed him off at the end," my film companion said as we left the theater.



"Yeah," I replied "but then how could they make another one?"



"Exactly!"



Indeed.



GRADE: B.

Wimbledon 2007: Federer Wins 5th Consecutive Title

Roger Federer SUI (1) d. Rafael Nadal ESP (2) 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 in 3 hours, 45 minutes to win a 5th consecutive Wimbledon title, his 11th major career title and extend his grass court winning streak to 54 consecutive matches and impriving to 5-8 against the Spanish "King of Clay."

This was Federer's first 5-set match at Wimbledon since his dispatch of his idol Pete Sampras in 2001 and he improved to 10-10 lifetime in 5 set matches. The final was a thrilling, high quality encounter with Federer's 65 winners to 34 errors (+31) outpacing Nadal's 50 winners to 24 errors (+26), with the key statistic being 24 aces (3 double faults) for the Swiss #1 to only 1 ace (2 double faults) to the #2 Spaniard.

In other news, African American phenom Donald Young won the Wimbledon Boys Title by defeating the top seed 7-5, 6-1. Craig Hickman has more details on this important result over at his Tennis Blog.

Gay Star Trek Fan Fiction in LA TIMES

In Saturday's Los Angeles Times the above-the-fold picture and Column One story is about an openly gay Star Trek fan's creative homage to the science fiction television series. Rob Caves is "a diminutive 28-year old" who has created the longest-running series in fan fiction history. Star Trek: Hidden Frontier has been running for seven years and consists of 50 fan-created, free-for-download episodes.

ASK Caves why he started a fan series, why he has kept it going for seven years and why he opens his house to strangers each weekend, and he'll mention that he loves "Star Trek" and he wants to be part of its legacy.

[...]

Caves shoots seven episodes a year at $200 per episode, and he has never built an actual set. "Hidden Frontier" may not be the most professional-looking fan series, but in the world of "Star Trek" fan films it is known as the series with the most heart.


[...]

The wedding party, dressed in matching white jackets, looked like waiters from a 1940s drama. The guests were a mix of series actors, digital camera-toting fans dressed in "Star Trek" uniforms and a few members of a local Klingon club. The grooms (it was a gay marriage) were hopeless romantic Lt. Corey Astor (played by filmmaker J.T. Tepnapa) and Lt. Nevin. Their love story had been a continuing arc since Season 2, when Caves, who is gay, insisted that there be a gay story line.

(When questions arose about how people in the future will respond to gay relationships, Caves said they will be socially advanced enough that nobody will think twice about it — "Whatever powers your starship," as one of Nevin's friends tells him.)

Being a big science fiction fan myself I had heard about these fan films, especially Star Trek: New Voyages, which has been covered by National Public Radio, but had never seen any episode until today. I was actually reasonably impressed when I watched episode 1 of Season 6 of Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, and I look forward to experiencing the latest episode of New Voyages when it comes out in about a month. The Times article mentions that this fan film costs $40,000 per episode although only one new episode is made per year.



Another interesting aspect of Caves is that he lives and does his filming in South Pasadena, which is literally 2 miles from my house. I was also impressed that the Times allowed Deborah Netburn to include the gay aspect of the story in such a matter-of-fact fashion. Kudos!

WIMBLEDON 2007: Ladies' Final (and Semifinal) Review

Venus Williams USA (23) d. 6-4, 6-1 Justine Henin BEL (1) Marion Bartoli FRA (18) . In one of the most shocking upsets of the year, and possibly the decade so far, yesterday unheralded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli came back from down losing the first set 1-6 to defeat 6-time Grand Sam champion and 2-time Wimbledon finalist Justine Henin, the top seed, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 to reach her first major final. Venus continued her astonishingly consistent and aggressive play to defeat 2007 Roland Garros finalist Ana Ivanovic (who will enter the top 5 in the WTA rankings on Monday) relatively easily 6-2, 6-4 in the other Wimbledon semifinal.

However, on Saturday Venus Williams broke her own record from 2005 by becoming the lowest seeded player (#14 in 2005, #23 in 2007) to win her 4th Wimbledon Ladies' singles title, 50 years after Althea Gibson became the first African American tennis player to win a major title. Williams won her 6th major title over-all and joined the elite players of the game, Martina Navratilova (9), Steffi Graf (7) and Billie Jean King (4) who have won (at least) 4 Wimbledon titles.

Marion Bartoli played well and proved herself a fearsome competitor, with a powerful, unorthodox game (two handed on both sides). She takes the ball very early and finds very difficult angles, a la Monica Seles. However, Venus played better, with 29 winners to Bartoli's 7 (Venus was running down everything). Venus had a mere 12 unforced errors (a very low total for her in 17 games played) to 9 errors for the Frenchwoman. If Venus can play like this on other surfaces, or even again at Wimbledon, there's no reason why she can't catch up to her sister Serena's total of 8 Grand Slam titles (3 Australian, 1 French, 2 Wimbledon, 2 US Opens).

There were some interesting quotes in the Los Angeles Times (formerly Venus' hometown newspaper) article covering the story:

"It has been a long road back," Williams said during the trophy ceremony. "I brought it together here against some of the best players in the world, including Marion."

She lost 22 games in her final four matches, beating 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova on Wednesday, 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday and French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic on Friday.

"She loves the grass," said Williams' boyfriend, pro golfer Hank Kuehne. "And she loves the environment here."

Her father and coach, Richard, said that when his daughter was about 9, she declared she wanted to win Wimbledon more than anyone else.

"I think she can win three more," he said, "and I would be disappointed if she did not."

[...]

Williams' resurgence was reminiscent of the run to this year's Australian Open title by her sister Serena, who entered that tournament ranked 81st. Venus expressed gratitude to her sister -- among others -- during the trophy ceremony.

"Serena, she inspires me," Venus said. "The Australian Open champion -- I wanted to be like her."

REVIEW: Ratatouille

The other half and I saw Ratatouille last Friday, the day it came out, primarily because we are fans of Brad Bird, the director of the film, who was also the main creative force behind The Incredibles, my favourite film of 2004. Plus, Pixar's track record at making computer animated films with intelligence and heart, has been impressive and consistent.

Ratatouille is no The Incredibles, but happily, it's not Cars, either. In fact, over at Oliver Willis blog I have been adding my comments on Oliver's rating of Pixar's entire oeuvre, in order of best to worst. I think my list would look something like this:

The Incredibles (2004)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Toy Story (1995)
Ratatouille (2007)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
A Bug's Life (1998)
Cars (2006)

What's amazing is that a movie about rat in Paris who wants to be a chef got made at all. One does not usually think these elements would make a compelling animated (which unfortunately is usually a synonym for kid-oriented) film: vermin, food and France! But somehow the film works, despite the lack of highly-paid voice talent and somewhat disjointed pacing. The film is highly creative in its depiction of the mysterious magic of cooking and taste; in fact cooking can really be thought of as a metaphor for any creative artistic endeavor. The plot is a bit silly but the strong points are the villain(s), the animation itself, especially in the more frenetic "swarm of rats" scenes and the character denouement of the food critic.

GRADE: B+/A-.

Celebrity Friday: Jill Scott Gets Divorced And Big Movie Role

You go, girl! One of Mad Professah's favourites, Jill Scott, has been making a lot of news recently. Two weeks ago it was confirmed that she is divorcing Lyzel Willliams, her longtime lover (and husband since 2001), and the inspiration for one of the best songs on her debut album, "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E-Flat)."

Jill's movie career has been heating up as her romantic life has been cooling. She is co-starring with Janet Jackson and Michael Jai White in the Tyler Perry movie Why Did I Get Married. In addition, she has been cast as Precious Ramotswe, the lead role in the new Anthony Minghella (Best Director Oscar winner for The English Patient) movie, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. This movie is based on the best-selling mystery novel about the first female detective agency in Botswana written by Alexander McCall Smith. The movie also stars Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) and Idris Elba (Transformers, HBO's The Wire). The cast arrived in Botswana on Tuesday for 40 days of shooting on location. The book is the first in a series which highlight contemporary African life in the context of the mystery genre.

Villaraigosa Adultery Hits Media Sweet Spot

The Los Angeles blogosphere (LAist, LA Observed, Intersections, etc) and other local media have been buzzing with the news that recently separated Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has revealed that he is in a relationship with local Telemundo television anchor Mirthala Salinas.

But, wait, there's more! As Kevin Roderick has been revealing, Salinas has been cutting a swath through the top of the Mexican American Princes of Los Angeles politics for quite some time. Prior to dating the current Mayor of Los Angeles, Ms. Salinas was also romantically linked with Speaker of the State Assembly Fabian Nunez in the brief period during which Mr. Nunez was divorced from his wife (whom he later re-married) and Ms. Salinas also dated Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla (elected to the State Senate in November 2006).

The whole affair (sic) reaches "truth is stranger than fiction" levels when it was revealed that Salinas, who stopped covering local politics for the television station soon after she started dating the Mayor(!) a few weeks ago actually read the news story of the Mayor's decision to separate from his wife on the Spanish language station where she is an anchor:

(Thanks to Daniel Hernandez of Intersections blog for the screen shot of Mirthala Salinas.)

Black Lesbian Firefighter Wins Multimillion Dollar Lawsuit

Mad Professah has been covering the reports of multiple incidents of discrimination in the Los Angeles Fire Department for months now. This week, a jury found in favor of Brenda Lee in lawsuit claiming sexual orientation, gender and race discrimination and awarded the African American lesbian $6.2 million in the first penalty phase. Punitive damages are likely to be even larger. Pam at The Blend and 365gay.com have the story:

Lee alleged in her lawsuit that her superiors made derogatory comments about her, ignored her protests of discrimination. The lawsuit said that she was forced her into grueling drills that other firefighters were not subjected to and that proper safety precautions during the drills were ignored.

The suit also claimed that someone at the fire hall put urine in her mouthwash.

[...]

Lee filed a discrimination case in 2001 and later the civil lawsuit alleging she had been the victim of homophobic bias on the job.

Two other firefighters who testified in the discrimination case also filed lawsuits against the department claiming that as a result of their support for Lee they too became victims of discrimination.

Lewis Bressler sued the city claiming he had been forced to retire as a result of testifying for Lee. A jury in April awarded him $1.7 million. The verdict is under appeal.

A second firefighter, Gary Mellinger, settled his lawsuit last year for $350,000.

Oddly, the jury awarded a mere $2,500 in punitive damages, according to Kevin Broderick at LA Observed.

Bill Gates Saves PlanetOut From Bankruptcy

Towleroad, Joe.My.God, Boy Culture and others are all covering the story of Microsoft founder Bill Gates stepping in to invest over $26 million for a controlling interest in PlanetOut Partners, Inc. in order to save the first online gay media company publicly traded (under ticker symbol LGBT) from an imminent bankruptcy. Joe.My.God has been doing the best job of covering this story and last week reported that PlanetOut was selling it's racier adult properties. PlanetOut Partners is a holding company which currently controls Out magazine, The Advocate, gay.com, planetout.com, and RSVP Cruises.

DISCLAIMER

Mad Professah used to be on the Board of Directors of the original PlanetOut, LLC. back in the late 1990s way before the takeover merger by Liberation Partners during the dot-com boom/bust period. I have no financial stake in the company at this time.

Wimbledon 2007: Ladies' Semifinals Preview

The 2007 Wimbledon Ladies' semifinals are now set.

Justine Henin BEL (1) vs. Marion Bartoli FRA (18).
Unfortunately, the Serena Williams-Justine Henin quarterfinal did not live up to the breathless hype for the second Grand Slam in a row. This time Serena was clearly injured and in her press conference describe herself at being "40 to 50 percent" due to a strained thumb which occurred in the third set of an amazingly dramatic three-set victory over Daniela Hantuchova on Monday. Even so, Justine was barely able to pull out a tight win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 after losing serve the first time she served for her first non-clay surface victory over Serena Williams. MadProfessah was pretty sure that Marion Bartoli would not be able to last against the genetically gifted Michaella Krajicek in the quarterfinals, but I was wrong and the Frenchwoman won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. This was not the French player that commentators expected to make the semi-finals of Wimbledon this year, although Bartoli did make the semi-finals of the grass-court warmup Eastbourne, losing easily to Henin 6-1, 6-3 in a match which was not as close as the score appears. There's no reason why the Belgian will not repeat the deed to make a Federerian sixth consecutive Grand Slam final. PREDICTION: Henin in 2 sets.

Ana Ivanovic SRB (6) vs. Venus Williams USA (23). The Serbian beauty is in her second consecutive Grand Slam final thanks to an epic collapse by Czech teen phenom Nicole Vaidisova who served for the match at 5-3 in the third set and blew three match points before succumbing 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 with a double fault on Ivanovic's second match point. Ouch. After playing one of her best tennis matches in years to demolish reigning U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 on July 4th, Venus Williams is clearly on her way to her 6th Wimbledon final (and possibly 4th title) in nine years. Venus had 22 winners to 14 unforced errors, +8(!), with 6 in the first set and 8 in the second. I have never seen Venus averaging less than one unforced error per game, ever. This was an even more dominating performance over Sharapova than her Wimbledon semifinal 7-6(2), 6-1 win which MadProfessah labelled the 3rd best WTA Tour match of 2005. Her average first serve speed was 115 miles per hour, which matches Sharapova's fastest serve (Venus hit several serves over 120 mph, peaking at 126 mph). Clearly the Williams sister bring a special focus to matches against the Russian "It" girl who supplanted them as the most prominent female athlete in the world in 2004. Sharapova is 0-3 against Williams sisters this years and has won a combined nine games in six sets of tennis! Venus followed up that performance by defeating 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4 with 23 winners and 20 errors. A Williams sister with more winners than errors is not going to lose to any other player on the WTA tour, especially not on Centre Court at Wimbledon. And not one whom she holds a 2-0 career head-to-head edge over. PREDICTION: Williams in 3 sets.

James Blake's Book Is Out

On sale now wherever books are sold. And on my wishlist.

Wimbledon 2007: Ladies' Quarterfinal Preview

The 2007 Wimbledon Ladies' Quarterfinals are almost set. Despite delayed by rain like everything else during the wettest Wimbledon on record the four quarterfinal matches will be played on one day, thus providing an orgiastic feast of high stakes tennis all in one place. I hope to experience this in person one day, but until then I'll be watching on TV and the web like 99.99% of the spectators who are interested in the results. Without further ado, here are my predictions for Day 9.

Justine Henin BEL (1) vs. Serena Williams USA (7). For the second Grand Slam in a row the showdown between Serena Williams and Justine Henin is the most anticipated match of the tournament. In fact, some people have wondered if Henin hadn't skipped this year's 2007 Australian Open would the result have been different? It's hard to imagine there could be even more drama in Serena's next round after the operatic turn that her fourth round win over Daniela Hantuchova took towards the end of the second set. In fact, I don't think the match will be great, similar to the blowout by the Belgian on clay last month. This time, I expect that the American will overpower her opponent on the faster surface of clay, further stymieing Henin's attempt to win a career Grand Slam. It's true that Henin has been in two Wimbledon finals and is playing excellent tennis but she hasn't had to play anyone remotely close to Serena's ability on grass prior to this match. Some people are already calling this match the equivalent of the final, but I think there are atleast three players in the bottom half of the draw (one of them whose last name is Williams) who take exception to that chracterization and intend ti do something about it. PREDICTION: Williams in 2 sets.

Jelena Jankovic SRB (3) Marion Bartoli FRA (18) vs. Michaella Krajicek NED (31). This surpising quarterfinal matchup is a coming out party for the younger sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek at the tournament where her brother achieved his greatest success on a tennis court and the hard-hitting French player. However, after Jankovic survived a near death experience against hard-hitting Czech youngster Lucie Safarova in the third round I was convinced that she would have had no trouble against the dubiously fit Bartoli but perhaps her excessive playing schedule finally caught up with the Serbian diva. Which one of these players will get to her first Wimbledon semifinal? It's hard to bet against the storied Krajicek name at Wimbledon, but it will be a tough, scratchy match.
PREDICTION: Krajicek in 3 sets.

Nadia Petrova RUS (11) vs. Amelie Mauresmo FRA (4). Ana Ivanovic SRB (6) vs. Nicole Vaidisova CZE (14). This was the trickiest quarterfinal to anticipate because this section of the draw has two great fourth round matchups like Petrova versus 2007 French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic and hard-hitting Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova versus the reigning Wimbledon champion Mauresmo. However, I truly believe that Mauresmo has the game and experience to defeat the up-and-coming Vaidisova, who is one of my personal favorite players who has yet to win a Grand Slam, but at age 18 she has a great future ahead of her. Interestingly, Vaidisova has won the last two times the two have played making their head-to-head record even at 2-2. Petrova really has no right to win this 4th round match but I just think that Ivanovic has to have a let down at some point and believe that it's time for Petrova to make another run at a major. However, I would not be surprised at all to see Ivanovic in this quarterfinal, possibly even playing Vaidisova.

PREDICTION: Mauresmo in 2 sets or a toss-up between Vaidisova/Ivanovic.

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (5) vs. Venus Williams USA (23). This is an even more unlikely quarterfinal than the Jankovic/Krajicek quarter. Svetlana "the most talented of the Russians" Kuznetsova has been cutting through the draw like a scythe. Venus "3-time Wimbledon Champion" Williams has been lucky to get through two of her first three matches.
However, Venus has been in this position many times before and if she gets past Maria Sharapova in the fourth round it's unlikely any player will be able to stop her from getting to her sixth Wimbledon.
PREDICTION: Venus Williams in 2 sets or tossup between Kuznetsova/Sharapova.

Marriage Laws Have Consequences

When I was growing up in the Caribbean, British sitcoms were a staple on television and one of my favorites was Are You being Served? starring John Inman as the uber-effeminate "poofter" Mr. Humphries. Well, it turns out that (surprise!) John Inman was gay and had a partner of 35 years named John Lynch when he died recently at age 71 and left 2.8 million British pounds (nearly 6 million U.S. dollars) in his will.
Fortunately, the longtime companions had been able to obtain a civil partnership in the United Kingdom:

Mr Lynch, 54, will not have to pay inheritance tax on the fortune he inherited because he and Inman underwent a civil partnership ceremony in December 2005 at London's Westminser register office.

If they had not been in a partnership, the taxman would have taken 40 per cent of everything the actor left over the £285,000 inheritance tax limit at the time of his death.

Inman's estate is believed to be the highest profile will of a gay man in a civil partnership since the ceremonies became legal in 2005 after decades of campaigning.

Before then gay men wishng to leave their estate to their partners would have to pay full inheritance tax while married men or women paid nothing on cash left to their spouses.

Hat tip, Pageone Q.

WIMBLEDON 2007: Two Dramatic Williams Wins!

MadProfessah has been mesmerized in front of the television most of the day watching the NBC and ESPN coverage of today's dramatic events at Wimbledon. First, Venus Williams was competing in a match delayed for two days due to rain and bizarre tradition against Akiko Morigami. Venus was down 6-2, 3-6, 3-5 with the Japanese player serving for the match. Venus broke at love and held to go to 5-5. Venus broke again and when she was serving for the match it started to drizzle; when she faced double break-point at 15-40 the rain really started to fall. Neither her or her opponent wanted to delay the match so they played on. Venus ended up winning the next 4 points and the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 with several consecutive huge first serves. She will face Maria Sharapova in a round of 16 match. They last played in the 2005 semifinals where Venus Williams defeated the defending champion on her way to winning her 3rd Wimbledon title. That was Venus' only win in 4 career matches, but she barely lost (7-5 in the third) to Sharapova at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in March and is certainly eager for revenge on grass.

Venus' near-death experience on Court 2 would have been the biggest story of the day but while she was closing out her match her sister Serena Williams was dominating Daniela Hantuchova by winning the first set 6-2 in 26 minutes before the rain delay which coincided with the conclusion of Venus' match.

But after that rain delay Hantuchova was a new player and started increasing her first serve percentage by taking less risk and hitting her strokes more cleanly. She was quickly up 4-1 when Serena re-focussed, quickly won her service game at love and eventually broke back to even up the second set at 5-5. During the change-over at 4-5 Serena could be heard asking for "salt" and that she had pain in her "calf and part of her thigh." The significance was lost on all the commentators (Don't all athletic drinks include sodium and potassium and other electrolytes?) until at 5-5, 15 all this happened (see video of Serena Williams falling):


Eventually the rain came down during the second set tie-break at 2-4 and caused a nearly 2-hour rain delay during which Serena was able to recieve treatment. Despite losing the next five points and the second set tiebreak Serena was able to hold serve in the first game of the deciding set by blasting her serve at speeds approaching 120 miles per hour. Eventually as the set went on she regained more of her movement and she was able to win the deciding set with an identical score to the first set of 6-2 but in nowhere near as dominating a fashion. Overall, she had 34 winners (including 13 aces) to just 21 errors which should bode well for her match aginst World #1 Henin: a much discussed reprise of the Grand Slam quarterfinal clash from the French Open, this time on Serena's best surface of grass.

Oh, Obama!

Barack Obama is all over the news today, for raising a record 32.5 million dollars from 258,000 donors and for a dubious response to an AIDS related comment in the last Democratic presidential candidate debate.

First, the money race. Obama, the45-year-old freshman Senator from Illinois, raised more money between April 1 and June 30th in 2007 than the entire Democratic field did in the same second quarter in 2003 ($30.8 million) but still shy of the all-time record set in that same quarter by George W. Bush, a sitting Republican President, with $35 million. Obama has now outraised Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton $55.7 to $53 million since January 1, 2007 (and Clinton's amount includes $10 million she transferred over from her Senate re-election campaign fund). In addition, Obama is raising a significantly higher percentage of his money for the Presidential primary election as opposed to the Presidential general election. Clinton had $6 million of her $27 million for the general election, while Obama had only $1.5 million of his $32.5 million. The former First Lady consistently leads the African American presidential candidate by approximately 10 percentage points in national polls, however.

Now, to the accusations of homophobia being cast towards Obama due to this informal exchange at the Democratic Presidential forum last week:

Joe Biden: ...I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS. It's an important thing because the fact of the matter is, in the communities engaged in denial, no one wants to talk about it in the community and we do not have enough leaders in the community and outside the community demanding we face the reality, confront the men in the community as well as the women, letting them know there are alternatives.

Tavis Smiley: Thank you.

Barack Obama: Tavis, I just got to make clear that I got tested with Michelle when we were in Kenya in Africa, so I don't want any confusion here about what's going on.

Joe Biden: Well, I got tested to save my life because I had a blood transfusion.

Barack Obama: I was tested with my wife.

Tavis Smiley: And I'm sure Michelle appreciates you clarifying that.

Barack Obama: In public.

Why is this exchange provoking negative reviews all over the blogosphere? As usual, TerranceDC over at Pam's House Blend has nailed it.

[...]

Clearly, his comfort with the issue only goes so far. In the light of morning, far from the flashbulbs and the headiness of being in close proximity to political celebrity, Obama's second response seemed to me a superfluous affirmation of his heterosexuality (given the presence of his wife in the audience, at least) and one that would only be necessary to a mind that read Biden's remark as an implication that he and Obama got tested together and thus had some reason to get tested together. A "comfortable" candidate wouldn't have felt it necessary to respond affirm his heterosexuality by responding to Biden's comment, but would have laughed it off instead, without further comment.

And speaking of laughter, given the response of the audience to Obama's second remark's raucus laughter that seemed to me to be in stark contrast to the subdued response to his earlier remark about homophobia ? indicates that, contrary to Lane Hudson's assessment in his HuffPo piece, any "level of immaturity" indicated in Obama's second remark may actually enhance his ability to "go all the way" in this campaign rather than hobble him in any way.

I've written about black homophobia and its origins before, and I will again, but it occurs to me that it was briefly on display Thursday night, both on the stage and in the audience. In his first line, Obama was "keeping it non-homophobic" for just a minute and the audience response was polite at best. In his second line, Obama was "keeping it real" and they loved him for it.

Word!

Out 100 Nominees

Joe.My.God points out that Out magazine is asking readers to submit names of candidates for the magazine's Out 100, which will appear in the December 2007 issue.

My candidate for someone who should be in this year's Out 100, as yours truly has previously been mentioned (quite awhile ago) is Brad Sears, founding executive director of the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy. The organization's mission is on their website:

The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy is a think tank dedicated to the field of sexual orientation law and public policy. The Institute supports legal scholarship, legal research, policy analysis, and education regarding sexual orientation discrimination and other legal issues that affect lesbian and gay people. The Williams Institute originated with the recognition that issues central to sexual orientation law have profound implications for the development of the law and public policy in general. Drawing on the intellectual and material resources of UCLA, one of the world's leading research universities, the Williams Institute provides a national center for the interdisciplinary exploration of these issues by scholars, judges, practitioners, advocates, and students.

WIMBLEDON 2007: Mid-Tournament Report

Well, since there's no tennis being played at Wimbledon today for obscure reasons, I thought I'd give you and update on the tournament so far. The picture above was posted on wtaworld.com, a fan web messageboard, and sent to me by a fellow Venus Williams fan. Previously, Mad Professah had blogged about Venus going down to Texas to visit her golf pro boyfriend Hank Kuehne at a tournament and included a grainy black and white newspaper photo. Above is a better picture of Hank, wearing well-fitting jeans and looking comfortable holding hands with America's Most Popular Female Athlete (2004, 2006).

Anyway, back to tennis:
The stars are aligning for Roger Federer to win his 5th consecutive Wimbledon title. Today his 4th round opponent Tommy Haas withdrew and gave the World #1 a walkover to the 2007 Wimbledon quarterfinal. His arch nemesis has yet to play his 3rd round match, and to win the tournament will be required to play 5 matches in seven days. This basically means Nadal, who just turned 21 last month and is in phenomenal shape will have two rounds where he will have two play consecutive days. That won't be a problem, the problem will be who he is playing in those rounds (Robin Soderling, Mikhail Youzhny and Tomas Berdych) any of whom can beat him if they are having a good day. I predict Federer will win the final, and it will not be over Nadal.

On the Women's side, defending Champion Amelie Mauresmo is looking sharp, as is World #1 Justine Henin and the always dangerous Maria Sharapova. However, who can bet against a Williams sister at Wimbledon? At least one of them have appeared in six of the last seven Wimbledon Ladies' finals, with 5 titles between them. Serena (as usual) looks more focussed, and is on track for a titanic clash with Henin in the quarterfinals. Venus need to make up a 1-4 deficit in the second set (after winning the first set 6-3) against Akiko Morigami in order to set up a very interesting Round of 16 match with Sharapova.