A Baseball Story

Trying to look casual and failing, I glanced around me and followed my friend down to the seats in the 100 level of Miller Park. Generally speaking, you need tickets for seats in that area in order to access it; tickets we did not have. We shouldn't have been able to get near the stairwell without someone checking on us. In the bottom of the 14th inning, security relaxes a bit. Without bothering to check whether or not I was following him, my buddy sat in the last row of seats in the section nearest home plate, leaving the aisle seat open for me.

I dropped down next to him and observed the situation. From this perspective, Ryan Braun looked as big as life at the plate. Loudly, the baseball smacked into the catcher's glove, raising the count to three balls and no strikes. “Just walk him already,” I muttered. “Then Prince can hit a home run and we can all go home.”

What time was it in the bottom of the 14th inning on a Friday night? Or, at this point, Saturday morning? I had deliberately avoided observing the stadium clock for fear that knowing the time would make me feel tired. Now was not the time to alter that plan. My gaze remained focused on Braun as he watched Ball Four zip past him. We applauded as he took his base.

The Brewers and Rockies had been struggling back and forth throughout the game, keeping it interesting. While the Brewers couldn't get a commanding lead, they would tie the game promptly. The Rockies would score in the top of the inning, then the Brewers would lead off the bottom of the inning with a home run, that sort of thing. As a result, there wasn't much drama surrounding the concept of the Brewers tying the game, just if they could finally take the lead and win the game.

With one attention demanding crack, the baseball rocketed away from Prince Fielder's bat. Suddenly I was on my feet, watching as the ball bounced around the scarcely populated upper decks of Miller Parks. It was easily a fair ball and the home run that won the game for the Brewers.

For a moment, I just stood there, mouth agape. Surrounded by the cheering and the clapping and fireworks and celebrating, I was struck silent.  “Huh,” I finally muttered. “Whadya know?”

Then I joined in.

Jim Henson

March 1, 1990. Apparently as part of the pending sale of the Muppets to Disney, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Michael Frith discuss how the Muppets work, even to the point of describing how they should be drawn. While still a rather top level discussion, it's a look under the felt that's rarely equaled.





The Muppets have a big special airing on May 6, 1990. The week before, Jim Henson promotes the special on the Arsenio Hall show by talking about it as little as possible. He is excited and cheerful as he plays with Arsenio and watches Kevin Clash best the talk show host.





May 1990. Jim finds out that what he thought was a lingering cold is actually a bacterial infection, Group A Streptococcus. May 15, 1990. Workaholic Jim finally checks into the hospital to have it investigated.

May 16, 1990. Jim Henson dies. He was 53.


May 21, 1990. The first of the memorials to Jim Henson is held in New York.

Have you ever considered what it's like to perform as Big Bird? Have you? To walk about, nearly blind but for a TV monitor strapped to your chest, holding your right hand far above your head while the weight of the Bird head pushes down upon it? Then, blind and stiff, your muscles moaning, you need to sing? And to try doing this as you cry?

Caroll Spinney did it. Somehow.





If that felt like the saddest Muppet Moment Ever, then you may not have seen this before. November 21, 1990. Now it's everyone's turn to celebrate Jim Henson. When Fozzie and Gonzo gasp, I'm done. Everytime.





May 16, 1991. Jim's last major Muppet project is released as Jim Henson's MuppetVision 3D officially opens in Walt Disney World. So today's not all bad afterall.





As always, thank you Jim. Miss you lots.

I Wrote Some 'Doctor Who' Today

I've written a lot of 'Doctor Who' fan fiction in my time. A lot. I don't so much anymore, what with my urge to get something of my own done and available. I've been sick, tired, sick and tired, or just whatever a lot in the past month or so and my creative energies have been at a low ebb during this time. In the past week they've started to revive and I've eagerly been trying to get back in the swing of things. Today when I sat down on my lunch break and had some time to write, some 'Doctor Who' came out.

It's been a couple years since the last 'Who' story I wrote and I don't think that this scene will turn into anything. It was just something I had been mulling over the past few days as part of the 'stories I tell myself' and apparently it wanted out. I felt bad at first, like I was wasting valuable time by doing this, but it was probably like stretching, getting those writing muscles loosened up with something 'easy' like the Doctor and Julie getting into trouble. It's restful and it was flowing easily until just after Two when the fire alarm went off. It was cold, windy, and raining but we were outside for a fire drill. Wonderful.

Then I get home and Elisabeth Sladen is dead at 63. Sarah Jane Smith is ripped from me like a speedily removed Band-Aid and it hurts.

I'm not trying to say that her passing had something to do with the writing I did today. The thoughts for today's scene have been in my head for a week or so already. If it was just something to do with her, then why did the Brigadier's passing not generate a similar act, as I was also specially fond of Nicholas Courtney?

Maybe because Sarah Jane is, well, Sarah Jane?

I remember watching her run on 'Doctor Who' again when I was in high school. While physically she wasn't my type at the time, being not busty and red headed, I still remember taking such a shine to her. She was fun, she was brave, she was kind, she was mean, she was so very human and lovely that it was hard not to like her. When I'd see Liz be interviewed and you'd see those elements of the character show up in her, well, it was hard to not like her too. I never got the impression that she stopped loving 'Doctor Who' for what it was and for the fact that people still loved it. Many characters or actors on 'Doctor Who' have gone in and out of fashion in fandom: the Fifth Doctor is weak and sad, until the Sixth Doctor is so crazy that the Fifth isn't so bad, and then the Seventh is Awesome!, well maybe not that awesome, etc. I don't remember a time when Sarah Jane was out of fashion. It might have happened but I don't remember it. Ever.

That's why it was so great that, when the show returned, so did Sarah Jane. She was great, the show was great, and we all got a chance for it to be great. Just to see the excitable, brave Sarah Jane again.

The singular joy I have right now is that she had to know. Many actors in that position don't get that last moment in the sun when people can express their affection for them and what they've done, certainly not from something new but Liz must have had that, over and over again as actors came to the show and said 'Sarah Jane!' and hugged her.

I didn't get that moment. I wanted it. I want it.

In Patrick's story, his girlfriend is named Sarah Jean Smith. It was always meant as a reference. The character changed so much from my original plans for her and maybe it's only now that I realize why. I couldn't just name someone that without them being spunky and brave and sweet and understanding like her.

Thank you Elisabeth Sladen. I miss you already.

Behind

Didn't get to the comic book store for two weeks, got caught up on purchases last Saturday, and I still haven't read through those books, with Wednesday and new books looming.

That just doesn't seem right.

'Is that an antique?'

I grunted politely to request a repetition of the question. The elderly lady politely tapped the record in my hand, the Sesame Street Bert and Ernie record in my hand. She smiled. 'Is that an antique?'

I smiled back. 'It's about as old as I am so I'm going to say yes.'

How I Spent My Sunday

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Feb 2011

Magic Kingdom - November 2010

Magic Kingdom

Pirates of the Caribbean – four times. This ride made me aware that I was starting to become familiar with some of these rides as I started noticing the malfunctions. There was an issue with the Davy Jones mist as one of the jets didn't seem to be firing properly. The Mayor's wife wasn't emerging one day while we rode. Did it ruin things? Not at all as these were details. The castmembers are good at amping up this ride a level. The castmembers at the exit had extra chants to add to their spiel; the one I recorded was sung along to the 'Yo Ho' song and went 'Yo Ho, Yo Ho, It's time to get out of the boat', Love little stuff like that.

 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – five times. Yee haw! We managed a trip through in the rear most car where things are a bit looser. We came through and asked about getting the rear car. There was a wait for it so we just got on the ride, not worrying about our location on the train. When we came back around a few minutes later, the cast member we'd talked to recognized us and asked if we were still interested in the back car. That's GREAT customer service.

Mickey's Philharmagic – twice. Great show. Finally managed to see it more than once a trip. It's worth multiple visits.


Tomorrowland Transit Authority – once. Enjoyable, and I love the technology that runs it, but once is enough.

Railroad – partial trip from Frontierland to Toontown. Love trains. Got to spend a little time in the station, which was fun.

Haunted Mansion – twice. Only twice? Oh yeah, there were lines for the ride, even on a 'calm' day. Got another 'plus' castmember here with a fella slapping the wall in the Stretching Room and kicking garbage cans to scare the unwary. He found someone that jumped and focused on them like in a Haunted House. Nice!


Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress – twice. New to us. A trip through history to see how technology and family have changed. I rather enjoyed this, mostly because I enjoy historical perspectives. While you can argue that the perspective is dated to the show's creation, in the 60s, it's still a perspective from another non-current time. It's fun, has some bad jokes, and a catchy song.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin – twice. Target practice. Enjoyable.


Peter Pan's Flight – once. I enjoy the ride but I don't feel it's worth waiting for any real length of time to see. I don't understand why it gets a 45 minute queue on a 'slow' day.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – once. It's a fun cute ride that I'm surprised I don't ride more.

Mad Tea Party – once. I got the teacup to spin to our usual standard speed by myself. Man that hurt my arms. Good exercise and fun.

its a small world – once. Once is plenty. The boats always seem to get backed up in the last quarter of the ride which doubles or triples the length of time you spend on it, which decreases me desire to re-ride it. We got a little noisy but we were in the very front of the boat so we weren't bothering too many people. Hopefully.

Space Mountain – 3 times. All three in a row even, back to back and almost broke my back doing so. I've decided one of my issues with the ride is the vehicle and its lack of back support. I try to lean back and brace myself so I end up tightening my back to ride it. It does remain a classic but I question my sanity every time I ride. Love the look of the place.

Barnstormer – once. Cute fun coaster. As we exited, my buddy's kid called out to a young girl, maybe 4 or 5, that was about to get on the ride, jokingly warning her that it was terrifying. She paused, looked at him, and replied 'No it isn't' before continuing on. I laughed.

More Missing Footage Returns 'Home'

Almost 200 American made silent films found in a vault in Russia:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020806347.html

90+ Minutes of long-long Super Bowl I footage turns up in an attic on a home recorded video tape:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704709304576124373773290508.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

There's still more out there. It's nice to get a little hope back in that regard.

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Jan 26th 2011

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Jan 26th 2011 - Fantastic Four #587 Special

Hollywood Studios - Nov 2010

Hollywood Studios

The Great Movie Ride – twice. And both times my recording cut out so both are incomplete. Oh well.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – six times. Considering how terrifying I originally found this ride to be, I find it fascinating how relaxed I am on it now. I carried on a conversation with my buddy about a 'hidden extra' I spied from the top of the Tower and barely paid attention to the ride itself. I began posing for the camera, knowing when it would go off. It's not that I don't still love the ride; I just find it weird how my reaction has changed.

Rock n Roller Coaster – twice. Started posing for the camera on this one as well. Good coaster but there's always a line for it.

Walt Disney : One Man's Dream – once. It's been updated. There are new props on display and the scope has been expanded to feature more 'Legacy' material. Tron helmet, Rocketeer jetpack, extince EPCOT material, lots of neat stuff to see.

MuppetVision 3D – five times. Got to see the entire pre-show once, most of the pre-show another time, the last show/ride for my trip was MuppetVision, and, most importantly, slapped five with Sweetums! The film has been remastered and looks excellent! Love it!

A Few Thoughts on Recent Comics - Week of Jan 19th 2011

EPCOT - November 2010

EPCOT

Spaceship Earth – twice. Only twice? I love this silly ride and I only rode it twice? Did perhaps the delay during our second ride through have anything to do with that? Did that five minutes or so spent stuck in the Matrix tunnel affect our urge to return? I will say yes.

The Living Seas – once. Short fun ride but it tends to be associated with a look in to the large, more interesting, aquarium and that can take some time. Once can therefore be enough.

Journey Into Imagination – twice. New to us. You ride through the Imagination Institute as Figment works to expand our view of our Imaginations beyond Dr. Nigel Channing's  views on the subject. It's fun but it doesn't really say much. The message seems to be 'You use your imagination all the time and need to use it more' but it doesn't do that all too well. The song does cover a lot of these gaps but not enough. It's a good ride but seems to lack focus. Seeing Eric Idle as part of a Disney ride makes it worth visiting at least once.

Maelstrom – twice. Short neat ride. Love the backwards section and the drop. The North Sea room as perhaps gotten a bit too tame. Skipping the movie at the end = priceless.

Soarin' – once. Good ride but I still question if its worth waiting for as the lines are always so long, even on a 'quiet' day.

Gran Fiesta Tour – once. Now that I've seen Tres Caballeros for the first time since my youth, it's impressive to me how well this ride fits that film. I know there are those that complain about the characters having been added to this ride but their appearances and this ride fit together too well to not have them come together. And it's fun.

Animal Kingdom - November 2010

Animal Kingdom

-Kilimarjaro Safaris – once. Once again watching animals 'in the wild'. Very enjoyable. I think this is one of the main reasons to attend this park.

-Kali River Rapids – once. You ride in a great tube (with seats) down a river with rapids and drops. It's a ride where you WILL get wet. You might get soaked. I got soaked. Cold water. I enjoyed the ride but don't look forward to riding it again.

-Everest – three times. Nothing new to report. Love it. Can't deal with the strobe effect near the end.

-Finding Nemo the Musical – once. Delightful. Had an angle on the stage that let me see backstage a bit. Loved that.

-Primeval Whirl – once. You ride through 'time' to the extinction of the dinosaurs. It's a 'kid ride' but it knocks you around rather roughly. Enjoyable but a bit mean.

-Dinosaur – twice. Mind the Carnotaurus!

-It's Tough to be a Bug – once. Fun show that I still feel I should catch more. Lots going on. Recommended.

Universal Islands of Adventure - November 2010

Islands of Adventure

Hulk – 3 times. I finally cracked the Hulk banner! I was very nervous the first time through, standing in the queue, sitting in the car waiting for launch, and then when the car began to move? Wow! Three things helped me get to this step: riding Rock n Roller Coaster again to get used to Inversions (upside down), comparing the ride vehicle to other rides I'd survived so that I saw how much more secure you were in this ride, and then riding it for the first time at night so I didn't see the sky so much. Loved the ride. Generally after riding something like that for the first time, I exit somewhat shaken by the experience. Not this time; I exited exhilarated, loving it. I also exited a but wobbly. What I later figured out was that I tended to pull my head up off the headrest so that it got jostled in the turns. Yeah, don't do that.

Spider-Man – 3 times. I love this ride. I dunno that I have anything else to say.

Harry Potter – 4 times. The new ride in the new 'land'. I know very little about Potter but this ride was fascinating. There's a bench of four seats, all facing in the same direction so as to direct the 'camera' of the ride. You fly through set and video screens through a quick moving story. Props feel like they're directly atop you. The goal of the ride and the area was to step up Universal's cred, to make them more 'Disney' in their presentation. I think they succeeded.

One Fish, Two Fish – twice. You climb into a fish that goes in circles and has controls to steer the fish up and down. There's a song that plays, telling you how to dodge the water that occasionally squirts from the fish surrounding the area. It's fun, especially if you have a kid with you and it's warm outside so getting blasted with a bit of water doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

The Cat in the Hat – twice. Action packed trip through the delightful Dr Seuss book. Still great fun.

Flight of the Hippogriff – once. The former 'The Last Unicorn' ride is repackaged as a Harry Potter ride. It's a fun coaster, sort of the Nuthouse Coaster/Barnstormer for the park. Enjoyable but not really worth the wait it has now for being Potterized.

Poseidon's Fury – once. A show that takes you deeper and deeper into a set of ruins while the show occurs around you. Long show but lots of fun. It's not every day you get to walk through a tunnel of water.

Seuss Trolley – once. Still simple fun on a 'railroad' in the sky while a story is told.

Universal Studios - November 2010

Finally I reflect on my trip to theme parks in Florida from this past November.

Universal Studios

Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast – once. Niko and I rode this by ourselves while the others did, well, other things. The ride is what it is; simple fun, nothing too wild apart from the chicken dance. What was interesting was the people sitting next to us in the row: a trainee and trainer ride operator. I heard quiet commentary on what were physical effects, what the current ride operator was doing right and wrong, etc. Loved that. Made me glad I left my camera in my pocket as Universal tend to be very serious about recording and pictures on the rides.

JAWS – once. We sat in the front row of the boat. I had the very left side of the boat so when JAWS went belly up it did so right in front of me. Out-standing.

Men in Black : Alien Attack – twice. We got different endings based on our average score. At least I think that's what did it. I'm not sure I ever noticed that before. We did earn our suit one time through. They still wiped our memory at the end. I think.

The Simpsons Ride – three times. It appears they've added a mark to the wall in the 'safety video' area to easily identify tall people and direct them to the front row so as to prevent them from being injured by the design of the ride vehicle. That's how we met the Tallest Irishman and found it was his first time on the ride. He laughed at all the right spots and got off the ride grinning madly. Good stuff.

ET Adventure – twice. They seem to have been having some issues with Botanicus in the entry queue as he wasn't active every day. We rode this almost as it opened one day and the fog sequences were delightfully thick.

Revenge of the Mummy – twice. The two trips through were nearly back-to-back as there was a child swap involved. We rode it, tagged in a different adult, and hopped back on almost immediately. Enjoyable ride but it feels shorter and shorter as I ride it.

Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster – four times. I think that four times was in about 15 minutes. We rode it, Kara giggled madly, and we ran to get back on. Remembered/Found the bells in the queue that play a tune if you hit them all in sequence.

Terminator 2:3D – once. Entertaining show. Long as well; depending on how you queue for this it'll take 45mins to an hour to go through this. Wait until it's raining or you want to sit down for awhile before visiting this. Its good but the length is such that this isn't an everytime show for me.

The Doctor's Daughter is also the Doctor's Fiance

If you haven't heard already, Doctor David Tennant has gotten himself engaged to the Doctor's (Peter Davison's) daughter Georgia Moffett. Hooray and Huzzah! Cheerful celebration is called for and such! Good for them. If the two minutes I spent with Peter Davison a dozen years ago are any indication of Georgia's nature then she must be very pleasant. If I'd have known he had just an attractive daughter I would have tried to make a better impression and would probably have failed.

Then it dawned on me that Doctor Who fan David Tennant would now have a life that was almost constantly a mini Doctor Who convention. Family functions will always have that Who-vibe. It feels like it would be the funny version of a SNL sketch.


David: (smirking as he slids up to Peter) Hullo... Dad.

Peter: David.

David: So... What was it like the first time you met the Daleks? (smirk becomes wide grin)

Peter: (sighs) You don't really feel like you're the Doctor until you face the Daleks. It was something important for the character to accomplish. (David squees with glee.) You ask me that every week.

David: (quickly as his breath escapes him) I know because it's just so cool!

Peter rolls his eyes and sighs again.


And Peter can answer any question about 'Time Crash' with 'you were there too!'

Do I sound jealous? Cause I probably am.

Movie Review - The Thrillkillers