Sports and Corndogs

This is recorded as my 5th post because I saved my sub-par Oscar picks in the 4-spot. Slumdog took 9 Oscars! For those interested I gave my reactions to the Oscars in that 4th post as well.

Sports: Though I'm working in baseball, I have yet to experience it in Memphis. Instead I have been given free tickets to several different sporting events in the Memphis area. First it was three Grizzlies games in three weeks. We saw Lebron James with the Cavaliers in my first NBA game ever. We later saw the Pistons and the Nuggets. The Grizzlies lost all three games...contributing to why Memphis ranks 2nd on Forbes' latest 'Most Miserable Cities' List. See here. Don't worry mom.

Here are most of the interns at a Grizzlies game in one of the lower-level suites.

Next we went to the Mud-Pond to see the beloved Mississippi RiverKings play. The RKs used to be a Memphis franchise, but crossed the state-line not very long ago. We left before it was over. Here is the RK logo.
Just last week, we were given tickets to the Regions Morgan Keegan Tennis Championship hosted by the Racquet Club of Memphis. We were able to get tickets in exchange for working the event. The Redbirds had a booth set-up in the food lobby or 'village' if you will. On various nights, two interns would work the booth. We were just there to get information to the people and hype the season.


The tickets Ben and I got were for the Wednesday night session. We saw Canas play Del Potro. Above is Canas pleading with the chair official.

Del Potro sits between games. The seats we had were very close.

Del Potro won, but there was no bad blood. Both Canas and Del Potro are from Argentina. Forgive the blurry pick. Sports are hard to capture indoors without an automatic focus.


Believe it or not, the following match was a WTA event between top-seeded Wozniacki and Elena Dokic. We were able to move down and get right behind the players. Above is Wozniacki and her coach talking between games.

Here I am behind Dokic...who lost. In this photo you can kind of see the seating structure on the other side. There is an aisle way and then three 'boxes' on either side. The Redbirds had a designated box and that is where we sat.

Andy Roddick wound up winning the tournament on Sunday defeating Stepanek in two close sets. However the big event of the tennis event was the food. Southern BBQ chain Corky's catered the event, but right outside was this yellow corndog stand. For the first time since middle school maybe, I ate a corndog. A foot long. Twice. I must say the corndog is a treat and if you haven't in a while, it may be time to revisit its goodness.

When I was working the booth I was able to get Del Potro's autograph. The corndog still trumps that though.

So there you have it. With all of these free sports, it won't surprise you when I tell you I have already turned down tix for the Memphis' annual curling and polo tournaments.

Thanks: A special thanks goes out to Aunt Janet and Uncle Ralph who sent Junior Mints and Hot Tamales to me last week. I'm still working on them. A great snack at work. Likewise, my mother also was the first to send girl scout cookies.

Teaser: More on my job next week, I think. And maybe some pictures of me. Maybe.

My Take: The Oscars

After Viewing Reactions: So for the third time in my four efforts to predict the Oscar winners I finish with a 42% (10-for-24). Not good. The New York Times Carpetbagger went 18-for-24. Obviously I still have more to learn before I take that job. Nevertheless, it will always be a fun process to predict the winners.

Also, Saturday night I was able to screen all 10 Oscar-nominated short films at a local movie theater in Memphis. It sold out quickly and the average age of attendees was probably 50. I'm trying to grow up too fast. So I changed my pick for the Live Action Short Film, but still got it wrong.

I went 6-for-10 in the star categories. More than half. Decent. I'll get 'em next year. See category sections below for color-coded reactions. Correct. Wrong. Reaction.

Original Statement: For the past three years I have made an effort to view the five movies nominated for BEST PICTURE before the Academy Awards (I missed my chance at seeing ‘Milk’). In addition to completing this upwards of $30 investment, I also take a careful look at the complete Academy Awards’ ballot sheet and try to guess the winner appropriately. In ’06 I went 10-for-24 (42%), in ’07 I went 13-for-24 (54%) and in ’08 I went 10-for-24 again. Pretty average one might say, but it is hard to pick a winner when you haven’t seen any of the movies in the categories (such as Live Action Short Film and Foreign Film). Thus, when I started I declared 10 ‘Star’ categories that are the most important. Of these 10 ‘Star Categories’ I have continued to improve over the years (5/10 in ’06, 6/10 in ’07, 7/10 in ’08). Let’s keep that pattern going.

So now I present to you my 2009 Oscar Picks with some explanations. On the list below, a * by the category designates what I deem a ‘Star Category’.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: ‘Smile Pinki’ wins. Best synopsis.

BEST SHORT FILM (Live Action): I choose ‘New Boy’. Deals with race. After watching them I chose 'The Pig' which is a very charming film from Denmark about a hospital patient who finds a deep connection with the painting of a pig in his room.

BEST SHORT FILM (Animated): I have actually seen ‘Presto’, so I chose it. Though ‘Octapodi’ looks cool. 'Octapodi' was the shortest of the shorts. It was alright.

BEST MUSIC SONG: All college students who enjoy indie-tribal-rap will probably be pulling for M.I.A.’s ‘O Saya’ to win. I’m with them. Do remember 3 6 Mafia has an Oscar, making no musical artist an impossibility.

BEST MUSIC SCORE: ‘Benjamin Button’ wins with the unique New Orleans backdrop.

BEST COSTUME: Period pieces usually have a distinct advantage in this category. The more ruffles and frills the better. ‘The Duchess’ wins. Frills!

BEST MAKE-UP: While the ‘Dark Knight’ did give us what will be a very lasting image and Halloween get-up with the Joker’s face paint, aging is one of the most difficult things to make look believable in cinema and ‘Benjamin Button’ did a terrific job. Button wins.

BEST ART DIRECTION: This category usually goes to musicals, but none of the nominees are that. Hmm. The next most often is fantasy films, which I guess would be ‘The Dark Knight’. I feel weird putting it here, but let’s do it.

BEST SOUND EDITING: It’s between ‘Wall-E’ or ‘Iron Man’ here for me. ‘Wall-E’ had no original sounds to work with, being 100% animated, but the high-tech weaponry of ‘Iron Man’ could be a tough opponent. Plus, Iron Man kind of resembles the little Oscar guy. Distant cousins? Nah. I choose ‘Wall-E’, cleverly using the Apple boot-up sound as Wall-E’s full-energy indicator.

BEST SOUND MIXING: ‘The Dark Knight’s’ sound was seamless, constant action requiring equally believable sounds.

BEST VISUAL F/X: This category is basically a way for the summer blockbuster to always get an award. ‘The Dark Knight’ deserves it though, using CGI sparingly and actually blowing up that hospital. Kudos.

BEST FOREIGN FILM: I think this one will go to ‘Waltz with Bashir’. A personal look into the Israeli army during the Lebanon War. Plus the trippy looking animation sets it apart. I’ve heard of this one too, which bodes well as an indicator.

*BEST DOCUMENTARY: I going with ‘Man On Wire’ because it is the only one I happened to see in ’08. An interesting inside look at a tightrope walker's life and his master plan to conquer the Twin Towers of New York. He’s a very eccentric guy too. Do remember to qualify as a Documentary, only 51% of the film actually has to be true. And that’s the truth. I'm glad I didn't know Herzog had a documentary in this category, because I may have chosen it.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: ‘Wall-E’ wins easily, using a fun little robot friend to teach kids about the importance of keeping the planet ‘green’. The Academy will eat it up.

*BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ had a lot of running scenes that were cool and well done, but I feel like ‘the Dark Knight’ has some pull. Still I will choose ‘Slumdog’ for the quickly paced scenes of the kids running through the trash-filled streets of Mumbai.

*BEST FILM EDITING: Editing and Cinematography have only matched up twice in the past 10 years, so I’m apprehensive to choose ‘Slumdog’. I could cut costs and choose it, knowing that I’ll at least get one right if I pick it for both Cinematography and Editing, but instead I’ll choose ‘Dark Knight’. So I would have gotten two right.

*BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: This category alone, which will probably be pretty early in the presentations (yes), will determine which film wins Best Picture (yes). Over the last 10 years, only three of the Best Picture winners didn’t have either the Adapted or Original Screenplay win. That’s why ‘Benjamin Button’ will win. An adaptation of a renowned American novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, plus a tie-in with Hurricane Katrina. Gold. Unfortunately I had the wrong one.

*BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Oh how the original screenplay has fallen. The great movie writers of our time have ceased to exist. No one can generate a unique story these days. Instead terrible sequels and remakes are attempted, leaving no one happy. This is probably the worst I have seen this category since doing this, proving to be a fairly weak year in movies. There is no reason a Colin Farrell movie should be in there and the ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ nom is the Academy’s desperate attempt to keep alive the cute indie-comedy seen in year’s past with ‘Juno’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. Woody Allen's '08 film didn't even get a nomination. I'm happy to see that ‘Wall-E’ got in here though and I hope it beats out ‘Milk’. Tear the two nominees down to the question: Will the Academy support going green or gay rights? Tear the question down again: Is the environment more important or are humans? The answer will be humans. ‘Milk’ wins.

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: If I had seen ‘Doubt’, I could probably approach this category confidently. I did not though, so it’s guessing time. Amy Adams, who was in ‘Doubt’, not a pun, is an up-and-coming actress who is a perfect fit to win this category. I’ll choose her on a whim.

*BEST ACTRESS: Unfortunately I have only seen Winslet’s performance, again limiting my abilities to predict. She did well, looking completely devastated on numerous occasions, but is up against the experience of Meryl Streep and the direction of Clint Eastwood in Angelina Jolie. I’ll say Winslet, though it appears Melissa Leo could be a sleeper.

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger gave everything he had to bring the joker to the big screen, including his life. Americans will outrage if he doesn’t win.

*BEST ACTOR: Oh how I want Mickey Rourke to win. The guy is super ugly and will probably not have another role that is so perfect for him and so demanding. However, the big player that stands in his way is Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. The academy loves actors who are able to bring back to life people who actually existed. Playing a martyr to the homosexual community, if there is a better role to take that guarantees an Academy nod I would like to know. The only thing Rourke can hope for is that Penn’s performance came off as fake. Penn wins.

*BEST DIRECTOR: When you see bad acting it is important to know that this is the director’s fault. The director is responsible for what you see on the screen. If his talent cannot perform certain emotions believably, he must set another course. Now that you know this, you might find it interesting that only seven of the 40 acting award winners of these past 10 years (less than 20%) saw their coach win best director. Hopefully that made since. If not then it is probably unclear why I think Gus Van Sant (Milk) will only win if Penn loses best actor and Stephen Daldry (Reader) will only win if Winslet losses best actress. Best Director usually coincides with Best Picture, but I think Blanchett’s acting in ‘Button’ specifically when she was old will ruin it for David Fincher (notice Blanchett wasn’t nominated at all). I’ll give it to Van Sant for ‘Milk’.

*BEST PICTURE: Well, it’s the category everyone’s been waiting for. (please read the Screenplay Awards above if you haven't) I think this year is pretty easy. We all know bio-pics struggle to win this award, which rules out ‘Frost/Nixon’ and ‘Milk’, though the subject matter of 'Milk' is personal to a large majority of the Academy. Even so, rule it out. Everyone's sleeper pick ‘Slumdog’ relies to heavily on its gimmick to win and the ‘Reader’ is perhaps too plain. That leaves us with ‘Benjamin Button’ as the winner. A nice safe pick for the Academy.

Hope this was interesting and I hope I do well. The Oscars are Sunday night February 22nd.

Conquering the Last of Tennessee's Three Biggest Cities

I suppose the title's a little misleading. I haven't exactly conquered Memphis just yet, but I have started to piece my way around the city. A few weekends ago Ben and I road around looking for quality vinyl/CD shops along with various thrift stores (for I needed a computer bag). I took pictures.

{Be sure to note my Academy Award predictions located below this post}

This Is Memphis:
This one here I think might make a nice banner one day for the blog. The Memphis skyline perhaps with some words in the top-right.


I see this sign everyday as I travel to work, and boy is it a relief. Returning to the mother-state is such a refreshing feeling, unfortunately I stop my travels in Memphis.


That's right friends. An AmVets in Memphis. Doesn't that just make you super excited. Hurry. Well...it's not as good as the old Knoxville original, but it's nice to see.


Ah yes...one of the seven wonders of the world. The great pyramid. A former basketball arena and a future Bass Pro Shops. I kid you not.


And finally the shocker of them all. A large statue of liberty begging America back to Christ, posted up right in front of this huge church. Strange.

More About My Job: The season doesn't start until April 9th, so in the meantime we have been doing preliminary work. The first task we did was write play bios for the media guide. Every sports team on every level has some kind of media guide which is provided by the organization and given to members of the press during ballgames. The broadcasters and news writers use the media guides to get quick information about the players, who they probably know very little about. Ben and I were given 17 players each and asked to find ten unique stats about their 2008 season. We were given privileged access to Minor League Baseball's stat database in order to create our bios. Bio info basically looked like this...

Chris Perez - Right-Handed Pitcher

• Played 26 games for Memphis with a 3.20 ERA (9ERx25.1IP) before being called up to St. Louis to play 41 games for a 3.46 ERA (16x41.2).
• Struck out one in his major league debut, allowing no hits in one inning pitched on 5/16 against Tampa Bay.
• Had a career-high 67.0 innings pitched in '08 (41.2 in STL / 25.1 in MEM).
  
• Had the third most saves (6) in the Pacific Coast League for the month of April.
  

We also have been learning how to do baseball scoring, which if you did not know is a very complex string of numbers and letters. For example if a player doubles on a line drive to right field, bringing in the runner on third, the code would be: D9/L.3-H . But if the runner on first also scores due to a throwing error by the right fielder the play would look like this: D9/L.3-H;1-H(E9/TH) . I don't expect this to make a lot of since but you can kind of make since of it when you look at it carefully. The first week Nicole, a MLB employee, sent me game notes from one of last year's baseball games. The notes had a play-by-play written out and I was instructed to translate the plays into baseball code. I would send it to Nicole and she would correct it, sending me a new game to code. The process repeats and repeats. Ben and I have both been doing this because when the season starts we will be doing game coding during the games. Thus we've been preparing.

Mistakes & Questions: In case you wrote down my apartment address before now, it is probably wrong. I live on 2000 North Avalon Ave. NOT 200 North Avalon. Sender be warned.

Also I have been asked, outside of my blog, if I will be traveling with the team for away games. The answer is no, we will work in the office on those days and publish the game stories from Memphis.

Work Everyday...at the Park!

By now everyone on the mailing list should have received the little Redbirds' postcard (or email) I sent out informing you of this blog. I hope everyone enjoyed it and that it earned a spot on the refrigerator. This will be my second post. In it I discuss the interns and where I work. In case you're tuning in late and missed the introductory post, just check the archives on the right.

The Job: Going in I thought I was just going to be listed as a 'Memphis Redbirds Intern', but instead I actually have a legitimate title and will soon get business cards (I think). My title is: Communications Assistant. The Redbirds are a Triple-A baseball organization who are a farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals. The team is not-for-profit organization, the first at the Triple-A level. Every year the Redbirds' office brings in a new class of 'interns' who basically help run the park for the season. Though it is not mentioned in my title, I am one of the interns. The job lasts through the season, which is over in September. The internship is paid (not very much) and housing is provided (as I said before). The experience I will take away from this will be priceless.

The Intern Class of 2009: There are 15 of us and it's kind of a motley crew. You have been introduced to my roommate Mark, but the person I most closely work with is Ben. He is from Texas and is in graduate school at Texas Tech. There are four girls versus 11 guys, from all over. Texas, Detroit, Minnesota, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Memphis, South Carolina and Nashville Tennessee. That last one is me. We all have different accents and personalities and we are all have different responsibilities for the Redbirds. We would make a great cast for an inspirational kids' movie, where despite all of our differences and inexperience we successfully reach impossible heights. The Mighty Ducks meet the Outsiders. Get your tickets now.

The Office:AutoZone Park is a family friendly ballpark located in downtown Memphis, right across the street from the world-famous Rendezvous BBQ. The picture above is the main entrance. The park is on the right and our office building is on the left. Most of the interns work on the left, but Ben and I have the luxury of working in the park.

Here is a progressive look around my office. See my dual monitor set-up and life-saving space heater.


I have zoomed in to the computers to show you the windows I have on my left. Also you can see my computer bag (bought at a thrift store for $3).

And finally outside my window. Well what do you know, it's the park. I anxiously await for the Spring, when I can open up these windows and soak up the fresh air.

Now for the really important stuff. For everyone who is really super excited about this and also enjoys gifts of Junior Mints, Hot Tamales (the candy), Samoas & Thin Mints...

Send care packages to:
175 Toyota Plaza, Suite #300
Memphis TN 38103

Next Week: Next time I will tell you exactly what I do and explain my explorations of this fine city. What I have found may surprise you.