42

Today is one of those rare occasions where I will be proudly sporting some Dodger Blue in lieu of my regular Cubs gear.

Course, this is the Brooklyn Dodgers I'm talking about, and there's only one player that would ever get me to wear the colors that is now associated with beach balls and Manny Ramirez, and that's good ole' number 42.

Major League Baseball started a new tradition three years ago that I've come to enjoy every season more and more: the official declaration of April 15th as "Jackie Robinson Day".

It combines two of my favorite pastimes: baseball and post-WWII American history.

I don't get into it too often, but post-war American history is one of my favorite topics ever. I'm taking a critical studies class that deals with post-war cinema and its been just awesome. The fifties and sixties just had so much goin' on: Cold War... Kennedy... cheap, affordable hamburgers at lightning speed...

In addition to shooting the first two days of my directing project this weekend, I also need to churn out a 12-15 page paper on "The Manchurian Candidate". Though the timing isn't ideal (course, that's mostly my own fault due to procrastination) I haven't been this excited about writing a paper on a movie since my "Independence Day" paper back at the wind-swept campus of LUC.

If you haven't seen "Manchurian", you are missing out...especially if you like cracking jokes about Joe McCarthy or HUAC. It's a great Cold War-era flick, and I've been uncovering some pretty cool info on some behind the scenes stuff in my research. For instance, there was great trepidation about making the controversial book into a movie in the political climate of 1962 and Sinatra, the star and a producer on the film, visited Kennedy at Hyannisport to test the water. The first thing JFK said when Frank brought "Manchurian" up was simply what other stars were going to be in it.

Anyway, one thing I'm not happy about ever since going to film school is that I haven't fed my appetite for history all too well. But today's ubiquitous "42"s in baseball are making me think I need to pick up some literature on Mr. Robinson to read over the summer.

Really, I need to brush up on any kind of historical nonfiction reading this summer. Though, I guess there's no rush. Once I graduate at the end of 2010 and can't find a job I'll have PLENTY of time to read all I want!

Yeah...in all likelihood, on Jackie Robinson Day 2011, I'll be out in front of Dodger Stadium, scalping tickets... becoming a full-time scalper being the only "steady income stream" I could find in the months after finishing at USC.

"I got Loge level... I got upper deck!...I got bleachers! I also got an MFA and will write a feature-length script! ....comedy, drama, horror! You want it, you got it!"