Faulkner

When I wrote Claire a letter way back in my high school years about my writing aspirations, the first thing she said in her response was, “Read the Greeks.”

That’s interesting, @danfling. I was just curious because I never really watched Nixon shows when she was actually driving the storylines. (I began AMC during McTavish and OLTL during Malone, and Loving never aired in my hometown.) I had just never heard many complaints about her writing or discussions about her blindspots (whereas I hear tons about other masters like Bell, Labine, Marland, et al).

It’s attributed to “The Carters,” so it appears to be a joint album. Surprisingly they have released it on Spotify and Apple Music today, not just Tidal. I haven’t listened yet.

If you had to note any weaknesses about Agnes Nixon’s writing, what would they be? I rarely read anything negative about her.

I hope she celebrates just a little bit harder than usual. 😆

Krunic just won her first WTA tour title. Federer just won his 98th. If he wins Halle, he’ll be working his way to 100 at Wimbledon.

Beyoncé and Jay Z just released a surprise collaboration album.

Hardwick has pulled out of his Comic-Con panels, and AMC is temporarily pulling his talk show pending an investigation. http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/chris-hardwick-withdrawals-from-moderating-comic-con-panels.html?utm_campaign=vulture&utm_medium=s1&utm_source=fb

Ash Barty beat Osaka in seemingly routine straights in Nottingham. Konta and Vekic, who I believe had a very competitive match at Wimbledon a couple years ago, are next up in the semis there. Remember Krunic, who had that fairytale run at the USO a few years back? She just came back from a set down to beat Coco in two tiebreakers in ‘s-Hertogenbosch SF. Krunic will play Flipkens in the final.

We’ll see. Nick is making a mess out of the second set. He thought he could just ace Roger out of the court, but the double faults are piling up and when Roger actually gets a return in play, point Roger. EDIT: Nick got it to a third set TB, but he can sometimes let up against the better players he likes personally (Murray, Fed) as we’ve seen before. He often can be unplayable when he’s serving out of his mind (like the Acapulco match against a befuddled, antsy Novak), but I don’t know if that holds up best-of-five over two weeks. And... he’s injury-prone and gets unsettled when calls or circumstances don’t go his way.

Chris Hardwick has released a statement in which he denies Chloe Dykstra’s claims and says he ended their relationship because Chloe cheated on him. https://deadline.com/2018/06/chris-hardwick-denies-abuse-allegations-chloe-dyskstra-1202411897/

Leslie Grantham (Dirty Den) has died at 71. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jun/15/leslie-grantham-obituary?CMP=fb_gu

Federer/Kyrgios semi in Stuttgart. Raonic/Pouille on the other half.

Yesterday, before this came out, BBCA announced him as the moderator for the Doctor Who panel with the first female Doctor at SDCC. I can imagine they are in a tough spot, as Chris is the face of AMC Networks fandom. My prediction is that he’ll bow out himself to save them from having to fire him from the gig.

It’s easy to compare it to golf, which is similarly a country club sport, yet it’s hard to go a week without seeing a tournament on one of the broadcast networks. The PGA audience skews even older than the tennis viewership. But there are many important differences, I know.

My theory: I think there was a bit of a drumbeat for last year’s USO women’s final due to it being two black American women (biracial in Madison’s case), and there had been four Americans in the semis (with Coco and especially Venus, a legit household name who transcends the sport). I also think Sloane squandered some of her momentum after winning the Slam with all those losses, especially in with the failure to make an impact at the next GS in Australia, so there was less interest in her here (Miami win notwithstanding). EDIT: We’d almost certainly have gotten a boost if Serena hadn’t gotten injured and had advanced. But the Kerbers, Muguruzas, Haleps—excellent players, not stars here. The tennis audience is aging more quickly than even the daytime soap audience, which is crazy. The sport is speeding toward irrelevance.

One of the greatest songs of all time.

I like David Marchese and E. Alex Jung’s interviews a lot (Marchese’s interview with Quincy Jones was the most talked-about, but he’s gotten thoughtful, off-script stuff from many celebs; Jung’s interview with RuPaul was brilliant). But I think Vulture, like all outlets who get the bulk of their content from aggregating, can be desperate and slapdash in the quest for clicks, so I can understand some ambivalence. And they do slavishly pander to the most obnoxious elements on social media.

Lol. The guy knows when to play his cards. It was only a matter of time.

After all this time and years of credible allegations, what was the straw that broke the camel’s back? Just the conviction?

Surprise! Another Bachelorette contestant in legal trouble. http://www.vulture.com/2018/06/bachelorette-lincoln-convicted-of-indecent-assault-battery.html?utm_medium=s1&utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=vulture

Kesha has accused Dr. Luke of raping Katy Perry, according to court documents. Kesha made the claim in a text message to Lady Gaga. https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/kesha-accused-dr-luke-of-raping-katy-perry-1202844495/

Nadal has pulled out of Queen’s Club again.