Ain't this the kind of weather for/Smackin' leather for/Play-in' base-ball?

The game was AWESOME last night. A thoroughly satisfying experience.

Mom and I got there around 6:30 and discovered it was raining fairly hard as we emerged from the subway. We wandered around looking for our seats--after I ascertained their location (section 15, tier 15, row M, seats 7 & 8), I bought a beer and a hotdog as I was starving. We sat and ate and eventually it stopped--yay!

The Orioles got off to a good start with two runs in the first inning. I was keeping a running commentary track for Mom, explaining what things like full counts and loaded bases were, and how it was theoretically possible for a game never to end, since a foul ball can't be a third strike. Jeter was on fiah last night--when he came up to bat the first time, I told Mom he was very dependable (not knowing of his recent slump) and damned if he didn't prove me right. It was so much fun to jump around and yell for a team. Especially a team that wins.

I wanted to order from a vendor but they were only selling Bud and Becks and I wanted an ale. So during the 6th inning I went in to buy a Bass and an Italian sausage, that wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I also bought a girly-yellow Yankees cap that looks really pretty.

The lyrics from "What a Game" kept running through my head, as were those from "Six Months Out of Every year." "Strike three, ball four/Walk around'll tie the score/Fly ball, double play/Yankees win again today/Those damn Yankees, why can't we beat 'em/He's out he's safe he's out he's safe he's out..."

Troy--spoilers

Mom, Bart, Bart's friend Lisa and I saw Troy on Monday. I really liked it. It does stray quite a bit from its source material (the credits say "inspired by Homer's The Iliad)--for one thing, The Iliad ends with the burial of Hector "And so the Trojans buried Hector breaker of horses." Also, Briseis kills Agamemnon during the sack of Troy which is wildly different from other source materials. Not only is Clytemnestra supposed to have killed Agamemnon (in retaliation for his sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia, to Athena (?) to get good winds for the Greeks to sail to Troy, 10+ years previously) but it happens back in Greece, not in Troy. People keep getting this wrong. It's annoying. However, I guess I can see why they wanted Aga* to die in Troy during the movie, to satisfy the audience. But maybe they should've had Achilles do it, not Briseis.

Another thing (true spoiler ahead--very different from source materials) is that Menelaus is offed during the war. This is also wildly different--in every version I've ever read, Menelaus survives the war, reunites with Helen and sails back to Greece. But in Troy, Hector kills him as he's trying to finish off Paris during their mano a mano fight. Also, the entire 10-year war is condensed into something like a month.

Orlando Bloom is Paris--he is so cute. So dreamy. I would definitely run away with him. And Helen is interesting and treated rather sympathetically. Orlando is ever the archer--the movie is faithful to the story of how Paris kills Achilles. Although there is very little discussion of Achilles's purported invulnerability, so Paris has to shoot him not only in the ankle but several body shots before Achilles dies. The movie leaves out the gods entirely as characters; however, there are numerous references to the gods and they showing the sacking of Apollo's temple outside of Troy. That's actually quite powerful, seeing Achilles strike off the head of the Apollo statue--sort of nihilistic.

The battle sequences are very, very well-done. There's one scene after the Trojans seem to have the Greeks on the run, when they start off their battle mustering and pounding on their shields rhythmically with their spears. There's such a sense of purpose, of mission--you can understand how soldiers get motivated to offer themselves up for potential slaughter.

I never really took to Eric Bana before this but he's excellent as Hector. The scene as he says goodbye to his family before going off to fight Achilles is heart-breaking. Sean Bean as Odysseus is very good too. And I liked Brad Pitt. He is an awful lot of movie star, but he clearly worked his ass off for that role and looks it. His muscle definition was insane.

I liked how the movie took me to another place; it took me out of myself. You can't ask any more of an historical epic.

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I was scheduled for rehearsal today for Trojan Women but called to beg off. Tom and I are doing pretty well with that scene and I am exhausted today, after getting home late last night. I can hardly keep my eyes open, and my head is pounding. I called Tom (Menelaus) to let him know I wouldn't be there and he left a message and was all, "Go. Sleep. Take care of yourself, and don't worry about this." I'm wondering if he may be gay--there's just a touch of the gay accent in his voice. His classical technique also sounds a bit Shatnerian (and I actually mean that in a good way). "Once more to...lay hands upon HELEN, my WIFE."

I have an audition shortly, and then I come back to work for two more hours, and then I can stumble home.