It's Monday, the championship game of this 16-team, 2+ week tournament. The game's a smidge later tonight, 6:30pm. So, this morning, after a minimal continental breakfast at the hotel, it was a cab into Culver City for a 2-hour Sony Pictures Studios tour. Pretty exciting if you ask me. And a heck of a lot of fun.Another cab to Culver City. Had a 10:30am tour, but got there around 9:45. Had breakfast at Sony's little employee coffee bar. Enjoyed a Wolfgang Puck creation of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Gobs and gobs of bacon. Delicious.
The tour starts with a 30-minute historical film of Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and the history of the old MGM lot upon which it sits. Fascinating.
We make our way to the studio lot, but sadly photos were forbidden once we past "Main Street" on the property. So no photos of Seth Rogen's name signed in on the Columbia Pictures check-in desk MINUTES before we arrived. No photos of the 12 Academy Awards statues that Columbia Pictures won for Best Picture. No photos of the Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune sets. No photos of the soundstage where the tornado scene of The Wizard of Oz occurred. No photos of Adam Sandler's Cadillac Escalade golf cart. No photos of actor James Cromwell passing our group. No photos of basically large empty warehouses where some sort of famous film was made. Still, was an incredibly jaw-dropping experience to be RIGHT THERE and see the complex.
Really cool. And you may know I'm a sucker for the Oscars. Well now after being in L.A. and Hollywood, I am even MORE determined to absorb any and all nominated films to get under my belt and become even that much more knowledgeable concerning the craft of film. I feel like a groupie. I feel like Chili Palmer in the film Get Shorty: "I love L.A., I love it out here. I want to make movies."
So the tour is over, and it's time to make my way back to the ol' Super 8 one last time. Grab my ticket, and make my final walk uphill to Dodger Stadium. It is bittersweet. It's the excitement of the championship game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and it's also disheartening to know that my trip is coming to a close soon.
Plenty of pomp and circumstance involved for the final. Huge flags of all 16 countries fill the outfield. A symphony orchestra plays on the infield. Japanese and Korean native drum and dance troupes perform on the baselines. The teams enter the field in a parade-like atmosphere. The crowd goes bonkers from an hour before the game and does not let up one bit all throughout. Remember when I said Game 1 of Korea vs. Venezuela was the most intriguing and awe-inspiring baseball game I have EVER been to? Tonight's game BLOWS THAT AWAY BY MILES. Absolutely mesmerizing and hypnotizing. Again, my lowly skill of conveying my thoughts upon the interwebs can in no way fully describe the experience I had during these games. In-fucking-credible.
The thrilling boxscore link is here. Japan takes the lead 1-0 in the 3rd. Korea ties it in the 5th with another (Cleveland Indian) Shin-Soo Choo homerun. Japan retakes the lead 2-1 in the 7th and 3-1 in the 8th. Korea responds with a 3-2 score in the bottom of the 8th, then finally ties in the bottom of the 9th 3-3. Outstanding! Seriously, edge of your seat drama! Japan finally scores 2 in the top of the 10th and then finishes the deal for a 5-3 victory. Japan repeats as World Baseball Classic champions, 2006 and 2009.
Looks like the next set of WBC games will occur in 2013. You can bet your sweet ass that I will make it to as many games as I can, not just the semi-finals and final. THIS was an awesome trip, and just the panacea I needed to help me make it through some otherwise mind-boggling personal relationship issues. Congratulations, Japan. Good show.
Enjoy the dance at the end of this particular video. Heavens knows I couldn't stop staring at it all game long...
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