The new album has arrived and is available here

Over 10 years ago Rolling Stone magazine called this artist “classy and promising”.

A final note about this album. It is entirely self-made with the exception of two guest tracks.

You can preview the entire album for free here

Lyrics for the album are here

The new track Secession is on YouTube! Features brilliant space photography from NASA and others.

The is the first track taken from the forthcoming Duncan Alex album Early Days.

You can listen to a preview of the entire album Early Days is also available for your listening pleasure free here! Of course, the first album Beyond the Gift is available on iTunes.

Let’s cut to the chase. The players I reckon could knock Nadal out are:

1 Del Potro
2 Murray
3 Soderling
and on a good day:
Federer, Roddick, Djokovic, Tsonga or Wawrinka

It’s going to be pretty hard going for Nadal to win the US Open if all or some of those guys are in his draw, but his motivation will be the highest it’s ever been, that’s for sure. And I’ll be watching to see an improvement on his serve – first AND second. One thing he surely has wanted and been able to do all this time is practice that stroke, I would’ve thought. Rather handy for the US Open. The drop shot has probably improved too.

Soderling will have his hands full with Nadal who will be rather miffed about RG and therefore super-motivated to beat him. Soderling could cave in under the pressure, but then again – maybe not. He may still be able to “play like it’s practice”. If so I’d take Soderling.

Murray can and will beat Nadal on a hard court on a good Murray day. Murray’s own weaknesses – Mr Angry showing up, being too passive, not taking risks, are starting to hit players’ awareness, and Nadal would know to play super aggressively and annoyingly against him. Murray can be patient, and can simply play more balls back than anyone else, so if Mr Patient shows up it can be funny to watch Nadal being out-Nadalled.

Del Potro can push Nadal around and comes in and volleys very well. Nadal can’t pass the Ogre Man as easily as he can others, so will probably smack the ball right at him at the net and keep the ball in the middle of the court, to crunch up his long arms. Federer figured out to do this (and play very low balls) and executed superbly against Del Potro, he played very smart. But I think Del Potro is a quick study and clueing into such tactics, and still I see him as the greatest threat along with Murray. Both players don’t give a shit about who Nadal is, or Federer is. That’s partly why they have some success I think.

Djokovic on the other hand – does care. He has the skills, again, but mentally… he’s a beaten man lately.

Federer has a lot to prove especially after Sampras’ recent comments  and fair enough, Sampras I think is probably just trying to give Federer something to motivate himself with over the final years of his career. Federer’s an unknown, he surprised me in Madrid, and he’s obviously been resurgent. Whether that momentum carries after the birth of the twins we’ll see! Tough to call and comes down to whether he slept the previous night, I’m sure!

Wawrinka has just become a super solid player (with a great backhand) who on a good day can trouble most anyone. Mentally he’s getting tougher all the time too. So that will be interesting, but I don’t feel he’s quite beating Nadal yet.

Roddick will be super motivated and he got Nadal into quite a bit of trouble in Indian Wells, the last time they played. Sure, Nadal won, but Roddick was taking it to him and looked the better player in all aspects. What it came down to in my books was the key moments, again. But Roddick hadn’t hit his current form, either. The man is playing inspired tennis and is a nice guy to boot, so if anyone deserves a US Open W it’s him.

A candid and moving tribute to MJ from Lisa Marie Presley, who strikes me as a very real person

What Michael Jackson Did on His Last Day

More than 1 million seek tix Jackson memorial

No Celebrity Supernova Burned Brighter Than Jackson At the Peak of his Career

Deformed by Surgery. Warped by Fame. The Sad End of an American Icon

Michael Jackson is dead – first story I read

Michael Jackson Leaves Behind Two Unfinished Albums

Michael Jackson’s Missing Music: More to Come?

‘Endless’ unreleased music in Jackson’s vaults

Cause of death and Demerol OD?

LAPD: Michael Jackson’s drug history to be probed

Police searching for Michael Jackson’s doctor

Good story

Stars speak out

Another story

Loyal Japanese fans

Where is Janet? and what she said about her bro back along

Online traffic spiked and all about how the internet crashed

About drugs

Best collection of thoughts I’ve found so far

Story

Quotes about his death

Another story

Time article on “The Death of Peter Pan”

Pay tribute to MJ

Video news

Jackson’s Millions

Michael Jackson’s Mysterious Medical Past

Michael Jackson’s ‘Final Curtain Call’ and links

Tehran Tweets: Mourning Michael Amid the Crisis

Facebook managed to do it with the Wispa!
I want to do it with the old recipe Quaker Oat Krunchies.

Yes – there’s Oat Crisp – I know, believe me, I know!

A couple of years ago PepsiCo (who own Quaker) took Oat Krunchies away and replaced them with Oat Crisp (in a nicer-looking packet). Now, to explain: Oat Crisps appear to be virtual carbon copies of Oat Krunchies, except for – as far as I can tell – a significant reduction in the receipe’s salt content.

But if that’s all that has changed, damnnit, that salt made all the difference! It may also be that there’s some malt missing, or they’ve used a different malt. Who knows?

But the flavour now is a disappointment. The flavour of old was simply delicious. There was nothing to compare.

Why is it “they” always find out which are life’s truely mass-market culinary delights, and either take them away or just change the receipes? “They” did it with Wispa, but bless them they brought that beauty back. And I have thanked Cadbury many times over with my wallet.

PepsiCo listen up! I hereby pledge that if you make ‘em, I will buy ‘em in great quantities:

So, bring back old-style recipe Oat Krunchies!

Anyone with me?

Nadal does seem to be one of the genuinely nicest high profile players on the tour. And now he is injured and cannot defend his Wimbledon title nor the number one spot. As such, I feel slightly mean writing this – a bit, not too much. He’s done quite well for himself, he has a strong healthy family who love him and care for him, excellent tennis skills, and competitive spirit, hoards of adoring fans, loads of cash, loads of respect, and six Majors in his trophy collection. There’s no need to feel too sorry after all.

And I’m not trying to bring his person down.

My motivation to attack his tennis is quite simple – I find it boring. His defensive style, the grunting, the waiting. His team’s long and carefully-honed tactics executed perfectly and robotically by their machine. The long long points mostly consisting of baseline rallies. Very little separating him from his rivals in matches other than the number of unforced errors. He wins by increments, and simply wears down his opponent psychologically and physically. Maybe I have a short attention span (cricket bores me to tears). But let me put it a different way.

Muhammud Ali.

Ali boxed in a way that was so fine, so true to the spirit of the sport that it inspired and transcended the sport. Federer has the same thing in his blood. Nadal does not. And as time goes on, articles written about Nadal have highlighted that he may even care less for tennis than he does for soccer.

Before Roland Garros, people loved a winner. Media loves a winner, fans love a winner. He is a noble, mature young man who also appears to be kind and support worthy causes. Ali’s greatest rival, Jo Frazier, was also kind it seems – he helped a bummed out Ali, and Ali repaid him with unkindness. Yet Ali is far more popular and is considered the greater fighter. Ali despised the way Frazier fought, yet saw him as perhaps his greatest threat. No doubt whatsoever that people would watch Ali’s over Frazier’s fights. Boxers aspire to the finer skills presented by Ali, but obviously, more fighters can consistently achieve the coarser skills and qualities possessed by Frazier. Similarly Nadal – his skills are already being emulated successfully by some on the tour.

Some would argue that Ali’s superior natural gifts also meant he did not have the heart of a champion, as they say much the same thing about Federer, especially when he gives matches away. Having an abundance of natural talent, though, does not necessarily exclude having a champion’s heart, it just means that obviously it is underdeveloped, and will have to grow with age as the talent wears off – if the desire remains. Nadal’s heart was never in question, and to this point it has saved his ass countless times while facing superior play. In fact, in recent months it has been all that he could do to stay in some matches, and that is via his heart alone.

To many tennis fans the 2008 Wimbledon Final was a really emotional day. To me, a very sad day, but this had nothing to do with who was involved. It’s quite possible many people watching didn’t like Federer more as a human being. But we don’t watch sport because one guy supports a certain charity we like, and the other doesn’t. That’s another discussion. Generally, sport is sport. The sadness stems more from the Wimbledon final being, as one writer put it “the funeral of a wonderful, attacking, creative, beautiful game” – or something like that. Tennis, in other words.

The 2008 Wimbledon Final seems akin to Frazier beating Ali in the “Fight of the Century” – their first bout. Frazier wasn’t a sight to behold, not a stylish boxer, just very solid, very strong, and very consistent. He inexorably ploughed forward and got in his opponent’s face, he fought very predictably. Against arguably the greatest fighter in history (who wasn’t quite fight fit) it was enough. Joe Frazier won it, he won the most celebrated fight in history. Nadal won perhaps the most celebrated tennis final in history.

Sure, boxing is different from tennis – for a start, boxers only face their rivals twice or maybe three times at most. Frazier was a great boxer, certainly close and perhaps equal to Ali on the occasions they met, but he will never be considered the greatest. He lost too badly against other fighters (e.g. Foreman) and Ali was able to beat them. Much like Federer has a winning record against almost the entire field apart from Nadal.

At only 23 (!) there are a growing number of players who can beat Nadal. And with or without the threat of injury hanging over him, which let’s face it is nothing new (he has had knee troubles from the start), it’s only a matter of time before the numerous really close matches start not going his way. A few knocks to Nadal’s confidence and spirit, as with the great boxers of their time, will be the final straws to allow some of his closest competitors to start beating him regularly. Murray, Federer (yes, still), Djokovic, Del Potro (a future number one – mark my words), Tsonga… all of them have better games. Maybe even Verdasco… ok maybe not, he’s a little too much like Nadal’s whipping boy.

So, is it better to be able to beat everyone in the field apart from one player? Or is it better to be able to beat the player nobody else can beat?

History will tell.

Newsflash: Nadal has just pulled out of Wimbledon

Something along the lines of his knee injury being too painful to play at 100% on. Apparently he ran like a maniac in today’s match against Wawrinka, but it wasn’t enough to win, nor restore his confidence he would be ok.

Sensible move after this last year of tormenting the helpless poor knee, surely.

But Nadal has effectively just handed the number one spot to Federer, and that has got to hurt. One thing’s for sure, as their careers have developed, Federer and Nadal have spurred each other to greater heights than they might otherwise have done. So Nadal resting, for a later comeback may yet produce more delicious moments in their great rivalry.

In fact I would bet Nadal will be a mental force to be reckoned with come the US Open time, and I’d hazard a guess that what clinched withdrawing from Wimbledon for him was that he decided he really wants to complete the Slam and get the US Open. Then at least he can consider himself a “complete” player before his knees finally cave in.

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“A hugely versatile artist” / “Part Radiohead, part Alex Lloyd and part Queen” / “…One very good album…” – GET IT HERE!

I’ve underestimated Federer too much over the past year, a lot of people have (not the other players though!). With perhaps his most coveted prize captured, does he feel complete now? Sure he does. Possibly that’s partly why he took a week off afterwards – to think about his motivations.

Does he now go into freefall as some argue? I say, no. My back up is only this: the first half of the French Open final, which I’ve just watched, and the highlights of his match against Nadal in Madrid.

Firstly, Federer’s tennis in the Roland Garros final’s first set was so superb that I can’t imagine him not making a resurgence, being inspired by his play on the day (let alone the historic result). His serve is once again phenomenal. With that weapon working it seems clear how much better he still is than the competition. Finally it seems he’s emerged from the after-effects of mono, back injury and some major emotional let downs (inflicted by Nadal) in the last couple of years. Maybe it just couldn’t be forced.

What I wanted to say was the FO final reminded me Federer’s serve has always been the cornerstone of his game, tactically and for confidence – just take a look back at his sole professional match against Sampras.

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“A hugely versatile artist” / “Part Radiohead, part Alex Lloyd and part Queen” / “…One very good album…” – GET IT HERE!

In Wimbledon 2001, Federer unequivocally out-served Sampras even while Sampras himself was serving incredibly well.

Yet Federer also had Sampras constantly in trouble on his serve, and I think that’s an aspect of Federer’s game that’s perhaps the most underrated – I mean, his return has got to be the best in the men’s game, hasn’t it? I dare say he is the best returner ever. He sure seems to get a lot more serves back than even Agassi did. More than Nadal, too, and he doesn’t stand so far back. Today, there’s no shortage of big servers (Roddick, Karlovic, Del Potro et al) plus, racquet technology has improved since Agassi’s era, so the serves are consistently harder and faster too. Despite this Fed uses a smaller sized racquet head than most… and he gets back more than Nadal, who uses a bigger head. Blimey. He’s got to be good.

With those two weapons, serve and return, why can’t he take it back to Nadal?

Step one has been achieved – breaking the winning spell Nadal had over him. Doing it on clay was sweeter still. Second step: refuse to be taken in by Nadal’s media smoke signals, on-court rituals and gamesmanship. Those things really got into his head over time. At Madrid he said “enough”. He asked to receive, he waited to take the court after Nadal. He refused to get taken into long rallies – he put extra mustard on every key shot to make sure he took each opportunity instead of resting on his laurels in the belief that his greatness would prevail. Now, realisation comes that the longer the rally, the greater the chance offered to Nadal – who few would argue is the most consistent ball hitter on the planet. To me that means that he’s made a huge step and now acknowledges Nadal’s superior consistency from the baseline. It’s crucial because it now allows him to make the next logical step towards beating Nadal regularly…

Forget the baseline! There are, after all, other parts to a tennis court. Somewhere along the way Federer’s ego got involved and at the wrong times he thought he could overpower a stronger man. All that did was serve up chances, and tire him out emotionally. In Madrid he mixed up the game with beautiful variety, and included elements he previously refused to use (perhaps out of pride about the purity of his game). The drop shot was timed and executed to perfection in Madrid and in the FO final. Purity of his game my ass – I don’t think I’ve ever seen better drop shots. A worthy addition to his game.

So, freed from some of the constraints he seems to have imposed on himself over the years, and witnessing with his own stubborn eyes the slight shift of power as a result of these changes, has him feeling positive – even fatalistically calling himself the Wimbledon favourite. Well, why not as Murray seems intent to play underdog anyway. What seems clear is that if he takes the approach that he is not “above” Nadal in any regard, he prevents himself from being psychologically bullied by Nadal. It is ironic. To make that step in Madrid he had to decide to consider Nadal an equal and therefore fight tooth and nail from the word go, from even before the match started, because all these tools have been used against him, and worked. Now, facing a confident young Butthead (figure it out), Federer also needs to sort out some other housekeeping.

Wow. If you’re not sure what I’m on about, possibly this isn’t the blog for you

Well done, young man, under such tremendous pressure. Now what you gonna do?!