This is one of the questions Federer answered in an interview (after his match with Hewitt in Australian Open 2010). The answer would amount to be arrogant if anybody else had said it. It is only Federer who can give such an answer and sound modest!! Check it out:
Question: You mentioned tonight you played some amazing shots. How often are you genuinely surprised by some of the shots you come up with?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, quite often. Even though I know I can play really good shots and come up with great backhands, forehands, serves and volleys, and stuff, when you can really produce them in the most important stages of a match it's so rewarding and such a good feeling that all the hard work you put in in the off‑season is so like ‑‑ it's just a beautiful feeling, you know.
Then if you can start to hit a dropshot or dig in the corner and get the ball back that you think you would never get, but it's a match situation and the adrenaline is there and you just got that extra speed and you get the ball back and end up winning the point, it does still obviously surprise me even today.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Desi Observation
Just today we were watching a show on HGTV where an Indian girl was looking for a house. She was using the word "like" in almost each sentence! It seems inocous when you don't pay attention, but it is funny once you expect the word to be used. For example, some of the sentences she used were:
- This is like, pretty nice
- I can like, use it as a guest bedroom
- Can you like, show me something closer to downtown
It drew my attention that we do use to tend this word a lot! This along with "you know". Obviously we use them because for a second we are at a loss of words. But what I am not sure is why ALL of us end up using these two words specifically! I mean why can't we use something like, you know different? ;-)
- This is like, pretty nice
- I can like, use it as a guest bedroom
- Can you like, show me something closer to downtown
It drew my attention that we do use to tend this word a lot! This along with "you know". Obviously we use them because for a second we are at a loss of words. But what I am not sure is why ALL of us end up using these two words specifically! I mean why can't we use something like, you know different? ;-)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Top 20 Movies of all time
Hello Friends,
As you all know I am a big time movie fan. Just yesterday I saw Avatar. I loved the movie. There are lot of good movies, but very few "different and good" movies. This was one of them. I loved the way James Cameroon has used his imagination and created a whole new world for us to fall in love with. The movie is a beauty to watch, and has a good story.
I also saw District 9 a week back. Loved this movie as well. It is again a different take on alien movies. In this movie instead of aliens tormenting humans - humans are torturing aliens. Must see movie. So does this two movies fall in my top 20 (out of 670 I have seen)? Check out my Top 20 so far:
1. Matrix
2. Forrest Gump
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Dumb and Dumber
5. Schindler's List
6. Les Miserables
7. Philadelphia
8. Dr Strangelove
9. The Kite Runner
10. The Hangover
11. The Lord of the Rings - 1
12.Seven Samurai
13. The Godfather - 2
14. Pulp Fiction
15. Rocky
16. The Gladiator
17. Chariots of Fire
18. Malcolm X
19. The Godfather
20. Gods Must be Crazy
As you all know I am a big time movie fan. Just yesterday I saw Avatar. I loved the movie. There are lot of good movies, but very few "different and good" movies. This was one of them. I loved the way James Cameroon has used his imagination and created a whole new world for us to fall in love with. The movie is a beauty to watch, and has a good story.
I also saw District 9 a week back. Loved this movie as well. It is again a different take on alien movies. In this movie instead of aliens tormenting humans - humans are torturing aliens. Must see movie. So does this two movies fall in my top 20 (out of 670 I have seen)? Check out my Top 20 so far:
1. Matrix
2. Forrest Gump
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Dumb and Dumber
5. Schindler's List
6. Les Miserables
7. Philadelphia
8. Dr Strangelove
9. The Kite Runner
10. The Hangover
11. The Lord of the Rings - 1
12.Seven Samurai
13. The Godfather - 2
14. Pulp Fiction
15. Rocky
16. The Gladiator
17. Chariots of Fire
18. Malcolm X
19. The Godfather
20. Gods Must be Crazy
Friday, January 08, 2010
Loving the HGTV programs
Reena and I are watching a lot of HGTV programs now. We just love them. It is so exciting to see how so many people are buying houses and making them homes. We also love the shows where they renovate part of the home into something spectacular. Sometimes it is hard to believe that it was the same place! The interior designers of HGTV are just awesome.
Some of the shows we watch regularly are:
1. Holmes on Homes
Here Mike Holmes takes on projects that have been screwed up by some other contractor. It is amazing to see how some of the contractors cut corners, deliver low quality product, and worse work without permit and swindle innocent homeowners. Holmes on the other hand is a professional, and the pride he takes in his work shows!
2. House Hunters
This is our favorite show. It shows families looking for a house in a particular location. They see several houses in their budget and finalize on the one. The suspense at end of the show (which house they select, and will they get the house they bid on) is nice.
3. Carter Can
Carter Osterhouse renovates part of a house as per the owners taste.
4. Property Income
Scott McGillivray changes basements to habitable apartments. This is a really nice show and the transformation he brings is just awesome.
5. The Outside Room
This is a new show on HGTV. Jamie Duree is a genius!! He transforms the outside space of homes into something spectacular. In one of the episode he transformed the space to a Bali inspired garden. The final result was just so beautiful that you dream of having such a space for yourself someday!
6. Property Virgins
This is another show where first time house buyers try to find a house and bid on the one they like. It is pretty informative and shows what are the things to watch out for when buying a house. But I don't like the host Sandra Rinamoto. She is at many times too aggressive, and pushes the buyers into making a bid. I think she should give more space to the buyers and be less intrusive.
Is anyone else out there HGTV freak like us? :)
Some of the shows we watch regularly are:
1. Holmes on Homes
Here Mike Holmes takes on projects that have been screwed up by some other contractor. It is amazing to see how some of the contractors cut corners, deliver low quality product, and worse work without permit and swindle innocent homeowners. Holmes on the other hand is a professional, and the pride he takes in his work shows!
2. House Hunters
This is our favorite show. It shows families looking for a house in a particular location. They see several houses in their budget and finalize on the one. The suspense at end of the show (which house they select, and will they get the house they bid on) is nice.
3. Carter Can
Carter Osterhouse renovates part of a house as per the owners taste.
4. Property Income
Scott McGillivray changes basements to habitable apartments. This is a really nice show and the transformation he brings is just awesome.
5. The Outside Room
This is a new show on HGTV. Jamie Duree is a genius!! He transforms the outside space of homes into something spectacular. In one of the episode he transformed the space to a Bali inspired garden. The final result was just so beautiful that you dream of having such a space for yourself someday!
6. Property Virgins
This is another show where first time house buyers try to find a house and bid on the one they like. It is pretty informative and shows what are the things to watch out for when buying a house. But I don't like the host Sandra Rinamoto. She is at many times too aggressive, and pushes the buyers into making a bid. I think she should give more space to the buyers and be less intrusive.
Is anyone else out there HGTV freak like us? :)
Monday, January 04, 2010
Update on Colorado Trip
It has been few months since we went to Colorado, but the trip definitely deserves a post. Colorado is unbelievably beautiful. If Kashmir is heaven on earth, then Colorado is definitely heaven on US. As you already know our trip was short (just 3 days), so very hectic. We covered the following places:
Day 1: Colorado Springs (Garden of Gods, Pike Peak)
We reached Denver airport early morning on Friday. We headed straight to Colorado Springs and made our way to Crystal Lake. Its serene beauty was really what set the mood for the whole trip. The lake with its crystal clear water is safely enconsed at the foot of mountains. The excitement we felt could not be described. We were literally jumping around and clicking pics.
We didn't feel like leaving, but we went on to Pike Peak. I don't know if it was the height or the zigzagging road, but I got terrible headache. The view from the top as well seemed just OK. Or maybe it was just too cold (32 degrees below zero). Anyways, we soon retreated and came to Garden of Gods. The weather here was pleasant 50 degrees. We all just loved the rock formations. Plus the color radiated from the rocks/hills was very pleasant. The pictures seemed to come alive in their hue. I was acting like a monkey and trying to climb various rocks :-). I hadn't seen great reviews about this place, but I thought it was a must see.
It was evening, and we were famished by now. After eating stomach full of Indian food, we started for Longmont for our night stay.
Day 2: Rocky Mountains (Trail Ridge Road, Bear Lake, Alpine Visitor Center, and Mountain Shadow lake)
We started for Estes Park early in the morning. We had heard lot of good things about Rocky Mountains. Today was the day to see them. First off we went to Bear Lake. It was beautiful!! The lake is big and surrounded by mountains. We did a trail around the lake and saw different shadows in the lake. The trail itself was nice and easy. We then trekked to see the Alberta Falls. This place is also a hidden beauty. I will be posting pics for all the places I mentioned in separate post. We also saw Sprague lake but didn't like as it is not well maintained.
After Alberta Falls, we went towards Alpine Visitor center (via Trail Ridge Road). The route is very scenic and we stopped several times to click pics of the amazing views. The best though was the view from the highest point. It looked like gateway to heaven. I am at a loss of words to describe the beauty of all the scenery. After a short stop at the visitor center we headed for Shadow mountain lake. The lake was nice but not as beautiful as we had expected it to be (maybe because it was not sunny). It was nice regardless.
The main surprise for us was the route to Dillon for our night stay. We didnt take the main highway I70. Instead somehow we got routed through a local highway. We couldn't believe how beautiful the route was! Small lakes, railway tracks, hills and mountains were scattered all along the route. This made it one of the high points of the day. It is rightly said, some of the best moments are the ones that are not planned.
Day 3: Independence Pass and Maroon Bells (Aspen)
For the last day, we again left early in the morning to Independence Pass (via Vail and Leadville). We were releived to know that IP was open. The route was very nice and we had some nice clicks on the way. The highest point of IP was again the highlight. It was very gorgeous. We even had a snow fight! I still can't believe why Colorado is not a must visit place for my friends. Anyways after this we went straight to Maroon Bells lake in Aspen. This lake again was very beautiful. It is famous for the shadows the mountains cast, but we couldnt see that as it was not very sunny. Still the lake was worth the drive and we loved playing near it. I guess another good part was that it was not at all crowded.
We were sad that the trip was over and we had to leave for Denver. But the biggest surprise came in the form of the route from Aspen to Denver. The initial 2 hours of the journey was drop dead gorgeous. It was better than all the sight seeing I had done. And amazingly no one talks about it! The curving roads with tunnels, and a river running alongside the road was awesome! If you come to Colorado, you must absolutely come to Aspen and take this route. I hope this post helps people plan their trip better.
Day 1: Colorado Springs (Garden of Gods, Pike Peak)
We reached Denver airport early morning on Friday. We headed straight to Colorado Springs and made our way to Crystal Lake. Its serene beauty was really what set the mood for the whole trip. The lake with its crystal clear water is safely enconsed at the foot of mountains. The excitement we felt could not be described. We were literally jumping around and clicking pics.
We didn't feel like leaving, but we went on to Pike Peak. I don't know if it was the height or the zigzagging road, but I got terrible headache. The view from the top as well seemed just OK. Or maybe it was just too cold (32 degrees below zero). Anyways, we soon retreated and came to Garden of Gods. The weather here was pleasant 50 degrees. We all just loved the rock formations. Plus the color radiated from the rocks/hills was very pleasant. The pictures seemed to come alive in their hue. I was acting like a monkey and trying to climb various rocks :-). I hadn't seen great reviews about this place, but I thought it was a must see.
It was evening, and we were famished by now. After eating stomach full of Indian food, we started for Longmont for our night stay.
Day 2: Rocky Mountains (Trail Ridge Road, Bear Lake, Alpine Visitor Center, and Mountain Shadow lake)
We started for Estes Park early in the morning. We had heard lot of good things about Rocky Mountains. Today was the day to see them. First off we went to Bear Lake. It was beautiful!! The lake is big and surrounded by mountains. We did a trail around the lake and saw different shadows in the lake. The trail itself was nice and easy. We then trekked to see the Alberta Falls. This place is also a hidden beauty. I will be posting pics for all the places I mentioned in separate post. We also saw Sprague lake but didn't like as it is not well maintained.
After Alberta Falls, we went towards Alpine Visitor center (via Trail Ridge Road). The route is very scenic and we stopped several times to click pics of the amazing views. The best though was the view from the highest point. It looked like gateway to heaven. I am at a loss of words to describe the beauty of all the scenery. After a short stop at the visitor center we headed for Shadow mountain lake. The lake was nice but not as beautiful as we had expected it to be (maybe because it was not sunny). It was nice regardless.
The main surprise for us was the route to Dillon for our night stay. We didnt take the main highway I70. Instead somehow we got routed through a local highway. We couldn't believe how beautiful the route was! Small lakes, railway tracks, hills and mountains were scattered all along the route. This made it one of the high points of the day. It is rightly said, some of the best moments are the ones that are not planned.
Day 3: Independence Pass and Maroon Bells (Aspen)
For the last day, we again left early in the morning to Independence Pass (via Vail and Leadville). We were releived to know that IP was open. The route was very nice and we had some nice clicks on the way. The highest point of IP was again the highlight. It was very gorgeous. We even had a snow fight! I still can't believe why Colorado is not a must visit place for my friends. Anyways after this we went straight to Maroon Bells lake in Aspen. This lake again was very beautiful. It is famous for the shadows the mountains cast, but we couldnt see that as it was not very sunny. Still the lake was worth the drive and we loved playing near it. I guess another good part was that it was not at all crowded.
We were sad that the trip was over and we had to leave for Denver. But the biggest surprise came in the form of the route from Aspen to Denver. The initial 2 hours of the journey was drop dead gorgeous. It was better than all the sight seeing I had done. And amazingly no one talks about it! The curving roads with tunnels, and a river running alongside the road was awesome! If you come to Colorado, you must absolutely come to Aspen and take this route. I hope this post helps people plan their trip better.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Lifeline for GOP - the attempted bombing of NW Flight
I am so relieved that the attempted bombing of NW Flight (Amsterdam - Detroit) didnot materialize. I feel glad for the safety of travellers who had a ride of their life. There is no question that many pointers were missed which should have alerted the authorities. Still I feel the attacks on Obama are unfounded.
Just because Obama is focussing on issues like economy and healthcare, that doesnt mean that he is lax on security. The attacks are especially ridiculous in the light that the flight boarded from Amsterdam. I am surprised that democrats are not pointing out that it was a failure on Amsterdam's part. Yes, American bound flights are responsibility of US Govt too. But you cannot simply overtake control of airports all over the world.
One fact that absolutely needs to be addressed is that the suspect was on US terror watchlist! Still he was not subjected to special screening. This is a big loophole that can easily be fixed. You just need to run all the reservations against the terror watchlist. It is already happening in domestic flights. It needs to be implemented for US bound flights as well.
All this being said, I still think that Fox network and GOP establishment will do their best to milk this issue. Obama had a close call on this one. One only hopes that no other attack is successful in the future -- else I dont see how Obama can win a second term. And we do need Obama for full 8 years!!
Just because Obama is focussing on issues like economy and healthcare, that doesnt mean that he is lax on security. The attacks are especially ridiculous in the light that the flight boarded from Amsterdam. I am surprised that democrats are not pointing out that it was a failure on Amsterdam's part. Yes, American bound flights are responsibility of US Govt too. But you cannot simply overtake control of airports all over the world.
One fact that absolutely needs to be addressed is that the suspect was on US terror watchlist! Still he was not subjected to special screening. This is a big loophole that can easily be fixed. You just need to run all the reservations against the terror watchlist. It is already happening in domestic flights. It needs to be implemented for US bound flights as well.
All this being said, I still think that Fox network and GOP establishment will do their best to milk this issue. Obama had a close call on this one. One only hopes that no other attack is successful in the future -- else I dont see how Obama can win a second term. And we do need Obama for full 8 years!!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Obama and bipartisanship - An idea
It was sad to see a key procedural vote on Health Bill being passed without a single republican vote. I was watching the live coverage on CNN. Both Democrats and Republicans had some very good points on the bill. In the meantime stats say one American dies every 10 minutes for lack of insurance. Why can't the senate form a consensus on such an urgent issue?
I remember Obama promising bipartisanship in his administration. He cited how he worked with republicans in Chicago to pass many bills. But those promises have taken a backseat since he became President. I am surprised on how naively he invited republicans to some dinners at White House, and expected them to become his fans! That's not how it works!! I totally agree that it is not an easy task to make your political opponents agree with you. But the lack of effort to win them over is what concerns me.
For example, we have not seen any overtures to Republican side to get their support. As per their interview even they admit health care system is broken. I would have loved to see Obama asking both Democrats and Republicans to table a bill on Health Care. Each with their take on how to fix the issue. This would have produced a common theme around which the bill could have been built. It would definitely had been more constructive way to go!
I remember Obama promising bipartisanship in his administration. He cited how he worked with republicans in Chicago to pass many bills. But those promises have taken a backseat since he became President. I am surprised on how naively he invited republicans to some dinners at White House, and expected them to become his fans! That's not how it works!! I totally agree that it is not an easy task to make your political opponents agree with you. But the lack of effort to win them over is what concerns me.
For example, we have not seen any overtures to Republican side to get their support. As per their interview even they admit health care system is broken. I would have loved to see Obama asking both Democrats and Republicans to table a bill on Health Care. Each with their take on how to fix the issue. This would have produced a common theme around which the bill could have been built. It would definitely had been more constructive way to go!
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