Archive for April, 2008
April 27th, 2008
Spring marks the beginning of baseball season and we’re excited to get back into it! If any of you are baseball lovers like we are, you may be looking for ways to experience the sport outside of ESPN. Here a few relatively local ways to do so.
Whether you are preparing to go pro or just want to work on your skills, there are plenty of places in Rockford for athletic practice. One of the nicest is All Starz Sports Clinic at 7003 N. Alpine. Here, you can go hit a few balls in the batting cages for $1/14 hits. If you are a member, you get a lot of benefits and discounts for $65 per year. It is only $25/hour if you’re a member, while it is $30 for non-members. Also, they offer football and baseball turf rentals for pitching, hitting, throwing, and catching practices. Soon, you will be able to play basketball here, too. Call them at 815.654.0300 or visit their website.
To see a good baseball game in Rockford, you just have to go as far as Riverhawks stadium off Riverside at 4503 Interstate Drive. We’ve been to a couple of their games and you are always guaranteed entertainment. Tickets are between $5 and $15 for different seat locations. Their number is 815.885.2255 and their website is http://rockfordriverhawks.com/.
If you prefer major league, Milwaukee and Chicago are your closest options. Miller Park in Milwaukee is our favorite. It has a very crowd-entertaining atmosphere, with the brat races and active mascot. Also, the roof closes when it rains so you don’t have to worry about rainy days. If you go to the stadium, get there early. Bring some chicken or hamburgers and tailgate; it’s always such a good time! They have a parking lot specifically for tailgaters and there is plenty of room for cooking necessities. Tickets are between $8 and $45. For more information about Miller Park and the Brewers, visit their website, http://brewers.mlb.com/mil/ballpark/index.jsp.
In Chicago, you can go see the Cubs or the WHITE SOX. We are completely neutral towards whatever team you decide to go see cough WHITE SOX cough. Coughing aside, we’ve been to both fields and have had enjoyable times. If you’re into old-school baseball feel, without the frills and modern luxuries at newer fields, Wrigley is the place for you. It is also the place for you if hot dogs are important for you, as the Cubs, in our opinion, have the best compared to the other parks. Tickets are between $16 and $70. Visit their website, http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=chc.
U.S. Cellular field is newer and arguably nicer than Wrigley. It is very modern and has been clean in our experiences. If you want to pick the best night of the season to go, we recommend any of the numerous fireworks nights or August 22. This is Elvis night and you may never see a larger or more varied collection of Elvis impersonators descend on a baseball field. And no, the impersonators are not limited to men… It gets a little interesting! Tickets are between $17 and $51, except for Mondays, which are mostly half off. Their website is http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=cws.
EDIT: Please note the changed phone number and website for All Starz Sports Clinic. We apologize for our misinformation.
April 21st, 2008
Like we told you in last week, we went to the Paramore and Jimmy Eat World concert Saturday night at Northern Illinois University.
The concert started at 7:30, so we got there at about 7:00. This was plenty of time. In the future, we would get there a little bit later (provided you have seats and not general admission), because not only did we sit around for a half an hour but there was also an opening band before the main performances. Dear and the Headlights was the opening band. We had never heard of them before, but they were actually decent. Our favorite song was “Sweet Talk”.
Next, Paramore performed. Paramore seemed to draw quite a bit of the crowd, considering it is technically kind of an “opening” for Jimmy Eat World; many people left after their show. Paramore’s performance was really fun ! The band knows how to keep the crowd entertained with their high-energy music and rock mentality. It was awesome, of course, to see our favorite songs performed live. Our two favorite songs of the night were “Misery Business” and “Crushcrushcrush”.
Following Paramore’s act was Jimmy Eat World. Their performance was just as fun. We didn’t know as many songs of theirs so it was harder to sing along, but still nonetheless enjoyable. We were about ready to cry when they didn’t play “The Middle” and walked off stage. Luckily, with their encore they played “Hear You Me” and finishing off with “The Middle”.
Overall, our experience of NIU and the bands were very positive. We would suggest getting your tickets far in advance so you can get closer to the stage then we were. But if you get a chance to catch these two great bands while they are on tour, we would definitely recommend it!
April 13th, 2008
This Saturday, two of our favorite bands are coming to DeKalb to perform at the NIU Convocation Center - Paramore and Jimmy Eat World.
Paramore is fairly new to the mainstream music scene. Their first CD, All We Know Is Falling, was excellent but not hugely popular. Our favorite song off of that CD is Emergency, although Pressure is a very close second. Their latest CD, Riot!, is what has gotten them the most fame. The most popular single off of this CD is Misery Business, which has been climbing charts for a while now. We also like Crushcrushcrush and That’s What You Get.
Jimmy Eat World had their first huge hit in 2001 with The Middle on their self-titled album. We still listen to that song! On the same album, Sweetness is another popular song that is another favorite. Since then, we have come to love this band through their songs Work and Pain, both off of their 2004 album Futures, and Big Casino and Always Be from their most recent accomplishment, Chase This Light.
We’ll be doing a follow-up review next week to let you know how Paramore and Jimmy Eat World performed, as well as how our experience at the NIU Convocation Center was in case you want to catch an upcoming show!
April 6th, 2008
This past weekend, we saw 21 in theaters. This fun, new movie is based off of the popular novel Bringing Down The House about a successful money scam by a group of intelligent college students.
Ben Campell, played by Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe anyone?), is the central character in the film. He attends MIT and is virtually a perfect student: 4.0, excellent recommendations, the works. However, his dream is to attend Harvard University Law School and unfortunately money is a major issue. A group of students along with a professor come to Ben and ask them to join their “black-jack group;” they go to Las Vegas every weekend and use their counting cards scheme to win a enormous amount of money. Ben catches on fast and is quickly one of their most profitable players ever. Well, as the plot has it, the story shifts a little…and we won’t spoil the rest.
This movie was overall very interesting. We tend to like movies that are based off of true stories because of the realistic quality. Since this movie was only loosely based off the novel, it lost a little of that realistic touch. We felt that they would have been better off trying to stay closer to the actual story, then trying to make it a super intense “Ocean’s 11” type of movie. The real story in itself is so interesting, there was no need to butter it up.
Overall, we’re not sure it was worth the $9 (yeah we know, $9 is ridiculous!) ticket, but I would definitely put it on the list for rentals. Or better yet, pick up the novel Bringing Down The House and read about the group of gambling MIT students for yourself.
