This is AWESOME, right?

For all of you watching this World Baseball Classic...it IS, right?

For those not watching or waiting for the USA to take off today...


C'MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!!!!!



That was an amazing game to watch live. You could tell early on how far Italy's pitching still has to go, but they held their own against a solid Mexican lineup.

Instead of watching how much the Dominican team dominated the Venezuelan team in a rain-delayed game, let's check out what made this game REALLY AWESOME.



Then came the Dutch Cuban game.
I'm kinda flipping out about this Netherlands team, you guys.



Dutch. Authentic Dutch.

The next game I did not stay up or wake up for the 5 AM start time, but it went 4 hours and 47 minutes. When I woke up around 8 it was in the 8th.



And we have a break till 5:30 this afternoon*, when Puerto Rico takes on Spain. It's the first time in the tournament for the Spanish, so I'm looking forward to gauging what kind of baseball they play over there.

It appears by the competitive balance of the tournament that baseball is developing more around the world. So, it'll be interesting to see where Spain currently stands.

USA and Mexico face each other tonight at 9 PM EST. Get geared up for that.

And the Mets are playing today, but that is not televised or on the radio.

(And did you say too much, George?)

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your day, everybody. 

Watch a lot of our sport later.

THIS. WORLD. BASEBALL.
LET'S. GO. METS.

*correction: Canada and Italy at 2:00 PM today. We'll talk about them more tomorrow.


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"The Expanded Universe IS THE END-ALL BE-ALL OF STAR WARS!!!!" (?)

Over the weekend, I met a man at a party who could not open his mind to the new Star Wars ventures because the creative people have said they are using a blank slate for the creation of the story, AKA ignoring the Expanded Universe. I'm not sure if it was mostly the alcohol or his personality, but he was extremely passionate and extremely loud about it all as we grilled in the snow outside in Brooklyn Saturday night (which was pretty cool to do, actually.) I told him I understand his firm stance and that he cannot be dissuaded, but I asked him if he could, just for a second, take a gander at the creative team that is being put together for the endeavor (including the producer, who might be the biggest reason I'm excited since I read this Kathleen Kennedy Hollywood Reporter profile.) I also asked him to consider the fact that the filmmakers are fans, they just happen to be filmmakers. And as far as we know, though they said they are going into it with a blank slate, they might have read some of the Expanded Universe books and take elements of them into their blank slate. Of course, I don't know these people personally and I don't know their relationship with the world outside the films. I was just suggesting the idea and asking him to consider it. He said he didn't care.

I don't recall what provoked it, but he also said, at some point while calling what's about to happen an "abomination," that you're not a real Star Wars fan if you don't follow the Expanded Universe.

Hold on a second there. I am not, in my adult life, into the Expanded Universe. I probably have not read a Star Wars novel since I read Shadows of the Empire in 1998 (by the way: Pixar should MAKE THAT.) Does that make me less of a Star Wars fan than somebody who has read all the books?

I think not.

My original interest in Star Wars was as films and the storytelling in those films. AND that's what they were originally intended to be. What has followed is due to the massive creativity the films of Star Wars ignited in not just its first generation of fans, but every generation that has followed, and, most likely, as long as humans exist and live in a media kind of age, every generation to follow. I should probably read more fiction, and I'm sure a good Star Wars book is some of the best fiction out there. The Big Bad Baseball Gypsy has read a select collection of the novels. A fellow Mets Blogger wrote one. If I choose, however, for the majority of my Star Wars fandom to be directed towards the films, that doesn't make me any less of a fan than anybody else, and it certainly doesn't make me "not a REAL fan."

I still believe the best way to tell a Star Wars story is through film, with the right creative group together, and I believe a talented creative group is being put together (including the writer of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Lawrence Kasdan.)

As opposed to an overweight aging film director who doesn't want to work as hard as he did on the Original Star Wars, which had been the last time he had directed anything since becoming a corporate entity (which probably drained some life out of him over the years as well.)

The parallels to the story are insane...

Speaking of the most recent directing jobs of George Lucas, I have something you all should enjoy, regardless of whether you are a Star Wars fan.

On Youtube, there is a video production company called Red Letter Media. They create many different things, but they are known for their Star Wars Prequel reviews.

The character of Harry S. Plinkett, "aged, insane and hilarious," carefully, thoroughly and uproariously dissects everything that is wrong with every prequel movie. Each review is in 7-9 parts and run almost full-length feature time. Being a screenwriter and somebody who wants to make films, they are very educational as well.

They also have underlying narratives that he only eats pizza rolls and is a serial killer...

I highly recommend you watch all three reviews.

You see, the prequels were classics in bad filmmaking. They are memorable on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. They elicited the exact opposite response (from most of us) than the originals did. They are studies in what NOT to do. The only thing that can rival the majesty of IV, V and VI is the complete and utter train wreck that is I, II and III. I am almost thrilled that they exist the way they do because of the educational opportunity they now represent.

And its probably a good thing for VII, VIII and IX that Lucas screwed those up so royally.

Yes, the conditions of the times came together to create something magical from '77-'83. It will be very difficult, if nearly impossible, to solicit that same emotional reaction from us.

But I have a feeling I'm gonna have a great time in those theaters.

Here's the "Star Wars Track" of the Day.

WHAT'S. UP. HAMILL?

LET'S. GO. METS.

I can't get over this photo.

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"Email me if you want a pizza roll."

How Did I Miss This Information?!

It would appear the news that J.J. Abrams is directing the next Star Wars went completely over my head. I loved his Star Trek, so this would appear to be coming together nicely, and also prompts the next Star Wars Track of the Day.

Think about it like this:

People make fan films of Star Wars all the time. 

Now, a fan, who also happens to not only have sharpened his filmmaking skills over time, but his science fiction chops as well (though I could care less for Lost) is going to make a Star Wars fan film...

But he's being given LUCASFILM MONEY to do it.

Fans know exactly what they want.

Fans want more of the last thing they read and they liked.

That's what fans want. They liked that thing you did...

They would like another one of those, please.

 Neil Gaiman, British Author, interview in The People Vs. George Lucas

NOW. BOUT. HAMILL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Random Ramblings about Star Wars and Stuff

Last night, my nerd self put in A New Hope Pandora station, and...(the nerdiness is making me sigh)...went off to a galaxy far, far away. Other movie themes and soundtracks were abound too, but so were the Prequel soundtracks, which I hadn't really partaken in. Written by John Williams as well, his brilliance couldn't quite make the entire prelogy work when sampling soundtrack and screentrack merged together. On its own, however, it brings out how awesome the prequels could have been.

Star Wars, frankly, has nothing to do with the Mets, but Star Wars, frankly has everything to do with the Mets. I'm not going to compare the Mets to the Rebel Alliance battling the Empire (.............?) or what not. All I know is that there are many a Metropolitan Star Wars fan out there in the universe, one of which happens to write for a pretty awesome blog. R.A. Dickey is a huge Star Wars nut and pictures like this exist. That's enough for this to actually not be that random of ramblings. I've rambled and posted some things on here that have infinite degrees of separation from the Mets, but this is, no degree or 1 degree or somethin'. Us Star Wars fans want to make Star Wars about everything. I'm not the type of Star Wars fan who dresses up and goes to conventions, but I don't mind walking through a Citi Field Star Wars Imaginationland. Star Wars Night should be an annual event.

Some of you may know I've proclaimed my full support for the Disney Acquisition of Lucasfilm. I am extremely excited for Episode VII, and its a good sign that the first big news announced after the merge had to do with the story. That's a writer I can get behind.

The prequels could have been soooooo good. And maybe one day down the road, 30 or so years from now, they will remake those things (no offense, George Lucas who might be dead by then, if he is not being kept alive in a Vader suit.)

Maybe they could just use the same soundtracks again.

John Williams did his best.

Some others, though, dropped the ball.

(Don't forget to listen to the The Rising Apple Report at 6:30.)

JOHNNY. WILLIAMS.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here. 

Amidst the Wreckage, A Newer Hope

Since yesterday evening, many of us have been glued to coverage of this monstrous storm, not believing the images we are seeing. Devastating images of something New York City has never experienced. My cousin and his lady arrived in our Hell's Kitchen bubble, looking to charge their iStuff as they do not have power in their Lower-Manhattan apartment.

We know what's out there, but we certainly cannot comprehend it as of yet.

And through it all, by the end of today, all I want to know is what Mark Hamill's involvement in Episode VII will be.

Star Wars, like baseball, once again provides us an escape from the realities of the world. Just as in 1977, when this city was trying to dig itself out of a major fiscal emergency, George Lucas has provided New York and the world a reason to dream of a Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

The Walt Disney Company (a company I have an affinity for, not only because of the worlds Walt Disney imagined but because they employed my grandfather at Buena Vista Distribution Co. back in the day, which has been passed down to me in shares of the DIS) has amazin'ly acquired 100% of Lucasfilm LTD, and immediately announced Star Wars: Episode VII.

The timing of this announcement comes after I recently watched The People vs. George Lucas on my Doc binge, which is a great exploration of the Love-Hate relationship Star Wars fans have with "The Creator," and helped spawn my own idea for a documentary. I suggest you watch it, and think of the elation they must have all felt when finding out there will be more movies, and that George Lucas has surrendered control of it to a brand such as Disney.

I'm not really a "convention-type" Star Wars fan, if you will. I love the world George Lucas created and, at its best, is fantastic storytelling. The acquisition gives every Star Wars fan reason to believe this epic can once again be filmmaking at its best. Disney, at their best, are exceptional filmmakers and Marketeers, and have been making excellent creative and monetary decisions since the former CEO, Michael Eisner, got ousted in the middle of the last decade.

All I really want to know is: Where is Mark Hamill and how quickly can we sign him up for the new Trilogy?

Reading up on the history of the idea of a Sequel Trilogy after the news broke, it sounds like George Lucas really went back and forth on this idea. He more than finally relented; he must have had an epiphany based on what he said in January, and what he has said today:

"It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."

He did own 100% of Lucasfilm. Now, 100% of Lucasfilm will be owned by Disney. I wonder how much of their revenue will be Star Wars when the absorption is complete...

In regards to the new films, George Lucas will stay on as a "Creative Consultant."

We all know what that means.

A Newer Hope than ever before.

BRING. BACK. HAMILL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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