Djokovic loses chance at instant immortality; who is greatest in tennis?

Posted on by

Roger Federer has won 16 Grand Slam tennis titles. Novak Djokovic has won only five. But if he could have pulled off the Djokovic Slam, fans could have argued he was the equal of Federer. This is even better; Monday's French Open loss to Rafael Nadal leaves a three-way fight to claim the title of greatest tennis player ever.

Rod Laver held that title for decades. Djokovic could have been the first men's player since Laver 43 years ago to win four consecutive Grand Slams, but lost in four sets to Nadal, who now owns 11 Grand Slam titles.

Since 2005, Federer has won 12 Grand Slam titles to Nadal's 11, a virtual tie. But Federer has won six Wimbledon titles and five U.S. Open crowns to Nadal's two Wimbledon's and one U.S. Open. Advantage Federer. A little too much of Nadal's prestige is tied up in the red clay of Roland Garros, where he has won a record seven French Open titles.

But Nadal is 8-2 head-to-head vs. Federer in Grand Slam tournaments (18-10 overall), including 6-2 in Grand Slam finals. Nadal had to beat Federer en route to his first six titles, five times in the final and once in the semifinals. Even when Federer had the most dominant four-year peak in tennis history, going 315-24 from 2004 until 2007, he had a losing record vs. Nadal. When a guy goes 309-16 against everyone else and 6-8 vs. Nadal, it diminishes the four Grand Slams that Federer won before Nadal came around. Advantage Nadal.

If Nadal hadn't suffered knee injuries in 2009, he might already be clearly considered the greatest ever. He was upset in the French Open that year -- the only time he hasn't won it in the last eight years. That was the year Federer won his only French Open title. And he pulled out of Wimbledon and didn't even play, the only defending champion in decades to not play at Wimbledon. Federer won his last Wimbledon title that year, but Nadal came back to win the next year. It's very reasonable to assume that if Nadal had been healthy, he would have won both of those tournaments, giving him a string of 5 Grand Slam titles in 6 events. He would then have 13 career titles to Federer's 14.

But he doesn't. Federer has 16. Nadal has 11.

But not for long.

Two years ago, it was 16-6.

And even then, some were talking as if Nadal might already be the greatest ever (even though Nadal always demurred). John McEnroe said Nadal might be the best back when his Grand Slam count stood at nine:

"There is definitely an argument for him not only being the best player at the moment, but the greatest of all time. Rafa has won things like the Davis Cup and an Olympic gold medal that Roger Federer hasn't and he is right on his tail in terms of Grand Slam titles, too."

Continued here:
Djokovic loses chance at instant immortality; who is greatest in tennis?

'Zulu' and the ghosts of actors past

Posted on by

I had occasion recently to watch, for maybe the fourth time in my life, Cy Endfield's "Zulu," a terrific 1964 epic about the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879, particuarly the famed Battle of Rorke's Drift, when a contingent of perhaps 150 English soldiers managed, for 30 hours or so, to hold off perhaps 4000 Zulu warriors who had the previous day wiped out an English column of more than 1200 souls.

The film is notable for a number of things: a massive scale, with hundreds of extras waging hand-to-hand (or, more precisely, spear-to-bayonnet) combat; the gorgeous Natal setting; the 70mm photography; the bloody-minded storytelling, almost half of which is battle; the John Barry score; the authentic tribal rituals, music and military tactics on display.

But I was particularly taken by the acting. The film famously provided Michael Caine with his star-making role, some 12 years and 30 parts into his career. Ironically, the archetypical Cockney Caine was universally noted for the first time in his working life for playing an upperclassman, Lt. Gonville Bromhead, an actual historic personage who was raised in comfort and never saw battle before that fateful day. To hear Caine speak in the soft, clipped, exact tones of a posh gent is almost comical -- and, indeed, generations of English comedians have joked about how it might have sounded had Caine played the role in his familiar voice: "'Ere! Quit pointin' those bleedin' spears at me!"

Beside Caine, there are such faces as Stanley Baker (the headline star and producer), Jack Hawkins, Nigel Green, James Booth and, in the only female speaking role, Ulla Jacobsson. And as I watched them, I realized that they were all -- save Caine -- dead. I was moved to look up the status of everyone who had a role of any size in the film and found that virtually every single person whom you might be able to identify the film (which, to be fair, is nearly 50 years old) had passed away. Caine was an exception, as were one or two relatively obscure minor players. And, bizarrely, one of the few survivors turns out to be someone rather famous, albeit not for movie acting: Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the South African tribal leader and political figure who plays his own ancestor, the chieftain Cetewayo who waged battle against the English.

It's a strange thing, if you think about it, to watch a film and feel so much vitality coming from people who are no longer alive. Their speech and facial expressions and movements and human quirks -- sweating and coughing and such -- are captured forever and, at the same time, lost forever. Even given the massive scale of "Zulu" and the fact that it was made during the lifetimes of many people who can remember seeing it on first release, the movie like a time capsule of a bygone era -- a living mausoleum. Before long, more time will have passed since the release of the film than passed between the events it depicts and its making. And by then surely no one who can be recognized in it will still be alive.

This is a relatively recent phenomenon in human culture: the ability to capture lifelike representations of people and experience them anew after the subject's demise. In the contact of a death-soaked movie like "Zulu" this may seem especially poignant, perhaps, but it applies to any old film or TV show or audio recording. Think of someone clearing his or her throat at a concert performance from the 1940s, still audible today decades after the throat-clearer has died. The scores of extras in "Zulu" are no more identifiable than that anonymous soul. And yet they, too, feel strangely immortal for having been captured in a motion picture.

John Keats was onto a similar thought in "Ode on a Grecian Urn," describing figures who would never age or die or, indeed, change their postures. But those were representations of people who may or may not have once lived, of course, not captured images of people who were demonstrably alive and no longer are.

Artists live on through art, yes, but so, too, can the people who happen to be present when artists make their work. It's a scary thought, but comforting, too, and it gives you an appreciation of the miracle of movies that may bring them more vitally alive to you than ever.

Link:
'Zulu' and the ghosts of actors past

I'll Have Another one lap away from Triple Crown immortality

Posted on by

Email

Tom Keyser

I'll Have Another would become the 12th Triple Crown winner with a victory in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. Ill Have Another was born in Kentucky, received his early training in Florida, began his racing career in California, and has flown to Kentucky, Maryland, and twice to New York in the past nine months. He has traveled many miles, but no journey will seem farther than the one on which he embarks on Saturday, when Ill Have Another, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, attempts to become a Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.

The Belmont is 1 1/2 miles, one lap around Belmont Park, but there is a 34-year history of failure in this endeavor. Not since 1978 has a horse swept the Triple Crown.

Thirty-four years of it not happening. Thats a pretty strong statistic, Doug ONeill, the trainer of Ill Have Another, said earlier this week. Youve got to stay injury-free. You have to maintain your physique and your energy. Thats a huge hurdle.

The numbers 11 and 12 are prominent in this Belmont Stakes. There are 11 Triple Crown winners, the last being Affirmed. Since Affirmed, 11 horses have won the Derby and Preakness and failed in the Belmont. Ill Have Another will be the 12th horse to join one of those lists. The Belmont is the 11th race on the card. Ill Have Another will start from post 11 in a field of 12 in a 12-furlong race. This is the 144th Belmont 12 squared is 144.

Post time for the Belmont is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Eastern; the first race is at 11:35 a.m. The Belmont will be shown live by NBC in a 2 1/2-hour telecast beginning at 4:30 p.m. NBC Sports Network has live Belmont programming from 3-4:30 p.m, and a postrace show from 7-7:30.

The forecast for Saturday, according to The Weather Channel, is for a high of 80 degrees, and a 30-percent chance of isolated thunderstorms.

[BELMONT STAKES: Past performances, video updates, contender profiles, odds]

Read the original:
I'll Have Another one lap away from Triple Crown immortality

Racing immortality fleeting at Belmont

Posted on by

Saturday June 2, 2012

BETH HARRIS

AP Racing Writer

A nose. That's all that separated Real Quiet from racing immortality. He was beaten by the smallest of margins in the 1998 Belmont Stakes, the longest and toughest leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.

Affirmed was the last to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, 34 years ago. Since then, 11 horses have won the first two only to come up short in the Belmont, felled by a safety pin picked up in a stall, a stumble out of the gate or a jockey's judgment.

Now it's I'll Have Another's turn to try to become the 12th Triple Crown winner.

The chestnut colt chased down pacesetter Bodemeister in the final 100 yards to win the Kentucky Derby on May 5. Two weeks later, he surged past Bodemeister a few yards from the finish line in the Preakness to win by a neck.

Bodemeister won't be back to challenge I'll Have Another in the Belmont. But 10 other rivals are likely, including Derby also-rans Dullahan, Optimizer and Union Rags. The others are horses that skipped one or both of the first two legs, leaving them well-rested for the 1 1-2 mile run around the deep, sandy dirt track.

"It ain't like the old days where everyone used to run in all three," said Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who is 1 for 13 in the Belmont. "It's taxing on the horse to run in all three. If somebody is hiding behind the bushes waiting to jump you when they're all fresh, they can

Smith will be aboard one of the fresh ones in next Saturday's Belmont. He'll ride Paynter, who skipped the Derby and Preakness.

Read more here:
Racing immortality fleeting at Belmont

Triple Crown bids often come undone in Belmont

Posted on by

A nose. That's all that separated Real Quiet from racing immortality. He was beaten by the smallest of margins in the 1998 Belmont Stakes, the longest and toughest leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.

Affirmed was the last to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, 34 years ago. Since then, 11 horses have won the first two only to come up short in the Belmont, felled by a safety pin picked up in a stall, a stumble out of the gate or a jockey's judgment.

Now it's I'll Have Another's turn to try to become the 12th Triple Crown winner.

The chestnut colt chased down pacesetter Bodemeister in the final 100 yards to win the Kentucky Derby on May 5. Two weeks later, he surged past Bodemeister a few yards from the finish line in the Preakness to win by a neck.

Bodemeister won't be back to challenge I'll Have Another in the Belmont. But 10 other rivals are likely, including Derby also-rans Dullahan, Optimizer and Union Rags. The others are horses that skipped one or both of the first two legs, leaving them well-rested for the 1 1-2 mile run around the deep, sandy dirt track.

''It ain't like the old days where everyone used to run in all three,'' said Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who is 1 for 13 in the Belmont. ''It's taxing on the horse to run in all three. If somebody is hiding behind the bushes waiting to jump you when they're all fresh, they can beat you.''

Smith will be aboard one of the fresh ones in next Saturday's Belmont. He'll ride Paynter, who skipped the Derby and Preakness.

Nineteen times since 1944 horses have come to the Belmont with a chance to win the Triple Crown.

Big Brown was the last horse to take a shot in 2008. But he bombed out in the Belmont, mysteriously getting eased at the top of the stretch and leaving nearly 95,000 fans stunned at the sight of the colt with the bad feet failing to finish.

The final 1 1-2 miles on the Triple Crown trail can do a number on a horse, trainer and jockey.

Continued here:
Triple Crown bids often come undone in Belmont

Online, fun and immortality

Posted on by

I recently bumped into a cute story that seemed familiar. It suggested a switch to an 18-cent coin. I found it by way of Hacker News for my money ($0), the best news aggregator for the tech set. It was a fairly typical blog post: a summary of a paper that ran the math and determined that the average number of coins one gets from a cash register is 4.7. But the addition of an 18-cent coin would drop that to 3.89.

I like this sort of thing. Its quirky. Its math. It speaks to the stupidity of pennies. It makes me think about government inefficiencies and the very human affection for little hunks of inconvenient metal.

But I couldnt get past the familiarity. I reread the article and realized it was originally written in 2003. Hacker News usually is pretty current, but a story like this is sort of timeless and prone to resurgence.

Then I realized the byline was Roland Piquepaille, and you dont forget a name like that. For many years, Roland was incredibly active on Slashdot, the news website I founded. His submissions were often like this 18-cent-coin piece: off the beaten path and interesting.

Roland died on Jan. 6, 2009. Apparently, last week, somebody searched online for something or other and landed on a story nearly a decade old, written by a man who had been dead for more than three years; it hit the Internet again just as effectively as if it were written yesterday. A trivial but fun little story has a bit of immortality attached to it.

Roland took a lot of garbage from Slashdot readers over the years. He was incredibly effective at what he did, and his name appeared on the site a lot. A community has a habit of being hostile toward anything extreme, and Roland often submitted stories on the fluffier end of the news spectrum. And he succeeded a lot, which made him a target. That always made me a little sad.

But Id like to think he gets the posthumous last laugh. He found fun stuff that we enjoyed reading. I hope that the traces I leave behind after Im gone are still good for the occasional laugh as well. Ill never write the Great American Novel or direct an Oscar-winning film. But the Internet lets all of us live forever.

Rob Malda is chief strategist and editor at large for the Washington Posts WaPo Labs team. Under the pseudonym "CmdrTaco," he created the "news for nerds" website Slashdot.org.

Read more here:
Online, fun and immortality

A siren song, Facebook’s special, TED , Gatsby and immortality: The week that was in innovation

Posted on by

Its Friday! That means its time for our weekly Storify wrapping up the week on Ideas@Innovations.

Its worth noting that this is the only place to see my collection of the best in the weeks videos. Also, it's sharable, and its not landing in your inbox like other newsletters.

Storified by Emi Kolawole Fri, May 25 2012 12:19:27

ICYMI: Our own Vivek Wadhwa was on CBS's 60 Minutes this past weekend. So, we, naturally, started the week with his follow-up on Peter Thiel's then-most recent appearance advocating for kids to reconsider going to college:

Peter Thiel sings siren song to America's youthThiel made this statement based on a 2011 calculation by Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff, which found that plumbers make m...

We also couldn't resist bringing to your attention this wonderful piece from our esteemed colleague Joel Achenbach:

Facebook IPO and Twitter meet Copernican PrinciplePosted at 11:49 AM ET, 05/21/2012 Mazel tov to Mark Zuckerberg and his lovely bride! Now let's talk about that Facebook IPO again. Your b...

And VentureBeat had the story about Reddit's latest gift-giving effort. Featuring Stephen Colbert for the win...

Reddit kicks off new gift exchange to boost troop moraleEver the patriot, The Colbert Report's Stephen Colbert (pictured) was among the first to sign up for the new gift giving program. The new...

STAPLES Center "Sports-ageddon" Conversion - LA KINGS to LAKERS to CLIPPERSscntmarketing

The rest is here:
A siren song, Facebook’s special, TED , Gatsby and immortality: The week that was in innovation

Never say die – the quest for immortality

Posted on by

In the high-tech hothouse of Silicon Valley where the leafy streets are lined with temples to Microsoft, Apple and Google, one establishment seems distinctly out of place.

Moffett Airfield is a relic of another era, three vast hangars stark reminders of a time when people took to the skies in airships, travelling across San Francisco Bay at a sedate 80kmh.

Today these lighter-than-air leviathans have long since sailed off into the sunset, but the dream still lives on in the form of a replica Zeppelin that takes tourists for a trip down memory lane.

As they float over the sprawling airfield, where Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin park their personal Boeing 767, they are most likely unaware of an extraordinary odyssey taking place right below them.

Nestled alongside Hangar One, a gargantuan structure that covers an area the size of six football fields, is a modest building housing an elite organisation known as the Singularity University.

Its here that some of the worlds best and brightest minds, including two young New Zealanders, have been on a quest to find the Holy Grail immortality.

Brothers Luke and David Hutchison from Auckland were two of just 120 scientists worldwide selected to take part in cutting edge research into nano-technology the science of manipulating atoms to build microscopic structures.

Luke says it has profound implications for humankind.

If you lose an arm we should be able to trigger some growth factors where the arm used to be and you should be able to regrow a new arm.

If you have congestive heart failure we should be able to grow a second heart in your chest cavity and then cut out the old one, rather than transplants. So you grow from your own tissues.

Read the original:
Never say die - the quest for immortality

The Internet and the secret to immortality

Posted on by

During my daily news consumption, I bumped into a cute story that seemed a bit familiar. The story was a suggestion to switch to an 18 cent coin. I found it by way of Hacker News, for my money ($0), the best news aggregator for the tech set. The article was a fairly typical blog post, a summary of a longer paper, which simply ran the math and determined that the average number of coins you get from a cash register will be 4.7 coins. But the addition of an 18 cent coin would drop that to 3.89.

The story itself is nice, since I like this sort of thing. Its quirky. Its math. It speaks to the stupidity of pennies (and increasingly nickels). It makes me think about government inefficiencies, and the very human affection for little hunks of metal that are actually really inconvenient and clink in my pocket. But I couldnt get past the familiarity. I backed up and re-read the article a lot slower and realized why.

First, the story was originally written in 2003. This is a little odd for Hacker News which usually is pretty current, but a story like this is sort of timeless and prone to random resurgence. But then I realized the reason for this particular resurgence: The by-line was Roland Piquepaille, and you dont forget a name like that.

Roland was incredibly active on Slashdot for many years. His submissions were often just like this 18 cent coin piece: a little off the beaten path, but often interesting. His nickname on Slashdot was rpiquepa and his account is number 5 on the all time submission list with a pretty amazing 477 accepted stories.

Why did I care? Roland died Jan 6, 2009.

He died, but his site lives on. And apparently this week somebody searched online for something or other, landed on a story nearly a decade old and written by a man who had been dead for over 3 years. And that content hit the Internet again just as effectively as if it were written yesterday. A trivial but fun little story has a bit of immortality attached to it.

Roland took a lot of garbage from Slashdot readers over the years. He was incredibly effective at what he did, and his name appeared on the site a lot. A community has a nasty habit of being a little extra hostile towards anything extreme, and Roland often submitted stories on the fluffier end of the news spectrum, and he succeeded a lot, which made him a target. That always made me a little sad.

But Id like to think he gets the posthumous last laugh. He found fun stuff that we enjoyed reading. I hope that the traces I leave behind after Im gone are still good for the occasional laugh as well. Ill never write the Great American Novel or direct the Oscar Award Winning Film. But the Internet lets all of us live forever.

The author is the founder of Slashdot.org

Read more news and ideas on Innovations , and follow us on Facebook , Twitter , Tumblr , Google+ and Pinterest .

Continue reading here:
The Internet and the secret to immortality

Hollywood’s David Hasselhoff will pitch iced coffee for Cumberland Farms

Posted on by

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

David Hasselhoff, who achieved rerun immortality of sorts for his roles in such TV shows as Knight Rider and Baywatch, will be cast in the demanding role of himself in a new TV ad from Cumberland Farms, the Framingham-based chain of convenience stores said.

Developed by Boston advertising agency Full Contact, the campaign builds on the two surprises of Cumberland Farms Farmhouse Blend that consumers can get a great cup of coffee at a convenience store, and that the coffee is 99 cents for any size, any time, the chain said in a press release.

In one TV ad, Hasselhoff is so impressed by his Cumberland Farms iced coffee that he declares it to be, Hofftastic!

Hofftastic indeed. This may not be the first time that Hasselhoff has appeared as himself. According to Wikipedia, the ageless pretty boy played the same role in The Spongebob Squarepants Movie.

Read the original post:
Hollywood’s David Hasselhoff will pitch iced coffee for Cumberland Farms

Immortality will kill us

Posted on by

In the near future, the cure for ageing is found. Will we and the world we live in survive it? Heres an entertaining examination of the possible consequences.

The Postmortal

Author: Drew Magary

Publisher: Penguin, 365 pages

THE cure for ageing has been found. Of course, its not legal ... yet. But thats not going to stop John Farrell from getting it.

After all, for the price of some blood, three admittedly painful injections, a waiting period of two weeks and US$7,000 (to be paid in denominations no higher than US$50), potential immortality is quite a good deal.

You can still die, of course, as the doctor who administers the cure to Farrell tells him. Those who have stopped ageing are still vulnerable to diseases like cancer and HIV/AIDS, as well as fatal accidents and murders.

But otherwise, Farrell will effectively be biologically 29 years old for the rest of his life.

The Postmortal is the story of the rest of his life, cleverly told through a LifeRecorder app in which Farrell records and saves his thoughts, conversation transcripts, e-mails, news links and digital articles.

Taking a page from the found-footage movie genre, this book is, in a sense, found footage, as readers will see from the prologue, which also cleverly drops in a one-sentence note at its end that tantalises readers into reading the book to find out what its about.

See original here:
Immortality will kill us

I’ll take mine with a shot of immortality

Posted on by

Every few months scientists inform us that something we have been doing for years will either kill us or make us live forever. According to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine, coffee extends your life. Drink six or more cups per day, and you have a 10 to 15 percent lower risk of death.

I love coffee. I drink so much that, if this study is to be believed, I am functionally immortal.

It is reassuring to hear that something you do may extend your life. Usually longevity requires uncomfortable concessions like push-ups or kale. "To get back my youth," Oscar Wilde wrote, "I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable." Thats how I feel. But coffee I can do.

You dont drink coffee because you like it. You drink it because at some point you found yourself surrounded by bright-eyed, bushy-tailed people who had never met a morning they disliked, and you were expected to engage with them. Who are these people, you asked. Havent they read all the studies about how staying up late is an indicator of higher mental functions?

Then coffee came along.

If coffee were a religion, Id be high enough in the ranks of believers to be entitled to a strange hat. You can tell because of my jittery hands and use of exclamation points.

Maybe coffee is something of a religion. Coffee has its temples in airports, on street corners, even small household altars. Worshipers of Starbucks and of Independent Coffee Shops squint mistrustfully at each other. Coffee has rituals the grinding, the dripping, the brewing, the mysterious hissing and ritual exclamations ("Not before Ive had my coffee!"). There are heretics ("Ive switched to tea") and evangelists ("Have you tried Black Blood of the Earth? Its for people who like coffee but wish it contained more coffee!") and all kinds of different approaches.

And now we hear it leads to eternal life.

That was the only logical next step.

Alexandra Petri writes The Washington Posts ComPost blog, a lighter take on the news and issues of the day, and she contributes to the Posts editorial page.

Read the rest here:
I’ll take mine with a shot of immortality

Inglis destined for immortality: Mal

Posted on by

MEN IN MAROON: Ash Harrison tells Amanda Lucas about his Origin idols and rivals.

And Meninga's appraisal was last night supported by 1981 foundation Immortal John Raper, who said Inglis will move a step closer to greatness if he dominates the Blues in Origin I at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium.

Inglis stands on the cusp of Origin immortality, with the in-form Queensland centre needing just one try to surpass Maroons stalwart Dale Shearer (12 tries in 26 games) as the greatest tryscorer in the event's 32-year history.

Meninga is the frontrunner to be named the code's eighth Immortal in September and the Maroons master coach says Inglis is on course to join Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Reg Gasnier, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson and Raper in the elite group.

And Meninga's appraisal was last night supported by 1981 foundation Immortal John Raper, who said Inglis will move a step closer to greatness if he dominates the Blues in Origin I at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium.

Inglis stands on the cusp of Origin immortality, with the in-form Queensland centre needing just one try to surpass Maroons stalwart Dale Shearer (12 tries in 26 games) as the greatest tryscorer in the event's 32-year history.

Meninga is the frontrunner to be named the code's eighth Immortal in September and the Maroons master coach says Inglis is on course to join Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Graeme Langlands, Reg Gasnier, Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson and Raper in the elite group.

Asked if Inglis could one day be crowned an Immortal, Meninga said: "Absolutely. For mine, I can't see any reason why Greg won't rise to that status.

"He really is playing extraordinary football for Souths.

"The thing is he's still got so much football ahead of him. He's in great shape and he is more professional than he has ever been.

Read more:
Inglis destined for immortality: Mal

Perspective: With a shot of immortality

Posted on by

Every few months scientists inform us that something we have been doing for years will either kill us or make us live forever. According to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine, coffee extends your life. Drink six or more cups per day, and you have a 10 to 15 percent lower risk of death.

I love coffee. I drink so much that, if this study is to be believed, I am functionally immortal.

It is reassuring to hear that something you do may extend your life. Usually longevity requires uncomfortable concessions like push-ups or kale. To get back my youth, Oscar Wilde wrote, I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable. Thats how I feel. But coffee I can do.

You dont drink coffee because you like it. You drink it because at some point you found yourself surrounded by bright-eyed, bushy-tailed people who had never met a morning they disliked, and you were expected to engage with them. Who are these people, you asked. Havent they read all the studies about how staying up late is an indicator of higher mental functions?

Then coffee came along.

If coffee were a religion, Id be high enough in the ranks of believers to be entitled to a strange hat. You can tell because of my jittery hands and use of exclamation points.

Maybe coffee is something of a religion. Coffee has its temples in airports, on street corners, even small household altars. Worshipers of Starbucks and of Independent Coffee Shops squint mistrustfully at each other. Coffee has rituals the grinding, the dripping, the brewing, the mysterious hissing - and ritual exclamations (Not before Ive had my coffee!). There are heretics (Ive switched to tea) and evangelists (Have you tried Black Blood of the Earth? Its for people who like coffee but wish it contained more coffee!) and all kinds of different approaches.

And now we hear it leads to eternal life.

That was the only logical next step.

Excerpt from:
Perspective: With a shot of immortality

Popsmacked!: Pop’s brave new world of immortality

Posted on by

I can see it now: Hologram Elvis thin, commanding, perpetually youthful descending on a concert stage for a world tour that would surpass anything he ever embarked on in real life.

Thank you, thank you veramuch. Doughnuts? Not for me, thanks.

And Michael Jackson, healthy at last, running through his massive catalogue of hits with an energy and resolve he could never muster in the sad years before his death no Propofol required.

Ditto for Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and a raft of other expired-before-their-time pop stars for whom the demands of fame trounced their natural talent.

Make yourselves at home, dudes theres plenty of heroin and booze in the green room. Oh wait, youre not real.

Welcome to the future, evidenced by the Christ-like resurrection of dead rapper Tupac Shakur as a two-dimensional, yet fully functional hologram at last months Coachella festival in California, the latest bid by the music industry to save itself from a case of built-in obsolescence.

Its a sad story, as original stadium bands like the Beach Boys and Rolling Stones limp along with fading resolve Its our 50th anniversary (cough cough)while the auto-tuned, lipsyncing acts of today would be lucky to fill a phone booth.

The concert industry is dying, baby, and except for warm weather festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo noncorporate extravaganzas that span generations no one holds much hope for the future of live performances on an epic scale.

Music, once the vanguard of popular culture, has splintered damn you, internet into a thousand tiny niches at the exact moment rock has indulged in an endless retro loop, making bands with the clout to fill big stadiums few and far between.

The good news is, with the invention of the hologram, it no longer matters, because the glory days can continue forever, unburdened by egos, sickness, squandered talent, even death.

Read the rest here:
Popsmacked!: Pop’s brave new world of immortality

Alexandra Petri: Coffee, lies, and immortality

Posted on by

COFFEE IS GREAT IM A FAN OF COFFEE HEY HOW ARE YA LOOKING GREAT I HAVE LOTS OF ENERGY HEY LETS GO CONQUER SOMETHING LARGE LIKE MAYBE CANADA IT SEEMS MANAGEABLE YOU NEVER HEAR OF PEOPLE TRYING TO INVADE CANADA AND FAILING AM I RIGHT HEY GREAT SO GOOD SEEING YOU BOY THIS IS GREAT COFFEE HUH (Erin Meister - ERIN MEISTER) Every few months, like clockwork, scientists emerge from their lair to inform us that something we have been doing for years will either kill us or make us live forever.

According to a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine, coffee extends your life. Drink six or more cups per day, and you have a 10 percent lower risk of death if youre a man and 15 percent lower if youre a woman. Or so the study, based on self-reported coffee consumption, claims.

I love coffee. I drink so much that, if this study is to be believed, I am functionally immortal.

It is reassuring for once to hear that possibly, just possibly, something you actually do is going to extend your life. Usually longevity requires uncomfortable concessions like onion sandwiches, push-ups or kale. And forget kale, as Cee Lo Green would say.

To get back my youth, Oscar Wilde wrote, I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable. Thats how I feel. But coffee I can do.

Besides, if it werent for coffee, as someone wise once quipped, Id have no personality whatsoever.

Coffee is a civilized vice. As a society, we have agreed upon certain mutually acceptable bad habits. To some extent, this is a crapshoot. Here is a plant, we say, which, when treated and consumed in a certain way, produces a certain stimulatory or depressive effect on the system. Depending on the plant, this is either completely illegal, illegal behind the wheel, illegal in airports and discouraged around babies, or something we are bringing by the gallon to morning meetings! Youre welcome!

If you are one of the fortunate plants, there are hip establishments on corners with counters and tables and low music playing, dedicated to your consumers. If you are not, agents of the law will pursue you over hill and dale, and the only people really enthusiastic about you will have ill-advised beards, bad teeth, unsound political opinions, or the tendency to blow over in high winds.

But we were right about coffee! It even extends your life! Possibly.

The trouble is that most coffee drinkers do not drink it in isolation while doing calisthenics and eating onion sandwiches. Even the study admitted as much. Coffee is the good habit of people with bad habits.

The rest is here:
Alexandra Petri: Coffee, lies, and immortality

Clarkson comes through for Devils again

Posted on by

David Clarkson is approaching Devils postseason immortality, as last night he scored his third game-winner in these playoffs, beating the Rangers 3-2 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden.

Clarkson is now one goal short of matching the franchises postseason record of four game-winners in one playoff run. Atop the list with four winners are Jeff Friesen and Jamie Langenbrunner (both in the Stanley Cup-winning season of 2002-03), and Neal Broten (1994-95, another Cup-winning season).

Im not chasing anything, Clarkson said. Im just trying to get to those areas.

Charles Wenzelberg

TRUE BLUE: A young Rangers fans waves a rally towel during his teams 3-2 loss to the Devils last night.

His goal came 2:31 into the third period, when he was set up in front of the net and tipped a high wrist shot from Adam Henrique past Henrik Lundqvist. After spending most of the season skating on a dangerous second line with Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, Clarkson was demoted to play with Henrique and Alex Ponikarovsky

In Game 1 he was average, coach Peter DeBoer said, to outstanding tonight.

Added goalie Martin Brodeur, We need him to be dominant. Every time he scores, its a game winner.

* A strange moment came in the second period, with the score tied 1-1 and the Rangers going on the power play on an interference call on Travis Zajac.

Heading to the penalty box after a television timeout, Zajac was stopped.

Read the rest here:
Clarkson comes through for Devils again

Nigeria: Chelsea, Bayern Battle for Immortality

Posted on by

Thirty two teams started the battle for glory from September last year. Now, however, the journey has been reduced to the final two-Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Today, both clubs will battle it out for Europe's top club football honour. Football fans, bookmakers and pundits have all predicted an all Spanish final between Barcelona and Real Madrid but Chelsea and Bayern Munich staged upsets in the semi finals by knocking out the two Spanish giants.

Today's final will take place at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich's home ground where the winner will enter into the folklore of football legends while the loser will be left wondering what they will do to conquer Europe someday. The loser today would end up with a second loss in the Champions League final. Bayern Munich is aiming for its fifth Champions League trophy while Chelsea is gunning for a first ever Champions League crown.

The last time these two sides met was in the quarter finals of the Champions League in 2004/2005 season where Chelsea knocked out Bayern Munich by winning 6-5 on aggregate.

Bayern Munich has the luxury of playing the Champions League final in front of their home fans. They will be hoping on ending the season on a high after losing the league and Cup to Borrusia Dortmund, they have already faced an English team already in the competition when they played newly crowned English champions Manchester City with each side winning their home game 2-0.

Bayern has a decent record against English sides in the Champions league. They have played 35 matches, won 13, lost 10 and drew 12. Bayern is playing its fourth Champions League final in 13 years. Bayern fans were left heartbroken in the 1999 finals in Nou Camp when they had one hand already on the trophy but two injury time goals handed Man United the trophy.

They bounced back in the 2001 edition beating Valencia in the finals via penalties. Two years ago they lost to Inter Milan in the finals and will be looking to win this one on their home ground making it the fourth time in history that a club will be playing the finals in its home and the first in this modern era (Real Madrid in 1956/57, Inter Milan in 1964/65 and Roma in 1983/84).

Bayern Munich will be without the services of David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo even though its manager Jupp Heynckes will likely have Mario Gomez, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribry, Toni Kroos, Daniel van Buyten, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Jrme Boateng and possibly Thomas Mller in his starting lineup, with Manuel Neuer in goal. The Germans will probably go for a three man attack of Gomez, Ribery and Robben.

Bayern's strength lies on their wing play with Ribery and Robben doing damages on the wings. Ashley Cole and Bosingwa will have their hands full containing the duo. Mario Gomez is the second highest goal scorer in the Champions league with 12 goals and need a hattrick to overtake Lionel Messi who has 14 strikes.

Jupp Heynckes will be gunning for his second Champions League crown after leading Real Madrid to the title in 1998. Bayern winger Ribery insists his side will not take the threat of Chelsea very lightly which he believes is tactically superior to Barcelona. "When it comes to the game, Barcelona is stronger," Ribery said. But if you look at organisation, tactics, and set pieces, then Chelsea is better.

In the semi-final, Chelsea played like they had to against a team like Barcelona, and in Munich they will take a defensive approach, with a well-organised and compact team. It will be very hard for us. Also, former Bayern captain and legend Stefan Effenberg believes Bastian Schweinsteiger must step up to the occasion for Bayern to have a good chance of beating Chelsea as the over reliance on Robben and Ribery is becoming too predictable. "There is a lot of hope resting on Schweinsteiger's shoulders and he cannot buy any more time. He must play well now," Effenberg stated

The rest is here:
Nigeria: Chelsea, Bayern Battle for Immortality

Roger’s four minutes to immortality

Posted on by

Rogers four minutes to immortality

By Stephen Wilson

Monday, May 07, 2012

Roger Bannister remembers those fabled four minutes as if they were yesterday.

Like a proud patriarch regaling wide-eyed children, the 83-year-old avidly recounts that magical four-lap race on a cinder track in Oxford on May 6, 1954 an event that still stands as a transcendent moment in sports.

3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.

"Its amazing," says Bannister, expressive as ever, "that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile."

The enduring black-and-white images of Bannister, eyes closed, mouth agape, straining across the finish line at the Iffley Road track, symbolise the supreme test of speed and endurance that captured the publics imagination. It made him a global celebrity as the first man to run the mile in under four minutes the mythical barrier that some thought was beyond human reach.

With London hosting the Olympics this summer, the Oxford-educated neurologist knighted Sir Roger in 1975 finds himself in the spotlight again, the embodiment of sporting achievement in Britain.

While Bannister never won an Olympic medal, having finished fourth in the 1,500 metres at the 1952 Helsinki Games, he still represents a strong link to the Olympic ideals of faster, higher, stronger.

Read more here:
Roger’s four minutes to immortality

Straight from Bush’s mouth

Posted on by

George Bush the elder, not Dubya is heading for immortality. Executive producer Jerry Weintraub, who brought us Oceans 11, 12, 13 and maybe someday 14, 15 and 16, on how HBOs coming documentary on former President George Herbert Walker Bush came about.

Its on right around the historic D-Day week of June 6. A birthday celebration, its June 14. The 8th is Barbaras 87th birthday, and his 88th is the 12th. The documentary is called 41.

We both have homes in Kennebunkport, [Maine,] so I know the family well. Im close to them for years. Look, Im too old not to know everyone well. A young man whod filmed some footage about astronauts for $1.50 had the idea and started making this. The president asked me to get involved.

The two hours will be all in President Bushs words. First time ever hes talked about himself. Nothing political. No philosophizing. All about his childhood, father, mother, sisters, children, service to the country. Plus never-before-seen private home movies. We shot lots of photos and personal footage. The whole thing took 2 1/2 years.

Bios dont usually do something. This will. Itll tell who he was, what formed him. Its lots about the young Bush.

I called HBOs co-president Richard Plepler and said what Im doing. He came to California to see it. He and Sheila Nevins, who does all their special projects, wanted to do it.

Bush loves what we have. Hes over the moon. My idea was a premiere in Houston, but instead were building a facility in Kennebunkport, and therell be a clambake at his home.

TOM Cruise took singing lessons for next months Rock of Ages film outing. Training with Lenny Kravitz, he surprised everyone. Now, they say, the guy can really carry a tune. Were not talking exactly Andrea Bocelli, but he can actually sing . . . C. David Heymann wrote books on Jackie, Liz, JFK, Barbara Hutton. Jackies gone, Liz gone, Hutton gone, JFK gone, Bobby gone. As of last week, Heymanns gone. He once phoned me to call Elizabeth Taylor a sacred monster.

THE morning line on the presidential election: Pros estimate the same-sex marriage stance brings Obama another $20-$30 million. The gay community is affluent. Willing to spend money. However, the race is too close to call. Romneys language and campaign ads, focusing on Americas prosperity, stimulating jobs, not romance, are having impact.

WHILE learning from Usher, 33, Justin Bieber, 18, is teaching his mentor a few things. At a cover shoot for ABCs Sunday Billboard Music Awards, the senior one said: He makes me feel old. He messes with me about my phone or how slow I type. Replied the junior: Listen, he didnt even know what iChat was!. . . Susan Lucci and five girlfriends lunching at Southamptons 75 Main.

See more here:
Straight from Bush’s mouth