Centerfield

Thank you guys for the recommendations! Back home now and completely exhausted. We knew going in that it was a lot to take on, but we woudln't trade it for the world. If you're going to try this, I recommend not trying it in April, but if you have kids, you have to go when the schedule allows. I'll create threads for each of the individual parks.

OMG. Thank you for this! Amazing!

I haven't seen it, but Brie Larson does like, nothing for me.

Couldn't agree more. Absolutely love it.

We are in the early stages of mapping out a possible three city road trip over Easter. The tentative plan is this: Friday, April 19: Fly into Cleveland. Arrive midday. Friday night go to Braves vs. Indians. Root actively for the Indians. Bundle up. Saturday, April 20: Tour Cleveland. See the R&R HOF. I've heard that there are some good river tours. Sunday, April 21: Wake up early and drive to Detroit. 1:10 game White Sox at Tigers. Dinner in Detroit. Monday, April 22: Definitely want to hit the Motown Museum. Was thinking to take a tour of the GM plant but not sure if this is too much for one day. That afternoon, we drive to Toronto. Tuesday, April 23: Tour Toronto. Check out the CN tower. 7:07, watch Giants at Blue Jays. Root for the Blue Jays. Wednesday, April 24: Fly home. 6 days, three cities, three stadiums. It's a bit ambitious, but the kids are young only once, so why the hell not. Here's where I need your help CPF, I need recommendations for food, tours, places to stay. We're open to anything and everything, but we would definitely like to get a small taste of these cities while we are there. I'll likely have my in-laws in tow, and they're not baseball fans, so most likely we'll be sending them to fancy restaurants while we pig out at the ballparks.

=seawolf17 post_id=587 time=1546645549 user_id=91] Shit, they literally made a movie ABOUT FEELINGS. I cried the whole damn time.

We saw it in 3D. I rarely like that format but a buddy of mine said this was the way it had to be seen. Really was stunning.

Original thread was here: http://www.thecranepool.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27654http://www.thecranepool.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27654 I echo 41F and mm. Terrific movie. My daughter's favorite part was the pig.

Edgy MD wrote: Apparently, I only get out to the theatre for first-run entertainment for kidz fare for grownups. "Black Panther Ant-Man and the Wasp Avengers: Infinity War Incredibles 2 Mission: Impossible – Fallout Me too. My list. No particular order. Black Panther Ant-Man and the Wasp Incredibles 2 Avengers: Infinity War Show Dogs (yes, Show Dogs, and you know, it's not quite as bad as you would think. But not by any means, good) Solo I am maybe the only Asian who hasn't watched Crazy Rich Asians, but I did get it for Christmas, so I should get my Asian card back soon.

Holy crap. Why didn't anyone warn me about this movie. Hey dad. Wanna watch this movie about a floating balloon house? Sure. Sounds silly and fun. [bawls]

We get our hero. Shang-Chi. Moving forward. https://deadline.com/2018/12/shang-chi-marvel-studios-first-asian-film-superhero-dave-callaham-kevin-feige-black-panther-1202512660/

You figure one of those hologram tours for Queen can't be too far away.

I mean, this is basically what LWFS and I both look like with our shirts off so yeah, either of us are on board.

Great article. Cebulski said Marvel must wait for the "right time" to see an Asian Superhero lead in a Marvel film. Yup.

I'd like to see one of them make it to the big screen. Hopefully without accents and all sorts of mystical kung fu stuff.

I'm still waiting for an Asian American super hero. I think we had Samurai on SuperFriends as a kid. Can't think of anyone else.

Agreed. What spurred the post was use of the word "important". Boring...formulaic plot...really a long lost brother? Sure. Look, I enjoyed it a lot, but everyone's entitled to their opinion. But to say it wasn't important.... To the extent any superhero movie can be "important", I think this one fits the bill.

RealityChuck wrote: Wonder Woman gave me hope that a superhero film could be something important (even if the final fight scene was a mistake). After hearing the reviews, I thought this might be going down that path. Alas, it went right for the cookie-cutter. Agreed. Completely cookie-cutter. I mean, once you've seen one movie that celebrates black and African culture, smashes stereotypes, features a minority lead, with a minority-led cast, portrays its black characters as compassionate, powerful, educated and sophisticated rather than two dimensional stereotypes, empowers a generation of African-American kids who no longer have to be told "You can't be Superman, he's not black" and shoots down the idea that a movie with a non-white cast can't be a box office smash, basically you've seen them all.

I'm probably being too tough on Marlins Park. It's not that bad. But generally I like outdoor stadiums. I feel like baseball should be watched either under the lights, or with a hot sun beating down on you. And in our particular seat at Marlins Park, there was a leak, so I spent the game getting dripped on. It was a Mets game, and after jumping out to the lead, they lost, and the empanadas we had been looking forward to getting were underwhelming.

My Updated Rankings: 1. Petco Park - San Diego 2. PNC Park - Pittsburgh 3. Camden Yards - Baltimore 4. CitiField - NY 5. Fenway Park - Boston 6. Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles 7. AT&T Park - San Francisco 8. Wrigley Field - Chicago 9. Busch Stadium - St. Louis 10. Citizen's Bank Park - Philadelphia 11. Globe Park in Arlington - Texas 12. Yankee Stadium III - NY 13. Angels Stadium - Anaheim 14. Minute Maid Park - Houston 15. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland 16. Marlins Park - Miami Rankings are based on the stadium itself, the city, the surrounding area, the team and fans.

Watched the three Avengers movies on the plane. They are pretty fun. I feel like with the campiness they don't take themselves too seriously. I find I'm missing tons of the story without having seen any of the other individual hero movies. Like Loki is a bad guy, then he's not. Not sure how Hulk ended up in outerspace. And I know nothing about the Guardians of the Galaxy.

There was some great foreshadowing by the guy we met in Oakland two nights earlier. A story he told my kids: "I've caught four balls in my life. The first one I was 15 years old. I still have it on my shelf. The other three, I gave them all to kids sitting near me." You gave them all away? "Yeah, it's a great feeling to catch a game ball. Even better feeling is giving it to a kid and watching him light up. I like to think those three balls are on their shelf somewhere."

Admin, Sorry, I think I screwed up the re-sizing by editing a typo. Can you do it again?

[fimg=600]https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/40582718_10217107182455472_3332369828232036352_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=eaf4b2d62074725ce3267a805ce7bcac&oe=5BF95B54[/fimg] Loved every minute of our trip to AT&T park. It was only our fourth time we have been able to watch the Mets play on the road, so already it was a special day. Beautiful day, beautiful stadium, and most importantly, the Mets won! Lots of people said to me going in that this was their favorite ballpark in MLB, so maybe AT&T was a victim of high expectations? I would rank it in the second set, one notch below PetCo, PNC, and yes, our own beloved CitiField. Some thoughts.... *Getting There Our hotel was within walking distance, so we enjoyed walking down to the park with all the other fans. Lots of Mets fans were in attendance over the weekend, and even the Giants fans were cool to us. Looks like there were lots of good bars and restaurants in the area. We went to an afternoon game, so we didn't get a chance to stop in. There didn't look like there was a ton of parking around the area, and all the cab drivers talked about how bad traffic is going to and coming out of the game. *Stadium Amenities Our first stop was the big glove out in LF. Looks kinda goofy on TV, but it's pretty impressive in person. The giant Coke Bottle is a slide, I don't think I ever realized that. My kids enjoyed taking a turn, even the now too cool for school older one. Out beyond CF, they have a food court area, which has some of the better food in the stadium. We were going to check it out, but the lines were super long, and we had wasted a ton of time in line waiting for the slide. There's also a batting cage downstairs in the "Garden area". Unfortunately, we saw it after it had already closed. The view into McCovey Cove is amazing. They have a goofy trolley out in left-center that the kids begrudgingly took a picture on. *Food The sausage & peppers was pretty good (I think Citi is better). The clam chowder bread bowl is definitely worth it (metfairy suggestion!). We tried the garlic fries, which I think were a good change of pace, but if I went to several games a year I think it would get old. We tried King Carvery, which smelled delicious, but when we got our sandwiches they were super dry. I'd skip it and try something else. Drank 805 beer. It was ok too. One note, if you want the helmet ice cream (my daughter collects the helmets), you have to go out to the Garden section in CF and order it there. They are super douchy when you ask other ice cream vendors. "The what? In a helmet? Yeah, we don't do that here. Like we stopped that a long time ago..." Whatever dude. You sell Dipping Dots at a stadium. Get over yourself. The Garden closes early (7th inning) so you have to get there early in the game. *Watching the Game We sat just beyond 3rd base about 30 rows back. Pretty good sightlines. I think I have been spoiled by the seats at Citi. The newer stadiums like Citi and Petco angle their seats toward the mound, so even if you are down the line, you can look straight at the pitcher. The older stadiums remain pretty straight, so you have to look over your shoulder a bit. At AT&T it's not bad, but if you want to be the best in MLB, you have to have that. And for me, the game watching experience was just ok. Most of it is the weather. Even on what everyone agreed is a beautiful day in SF, it was in the low sixties, and definitely cool in the shade. We all wore longsleeves. I don't know, maybe it's just my thing, but I feel like you should be hot watching a baseball game. T-shirt and shorts, baking in the sun, cold beer in your hand. Even worse was the people around me talking about how SF has the best weather. "It's like this all year long." Then you never get summer. And baseball is best when you watch it during summer. It's amazing how much the people around you color your experience at a baseball game. The people sitting around us were annoying. Behind us: "Hey, it's that guy that cried...(tells the whole Flores trade story to the guy next to him)...Hey Wilmer, does that make you feel sad?" Couple sitting next to us looked visibly annoyed every time they had to get up to let us out. There's nothing I can do guys. I have a son and daughter that eat and drink the whole game and that makes them have to pee. And finally there was the jerk in camo who caught the foul ball a few rows in front of us. It was a hard shot and it hit a young girl. The ball ricocheted off her and then the asshole caught it. He never even looked at her, waved the ball around happy, then sat down. Never even checked to see if she was ok. My son and I started yelling "Give her the ball". He ignored us. We kept yelling until others joined in. Finally when the whole area was yelling at him, he feigned surprise, and then reluctantly handed it over. The girl was ok, it hit her in the hip, but she was crying and needed ice. It was a good teaching moment for my son. I said if you ever catch that ball, don't be the jerk who puts it into his pocket making the whole area yell. Check on the girl, and give it to her before anyone says a word. That should be your first instinct. And never wear camo. It was a super fast game, and I was secretly happy it went into extras just so we could stay longer. I don't know who these freaks are that think baseball is too long. For me, two and a half hours isn't enough time to enjoy a baseball game. Give me 3 hours and 15 minutes every time. Game ended on a Nimmo diving catch. We were thrilled.

You know, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It certainly wasn't nice. But I liked it better than Miami. So that's something. We decided to drive to the game from San Francisco. The BART would have been a shorter ride, and it takes you directly to the game, but my kids were wiped out from sightseeing and I figured they could use the nap in the car. Turned out ok. The mid-week crowd was pretty small, and it took less than 40 minutes from downtown SF to the Coliseum. We sat along the third base line, 10th row. Tickets were really cheap on StubHub. Food was your average stadium fare. I tried to check out what the locals were drinking, but everyone had plastic cups. Seems like there was no local beer of choice. Lots of Bud, Coors, Stellas for the fancy ones. It seems like much more of a blue-collar crowd. There was no big, central team store. Just a bunch of smaller stores scattered around the stadium, and the selection was small. We were looking around to see if maybe we could get a Familia shirsey for the kids, but they had nothing available. No Rickey shirseys either, just autographed game-worn jerseys for several hundred dollars. The crowd was great. Even though the A's fell behind early, most of them stayed and cheered. The guys sitting around us were lifers, and come to about 10 games each year. Great conversation. We exchanged Rickey stories and bonded over our hatred of the Yankees. It seems like the temperature in Oakland is typically a bit warmer than it is in SF. So overall it was a nice, pleasant night. I wrote on FaceBook that the Coliseum hosts MLB and serves beer, which makes it one of the top 30 places on Earth. I'll add that it's also an outdoor stadium, and everyone there hates the Yankees. So in my book, it moves up a few notches. The fans there seem not at all bitter about their small payroll, or their crumbling home field. They do seem excited when you talk about the new stadium, but not in a "it's about time" way, but more of a "it'll be great if it happens" type of attitude. Overall, it was a fun time. I'll go back to Oakland any day.