Forever A Fangirl

LOST - "The Constant" Season 4, Episode 5 *Spoilers*

LOST~ "The Constant": Season 4, Episode 5 *Spoilers* Sayid and Desmond run into turbulence on their way to the freighter, causing Desmond to suffer unusual side effects. Charles Widmore: Alan Dale. Penny Widmore: Sonya Walger. George Minkowski: Fisher Stevens (is dead).

OK, So everyone it seems, is ranting about how great Henry Ian Cusak was as Desmond Hume in this "Desmond with a large dash of LOST's own MacGuyver, Sayid (Naveen Andrews)"-centric episode. Both actor's are two of the show's best. Add in a smallish (but crucial) guest spot from Sonya Walger as Penelope Widmore and you have a very tight episode acting-wise. Oh, how could I forget the member that made this trio a quartet?

Be still my heart. :) Daniel Faraday played by Jeremy Davies. I'm not sure I'm alone in really liking the actor and liking him even more as his 8 years-ago self:

Eight year's ago Daniel Faraday with his rat, Eloise.

RIP Eloise. You sacrificed yourself for Science, now will Desmond have to do the same?!

Things that make you go hmmm: Island Daniel's surprisingly younger-looking-than-his-eight-years-in-the-past self. Can Daniel help Desmond to save himself? Suspense!

Meanwhile, in current Island time, isn't Elizabeth Mitchell especially pretty when she's telling someone off? :)

Continued after the jump: LOST's New Hottest Couple/ News On the remaining Season 4 Episodes

Winter 2008: Endless Snowfall

• What this album is about: Huge snowflakes
• Cotton ball size snowflakes (sepia)
• Out back, facing southwest, "The Lakes" and a frozen pond.
• Back of house (Tungsten effect)
• Back of House in Black and White
• The Day After The Cotton Balls Snow"flakes." Back of house, no adjustment, day after cottonball-size snowflakes. Very cool clouds this day. That's "The Lakes" apts. that 2/3 surround us. Basically there are lake-ponds and one street that separate us and them. lol. And we went condo.
• Biggest Snowflakes evar! Backyard (actually, many courtyard) looking up, deck perspective, "Snow" setting on Canon Powershot.
• From our back porch: Snowflakes, some stuck to one another but in full, literally the size of cotton balls.
• "The Lakes"-Part of an apartment complex that nearly 2/3 surrounds us. They are on the other side of the lake from us so it's okay, quite pretty at times. "We" actaully used to be apartments as well. We "went condo" but our home is sort of townhouse-ish in that it's two floors. The camera was set to "Snow."

Jimmy Kimmel is F@cking Ben Affleck: Guess who is in this!

Ben explains it all...Response to Matt & Sarah

They're the hottest new couple in Hollywood, and now Ben Affleck is speaking out about how he hooked up with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for their parody video response to Matt Damon and Sarah Silverman – as well as the secret bathtub scene that got cut.

Affleck tells EW.com: "I remember seeing Matt's [video] and thinking to myself, 'Oh, it would be funny to do one with me and Jimmy.' They called and immediately I was like, 'Yes, it should be this idea ...,' and they had the same idea more or less already. I have a lot of respect for the group over there – they're really good comedians – so I just committed to it."

The actor says the singing was more difficult than wearing a pair of short shorts, but he acknowledges, "You couldn't really do it half-speed. You had to be painting toes and blow-drying hair. At one point we were going to take a bath together, but the bubbles couldn't get high enough, so that ended up getting scrapped."Source

Jimmy Kimmel is F@cking Ben Affleck Response to Matt & Sarah

Star studded video with Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Joan Jett, Macy Gray, Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, Pete Wentz, Perry Farrell, Benji and Joel Madden, Lance Bass, Huey Lewis, Josh Groban, McLovin, Christina Applegate, Rebecca Romijn, and Dominic Monaghan, and Meatloaf, Matt Damon, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Kimmel, others.

Very amusing...thanks to Moxie's wicked sense of humour. :)

I have to go back and look--Meatloaf? They had to have been bored and made this during the writer's strike. Funny. What an ecllectic group! Robin Willimas and Benji and Joel Madden, Harrison Ford and Joan Jett. Great to see quite a few of them.

And Jimmy Kimmel totally owned Sarah Silverman.

Fifteen New Blog Designs

I'm a sucker for a new blog design. "Fifteen New Blogs Designs" is what the landing page for TypePad read yesterday. I couldn't resist taking a look-see and then trying out (with the preview button) what they might look like on my blog. Before I knew it it was 4 a.m. and I was still trying to get my sidebar content to line up the way I wanted. The new template is pretty but I don't know if I'm keeping it--because I'm a little nutty that way. I did remove some clutter from the sidebars (as now I have but one sidebar) but I think I need to rehaul the whole photo album section as well as take another look at whom I'm linking to. Steel Kaleidoscopes will stay there for as long as it exists (hopefully, many years to come). Others, I may have moved beyond and certainly I've found a treasure trove of new-to-me websites that I'd like to link to--while keeping in mind the notion of decluttering. Also, not incidentally, I need to get inspired to do this at 2 p.m. not 2 a.m!
From yesterday, my "backyard":

Cottonball Snowflakes

   

       

                

                                            

            

               

Cotton ball-sized Snowflakes

            

           

   

Awesomeness!

We are having a snowfall unlike one I’ve seen in years, if ever. The snowflakes are huge! They are literally like fluffy cotton balls.

Many of them are sticking together, causing them to appear even larger. I went outside and looked up and it was the most incredible sight. When I extended my arms, with my palms up snowflakes landing on my hands were almost the size of my palm! I’m not kidding. It’s just one of the wondrous forces of mother nature at work. I took pictures and video and I will post something tonight to try and show just why I’m so excited by of all things–snow!

Wannabe Wordsmiths

I belong to a forum. Anyone can read it but one of it's primary functions is for those of us who do or have done paid blogging to discuss things--from technical issues to monetary rewards or lack thereof, to other stuff which can be of our choosing.

Recently a blogger expressed the opinion that the people on the forum were falling victim to "censorship" and he began actively recruiting  people on the forum to join a new forum he'd started.

Now there's a host of people who visit the forum to which I belong--from advertisers, seasoned bloggers, brand new bloggers, paid staff and everyone in-between. From the lack of responses it seemed that he did not have a lot of success in drawing from our forum to his.

I've been on forums before and of course there has to be rules in place as a forum exists as a community. What I've found on this forum is, on a scale of noose-like restrictiveness to almost no interference at all, is that this forum tries to be as hands off as possible and let the boards flow. The most involvement I've seen is when a duplicate thread (new topic) is introduced and that thread gets merged with the other or, someone asks a question in the wrong section and the thread is moved so the thread author will move likely get what they are needing.

I've seen very little of what New Forum Guy called censorship and when there was such a thing it was justified. The censorship takes the form of the topic not being able to have any more comments added to it. The thread becomes "locked."

So New Forum Guy has started a couple of new threads on the forum to which I belong and each one IMO, seemed more to promote his new forum than to discuss a relevant topic. I wasn't the only one to notice the self promotion and they called him on it. This provoked him to insult one of the volunteer moderators on the boards. She told him she didn't appreciate it and others including me, tried to give her support with kind words. New Forum Guy came back to the thread and threw more road apples around, this time provoking an all-out love fest for our mods.

Then something surprised me. A commenter downplayed it all by saying the thread comments "were just words." Just words?!
We've all heard the old Internet axiom, "you can't convey in writing what you can in person." Oh yeah? So the Constitution is "just words" and the Bible and the Koran and everything Shakespeare ever wrote--do I have to go on? These very important pieces of writing, each conveying thoughts, ideas, beliefs, stories--all in WORDS.

This is the 21st Century. We are speaking less and less to one another and more and more we communicate by typing our messages. If we feel what we are doing is "just words," than why are we doing it?  And since we are doing it frequently via instant messages, texting, weblogs, email, membership in forums, boards, and in gaming, these words are being used a great deal. And isn't something that is used frequently of import? And further, since we are using words frequently shouldn't we be getting better at expressing ourselves this way? When are we going to stop using the excuse that what we type is "just words?"
That reasoning was never truly factual and it's far less so now.

Talking Loudly in the Library

You know the expression, "You must not get out much."? Compared to some people I guess I don't. I go out every single day but I don't interact face-to-face with all that many people in the general public. Today however, youngest son and I went to the Palatine Public Library.
Both son and I had a number of books to get and as it happened we got there barely an hour before closing time. Son knew what section he wanted to look in but I needed the use of the computer terminals to locate  books for the list I carried. It happened that the only terminal I found on the first floor was about 10 feet from the children's section on one side and from a librarian station on the other.

The librarians were chatting and the two women on the other side of my terminal, about 2 feet from me, were chatting as well but they were very animated, laughing, enjoying their conversation as if they were chatting in a coffee shop or standing on a street counter. With acute hearing* I have trouble focusing on keyboard tasks when there's excessive noise, so after a few minutes of hearing. every. single. word. uttered by them both, and looking helplessly to the librarians chatting away obliviously, I loudly  cleared my throat.

I waited. If anything, their volume  increased. OK, I thought to myself, how to be an adult about this when the adults around me are not exactly acting like they know how adults behave in a library? I cleared my throat again, this time loudly and in a prolonged fashion. I looked at the library station and caught the attention of one of the librarians. With the arm closest to her I made a small gesture towards the two women who were still talking loudly in the library. Then with both hands I made the "two hands talking to one another" sign. A moment or two passed. The women lowered their volume though the woman still at but not using the computer terminal did not attempt to doing anything but converse.
People. I don't miss them.

*Though this is only my theory, I think because I've been legally blind since childhood, my acute hearing is a sort of compensation for it. I have an acute sense of small as well.

LOST~02/21/2008 - "Eggtown," Season 4, Episode 4

LOST~02/21/2008 - "Eggtown," Season 4, Episode 4

Kate's need to get information from the hostage could jeopardize her standing with both Locke and Sawyer. (TVGUIDE online).

From last week's preview~ Kate goes to court after being rescued.

A Primer From The Producers of LOST on Watching LOST, Season 4 +++SPOILERS***

ZOMG, there are so many off-the cuff spoilers in this just-published interview^^^ with the producers of LOST, Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse!!!

There were not even any spoilers warnings.There are spoilers here for next season, as in "We won't be dealing with that (issue) until Season Five LOST," ..."but you will know by the end of Season Four this and this" (or your money back). They are totally selling the show in a different way. Essentially guiding the audience through the maze of LOST and pulling up a comfy chair and saying, see we're accessible after all, even though we are DEFINITELY going to do more Sci-fi things! LOL It's a great interview!

OK to Eggtown.

I love Eve Lilly. She's Canadian, she's beautiful, charming, she's pure of heart and athletic and unfussy...but she cannot act (most of the time). I have 2 screen shots here where I think she does do well 'cos she's with the guy she's had the most screen time with--Jack--and I thnk Matt and Evie have a connection. And BTW, the Jaters are right--she's got way more sparks with Jack than Sawyer. This too if one looks at it  just for what it is is that Matt Fox is a pro. Eve Lilly and Josh Holloway are pretty faces trying to act (Josh, your teeth are bleached way TOO white).

This was a very well done scene on both their parts--nicely underplayed--muted, even.

With Matt Fox you can see it burbling just underneath the surface. Evie is working on it. She's close but Foxy's an ace emoter.

More after the jump including of Josh and Evie a/k/a Sawyer and Kate not making love. Yes. I said NOT! see...

Aww, so cute!

Comments?! We ain't got no stinking comments!

I'm finally catching up thank goodness, but one persnickety thing that I missed completely was that I wasn't getting any email notices when a comment was posted on here on Cyn City. I apologize to any and all who I've seemingly ignored because it is my policy to read and respond to comments.

I believe it was both a TypePad and gmail issue and having contacted TypePad and changed settings on gmail I am hoping for the best. You'd think I'd be able to keep up with one blog but alas, I have four of them. There are some wonderful, lively conversations to be had on almost any subject over at Vox. My spot there is at My Secret Garden. You are always welcome to join me there. I do some--but not a lot of cross posting between the blogs.

Cruising along Huntington Beach on my Beach Cruiser

I used to live right next to the Pacific ocean in Huntington Beach, California. I love the ocean. One of the ways I enjoyed the serenity, the smell, the sounds, the sights of the Pacific, was on a beach cruiser. A beach cruiser is perfect if you want to slow things down a bit from say, the velocity of a skateboard or roller skates and relax more into a steady ride. Frankly, I felt more safe and in control on my beach cruiser, especially when the crowds got thicker in the areas near Huntington Pier.

I can't say enough about the positive benefits of getting out into the ocean air on your bike and just going for it . You've got the sun above and the ocean unfolding before you--nirvana.

In a more practical sense almost anyone can ride a beach cruiser, no matter what your fitness level. It's any excellent way to get started building your strength and endurance as you control the pace. As you ride more often and grow more confident you can pick up the pace a bit and challenge yourself a bit more based on your surroundings. When I move back to the beach or more realistically, when I visit this fall I will rent a beach cruiser. I'd much prefer to buy a beach cruiser but that will have to wait until I achieve my dream of moving back and again living by the ocean.

I Need To Be Walked!!!

Hi there.

I'm trying to get caught up on so many things that have fallen by the wayside in the past 8 days. That's right, it was a week ago Friday that I first felt the weakness that morphed overnight into a full on case of The Flu.

As I was sitting out in the living room today, enjoying my morning cup of coffee (I can taste it again!) I read up on the current strains of flu that are sickening many folks. Unfortunately, the scientists who each year "guess" what the following year's flu will consist of, guessed with only 40% accuracy versus the 60-70% range that they usually nail.

The article went on the say that February, not April "is the cruelest month" as there is more flu now than any other time of year and therefore more misery.

I have to agree.

Sick or not and I'm usually not, I do not like February one bit. I can talk myself into at least semi- believing that there is a reason to be optimistic about the Midwest's winter weather but with February I come up with nuthin'. But it wasn't always so.

Until this year I looked forward with great anticipation to Groundhog Day. Why? Not because I care about shadows or lack thereof. No, I had a much better reason. My little bro and his lovely wife would spend days baking all manner of confectionery treats and each year's seemed more scrumptious than the last.

We'd hear a buzz at the door and there they'd be with a plate brimming with exotic cookies and brownies--all bakery quality--and then off they'd go making more deliveries. For me, it made Valentine's Day seem not all that important. I'd already had all the best treats I was going to have for the year and bro and sis-in-law only did their bake-a-thon annually--always for Groundhog Day. Alas, they have moved on to more arid climes. <sigh>

This year, Valentine's Day coincided with my flu so no lunch date with spouse. It wasn't much of a V-Day at all. I managed to make some cards for the three guys and sent some e-cards to some friends but being really sick pretty much puts the kibosh on anything fun.

The day after Valentine's Day however, I had an appointment with my cardiologist. I had rescheduled it once before so felt I had to go and at 8 days gone with the flu--no temperature, dizziness at a bare minimum I thought it be okay to go.

Ireland Park: public.fotki.com/HighPlainsDrifter/places-1/ireland-park/

Photo: HighPlainsDrifter

It was only about 20F outside though spouse parked the Mustang in direct sun (yes, we had sun!) so the car was cozy. After the 20 minute drive I arrived at the huge doctor's office building next to a hospital and got my first real experience dealing with the large amounts of snow we've been socked with. On the way there I'd passed dump trucks hauling snow away...and the hospital parking lot could have used  their help as I only was able to park upon manoeuvring into my second snowbank.

This was my second visit with this cardiologist (heart failure specialist) after being given orders for lots of tests previously. His colleague, whom I'd seen for many years moved to the east coast.

So all my tests results were "great." My blood pressure was high normal and he wouldn't accept my reasoning that maybe the flu had something to do with that?

Instead he found the one area where he has absolutely no clue about me and he began to tell me everything I already know.

I could/should lose weight (though I’ve dropped a couple pounds since last visit).

He asks me the most insane question ever. What do I want to weigh? I want to LOL. I’ve been “a big girl” All My Life. I typically put on 5-10 lbs. each winter and then take it off in the spring/summer. Very much like the bears. Even so, I should probably lose another 20 pounds on top of that but him having me keep a “weight diary” is not going to do it because I’ve tried that oh, 20 times before and it worked and then when I stopped keeping the diary because it is an obsessive behaviour which I couldn’t stand–when I stopped being on a diet my weight came back. Can we go back to how my numbers are great? I thought all this--didn't say it--just chuckled slightly at the idea of pick a number for my weight and go for it!

He blathered on. He knows nothing about the mentality of a fat girl, though I caught a sympathetic look from the nurse that was with us in the room. Here in the dead of winter having not exercised in over a week I weigh four pounds more than I did when I took off forty pounds ten years ago. I did that because I was newly into heart failure and radically changed my diet from typical American to low sodium and relatively low fat.

Mr. Fancy Heart Specialist Guy has no idea about how much I have obsessed about my weight in my lifetime. About how devoted I am about sticking to the low salt/fat thing and regular exercise. He just dispenses his “wisdom” like Pez candy. Specialist: stick to your area of expertise because when you wander away from it you sound like a stoopid-head and you offend me. I know I should drop more weight. I will continue to work on it every day for the rest of my life. Can I go now?

So to today. Energy levels are returning. Head is de-clogging though it's a funky feeling--like there's bubbles popping in my ear canals. Nose is still running clear (normal for me) and the cough is still there, though not painful any longer. And I did a 40-minute set of yoga last night.

All in all I am feeling optimistic and hopeful that I can go outside tonight with spouse and Raven for a brisk walk. Please temperatures, do NOT go all super frigid, OK? I need a walk!

Did you see the Total Lunar Eclipse?

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The last total lunar eclipse until 2010 occurs Wednesday night, with cameo appearances by Saturn and the bright star Regulus on either side of the veiled full moon.

Ahmad van der Breggen

Collage from the February 20, 2008 Lunar Eclipse. Taken in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (50.440869,-104.60745). Photos taken every 5 minutes (approximately) Skywatchers viewing through a telescope will have the added treat of seeing Saturn's handsome rings. Weather permitting, the total eclipse can be seen from North and South America. People in Europe and Africa will be able to see it high in the sky before dawn on Thursday. As the moonlight dims -- it won't go totally dark -- Saturn and Regulus will pop out and sandwich the moon. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Jack Horkheimer, host of the PBS show "Star Gazer," called the event "the moon, the lord of the rings and heart of the lion eclipse." Wednesday's event will be the last total lunar eclipse until December 20, 2010. Last year there were two. The weather could be a spoiler for many in the United States. Cloudy skies are expected for most of the Western states with a chance of snow from the heartland to the East Coast, said Stuart Seto of the National Weather Service. It was very clear here so this was very pretty. We saw a piece of it and stopped near the lakes long enough to see major changes. I could have hung out 10 more minutes if we kept moving but it was about 6F and there's work tomorrow, etc. and it was 10-11 p.m. Central. No telescope, so no Saturn but still very beautiful. I love the moon and other celestial entities...

LOST - S4x3 - 'The Economist'/HURLEY SEES CHARLIE IN FLASH-FORWARD *Spoilers*

ABC Official Streaming Video Full Episodes, Entire Series

Preview screen grab: Katie gets her 15 minutes of fame next week in Episode 4, a Kate flash forward, entitled, "Eggtown."

"The Economist"
02/15/08
Sayid and Kate go in search of Locke to negotiate a peaceful deal when they discover that his hostage may be the key to getting off the island.

HURLEY SEES CHARLIE IN FLASH-FORWARD,HURLEY SEES CHARLIE IN FLASH-FORWARD

Episode Three: Season Four, "The Economist" revealed another member of "Oceanic 6" (though not the Economist himself), confirmed what been suspected about a possible time distortion between the Island and everywhere else, and not incidentally, showed a Sayid-centric flash forward in which Sayid kills for a living and...works for Ben Linus. Yes, that Ben. To protect his "friends" from getting "hurt."

My impression of Sayid's flash forward was that he was as much a captive in his off-Island life as his was while stuck on the Island. I'm not sure, given how much of the series is yet to come whether this episode was to show Sayid's equivalent to Jack's misery in his post-rescue life.

I felt pretty disappointed that the Sayid of post-Island life seemed nothing more than a tool for Ben's murderous impulses. Seems strange to say but he fell pretty far, even though his last lob prior to the crash as Jack phrased it, was as a "torturer."

Sayid at work, post-Island.

Sayid looking hawt.

Sayid's gf (of a week) winged him; he killed her.

Looks like Ben's fortunes have changed...

'Cos Island life looked like it was getting the best of him.

Sawyer wanted to put him down like a dawg. Locke said no.

Miles confirms his suspicions that there is some kind of time rift or anomaly on the Island. That ought to tick off the sci-fi haters. To them I say: meh!

Sick As A Dog

Today is day five of my self-imposed encampment in my little condo. I had a short break after staying close to home whilst we weathered a lot of snow, severe low temperatures (which we still have), and most of all my younger son's illness which seems like a cold². I use the present tense "seems" because though he is 95% better-- I now have "it." Funny how being locked up with a sick, oozy person can leave you sick and oozy. I've been dealing with this bump in my road of life for going on a week and not to be punny, but I'm sick of it!

I won't run through all the details--they are quite icky. What bothers me most is what I guess bothers a lot of folks --the inability to do what you need or want to do. Fortunately, I can get out of bed now so overall, I'm getting done what I must. But I can't even walk the dog! And I would go except we been dealing with -30F wind chills! Our little dog refuses to walk in that and frankly, even when healthy, so do I.

So cooped up, stir crazy, and sick is where I'm at now and hope not to be ASAP.

Best Rock Song of '07 Bruce Springsteen: Radio Nowhere

Though this song is a Springsteen radio friendly one, if you listen to the lyrics you'll hear that he's expressing his feelings about a lot of things including alienation and the state of the Nation.

Bruce won another Grammy award in the category of 2007's Best Rock Song the other day. The Grammy Awards are not The People's Choice Awards. They tend to bypass younger artists in some categories if an older one that is "just as good" (read: sold a lot of CD's) is in contention. Herbie Hancock got an award, too.

I originally was going to post an Aerosmith video, Sick As A Dog, to illustrate my current and past-four-days state which is...sick as a dog but as the fellow who cobbled together a bunch of Aerosmith clips and added the recorded version of Sick As A Dog states,"they didn't make music videos back in the '70's." (He's pretty much right--though obviously recording of live performances was done).

I listened to the live version--two in fact, of the more-or-less current version of Aerosmith and as much as Aerosmith's music was a fixture during an important time in my young adulthood, Steven Tyler whom I adored, now parodies who he used to be and when he "used to be" he was way over the top. That's what made him likable--but now he comes off as just too much--plus--the sound was crap on the two live videos.

So, it's a more positive sign for me to say Yay! Bruce Springsteen for still being relevant and still putting heart into your most recent effort and making an excellent album in 2007--Magic.

I know that it sounds cornball but I also totally dig in this video the onstage presence of Bruce's wife Patti Scialfa and of Steve Van Zant, who in the past has been known as Miami Steve, Little Steven, and Silvo "Sil" Dante on HBO's The Sopranos. The video is a live appearance from Sept. 2007, on The Today Show. They are performing in the street just outside the studio which means they are up way past their bedtimes.

Here's a link to the official video for Radio Nowhere .

Show us your handbag, satchel or laptop case.

This is my *new* laptop's bag.

I got it for one reason but it seems to be working for me in two three ways.

First, when I realized that the so-called laptop case that the computer came in was too flimsy, I went in search of another but I wasn't in the mood to really look. OK, I hate to shop. It turned out however, that I needed to be "in the mood" as I couldn't find a laptop bag that both fit the laptop and that would carry stuff like the cord, mouse (which it turns out I don't need), and thumb drive.

So *this* is where I quit looking. Inside it has a fitted, pink padded zip bag for the laptop itself, and a roomy extra compartment, plus it's got a large, zippered pocket on it's outside back area. Would it surprise you that I carry a large handbag, too? No? Hey, I'm the person with the Kleenex, the gum, the pain reliever...I always go prepared.

Anyway. The really cool thing is--nobody--and this is a first--none of the three boys I live with has asked to use it! Score!

LOST - 'Confirmed Dead' - E4x02 *Spoilers* Recap Video/Photos

Confirmed Dead

Original Air Date: 2/7/2008

PREVIOUSLY ON LOST FOR 4x02 CONFIRMED DEAD LOST SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 CONFIRMED DEAD PHOTOS

Written by Drew Goddard & Brian K Vaughan
Directed by Stephen Williams

The survivors begin to question the intentions of their supposed rescuers when four strangers arrive on the island. Miles: Ken Leung. Daniel Faraday: Jeremy Davies. Charlotte: Rebecca Mader. Frank Lapidus: Jeff Fahey.

Overall, a solid episode but regardless of how it served to advance the plot line, I hated the scene in Tunisia where "Charlotte (CS) Lewis," a new character this season, finds the bones of a polar bear--and a leather collar with the Dharma symbol at an desert archaeological dig. I felt yanked out of "Lost" and into a bad Indiana Jones rip-off movie of the week.

Otherwise, I'm thrilled that Jeremy Davies as "Daniel Faraday," has joined the cast. No one can do twitchy yet oddly endearing like he can.

Sayid, Juliet, Jack,  Kate, Miles, Daniel and Frank inspect Frank's helicopter

(promo photo ABC)

Though we have suspected it for some time, the unspooling of the coverup of the crash played out via "you are there" television reporting with "sunken trading ship" cameras deep in the ocean coming upon "the wreckage of Flight 815"--with a graphic (though unintentionally? funny) depiction of a very water-logged "pilot" who, though Identified as such was not our pilot--who got eaten by a monster in Season One.

The real pilot: Greg Grunberg

"Vincent" has had a sex change. Yes, the dog who portrays Invisible Walt's buddy is no longer a bitch but a male. Not as pretty, IMO.

The frequently reoccurring beating of the incredibly provocative Ben about the head and face is getting almost funny. Just in the past few "days" Island time, he's been pummelled by Jack, Sawyer, Rousseau (elbowed in the face--ow!), Jack again, I feel like I leaving someone out... Also, just in this episode he's twice been up for execution with a bullet in the head. Not that he doesn't deserve it. And it's pretty neat how he keeps convincing people that they should keep him alive 'cos he "knows things" about...things.

Sawyer: Let me kill him. (I didn't like the word picture that came to mind when Sawyer challenged Locke with, (He didn't) "put that hole in your gut with his mouth." Eww.)

Ben, when you do these kind of things (here, shooting Charlotte in the chest) you are just asking for another beat down.

OK then. Locke "stands corrected." Ben should be put down like a dog.
But before he kills Ben he demands to know, "What is the smoke monster!?!" (Neither Ben nor the audience, who have wondered for three years, know nor maybe care anymore.)

Also...have Rousseau take "their" daughter away from the murder-to-be scene (or was it?).

My favourite line of the night:

"I don't know, Miles, how stupid are you?" —Jack

Survivor 16: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites, Episode 1 *Spoilers*

Complete reviews, summaries, photos from each show here on my other blog. :)

Earlier I wrote.

Tonight was Episode 1, of the the 16th Season...

in this sturdy, still-fun-to-watch series which this time features 10 former Survivor contestants versus 10 "fans." The name of the show pretty much explains that. ;)

So. Tonight was pretty fun.

Yau-Man (from Fiji) got an immunity idol in the first minutes of the show! And he tackled the infamous former contestant "Johnny Fairplay" to get it, causing Johnny to whine after having his head knocked into the side of a canoe as he was reaching for it. The head-knocking didn't look intentional though. Yau-Man just kind of dove for the thing which was hanging from the end of the canoe--which was across a waist-high channel-like area that they initially were dropped off at--and which they had to cross to get to the Immunity Idols.

What was amusing was that Johnny Fairplay had just uttered something like "I'll bet they are (hidden) in plain sight," and there they were on the canoes! The second one was grabbed--not by Fairplay but by the woman on the Fan team whose castaway-mates had dubbed the "crazy lady." The super cool /must be frustrating for him thing, was that Yau-Man came pretty close to having two Immunity Idols again.

Also, major props to Yau-Man for being one of few Survivors ever to be able to pull off the "start a fire with your eyeglasses" feat--which benefits his whole tribe, of course.

Survivor 16: Bios --
from the official CBS site. It's worth a browse and good too as a refresher whether in past seasons you've followed faithfully or casually. There are short (about 3-minute) videos, their bios and other stuff about each of them (favourite colour-type stuff) too. Save the link and read as you can. Some bios are really interesting.

Gravedigger James Clement has some really funny comments in his video snippet about his celebrity status, how people react at undertakings...like having his picture taken with them and the casket!
The "crazy lady" is from Illinois! Noooo!

Glen Ellyn, Illinois: Kathleen Sleckman, DOB August 14, 1962

The other Illinois "fan" is Jason Siska (right), Fox River Grove,  DOB March 4, 1985

Hotties (IMO)~(below)

Ami Cusack, Golden, Colorado, DOB January 25, 1973.

Amanda Kimmel, Los Angeles, DOB August 3, 1984

James, ("He probably has the best (male) body I've ever seen."~ Ozzy) Clement, Lafayette, Louisiana, DOB March 9, 1977

How do you keep yourself motivated to exercise?

Two things: Our dog, Raven likes long walks because she really likes to sniff things that are up to 15 inches above the ground.

Second thing is that if I don't exercise I get stiff and I get reminded that I spend entirely too much time in the sitting position.

Second-and-a-half thing: If I don't exercise I feel guilty and exercising feels better than feeling guilty.

Snow Day!!!

Youngest son has been home with a miserable cold. As of last night he was much improved and we were scrambling to find a costume he needed for American History in order to do a political skit.

I got up today looking forward to a nice quiet house, walked out into the living room and there he was at the computer!

Before I could register my surprise he, brightly said "Snow day." No way. Way! Unbelievable (but true). We are fairly hardy here in the great Midwest US; there's a bit of pride involved in soldiering on through wickedly bad weather--and--we had a snow day last Friday!

This is very, very odd though I can see mother nature deciding that the drought we'd had last winter just wouldn't do and therefore we are getting far more snow than normal now.

Oh well. Two upsides. I enjoy younger son's company and he gets an additional day to rest up from being sick.

But I Don't Like Spam...

Damn!!! I just realized that my blog has been massively comment spammed so TypePad's filter is currently at least partially failing and TypePad has been failing to send me notification of new comments too so I'm not getting the legitimate comments either!

This is slightly ironic because I volunteered to be a TypePad Beta tester and got notice today that they accepted my offer. In their email they mention that I should report anything that looks unusual. I guess I should have started looking about a week ago three weeks ago!

Show us what makes you happy.

Remembering times with loved ones departed and working to restore and share photographs of them covering the past 75 years.

I don’t know why but whenever I think of my Great Aunt Jessie, I think of her in this blue suit–and it’s not because of this pic, either. I can see her in my mind’s eye sitting at the table in the porch of the main cottage carrying on a conversation with  another family member. This was after her sister Alice (my grandmother) had died and I remember feeling a mixture of sadness and gratitude that someone that resembled my grandma was still here with us.

Even though she was visiting us at Maple Lake, one would never see Jessie in shorts like her sister. She was quite a lady. Both of them were, in fact.

Great Aunt Jessie and my grandmother, Alice, circa late 1960's

Pregnant Pause

It's so odd, this whole campaign thing and the basis upon which we (you) choose the President of the United States.

I refused to even think about it seriously until the past week or so. I have lots of background reading to do on Obama and Clinton and since I cannot vote (legal resident, not citizen) no one needs to worry about who I choose to support.

It appears, right now, nine months before the election--that's right, the election is the entire length of a pregnancy away--that Obama has a good chance of taking it but it wouldn't surprise me based on their prior political behaviour if the Clintons pull something out of their...hats.

The American political process does not even interest me but the behaviour of the potential candidates--now that's worth paying attention to.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"No one can compete with Google on their own anymore. There has to be consolidation among the major players."
JON MILLER, the former chairman and chief executive of AOL. (NYTimes Online) Permalink

Yahoo, founded by two Stanford graduate students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, was once the leader of the dot-com world. But it has been dethroned in recent years by Google, itself founded by two Stanford graduate students.

What's the best beauty advice you've ever received?

            

   

       

               

                                             

            

               

            

            

   

My mom told me to "never leave the house without lipstick." That worked pretty well until I hit my forties.

Then I read a quote from Cindy Crawford confirming what I knew to be true already (I dealt in books at the time--she wrote a beauty book). Cindy said the one essential makeup item to always have with you is coverstick. It covers under-eye circles, blemishes, and evens skin tone. So said Cindy.

Hydrate is a good one. Drink mucho H2O tho' the heart thing kinda messed that up (limit fluids).

Get enough sleep--duh, right? But rested and refreshed looks better.

Skin care wise: exfoliate, clarify and moisturize.

Eve Lilly and Dominic Monaghan Have Broken Up?

Have Eve Lilly and Dom Monaghan Broken Up?     March 2008: more info: Evie visits Dominic  

Evangeline Lilly and Dominic Monaghan of LOST

I posed that query a while back and despite my best sleuthing efforts it appears news that the couple is finito cannot be disproved.

Though there are hints (that this may be so) there are no official statement from either of them. However, the producers of Lost made a rather compelling statement in the affirmative by killing Dom Monaghan's character, Charlie Pace, thus rendering Dominic Monaghan's presence on the island superfluous.

(From late November, 2007, Hello Magazine, Canada)

On the left is about as close to "news" as I can find about Dominic and Evie. They pretty much defined "private" when it came to saying anything about their romance and it seems that nothing's changed since (if?) they have broken up.

More gratuitous pics of the (ex) couple after the jump.

LOST - Season 4, Episode 1 - 4.01 - 'The Beginning of the End' 4 Sneak Peeks - Promos

LOST: The Beginning of the End

First Aired: 1/31/2008 62 minutes EP: 401
Written by Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Directed by Jack Bender

Did you watch last night's season premiere of Lost? What did you think?

I did and what I think is:

In no particular order: Matt Fox (Jack) looks gaunt, especially in the face.

Was that Jack's dad in the shack rocking in Jacob's chair???

Goodness, the ladies have all had their hair done. They look great! And the guys, too!

Frak! Charlie's really dead! Crap. Crap. Crap. (Why, every time I go to spell "crap" does it comes out "carp"--not funny!)

Dominic Monaghan was one of only a few on the show that can really act. I want my actors and my eye candy!

JohnLocke4815162342 — December 18, 2007 — Lost Season 4x01 The Beginning of the End promo 2 official. Lost returns January 31st

Here's Evangeline Lilly (Kate) speaking French:

Eve Lilly is so cute!

JohnLocke4815162342 — December 22, 2007 — Lost Season 4 the beginning of the end promo 3 4x01

JohnLocke4815162342 — December 15, 2007 — Lost Season 4 4x01 The Beginning of the end promo. Officail promo. No Copyright Infringement intended.‏

Two best scenes: Jack pulling the trigger on the revolver he has at John Locke's head--surprising the heck out of both of them. From Jack's POV, Locke knifed an innocent woman in the back, threatened to kill Jack, and tried to stop the rescue. Though out of character for "Jack: Season 1," "Jack: Season 4" is a very different man and I think this scene drove that point home nicely.

Other best scene: Hurley in the flash-forward scene on the grounds of the mental institution, being visited by Dead Charlie. I absolutely did not want the Charlie character killed off so it was a good resolution--a way to bid farewell to Charlie and it was quite appropriate given that other than Claire, Charlie had the closest friendship with Hurley.

Overall, a good episode though taken alone, it really didn't advance the storyline much at all. We knew Charlie was dead and that everyone would be sad when they found out, that Hurley has mental health issues going untreated on the Island, that the "Freighties" as they are being called, are on their way to the Island and they have an agenda. All this stuff was known at the end of last season. We got some new characters (barely) introduced. Jeremy Davies looks intriguing.