Travel plans...

So what will I be doing in Australia for two weeks, you might ask?  My itinerary is still a work in progress, but I've penciled in a few events:

The Australian Open!

Although most of my time down under will be spent in and around Sydney, I'll head over to Melbourne to watch the women's semifinals in Rod Laver Arena on January 24th.  Serena is clearly the odds-on favorite -- she just won the warm up tournament in Brisbane and she's riding high from her wins at Wimbledon, the Olympics, and the U.S. Open.  But Victoria Azarenka is a brawler and could give Serena a good match.  With any luck, we'll get a repeat of their terrific U.S. Open final.




Sharapova's shoulder is wonky, so I suspect she'll drop out with an injury or will lose early, since her serve will be hampered.  My dark horse for a deep run in the tournament is Li Na.  She's nearing retirement, but she has the skill to win majors (she made it to the Australian Open finals and won the French Open in 2011).

I have no idea what will happen with the men's draw, but Andy Murray is my sentimental favorite, now that Nadal is out of the draw.

Big Day Out!

So after a little tennis, I'm flying from Melbourne to Adelaide for the Big Day Out music festival.  Red Hot Chili Peppers are the headliners.  I haven't really listened to the Peppers since my prep school days (Give It Away Now!) but I'm really looking forward to seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  They're a genius group with an electrifying lead singer, Karen O.  Watch this mash-up of their song "Soft Shock" and the Little Mermaid -- the song is so good it adds a new level of poignancy to a movie about a self-loathing mermaid, a minstrel lobster, a dumb flounder, and the drag queen octopus who terrorizes them:

I'll also try to catch Childish Gambino, the rapping alter ego of Community co-star Donald Glover.  I have to see him just for the name alone -- it's like he's the missing member of Wu Tang Clan!