MFS62

There's been a lot of excitement about the Kingsport ® team this year. First round draft picks Jarred Kelenic (CF) and Mark Vientos (3B) play there. But everyone seems to be overlooking a 19 year old kid named Luis Santana, who is playing second and hitting cleanup. Signed out of the Dominican Republic, this is his first year playing in the US. He's short, stocky and can hit. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=670919#/career/R/hitting/2018/ALL I'm channeling my love for Brian Cole (RIP) in this kid. Welcome to him home, Luis. Mi casa es su casa. Later

Yesterday, I took my grandson to his first pro baseball game at Dunkin Donuts Stadium, the home of the Hartford Yard Goats of the AA Eastern League. A yard goat is when they call the engine that moves trains around in a depot. Attendance yesterday was 6,850 which was their 21st full house of the season. Parking was $5 and seats seven rows from the field next to the 3rd base dugout were $16. And I saw why it was voted best minor league stadium for the second year in a row. Good sight lines, lots of concessions (no vendors in the stands), lots of very clean rest rooms, great big screen scoreboard. On the line score on the scoreboard, it had R H E and MVR. I case you don't know, it stands for Mound Visits Remaining. Never saw that before. I had one quibble - the ball got by the catcher, which put a player in position to score (he later did). We were never told whether it was a wild pitch or passed ball. (A Later check of the box score says it was a wild pitch) They use a 20 second pitch clock. But when the pitcher gets into the set position, the clock was turned off. I didn't notice any abuses of this (pitchers coming to a set, then holding the ball for a long time waiting for a sign or looking back a runner). Bottom line, it worked. What made the game last a long time were the endless silly promotions every half inning Mascot races, product races, etc. I guess they think they need to entertain the kids, but the players and fans were getting itchy by the fifth inning. But it worked, my grandson had so much fun that he is asking when we can go back. I can't wait to take him. Later

Won his first game last night (he's 1-4) for St. Lucie. He pitched 6 innings, giving up one hit and striking out six. Hopefully, his arm is fully recovered from his surgery. Later

Gave it 4 stars, not as much as I liked the first one. And that is more than my wife gave it. She has seen all the other superhero movies the last two years and liked the humor in this one, but doesn't like to "mix humor and killing". Later

On Sunday morning, I saw the original "Mummy" with Boris Karloff. (1932?) There have been several versions since. Most of them stay relatively true to the original film. (And then there was an Abbott and Costello one, too). I enjoyed the Brendan Frasier, Rachel Weisz one (probably because of her). But that evening I saw the recent Tom Cruise remake. Feh. Later

In his first 2018 appearance, he pitched three hitless innings, striking out six for St. Lucie tonight. Welcome back, kid. Stay healthy this time. Later

Our car was in the shop and we had time to kill. So, against my wife's wishes, we went to see Tomb Raider. It was as good as I expected and she liked it better than she thought she would. Not only does it move at a fast pace (Of course it was. It was based on a video game) but many of the action scenes were real (and not CGI). I liked the attention to detail. For example, (mini spoiler) Lara is being washed down rapids toward a waterfall. She catches herself on the rusted out wreckage of a downed World War II plane. They could have used any plane. But someone actually built a mock-up of a plane that looked like a Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bomber, a plane that would have been used in that area. In many World War II movies about air battles in the Pacific, American T-6 "Texan" trainers have been used instead of A6M "Zero" fighters. I'm a military airplane nut, and that was stunning. One minor thing irked me. When she travels to find her father, Lara enlists the aid of a local young ship captain whose father had disappeared with Lara's dad. He spoke English. The problem is it wasn't accented at all; no British accent, no Asian accent, no nothing. English, like he had been brought up in Omaha. Oh well, you can't think of everything. I gave it a 4 stars. It was a pleasant surprise, almost as pleasant as the mechanic of my wife's car sticking to his estimate. Later

This isn't a remake because it is a prequel to the Tomb Raider films (based on a series of video games) that starred Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. This one stars Alecia Vikander who, like Angelina Jolie, has won an Academy Award. Lara is the daughter of an eccentric adventurer and business tycoon who vanished when she was a youngster. Now a young woman, Lara works as a bike courier, barely making the rent. She feels that if she signs the documents needed to finalize her inheritance of a huge empire, it will mean that she accepts the fact that her father is dead. Lara is driven to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious disappearance. Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her dad's last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. On that island is a buried Empress with a terrible power that could threaten all humanity if unleashed.

Frayed Knot wrote: The consensus seemed to be that HELL OR HIGH WATER was terrific, WIND RIVER less so but still good, and SICARIO a messy disappointment. So naturally SICARIO 2 is the one coming to a theatre near you. I win the bet! I win the bet! Oh, wait. Never mind. Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Is John Belushi's 1941 a remake of From Here to Eternity? Or of Tora Tora Tora? Of course not. But what about all the different versions of biographical films, from Lincoln to Churchill? You're right (happy?) The Titanic film wasn't a remake. But it was certainly telling the story of the ship going down from a different standpoint. As I said, I was just trying to provide a public service - letting folks know those two movies would be on tonight. No good deed goes unpunished. sigh Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Titanic: Real life event. King Kong: Fiction And both were based on somebody's screenplay interpretation. Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: James Cameron's movie wasn't a remake, though. It was a new film about a subject that's been filmed before. I get that. Instead of only taking the perspective of the rich folks, it took the perspective of some poor folks, too. But that's like saying that each version of King Kong isn't a real remake because some of the story lines (character motivations) are different. Its still about a big ape on an island falling in love with a beautiful girl. This is about a famous ship sinking, and the passengers on it. And this version sucked. Spoiler alert When Leonardo DiCaprio's body floated by, I felt like standing up and cheering. Again, the other two are on TV tonight. And that was the purpose of my post, to alert the movie buffs who might want to see them (again). Later

This was released too early to make Vic's list, but Titanic (1997) doesn't deserve to be in the lifeboat when compared to two movies on the same subject that preceded it - Titanic (1953) and especially Night to Remember (1958). Decide for yourself, because both of the older movies will be shown tonight on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Later

Snow storm movie watching. The Great Wall is on. Its not a great movie by any means, but I think it might have gotten an Oscar nod for one of the categories like Production Design, Costume Design or Special Effects. Later

Good choice. If you didn't adopt him, I was going to do it. Later

Thanks, Ben. I only have one trouble spot in the USA - a 50 mile radius in West Texas. One time, I had to ask a woman how to spell the name of her street and she said "M-a-i-n". And I barely understood that. Think I'll miss the movie. Later

How was the sound? Seriously. I've seen brief clips (including the lead actor and actress in a car commercial) and I can't understand what they are saying because of their accents. I spend all day on the phone and can understand callers from all over the country, but can barely discern what I've heard from the movie. I don't want to go and find out its like that all the way through. Later

Frayed Knot wrote: Right, by a factor based on win totals. So the 15th best player in a 66 win season, for instance, gets 3/4 of the point total that the same rank player gets from an 88 win season. 60 would yield 2/3 of 90, etc. I think that was a similar issue with win shares. A player who had a good year on an otherwise lousy team would get more win shares than a player having the same year with a better team. Or was that true? OE: Now that I read that, maybe win shares had the opposite effect. Or am I getting confused? Maybe that's why I still like counting stats, and the newer slash line numbers. Later

Vic Sage wrote: wonder woman got skunked! Mueller should investigate the Academy. But Kobe Bryant got nominated for an Oscar. If he wins, will he thank Oscar Robertson? Later

I've been to Fenway Park once, many years ago. Later, I was in my parody writing phase, and someone asked me if I could parody prose as well as songs. This is one result. It incorporates my impressions of that visit, with the Mets first regular season interleague game played there serving as the background. Enjoy, Later _____________________________________________________________________ Anne Rice Reports the Ballgame 1. The Mets approached the old building with fear. It was secluded in the center of town, amid the cheap bars and crowded streets. But, as night began to fall, it emitted an eerie glow into the New England sky. The crowd seemed drawn inexorably toward the light, like moths to their doom. And as their team bus drew up to the gate, the word "friendly" was the farthest from the minds of the Met players. They had heard all the stories, but few of them had ever dared to enter. They changed into their uniforms solemnly, and slowly ventured out from the bowels of the building into the artificial light that was beginning to win its battle with encroaching darkness. They blinked in disbelief. There it was. All the stories were true. The Green Monster did exist! To paraphrase Edward Albee, it was the malevolence of an erection. It had obviously been created by an architect with a deep hatred for pitchers. And they wondered to a man what impact that expanse of tin with mesh above would have on their immediate futures. The pitchers felt fear rising in their bellies; the hitters a false sense of bravado. Soon night would fall, darkness would envelop the rest of the world outside, and the dreaded Boston bats would emerge. Only one of their hurlers, Martinez, was able to nullify bats in this place, and without a necklace of garlic. By contrast, to the Met starter Al Leiter it had been a house of horrors for his entire career. Even the lights that started to dot the face of the Monster did not begin to allay their fears. It was a perfect home for a team that seemed to resurrect itself every decade. The locals spoke of "the Curse" which has lasted three quarters of a Century. Over that span, their fans have followed them to the brink of ecstasy, only to be plunged into the depths of despair. Yet the frenzy of their maniacal following has never waned, even to the point of destroying the lives of those players who may have disappointed them by making one small error or one bad pitch. The blood red words on the chests of the home team blazed in juxtaposition with the Halloween orange trim on the uniforms of the visitors. But whose blood would be spilled that night? The first battle was about to begin. The man expected to lead the Mets that night was Mike Piazza. But he was hit by a pitch from Martinez. Yet the man who replaced him, light hitting Alberto Castillo drove the first stake through Martinez’ heart. It was a home run that was gobbled up by the Green Monster. The life began to drain from the local fans. To the Mets, the smell of blood was heady and they began to revel in the carnage that was about to unfold. The bats; the bats; the timber-nabulation of the bats was to continue all night. The Mets hit three more home runs and Boston’s own semi-mortal monster, Mo Vaughn hit two of his own. But the inevitable was never in question. Slowly the fans began to leave the old building, to drown their sorrows one more time in the seedy pubs that lined the neighboring streets. The Green Monster had consumed one of their own that night. Soon the bats would be asleep; artificial light replaced by the coming dawn. But in the darkness of the old arena, the bats would remain, waiting for their next victims.

So, how did you rate it? Later

The novel written, in 1934 takes place on the famous train, traveling from Istanbul to Calais. A man has been stabbed to death and there are 12 possible suspects. Detective Hercule Poirot is on board and is faced with the mystery and must bring all his famous skills to bear to find the culprit before the suspects depart the train. The first film version was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Albert Finney as the famous detective. This version is directed by and stars Kenneth Branaugh. Both versions had all- star casts. Later

Vic Sage wrote: MST3K doesn't just introduce bad movies and make jokes during commercial breaks. They sit down front and watch the movie WITH you and yell funny (and less funny) shit at the screen throughout. It's like watching a bad horror movie in Times Square in the 1970s. But without the pungent aroma of cannibis pervading the air... and the floors are less sticky (at least in my house). Svengoolie tries to do that, too. But he doesn't do that as well as MST3K. Later

Every Sat night, on one of the cable stations, there's a different old monster movie hosted by a guy called Svengoolie. They have ranged from the original classics Bride of Frankenstein and the Wolf Man to last night's Deadly Mantis. Similar schtick to MST3K. He does a corny intro (from his coffin while people off camera throw rubber chickens at him) and there are equally corny gags during commercial breaks. Later

cooby wrote: Any movie featuring an octopus (septopus!) driving a truck is a good one. I never thought I'd ever see those words. Later