The weekend by the numbers

The weekend was full of interesting numbers.

3: Number of dimensions that the "U2 3D" concert film was shot in. Four friends and I treked to the Indiana State Museum IMAX theater on Saturday to see the "U2 3D." I thought it was great, but I'm a hopeless U2 fanatic. The film featured 14 songs filmed in stunning IMAX 3D during U2's vertigo tour dates in South America. This was my first trip to an IMAX theater and my first 3D movie. The effect of a 6 story tall, 3D Bono coming at you is hard to imagine. It was an entertaining film, although I pretty much knew what to expect, with two DVDs of concerts from this tour already being released, Milan and Chicago. The visuals were stunning. The 3D was more than what I had even expected and almost motion sickness inducing. The best shots were overhead shots of Larry's drum kit and wide establishing shots made from eye level of the audience. The stage filled the screen and your field of vision as the arms and bodied of the concert goers bounced in front of you. The musical highlight was "Miss Sarajevo," featuring Bono's vocals on the Italian parts originally recorded by the late Luciano Pavarotti. The film's editors didn't cut out all of Bono's sermonizing, but did tone it down for the general public. He did get make his usual plea for religious pluralism and peace. Here's a good review from the Indy Star's Dave Lindquist.




7: Total number of U2 concerts seen by the 5 of us that went to the film.

3: Number of points that the New York Football Giants beat the New England Patriots by in the Super Bowl. While I'm not a Giants fan, it was good to see Tom Brady lose and see Eli Manning finally justified to New York fans. The 18-1, nearly undefeated season will have to be a footnote beside the 1972 Dolphins' 17-0. I was, however, looking forward to not ever hearing anything from Mercury Morris again.

14: Number of years since Tom Petty has released a relevant album. I'd say 1994's Wildflowers was probably the last one anyone cared about.