Monday, March 31, 2008

Happy Birthday, Hollie!

Cheers to a Silver Fox and O.G. tennis playa, Hollie!

Speaking of o.g. tennis playaz, CONGRATS to Lindsay Davenport for beating Ana Ivanovic at the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday with some very strong playing that was inspirational to watch.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Ready for her close-up!

My friend, Becky, has put her actor's reel on YouTube; check it out!

Friday, March 28, 2008

LHK Tennis Update

Defending Champion Novak Djokovic was upset by South African qualifier Kevin Anderson today in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami! I saw Kevin play at this year's Tennis Channel Open, and I'm not utterly shocked that he beat Novak. Kevin is very strong, tall and consistent. He also unfortunately beat my beloved Robby Ginepri at the Tennis Channel Open.

By the way, TV coverage of the Sony Ericsson Open starts tomorrow on FSN.

P.S. How cute is this tennis plaque that I just bought from the Coca-Cola store?!! I obviously dig tennis, and I love Coke products (especially Coke Zero). So, I scored with such an adorable tchotchke.

Coming Soon...

As you may or may not know, prior to this personal blog of mine, my crew and I had a webzine called (what else?) LADY HOOLIGAN, and it was filled with lots of cheekiness and eye-candy (not unlike this blog, I hope).

Unfortunately, our 'zine only lasted a year. But recently, I was approached to do a beverage review, and I thought it would be cool to try and archive some of the product reviews we had in the 'zine for reference. So, I've formed a new post label entitled "LH Webzine Archive", and I have one archived review (of HINT water) in there already. More to come...

Speaking of reviews, feel free to e-mail me if you want me to review any of your products (e.g. music, books, beverages, cosmetics, etc...). Hey, what can I say? I like free stuff, and I'm opinionated.

P.S. Although I really miss the 'zine and although I'd love to archive the whole year of LH fun on this blog, it would be too big of a task, and it just wouldn't be the same. Besides I'm saving the entire archive for a book. Holler, if you know any publishers! Oh, a Lady Hooligan can dream...

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Oh, Marat!

Unfortunately, my (other) tennis beloved Marat Safin lost to American qualifier Bobby Reynolds in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open today.

Marat, I'm on-call if you ever want a hug...

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

LHK Sporting News

1) England takes on France today in an international friendly. David Beckham will earn his 100th cap for England in the game (yay!), but Rio Ferdinand will be given the captain's armband in place of John Terry (BOO!).

2) The Sony Ericsson Open starts in Miami (pronounced Mee-jamy) this week. Marat Safin meets qualifier Bobby Reynolds in the first round (potential yay!), but unfortunately Robby Ginepri won't be in the tournament due to a bicep injury he sustained in Indian Wells (boo!). Ahh, those guns... Get well soon, Robby!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

New Music (&DVD) Tuesday

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mrs. S!!!

P.S. The digital release of Gnarls Barkley's second album, The Odd Couple, was actually last week; check it out: Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Monday, March 24, 2008

BUST!

You have to check out the April/May '08 issue of BUST magazine. Not only is BUST a fabulous feminist magazine, but this current issue is their MEN WE LOVE issue with the fellas from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS (dressed in retro adidas gear) on one side of the double-cover (going right after my Lady Hooligan heart)!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Biggies of the Day

1) Liverpool vs. Manchester United (on Setanta at 6:30am PST). Please beat them Liverpool...

2) Chelsea vs. Arsenal (on FSC at 9am PST).
Come on Chelsea!


3) Pacific Life Open Women's and Men's FINALS (on FSN starting at noon PST). Go Sveta and Mardy!

4) David Beckham on 60 Minutes; with Anderson Cooper (or "Andy" as Kathy Griffin calls him) checking out his tattoos (on CBS at 7pm)!

P.S. Happy Easter!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Until next year, i-Dub...

Just got back from Indian Wells...

For today's adventure, Lady Stacy and I drove down early (about 8:30am) and fortunately had no trouble with traffic or parking. We got into the grounds by 10:45am; had our cocktails in hand and were watching Rafael Nadal on the practice courts by 11am! Just a little while later, we saw Rafa's semi-final opponent, Novak Djokovic (aka Nole), practicing in a nearby court too! What a way to start the morning!

Eventually, we headed to our nose-bleed seats in the main stadium to catch the 2nd set and super 3rd set tiebreak of the women's doubles finals. By the way, the weather was quite hot today (about 90), but our seats were in the shade (which made the tennis viewing so pleasant all day). Excellent work, Lady Stacy, on picking great seats on the South side of the stadium!

Anyway, Dinara Safina (Marat Safin's younger sister) and her dubz partner ended up winning the women's doubles Pacific Life Open title, and I was very happy for them. After their match, we had a quick bite before seeing Nole beat Rafa in two sets in the first semi-final of the day.

But, the most exciting match of the day was the second semi-final between (#1 ranked) Roger Federer and American Mardy Fish (ranked #98). Although I'm not a Mardy Fish fanatic, I was completely rooting for him because he's pals with players I really dig (e.g. Robby Ginepri, James Blake), and I also always enjoying seeing Roger Federer upset. And upset he was; Mardy played brilliantly to beat Roger 6-3, 6-2!!! Wooh! Well, another March tennis season has come and gone for me, and I certainly had a blast! Vegas two weeks ago (met Robby Ginepri!); Indian Wells last weekend (met Robby Ginepri again!), and Indian Wells again this weekend (saw R-Fed upset). Life ain't too shabby! Now, I can't wait for July, when pro tennis comes back to the L.A. area!

Friday, March 21, 2008

i-DUB!

I'm heading back to Indian Wells tomorrow morning. Report to follow...

Thursday, March 20, 2008

LHK Soccer News

1) David Beckham has been recalled to the English national squad and could finally get his 100th cap for his country.

2) Chelsea drew Tottenham 4-4 yesterday; argh!!!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

New Music (&DVD) Tuesday

Some items I may be checking out today:
Apple iTunes

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And more importantly, Happy Birthday to my favorite leprechaun, Amanda!!
Cheers!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sunday Music

I've been listening to a new Welsh artist, named Duffy, this morning. She's supposedly the next big thing and has the whole blue-eyed-soul vibe going on. She sounds like a combo of Dusty Springfield, Sia and Amy Winehouse (with a little Aretha Franklin and Ronnie Spector thrown in too). Anyway, she has the free single on iTunes this week, so make sure to check it out.
Duffy
She was also recently on KCRW live, with a very cool session via the SXSW festival. The U.S. release of her album isn't until May 13 however.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Yowza!

Today has just flown by! I left for Indian Wells to attend the Pacific Life Open at around 9am; got there at 11am; and because of the awful parking back-up, I didn't get into the stadium until about 11:45am.

But once I was in, I had a very eventful day. Without going into all the boring details, I'll just get to the best part: I MET ROBBY GINEPRI again!! I wasn't expecting to see him except during his match against Carlos Moya in the afternoon. But, when I went to go meet my friends at the practice courts to watch Rafa Nadal practicing with Feliciano Lopez, I noticed Robby practicing in a nearby court. And, before I knew it, he walked right by us, and thanks to my awesome pals/"wing-helpers" (Lady Lorelei and Laddie McFresh), I finally got a decent picture with Robby!! I'm so thrilled!

Other highlights of my day include indulging in a delicious bloody mary and and also finally meeting my blog pal, Erwin, in person. He's an absolute doll and was there to witness me being a complete dork over Gineps.

Okay, now before I get to my big match of the day, here's a partial list of the other pros I saw play a game or two today: Jelena Jankovic, Tommy Robredo (love him with the shorter hair), Ivan Ljubicic, Max Mirnyi, Jamie Murray, Andy Murray, Eric Butorac, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Amelie Mauresmo and Svetlana Kuznetsova! Not too shabby, huh?

But, of course, the match I was dying to see today was Robby Ginepri versus Carlos Moya! The playaz entered the stadium at around 3:45pm, and fortunately Robby dominated and won the first set. But then, before I knew it and as the weather became a lot colder and windier, he quickly lost the second set. Between the second and third sets, Robby had to get his right arm taped. Then, the heart-break began...

Even though Robby was playing well and and had SO MANY chances to break Moya in the third set, he ended up losing the match. I still sort of can't believe it. I guess my cheers didn't help. Wha happened? Sniff, sniff...I left the tournament after Robby's match 'cause I didn't have any more tennis energy, and I hit the road. I also hit some fairly rough weather (the sky between the Desert windmills and Cabazon looked like Mount Doom), but I'm thankfully back in L.A. and now ready for bed.

But, before I hit the hay, I'm going to set my DVR to record Saturday Night Live. The hilarious Jonah Hill is hosting tonight.

P.S. Chelsea beat Sunderland today with John Terry scoring the only and winning goal!

Hittin' the Road!

I'm off to i-Dub this morning. Hopefully, I'll have some fun pics to share upon my return.

I'd like to also welcome my new blog pal Rich, from Down the Line!

P.S. Marat lost his first round match yesterday, so I guess I won't be seeing him this weekend or next. Sniff, sniff... But at least, I still have Robby!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Random Friday News

1) The Body Worlds exhibit opens today at the California Science Center and will be there though September 7th.

2) Marat Safin takes on Jurgen Melzer at the Pacific Life Open today (on Stadium 2 right after his sister's match). Vamos, Marat (y Dinara tambien)!

3) The Champions League quarterfinals draw took place this morning, and Chelsea will be facing Fenerbahçe SK next.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Bravo, Robby!

Robby Ginepri just beat Vince Spadea 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Pacific Life Open! I believe he takes on Carlos Moya next; talk about a super sleeveless eye-candy match! I hope to see the match live in person this weekend.
Speaking of Gineps, check out these great pics of him practicing in i-Dub (via Kenneth).

LHK Sporting News

1) Wow, Chelsea beat Derby 6-1 yesterday! A very nice league win for us; now IF ONLY the Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, had used yesterday's line-up in our recent heart-breaking Cup losses....

2) Robby Ginepri takes on Vince Spadea today in the first round of the Pacific Life Open. Go Robby!

3) Did you catch Novak Djokovic on The Tonight Show last night? I was just flipping through the channels and was happy to catch his interview. He's adorable.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Random LHK News

1) Chelsea plays Derby County today in EPL action (on Setanta at 1pm PST). Let's see if we can at least win this one...

2) My friend, John Hoskinson, has a song on MEN IN TREES tonight!! It's called "I Belong To You", so please tune in to catch it (on ABC at 10pm). Or better yet, buy it on iTunes!
John Hoskinson - Miscellaneous Heathen - I Belong to You

3) The Pacific Life Open Men's Draw was announced yesterday. Marat Safin meets Jurgen Melzer in the first round and could meet Andy Murray in the second round. Robby Ginepri takes on Vince Spadea in the first round and could meet Carlos Moya in the second round. Yowza! I'm planning to drive down to Indian Wells this weekend to catch some second round matches, so I'm hoping that my fellas advance!!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Monday, March 10, 2008

Clash of the Titans

Roger Federer takes on Pete Sampras tonight in a gigantic exhibition match in Madison Square Garden (live on Tennis Channel at 4:30pm PST).

Sunday, March 9, 2008

P.S.

I forgot to mention that I went to a lovely and chic restaurant in Vegas called VINTNER GRILL. The food was so delicious, especially the calamari that came with a surprisingly fantastic lemon and curry aioli. I highly recommend it if you want to go to a nice restaurant off the Strip in Summerlin.

Speaking of Vegas, on my flight there, I read the recent issue of Vanity Fair (with Tina Fey and other funny ladies on the cover). Although I was so excited to finally get the issue, I was disappointed in the end because there was no mention of Kathy Griffin or Margaret Cho, who are both amazing comics.

Finally, I was also able to catch a flick while in Vegas. My hosts and I saw BE KIND, REWIND. It was cute and funny but ultimately just a rental. ;)

Back from Vegas

I got in from Vegas last night, and I'm so tired because my return flight had some delay issues. But, forget about that, let's get to the TENNIS!

My mission this year as previously stated was to see Robby Ginepri (since he didn't play there last year). And YES, my mission was accomplished thanks to Robby making it to the quarterfinals on Friday (the only day I had planned to attend the Tennis Channel Open this year)! Robby played and heartily beat Ernests Gulbis to reach the semi-finals on Saturday.

Now before I get to Saturday, let me tell you a little more about Friday. The weather was great (sunny, breezy and about 58F), and with my cheap seat $40 ticket, I was able to sit anywhere I wanted during the tournament 'cause it never fills up there. So for Robby's quarterfinal match, I decided to sit two rows behind "his camp" (which included his coach, his agent, his trainer and a male friend). Anyway, Robby played really well (so fast and strong), and you could tell that his training was paying off. I, of course, cheered him on (Go, Robby!) and was thrilled that he won (for partly selfish reasons).

As any tennis fan knows, players who lose matches don't really want to deal with fans after the match. So, since Robby won and since I knew the post-match drill from last year's TCO, I strolled over to the fan area after the match where I knew Robby would be exiting. Sure enough, Robby was cool enough to sign autographs and take pictures. But being the lame photographer that I am, this is how the pic of him and me [yes, that's correct grammatically] turned out:
Since you can only see my houndstooth cap (on the bottom left), I admit that it's kind of a funny/bad pic and once again falls into the "Sixteen Candles" genre of photography (see my pic with my other beloved, Marat Safin, from last year). But, I'm so happy to have it nonetheless.

Anywhoo, Friday turned out to be a lovely day for me at the TCO. Aside from finally interacting with the foxy Robby Ginepri (yes, saying "Great match, Robby" and "May I trouble you for a picture?" and having him respond COUNTS as an interaction towards LH points), I got to see these following other pros (either playing a match or practicing): Evgeny Korolev, Kevin Anderson, Jurgen Melzer (apparently a fellow Chelsea fan), Guillermo Canas, Amer Delic (yummy), Michael Llodra (shirtless), Julien Benneteau, Jonas Bjorkman, and Jamie Murray (shirtless and sporting a cute retro headband and super smile).

Okay now, are you ready for the bad news? Saturday comes along, filled with a lot of hope for LHK sports. Chelsea was taking on Barnsley in FA Cup action and Robby Ginerpri was taking on South African qualifier Kevin Anderson in the semi-final of the TCO. But unfortunately, both of my favz lost, and it was another bad day for LHK sports. For the record, I didn't attend the Gineps semi-final match even though I was still in Vegas (I instead opted to spend the day with my lovely host and dearest friend since the 1st grade, Lady Shaunerd). Of course, I feel slightly guilty for not being there in person to cheer Robby on again, but I'll make up for it hopefully in Indian Wells this coming weekend, where Robby has thankfully received a wild card into the tourney. Can't wait!

P.S. On the Marat news front, I unfortunately had no sightings of him. BUT, I heard the commentators mention that he practiced with Kevin Anderson the night before Kevin's match and very-close win over Robby! Argh; that's not supposed to happen in LHK-world! I did however see this huge banner of Marat at the tourney (pic taken especially for Erwin and butter).

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Holiday! Celebrate!

First of all, congrats to my beloved Chelsea for beating Olympiakos 3-0 yesterday and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Champions League!

Speaking of quarterfinals, I'm heading to Vegas tonight to attend the quarters of the Tennis Channel Open tomorrow. My fingers are crossed in the hopes that Robby Ginepri will beat Marcos Baghdatis tonight and actually advance to the quarterfinals!

I'll be back on Sunday, hopefully with some fun tennis news to report...

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Boo, Tyra!

Listen, I've been a loyal ANTM viewer since Cycle 2, but Tyra Banks is getting BEYOND annoying now. She needs to tone it down a bit.

ANTM ain't her stage or her talk show, so I'd like to see less of her lameness. I can't stand the new Tyra-vision feature, and it's so ridiculous that she constantly imitates the models. Can't anyone on her staff talk some sense into her? Seriously, can't one person correct her and tell her that Katarzyna is pronounced Kata-jenna and not Katarj-niza?!?!?

Sorry, just had to vent... Still LOVE you, Nigel!

The Champions!

Chelsea takes on Olympiakos again in the second-leg of their round of 16 tie in the Champions League today (on ESPN2 at 11:30am PST).
Come on, Chelsea!!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Go, LADY(s)!!

1) Congrats to Senator HilLADY Clinton on winning the primaries in Texas, Ohio AND Rhode Island (RD's home state)!

2) Check out the April 2008 issue of VANITY FAIR celebrating funny ladies in (the) showbiz. Speaking of funny ladies and Hillary Clinton, you gotta love the "Women's News" segment on SNL a few weeks ago. "Bitches get stuff done!" You know it!

3) Though not the most feminist of stories, I just saw the movie THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. It was actually quite well done and the performances were really good (even though there wasn't nearly enough shirtless Eric Bana in it for my taste).

4) Finally, Madonna and her hubby have apparently bought an actual English pub; talk about an LHK dream!!!

New Music (&DVD) Tuesday

Some neat ones today!


P.S. In tennis news:

1) It looks like I won't be re-uniting with Marat Safin in Vegas at the end of this week. He unfortunately lost to Lleyton Hewitt last night in the first round of the Tennis Channel Open.

2) Speaking of the TCO, Robby Ginepri stayed strong to beat Xavier Malisse in 3 sets. Yay!

3) And, Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the FIRST-round of the Dubai Tennis Championships!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Tennis in Vegas, baby!

The TENNIS CHANNEL OPEN starts today, and I will be there in person on Friday to catch the quarterfinals action! As far as my beloveds, their draws aren't going to be easy, so I'm just hoping that they at least make it 'til Friday (so I can see them live of course). In the first round, Marat Safin will take on last year's winner Leyton Hewitt, and Robby Ginepri will take on Xavier Malisse....

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Lucky Lady

Lady Sophie has introduced me to a fab new jewelry line called Burgerlove that has a ring and necklace named LUCKY LADY (aka Lady Luck)!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

4-nil!

Chelsea beat West Ham today 4-0! It was an important win in terms of the Premier League standings and in terms of team morale. Have I mentioned that John Terry is my hero? Bravo, Chelsea!