Target Field/Minnesota Twins

Product

2012

I had the opportunity to go to a Twins game Thursday night - May10th. I had not yet seen the new park in person. I come away thoroughly impressed. It was so enjoyable watching a professional baseball team outdoors in the cool, crisp night air. Oh yeah, and the Twins were there too. The Twins were pathetic. It is truly no wonder they sport the worst record in all of Major League Baseball. It was literally like watching the Bad News Bears.

Target Field is a first class facility that has a lot going for it. The layout, the accessibility, the food, the cup holders, the scoreboards and big screens and of course the field itself are all fabulous. Unfortunately the tenants are stinking up the place.

I must also say the fans were either completely bored with the product on the field or we just have the most unserious fans in all the major leagues. No one honored the simple etiquette where you keep your butt in the seat when someone is batting as to not block the view for real fans at a critical moment. However, it was such a terrible game that there were no critical moments to miss. We'll give the fans a pass on this one.

The Twins pitcher, Marqis, was awful. The catcher (not Joe) could not catch the ball - I have never seen so many dropped balls in my life - it actually became annoying. The fielding was atrocious. The Blue Jays stole bases at will, advanced bases at will and respected no one's throwing arm as the scored runs at will. As bad as the pitching and the fielding was the batting was even worse. At least 4 players laid down bunts - guess how many were successful? Yeah, none. Only the DH Willingham really drove the ball hitting his 7th home run. That was the sole highlight. The team looked uninspired, distracted, and bored. The Blue Jays on the other hand hustled on every play, they deserved to win.

And yeah the mighty Joe Mauer sucked too...

I remain skeptical that the Twins are going to turn things around, they have absolutely nothing going for them that I can see. It's a shame that the whole experience of going to this really first rate ball park is tainted by this truly lousy team.

Target Field 5 of 5 stars


Twins 1 of 5 stars


CW

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The Avengers

Movie

2012

Two thoughts come to mind after seeing this film. Thoroughly enjoyable from stem to stern and greater than the sum of it's parts. Everything about this movie worked - the plot, the characters, the acting, the dialogue, the effects, but most of all the timing. I never took my eyes off this 142 minute movie, I couldn't.

The one liners you grew accustomed to watching Robert Downy Jr. in the Iron Man movies where so much better, had greater impact and were far funnier in the Avengers. Better still, they came at precise moments enhancing the action in every way. A movie like this could have bogged down in the sort of gratuitous action we've seen before in these super hero movies. Not this movie. It was, in a word - great.

As for declaring the film greater than the sum of it's parts, it's neither a stretch nor necessarily obvious. The Iron Man movies were quite good, thanks in large part to Robert Downy Jr.'s confident acting and super cool technology (special effects). That said, I found the Thor movie unwatchable, I hated it, never finished it. In the Avengers the Thor character (Chris Hemsworth) was fabulous, completely likeable and totally righteous. The Hulk movies left me with a "meh" attitude. Blind rage isn't endearing in a super hero. Except in this movie it was. It was used to perfection. The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) became the star of this movie. As for the Captain America (Chris Evans) I never saw the movie. In the Avengers "old" CA was picture perfect, the glue that held the team together.

The other characters Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and The BlackWidow (Scarlett Johansson) were great and really added personality to the plot. Far from being mere eye candy Johansson shows us that the Black Widow is more than just a pretty face; she's as dangerous psychologically as she is physically. Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) Mr. S.H.I.E.L.D. himself was fine as was his sidekick Agent Maria Hill (the stunningly beautiful Cobie Smulders). Perhaps the funniest one liners were delivered by the driest of characters, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) who we have come to know from the other Marvel movies as the recruiter for Nick Fury.

What super hero movie would be complete without a great villain? The Avengers doesn't disappoint. Meet Loki, wonderfully complex, masterfully dancing on the fine line between villainy and redemption as the god of mischief. The half brother of Thor, he is seeking his revenge on dear brother by declaring war on Thor's protectorate - the Earth. He is more than a simple megalomaniac with a great smile. A great villain will at times pull at your sympathies before showing his true colors and Loki delivers.

Whether you liked any of the Marvel movies before this you owe it to yourself to see this one. It will be the yardstick all future super hero movies will be measured against.It really is that good.


4 of 5 stars


CW


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