Australian Open Preview -- Men's Draw

This will be much shorter than the women's preview (I think) because it's basically a two-horse race. Nadal / Federer are to men's tennis today what Navratilova / Evert were to women's tennis in the late 70s and early 80s. In other words, if you're anyone else you're basically playing for a spot in the semi-finals.

Australian Open Preview -- Women's Draw

I'm never going to get these seed reports done before the first ball is struck, but I won't be looking at the results until I'm done so there will be no cheating involved.

I'm not sure getting to the final or winning this tournament should be the goal of any of these women right now. If you look at the last three women's finals here, with the exception of Serena in 2009 (and she wasn't as lucky in 2010) everyone that has played in this final fell apart either physically or emotionally (or both) by the end of that same year. In fact, of the five of them (Serena, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ianovic and Dinara Safina) only Serena is even still in the top ten. But she's been injured since right after Wimbledon so she will not be defending her title. No matter. Like it or not, someone is going to win this tournament so let's look at the chances each of them have.

p²'s Pop Magic 2010 -- Part 2

Without further ado, here are my ten favorite songs from 2010.

10. The Time - Dirty Bit (Black Eyed Peas) -- The version of this song I've heard on the radio is really heavy on the Dirty Dancing sample, which makes it repetitive and generic (which is often the way I like my pop music). The version on the album is much more Black Eyed Peas-ish (i.e. mega Fergie and Will.I.Am). If you haven't heard the album version, you should do yourself a favor and check it out (unless you hate the BEPs, in which case DO NOT CLICK THE LINK).

p²'s Pop Magic 2010 -- Part 1

[Note: Just like last year, part one today; the top ten tomorrow.]


It seems like just yesterday I posted The Best Songs of 2009, According to p². Of course, it probably seems like that to me because most of the songs on that list are still blowing up my iPod a year later. I always think I hate new music, so I tend not to listen to it until it's already been a hit for three months. Then I "discover" all these great new songs (that already have muzak versions by the time I get around to them).