Monday, March 31, 2014

On Opening Night

When one thinks of Opening Night, it is often associated with a play. One might imagine getting dressed up, being excited, and most of all, being entertained. Opening Night is magical. If the Major Baseball league had its way, Opening Night would also describe the first day of baseball. From last night's game (the first on US soil for the 2014 season), I wouldn't disagree.

Opening Night consisted of a Dodgers vs. Padres game in San Diego. My sister and I debated why the first nationally broadcast baseball game was the Dodgers vs. Padres. We ended up deciding the weather was the determining factor. And you only had to watch the game to agree. We both grew up in San Diego and we both agreed San Diego looked so pretty on tv. For people who don't grow up watching baseball, it can be a really boring game to watch. Last night's game, wasn't boring at all. Initially, it was really frustrating for a Padres fan to follow on tv. There was the fact the Padres left men on base in the first and second innings. I personally believed the first base umpire should have been fired by the 5th inning. My sister thought the ESPN announcers were horribly biased towards the Dodgers. Case in point: when the Padres made a comeback in the 8th inning, the announcers had no idea who hit the home run. Granted he was a pinch-hitter and it was the first day of the season. We eventually had to look up who hit the home run on-line. Then we watched the Dodgers defense collapse, the Padres hold onto a win by a great outing by their closer, and the end result was the Padres in first place after Opening Night. It was a great night for baseball if you ask me.

Of course, I'm too much of a sports realist to get completely carried away. I haven't read too much (or anything at all) into the fact the Padres are a trendy sleeper pick. My only hope is for the analogy of a play's run to baseball season holds up: that closing night be as memorable as opening night. The excitement of a play's finale is dependent on the play's success. The same reasoning could be applied to baseball. A team's final game is only exciting if the season was victorious. Baseball season is upon us. May the best team (as evidenced by Opening Night! sorry, I couldn't help myself) be the one standing on top in October.


Thursday, March 20, 2014

Let It Go because Everything is AWESOME!!!

Obviously, I recently watched two movies with catchy songs. I watched them in reverse order of release date because legos > princess movie with snowman. However, I have to admit: I might like Frozen more than The Lego Movie.

Whenever I attend a 1-3 year old's birthday party, I usually get the celebrant Legos. They have super cool Legos these days. Everything from Star Wars to cupcakes. You really can't go wrong with giving a kid Legos. The Lego Movie is visually stunning and true to Lego capabilities. Lego people in the movie "walk" just the way they do in real life. I was mostly interested in The Lego Movie because I read the screenplay was written by the guys who created Clone High. Hardly anybody watched Clone High but I remember it as a truly funny/clever show. I had high expectations for The Lego Movie and it mostly didn't disappoint. I remember thinking during the movie "Only a kid could come up with this story-line" which is absolutely the truth. The one thing I didn't like about The Lego Movie was it tried too hard to convey its message. I think it could have been more subtle. However, I forgive that aspect because it has a super awesome music video.



I ended up watching Frozen in the theatres a week before its DVD release. At that point, some of my friends had watched it twice (there is also a sing-a-long version) and it had won an Oscar for best animated movie. I grew up on Disney movies (The Little Mermaid is my favorite) so my lagging to watch Frozen has nothing to do against Disney films. I also really like Tangled, so I like recent Disney movies. I guess watching Frozen wasn't on my list of things to do. However, all my friends told me I had to watch it and I loved it. I'm not familiar with the Han Christian Andersen version of The Snow Queen, but I'm sure Disney has modified the story to its strength. I mentioned I was impressed by The Lego Movie's animation. However, Frozen's animation, especially in comparison to previous Disney movies, is astonishing. I'm perfectly aware my adoration for Frozen stems from the fact it revolves around two sisters. This is why I'm biased, but it really isn't my fault I have a younger sister. Frozen also won the Oscar for best song. Let it Go is sung by the always amazing Idina Menzel.


Isn't the animation amazing?!?! I do apologize if Let It Go is in your head for the rest of the day. It has been in mine for days. Then Everything is AWESOME!!! finds into way into my brain for hour before Let It Go takes its rightful place. It has been an interesting two weeks. So it is a good thing The Incredibles 2 (recently announced) won't have any music. At least, it shouldn't right?