Olympiad XXX: Bolt Wins 200m Gold, Cements Iconic Status

Usain Bolt became the first man ever to win the 100m and 200m races in two consecutive Olympics, proving his iconic status as the greatest sprinter of all. His time of 19.32 beat out his countryman Yohan Blake's 19.44, who beat another Jamaican Warren Weir's time of 19.84. Thus Jamaica swept the 200m and only an American bronze medal performance by Justin Gatlin in the 100m prevented a double sweep of the most prestigious (and lucrative) races in athletics.

Former Olympic medal silver medalist for Trinidad and Tobago Ato Boldon was quoted by the New York Times as saying that Bolt's win "end[s] the debate about who is the  greatest sprinter in history."

Bolt has now won gold medals in the 100m (9.69s) and 200m(19.30s) at the Beijing Olympics and at the London Olympics. Might he continue his reign in Brazil at the Rio Olympics in 2016? He will only be 29 years old them. He currently holds the Olympic (9.69s) and world record (9.58s) in the 100m as well as the Olympic (19.30s) and world record ((19.19s) in the 200m. The 200m is widely considered his stronger event for the 6'5" phenom.

Delaware Gov Expects Marriage Equality in 2013

Delaware Governor Jack Markell, says
 that gay marriage in his state is "inevitable"

The Democratic Governor of Delaware, Jack Markell, who also happens to be the nation's only Jewish governor, gave an interview to Huffington Post  where he says that it is "inevitable" that his state will have to consider and probably legalize marriage equality. Gov. Markell signed Delaware's civil unions bill into law in May 2011 but has endorsed having his state end civil marriage discrimination against same-sex couples:

Markell, a Democrat, supports legalizing same-sex marriage, and he has said in the past that he believes marriage equality is "inevitable" in his state. He previously predicted the Delaware legislature would take up the issue "probably within the next few years."

But in an interview at The Huffington Post's offices on Monday, Markell said he expected the legislature to work on it as soon as the next session.

"I think it probably will," he said.

Same-sex marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia.

Democratic governors in Maryland and New York, two states that recently signed marriage equality into law, took the lead on shepherding the bill through the legislative process and making it a key priority. (The law is not in effect in Maryland yet, pending the outcome of a November ballot referendum.)

Markell said he was willing to play a similar role in Delaware, although he said the real leadership will come from LGBT groups.

"I think it's always important to have gubernatorial leadership, but the other thing it's very helpful to have -- the real hero of getting civil unions done [in the state] -- was not me," he said. "The real hero and heroine were a couple of people who led a group called Equality Delaware."

This is a pretty cool statement from a Governor who is up for re-election this November. The number of states that will have marriage equality this time next year could be in the double digits! Anyone want to start a betting pool? States like Maine, Maryland, Washington, Rhode Island, Illinois and Delaware have a pretty good chance of joining the "marriage equality" list in 2013. Note all these states are "blue" states. Coincidence? Doubtful!

FILM REVIEW: To Rome With Love

As you know, the Other Half and I had our first visit to Rome, Italy this past May. The fact that we had seen the city firsthand was one of the main reasons I decided to go see To Rome With Love, the latest film written and directed by Woody Allen which is also set in the Eternal City. As with most of Allen's movies, it has a stellar and interesting cast: Alex Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page. Unlike his more recent films like Midnight in Paris, Woody himself also appears in this film.

However unlike To Rome With Love which has a disappointing 44% rating on rottentomatoes.com  Midnight in Paris got near-universal positive reviews (93% on rottentomatoes.com) and earned Allen another Academy Award, his 3rd Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in his career.

If you have been to Rome you do have an extra appreciation for the film, similar to people who live in Los Angeles have a different perspective on films which are set in the city (like Speed, Die Hard, Independence Day, The Italian Job and Collateral, just to name a few). Another interesting feature of the film is the presence of several Italian actors unknown to Americans. I suspect that they must be famous in Italy, so perhaps the film would have a special resonance for Italian viewers.

The film's structure is of four stories who don't really intersect with each other, and are of varying interest and quality. The four stories are: a provincial Italian newlywed couple who are visiting the big city of Roma who get intertwined in some bizarre trysts due to some unfortunate circumstances; an American architect meddles in the life of a younger American architect student who is caught in a love triangle involving his longtime girlfriend and her actress best friend who comes to visit her after a bad break-up; the father of an American girl who finds a nice Italian boy she wants to marry tries to promote his daughter's future father in law as an opera star who can only perform when singing in the shower; and an ordinary Italian bureaucrat who suddenly finds himself the most famous man in the country with the attendant breathless celebrity media coverage.

None of the stories are very compelling, and some of them are downright silly. Allen uses unlikely coincidence and even magical events to forward the plot in several of the stories. This is definitely a comedy, unlike his previous Midnight in Paris there are some laugh-out loud moments. The problem is that because of the film's structure, and frankly, the bizarre nature of the situations which leads to some diffident acting, the audience has difficulty connecting with the characters and finding the emotional core of the film.

But for someone who has been to Rome, , or who intends to travel there soon, the film is a delightful travelogue and can be recommended just for that aspect alone.

Title: To Rome With Love.
Director: Woody Allen.
Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for some sexual references.
Release Date: June 22, 2012.
Viewing Date: July 15, 2012.

Writing: B.
Acting: B.
Visuals: B-.
Impact: B+.

Overall Grade: B (3.0/4.0).

Olympiad XXX: Openly gay British rider wins gold

Judy Sharrock

Carl Hester, an openly gay member of the British Olympics team won a team Gold medal as part of the Dressage Grand Prix Special. Hester, 45, is the only openly gay member of "Team G" at the London Olympics, Olympiad XXX.

Recall that at the start of the Olympics I blogged that there were only 14 openly gay Olympians out of the 12,000-plus registered athletes? Well, according to Pink News, that number is now up to 23 openly lesbian or gay Olympic competitors, still a puny 0.16% of the total.

UPDATE: Suspended Black Gay Teen Reinstated

Darnell "Dynasty" Young is a Black gay youth who says he was bullied at his school in Indianapolis, IN> When he brought a weapon to school to defend himself since the school officials refused to take any action despite multiple pleas and notices from Darnell and his family, he was suspended.

However, now it looks like this sad tale may actually have taken a more positive turn. Darnell has had his expulsion from Indiana schools overturned.

The Indianapolis Star reports:

[Indianapolis Public Schools] spokeswoman Kim Hooper said the district had no comment on the decision to end Young’s expulsion, which would’ve expired in January.

The decision came after Young and his attorneys met with the district one week ago to review his expulsion.

[National Center for Lesbian Rights senior staff attorney Chris] Stoll received a letter announcing that IPS would reinstate Young on Monday.

The letter says the district overturned Young’s expulsion based on letters from Young and his mother, Chelisa Grimes, as well as “character statements regarding Darnell’s conduct since expulsion.

[...]

Young’s expulsion sparked national attention and a local protest outside an IPS School Board meeting in May. The board voted to hire an outside firm to investigate the alleged bullying.

[...]

Young and his family are still critical of the way the district handled the incident.

“I don’t understand why adults would stand back and let any student be threatened,” Young said in a prepared statement after IPS ended his expulsion. “This problem would stop if school officials took action. By doing nothing to stop the harassment, they send the message that it is okay to harass and attack gay students, and nothing will happen if you do.”

Grimes also expressed her continued disappointment with IPS.

“This school district needs to make some real changes to make sure that every student can attend school safely and with dignity,” Grimes said in a statement. “I hope this will be a wake-up call to other parents to find out what is going on at your child’s school and demand that school officials take this issue seriously. If we don’t stand up for our children, no one else will.”

Well, well, well! Sometimes good things can happen!

hat/tip to Wonder Man

READ: Letter from Father Disowning His Gay Son

This letter from a homophobic father disowning his gay son has gone viral. Here is the text of the letter, which was posted to Reddit by user regbarc (the son):

"James: This is a difficult but necessary letter to write. I hope your telephone call was not to receive my blessing for the degrading of your lifestyle. I have fond memories of our times together, but that is all in the past. Don’t expect any further conversations With me. No communications at all. I will not come to visit, nor do I want you in my house. You’ve made your choice though Wrong it may be. God did not intend for this unnatural lifestyle. If you choose not to attend my funeral, my friends and family will understand. Have a good birthday and good life. No present exchanges will be accepted. Goodbye, Dad."

What do you think should be the proper reaction to a letter like this?

08/08/08: Today's My 4th Wedding Anniversary!

Me and my husband in front of the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy
(May 2012)

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary. On 08/08/08 I got legally married in California, before Proposition 8 passed, preventing other same-sex couples from doing so. Of course, it's somewhat silly just to say it's my 4th wedding anniversary since we have been registered domestic partners in California since 1999 and lived together since 1994 and a couple since 1991! Posting pictures of us together has become a regular tradition of this blog (2009, 2010, 2011), although generally this is the only day where you will see actual pictures of The Other Half.

But there ya go, the state of California only recognizes our marriage as legal and valid from August 8, 2008. I wonder when the United States will do so (when DOMA is struck down sometime in 2013!)

August 8th happens to be Roger Federer's birthday, so it's an easy date for me to remember :)

Godless Wednesday: $5M Grant To Study Afterlife

I'm a big supporter of academic research but this news seems a bit much. The Templeton Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to University of California at Riverside philosopher John Fisher to study "immortality."

The Immortality Project, as it is called, will solicit research proposals from eminent scientists, philosophers and theologians whose work "will be reviewed by respected leaders in their fields and published in academic and popular journals."

The research will also delve into cultural aspects of the afterlife. For example, there are reports of millions of Americans seeing a tunnel with a bright light at the end. In Japan, reports often find the individual tending a garden.

The professor added that the academic research could include a range of issues, like "heaven and hell: If we are material beings, how can we exist in heaven, where we would not have physical bodies (or not of the sort we have here)?

"There is a lot of interest in near-death experiences. We can carefully catalog them and look into whether there are patterns. There has already been a lot of work on this. Perhaps some cross-cultural studies would be helpful.

"We'll also be open to studying the relationship between beliefs in afterlife and behavior--moral behavior and crime rates."

Really? As my husband tweeted, for just one million dollars, I could do some equally meaningful research about fairies! Hemant Mehta over at  Friendly Atheist has some choice words in reaction to this award:

There’s no evidence of an afterlife and no amount of research is going to change that.

What he said!

Olympiad XXX: 19yo Wins Grenada's 1st Ever Gold

19-year-old athletic sensation Kirani James of my home country of Grenada won the gold medal in the Men's 400m dash at the London Olympics last night. It was Grenada's first medal of any kind despite competing in every Summer Olympics since 1984. James, although only 19, is the reigning World Champion in the 400m and became the first non-American man to complete the one-lap race in under 44 seconds, finishing in 43.94s.

Winning the silver was 18-year-old Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic and the bronze medalist was Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago completing a Caribbean sweep of the event. Also in the final race was the unusual site of twin brothers Kevin and Jonathan Borlée of Belgium, who finished 5th and 6th just 0.02s apart from each other.

But the night belonged to James who in the last few years has begun to put Grenada on the map for his prowess in the 400 meters in a similar way to how Jamaica is now known for world-class sprinters (and deep seated homophobia!)

Caribbean runners (or runners for other countries who are of Caribbean descent) have been dominating the sprints at this year's Olympics with Jamaicans winning both the men's and women's 100m.

AUSTRALIA: 64% Support Marriage Equality

A new poll in Australia shows support for marriage equality has almost reached two-thirds, currently at exactly 64%. The cross-tabs show that there is a distinct gender gap in support with 70% of women supporting marriage equality while only 58% of men holding that position.

News 9 reports:

"Support for marriage equality has risen to its highest point ever because Australians are increasingly realising that marriage equality will strengthen relationships, families and marriage," [Australian Marriage Equality] spokesman Alex Greenwich said in a statement. 

Support for gay marriage was highest among Greens voters with 87 per cent backing the move. Some 73 per cent of Labor voters agree same-sex couples should be able to marry but the figure drops to just 52 per cent for coalition voters.

Astonishingly, even though support is this high, the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and the governing coalition have refused to endorse marriage equality legislation, although they are allowing a "free vote" on the matter by all members of Parliament. A free vote is one where party members are free to vote their conscience, regardless of the official position of the party.

Federal marriage legislation is not expected to go into effect in 2012.

Obama Taps API Lesbian To Be Federal Judge

President Obama has nominated the fifth openly gay or lesbian person, Pamela Ki Mai Chen, to a position as a federal judge. If confirmed by the United States Senate, Chen would be only the second Chinese-American federal judge in history, and one of only a handful of openly LGBT members of the federal judiciary. Previously, three of Obama's openly LGBT nominees, J. Paul Oetken, Ali Nathan and Michael Fitzgerald have been confirmed, with Edmund Dumont withdrawing his nomination when the Senate Judiciary committee refused to schedule a hearing on his nomination for 18 months.

The Washington Blade reports:

In a statement, Obama said, “I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States District Court bench. Pamela Chen has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction.”

According to biographical information, Chen has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York for 14 years — with the exception of a four-month period in 2008 when she served as New York State Division of Human Rights’s Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement.

As a U.S. attorney, Chen served has held different supervisory positions, including chief of the civil rights section and deputy chief of the public integrity section. She’s specialized in criminal civil rights matters, such as human trafficking, and has provided training to law enforcement on the issue.

Prior to being a U.S. attorney, Chen was a trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Justice Department. She began her legal career in D.C., at the criminal defense firm of Asbill, Junkin, Myers & Buffone and at the law firm of Arnold & Porter after receiving her law degree in 1986 from the Georgetown University.

A first-generation American, Chen’s parents came to the United States as immigrants from China and met in the United States at the University of Chicago during World War II.

Chen was recommended to the Eastern District of New York by that state's senior U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer.

Congratulations to Ms. Chen. Here's hoping that her nomination can be confirmed before the end of this Congress.

Eye Candy: Simeon Panda

Simeon Panda first graced these pages as Eye Candy  on June 11, 2012 in artistic black and white. Now, here the 6'1, 234-pound 25-year-old British hunk appears again, this time in stunning color. He is almost an example of "too much of a good thing." Almost.

Morel ike this, please!

Olympiad XXX: Bolt Wins 100m Gold in 9.63s!

Usain Bolt of Jamaica repeated his Gold Medal finish in the 100 meter dash at the Beijing Olympics by doing so again at the XXX Olympiad in London, with a winning time of 9.63 seconds, slower than his world record of 9.58 seconds, but  faster than his winning time of 9.69 seconds from four years ago.

Second was Yohan Blake (also of Jamaica) in  a personal best time of 9.75 second, while American Justin Gatlin edged countryman (and former World Record holder) Tyson Gay 1/100th of a second to win the Bronze medal with a time of 9.79s.

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Williams Sisters Win Gold!

Venus Williams and Serena Williams cemented their place in history by winning their 3rd Olympic Women's Doubles gold medal by defeating the Czech team of Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova 6-4 6-4. The American sisters also won Gold together in Sydney in 2000 and Beijing in 2008. They did not compete in Athens in 2004. Younger sister Serena, 30, also won the Gold medal in singles on Saturday. Older sister Venus, 31, had won the Gold medal in singles in 2000.

Amazingly, the Williamses were not the only American siblings to win Gold Medals in doubles today. Bob and Mike Bryan, twin brothers, won the Men's Doubles by beating the French team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michel Llodra.

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Murray Routs Federer For Gold

Somewhat surprisingly, Andy Murray beat Roger Federer 6-2 6-1 6-4 to win the biggest match of his life in just under two hours and secure the Men's Singles Gold Medal at the London Olympics. Murray won his first 5-set match against Federer in great style, breaking the 17-time major champion five times and gliding across the grass like a cat, displaying his improved confidence with newly found aggressive hitting.

Federer had two breakpoints in the very first game of the match and had a look at an easy backhand passing shot after getting a lucky loose let cord, but he hit the tape. Federer would end the match with 9 break points (one less than Murray) but was unable to break the Scot's serve.
Federer did not play badly but Murray was sharper throughout, hitting 27 winners to 17 unforced errors, while his opponent made 31 unforced errors and only 24 winners.

Although this was not technically a major final, 7 games is the lowest total Federer has ever won in a 5-set final.

It will be interesting to see if this newly improved Murray can translate to improved results at future Grand Slam tournaments; The 2012 US Open starts in almost exactly 3 weeks.

The Canada Masters Series tournament, the Rogers Cup, starts tomorrow. MadProfessah will be attending the semifinals and finals in Toronto next weekend.

Juan Martin de Potro won the Bronze Medal by defeating defending Bronze medalist Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4.

The Bryan Twins won the Men's Doubles Gold Medal 6-4 7-6(2) over the French team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra. The other French team of Julian Benneteau and Richard Gasquet won the Bronze.

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Men's Final Preview

Exactly four weeks after they faced each other in the 2012 Wimbledon final, World #1 Roger Federer and World #4 Andy Murray will face each other again in the Gold Medal match. Of course, that match was won in 4 sets by Federer to claim his 17th major title.

Murray is coming off one of the biggest match wins of his careers by beating one of the three people in the world who is higher rated than he is for the first time in a Very Important tournament. He was able to outplay 5-time major champion Novak Djokovic 7-5 7-5 to ensure the host country a medal.

Federer is coming off winning the longest 3-set match of all time, (3-6 7-6(5) 19-17), the 4 hour-26-minute slugfest with Juan Martin del Potro, in the semifinals. Even though he is just a few days from his 31st birthday, the Swiss Great should be completely prepared to play another historic best-of-5 set match.

Federer and Murray now have a completely even career head--to-head of 8-all, but in 5-set matches Federer leads 3-0, all of which have occurred in huge matches (2008 US Open final, 2010 Australian Open final and 2012 Wimbledon final). It is true that Murray is getting closer to actually winning one of these matches, and he will have huge crowd support but I still find it hard to bet against Federer on grass, at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club where he has played 8 finals and won 7 of them. Only Rafael Nadal and del Potro have ever beaten Federer in a major final.

Murray definitely has a pretty good chance of winning, but in order to maximize his chances of doing so he needs to serve very well (above 75% service percentage) and return even better (keep Federer at below 50% of points won on second serve). Also, if the match is played with the roof open for its entirety that will definitely help Murray. If all these things happen AND Federer is tired and/or nervous then Murray could win his first major-equivalent tournament. For all these things to happen in Murray's favor is very unlikely, as would be a victory by someone other than Federer.

MadProfessah's Prediction: Federer.

WA: Ballot Language for R-74 Set

The ballot language for the upcoming referendum in Washington state on their marriage equality law has now been set, and happily is pretty matter-of-fact, devoid of any heterosexual supremacist or religious extremist messaging.

Read it for yourself:

Ballot Title
The legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6239 concerning marriage for same-sex couples, modified domestic-partnership law, and religious freedom, and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill.

This bill would allow same-sex couples to marry, preserve domestic partnerships only for seniors, and preserve the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform, recognize, or accommodate any marriage ceremony.

Should this bill be:

Approved [ ]

Rejected [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary
This bill allows same-sex couples to marry, applies marriage laws without regard to gender, and specifies that laws using gender-specific terms like husband and wife include same-sex spouses. After 2014, existing domestic partnerships are converted to marriages, except for seniors. It preserves the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform or recognize any marriage or accommodate wedding ceremonies. The bill does not affect licensing of religious organizations providing adoption, foster-care, or child-placement.

Recent polls have shown that although public opinion is in favor of marriage equality in Washington State, some LGBT activists are nervous because support for Referendum 74 it is not as far ahead as to make the eventual result a foregone conclusion.

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Serena Wins Singles Gold!

Serena Williams won her first Gold Medal in singles by demolishing 4-time major champion Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-1 in an awe-inspiring display of overwhelming power and devastating accuracy that lasted just over an hour.

As I predicted yesterday, Serena extended her domination over Sharapova by winning their eighth match in a row, extending her career had-to-head lead to 9 wins, 2 losses. Serena hit 24 winners to a mere 7 errors, including 10 aces, breaking her opponent at will. For example, at 0-5 down Sharapova went up 40-0 and Serena proceeded to hit return winner after return winner and after the Russian double faulted to give the American a breakpoint which was also a (bagel) set point, Serena claimed the first set after an exciting exchange at the net.

Sharapova did not play her best tennis, but there really was not much she could do because Serena was moving so well. Sharapova hit 1 ace to 5 double faults, and 10 unforced errors to only 6 winners. She had two breakpoints on Serena's serve at 1-3 to get the match back on serve but Serena wiped them away with two big first serves and never looked back.

Serena was a woman on a mission, hitting winners silently from every corner of the court. She made 3 vocalizations during the match, a "come on!" when she broke Sharapova to go up 2-0 in the second set and then when she saved her first breakpoint 3 games later. Then at the end of the match after she served an ace on match point she let out a very loud and long primal scream as she completed the Golden career slam, the second woman to do it after the great Steffi Graf.

In the Bronze medal match, current World #1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4 to win her first Olympic medal. Serena and her sister Venus will be going for their third Gold medal in doubles after they play their semifinal against Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova and the Czech team in the final.

At this rate, I would not be surprised if Serena is #1 before the US Open starts in 3 weeks, but she has quite a number of points to defend during the American hard court summer season. But really it's a question of when, not if, Serena will be at the top of the rankings in women's tennis again.

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Men's Semifinal Review

The men's semifinals of the 2012 London Olympics were played today and unlike the relatively drama free results of the women's semifinals, the men's semifinals were dramatic.

The first semifinal was the showdown between World #1 Roger Federer and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro who has an atrocious record of 2 wins and 14 losses against the 17-time major champion.

Yesterday I predicted that Federer would somehow find a way to win this match in order to reach Sunday's Gold medal match, but I was completely unaware how deep Federer would have to dig in order to leave with the win. The match began with Federer not playing well, eventually losing his serve in the first set and del Potro holding his to pull ahead 6-3. In the second set there were no breaks of serve and Federer was able to hold on to a mini-break to even the score at 1-set all after winning the tiebreak by the smallest of margins 7-6(5).

The third and deciding set turned into a test of wills. Because there is no tiebreaker in the deciding set at Wimbledon, the player who would advance to the gold medal round would have to break his opponent's serve. Federer was 0/4 on breakpoints for the first two sets. He ended the match with a very desultory 2 out of 13 on break points. In addition, Federer was serving second, so if he lost his serve he would instantly lose the match; breakpoint would also be matchpoint. As it turned out, Federer was able to break Del Potro in the 19th game and go ahead 10-9 but when he tried to serve out the match he lost his own serve at love and the match was even again at 10-all. There were basically a bunch of love holds of serve until the 31st game where Federer had a breakpoint again which del Potro saved. Finally in the 35th game Federer was able to break again, and this time when he served in the 36th game he was able to get to 30-all and deuce and although de Potro saved a match point but he lost the 2nd one and his chance at the gold medal. The match was 4 hours and 26 minutes long, breaking the record for the longest 3-set match in history set by the clay court semifinal at the 2009 Madrid Masters between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (and that was three tiebreaks sets).

The second semifinal was between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Almost everyone except those with British citizenship expected Djokovic to win this match (yours truly included). Murray has never before won a career-important match against a member of The Big Three (Federer, Nadal or Djokovic). He's lost three major finals to Federer (2008 US Open, 2010 Australian Open and 2012 Wimbledon) and one to Djokovic (2011 Australian Open). He's lost 5 major semifinals to Nadal and 1 to Djokovic. The Olympics has all the prestige of a major but it does not have the 5-set format. This is a key point, because in 3-set matches Murray has a much closer career head-to-head with both Djokovic and with Federer. The margins in 3-set matches are very much smaller, so that it is easier for Murray to quickly escape with the win despite not necessarily being the better player on the court. He showed this today by beating Djokovic 7-5 7-5. This bodes very well for his campaign to shuck the label of "Best Player On Tour" without a grand slam title. It looks like even though he lost the biggest match of his career less than four weeks ago, he has taken confidence from how well he played to advance his caree by actually defeating a higher ranked player in a very important match. The question is can he do it again two days later with the Greatest Of All Time on the other side of the court.

Olympiad XXX Tennis: Women's Final Preview

Today was one of the most exciting days of the year in tennis as all four semifinals in the 2012 London Olympics occurred. In this post I wil just talk about the women's side of the draw.

Women's Semifinals Review
On the women's side, as I expected and predicted yesterday, Serena Williams made mincemeat out of reigning World #1 (*cough* *cough* according to the computer *cough*) Victoria Azarenka, removing the last obstacle to her path to playing in the Gold Medal match with a dominant 6-1 6-2 win. Maria Sharapova played up to form by reaching the final again by dashing the hopes of countrywoman Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-3. Her path to the final really involved getting past fellow 4-time major champion Kim Clijsters, which she did in the quarterfinal round.

Women's Final Preview
Serena and Maria have met in two major finals (2004 Wimbledon, won by Sharapova and the 2007 Australian Open, won by Serena). That last match still reverberates in my mind as the best match I have ever seen Serena, and possibly any woman, play. She simply could not miss. There was no question about the outcome of the match after the second game. I think Serena had something like 25 winners to 3 unforced errors. The official score was 6-1 6-2 but it really wasn't even that close. Head-to-head the two have a surprisingly lopsided tally of 8 wins for Serena, 2 for Sharapova. In fact, after losing to Sharapova twice in 2004 in two awfully big matches (the other loss was the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles) Serena has won every meeting in the subsequent 8 years, and has only dropped a single set (on clay) and won 14.

Their styles of play do not match up well for the Russian, because Sharapova has one gear, hit the ball hard, and if that doesn't work then hit it harder. Serena can absorb and return pace and moves extremely well. For Sharapova to have a chance (oh who am  kidding, she doesn't really have a chance!) she wil have to hope that Serena gets nervous as she approaches achieving one of her lifetime goals, winning a Gold Medal in singles (she already has two in doubles and is likely to win a 3rd one here) and the Russian needs to play out of her comfort zone. Even in that scenario, I don't see how Serena loses this match. As everyone knows, Serena has the best serve in women's tennis history and has now won at Wimbledon 5 times, thus sharing the title of best grass court player of her generation with her big sister. When she wins on Saturday, maybe she'll be the undisputed holder of that title.

MadProfessah's Prediction: Serena.

Celebrity Friday (bonus): Gymnast Danell Leyva

Danell Leyva is a member of the United State Olympics Men's Gymnastics team which panicked during the final round of competition on Monday night and after leading the first round, placed 5th overall, failing to medal. Leyva, 20, is also apparently a bit of an exhibitionist, apparently straight, and reportedly likes to send revealing photos of himself via text to women. He was the subject of a feature story on him (and his future aspirations for stardom) this week in The New York Times.

On Wednesday August 1st he won the Bronze medal in the Men's Gymnastics All-Around competition.

I thought the above picture could serve as a Celebrity Friday bonus and to tide you over for Monday's upcoming Eye Candy.

Olympiad XXX: Federer-del Potro at 15-15 in 3rd

Wow! Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro are locked in a tight battle to reach the Gold Medal round of the London 2012 Olympics on Sunday August 5.

The score is currently 3-6 7-6(5) 15-15. There are no tiebreaks in the final set of Wimbledon.
Federer has broken del Potro once (in the third set) but couldn't serve out the match, and del Potro broke back and broke once in the first set. Looks like del Potro is ignoring his 2-12 head-to-head record (and my prediction) with Federer right now!

I doubt this match will go as long as 2010's Isner-Mahut (70-68 in deciding 5th set), but they may get to 2012's Tsonga-Raonic (25-23 in deciding 3rd set)!

Celebrity Friday: Lana Wachowski, Trans Director

Larry Wachowski is best known as the creative force, along with his brother Andy, of the seminal science fiction movie The Matrix as well as the subsequent sequels in what is known as The Matrix Trilogy. Their producer and director credits on the The Matrix were listed as "The Wachowski Brothers."

However, in 2007, Larry Wachowski transitioned to being known as Lana Wachowski. The highly awaited film adaptation of David Mitchell's acclaimed novel Cloud Atlas (read Madprofessah review) is the next high profile project for the Wachowskis, with the two listed as producing, directing and writing with Tom  Twyker  separately as Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. 


This certainly makes Lana Wachowski the most prominent and most successful transgender Hollywood film director to date. The trailer for Cloud Atlas is out and it looks astonishing, as visually advanced as The Matrix was in its day, and that's saying something. The book is an incredibly hard one to even conceive of as a film, because it's structure is so unique: a set of 6 interlocking stories about the nature of life, love and the human condition told in very different settings using various genres (historical drama, crime thriller, futuristic science fiction, mystery, etc). It is a writing tour de force, hopefully the movie will do it justice. There is hope that it will.

Check it out!

Olympiad XXX: Men's & Women's Semifinals Preview

The tennis competition at the XXXth Olympiad in London is approaching the crucial stages of the event: the men's and women's semifinals are now set. The winners of the next round will be guaranteed a medal.

Women's Semifinals
S. Williams USA (4) v. V. Azarenka BLR (1). Serena continued her demolition of the field by demonstrating once again that former World #1 Caroline Wozniacki is not really in the same class as the Big Babes of tennis. The 14-time Grand Slam champion won their quarterfinal meeting 6-0 6-3. In the same half of the draw World #1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus dismissed powerful lefty Angelique Kerber of Germany6-4 7-5. This semifinal is a repeat of the semifinal at the 2012 Wimbledon championships a mere four weeks ago. That match was won relatively easily by Serena, although it was more competitive than the final score 6-3 7-6(6) would indicate. That being said, Serena is on a mission to win her first Olympic Gold Medal in singles, and it is doubtful that anyone can deny her when she wants to achieve something on a tennis court. MadProfessah's Prediction: Serena.

M. Sharapova RUS (3) v. M. Kirilenko RUS (14). Maria Sharapova ended the fairytale run on Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals by winning their showdown 6-2 7-5. This was a somewhat surprising result, and thus the popular Belgian will end her career never having had much success on the grass courts of Wimbledon. An even more surprising result, however, was Maria Kirilenko's 7-6(3) 6-3 win over the 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. This has to be a very disappointing end to Kvitova's quest to win a medal and will raise the simmering questions about whether her 2011 breakthrough on the grass courts as well as her year-end championships win were flukes. It does mean that Russia is guaranteed at least a silver medal in tennis, although this would actually be a demotion, because in 2008 Elena Dementieva of Russia won the Gold medal. MadProfessah's Prediction: Sharapova.

Men's Semifinals
R. Federer SUI (1) v. J.-M. del Potro ARG (3). The Federer Express keeps on rolling toward the Gold Medal match. In order to do so, he needed to get past one of the players no one likes to see across the net, 6' 9" big-serving John Isner. Federer lost to Isner earlier this year, on clay at home in Basel Switzerland no less, but this time he was able to win 6-4 7-6(5) in a surprisingly tight match. Juan Martin del Potro was able to beat the up-and-coming Kei Nishikori by the identical score. Federer and del Potro have met 14 times before and the Argentinian has only won twice, both played in a 4 month period in 2009. In fact, Federer and del Potro have met an astonishing 5 times in 2012 and del Potro has managed to win just one set, although that was in their most recent meeting, at the 2012 French Open quarterfinals which was quite competitive until del Potro's injured knee hampered his movement and made him uncompetitive. Del Potro has a reasonable chance of winning this match with Federer, but grass is not his best surface. However, the fact that it is a 3-set match should give del Potro hope. If he starts off well and Federer starts off badly, things could get complicated. But, there are very few occasions where Federer has answered the call of history, and he will almost certainly find a way to do so again.
MadProfessah's Prediction: Federer.

N. Djokovic SRB (2) v. A. Murray GBR (3). The most interesting match of the four semifinals should be this match between these two rivals. Djokovic has generally been the better player in their most important matches (2011 Australian Open final, 2012 Australian Open semifinal) and leads their overall head-to-head 8-5. The two have never met on grass and Murray should be the overwhelming favorite of the crowd. Murray has shown that he is getting closer to Djokovic by his performance in Australia this year, and in 3-set matches the head-to-head score is merely a 6-5 lead for Djokovic. That being said, I still think that Djokovic has the edge, and will almost certainly face Federer on Sunday to play for the Gold medal. MadProfessah's Prediction: Djokovic.

FOOD REVIEW: Zelo (Minneapolis, MN)

lemongrass crab cakes (lump crab meat, avocado, vanilla) $15

Recently I had a business trip in Minneapolis, MN to attend the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. While I was there I grabbed lunch (twice!) at the excellent sandwich place called Lunch Cube (1122 Harmon Place Minneapolis, MN 55403; 612-225-6800) which was a short walk from the hotel and conference site. I would highly recommend the Chipotle Tuna Classic Sandwich (Albacore Tuna Salad and Chipotle Pepper Spread Topped with Lettuce, Tomato and Onion; $6.95) and the Black and Blue Signature Panini (Roast Beef, Bleu Cheese, and Grilled Onion with a Red Wine Aioli; $7.95).

But this post is actually about another discovery that I made while in Minneapolis: the asian fusion restaurant named Zelo. After doing a Yelp search I was interested in eating at Butcher & The Boar (1121 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403) and my dinner companion was interested in eating at the D'Amico Kitchen (901 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403). However, when we walked by the first place we couldn't find anything on the menu that was not red-meat based and when we walked by the second place it was closed for a private event.

So we continued walking around and came across Zelo, checked their menu and found a lot which looked interesting, especially for someone who is trying to reduce their intake of red meat. Happily, they were not too busy, especially since it had just finished sprinkling.

I ordered the lemongrass crab cakes as an appetizer while my dinner companion (a work colleague) ordered the grilled lamb meatballs (harissa, chickpee puree, cucumber; $10). For our entrees I had the romesco risotto (tiger shrimp, carnaroli rice, spinach, romesco sauce and reggiano; $20) while she had some kind of pasta with mushrooms that is not on the regular menu. My crab cakes were excellent, with the combination of avocado and vanilla a scrumptious touch. I had the large risotto, which was such a hefty portion that I wasn't sure I would finish it, but it was too yummy to stop eating, and stuffed with shrimp. I also had a taste of one of her lamb meatballs, which was also quite tasty--it has a surprisingly spicy kick to it.

For dessert we split the tahitian vanilla crème brûlée ($7.50). This was quite well done as well--it's hard to make a mess of crème brûlée.

All of the food was of superior quality, and the bill for two people came to under $100 for two people with 5 courses between us, including tax and tip. If you're in Minneapolis, I would strongly recommend you check out Zelo!

Name: Zelo.

Location: 831 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55402.

Contact: 612-333-7000.

Visit: July 13, 2012.

AMBIANCE: A-.

SERVICE: A.

VALUE: A-.

FOOD: A. 

OVERALL: A (3.83/4.0)

Protect Marriage Appeals Prop 8 Loss(es) to USSC

The heterosexual supremacists who promoted and convinced voters to pass California's Proposition 8 by employing a campaign of deceitful lies in order to amend California's state constitution to prohibit other marriages than those between a man and a woman fro being valid or recognized in the state, have appealed their federal court losses at the district and appellate levels to the final court in the land, the United States Supreme Court. This was the next move after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied their request for an en banc hearing on June 5, 2012.

The case is now called Perry v. Brown. ProtectMarriage.com (formerly known as Yes on 8) filed a brief on Tuesday which declares that the question they want the Supreme Court to consider in their appeal is:

Whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Of course this framing of the question is the most advantageous to the appellant-defendants, because if California can NOT do so, then the logic of a Supreme Court ruling doing so could be used to strike down similar bans on same-sex marriages in a majority of the states, which is a sweeping judicial action unlikely to be embraced by a majority of Justices on the highest court.

Of course it was not the state of California which attempted to define marriage as between a man and a woman, it was a group of self-appointed heterosexual supremacists who put a ballot measure before the voters of California in response to a then-pending lawsuit which ended up legalizing same-sex marriage in the state by a 4-3 California Supreme Court decision. Marriage was legal for 173 days until Proposition 8 was approved by the voters, nullifying the effect of that decision, in re Marriage Cases, from allowing same-sex couples to continue to marry in the state. Charles Cooper, the lawyer for Protect Marriage who has spent decades of his career opposing equal marriage rights in court, would like you (and the Court) to believe that the timing of Proposition 8 is irrelevant, and the fact that same-sex couples had a right to marry which was taken away by the action of voters is not the issue at hand, while advocates of LGBT equality would argue that is precisely the question the Supreme Court needs to answer.

The American Foundation for Equal Rights will have 30 days to submit their reply brief. AFER has said that they oppose the High Court taking up this appeal, but are prepared to argue their case. It will be interesting to see how AFER's super lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson will frame the question at issue in the appeal.

We will not know until late September or early October what the Court's response to the appeal will be. If it takes the case, there will be multiple cases involving marriage equality before the court this term, with the others involving the fate of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Hat/tip to Chris Geidner

POLL: Democrats Support Marriage Equality 2 to 1

The news that Democrats are putting support for marriage equality in the official 2012 DNC platform is now not as surprising (although it is still historic) as it seemed yesterday now considering a new Pew poll which again demonstrates that marriage equality has either majority or near-majority support with the general public and that Democrats overwhelmingly support the right of same-sex couples to marry.

The figure above illustrates the overwhelming difference between Democrats and Republicans on this issue, with the gap in presidential election years moving from +23 (2004) to +31 (2008) and now an astonishing 41 percentage point difference between Republicans and Democrats on the question of marriage equality. The key fact to note is that Independents have switched in that time period from opposition (37-53) to support (51-40).

As I have repeatedly said, the kulturkampf is basically over except for the screaming and gnashing of teeth from the heterosexual supremacists. They are now basically playing a game of delay and deception.

This last image showing the generational gap is basically the death knell for discrimination against same-sex couples in marriage:

Does anyone really think that the Millenial generation or Generation X are ever going to oppose marriage equality, even as they age? Then again, most of the opposition to marriage comes from people who think that there is an all-powerful, all-knowing old white guy in the sky (i..e "God") who listens to their pleas and individually responds to them, so a basic grip on reality is not something generally associated with heterosexual supremacists!

Godless Wednesday: Funny Religious Cartoons

Joe.My.God calls my attention to the amazing online cartoon The Oatmeal which has posted numerous pieces on religion.

The cartoons are excellent at demonstrating critiques of religion. Here's another one:

Pretty funny, eh?