Maria Ousted in French Open

Maria Sharapova lost another bid to become the world's No. 1 player by losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne, the 10th seed from Belgium in the quarterfinals of the French Open.

Henin-Hardenne won with a surprisingly easy 6-4, 6-2 triumph over the currently No. 2 Sharapova on the Paris clay courts, where Maria still has not perfected her game.

Next up for Maria is Wembleton, where she will again try to overtake Lindsay Davenport for No. 1 in the world

Maria in French Open Eight

Maria Sharapova needed only 10 minutes to complete a rain-interrupted fourth-round victory at the French Open, sweeping the final three games when play resumed to beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 6-3 Monday.
The match was halted Sunday night because of drizzle with the second set at 3-all and resumed in damp, 60-degree weather. Sharapova closed out the win 17 points later when Llagostera Vives shanked a backhand on match point.
"It's never easy coming back," the 18-year-old Russian said. "I guess it was good just to have a good night's sleep."The second-seeded Sharapova celebrated her berth in the quarterfinals by smiling and blowing kisses to the sparse crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The reigning Wimbleton champion struggled with her serve throughout the match but hit 17 winners and improved to 31-5 this year.

Sharapova in French Open Sweet 16

PARIS - Maria Sharapova led an early Russian charge into the French Open fourth, beating Anna Chakvetadze at the claycourt grand slam. The second seed needed just 74 minutes to win 6-1 6-4 on the Suzanne Lenglen court before she could head for the shade with another scorching day in the French capital. There are 6 Russians left in the field of 16 women.
"I got off to a really good start, and I was in control from the first game," the 18-year-old said.Sharapova is looking forward to the second week. "It's going to be a lot tougher than it is right now," she said. "I know that as the matches go on, I have to raise my level another notch.
"The matches are going to be tougher, you're going to feel physically more tired. But, you know, the tougher it gets, the more prepared you have to be... that's what it's all about, and that's how the best are the best."

Carrie wins American Idol

"Country" Carrie Underwood, 22, from Checotah, Okla., took the top prize Wednesday on Fox's American Idol— a recording contract and a shot at music stardom. "Rocker" Bo Bice, 29, from Helena, Ala., was the runner-up.
Nearly 30 million viewers tuned in to see country singer Carrie Underwood crowned the latest winner on Fox television's fourth "American Idol," capping the most watched season yet for the prime-time talent contest. "That was incredible," a tearful Underwood said after the announcement.
"I have no words to describe what I feel right now." In Tuesday's final competition, a confident Underwood wowed judges with renditions of Angels Brought Me Here, Independence Day and Inside Your Heaven. A seemingly uncomfortable Bice sang Inside Your Heaven, Vehicle and Long, Long Road.
During the finale, Underwood sang Bless the Broken Road with guest Rascal Flatts. Bice rocked out to Sweet Home Alabama with Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was not a complete surprise that the final duel came down to Underwood and Bice. Throughout the final 12 shows, the judges favored both of them.
Underwood will release her first single Inside Your Heaven on June 14.

Sharapova thru Paris First Round

Maria Sharapova savored her first-round triumph at the French Open on Tuesday even though she struggled throughout the match.
It was her comeback that made the victory so rewarding. Sharapova lost the first set and found herself down a service break in the third, yet managed to rally past Evgenia Linetskaya 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4.

Modern Art???

From The Washington Post
They Do Know Squat About Art
NEW YORK - It's little more than a scribble, a quick slash of ink on a 12-by-18-inch piece of plain white paper. If you saw it at the office, you might ball it up and toss it into the trash, or fold it into an airplane and fling it down the hall. It is unlikely you'd do what Christie's auction house did last week: try to sell it for $20,000.
That was the low end of the estimated price for this "ink on paper," as it was dryly described in the Christie's catalogue, by an artist living in Massachusetts named Tom Friedman. It was on display last week during the preview for the house's annual spring auction, where potential buyers and interested gawkers get a chance to sniff over the merchandise before it hits the block.
Even in the often mystifying alternative universe of contemporary art -- where you occasionally can't suppress philistine thoughts of the Wait, I could have done that variety -- this piece stood out. There it was, amid the Warhols and Basquiats, not more than 100 feet from an Edward Hopper, hanging with the titans. "Starting an old dry pen on a piece of paper," explained the Christie's catalogue. Which is to say, this thing is exactly what it looks like.
And 20 grand seemed reasonable compared with another Friedman piece being sold at the same auction. This one, also untitled, is a two-foot white cube with a barely visible black speck set right in the middle of the top surface. Would you like to guess what that black speck is? You're advised to think outside the box. To again quote Christie's, it is ".5mm of the artist's feces."
Yes, Tom Friedman put his poop on a pedestal, and last week Christie's tried to sell it, with bidding to start at $45,000. For more read here...

All That I Am - Rob Thomas

All That I Am

Rob Thomas

I am the one winged bird for flying Sinking quickly to the ground See your faith in me subsiding See you prime for giving in I give you all that I am
I am the sound of love's arriving Echoed softly on the sand Lay your head upon my shoulder Lay your hand within my hand I give you all that I am
And I breathe where you breathe Let me stand where you stand With all that I am
I am the white dove for a soldier Ever marching as to war I would give my life to save you I stand guarding at your door I give you all that I am
I am the one winged bird for flying Sinking quickly to the ground I am the blind man for a watchdog I am prime for giving in I'll show you all that I am
And I breathe so you breathe Let me stand so you'll stand With all that I am

Coca-Cola was a Mistake

From MSN Encarta:

"...both Coca-Cola and chocolate chip cookies were mistakes--or at least unexpected delights. And yellow sticky notes were the result of a failure. Here's what happened.

Innkeeper Ruth Wakefield was baking Butter Drop Do cookies one day in the 1930s using a recipe that dated back to colonial times. She cut up a Nestlé chocolate bar and put the chunks in the batter, expecting them to melt. Wakefield thought she'd be pulling chocolate-flavored cookies out of the oven. Instead, what she got were butter cookies studded with gooey chocolate chips. Her mistake became one of the most favorite cookies of all time.

Coca-Cola was the result of another delicious accident. In 1886 a pharmacist named John Pemberton cooked up a medicinal syrup in a large brass kettle slung over an open fire, stirring it with an oar. When he was done, he figured he had created a fine tonic for people who were tired, nervous, or plagued with sore teeth.

Coke didn't make it as medicine, and wasn't even an instant success as a beverage..." For more read here...

Reality Check

OK, I admit it. I watch a lot of Reality TV. So, It's May sweeps and a lot of the Reality shows are in their "finals". So, of the ones I watch here are my favorites:
Amazing Race - Rob and Amber, they came in second
Apprentice - Kendra all over Tania
Survivor - Wanted Stephanie, but now Ian
American Idol - Carrie or Bo, both are deserving

Rob and Amber were Robbed

Rob and Amber should have won last night's Amazing Race finale, but lost to Uchenna and Joyce Agus. Rob and Amber had made an earlier flight back to Miami and the final stop in the "race around the world" for $1 Million. Uchenna and Joyce were scheduled on a later flight, but pursuaded the plane's pilot to reopen the gate and let them board the same flight as Rob and Amber. This would never happen unless there was an "emergency". Makes you wonder if the producers didn't have something to do with this to make the last leg of the race more exciting.

Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich, top winners on Survivor: All Stars, came in second to the Angus couple and former Iraq POW Ron Young and Kelly McCorkle, a beauty pageant queen, finished third.

The Agus braved Joyce's ritual head shaving in India, a wayward double-decker bus in London and a 4-pound meat-eating binge in Argentina to win. They completed the monthlong round-the-world course, crossing the Miami finish line in Tuesday's finale. "Other teams underestimated us a lot," says Joyce, 44, because they played nice, weren't pushy and stayed under the radar. "They were without a doubt the favorites among the other teams because of the way they ran the race," host Phil Keoghan says. Ron and Kelly were undone by bickering, and Rob and Amber proved too cocky. "Their overconfidence stung them," he says.

You haven't seen the last of Rob and Amber: CBS will televise their April wedding May 24 (9 p.m. ET/PT). And after this season's record ratings (12.5 million viewers), the eighth Amazing Race, due this fall, has a new wrinkle: Families of four will compete

Arenas Leads Wizards Over Bulls

From AP

While there are plenty of reasons why the Washington Wizards are headed to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 23 years, let there be no mistake: Gilbert Arenas is the man who led them there. Arenas shot just 6-of-24 Friday night but raced downcourt and blocked Kirk Hinrich's fast-break layup with 2:41 to play, igniting a game-ending 7-0 run in the Wizards' series-clinching 94-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

This was the ninth time in NBA history that a team recovered from an 0-2 deficit to advance, but the Wizards aren't getting much of a break to enjoy their success. They open at top-seeded Miami on Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Larry Hughes scored 21 points for the Wizards, and Arenas and Antan Jamison each had 19, but it was three defensive plays that made the difference. The Bulls were leading by four when Hinrich stole the ball from Hughes and went downcourt for the layup. Arenas came from behind and make the block, reversing the tide of the game.

``I could have easily just fouled him, but I thought I could go for the block and I did,'' Arenas said. ``It stopped them from going up six. It was a great turnaround.'' Hughes then made a layup to cut the lead to two, and Jamison poked the ball away from Hinrich and hit a jumper at the other end to tie the game at 91 with 2:08 to play.

Then came a bizarre finish. With 36 seconds remaining, the Bulls called timeout to set up a play. But Chris Duhon turned his back just as Hinrich threw the inbounds pass, and the ball bounced off Duhon's back and was scooped up by Jared Jefferies, who raced downcourt for a dunk with 33 seconds remaining.

Dagger!!! Wizards Arenas beats Bulls at Buzzer

From USAToday

CHICAGO — The Washington Wizards are one step away from winning their first NBA playoff series in 23 years, thanks to a step-up jumper from Gilbert Arenas.

Arenas hit a jump shot from the wing at the buzzer as the Wizards hung on to beat the Chicago Bulls 112-110 and take a 3-2 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series Wednesday. It was the first game a visiting team has won in the series. "I wasn't going to let anybody else shoot the ball," Arenas said. "I'd been passing it all night. I knew I was going to make it. I shoot that shot every day."

The Wizards had not won a road playoff game since April 18, 1986, when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers. They will try to close out the series Friday in Game 6 in Washington — where they've won 10 in row against the Bulls.  For more read here...

Former Terp Juan Dixon leads Wizards

Former Maryland Terp Juan Dixon was so upset with his performance after Game 3 that he approached his coach in the parking garage and appealed for a vote of confidence. The rest of the Washington Wizards also were upset -- with the perception they couldn't play defense. Combine those two, and you get a career-high 35 points from Dixon and a team that took control in the opening minutes by not allowing the Chicago Bulls anywhere near the rim. The Wizards jumped to a 17-3 lead, rattling their opponents early and often in a 106-99 victory Monday that evened their first-round playoff series 2-2. ``It's like we walked into an ambush,'' Chicago forward Tyson Chandler said. Dixon made 11 of 15 field goals, popping endless jumpers to help build the lead early and stave off the comeback threat until late. He also made all 10 free throws. He scored 25 points in the first three games combined and was an ugly 1-for-10 in Saturday's Game 3, prompting him to hold up his coach and family for 10 minutes in the MCI Center's underground lot afterward. ``I said, 'Coach, don't lose confidence in me. I'm going to step up and get my act together.' That's pretty much what I said, but I said it, like, 10 times,'' Dixon said. ``I made sure that he heard every word. He had his kids in the car. He said he was ready to go get something to eat. I just wanted to drill that in his head and make sure he heard it.'' On Sunday, Dixon took 750 shots before practice and 300 afterward. The best-of-seven playoff continues Wednesday in Chicago.

Jupiter Family Portrait

Launched in 1989, the Galileo spacecraft has photographed Jupiter as well as several of the giant planet's satellites. Here's a montage that shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the four largest moons. From top, they are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. NASA