Tonight, Major League Baseball opened season! Yes, near the end of July, with no fans in the stands, canned crowd noise, and some restrictions like no sunflower seeds. The league will do regular testing, and the travel schedules will be truncated, and announced tonight, they will have an extended play off season that will not extend the season, but add more playoff games. Other changes include "a universal designated hitter" i.e. both the National League and the American League will be using the designated hitter.
The New York Yankees played the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C, aired on ESPN. Before the game, the players took a knee, and connected with each other by holding a black ribbon or rope, for a moment of silence, then stood for the national anthem. Behind the mound, the MLB logo was displayed in the dirt above the letters BLM (Black Lives Matter.)
Dr. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, threw out the "ceremonial" first pitch.
The Yankees and Nationals played beyond the 5th inning, when the Heavens opened up, and the skies lit up. A very heavy thunderstorm delayed the game, and eventually, caused it to be called, with the Yankees winning.
This was a doubleheader night on ESPN, the next game was the San Francisco Giants playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The opening ceremonies were similar to those at the Yankee - National game. Only, some players chose to continue to kneel, with the blessings of their team leadership.
I learned some things tonight:
Mookie Betts, who had performed so well for the Boston Red Sox, signed a 13 year, $392 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mike Yastrezmski plays for the San Francisco Giants. Yes, Mike Yastrezmski is related to Carl Yastrezmski. He is Carl's grandson. He wears number 5, and supposedly, when asked why not wearing number 8, he said there was enough pressure on him, he did not need to add to it by wearing number 8. Wise young man.
Also, the Boston Red Sox unveiled a 250 foot billboard along the Massachusetts Turnpike, near Fenway Park, that says Black Lives Matter.
Baseball really is America's game, and Major League Baseball has stepped up to promote racial equality.
I like baseball. I am sorry that baseball was segregated until the late 1940s. I like that baseball sponsored a women's league during World War II. I like that many of our presidents throw out the first pitch on opening day. And baseball is important enough in our society, that many baseball terms have been appropriated for non-baseball situations.
One thing I am not sure of is the runner-on-second rule for overtime games. I understand, especially this year, it is a way to prevent very, very long overtime games, but how is this justified? Why does the person who made the last out of the previous inning get to be on base? It makes no sense, other than "time management." Sorry, our world is full of time management ideas that make no sense, promote stress, and do not allow for quality or pure performance.
Oh well, there is always good and bad in changes. We will have to see what survives and what does not.
I do not go to watch movies in movie theaters often, but I went January 1, 2014 to see Saving Mr Banks http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140373/. This is the story of Walt Disney negotiating with Mrs. P J Travis for the rights to do Mary Poppins http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058331/. It has its sad moments, but over all, I thought it was a very good feel good movie. And Tom Hanks, as usual, was amazingly wonderful, this time as Walt Disney.
While I am familiar with the movie Mary Poppins I was not familiar with the books, nor with the story of creating the movie.
I loved "the culture" of the Disney Enterprises: first names, lots of comfort food, and informal working conditions, as well as showering Mrs. Travis with all kinds of Disney memorabilia. It was great.
My favorite character in the movie was Ralph, the chauffeur, played by Paul Giamatti http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316079/?ref_=tt_cl_t6.
I loved the hairstyles of the women, the clothes, the glasses, the Disney "stuff." These are the trappings of my childhood and brought back wonderful warm memories for me.
I cried through much of the movie. Some tears of sadness, but mostly tears of connectedness. I suspect some people will think this movie was hokey or corny, but I really enjoyed it. From the sniffles I heard, I was not the only one who cried.
And interestingly enough, most people sat through most of the credits. The credits were interesting. This was based on a totally true story. So, the credits showed a picture of the "real" person, and the name of the actor who played that person. What a great way to show credits!
Before the feature started, as I watched the previews for upcoming movies, I was struck by the movie Heaven is For Real http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1929263/. A coworker recently told me about this book, Heaven is For Real http://heavenisforreal.net/ which is a true story about a small boy who has a near death experience. I had sort of put this book on the back burner of my "want to read list" but did not make it a priority. That has changed.
I was talking to a friend today, and told her about this book and movie. She told me her husband has the book, and thought it was a really good read. So it is now definitely on my must read list.
In the mid 1970's, there was a priest who filled in at our parish and his sermon was about Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' work On Death and Dying http://www.ekrfoundation.org/. This was before I decided to become a social worker. But I read her book, and read many other books about death and dying. I already had decided that when people died, there was an afterlife which was a better place so while we miss our loved ones, we would see them in the next world, in a better state. I still firmly believe this. So, dealing with death and dying of humans was something that I have had a peace with. This has helped me with my social work career. Most recently, that discussion has come up with my co-workers, and we have shared stories that re-enforce our belief in life after life.
I still have death and dying issues regarding pet animals, although those have lessened over the years, mostly because I have decided that our pets also have an after life in Heaven, as do our beloved humans.
Anyway, Heaven is For Real is on my list to see as a movie and read as a book.
I am also waiting for Labor Day http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1967545/ to be released on January 31, 2014. This movie, filmed in 2012, in part in communities close to my home town, is based on a book Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. I followed the news clips about the filming and read the book. I do not understand why they did not target national opening for the Labor Day holiday weekend. But they did not. However, it has been released at various film festivals.
I am so not a movie goer. Over the years, there have been movies that I have thought I wanted to see, but did not go to the movie theater to see, and then never followed up with. For a while, I had a Netflix https://signup.netflix.com/ subscription. But, because I did not watch the movies sent to me in a timely way, I decided I did not get my money's worth by having a Netflix subscription. Someday, I may want to reconsider this, but for now, I can access movies and books through the library, and I do not feel I need to access Netflix,or any other movie service.
Movies are good. Introspection indicates to me that I have a preference for movies that are based on a true story, while I know that even those movies take a lot of "artistic license."
I have, however, started going to the movie theater more: If there is a movie I really want to see, I do not rely on the library to make it available. I just go to watch the movie.
I am thankful I have so many options regarding watching movies.
