If this...thing (I don't know, I just can't bring myself to call it a blog) were anything more than what it purported to be, I suppose I'd be working in some of the events going on right now in a far more intelligent and general manner than what I am about to.
I may be smart and worldly but I never said this space was. Here, it's all about me, baby.
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Unless you've been living under a rock around here*, you're aware at every turn you take outside of your home that the Phillies have not only made it to the World Series, but they actually look to possibly win the thing. I personally have no feeling on the matter, one way or another; in fact, my only concession to having any feeling about the team was liking what their logo is on their sportswear.
(True story: I first saw a Phillies cap on a boy I liked very much, in my EE 201 lab. I honestly thought it was his way of letting me know he liked me, too--why else wear a cap with an initial that had no bearing whatsoever to his own name or anything about him? When I mentioned how I approved of his attire paying homage to me, he shook his head and said, "P__, not everything is about you!" Really?!
Turns out he did like me too, by the way, so when all was said and done, it did end up about me. So there.)
Despite not being a fan of the game and, in fact, never having been to one, I love baseball movies. No, let me rephrase that, I LOVE baseball movies. I have seen pretty much all of them (that I know of) and I also own almost as many of them. I think it started with the [original] Bad News Bears. (By the way, I just saw that recently, channel surfing and man, was the language in that movie way inappropriate for kids. I mean, yeah okay, pre-PC and all, but still. There's no way I'd let the kid watch it without some heavy editing--kind of like what I had to do for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Okay, subject for later.) I totally wanted to be Amanda (Tatum O'Neal's character), the girl who was better than the boys, although I really found the whole deal with Kelly skeevy and I didn't even know the word skeevy then. (Oh, the boy who played Kelly, i.e. Jackie Haley? Check him out all grown up in the movie 'Little Children' [excellent movie and even more excellent book], and he is playing Rorschach in 'Watchmen'. I canNOT wait for that one.)
I'm back, I'm back on topic, I swear. So, as I was saying, it started with The Bad News Bears (and I've seen all the sequels; how's that for dedication) and it just took off from there. If there's baseball in it, I've probably watched it.
Out of the dozens and and dozens of movies made, you might think I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Well, you'd be wrong, of course. Even though there's about a half dozen of them that I will watch again and again and again, this one stands out. (Ask L. At one point, I think he thought maybe that was the only movie we owned and I'd tossed all the rest.) I really believe Billy Crystal when he said in the commentary that this movie was life to him. It shows. Of course, Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane were spookily good in their roles, especially Pepper. Seriously, watch footage of Maris and then go back and watch him as Maris in the movie. Brrr--chills of the good kind.
I should also mention that in a critical part of the movie, they used my favorite Ventures song, which of course endeared the whole thing to me even more. I can't find a clip of the movie where it plays, but come one, why watch it as soundtrack when you can watch the actual guys playing it?
(Last tangent, I promise: I didn't know, until I came to the U.S., that this was a Ventures original, although I knew of them (Hawaii 5-0 theme, etc.) You see, little miss Brit that I was, I thought The Shadows' version I'd heard all those years was the original. Turns out, there were quite a few things that fell into the 'who knew it wasn't British?' category but that's--yes, say it with me--a subject for another time.)
Walk, Don't Run ('64 version) - The Ventures
* Another classic example of the breakdown and complete separation of communication and opinion between North and South Jersey is the professional sports' team affiliations for each area. (Which, of course, speaks volumes as to the existence of such teams in the state itself). When you're from around here, you're generally a Phillies/Flyers (maybe Devils) /Eagles/Sixers fan (or you otherwise keep mum on who you really support. Unless you're looking for a quick and easy way out of this life.) When you're one of those uppity Northern folk, you go for the Yanks or Mets/Rangers or Devils/Jets or Giants/Knicks or Nets fan combo.
The North and South do share one common opinion: those folk calling themselves Central Jerseyans are on plain crack.
