Avatar: Round 2

So yesterday I went to see Avatar 3D for a second time. The first time I saw the movie I expected to be wowed, but other than that I did not know much about the movie's plot or what role the special effects would play. When I walked out, I was pretty speechless. It wasn't the best move I had ever seen, but it was definitely the most amazing movie I had ever seen. Even a few days later, I couldn't stop thinking about it and knew that the film had not fully sunk in yet. I couldn't fully process what I had seen. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to see it again in the theaters. This is a movie that HAS to be seen on the big screen in 3D. Getting the DVD or waiting for it to come out on rental will not do it justice. I really felt like it was an experience more than a movie, and my second viewing only confirmed that.

I think that the movie was actually MORE enjoyable the second time around, which says a lot about how this movie will fare in the box office over the next few months. I do believe that repeat viewers will be commonplace, which is what made Titanic such a success. There is just too much to take in during one viewing- you really need a second one to take it all in.

Since the second time around I already knew the plot and how the movie ended, I was able to focus more on the film's scenery, nuances, and mastery of the technology. I was able to fully absorb the world that James Cameron created with the multiple moons, floating mountains, and unimaginable creatures. The entire concept of the movie is incredible- how the humans and the Na'vi coexist in the same world and even appear together in some scenes. You forget that the scenes with the Na'vi are only products of special effects. The whole thing feels real.

The movie just felt historic. As if I was witnessing a change in the way movies will be made going forward. It felt like the bar was being raised and that I was witnessing a film that I would be talking about for years.

The one thing I will say is that this is a different type of movie than a character film. There has been a lot of debate over what aspects of the characters' expressions and personality is attributable to the actual skill versus the special effects, which is a fair point. It is definitely difficult for the average moviegoer to distinguish between the two. I hope that this type of film does not replace movies like The Wrestler or Up in the Air but rather that they learn to coexist. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Academy Award for Best Picture- whether Avatar will be recognized as a breakthrough historic film or if the film itself and the technology it employs will be dismissed.

This film has a ton of potential going forward. I can easily see a sequel in which the Na'vi rebuilds and repairs its society. I can also see a prequel that shows how Pandora was initially discovered and how the U.S. set up the whole project on the planet. If Avatar has shown me anything, it's that going forward the possibilities are endless. Not only for this movie franchise, but for the movie industry itself.

The Summer of 1998 and My Boycott of Cooperstown

I don't care that Mark McGwire did steroids. I didn't care a year ago. I didn't care when he testified in front of congress, and I didn't care when there were murmurs of suspected steroid use in the Summer of '98. Mark McGwire provided me with one of my most magical baseball memories growing up, and for that I will always be grateful.

The summer of 1998 concluded for me with a last week in August family trip to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont. I was getting ready to enter high school, and had decided that it would be a great idea to try out for cross-country (my glory days as an athlete). I spent the week running and listening to the Rocky IV soundtrack cassette on my Walkman, taking tennis lessons, and giving my parents a hard time for taking me on a family vacation. There was only one thing that distracted me from running that week- Mark McGwire.

I distinctly remember hanging around the cottage we had rented, waiting for TV stations to cut into their scheduled programming to show a Mark McGwire at bat. Most of the games were not televised, but when Big Mac strode to the plate, everyone stopped what they were doing. He was on that historic of a pace. And it wasn't just that he was making history- it literally felt like everytime he came up he was going to hit it out. And he almost always did. I remember yelling to my brother that McGwire was up again and him running into the room just in time to catch Big Mac unleashing one into the upper deck. It was surreal and it was magical. I had never seen anything like it before and knew that I would never see anything like it again.

It is a little bit sad that almost 12 years later, as I sit here unmagically in my office chair, that what we have all known for years has been confirmed. McGwire did steroids. But do I really care? The answer is a confident no. For better or for worse McGwire is part of my childhood and part of the foundation of my life-long love for the game.

To the Hall of Fame voters, I say get a life. You aren't deciding whether or not this guy should go to heaven or hell. For lack of a better alternative, you are deciding whether or not this man should get into a baseball museum. The entire purpose of Cooperstown is to commemorate the game for the fans, who without the game would cease to exist. Well you have an entire generation of fans who grew up watching Mark McGwire and his peers of the steroid era create baseball memories. And now, these players will not have representation in the Hall?

Well, I make my statement today. I will not return to the Hall of Fame until the players I grew up with are represented in the Hall of Fame. I don't care if their plaques have an asterisk, a paragraph describing their steroid use, or a red circle with an X through it over their face. They just need to be there, because this is a baseball museum, and they are a part of history. My history.

What Could Have Been

The following paragraph is a fictional account:

Friday, November 6th, 2009. I'm so excited that I wake up before my alarm clock. I shower and shave, throw on my favorite article of clothing, and rush out of my apartment. A gust of cold, brisk, wind hits me. I'm glad I threw a sweatshirt on under my favorite article of clothing because its going to be cold standing out in the cold today. My Derek Jeter jersey just wouldn't be enough to keep me warm. I jump on the subway, and head down to a ticker tape parade. My favorite team did it. The Yankees are World Series champions.

Now back to reality:

Why couldn't I have made things easy on myself and become a Yankee fan? As a Met fan, I face year after year of torture, depression, and misery (and this is what I like to do for fun in my spare time). Faced with a Yankees vs. Phillies World Series, it was really a lose-lose. I hate the Yankees, but I hate their fans and the concept of the team more. But I could never root for the Phillies, and so the Yankees it was.

When the Yankees won on Wednesday night, I thought I was going to be angry and bitter today when the city would swell with pinstripes, "legends", and and "tradition" for the parade. But being downtown today just made me sad. Seeing swarms of fans, screaming and celebrating in euphoria. Seeing kids holding their dad's hands, waving pennants, excited about the opportunity to see their heroes. They were truly happy. No amount of Yankee bashing could allow me to take that away from them. The Yankees won, and despite how they did it, their fans can call them champions.

Year after year, seasons fly by for the Mets. Players, managers, and GMs come and go. I keep thinking that this is our year. That it is all going to come together. But it doesn't happen. So all I can say to Yankee fans is enjoy number 27. If you are one of my peers, enjoy the 5th championship you've seen since you were 12 years old. I hope you enjoy and appreciate it, because despite what you have been brought up to believe, it doesn't happen very often.

12,003

I'm in awe. I blogged multiple times a week for a few months, and struggled to get to 1,000 hits. I stopped blogging, went and got myself engaged, posted about a bad restaurant, and next thing I know (2 posts and 4 months later) I'm at 12,300. How did that happen?!?!

It is a pretty amazing thing that so many people have stumbled upon this blog, most likely as a complete accident. I was writing somewhat lengthy posts before which soon became a time consuming and daunting task. I'm going to try to kick this thing into gear again, but scale back on the wordiness. Keep swinging by, hopefully I'll get some good stuff going again.

Worst Restaurant in the World

This is the worst restaurant in the world. I don't even want to elaborate because thinking about it makes me feel sick. Don't go here.

Triumphant Return

So Joshua's Jabberings took a little vacation over the past two months. I have two explanations for this:

1. I got engaged
2. I got lazy

From the beginning, I knew that if I didn't feel like writing, I wasn't going to. And with all the craziness going on in my life, I didn't really feel like sitting down and putting together a coherent post. But now I feel like writing again, and I'm ready to revive my Jabberings. Here is a high level overview of what has been going on with me since my last post (in chronological order):

1. I got mentally prepared to propose by going on two pre-engagement bachelor parties. I needed one last hurrah (or two) before proposing, so I went to Vegas for Scott's bachelor party and to the Bahamas (part 3) with the BU crew. To summarize the trips, I'd like to quote Alan from "The Hangover" (best move of the year, by far, maybe of my life). I love it:

"I'm a steel trap. Whatever happens tonight, i won't ever ever speak a word of it. Seriously. I don't care what happens. I don't care if we kill someone."

And so that's all you are getting out of me for those trips.

2. So I went and got engaged to the most special lady in the world. I don't feel like running through the whole proposal because I think the wedding website does a good job of describing how things went down. You can check our website out here:

Josh and Diana's Wedding Website

3. Along with proposing, I bought an engagement ring. This process went well, but it was still a traumatic experience. I plan on writing a detailed guide to purchasing an engagement ring on the blog, so stay tuned.

So that is pretty much it. Obviously other stuff has gone on, but once again my laziness is returning. Thank you to all of my loyal readers who have been hitting the refresh button to see if I wrote a new post every hour for the past 57 days. I appreciate the support.

Ode to White Castle

I don't like White Castle...I love it. I truly, absolutely, and completely adore it.

Some of my happiest memories from growing up are sitting in a car in the crime-stricken neighborhood of East Orange, pounding burgers from sleeves out of a "Crave Case" and listening to sports talk radio. Exchanges would go something like this:

Me: Pass me a burger
G: (Chewing) With cheese or without?
Me: Cheese
Joe: (Chewing) Regular or Jalapeno?
Me: Regular
Mad Dog: Vinny from Queens you are on the fan
Vinny: Benny Agbayani is a bum. I have a trade for you: Agbayani and Rick Reed for Manny Ramirez.
Mike Francesca: I like Inge a lot

And that is the way it went. After school, late night, it didn't matter. Sometimes we would just get a couple each to hold us over between meals, and other times it was our actual meal. We routinely finished a crave case (for those of you who don't know, a crave case is a cardboard suitcase consisting of 30 burgers).

This weekend when I was home, I got to have White Castle again. There is one in the city, but I save this for a coming home tradition. I even got to try their new pulled pork (not that great). The original cheeseburger is the best- little soft bun, steamed burger, minced onions, melted american cheese, warm ketchup, and a pickle slice. Man, do I love white castle.