Sunday, October 6, 2013

Devils Beat St. Francis!



What a day! A great game, great weather, and a delightful surprising burger.

Saturday (October 5, 2013) I accompanied my son, Richard, to another football game at his school.  You may recall that we went to a game a few weeks ago where Holy Cross got the upper hand.


This time the game started in the afternoon and the weather turned out much better than forecast. We were anticipating a partly cloudy day in the low 70s but were blessed with a mostly sunny day in the mid-upper 70s. Sitting in the student section was brutal because of the sun. Most of the fans bailed from that section by halftime.  I suspect many left around then because the score was was 28-3 at half time.

But the game turned out to be a nail biter as the St. Francis Red Flash almost caught up. By the early 4th quarter our Devils were only ahead 31-29. It came down to the final moments with the Blue Devils scoring with only 2 minutes to go. The final score was 38-29.

Last game, they passed out plastic blue devils horns that lit up. This game they gave out blue rally towels (see below).

Rally towel: about the size of a large wash cloth or small hand towel.

For the first half of the game we sat in the stands next to the visitors section. I was shocked to learn that St. Francis is in Loretto, Pennsylvania near Altoona and Pittsburgh and took about 8 hours to travel to the game. Saint Francis University is the oldest Franciscan institution of higher learning in the United States.  It is a Catholic, coeducational liberal arts university sponsored by the Franciscans of the Third Order Regular.

I find it interesting and somewhat more than coincidental that we (the Blue Devils) have played against Catholic Schools in both games Richard and I have attended. Next week, the Blue Devils play at Sacred Heart University (another RC school). Also, somewhat ironical, is that Richard's former roller hockey team was also the Blue Devils.


One of the highlights of the "game" for me was unexpectedly encountering a food truck from Ted's Restaurant. Because we sat in the Student Section/Visitor's stands, we were not near the stadium's refreshment booth. However, there were two food trucks parked nearby.

Initially, Richard took a look and was not impressed with the choices. However, when I took a peek I recognized the significance of Ted's Cheeseburgers. Ted's usually comes up in lists historic and significant area burger joints. One of my work colleagues had traveled with her family several hours just to try out the steamed burgers. So, recognizing the name, I decided to give it a try (without onions) even though sitting in the hot sun was not ideal for enjoying a juicy cheeseburger.


Overall, I was pretty impressed with the cheeseburger. Very tasty and filling. I'm pretty sure it had all the fat and calories needed for the entire day (and perhaps more). Richard was not as adventurous (he was skeptical about the cheese, I think) and missed his opportunity.

After the game, however, we stopped by a nearby Mooyah. We have one of these near home, so it is familiar. Had the best sweet potato fries this time. Even though I was still stuffed from my steamed cheeseburger, I had a hard time to keep from stealing some of Richard's sweet potato fries. Yumm.

Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/09/last-evening-richard-and-i-attended.html
http://www.ccsubluedevils.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131005_usc8.xml
http://francis.edu/
http://www.tedsrestaurant.com
http://www.mooyah.com/

Friday, October 4, 2013

Red Truck Red


For years I have been interested in learning more about wine. For about the last two years merlot has been a favorite. Then my sister Lisa brought a bottle of Pinot Noir during a holiday gathering and I really enjoyed that. Recently, I stumbled on "red truck 2011 california red wine." I'm on my 3rd bottle.

Perhaps the label helps the appeal.  I also like the cap with the truck inscribed. For now I am going with this.

Any suggestions for something new to try? Let me know.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Off to see the Wizard!


One of my all-time favorite movies is The Wizard of Oz. To explain what it means to me and how it has affected me would bore you and take up too much space for a blog entry. At one time my book cases had an entire shelf dedicated to books about the Wizard of Oz movie (I never actually read the original L. Frank Baum book). Those books are gone now - given away when I moved.

Not long ago, I received an email from a nearby museum that was running a series of events connected with Oz. This triggered me to investigate a couple of books and authors; I downloaded several radio interviews to listen to on my commute. Because of this publicity, I learned about the showing of the movie for one week only in September to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the film.  Not only was this an opportunity to see a great film on the big screen, the film had been transformed into 3D!  And on large IMAX screen.  Since the initial reviews I read were very positive, I made up my mind to go.

Going to a movie sounds easier than it actually was. I don't go to the movies much anymore nor could I find someone to accompany me (to share the experience). However, I decided not to let that stop me. So I stepped outside of my comfort zone and went alone, by myself.

Of course, I had to have some popcorn. The cost of a small popcorn and soda was almost as much as the movie. And it is butter flavor liquid (which you had to apply yourself) rather than real butter. The small soda was more than I needed and by the end of the movie half was still left.

And so, it was off to see The Wizard. It was fantastic! I am so glad that I decided to go. I was in a theater that had a seating capacity of over 500. About 100 people were there. You wore the special glasses to see the movie in 3D (I wonder how this works with the Blue-Ray/DVD). The 3D was not gimmicky or bizarre but added depth. It also made even the backdrops look real. It felt like you were more in the movie.

If you are interested in finding out more about the 3D conversion, here are the links to a couple of good articles:

http://www.studiodaily.com/2013/09/converting-the-wizard-of-oz-to-3d/

http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/the-wizard-of-oz-imax-3d-conversion-1200610859/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324549004579067471635963230.html

After the movie, I borrowed the "annotated Wizard of Oz" book from the library. While I have browsed through it, I have not really dedicated myself to read the actual story. What I have found fascinating is the story of the author, L. Frank Baum, especially his views on religion. He was a proponent of Theosophy. And his mother-in-law was a prominent leader in the early feminist movement along with Susan B. Anthony

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum
http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com/#/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy