Movie Posters As Art

Smashing presents Fifty Beautiful Movie Posters. I believe I had the Star Wars one above my bed as a kid.

Sad news from France

Younger French women are not so keen on topless sunbathing and are increasingly giving up the practice. Oh the humanity. There are a lot of bad things happening in the world but this development could be the worst. Or at least in the top 3. Click here for the full article in The Guardian.

Perhaps French men will go on strike to get topless sunbathing to return to the norm?

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves....

Golfer Phil Mickelson bids on Nashville Waffle House franchisee.

Today's something or other #28

You really should never be this desperate for Wendy's (or Burger King or McDonald's). Still, you have to admire their creativity.

Richard Gasquet sells swamp land to ITF

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON–Richard Gasquet escaped a lengthy doping ban Wednesday when the International Tennis Federation's tribunal panel ruled that he inadvertently took cocaine by kissing a woman in a nightclub.

The 23-year-old Frenchman, who was cleared to resume playing after completing a 21/2-month ban on Wednesday, convinced the independent anti-doping tribunal that he ingested cocaine with the kiss with the woman he had just met.

The tribunal panel of three lawyers said Gasquet consumed no more than "a grain of salt" of the drug, and a long ban would be an injustice in a case which was "unusual to the point of being probably unique.''

"We have found the player to be a person who is shy and reserved, honest and truthful, and a man of integrity and good character," the tribunal said in its ruling. "He is neither a cheat nor a user of drugs for recreational purposes.''

He went to a nightclub in Miami with friends to see a French DJ perform at a dance music festival, which the tribunal noted was "notoriously associated with use of illegal recreational drugs including cocaine.''

Gasquet told the tribunal hearing held in London last month that he kissed a woman, identified in the ruling only as "Pamela.''

The tribunal said it was likely she had consumed cocaine during the night, though it had no direct evidence.

Gasquet was "on the balance of probability, contaminated with cocaine by Pamela" and, therefore, not significantly at fault for the doping offence, the ruling said.

The ruling allowed the Frenchman to keep the ranking points and prize money he gained at tournaments in April.

Click here for the full article.

Hong Kong Phooey

Do you remember the cartoon Hong Kong Phooey? Well, apparently it is being remade into a movie... sorry, feature motion picture. HKP headed to the big screen. The production is being led by one of the writers for the Family Guy and some other dude who has made some direct-to-video "classics" like the Inspector Gadget sequel. The movie will be a combination of live action and animation.

Weezer rules!

Check out Weezer covering MGMT's "Kids" and Lady Gaga's "Pokerface".

But where's River's 'stache??

Today's something or other #27

I have to assume this is not a good omen. That bird appears undercooked.

Music for July

What are you listening to these days? I suggest you check out the following tunes (some old, some new, all good). Songs link to YouTube if you want to hear them.

• That Old Pair Of Jeans - Fatboy Slim
• Gimme Sympathy - Metric
• Side of the Road - Babyshambles
• Portland, Oregon - Loretta Lynn (f. Jack White)
• One Track Mind - Classified
• Halah - Mazzy Star

Federer stands alone with 15 majors

How crazy was that match??? Federer defeats Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14.

After 4.5 hours of back-and-forth action I can now get on with my day.

UPDATE:

If you're interested in what happened with a dose of cheeky British humour, check out Scott Murray's live blog at The Guardian. Perhaps you'd like some photos of the action to go along with Murray's blog? Here you go. Incidentally, there aren't nearly as many (any?) photos of Brooklyn Decker as shots of her today during NBC's broadcast. Can't say I blame NBC. [Side note: Is it just me of do you get the feeling Andy and Brooklyn should be modeling Tommy Hilfiger gear?]

Update #2: From Si.com

Here's a numerologist's-eye view of Federer's unsurpassed greatness.

0 -- Losses in Grand Slam tournaments since Wimbledon 2004 against players outside the top five. Federer's last such loss at a major came against No. 30 Gustavo Kuerten at the '04 French Open.

1 -- Opponents who have defeated Federer in a Grand Slam final (Rafael Nadal).

2 -- Men who have achieved a career Golden Slam, winning each of the four majors plus an Olympic gold medal. Federer is one. Andre Agassi is the other.

3 -- Seasons where Federer has won three of the four Grand Slams (2003, '04 and '07).

4 -- Different surfaces where Federer has won Grand Slams: grass, clay and two different kinds of hard courts. Only Agassi has equaled the feat.

5 -- Consecutive U.S. Open victories from 2003 through 2008, an open era record.

6 -- Years without losing a match on grass. Federer won 65 straight matches on his favorite surface between a first-round loss at Wimbledon 2002 and last year's final.

7 -- Consecutive years with at least one Grand Slam title. Only Borg (1974-81) and Sampras (1993-2000) have longer runs, which Federer can match in 2010.

8 -- Losses suffered throughout his streak of 21 consecutive appearances in Grand Slam semifinals.

9 -- Career ATP singles titles on clay, traditionally his weakest surface.

10 -- Consecutive Grand Slam finals reached between Wimbledon 2005 and the '07 U.S. Open, a record. Federer also owns the second-longest streak, his current run of six from the '07 French Open through Wimbledon '09.

11 -- Grand Slam titles won from 2004 through '07, an all-time record for major titles in a four-year span (male or female).

17 -- Countries where Federer has won ATP singles titles: Australia, Austria, Canada, People's Republic of China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

18 -- Consecutive Grand Slam tournaments where Federer was seeded No. 1 from the '04 French Open through '08 Wimbledon, a record.

20 -- Appearances in Grand Slam singles finals, where he's 15-5. Ivan Lendl (19) held the all-time mark until this year.

21 -- Consecutive appearances in Grand Slam semifinals, perhaps the most extraordinary metric of Federer's otherworldly consistency.

24 -- Appearances in the finals of ATP Masters Series events, a record. His 15 victories in these prestigious tournaments ranks second all-time to Agassi (17).

26 -- Consecutive matches won against opponents in the top 10 from October 2003 through January 2005, a record.

34 -- Consecutive victories at the U.S. Open from 2004 through last year, an open era record. Federer is the only player in history to win 34 or more consecutive matches at two different Grand Slam tournaments (in addition to his Wimbledon streak from '03 through '08.)

56 -- Consecutive wins on hard courts during 2005 and '06, an open era record.

94.3 -- Percent of singles matches (247-15) won from 2004 through '06.

182 -- Victories in major tournaments (against 26 losses), a win percentage of 87.5 percent. The only other men's players in the open era with winning percentages above 80 are Bjorn Borg (89.8), Rafael Nadal (85.7), Pete Sampras (84.2), Jimmy Connors (82.6), Ivan Lendl (81.9), John McEnroe (81.5), Andre Agassi (80.9) and Boris Becker (80.3).

237 -- Consecutive weeks spent at No. 1, a record. Federer is the first player to reign atop the ATP rankings for four consecutive years from Feb. 2, 2004, through Aug. 18, 2008.

$48,072,634 -- Career earnings as of June 2009 according to ATPWorldTour.com, an all-time record.

Today's something or other #26

The world's most unique buildings.

The perfect movie for Canada Day?

I watched One Week last night, starring Joshua Jackson (yes, Pacey). It is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is decent and is really steeped in Canadiana (without ever being rah-rah Canada). It might be the perfect movie to watch on Canada Day.

Quick synopsis from IMDB:

Chronicles the motorcycle trip of Ben Tyler as he rides from Toronto to Tofino, British Columbia. Ben stops at landmarks that are both iconic and idiosyncratic on his quest to find meaning in his life.

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Gagner un beignet