Whoo, Camera!

First order of business: Happy Easter! Well, now it's more like "Happy Low Monday!" but whatever. You get the sentiment. ;)
Second order of business: Dad has a nice camera that he's sharing with me, so now my chibi comics don't have to be all grainy and underexposed. Huzzah! It also doubles as a video camera, so I'm really exited that I can film short movies and try out different forms of cinematography. I think I'll try a Pan's Labyrinth-style tree-segue first. ;D
Anyhway, here's a comic I thought of last night during a stressful playoff game. Or it was stressful until our Boys in Teal took the lead 7-2!

Buuuut we're far from out of the woods yet, hence this comic.

 

I hope you all had a good Easter! God Bless. :)

Being a Sharks Fan

[We interrupt your regular programming to bring you something sentimental about Hockey.]

Being a San Jose Sharks fan means that you're there for their highs and lows. Being a Sharks Fan means sometimes you have to shrug your shoulders and say “Oh well, next time!”. Being a Sharks Fan means you're a member of the underdog team, and that means sometimes you have to lose.

The Sharks have never won a Stanley Cup in all their 23 year history, but we still love 'em. Maybe it's their loveable mascot, Sharkie, maybe it's the belief that if we hang on one more year without lapsing to the Anaheim Ducks it'll be the Shark's lucky year. Or maybe it's just that we find Brodie Brazil, Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda funny.

Whatever it is, we still love you Sharks, and will never stop cheering you on!

That having been said, this post probably looks really silly to non-Hockey people. After all, it's just a game where toothless, drunken, jocks stick knives in their shoes and punch each other! That is a true fact, but everybody's got something weird and inconsequental that they like to get obsessive and sentimental over. I personally don't get the appeal of Baseball.

Sports are truly a neutral thing. It's not like one side is good and one side is evil. But still. It's hard not to believe that you're on the side of light, hope, and all things beautiful and that the other team is evil incarnate.

I guess that's the fun of Hockey, though! You get to throw your whole self into cheering for your team, and when the game's over, maybe you have the strength and morale to throw your whole self into things that actually do matter.

P.S.

You probably guessed by now that we went to a Sharks game and they lost, hence this outburst of Sharks loyalty. But that's totally okay, because it wasn't a shut-out! We actually got to see them score, three times! Huzzah! (This is a big deal because we've been to several sporting events over the past five years, and every single time our team lost without even getting in one goal. So this is proof that we're not cursed. ;)

Miracle [2004]

"Do you believe in miracles?"
-Al Michaels, a sportscaster for the USA v. Soviet hockey game in the 1980 Olympics

My brother's birthday is in this early segment of the year, and his favorite sport is Hockey. Since this is one of his favorite movies, he watched it for his birthday, and I thought I'd review it. Huzzah!
Miracle is about the 1980 USA men's Hockey team. The country at this point in history was not in a very happy mood, and what everyone really needed was a victory. Unfortunately, the Soviet's hockey team was the team to end all teams. Faster and more confident, they were pretty much superior to our boys in every way.
Miracle takes a few story-telling liberties to what really happened, but for the most part it's very true to history. In some of the hockey sequences, they even used some real footage from the actual game!
Something I really liked about this is that the Soviets aren't demonized. A lot of the time in sports movies, the opposing team is painted evil. Here though, they're just the other team. The other team who happens to be extremely good. Another common sports movie trope is averted too (probably because it's a true story), and that is the "We have to win it for little Billy!" trope. I haven't actually seen a movie with this, but apparently a lot of sports movies like to have the team motivated by some sick and dying kid who adores them.
This movie also doesn't have any inappropriate content. There's swearing, but nothing too bad.
Miracle doesn't really go too deep into the personal lives of the players, mostly putting the focus on their coach- Herb Brooks. The characters aren't extremely deep or moving, but get this! I did not mind at all. This is a movie about Hockey, and the underdog team that won when everyone said they couldn't. It's not so much a movie about individuals, but rather, putting aside individual problems to work together as a team.
Storytelling and characters aside, this is quite a well made film. The sequence of the USA/Soviet game is very well shot, and most of it doesn't have music, so it's very effective. And for the last ten or so seconds, they use the real commentary from the actual game!
I wasn't around to see the 80's, but according to Mum and Dad it totally looks like the 80's. Right down to the plaid pants. ;)

The Verdict: B+ [My brother insists that it get an A. So that's your other rating.]
Sports movies aren't my preferred genre, but I love this movie. It's inspiring and heartwarming, but not in the sappylicious Hallmark movie sense. It's a true story, and that's the reason I find it inspiring. Not a perfect film, but whether you're a die hard hockey fan or not- Miracle will have you cheering for our team.
This is one of the best kinds of true stories. The kind that just couldn't be fiction. As Al Michaels said during the medal ceremony: "No scriptwriter would dare!"

Les Hockey Season

Because if you think about it, it works. XD

 

Yeah. That shrill blob thing is supposed to me me, but I'm not sure there's any *real* resemblance. XD

Go Sharks!! 

-Xochitl