The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien

image source: Wikipedia

The film "The Sessions" received very favorable reviews when it was released last year, which included a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Helen Hunt. Based on the true life story of Mark O'Brien (portrayed by actor John Hawkes), I am reminded of another Academy Award connection, director Jessica Yu, in a blog entry I wrote on May 4, 2012.

Ms. Yu received an Academy Award in 1997 for Best Documentary, Short Subject for her film, Breathing Lessions: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien.  As described from Wikipedia, "The documentary explored his spiritual struggle coping with his disability; he had to use an iron lung much of the time due to childhood polio."

image source: Lemonade Factory Press

A poet and journalist, Mr. O'Brien attended UC Berkeley in his iron lung, co-founded a small publishing house, Lemonade Factory Press, and was an advocate for the disabled. Despite his disability, he lived a very fulfilling life. Something many able-bodied people have yet to accomplish.

Mark O'Brien died in 1999 at the age of 49.

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

image source: eonline.com

A few hours ago, 22 year-old Jennifer Lawrence was awarded her first Oscar for Best Female Lead Performance in "Silver Linings Playbook". This was her second nomination in 3 years. Her co-stars Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver also received nominations.

Prior to "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Hunger Games", Ms. Lawrence caught the attention of film critics in "Winter's Bone", which garnered her first Academy Award nomination in 2011. She portrayed a 17 year-old teen who becomes the primary caregiver for her mentally ill mother, younger sister and brother.



For me, I liked "Silver Linings Playbook" very much but thought her performance in "Winter's Bone" carried much more depth and nuance (trailer clip attached). I saw it online last year and found it on a cable network it over the weekend. See it if you can. The film shows a grittier, poorer side of rural America we don't see too often.

Alternate Shot/Scotch Doubles - Bowling

On November 11, 2012 my blog entry on team bowling (Baker System Format) discussed how this format was going to be used for the new PBA League. Another form of team bowling, which is rarely seen on the professional level is alternate shot doubles, or also known as Scotch Doubles.

The concept of Scotch Doubles is pretty easy. You bowl with a partner. Bowler #1 bowls the first ball. If s/he rolls a strike, then Bowler #2 bowls the first ball in the next frame. This is where the term "pick me up" said to teammates when your goal hasn't been achieved has real meaning. If Bowler #2 doesn't bowl a strike, then Bowler #1 bowls the second ball for the spare.

Whether or not the spare is converted, Bowler #2 continues to bowl first until s/he strikes again. Ideally, you'd like to strike as much as possible. If you can't convert spares, then your weaknesses become very exposed. Unlike the Baker format, where you bowl a set number of frames, Scotch doubles requires you to concentrate on every frame, because you may have to bowl it. The number of frames you bowl can be as few as 5 or as many as all 10.

Chinese New Year Parade - Butte, Montana

image source: Wikipedia

Global metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Sydney, London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and San Francisco are known for their large and festive Chinese New Year parades. I learned today there is a smaller, not so well-known city in the western United States that holds a short and very loud version people from afar come to see.

No, it's not in California, Washington or Nevada. It's in Butte, Montana, hosted by the Mai Wah Society. Between 1850 and 1900, a sizable number (in the thousands) of Chinese settled in Montana Territory. As listed in George Everett's "Butte's Far Eastern Influences", there were 1,949 Chinese (total 20,000) living in Montana Territory in 1870.

Below is a YouTube video of the parade in 2011:

For 2013, Mai Wah's parade takes place on Saturday, February 16. San Francisco will host their Year of the Snake parade on Saturday, February 23. I'll be parked in front of my 47" flat screen TV watching the parade in HD.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Gung hay fat choy.

2013 Chris Paul PBA League All-Stars Final

"You're a champion. Be a champion..." -- PBA League owner Kevin Hart, Philadelphia Hitmen.

For those skeptics including me who cringe at watching celebrity sports matches, the PBA League All-Stars final demonstrated what the San Francisco 49ers were unable to do against the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 47. While the match was far from we'll remember as a classic battle 50 years from now, it showed why league bowlers like me can't wait to get to the lanes. To compete AND have fun.

With a final score 270-267, the Chris duo of Barnes and Hardwick of the Silver Lake Atom Splitters trailed by as much as 28 pins to come from behind to defeat Bill O'Neill and Kevin Hart of the Philadelphia Hitmen.

Hart and Hardwick both held their own bowling with their pro partners, O'Neill and Barnes. The 5 frames Hart bowled were ALL strikes. In 2 of his 5 frames, Hardwick left the 10 pin standing and with ease converted them successfully for spares. What brought the Atom Splitters to victory was to punch out (finish with all strikes) in the 9th (Hardwick) and 10th frames (Barnes).

Best part of this, Kevin Hart and Chris Hardwick are comedians. Not former/current NFL or NBA pros they bowled against. Although this may reinforce to some that bowling isn't a sport, at least concede that it requires skills. Bowling is a lot more than throwing a heavy ball down the middle of an oiled lane.

Weber Cup History Recap

image source: Weber Cup

The 2012 Weber Cup matches are now available for viewing on YouTube. The above video is a historic recap of previous Weber Cup matches. What I didn't know was that Kelly Kulick was a former Weber Cup member.

Roster for 2012 was probably the strongest I've seen of all the Weber Cups. I'd like to see future matches include women. Or at least have a women's version of Weber Cup.

Nina Flack, Sandra Andersson, Mai Ginge Jensen, and Birgit Poppler are among those that I think would be a great fit for Team Europe. Missy Parkin, Diandra Asbaty, Liz Johnson, Danielle McEwan, Josie Earnest and a return from Kelly Kulick would make great team members for Team USA.

Chris Hardwick, chip off the old block

On Super Bowl Sunday, ESPN will air the 4th annual Chris Paul Celebrity Bowling tournament on ESPN at 1 pm Pacific Time (4 pm Eastern).

This year's celebrities scheduled to bowl include several of the new PBA League's owners: Host Chris Paul (Los Angeles LXA) , Terrell Owens (Dallas Strikers), LaMarr Woodley (Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits), Kevin Hart (Philadelphia Hitmen), Jesse Williams (Brooklyn STyLES), and Chris Hardwick (Silver Lake Atom Splitters).

As I wrote in my blog entry of December 22, 2012, Chris Hardwick is the son of former PBA tour pro Billy Hardwick. While Chris's bowling isn't at the level of his doubles partner Chris Barnes, the video preview shows Billy's boy has definitely got game.

Jim Harbaugh, Sports Fan

image source: Michael Conroy, AP

Over the weekend, the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens won their respective conference championships and will be playing in this year's NFL Super Bowl on February 3. What's probably gotten almost more headlines than the teams themselves are their head coaches, brothers John Harbaugh (Baltimore) and Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco).

Some of you already know John and Jim aren't the only coaches in the family. Their dad, Jack Harbaugh was a former head coach at Western Michigan University. Sister Joani is married to Tom Crean, who is head coach of Indiana University's men's basketball team.

The above picture is showing Jim Harbaugh on a visit to his one of his brother-in-law's home games in February 2012 (see USA Today story). Well, he did a little more than visit. He sat at the end of Indiana's bench and during timeouts, he would bring chairs on and off the floor for the players to sit.

And let's not forget this past October. Giants fans were floored when we saw Coach Harbaugh drive 1st baseman Brandon Belt in the World Series celebration parade.

I am in awe of Coach Harbaugh's support, admiration and respect for sports outside of his own.  As an Ohio State alumna, I must admit this is pretty good for someone who played football at Michigan.

Buster Posey did more than OK

After yesterday's impressive San Francisco 49ers playoff game versus the Green Bay Packers, it made me reflect for the umpteenth time on the San Francisco Giants 2012 season. To win 6 elimination games in the division and league series and then sweep the World Series. It's something that would be very difficult to repeat.

While deciding on what to write for my latest blog entry, I came across an article San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist John Shea wrote on May 29, 2011 ("After surgery, Buster Posey turns focus to 2012").  The above image contains my comments to Mr. Shea's article.  Remarks in the last paragraph include, "...Buster's going to do fine."

Fast forward to the 2012 season. Buster was more than fine. He broke out above and beyond most people's expectations. He started as the National League catcher in the All-Star game, won a Silver Slugger Award, became the National League's Most Valuable Player and played a HUGE part in capturing the 2012 World Series Championship for the Giants.

Buster: 2 full seasons = 2 World Series Championships.

Can't wait to see what he's going to do next.

All Split Up

Anyone who's ever bowled has probably seen this diagram on a score terminal or somewhere on the lanes. If a strike hasn't been bowled, the remaining pin(s) is referred to by number, such as the 7-10 split seen here:

image source: Augusta Chronicle

Just as nasty and undesirable is what's called the Big 4 (4-6-7-10 split)

Here is an example of a split with a great name, the Greek Church (4-6-7-8-10 shown below, or 4-6-7-9-10 split):

And, the Sour Apple (5-7-10 split), while not seen often, looks like this :

Of these splits, I once converted the Greek Church 3 1/2 years ago in summer league. Baby splits, such as the 3-10 and 2-7 are much more common and not as difficult to convert.

Last night, a league bowler told me he'd rather get a gutter ball than get the 2-4-10 split I bowled. For me, while I hate splits, I hate gutter balls even more. I'd rather take on the challenge to pick it up. In most cases, I won't be successful, but sometimes I am. At least I gave it a shot.

Remembering The Odd Couple

Last week, on Christmas Eve, we lost the other half of one of TV's beloved actors, Jack Klugman, best known for his role as Oscar Madison in ABC's "The Odd Couple". The TV series is based on Neil Simon's play which premiered on Broadway in 1965.

As I was reading Mr. Klugman's obituary, I came across a comment quoting verbatim the narrated introduction (performed by voice actor Bill Woodson) that was shown in Seasons 1 and 2. The introduction provides us the story of how Felix Unger (portrayed by a wonderful Tony Randall) and Oscar Madison became roommates.

Attached is a YouTube clip of the introduction with theme song (earworm likely to follow) written by Neal Hefti. And don't forget your frying pan. Rest in peace, Jack and Tony.

1/8/13 UPDATE: Bowl Progressive Pot Games with Pete Weber and Kelly Kulick

Off the Street Pro Shop located within 4th Street Bowl announced last night they will host (VISE and Storm sponsored) another fundraiser for the family of Tony Reyes.  It will be held on Friday, January 11 at 4th Street Bowl (San Jose, CA) and on Saturday, January 12 at Pacific Avenue Bowl (Stockton, CA).

Entry fee is $200. For more details on the tournament, you can view/download the flyer here.

For those that will be participating, it sounds like loads of fun and wish you luck against PDW and Kelly.

UPDATE: As of January 9, 2013, Pete Weber is injured and will not be able to bowl. PBA Analyst and Hall of Famer Randy Pedersen will bowl with Kelly Kulick in PDW's place.

Chris Hardwick, Nerdist & Newest PBA Team Owner

image source: Chris Hardwick

As mentioned in my November 11 blog entry, the PBA announced a 6-team league which will begin in January 2013. Yesterday, it was announced the league's newest owner is Chris Hardwick.

Chris is a stand-up comedian/AMC's Talking Dead/Nerdist host. What I found out today is he's the son of former PBA tour professional Billy Hardwick. He is named after ABC Sports legend  Chris Schenkel. While Chris's bowling isn't quite at the level his dad's once was, he is an accomplished bowler with a 190-200 average.

Team will be based out of Silver Lake, CA. Players on the Silver Lake Atom Splitter team include Chris Barnes as captain as well as 2012 Weber Cup Europe team members Dom Barrett and Stuart Williams. From what I've seen so far, these guys are going to be my favorite team.

For those who of you not familiar with Nerdist, there are podcast segments of bowling with their celebrity guests. Guests have included the cast/crew of Mad Men, Mythbusters and Breaking Bad.

Here's a YouTube clip of a Team Nerdist vs. Team Mythbusters (serious bowling it's not):

Jack Pinto, A Giant Hero

image source: ABC News

image source: @TeamVic

Victor Cruz, wide receiver for the New York Giants, learned via Twitter (@TeamVic) that he lost one of his biggest fans from Sandy Hook Elementary School, 6-year old Jack Pinto. The picture of the red cleats in today's game against the Atlanta Falcons is a tribute to Jack.

To paraphrase numerous Facebook responses, "I'm not a New York Giants fan. Never will be. But Cruz. WOW."

Victor is planning to visit Newtown this week to give his jersey and cleats to Jack's family.

Moneyball

image source: imdb.com

Over the weekend, I finally got to see "Moneyball" online through my cable provider. As described in imdb.com's summary of the movie, "Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players." 

This analysis is the foundation of SABR, which stands for Society for American Baseball Research, or better known as sabermetrics. Until I saw this movie, I underestimated its impact on how today's baseball game is managed as a business. If you're a baseball fan and haven't seen the film, I strongly recommend it.

Here's a YouTube clip from the movie which summarizes what the Oakland A's achieved in the 2002 season.

(note: the actor portraying Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry in this scene is Arliss Howard.  Mr. Howard is married to Debra Winger).

UPS My Choice

As we are officially into the holiday season, many of us will or already have ordered merchandise online. I recently signed up for UPS My Choice, a free service that notifies you of pending deliveries. The attached screen shot from my cell phone is one of my San Francisco Giants 2012 World Series orders from MLB.com.

Two great features of this service: 1. Signup is free; 2. Specific 4-hour window as to when your package will be delivered. And if that date and/or time isn't convenient, you can click on the tracking number link, sign into UPS My Choice and opt for a different delivery window time and date to have your package delivered.

For me, this service is a wonderful convenience. No more impromptu treasure hunts trying to figure out where the driver decided to leave your package. Best of all, no more attempt to deliver notification dangling on your mailbox or front door.

MLB World Series Film Narrators

The above video is the closing part of 2012's MLB World Series Film, which premiered last Tuesday (November 20) at the Castro Theatre. The attached film clip features San Francisco Giants players Matt Cain, Jeremy Affeldt, Ryan Vogelsong, Barry Zito, Buster Posey, Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan, and Pablo Sandoval. They have been asked to do their best impersonations of right fielder Hunter Pence's motivational speeches during post-season play.

What you may miss in the opening credits is that the narrator of the film is San Francisco native, longtime Giants fan and actor, Benjamin Bratt. After hearing Giants president Larry Baer mention other well-known actors that have narrated in previous years, I found out they are also avid, longtime fans of the teams featured in other World Series films.

Here are a few:
2004 - Denis Leary, Boston Red Sox
2006 - Billy Bob Thornton, St. Louis Cardinals
2007 - Matt Damon, Boston Red Sox
2008 - Terrence Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
2010 - Rob Schneider, San Francisco Giants
2011 - Jon Hamm, St. Louis Cardinals

MLB Network has been re-airing many of these films this past week.  For me, it makes the films much more fun to watch. A famous, well-known actor who's just like us. An excited fan talking about his favorite team playing in the World Series.

Taking advantage of MLB's online Black Friday specials, I ordered the DVD yesterday. Can't wait to see it. Over and over again.

Hostess with the Mostest

image source: Financial Press

Unless you were in an alternate time line for the past 2 days, it was sadly announced that Interstate Bakeries, aka, Hostess Brands declared bankruptcy, seeking permission to close business and sell its assets.

As reported in countless news stories, there have been mobs of people emptying store and grocery shelves across the country to stock up on what may be gone forever. For me, it's not a bad thing. It'd wipe out any temptation I'd have to buy a box of creamy, sugary so-bad-for-you-goodness.

My fondest memories of Hostess snacks came as a kid in grammar school. Mom used to buy boxes of Ho Ho's and Ding Dong's to eat for breakfast. I personally preferred Ho Ho's. Neatly wrapped in foil, small, portable, and like M & M's, didn't melt in your hands. The cupcakes always looked so pretty on TV and in magazines, but when it came to eating them, my hands always ended up in a crumbly and sticky mess.

Twinkies, the most well-known Hostess snack cake (and seemingly the biggest loss for most people since bankruptcy was declared), cast its own magic spell on Dad. He often had a box of Twinkies, cans of Coca-Cola's Mello Yello, and/or Nabisco's Nilla Wafers on the TV tray next to his favorite recliner.

Last but not least, the end of Hostess also means the end of the fruit pie (famously encased in red or green wax paper). We also don't want to forget Donettes or Sno Balls. The Hostess Brands closing also means the end of the Peanuts comic strip favorite, Dolly Madison Zingers, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Home Pride Butternut, and Beefsteak.

What I will miss "mostest" about Hostess is the reason why classic food never gets old. It brings us back fond memories of a life and time that may not have been easier, but certainly was a lot less complicated.

Baker System Format - Bowling

A few days ago, the PBA announced the formation of an 8-team league (5 players per team) to begin in January 2013 in Detroit, MI. These are the 8 bowlers selected to lead these teams: Chris Barnes, Norm Duke, Bill O'Neill, Mike Fagan, Pete Weber, Osku Palermaa, Jason Belmonte and Sean Rash. Team owners include Chris Paul, Terrell Owens and Jerome Bettis.

All PBA league (PBAL) matches will bowl under the Baker System format. Rather than 1 player bowling 10 frames, it is a team of 5 players bowling 1 game, 2 frames each. It is most commonly seen in college bowling matches.

Bowler 1 - frames 1 and 6,
Bowler 2 - frames 2 and 7,
Bowler 3 - frames 3 and 8,
Bowler 4 - frames 4 and 9,
and Bowler 5 (often referred to as the anchor) - frames 5 and 10.

To give you an idea of what the matches will look like in January, here is a YouTube clip of 2011's Weber Cup (USA vs. Europe). You'll see most of the players featured from this match bowl on their respective teams in January..

European Champions Cup Bowling 2012 - Women's Final

From Dutch Bowling TV (commentary in English), here is video of this year's European Champions Cup, Women's Finals. Bowlers: Birgit Poppler (Germany) versus Daria Kovalova (Ukraine).

What impressed me most was their fluid releases. I also noticed was that neither of them were afraid to bowl from the outside part of the lane, something many women don't do (me included). As I've mentioned in previous entries about bowling, I watch female bowlers a lot more closely. Check to see if there's anything from their game that I can apply to mine.

Daria Kovalova lost game 1 and came from behind to win the next 2 games to defeat Birgit Poppler. The final 3 frames of the last game featured some of the best women's bowling I've seen all year. More about the match can be read at BowlingDigital.com.