Raptors 108, Lakers 102

Thanks to Uncle Kenric, we finally found 2 people to take the extra two tickets I had for the Raptors-Lakers game. We ended up taking Chris and Stan.

The game itself was good. We were up for most of the game until near the end when Kobe took over the game (what else is new?) and the Lakers came from behind and almost stole the game from us. I drew a little bit of ire from Chris because I kept cheering whenever Kobe scored. Kobe is amazing. I like his sheer determination and his ability to rise to the occasion when needed. And he makes some near impossible shots look easy. It's always a pleasure to someone like that play — 19,799 people also agreed with me; it was the 5th sell-out game of the year. Luckily for us Kobe was the only Laker playing well for us his drive wasn't enough and we still won the game.

What made it more fun, was the added bonus that we were babysitting two kids. One of them (Stan) was quiet, but the other one (Chris) had a very inquisitive mind. He was asking so many questions, and pointing things out to me throughout the game all matter-of-factly. I love kids. He was noticing every single pattern he could, whether it was the colors on a billboard ad, numbers on the rafters or jerseys, the score, etc.

Also I found that kids don't like to hold things. Or rather, "mom" holds everything, and they're used to it. One line I heard over and over all afternoon was "can you hold this?". Haha.. a jacket, a hat, candy, ticket, etc etc. Kids like to have their hands available so they can freely grab onto things and touch things. And boys like to compete on how high they can jump, how fast they can run, etc. I really reminded me of my childhood and times when me and my brother were little and did the exact same stuff.

:)

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oscar notes

I felt that Chris Rock held back on his jokes, forcing himself to be conservative so as to not offend the viewers. I think it's unfair to limit a comedian from doing what he does best and then expect him to perform well. I doubt he'll be back next year.

Beyonce can sing. I think she outsang Josh Groban. I mean sure she's also thicker than he is, but still..

I saw The Aviator just after watching the Raptors game so I pretty much knew where each award would go. The only surprise of the night was Clint Eastwood winning Best Director (more on this later).

I think it is a shame and a waste that an important film like Hotel Rwanda didn't get any recognition last night.

Oscar Rant

I've got nothing against Clint Eastwood. I think he's a cool guy who garners a lot of respect because he has been in the business for so long and because he is one of the few remaining Hollywood stars left from the older generation. But something bothers me about him winning it.

Everyone actor who has worked with Clint always talks about how he gives his actors free reign on how and what they should do, giving them their creative space, letting them do what they want and think they should do. To me, that sounds like he doesn't do a whole lot of directing. When they gave the lifetime achievement award to Sidney Lumet in directing, all everyone said was how he was very precise, how he would tell each person how to act, where to stand, how their character should behave. Seems to me that *that's* what DIRECTION means.

But Clint Eastwood has made some pretty good movies, so you wonder, how does a guy direct good movies when he doesn't "direct" at all? Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Bridges of Madison County, Unforgiven. What do these movies all have in common? How about: Morgan Freeman, Hillary Swank, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Meryl Streep, Gene Hackman. Aside from Hillary Swank (who now has 2 oscars out of two nominations) all these people are some of the best in the business.

Phil Jackson is considered to be a great NBA coach. All he does is win. But the biggest knock on him is that he coaches teams that *should* win. Is that really coaching? Many people wonder.

To me, Clint takes a group of actors who *should* win, and wins. Take a look at some of his not-so-good movies: Blood Work, True Crime, A Perfect World, The Rookie. James Woods, Dennis Leary, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Jeff Daniels.

This is why Phil Jackson shouldn't and won't take over for the Knicks next season.