Task 33 - Catch 2 Live Sporting Events (Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays)

(33) Catch 2 Live Sporting Events (4/2)

 

After a rainy game against the Orioles on Wednesday we returned for another game. This time we brought along my brother and 7yo nephew to watch the Boston Red Sox take on the Tampa Bay Ray's.

It was not as exciting as the previous game but the weather definitely was better. The game started out real slow with Tampa scoring a run in the 3rd and Boston tied it up in the 5th with a homerun by David Ross.

With the game tied and my nephew getting restless we decided to call it a day at the end of the 7th inning stretch. On the way home we listened as Boston finished the Ray's 2-1 with a score by Jacoby Ellsbury in the 10th.

Task 33 - Catch 2 Live Sporting Events (Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles)

(33) Catch 2 Live Sporting Events (3/2)

Last night the Boston Red Sox hosted their second game of the season at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles. We arrived at Yawkey Way about 6:00 and grabbed a couple Fenway Franks before taking to our seats in Field Box 37. As start time drew closer it was obviously not a packed stadium. I had heard rumors before coming out that the Boston Red Sox’s streak of sold-out home games was coming to an end and it showed.

We settled into our seats as the players began warming up. It didn’t take long before the festivities of a pregame ritual ran their course with the ceremonial first pitch and the amazing Star Spangled Banner being sung by a local school teacher. She did a fantastic job.

There was a moment of silence before the game for Dave O’Hara, the former New England sports editor for the Associated Press in Boston, who died Tuesday at the age of 86. Even the jumbotron went black as a gesture of respect.

With all of that done the game and the rain started like clockwork at 7:10 pm. The game got off to a pretty slow start with Baltimore Orioles scoring 1 run in the first inning. Boston managed to tie it up in the second and take a small 3-1 lead in the third. The Orioles fought back in the fourth to tie the game up and as the fourth inning ended the skies really started to open up and the rain came down hard.

While we were having a great time the weather got the best of us and we decided to call it a night. Had the weather been better I am sure it would have been a far more enjoyable experience and we would have easily made it to the end of the game.

One thing I can’t resist commenting on is how expensive it is to attend a game. While our seats were pretty good they at $130 a ticket they weren’t cheap. With 4 of us in attendance it was $520 before we even left the house. Another $35 to park, $5 per Fenway Frank, $4.75 a soda and $7.25 a beer it was an over $600 dollar night pretty quickly. With prices like that it doesn’t surprise me that the Sell-out streak came to an end last night. With the economy still in rough shape I can’t understand how they have kept the stands so full for so long especially since the storied team is in a season of rebuilding after several season of high profile departures by some big name players.

It is a great experience for anyone who can afford to attend but for the average Joe it might be better to save your cash this season and watch from the comfort of home on your big screen TV.

Task 37 - Oz The Great and Powerful

Task 37 - Watch a movie starting with every letter of the alphabet.
I recently went and saw Oz The Great and Powerful 3D at the Imax in Natick and have mixed feelings about if I liked it.

It started in black and white, set in a dusty mid western town and chronicled the life of a traveling circus magician (James Franco) who dreamed of greatness but was nothing more than a womanizing con artist. After wooing one too many girls he find himself being chased by the circus strong man who wants his head. As he narrowly escapes the clutches of that dangerous situation he finds himself in another as he escapes in hot air balloon that is being pulled directly into the vortex of a menacing tornado. 

The black and white fades to color as he returns to consciousness in the world of Oz. While the colors and beauty of the world of Oz were well done this is where the movie lost its appeal . After crash landing he meets Theodora (Mila Kunis) who explains to Oz his destiny as the wizard and would be king who will save the people of Oz defeat the evil witch that she and her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) are protecting.

After his grand entrance and introduction he is sent to kill Galinda (Michele Williams) in order to fulfill his destiny in order to be king as he was instructed by Evanora. Along his way to break Galinda’s wand he comes upon the broken china town. With the addition of the China Doll they continue on and find Galinda in a cemetery where he discovers that Galinda is not the evil witch but rather the last glimmer of hope for the people of Oz. Enraged by his fascination with Galinda Theodora is conned by the real evil witch to eat an apple which turns her green. Together they seek to destroy boy Galinda and Oz to finalize their control.

The acting by all 4 main characters seems primitive and hardly believable. Instead the corny commentary distracts from the story and leaves its viewers disappointed. The quirkiness of Oz distracts rather then adds to the appeal of the story. It just felt all too playful but perhaps it was my fault expecting a little more adult storyline. Sure, everything on screen is colorful, and the special effects are often beautiful to look at (especially during the film’s climax). But there’s nothing else about Oz that really hooked me in. Somewhere between that first hot air balloon ride and the film’s decent final moments, I nodded off as I learned about witches, talking monkeys, china dolls, and a quest to free the land of Oz from an evil witch’s curse.

This one for me was a disappointment and a waste of 13$.