Fit enough to play a 5-hour, 14-minute match on Friday night, then a 4-hour, 23-minute match on Sunday night. Fit enough to do it in Australian summer heat. Fit enough to beat Roger Federer (again) and win the Australian Open for the first time.
TV star Vanessa Minnillo and TV star Alyssa Milano.
Serena Williams has won her fourth Austalian Open title. She walloped Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3.
Newsday is holding a vote. First they’re weeding it down decade by decade — then those winners, plus a few wildcards, go head to head for the title of Best Best Picture of All Time.Here were my votes:
Take down the tollway signs.
“Her Morning Elegance,” by new-music hipster Oren Lavie. Nice!
“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.? He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”Obama advisor David Axelrod on his boss’s Oval Office habits.
Author John Updike has died at age 76. (Of lung cancer, in a hospice in Massachusetts.)Obituary lede writers agree: Updike was all about the chronicles.
In a TV movie, that is. The NY Daily News has suggestions.(Javier Bardem seems like a stretch.)Read our profile onRod Blagojevich for more details.
46. (Plus the mother.) And she’s planning to breastfeed them all.[Update: Fertility experts are “rattled.”]
When did the detective’s use of cocaine become more talked about than his violin playing?
Robert Burns, beloved Scots poet, was born 250 years ago today.
First Lady Michelle Obama is not fond of the weird new dolls loosely based on first daughters Sasha and M
“At this premier Katie is wearing 2/2.5 heels. So if she is 5’9 as listed puts her over 5’11. Tom standing at 5’9.5 or a tad under. I think these shoes are giving him at most 2 inches, more likely 1.5, consistent with 5’8 and the barefoot pic with Katie.”That’s courtesy of CelebHeights.com, where footwear and photo angles are dissected with Zapruder-style intensity.
National Geographic does the honors.No photos, but still a cool look at the plane. Who knew the president’s suite was in the nose?
“He may not be in with the local Emo cult, and you’re unlikely to see him hanging out at a skateboard park. But the Holy Father moved one step closer to cool today when he launched the Vatican’s own YouTube site on Google.” The Pope is on YouTube.
Yup, it’s a real product. The user comments really are priceless.Thank you Playmobil for allowing me to teach my 5-year-old the importance of recognizing what a failing bureaucracy in a ever growing fascist state looks like.This toy would be a lot more realistic with about 350 people standing in line for an average of an hour. I heard this also comes with tiny sets of latex gloves for the security guards!
Dark Knight wasn’t nominated. But…”Yes! The highbrow Holocaust film with lukewarm reviews is in the game!”Mark Caro says the Oscar nominees are bad news for the broadcaster.
Time has some fascinating shots of the man himself and of the First Daughters.
Make fun of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button all you want, but it pulled down thirteen nominations in the 2009 Oscar race.Including best picture, best actor (Brad Pitt), best director (David Fincher), best phony old-guy makeup, etc, etc.The ceremony is February 22nd. The other best picture nominees: Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Milk, and (our early favorite) Slumdog Millionaire.