Stockholm probably appreciates Soderling's effort to get to the final. He has to overcome a very hot Nalbandian. He has eased past his opponents. It's beggining to look a lot like Nalbandian season! If he dominates home favorite Soderling, I say watch out Nadal, Federer, Murray, WHOEVER!

In Moscow, I just cannot wait for Safin lifting the first trophy since winning AO in 05. Poor guy. He might be coming back to the top (20-30) with a good end to the season. Maybe he is motivated to hunt for more slams. If he can get to a SF in Wimby, he's still got it. Got to beat Kunitsyn though. He seems to be on a roll as well, so who knows....

In Vienna, home "favorite" Petzschner will play Monfils. I don't understand how he got this far, but I'm sure he's gonna have to play his absolute best against the more "experienced" Monfils. I always love to see the underdog win, but if it's a one-time thing.... what's the point?

Madrid Masters is just around the corner and all the top guys are going. (as of mid-Sunday). Nadal is first seed (I like saying that), Federer second (no used to saying that yet)

Nadal will could get Gulbis in 2nd, Fish or Gasuqet in 3rd, Wawrinka, Ferrer or maybe Moya in QF?

Federer has Stepanek or Monaco in 2nd, probably Tsonga in 3rd (I'll watch that!), Del Potro or Nalbandian in QF? Man, he got slammed with 3 players who all seem to be on a bit of a roll. If Tsonga isn't injured, that is.

Mr. Djokovic has Karlovic or Soderling in 3rd, Blake or Simon or Safin or Davydenko in a QF. He should be good I think.

Murray, could probably do some damage too. He has Cilic, Verdasco as immediate threats, Gonzo or Roddick in a QF. Roddick could be the only threat as I see it.

My QF picks (a little early I know):
Nadal - Ferrer
Djokovic - Blake (least sure about this one)
Federer - Del Potro
Murray - Roddick

El número uno ilumina Madrid

El Masters Series de Madrid tiene un lugar cada vez más destacado en el calendario tenístico. Cuando se cumplen siete años de su creación se ha convertido en un torneo que los mejores jugadores del mundo no quieren perderse.

Este año el torneo cuenta como novedad la inclusión de un día más, con la disputa de cuatro encuentros del cuadro final. Según palabras de su director, Manolo Santana, "queremos aprovechar un día de fiesta más para ofrecer un mejor programa y que más gente pueda disfrutar de sus estrellas favoritas". Buena muestra del interés que ha despertado esta edición es que están agotadas las entradas para semifinales y final así como para las sesiones de noche de martes y viernes.

No en vano, sobre la pista estará el mejor tenista del momento, Rafael Nadal, y en Madrid nadie quiere perdérselo. Por eso, la ATP ha decidido homenajear al tenista mallorquín en casa.

El domingo 12 de octubre, a las 13.30 horas y retransmitido en directo por TVE, recibirá en la pista central del Telefónica Madrid Arena, de manos del presidente ejecutivo de la ATP, Etienne De Villiers, el trofeo que le acredita como número uno del mundo.

Ferrero se queda sin plaza para el torneo

Sin embargo, a esta gran cita no acudirá en también español Juan Carlos Ferrero, quien, tras pasar por una inoportuna lesión, ha visto descender su nombre en la lista de entradas de la ATP hasta el puesto 44.

El valenciano, que fue campeón del torneo en 2003, se ha quedado sin plaza para acceder directamente, ya que no ha recibido ninguna invitación por parte de los organizadores, y tendrá que esperar al capítulo de bajas para ver si a última hora consigue entrar.

Para su entrenador, Martínez Casales, la ausencia de su tenista es "una grave falta de respeto, no sólo a Ferrero, sino al tenis español, ya que el torneo se hace con los recursos de nuestro país".

Los que sí estarán son los habituales, como el suizo Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Moyá y Marat Safin, estos dos últimos beneficiarios de las dos primeras 'wild cards' que cada año son entregadas por la organización del torneo.

fuente: rtve, REUTERS

Por Walter Kanqui García.

El tandilense Juan Martín Del Potro sufrió una lesión en el pie derecho que le provocó la deserción del ATP de Viena. Ahora viajará a Madrid para ser atendido por médicos españoles.

Flamante "top ten", el argentino comenzó a padecer las consecuencias de una larga temporada, a la que aún le restan los compromisos más importantes: dos torneos de Masters Series, la posible participación en la  Masters Cup, en China y la esperada final por Copa Davis frente a España en el Orfeo Superdomo de Córdoba.

Previo a disputar su partido ante el alemán Philipp Kohlschreiber por la segunda ronda del torneo austríaco, Del Potro anunció que se retiraba debido a una infección presente en ambos dedos gordo de sus piés, mencionando además que ya sentía dolores desde el Abierto de los Estado Unidos y que, seguramente, estos se produjeron debido a los cambios de superficie.

El argentino es una de las máximas figuras de la temporada: ganador de cuatro torneos en forma consecutiva (Washington, Los Angeles, Kitzbuhel y Sturttgart) y con un record de 38 victorias en los 48 partidos disputados este año. Fue pieza clave también en la Copa Davis, ya que definió la serie ante Rusia, que posibilitó la clasificación a la tercera final argentina del mítico torneo, a disputarse entre el 21 y 23 de Noviembre próximo.

Hoy tiene previsto viajar a Madrid, donde se disputará el penúltimo torneo de Masters Series, para ser atendido por medicos españoles.

]]> http://deportes24.wordpress.com/?p=263 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:48:54 +0000 deportes24 http://deportes24.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/lesion-obliga-a-juan-martin-del-potro-a-abandonar-en-viena/

El argentino Juan Martín del Potro abandonó hoy lesionado el torneo de tenis de Viena, donde debía presentarse en la segunda ronda frente al alemán Philipp Kohlschreiber.

"Voy a intentar jugar en Madrid", dijo a la ATP el jugador argentino, ganador de cuatro torneos esta temporada y flamante "top ten".

El tandilense tuvo inconvenientes ayer para vencer ajustadamente al local Martin Fischer por 7-6 (9-7) y 7-6 (7-5).

A los deseos de Del Potro de estar en Madrid se opone la infección que tiene en los dos dedos gordos de sus pies, además del cansancio acumulado por haber llegado la semana pasada a la final de Tokio.

"La uña del pie derecho se le comenzó a romper en el partido con David Ferrer la semana pasada en Tokio, y ayer se le rompió completamente", dijo a la agencia alemana de prensa DPA Fabienne Benoit, vocero de la ATP.

"Ahora tiene líquido por debajo de la uña, una mezcla de sangre y agua. Tienen que abrir ahí para sacárselo, y ahora tendrá que esperar tres o cuatro días para volver a jugar", añadió.

Del Potro, de 20 años, tiene previsto volar hoy a Madrid para ser atendido por médicos españoles. La uña del dedo gordo del pie izquierdo también está negra, pero la que presenta la infección más grave es la del pie derecho.

El argentino confesó tener dolores en la zona ya desde el Abierto de Estados Unidos, y los atribuye en parte al constante cambio de superficies.

Del Potro es una de las figuras de la temporada, con títulos en cuatro torneos consecutivos y rendimientos clave que lo transformaron en el héroe del equipo argentino de Copa Davis que jugará el mes próximo la final ante España.
Jueves 9 de Octubre de 2008 09:24

fuente:minutouno

A.Blood

B.Oxygen

C.Glucose

D.High energy ATPs

E.Free fatty acid

Answer : A  will be considered  by most , as  correct answer .  A can provide B to E . But it is also a fact heart can survive without  A.  

                    Myocardium requires energy first  ! it does not in fact bother about from where it is coming at the time of crises.It may be right if you restore the coronary blood flow all other components (B-E) are made available to the heart . 

                   The heart can survive off  the coronary circulation with only chemical support during cardiac surgery and also a during  heart transplantation  explanted  donor heart survives on a ice box during transit and till it is transplanted into the recipient heart

                    But ironically we spend much of our energy and efforts in restoring blood flow.One need to spare a thought about the quality of blood also . This is especially important  in the setting of ischmia  where a  metabolic centric approach will add further benefit.

Energy based approach to ischemia : Is it relavent ?

                                              Heart is a fascinationg mechano biological organ  pumping   millions of  gallons of blood  .Fuel for this is self genertated  on a continuous basis  from the circulation blood .So  the key to human survival is the coronary blood flow that supplies the fuel and nutrients to the heart. When this key supply line is under threat  during  acute coronary syndrome cardiologist have  the only option of restoring the compromised blood supply by any means . But during chronic ischemia there is  no  urgency. There has always been an option of enriching the  blood with energisers like ATPs,  glucose,  hemoglobin etc .Providing energy support to the failing heart has never captured the imagination of cardiac physicians until recently.Still most are skeptical about  the concept of biochemical ischemia.

Click to download full PPT presentation

Metabolic manipulation of  CAD( Will be available shortly)

Si no sabes lo que es un linksharing, fijate acá!

Pero a grandes rasgos, el linksharing es un lugar/comunidad donde se comparten cosas, especialmente links para descargar programas, musica, peliculas, etc. La traducción lógica de linksharing es "compartir links".

Éste es el link: www.simplesearch.com.ar

El argentino, quien ocupa lo novena posición del ranking mundial, tuvo que transpirar más de lo debido para deshacerse del austríaco ubicado en el puesto 219 del escalafón mundial.

Sin pasar sobresaltos, Delpo se instaló en la segunda ronda del Bank Austria Tennis Trophy, tras batallar durante poco más de dos horas para derrotar a Fischer en sendos tiebreaks.

Ambos tenistas llegaron al tiebreak del primer set sin quebrarse, no obstante el local de 22 años desaprovechó una oportunidad de break. Luego de fallar varios setspoints, el tandilense logró cerrar la manga a su favor, tras ganar el desempate por 9-7.

El segundo capitulo comenzó con Fischer quebrando para tomar ventaja de 2-0, pero el sudamericano se recuperó, obteniendo cuatro games en forma consecutiva para colocarse 4-2. Incluso el pupilo de Franco Davin estuvo muy cerca de ponerse 5-2, pero su rival se despertó y estiró la definición a un nuevo tiebreak, que favoreció nuevamente a la Torre de Tandil por 7-5.

De esta forma, el segundo mejor argentino ubicado en el ranking mundial se clasificó a los octavos de final de Viena, donde se verá las caras frente a Philipp Kohlschreiber.

El quinto preclasificado, Fernando Verdasco, se clasificó a los cuartos de final del Abierto de Viena, tras aplastar literalmente al argentino Guillermo Cañas por 6-1 y 6-2.

En una hora y 8 minutos, el español se llevó el duelo de iberoamericanos para instalarse entre los mejores ocho del torneo austríaco, certamen que reparte 674 mil euros en premios.

El madrileño tomó el servicio del sudamericano en cinco oportunidades de las ocho que tuvo a su disposición, aprovechando los problemas del tenista de Tapiales con el segundo saque.

Por su lado, el chileno Fernando González eliminó al letón Ernets Gulbis, quien desperdició cinco matchpoints, por 4-6, 7-6 y 6-1.

El Bank Austria Tennis Trophy de Viena se juega sobre una carpeta bajo techo, una superficie similar a la que usará Argentina para enfrentar a España en la final de la Copa Davis.

Otro resultado octavos de final:
[Q] P Petzschner (GER) a [Q] J Hernych (CZE) 63 64.

Kremlin Cup Moscú:
Singles - Octavos de final:
F Santoro (FRA) a [Q] D Istomin (UZB) 62 64
Singles - First Round
T Gabashvili (RUS) a [3] M Youzhny (RUS) 75 46 76(1)
M Zverev (GER) a D Gremelmayr (GER) 63 76(7)
I Kunitsyn (RUS) a M Kukushkin (KAZ) 61 46 61

Count on Marat Safin to not know the scoreline or hear the umpire during a match. Perhaps they should make the scoreboards bigger and brighter and the microphones louder? During his 1st round match against Noam Okun at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, he was leading 5-4 in the third set and then broke Okun to take the match but-wait-he then went to his chair and toweled off. Errr.. when the umpire says "game, set, match" that usually means you've won, honey. That's okay though, he's still sexy as hell.

‘Si pudiera demostrarse que ha existido un órgano complejo que no pudo haber sido formado por numerosas y ligeras modificaciones sucesivas, mi teoría fracasaría por completo.’
Charles Darwin.

Continuando con la estela de los motores casuísticos, según definición darwinista: 'el tiempo todo lo puede', hoy he optado por algo que, más que una máquina, en realidad es toda una factoría inteligente: el complejo proteico ATP Sintetasa; una verdadera industria, con enorme eficiencia y gran capacidad de renovación.

Y aunque interaccionan, no debe confundirse con ATP, la molécula formada por adenina, un azúcar [ribosa], y tres grupos fosfatos que le dan el nombre de adenosín-trifosfato; la única que se puede convertir directamente en energía, una de las más complicadas jamás descubiertas, y casi seis veces más grande que la de la hemoglobina.

El conjunto coenzimático ATP sintetasa [de origen proteico], recibe su nombre porque en realidad se encarga de 'sintetizar' la molécula ATP [adenosín trifosfato], presente en las mitocondrias de animales, plantas, de todo organismo eucarionte; y también, aunque de otra forma, en las bacterias procariotas. Ejemplarizando, la función de la ATP [molécula] se pudiera comparar a cuando llenamos nuestro auto de combustible, antes de un largo viaje, y nos montamos en él, confiados en que con mínima ayuda hará casi todo el trabajo con eficiencia y seguridad, transformando el líquido de la gasolinera en fuerza y movimiento.

Trasmutando a la célula eucariota [propia de humanos, animales y plantas] este proceso de obtención de energía en el automóvil, se observa que tal metabolismo se debe a reacciones 'redox' u 'oxidorreducción', es decir, una molécula se oxida y otra se reduce. Sin entrar a profundizar: cuando un átomo de hidrógeno pierde un electrón, se 'oxida', y cuando lo gana, entonces hay 'reducción'.

Y ahora lo importante: hay una relación directamente proporcional, entre el contenido de hidrógeno de una molécula y la cantidad de energía que se puede obtener de ella. Cuanto mayor sea el contenido en hidrógeno de un compuesto [o sea: cuánto más 'reducido' esté] mayor es su contenido energético y más energía se puede obtener de él. Con igual reflexión, cuanto más oxidada esté una sustancia, menos hidrógeno contiene... y aportará menos energía.

Así, se llega a la conclusión de que la energía de una molécula está en sus enlaces hidrogenados. Los ácidos grasos [CH3-(CH2)14-COOH] suministran mucho más energía que la glucosa [C6H1206] y ésta mucho más que el CO2 [sin hidrógenos: la forma más oxidada].

Casi todo lo que comemos y bebemos, se transforma en nuestro laboratorio mitocondrial, a través de distintas rutas metabólicas, en 'la gasolina necesaria'. Parte de la energía que adquirimos de los alimentos que ingerimos van a proporcionar reservas de ATP; cuando están cubiertas las necesidades de esta, entonces se acumulan en forma de glucógeno, en grasas y en proteínas. Para que se entienda: como un 'precocinado' de mercado que aun hay que terminar de procesar, pues todas estas moléculas (glucosa, glucógeno, grasas y proteínas) pueden ser convertidas en ATP para su posterior utilización por el músculo, en el momento que se agote el almacenado en este. La forma en que el organismo sintetiza estas reservas de energía (para posteriormente convertirlas en ATP) marcan los diferentes sistemas energéticos.

Como se mencionó arriba, el ATP es una molécula de gran potencial, con 3 enlaces fosfato que al romperse liberan mucha energía, de tal manera que las células constantemente están rompiendo ATP, para obtener la necesaria para vivir, movernos, pensar, etc.

Cuando se flexiona el brazo, el bíceps se tensa; al correr, intervienen varios músculos a la vez. Para realizar las contracciones-flexiones musculares implicadas, se necesita energía... y se saca del ATP que nuestro laboratorio mitocondrial cede, para que el metabolismo lo acumule en las células. Es la única energía que puede usar un músculo para sus movimientos; está guardada en ellos. Pero bajo ejercicio, se agota rápido y tiene que ser restituido constantemente, y la forma en que el organismo recupera ese ATP, constituye una de las funciones más vitales de la mitocondria.

Las reservas de ATP en la célula muscular son muy pequeñas, lo que no da para más de uno o dos segundos de actividad. Para poder continuar, se activa inmediatamente un brillante, económico y útil sistema que logra energía mediante procesos inteligentes, dignos del más pensado diseño mecánico.

En realidad, además del ATP, existen varios mecanismos en el organismo para almacenar energía: los carbohidratos se metabolizan mediante la glucólisis, y las grasas mediante la beta oxidación [hay otras pero estas son las más importantes en este artículo]. Los productos de estas dos reacciones metabólicas siguen a una 3ª fase: el ciclo de Krebs, cuya función es transformar los compuestos de tres carbonos obtenidos de la glucólisis y la beta oxidación en otras moléculas: "FAD y NAD", conocidas como 'poder reductor'... o sea un incremento de la cantidad de hidrógeno.

Son cofactores enzimáticos; básicamente, las coenzimas FAD y NAD son acarreadores de electrones y de protones... y como toda sustancia de naturaleza proteica, su síntesis aparece regulada por la inscripción que aparece codificada en el ADN. No surge gracias a miles de millones de años, puesto que el azar no es capaz de 'escribir' y mucho menos de 'codificar', una mucho menos irracional 'instrucción casuística', ya que según venimos repitiendo, una instrucción precisará siempre del Instructor que la creó, pónganle los miles de millones de años que se quieran.

En realidad, el poder reductor se emplea para generar una corriente de iones hidrógeno; proceso muy complejo, del que se intentará explicar lo más importante. Estos iones hidrógeno atraviesan la membrana interna de la mitocondria a través de una especie de válvula reguladora: la ya mencionada arriba 'ATP sintetasa' [a partir de ahora: ATPasa]; un acontecimiento similar al agua corriendo por un tubo, donde la 'ATPasa' sería la llave 'reguladora' de la cantidad de agua que saldría.

Las enzimas ATPasas, participan en el metabolismo de la molécula de ATP y, por tanto, en la producción de energía en la célula. Y como toda enzima, surgen de una síntesis proteica no evolutiva, dependiente de los datos que aparecen en la hebra de ADN: las instrucciones que existen en el programa que constituye al genoma, y que ningún azar es capaz de hacer que se inscriban y codifiquen por sí mismos.

En realidad son muy complejas; conformadas por cadenas muy largas, que suelen ir desde los 600 a los 1200 aminoácidos, y que se pliegan para formar la estructura tridimensional característica de una ATPasa insertada en la membrana plasmática, como proteína integral. Estas enzimas logran producir hidrólisis del adenosín trifosfato (ATP) almacenada en los músculos y otras partes del cuerpo; mediante una reacción exergónica se 'libera energía', obteniendo adenosín difosfato [ADP], y un ión de fósforo [fosfato]. Este proceso de ATPasa sobre una molécula de ATP, es llamado desfosforilación.

Pero, físicamente, la enzima ATPasa es como un rehilete; si se sopla un rehilete este se mueve; asimismo, la parte interna de la ATPasa se mueve o da un giro... cada tres iones hidrógeno que pasan a través de ella. No es algo casuístico, sino programado: la energía contenida en estos tres iones hidrógeno, genera el movimiento necesario. Y esto mismo, de manera reversible, es lo que se emplea para sintetizar de nuevo el ATP a partir de ADP [adenosín difosfato] y un ion fosfato. Funciona así: el giro "pega, une" al ADP y al fosfato, formando un nuevo ATP.

Masasuke YOSHIDA, Doctorado en Ciencias Bioquímicas, observó que la molécula ATP sintasa se semeja a una seta con sus dos partes: tallo y sombrero. El «tallo de la seta», parece girar dentro del «sombrero de la seta». Se ha demostrado que la formación de ATP está vinculada con esta rotación.

La ATP sintetasa consiste en F0 y F1. Vemos que F0, localizado en la membrana, actúa en sí mismo como un canal protónico. En organismos típicos procariotas, F0 está compuesto de tres subunidades: a, b y c. F1 puede ser liberado de la membrana como una molécula soluble en agua y esto cataliza la hidrólisis de ATP, considerada una reacción inversa de la síntesis ATP. En organismos procariotas, F1 contiene cinco clases de subunidades con una estequiometría gamma, beta, etc.

Cuando el "conducto" gira, crea un poderoso movimiento interno en cada una de las tres secciones en espiral dentro de la cubierta. Este movimiento proporciona la energía para provocar cambios químicos. En un sitio se reúnen los "ingredientes" ATP. En otro, se combinan y producen ATP, y en un 3º, la rotación proporciona el ATP formado, liberando la molécula ATP sintasa para ser utilizada en otro lugar de la célula. O sea, también puede considerarse como una microscópica ambulancia que va curando la falta de energía, allí donde esta sea necesaria. ¡Un engendro de la optimización cinética, vaya!

Para las funciones biológicas, se almacena mucha potencia en los enlaces de alta energía que unen los grupos fosfato; estos se liberan cuando uno o dos de los fosfatos se separan de las moléculas de ATP. El compuesto resultante de la pérdida de un fosfato se llama 'difosfato de adenosina', adenosín difosfato o ADP. Las otras moléculas [glucosas, grasa, etc.], terminan convirtiéndose en la imprescindible ATP, mediante varios procesos (glucólisis anaeróbica o ciclo de Krebs)

Un gradiente de protones se produce como resultado de la entrada de NADH (derivado de las reacciones oxido-reducción), a la cadena transportadora de electrones. Los protones se acumulan en el espacio intermembrana hasta un gradiente de concentración tal que pueden ser utilizados para producir de nuevo el ATP.

Los Protones (indicados por +) entran nuevamente en la matriz mitocondrial a través de los canales que forma el complejo enzimático de la ATP sintetasa. Esta entrada se acopla a la síntesis de ATP a partir de ADP y Fosfato [Pi en el animado]. Así, el ATP es usado para obtener energía, transformándose entonces en ADP [Adenosín difosfato] + dos iones de fósforo [Pi]. El ciclo se reinicia, cuando los protones atraviesan la enzima ATP sintetasa. Entonces cada ADP [Adenosín di-fosfato] se une a un Protón y a un fosfato [Pi], integrándose de nuevo la original molécula ATP [ahora adenosín trifosfato], creando de esta forma un bien previsto círculo energético continuo, que garantiza la energía necesaria... toda una evidencia de diseño, imposible de surgir desde la casualidad.

La experiencia acumulada por el ser humano, desde algunos cientos de generaciones, dicta que nunca nace inteligencia desde la nada, sino de algún proceso inteligente. Si a usted, mientras camina por la calle, le cae en la cabeza una instrucción; digamos, una receta para hacer un pato a la naranja, con solo 45 palabras, piensa que se le cayó a alguien, no que esas palabras ordenadas se crearon a sí mismas. ¡Cuánto más una información como el ADN, con billones de precisas instrucciones bioquímicas, elaboradas con solo 4 letras!

Estamos ante otro ejemplo de 'complejo irreductible'; lo que Darwin precisaba para que su teoría quedara desmontada. El sistema no puede prescindir de las enzimas ATP sintetasas, que en realidad funcionan como válvulas reguladoras, que lo mismo se ocupan de liberar la energía necesaria para que el organismo 'viva y vibre', que de invertir el proceso para volver a obtener el ATP que antes convirtió en tal energía. Este ciclo 'oxidación-reducción', automáticamente reversible, dejaría de resultar funcional si se pretendiera que hubiera surgido por partes.

Veamos:

-Las coenzimas FAD y NAD, por sí mismas, autónomamente, no pintan nada en el 'motor'. Y debemos recordar que no surgen debido a una carambolesca interacción de mutaciones aleatorias, provocadoras de evolución, sino porque su secuencia aparece antes inscrita y codificada de manera precisa en el ADN, como parte del complejo programa de la vida.

-La molécula ATP no puede faltar al sistema; pero ella por sí sola no puede ser útil, pues la energía que contiene se gasta; durando apenas dos segundos.

-La adenosina tampoco puede faltar al sistema; es parte integral del ATP; sin embargo, ella sola no resulta útil para nada, no ejercería ninguna función.

-La ribosa [azúcar], es vital en el sistema; parte integral de ATP. Mas individualmente sería inútil en cualquier paso evolutivo del motor ATP, no jugaría ningún papel.

-Los fosfatos no pueden faltar en el motor; pero por sí solos no harían nada en esta fábrica energética. No resultaría nada eficiente en un hipotético proceso evolutivo del motor ATP.

-La enzima ATP sintetasa, la válvula reguladora, es parte del sistema; sin embargo, por sí sola no sería útil, pues depende del resto de elementos para funcionar. [Los 3 hidrógenos que la hacen moverse como un rehilete, la molécula ATP, y los fosfatos.]

Es decir, no importa lo que se pretenda hacer ver: lo que se ha escrito aquí, es la realidad de lo que ocurre dentro de esa microscópica maravilla motorizada producto de un diseño, un cálculo, una instrucción, un código, y un programa... ninguno de los cuales nadie ha visto jamás surgir por si solos, sin un agente externo intelectivo que los genere.

Según instuyó Darwin, el conjunto conforma un complejo irreductible, donde, la hipotética evolución sistemática de los elementos que lo componen, resulta incapaz de explicar el funcionamiento individual de cada una de sus partes.

**********

(Atualizando: infelizmente não deu pro Lucas. Já está voltando pra Brasília)

Greg Saunier of San Francisco's perma touring Deerhoof answers some questions on the eve of the release of their latest LP 'Offend Maggie'.

Where and when was ‘Offend Maggie’ written? Was it an easy birth or a troubled conception?

Actually with us it’s always the other way around…an easy conception but a troubled birth. Getting the ideas for songs in the first place is like falling off a log, you know… stuff just pops into your head, and there it is! Even learning to play it isn’t so difficult, but recording it so that it sort of matches what was in your head in the first place, ooh that’s a tough one. Always takes a long time, and the more you work on it (we mix everything ourselves on computer) the easier it is to forget what your first idea actually was…

Who is Maggie and why do you wish to offend her? What’s the concept behind the album? ‘Friend Opportunity’ dealt a lot with personal relationships and the way they act, does ‘Offend Maggie’ continue this introvert theme or is it a more extrovert record?

The record is about offending Maggie but that doesn’t mean it’s Deerhoof doing the offending – we’re just telling the story you see. Not to cop out but I always hope that our records are both introvert and extrovert depending on when you listen to them. The best way to understand what the title is about is to hear the music, see the cover art, read the lyrics – each of them explains the rest of them…

Following the permanent addition of Ed (Rodriguez) how has the dynamic of the band shifted and how did his presence feed into the writing process?

Ed kind of unintentionally forced us to write and record more like a real band, instead of a collection of songwriters and their session musicians. We never recorded this way, even though it’s the usual way for bands – where we rehearsed the songs together at full volume for a couple months before we recorded anything, so that by the time the recording session happened, we were totally prepared and could play them all together instead of piecemeal and like a big experiment.

You released the sheet music for ‘Fresh Born’ following the Prospect Park Show, so people could record their own versions. What was the thinking behind this and what have been the best results?

I just thought it would be fun. It could be a neat way to get to know the song before you even heard the record. The surprise was that it turned out to be way more fun than I expected. So many people sent their recordings of it, and they really run the gamut of styles and approaches when you listen to them all. I’m more amazed than ever by our fans!

You’ve asked fans to vote for a cause to receive a portion of the profits from your digital sales. What was the genesis of this idea and how did you select the organisations on the list?

Well we always thought it made sense to donate some of our money but we just never were organized enough before, so this time we planned ahead. Part of it was that we wanted people to have at least a little bit of a feeling that the money they were spending wasn’t just disappearing into some sort of vague “music industry”, but could be traced to a specific destination that maybe was one they actually would be happy about anyway.

You’re coming back to play ATP again in December following on from your amazing appearance at the Release The Bats show last year. What can fans expect from the show and will there be any general changes to the way you approach this record live?

Oh you saw that? That was fun, Satomi made costumes. We’re playing University of London Union and it was set up by ATP (they are our label in the UK) but we aren’t playing ATP this time. Now that Ed is in the band we have two guitars so you can expect six more strings – that sounds like a joke now that I wrote it but it’s true, it sounds different when you can get that much going on in the guitar department.

The video from Tokyo of “The music and tears of love” is immense! How has the ‘Offend Maggie’ material been going down?

Real smooth. We’re lucky because since we’ve always changed our sound so much on the records, the people who come to our shows are very forgiving and don’t really expect one exact style or set of songs. They come to listen and a band couldn’t ask for anything more.

‘Friend Opportunity’ represented a more layered and experimental Deerhoof than ‘The Runners Four’ is ‘Offend Maggie a continuation of this?

Yeah, I agree FO was more layered although I’m not sure that made it more of an experiment. TR4 was most definitely a massive experiment as far as the experience of making it. So much so that it practically broke up the band, and actually ultimately did… So Offend Maggie was a little like TR4 because we worked so much of it out at full volume in the rehearsal studio (as opposed to on computer, or in our heads). But instead of recording the process of working it out, we worked it out first and then went and recorded it. I think it ends up sounding both more effortless and more like one of our live concerts as a result. But I could be wrong!

As an American band what are your views on the impending election in November? I read Gregs ‘Why Obama? essay and wondered if you were alarmed by the shift of momentum following Palin’s addition to the Republican ticket?

I expected it to be short-lived and it was short-lived. Palin’s extreme right wing views couldn’t be more different from mine but I have to admit that her popularity has a lot in common with Obama’s popularity, which is that people can relate to her (or him), much more so than to the average politician. I’ve already had friendships destroyed because of my political endorsements, not because anyone preferred McCain because they think it’s wack to endorse any presidential candidate. While I can understand the sentiment I have to disagree: One million dead Iraqis later, I do think a single presidential administration can wreak massive havoc and misery upon the world. All signs point to McCain being more extreme, not less, than Bush on his hawkish foreign policy.

In these days of Last FM, Youtube, Myspace, file sharing and the ilk how do you consume new music?

We tour a lot so actually I get to hear new music a lot on the plane. I’ve made so many massive musical discoveries that way. Recently I listened to Mavis Staples’ latest album “We Will Never Turn Back” and was moved to tears. So I bought it on iTunes when I got home. That’s pretty much it in the last couple of months. I really only listen to music about once every week or two. But I really love it when I do…

You have toured with some pretty diverse acts, if you could curate your own perfect one day festival who would play?

We are curating the perfect one-day festival! Should be happening in Kortrijk, Belgium next year. Problem is definitely not going to be coming up with ideas, the problem will be agreeing on any, we all like different music.

Where haven’t you played that you want to play before you’re done?

When you put it that way it’s scary – I don’t ever plan to be done. We might be going to India next year…

What do Deerhoof know that we don’t know?

Probably nothing – certainly not anything about how to be in Deerhoof. That continues to be a total mystery…

Deerhoof

Tan sólo 56 minutos le bastaron al mejor argentino ubicado en el ranking mundial para deshacerse del estadounidense Bobby Reynolds por un doble 6-1.

Gracias al triunfo de hoy, el "Tifón de Uniquillo" sumó su victoria número 30 en la presente temporada.

El próximo obstáculo de Nalbandian camino a la final será el vencedor del duelo entre el local Joachim Johansson y el francés Nicolas Mahut.

Otros que lograron avanzar a los octavos de final fueron Rainer Schuettler y Mario Ancic. Por su parte, el alemán venció por 6-0 y 6-3 a Chris Guccione mientras que el croata hizo lo propio frente a Olivier Rochus por 7-6 y 6-2.

El checo Tomas Berdych derrotó al ascendente Juan Martín Del Potro en la final del Abierto de Japón por 6-1 y 6-4 para obtener su cuarto título como profesional.

A pesar de la derrota, el argentino escalará hasta el puesto número nueve del escalafón mundial, su mejor ubicación histórica.

El europeo necesitó de una hora y 17 minutos para vencer de forma contundente a Del Potro, quien venía arrasando con todos sus rivales en el torneo nipón.

Tanto el checo como el sudamericano tienen posibilidades de clasificar a la Tennis Masters Cup de China. Berdych quedó a 133 unidades del número ocho de la Carrera de Campeones mientras que el argentino solamente a dos.

Lleyton Hewitt is scheduled to return to the courts in January 2009 at the Australian Open warm up, Sydney International. Lleyton was forced to hang his racquet for a while because of a nagging hip injury which he had undergone surgery for right after the Olympics earlier this year.

“My recovery is going well and I am really looking forward to the Australian summer,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “It is an exciting time for me. I am already feeling refreshed, reinvigorated and excited about the challenge ahead.”

Source

The promotional advertisements for the Madrid Masters Series are so bleak. Transformers are for 5 year-olds, not your average tennis fan. Plus, they couldn't even get a designer to make it look realistic. Novak's head looks like it was pasted on in Kid Pix. Irregardless, I will still be watching the Madrid Masters Series and so should you.

Aflata la primul succes din cariera, Sorana Cirstea traverseaza cea mai buna perioada a carierei, jucatoarea de 18 ani originara din Targoviste intrand intre cele mai bune 40 de jucatoare ale lumii.

Dupa o saptamana de pauza, Cirstea isi va face revenirea in circuitul profesionist la Zurich (Elvetia), dupa care va participa la turneul din Luxemburg, programat intre 20 si 27 octombrie.

Pana atunci insa, cele mai bune jucatoare si-au dat intalnire la Moscova pentru cel mai puternic turneu in sala desfasurat in aceasta toamna, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva sau Anna Chakvetadze concurand pentru 1,3 milioane de dolari.

Romania va fi reprezentata doar in concursul de dublu, unde Monica Niculescu va face pereche cu Yaroslava Svedova din Kazahstan, cele doua urmand sa le intalneasca in runda inaugurala pe Anna Chakvetadze (Rusia) si Dominika Cibulkova (Slovacia).

Eliminata in sferturile de finala de la Taskent, Monica Niculescu a jucat calificari la Moscova, dar a pierdut inca din primul tur in fata rusoaicei Anastasia Pivovarova, scor 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Circuitul masculin programeaza in aceasta saptamana trei turnee puternice in sala, Moscova, Viena si Stockholm gazduind evenimentele organizate sub sigla ATP. Dupa optimea de finala jucata la Metz, Victor Hanescu va evolua pe carpeta de la Moscova in compania israelianului Dudi Sela, jucator care a ajuns in finala turneului de la Beijing in urma cu doar o saptamana.

Premiile de la Moscova insumeaza un milion de dolari si rusul Nikolay Davydenko face figura de principal favorit. Mai participa Igor Andreev, Mihail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov sau Marat Safin, viitori adversari ai Romaniei in Cupa Davis, dar si mai vechile cunostinte Paul-Henri Mathieu sau Michael Llodra.

Calificat pe tabloul principal de la Viena, jucatorul Victor Crivoi il intalneste in primul tur al concursului de 674.000 de euro pe spaniolul Fernando Verdasco. In absenta campionului Novak Djokovic, elvetianul Stanislas Wawrinka este cotat cu prima sansa la castigarea turneului, urmatorii jucatori pe lista capilor de serie fiind Fernando Gonzalez, Juan Martin Del Potro sau Ivo Karlovic.

(UPDATE: Crivoi a pierdut meciul cu Verdasco, cu 6-4, 6-4).

Argentinianul David Nalbandian este cap de serie numarul unu la Stockholm Open din Suedia, turneu dotat cu premii totale in valoare de 713.000 de euro, la acesta mai participand Mario Ancic, Jarkko Nieminen, Robin Soderling, Rainer Schuettler sau Jose Acasuso. De notat revenirea cu un wild card a suedezului Joachim Johansson, fost semifinalist la US Open si fortat sa renunte in 2007 la participarea in circuitul profesionist din cauza unei accidentari.

Seria Challenger programeaza patru turnee, la Asuncion (Paraguay, 75.000 dolari) pe zgura, Sacramento (California, 50.000 dolari) pe hard, Florianopolis (Brazilia, 35.000 dolari) pe zgura si Rennes (Franta, 42.500 euro) in sala. La acesta din urma participa Horia Tecau si Florin Mergea in concursul de dublu, Tecau fiind in echipa cu elvetianul Yves Allegro, in timp ce Mergea il are ca si coleg pe britanicul Richard Bloomfild.

(C) Articolul a fost publicat in ziarul electronic Onlinesport.ro. Toate drepturile sunt rezervate.

and by guys i of course refer to pellier (who doesnt care about dizzy's hate for frenchies) and aces (who wont talk to nabo on aim because he is sleeping when the sun is away).  Either way, we were going to suprize you all with episode 11 this week, but my mom ended up not working so we will give er a go next week.  Now, that doesnt mean there will be a show next week because i post the following question:

do you want us to do a pre/post lbp and socom launch and get our thoughts on the 2 games and the headset or would you rather just have a post episode?

also, dizzy, can you work on a website header?  i believe i gave you the size but we just needed to change from "Atlantic to Pacific" to "Across The Pond: Connecting Right to Left"

get back to me you three, and for god sakes is there anyone out there to send us something besides spam?  i feel like nerdblurbs forums, closed off, bloated with spam, and the new link just doesnt do shit.

-nabokovfan87

p.s. steve and edgar recorded last night, hooray!

p.s.s. isnt tgs this week, hmm... where can i watch the cons?

• Robby Ginepri has a case of the disappearing hair.
• Maria Sharapova keeps busy offcourt with charity.
• So does Ana Ivanovic who, again like Maria, is always offcourt.
• Mardy Fish ties the knot.
• Jelena Jankovic is back as Queen Bee of the WTA.

The problem with so many tournaments played in Europe is that you have to wait to Monday in Australia to find out the results. Not a lot of surprises this week, the top seeds on the men's side are busy hibernating before the two TMS and Masters Cup come up. The women's side, China's Li Na took out Venus Williams in Beijing, and this week, she added the other Williams sister to her collection of 'big wins'. In losing to Li, Serena lost her no 1 spot to Jelena.

The other surprise is that Berdych has beaten del Potro in the Japan Open final to take the title, 6-1 6-4.

You didn't need to be a tennis fan to know that del Potro was on fire coming into this tournament, having won 29 of his last 30 matches (losing to Murray in the quarterfinal of the US Open). Berdych on the other hand has struggled all season, and has gone titleless for the last 16 months of his career. So honestly, I didn't expect this one coming.

The other final was more predictable, in Stuttgart, Jelena Jankovic beat Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-3 to win the title, the no 1 spot AND the porsche. Efficient heh? Not to mention this is her second title in two weeks. But the real deciding match was the one against Venus, which she won 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-2. At the start of the year, I thought Ivanovic was the more consistent player out of the two Serbian girls, but recent form has proven otherwise.

"I am really proud of myself. I am playing with a lot of confidence and I played some good tennis this week. I feel that every day I am getting better and better. I am really working on my game, I want to reach my full potential,'' Jankovic said.

That's the spirit. There's nothing more joyous than watching the drama queen do her splits, smile at her own winners, and play with so much confidence and conviction. Let's hope the happy camper keeps this up and win her first grand slam next year, hopefully in my hometown.

Caroline Wozniacki wins her third title in three months. YAY!

And Tursunov wins in Metz, I care? Not really. I actually don't know the player or his game that well, but I just thought I'd include this picture. There're a few wacky tournament trophies out there, but this one might just top the list. WTF possessed them ...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Poisonous alien plant"][/caption]

Thomas Berdych racked up two good wins in a row over Andy Roddick in the SF and Juan Martin del Potro in the finals to win the Japan Open in Tokyo. Thomas put a stop to Juan Martin's winning streak-that upset stomach did it's part as well-and beat him 6-1 6-4. This is Thomas' 1st title of the year and 4th of his career.

The battle of the teenagers, Sorana Cirstea won her first WTA title at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan after she beat Sabine Lisicki 2-6 6-4 7-6.

Jelena Jankovic returns to the top of the WTA ranking in winning form. She beat Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-2 to take the Stuttgart Grand Prix title. Jelena had a good tournament beating Vera Zvonareva and Venus Williams along the way. This is Jelena's 3rd title of the year and 8th of her career.

My other favorite Russian, Dmitry Tursunov won his 2nd title of the year and 5th of his career after he beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 1-6 6-4 at the Open de Moselle in France.

Caroline Wozniacki won her 3rd title of the year and 3rd of her career after she beat Kaia Kanepi 6-2 3-6 6-1 at the Japan Open in Tokyo. Caroline is having her breakout year having the 3 titles and beating the likes of Marion Bartoli, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Daniela Hantuchova and Anna Chakvetadze. Look for her to take out some more solid names in the near future.

Tortoise, while good- has Muppets for fans and sound a bit like when we used to play jazz odyssey during practice. Also one of the drummers was the spawn of Max Weinberg and 90s era Jerry Seinfeld with bad sleeve tattoos. I may sound snotty and cynical here, but despite their immense talent, I feel as though I have been air-dropped into the middle of a Worlds of Warcraft convention. But, I did get to snap a picture, as detailed below.

Thurston Moore was a major disappointment. He needed a lyric sheet and bragged that the album he was performing took a day to write, record, and mix. Sure as hell sounded like it! Lasted 2 songs and 8 minutes of noisy wankerism, no picture for you! That said, I did get a little starstruck when I saw him by the free ice cream truck the next day.

Built to Spill reminded me why I hate festival shows in the first place. The other people who attend them. To wit: fucked up loser or narcoleptic who kept passing out on people before his friends carried him out of the venue presumably to stash him somewhere where he could rest it off and choke to death on his own vomit. Or, the tranny hooker/model and her boyfriend. They were on some combo of coke, meth, and e that rendered them incredibly exuberant, violent, and annoying all at once. Why do these people find me at every fucking show? Anyway b2s were very good when they were playing actual songs. Their near 2 hour set could have been cut in half if they stopped the hippy dippy noodly guitar solo interludes. That said, maybe I have been listening to too much 88 youth crew stuff these days: intro-verse-go!-chorus-go!-moshpart-end. That is all you need. Unfortunately, I was too far back to get any good pics.

DAY 2

Apse: God it's sunny out here today. We initially planned on skipping the early bands and were chilling on

the antiquated/dangerous/superfun playground equipment. Then we went to sit on chairs by the pond. There were a few kids out in rowboats in the pond. Clearly they never had the opportunity to engage in this pasttime before, and I was amused by their poorly coordinated rowing. I was also awaiting someone to stand up and tip their boat. Some fool was stupid enough to stand, but no such luck on the follow through. Then I heard an aggressive dark sound coming from stage 1. We went in to see Apse. I tried out my camera settings. They had a very good sound, dark, aggressive, a bit unlike everything else last night. They did need some serious song editing. And some decent hooks. And some differentiation between songs. I also hate to say it- they needed to settle on a cohesive image- because they were all over the map. Bassist wanted to be a cross btw Nick Rhodes and Carlos Interpol. The keys guy needed to either grow out his Jew fro and be proud of it, or shave it a la Justin Timberlake: he just ended up looking like Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The guitarists looked like an AP highschool English teacher and a hippie professional surfer respectively. The singer wanted to be both Ozzy and Perry Farrell. Either, he needed to grow out his hair or he needed to lose weight. Only the drummer had it right. Looking like Brendan Canty's little brother.

Wooden Ships. Great psychadelic surf pop. Looks too much like the spawn of Charlie Manson and Anton La Vey. Made for much cognitive dissonance, sort of like what must have been happening shortly after Altamont. Couldn't get a good pic from where I was standing though. I will be looking to buy their work.

Fuckbuttons. They were really really good. But then got too techno, and literally this guy next to me just said: "A bottle of Jamesons, a bag of mushrooms, and the Fuckbuttons. I haven't been so happy since I saw the Monkees." Hippies. I took that as my cue to leave. Picture below.

Free ice cream. I got a nutty buddy, and thought a moment about how much I missed my birdies.

Note to self, sick of the following: Ironic facial hair. Still people do this. The Charlie Manson look. Kevin's keen on this. Lead singers with part or parts of drumsets... You can tell the bands hate this too.

Edan: Best act of the fest so far, by FAR! Ebin recommended highly, and I always trust him as far as hip hop goes. The set was tight and well organized. Edan and his special guest Dagha were phenomenal, entertaining, fast paced, humorus, and incredibly talented on the mics and decks. They sampled sabbath, the velvets, sugar hill gang, led zeppelin. He also did a few freestyle rhymes with Dagha. The crowd was hyped. Pictured below.

Polvo: I must admit I was getting pretty tired by this point. However, I was wicked excited to see Polvo. They were fantastic. While I admit they did fall victim to some of that noodly shit that was going around, their technical ability actually made it worth listening to. They had some parts that sounded like they were going for a bit of a Boys Life feel. Though they were not nearly as bleak, spare, or dramatic as Boys Life. LOVE the flowered shirt. Pictured below.

Marcy's gonna kill me, I missed Les Savy Fav. I crashed out on a sofa awaiting Shellac.

Ah Shellac, highlight of the day! They got onstage and were building up to the big entrance, when disaster

struck-- Todd Trainer's bass drum pedal broke, and as he was scrambling to find a replacement, Bob Weston opened the floor to q. And a. session. He also announced that the Cubs won the *something* league central playoffs or something or other... if such a thing exists. Blah blah blah blah baseball is so BORING. Pedal problems fixed, they got off to a bang and played a fanstasic set that was frontloaded with all their big hits. I nearly got headbutted by an overweight fratboy during My black ass. I hated him for his heighth, width, and his general douchebaggery.

Having snapped my fill of pics, we went back to one of the balconies for the rest of the set. Shellac showed every single band there how to do it right: musicianship first, followed by professionalism and performance, leaving all the bs gimmicks alone. After wanting to see them for more than 10 years, they didn't let me down.

DAY 3

EPMD! I managed to get right up front for this one, which was great for taking pictures, but not so great for putting my hands in the air and waving them like I just didn't care. Ah, the golden age of hip hop was looked back upon fondly by this duo. Their short set was filled with hits and they paid homage to all their contemporaries, while skewering the current crap that passes for mainstream hip hop these days. Hype way to start the day.

Then the powers that be started kicking people out of the venue before each act. That was pretty cool because then people couldn't camp out by the stage. They also warned us all that slr cameras would be confiscated during the last 3 acts. Rumor has it Kevin Shields was behind that rule. Balls. My point and shoot sucks in comparison, how am I to deal under such conditions?

Mercury Rev was next, and they were my suprise hit of the entire event. It was sort of like watching the

spawn of the Roxy Music and Carol Kane's ghost of Christmas Present in the movie Scrooged. They were so incredibly entertaining and played a fantastic set of orchestral glam rock. I had never really listened to them before, figuring there were a ton of other bands I'd rather check out first. Ok I also probably held the fact that they were from Buffalo against them-thinking they were interchangeable with the Goo Goo Dolls. Who are in fact crap.

Skipped Yo La Tengo. I've tried to like them. But god they are dull. I felt vindicated when one of the pro photogs I was talking to stated he would use their set to get dinner.

Mogwai. I managed to get up front, off to the side, and right under the tower of speakers dangling from the ceiling. Kevin and I wondered whether the structure would hold. Well if quadruple decker speakuhs, smashes into us, to die to Mogwai is such a heavenly way to die.

They were so.loud. It was unbelievable! Their bass stole the air from my lungs at one point. But they were absolutely amazing, best act of the entire weekend. One of their songs hit the resonant frequency of my phone when I took a picture. They are so awesome, the laws of physics get excited! Pictures below.

Dinosaur Jr. again proved the fact they are one of the best livebands ever of all time. They set up in record time, and so I went in during the first song. J Mascis was surrounded on 3 sides by a fort of amps and heads: 2 Marshall full stacks and a Fender Blues Deville perched atop a whole bunch of rack units. He is still God too, even his random little half assed noodlings between each song were fucking brilliant. Thurston Moore. Take note. Lou Barlow was completely unbelivable, so full of energy, and Murph kept the two poles of the band from descending into entropy. They were so much fun to watch.

My Bloody Valentine decided to keep their audience waiting about an hour before they showed up to take the stage. They had already wasted our time earlier in the day by taking too long in their sound check, delaying the start of the entire day. Now they were an hour late. Assholes. Kevin and I were bargaining that if they didn't take the stage by quarter to one (AM), we would leave. Kev had tickets for Tuesday's show in NYC. I sold mine because I was going to hang out w/ my sister who would be visiting for work. Anyway, with only minutes to spare, they take the stage. They were so loud you could not hear the vocals. It was also apparent that some tracks were canned and only Shields and the drummer were playing live. But otherwise they were pretty damn good. Then during the second song, I was overcome by the most intense nausea. I looked at my Kevin and said "oh God I need to leave, I am going to throw up." My mouth started watering intensely and I ran for the exit, not stopping until I made it outside. Fortunately I was able to keep it together... And the nausea subsided as soon as I was outdoors. Out in the night air, with 2 concrete walls between us, they sounded great! We lasted a few more songs, and went home early having reached the point of total exhaustion. Rumor has it though, the last 20 minutes of their set was just a loop of continuous noise wanksterism that managed to be even louder than their songs. Assholes. Kevin Shields is an asshole. Who does this to their fans, and why do their fans take it? Pictures of their amp wall/torture device below.

Well well well, that's it. I saw a few more acts during the course of the weekend, but I was just too exhausted to take proper notes. Hopefully I'll be able to make next year's event. :) More pictures can be seen on my Flicker site, in my ATP Collection.

Where have you been, man? I haven't seen you play since Miami Masters, which was the last time he got a decent result. I don't know what he's been struggling with, but beating Del Potro 6-1, 6-4 sounds very very good. Del Potro has been beating good players with same kind of numbers and went in with all sorts of confidence. I didn't see the final, but I watched some of the SF action and both Del Potro and Berdych seemed to be on their way to a title. But having seen how Del Potro has won like 28 of the last 30 matches, this should have been a straight forward win. Berdych is the guy who got 6 games in the first round against Querrey in USO. Big serving Berdych took out Roddick in a match he was down 2-5 in the third.

I've always enjoyed the way Berdych hits flat shots almost every single time and pushes from baseline. Why he isn't more consistent with the results, I don't know. He might have the talent but not too much variation.... Really can't tell. Good to see him up and running even though there will be no room for him in Shanghai.

The battle is in reality between Ferrer, Blake and Del Potro I think. These three will have to do some serious point hunting these last tournaments. Two Masters will be key. I think Ferrer has enough to defend and will struggle against Blake and Del Potro. Wawrinka, Gonzalez, Simon and Tsonga are kinda far away, but Masters can turn that around. A QF or SF will give enough points to turn it upside down.

Fed, Rafa, Djoko, and Murray are the ones with a ticket. Davydenko just needs to win some matches in Moscow, but he should be good right now. Roddick has a gap to the Russian, but he seems to be more consistent now and with a good performance in the two masters, he should qualify. Ferrer is not that far awau either, but has no results to show since clay and Blake and Del Potro are probably going to close the gap.  What about Berdych? He's 19th and probably like 200 points away. That's too much. If pulls a Nalby finish then maybe yes, but we might not see him again this year.

Tras dejar en el camino al español David Ferrer, Del Potro venció en esta ocasión al francés Richard Gasquet por 6-3, 4-6 y 7-5, en semifinales, y espera en la definición a Tomas Berdych, vencedor de Andy Roddick en tres sets.

Una doble falta del francés, cuarto favorito, dio a Del Potro una ventaja 3-2 y el argentino cerró el primer set con un nuevo quiebre.

asquet, que el año pasado alcanzó la final aquí, rompió el saque de Delpo al inicio del segundo set para igualar las acciones.

Ambos tenistas desperdiciaron puntos de quiebres en el set decisivo, pero fue Del Potro quien controló sus nervios y aseguró su lugar en la final del domingo al obligar a Gasquet a enviar un tiro ancho en el primer match point.

"He mejorado mucho; si no, no podría vencer a tenistas como Ferrer y Gasquet, voy por el camino correcto pero necesito tiempo para mejorar", dijo tras la victoria el tandilense. Y agregó sobre el juego: "Mi saque fue la clave porque tuve muchos break points en contra y me funcionó siempre. Este ha sido uno de los partidos mas difíciles de los últimos torneos porque con Gasquet nunca supe hasta el final si me iba a dejar una oportunidad."

Top ten y Masters. Con este resultado, el argentino ingresa por primera vez al top ten: el lunes figurará 9° en el ranking de la ATP. En cuanto a la Carrera de Campeones, Del Potro mantiene las chances de ingresar al Masters de Shanghai, el torneo que reúne a los ocho mejores del mundo en el cierre de la temporada. Si mañana gana el título desplazará al estadounidense James Blake y se colocará octavo.

El tenista de Tandil, de 20 años, se impuso al francés y logró su 29 victoria en sus 30 últimos partidos. Además, Del Potro ha ganado cuatro trofeos del circuito desde junio.

Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro are really attractive in an odd way. I don't know what it is, but they are. And they happen to be playing each other in the final of the AIG Japan Open tomorrow. JMDP took out Richard Gasquet in his semifinal match, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. He's won 29 of his last 30 matches. In other words Juan has been on fire. Tomas Berdych upset Andy Roddick in the other semifinal, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (3). Tomas is kind of like JMDP at the begining of the year, full of talent but lacking results. Tomas is just more of a headcase. Should be an interesting match up.