I have to admit: I wasn’t overly excited about seeing The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when Rudi started gushing about it months ago.

I’d picked up a Douglas Adams book back in high school, but hadn’t gotten far into it when I got bored and put it down. And when Rudi tried to play me the radio series, I dozed off (although, in my defense, it was just after I’d handed over the driving on a trip up to Connecticut, so I’m not sure I could have stayed awake even if I’d been smitten).

But I love Rudi. And he loves this book series. And I wouldn’t say that about many pieces of the modern literary canon, so I agreed to see the film. Plus, the previews looked cute.

And I have to say I was impressed. My exposure to the cast had been limited to Zooey Deschanel, Alan Rickman, and Helen Mirren, but I found Mos Def to be a likable Ford Prefect, Sam Rockwell to be a hysterical President Zaphod Beeblebrox (having not read the books, I am at a loss as to whether the character actually shares similarities with real-life president George W. Bush or whether Sam and director Garth Jennings tweaked the delivery to resemble him), and Martin Freeman to be a perfect Everyman. (Oops, I lied. I have seen Freeman in Love Actually…)

And Alan Rickman (better known to me, at least, as Snape in the Harry Potter film adaptations) stole the show as the depressed robot, Marvin.

In fact, I enjoyed the movie enough that I will go back to the Adams book (which was based on the radio play, not the other way around, as I’d originally understood) and give it another shake. At the very least, it should give me some interesting Metro conversations while I’m reading it.

D.C. residents tend to be a bit blase when celebrities move to town. But I think even the most biased amongst us are rejoicing this week that our
newest residents are enjoying themselves.

I know, I know … I have Nationals season tickets, so I’m supposed to root for them. And under most circumstances, I do. But not when my Mets are in town. I grew up watching the Mets with my folks and my grandparents and am a vociferous fan.

Last night the game ended before we could make our traditional late-game comeback. So I was a little nervous heading into tonight’s game.

We jumped out to a 1-0 start with a Jose Reyes run in the first inning off a stupid base-running error by center-fielder Carlos Beltran.

The Nats answered with three runs in the third — backup catcher Gary Bennett, shortstop Cristian Guzmán, and centerfielder Brad Wilkerson.

The game continued in traditional fashion until the seventh inning when reliever Joey Eichen (who is noted for his cut-throat playing style) fielded what seemed like a routine grounder to his right. Unfortunately, he stumbled and fell heavily on his arm and lay there in agony. Eventually they brought the golf cart ambulance out to the mound, but Eichen managed to get to his feet and leave the field under his own power. Last I heard he had gone to the hospital for X rays for an arm injury.

In the top of the ninth, the Mets fed off the energy of the New York fans in the stadium. (I was impressed by how many of us there were — and by how many old-timer jerseys I saw.) right fielder Eric Valent scored off a sac fly by second baseman Miguel Cairo, followed by pinch hitter Marlon Anderson and shortstop José Reyes off a double by Beltran, giving us a three-run lead.

Being Mets fans, we understand that the game isn’t over until the third out of the bottom of the ninth. And that’s good. Because closer Braden Looper did give us a scare, giving up a triple to Guzmán and walking pinch hitter Termel Sledge (I think his name pre-destined him to play baseball), before bringing the game to a close.

I will be hoarse tomorrow…