What I've liked so far in these Olympics.

Despite my complaints about NBC's lackluster coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, I've been watching like crazy, and there are two reasons for that:

1) I love Vancouver. I've been there a bunch of times and it's still not enough. I love hearing about it, seeing the places I've been to on TV, and daydreaming about getting back there.
2) I love the winter sports and much prefer them over the summer games.

Some of the highlights for me so far:

Apollo Ohno on the short track, particularly the Men's 1500m on Feb 13 when the two South Koreans crashed right before reaching the finish line and Ohno ended up with the Silver (and Selski with the bronze). Exciting!

I could watch all manner of Alpine Skiing for hours - downhill, slalom, Super G - especially if all of the skiers looked my new Olympics boyfriend Aksel Lund Svindal.

The moguls are crazy, and it was so awesome when Bilodeau won Canada's first gold medal on home soil.

Also crazy: Snow Cross and Snowboard Cross, where about 4 skiers at a time race each other down the hill. Terrifying and thrilling.

New for me this year was Curling. I had heard it was weirdly riveting and wanted to check it out. Well, I'm hooked. I have no idea what's going on but I love it.

Finally, my favorite commercial, one that makes me tear up every damn time I see it:



Have you been watching? Do you have a favorite sport, or athlete or story from the Games?

Star Wars Humor Never Gets Old

LOST: Episode 6.5

Lighthouse

Let's get the shallow stuff out of the way, shall we? Jack is looking hot this season. I think he lost some weight, and I love the longer hair on him. Maybe that's where all of his chest hair went!

On to the episode itself...I thought this was just a mediocre outing. I liked the story they were telling, and I was interested in seeing where things were heading, but I just wasn't pulled into it the way I was last week. Not a particularly bad episode, just not one of the better ones.

Hurley and Jack's Trek:

A question about the route Jacob sent them on: Why would he send them to the caves? What was Jack meant to see there? Most likely, it was his father's coffin, but why? To remind him of what he saw way back when they first crashed? You know, when you think about it, Jack lost his father's body in both realities, didn't he? Well, perhaps "misplaced" is a better word for it.

I loved Jack's reason for coming back to Island: To fix himself. Always looking to fix things is our Jack, even if that means crashing a plane full of passengers so he could get back to an Island that he couldn't wait to leave in the first place, just so he could blow up a hydrogen bomb. He really doesn't know what he wants, does he?

I am enjoying him much more this season, but all of my Jack-hate came rushing back when he smashed the mirrors in the lighthouse. I thought he was pretty chill now, but I see I was mistaken. All it took was one phrase - "You've got what it takes" - to make him freak out and not think before acting, just like the old days. If someone asks him to do something he won't do it blindly, but he always takes the bait, doesn't he?

Clousseau

This is how I've got the Claire story in my head so far: Claire actually died when Keamy and his mercenaries blew up the house she was in. Because her body wasn't buried, Smokey infected her with the "darkness" and when she came back to consciousness she was like Sayid (however that is!), and perhaps like the other dead people that have been wandering around the Island these past few years.

That's the only explanation I have for why she would just get up and walk away from Aaron and join her "father" in the woods. Christian said that Aaron was where he needed to be, and she just left it at that. So why is she now convinced that the Temple people took him? Just because she's crazy and can't remember what really happened? Is she dead AND crazy? She's certainly crazy. One need only look at the crazybabydoll she made and put in that cradle. Yipe.

Alt-Jack

So one of the big differences in alternate Jack's life is a teenage son. (Who, btw, played the same Chopin piece in his audition that Daniel Faraday was playing when his mother told him he had to give up playing to become a physicist, or something like that) Little David Shepard looked distractingly to me like McLovin' from Super Bad.

Anyway...Who is David's mother? Is it important? Perhaps, and we may find out in a future episode, but it really had no bearing on the story they were telling last night. Some people on the interwebs are putting forward the theory that Jack's ex in the alt timeline is Juliet. That could be cool - mostly because I just want to see Juliet alive again, but if I had my way I would prefer that she somehow connected with Sawyer in the alternate timeline. I really like those 2 kids together.


Finally, some thoughts on an emerging theme - one that's made appearances here and there but is just this season really becoming prominent, and which really stood out for me last night: That of mirrors and what may lay beyond them. Check it out:

The Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass theme:
The season 3 finale was titled "Through the Looking Glass"; the underwater Dharma station was the Looking Glass station and its symbol was a white rabbit; white rabbits have made appearances in the show ever since the Dharma Initiative was introduced; Jack was reading Alice in Wonderland to Aaron in "Something Nice Back Home", which he says his father used to read to him; and last night David was reading "The Annotated Alice".

And now mirrors seem to be playing an important role:
Alt-Jack looks at himself in the bathroom mirror on the plane in "LA X 1", and seems to see something different/unusual about himself; In "What Kate Does", alt-Kate has a similar experience when she looks at herself in the mirror at the auto garage; and last night again alt-Jack looks at himself sort of funny in his bathroom mirror, notices his appendix scar (his appendix was removed on the Island) but doesn't remember having it removed as a child.

Call me crazy, but I'd even go so far as to say the alt-Jack is a mirror image of Island Jack - I noticed last night that his hair was parted on opposite sides in the two realities.

Then they cap the whole thing off with the Lighthouse mirrors that Jacob uses to watch his candidates as they live out their lives.

I think this is all more of a thematic device than a literal explanation of the plot, but they have me wondering: Is the Island what we would find if we went down the rabbit hole?

TV Talk: After watching the Vancouver Olympics for over a week, I think I can safely say that NBC's coverage stinks.

It is fragmented at best, irrelevant at worst (ice dancing in prime time, really?), and in this day and age, with the Internet and DVR capabilities, there's really no excuse for the shambles they have made of televising this thing. NPR.org's Linda Holmes blogs about it, and what she says makes so much sense.

"At one time, you could broadcast events hours after they happened, and you'd have a reasonable chance that people could live in a bubble while they were waiting. That is not the world we live in anymore. The fantasy that is indulged when Bob Costas speaks breathlessly about an upcoming ski race where he already knows exactly what happened is no longer even a fragile fantasy; it's a blatant fiction that everyone knows about."

It's a great article.

One more thing regarding NBC's coverage: I know that they have to pay for it and the way they do that is through advertising, but come on. I had a hockey game on yesterday and after about 5 minutes of commercials, then 5 minutes of Costas talking about events, and then another 5-7 minutes of commercials, I gave up and turned the channel. Thank God for late-night curling. Yeah, it goes on forever, but at least you feel like you're watching something in its entirety.

LOST: Episode 6.4

The Substitute

"This is the weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to."
~ Frank Lapidus

You know, I'm torn between wanting them to do more with Frank's character, because I love him so much, or them just leaving things as they are and giving him the best lines. Because he really does have the best lines. (well, him and Ben)

This episode was SO good, and I've got tons to say about it, and I am MUCHO busy today. This will have to be brief, but I will try to hit on the major stuff. And I will be referring to Island Locke as MIBLocke (man in black).

The directing and cinematography choices, particularly in the alt-timeline, were very well done. A lot of the camera angles were from John's POV - in the wheel chair, the bathtub, on the front lawn - which I think added to the story. And on the flip side, we got MIBLocke/Smokey's POV as he flew (? how do you describe how a smoke monster gets around?) across the Island, scanning the jungle and the old Dharma Village, which I thought was very cool.

The first thought that came to mind when MIBLocke saw the blonde kid was that it was Aaron. Now I'm not so sure. Was it Jacob? And if it was Jacob, who made these rules he's talking about? I always thought that Aaron was important in some way to the larger story, though, so I'm going to stick with that theory for now. I wonder why he had blood on his hands the first time MIBLocke saw him (pictured), but not the second? Why could Sawyer see him, when Richard couldn't? Poor Richard. If he's that frightened, there's got to be some bad shit about to go down!

It was nice to see a relatively happy John Locke in the alternate timeline, even if that happiness came at the cost of losing his most dominant character trait (or flaw?): His willingness to believe, no matter what. Giving up hope for a miracle is what allows him to accept his lot in life and to truly be happy. I was so glad to see him still with Helen. Locke's relationship with his father is clearly different in this 2004: Not only does he not have an obsession with his father that would drive Helen away, but she actually mentions inviting him to their wedding! If that's the case, how did Locke become paralyzed in this 2004? And why these particular differences? Are they randomly chosen, or are they important? Gah!

Loved seeing Hurley and Rose, but I was downright delighted to see Ben Linus as the European History teacher in Locke's alternate timeline. His bitchy fussing over the coffee pot and his geeky politeness in welcoming John was perfection. His eulogy for John in 2007 was also perfection, so I will let it stand on its own:

”John Locke was a… believer. He was a man of faith. He was a much better man than I will ever be, and I’m very sorry I murdered him.”


The crazy thing is, I really do think he's sorry. The little bugger couldn't help himself, though, and lied to Ilana about killing Jacob. I've got a feeling he's going to regret that, and soon.

I got a very strong "eat from the tree of knowledge" vibe during the conversation between Sawyer and MIBLocke, when MIBLocke told him to come with him and he would give him answers. Did you?

Boy, Sawyer sure did get REALLY dirty, REALLY fast, huh? It looked he hadn't even bothered to get up off the floor to go to the bathroom. Ew. Thank God he cleaned up and changed into the next generation of The Blue Shirt of Hotness. Desmond would approve.

Sawyer's anger and grief have made him vulnerable and when he chose to leave the Island with MIBLocke, even though he KNEW Locke was not who he was really talking to, all I could imagine in my head is the old knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade saying, "He chose...poorly."

Oh, and speaking of Sawyer, does anyone else think he looks slightly different this season, like maybe he got his teeth done or something?

The cave, the cave, the cave. Black and white stones, like the black and white stones in the hands of the Adam and Eve couple found in the caves way back in season 1, and like the black and white game pieces in backgammon, the game that Walt and John Locke used to play together. And, of course, Jacob's main list, the names and numbers of the "candidates" that he scrawled on the walls of the cave:

4 - Locke
8 - Reyes
15 - Ford
16 - Jarrah
23 - Shepard
42 - Kwon

It was a great scene, seeing the numbers associated with the names like that. But where is Kate's name? Was she never a candidate?

I guess I found the time to say a lot, didn't I? Fantastic episode.

Snow Day

IMGP1051, originally uploaded by gina64.

Last week's much-anticipated Snowpocalypse was a complete dud - a Nopocalypse, if you will - and we closed the office for nothing. The forecast of a foot plus of snow fizzled out into only a few inches.

One week later, another storm has come through. This forecast? Possibly 2 inches. When all was said and done - almost 24 hours later - I'd say we got a good 8 inches of the stuff. It made driving a nerve-wracking experience, but boy was it pretty.

What if LOST was made in the 60s?

Or perhaps the 80s? (this one won the Comic Con 2009 contest):

A Valentine.

"This is a love story. And, oddly enough, it starts with an interstellar space mission and a golden record."

I'm not big on Valentine's Day, and I'll be honest, it's mostly because I never have anyone to celebrate it with, and not that I have anything against the holiday itself. However, I do appreciate a romantic story, and the one I heard on NPR this morning made me smile and brought tears to my eyes.

The written story is good, but you MUST listen to the actual audio from the show, and hear Ann Druyan tell the story herself. Just beautiful.

LOST: Episode 6.3

What Kate Does

(a play on the previous episode title "What Kate Did")

So, a Kate episode. Never among my favorites, they are almost always interchangeable and usually boring. This one was made better by placing the same old story within the deepening mystery, and I think once we know more this episode will stand up better; but for right now, I think it was just OK.

At first I found it difficult to believe that Claire would not only accept a ride from the woman who highjacked her taxi and put a gun in her face, but also give that same woman her credit card; but then it occurred to me that those things become more likely if we assume that everyone in the new 2004 timeline is being affected by some sort of "memory" of the Island timeline, and because of that Claire and Kate trust each other even though they shouldn't.

Speaking of the 2004 timeline, Claire's ultrasound gives us the first confirmation that it takes place in 2004. However, it's a month later, on October 22. What does that mean?!

I was very happy to see the return of the "infection", especially in reference, somewhat obliquely, to Rousseau. Someone on another site pointed out that Claire disappeared the day after Rousseau died. Perhaps Claire died and was "occupied" by Rousseau? She did make those traps and apparently she is now a crack shot. Sounds like Rousseau to me. There's also a nice parallel between their two stories: Both pregnant women who crash on the Island, give birth and are separated from their child in some way. Interesting.

I'm not sure what the heck is up with Sayid, but he is definitely not the same. Did anyone else notice the slight difference in his accent? It's much more like Naveen Andrews' British accent now. Wait a minute. Who else died just before Sayid, besides Jacob? Juliet! Oh man, that's just too weird, even for this show!

I wonder what Sayid would have had to do to pass Dogen's "test"? He screams in horror and pain when being tortured, so he is infected? How would an uninfected person react?

Jack is so much less annoying this season. Perhaps the annoying Jack got split off into the 2004 timeline! Yeah, that's it! He's not as obstinate, or thick-headed or asshole-ish - he's more laid back, focused, asking the right questions, and he's looking really good, too. I really liked the scenes between him and Dogen.

Another good thing from this episode: Jin has begun his search for Sun. I cannot wait for the reunion!

The best part of the episode, though, was Sawyer and his heartbreaking grief for the loss of Juliet, who he truly loved. The scene on the dock should be submitted at Emmy time. He's reverting back to his solitary, self-loathing ways. While he has good reason for it, I hope it doesn't last.

I feel more confident after this episode that they are not going to try to put Sawyer and Kate together, at least not right away. I think Kate was crying on the dock for few reasons: 1) Sawyer's heart belonged to another; 2) He wouldn't be helping her to find Claire and 3) I think mostly she was feeling bad about coming back to the Island, and how everything got shot to hell when they did.

So what did you think about the episode?

I'll miss you, Captain Phil.

My favorite Deadliest Catch captain has died, after suffering a massive stroke last Friday.

Rest in peace Captain Phil. The show won't be the same without you.

I wish I was there.

From NASA:

Guests look on from the terrace of Operations Support Building II as space shuttle Endeavour launches on the shuttle program's last planned night launch.

(via gawker)

Men don't like to wear pants and they hate girls, or, "What I learned from this year's Super Bowl ads".

Was anyone else as underwhelmed as I was with this year's crop of Super Bowl commercials? I was doubly disappointed because for the first time in years I actually watched the game (and it was a good one - go Saints!) and was looking forward to seeing some really good ads. Like I said, disappointed!

However, while they may have been overall unimpressive, there were a few I liked.

I got your puppies right here!

(pictured: Jake, a Puppy Bowl player)

Hipster Puppies

The Puppy Bowl is on Sunday!

The Shiba Inu Puppy Cam, the Squeakquel:

Online TV Shows by Ustream

Fringe Winter Finale: When Universes Collide

Last night's "winter finale" episode, Jacksonville, was one of the best episodes so far, I think. From the freaky and gruesome opener to the heart-breaking end, I was totally riveted. The look on Olivia's face when she saw the glimmer around Peter was so sad. I knew what was coming, but that didn't lessen the impact of the scene, especially the look she gave Walter when he said, "Please don't tell him."

Now, while it was a good episode, I did have one problem with it: The kiss scene. I am not ashamed to say that I absolutely 'ship Peter and Olivia, and I've been hoping that the writers would eventually take them in that direction. However, the aborted kiss seemed to come out of nowhere. I have been a fan of some ridiculously long and angsty build-ups and UST-filled relationships on TV, and this one was nowhere near the kissing point, imo. The scene really wasn't earned. Peter and Olivia seemed more like brother and sister than possible romantic partners up to this point. They should have done a better job of building up to it.

Anyway, I can overlook that, especially since it looks like they probably won't be consummating that kiss any time soon.

Today's Tweets

Via @EW - Captain Phil of the Cornelia Marie is slowly recovering from a stroke he suffered on Friday. Get better soon, Phil!

Via @bbcentertain - Leif Garret busted for heroin. Sad.

Via @marklisanti - "How's that flash-sideways deal working out for our castaways"? Hilarious.

LOST: Episodes 6.1 and 6.2

LA X 1 and LA X 2

"Nothing is irreversible."

Wow, what a return! I was on the edge of my seat, sometimes with my jaw hanging down, for almost the entire 2 hours (except for the Kate stuff - everyone but her seemed different in the reset timeline/reality *yawn*).

The story picked up immediately where it left off last season, showing us what seem to be 2 timelines that resulted from the detonation of the bomb:

1. Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Miles and Sawyer are still on the island, but now appear to be in the same 2007 timeline as the Locke/Ben/Sun/Jacob drama; and

2. A 2004 timeline where Oceanic 815 does not crash and makes it successfully to LAX, albeit with some notable differences.

There are a number of theories floating around the internet as to what the 2004 timeline is - an alternate timeline? and alternate reality? a parallel universe?- and while I've never been big on theorizing in my recaps, there is one that I favor: In the comments of Alan Sepinwall's fantastic review, someone recalled Daniel Faraday's description of the "movement" of time: It's like a stream. If you throw a rock in the stream that's big enough, it will alter the direction, or course, of the water. If the rock is not large enough, the water will divide to go around it, creating two streams that will eventually meet up on the other side of the rock. This season, we have a new storytelling structure. Instead of flashbacks, flash forwards or time-jumping, it appears the story will move laterally between the two timelines, and I bet they will somehow converge by the end of the season.

But that's all speculation, and while it can be fun, it can also hurt my brain, so that's enough of that.

Watching the 2004 parts of the story, I felt like I was playing one of those picture games where I had to pick out all of the things that were wrong, or out of place. Not that I'm complaining, but what was Desmond doing on the plane, and only for a short while at that? Where did he go? Was he time flashing again? Why wasn't Shannon on the plane in this timeline? What was the blood on Jack's neck? He knew there was something "off" when he looked at himself in the mirror, don't you think? Having seen the pilot episode recently, it was very noticeable to me that that they didn't make any attempt to mimic everyone's hair from the pilot. Jack and Sawyer both had much shorter hair in the pilot, Charlie's was much shorter in the LA X version of the flight, and I think even Rose's hair was different. Hurley was happy and lucky, and Sawyer didn't seem troubled by having just murdered the wrong man. Something's off. It's almost like bits and pieces of the original, 2007 island timeline are seeping into the 2004 timeline, e.g. the abrasion on Jack's neck, or when Charlie tells Jack that he was supposed to die.

Everyone makes it to Los Angeles, although not without confronting some obstacles after getting off the plane:

Jack: His father's body has been misplaced
Locke: His suitcase with knives is missing
Charlie: In police custody after getting caught with heroin on the plane
Jin and Sun: Jin is taken by security and Sun does nothing to help him
Kate: Escapes and jumps into a cab with Claire, who I can only assume is pregnant

I'm interested in seeing what's going to happen, including how much this timeline might be affected by the events of the original island timeline.

On the Island, we get to see poor Juliet die. Again. Like it wasn't sad enough the first time. Before she dies, however, she does something odd: She asks Sawyer out for coffee. Could that be a bit of the new 2004 timeline seeping into this one? Through Miles we learn that the important thing she wanted to tell Sawyer was that "it worked". Not very well, from what I can tell. Sawyer is so heart-broken over Juliet's death that I will find it very hard to accept if they try to put him and Kate together at this point.

Seeing the Temple felt a little underwhelming to me. Not sure what I expected, maybe something that felt a little more "magical" or mystical. Do you think the water in the healing pool was not clear because Jacob was dead? Oh, and who else was wicked psyched when Sayid rose from the dead?! My first thought, however, was that Jacob was taking Sayid's form now, just as Esau, or the man in black, did with John Locke.

And speaking of John Locke, whoa! After rewatching The Incident, I was convinced that the Smoke Monster, Esau and the risen John Locke were one and the same, and I was very pleased last night to see that I was on the right track. While I'm very happy that we're going to have lots of Terry O'Quinn acting his heart out this season, I would still like to see some kind of redemption/vindication for the real John Locke before the show ends. And for Ben, too. He was ill-used by the Island powers-that-be and I kind of feel sorry for him now.

I'm going to have to wrap this up now. I know there's a lot more to talk about, but I'm not feeling all that well with this head cold, so I'm turning it over to you guys to continue the discussion. What did you think??

Oh, wait a minute, I almost forgot. Look who's back!

I did it.

I actually did it. I finished The Great LOST Rewatch today, in my car, on my laptop, waiting for my mother to finish up her doctor appointment.

And now it's time for the beginning of the end. Enjoy the show tonight!

Cool LOST Easter Egg!

Need to fly to Los Angeles from Sydney Australia on September22, 2010? Go to Kayak.com and search for one way flights and you'll find that Oceanic Airlines has the perfect one. Check out the airfare and taxes.

Also: Someone made a cool LOST subway map!

"Futuristic prom rave murder sparkle cable installation"

You absolutely MUST go directly to the Gofugyourself site and read their descriptions of Lady Gaga's Grammys, uh, wardrobe. Fabulous!

OK, so, in case you haven't heard, I got all 5 seasons as a Christmas present and set off on rewatching the entire series before the season 6 premiere. Five weeks (and very little sleep or social interaction) later, and I find myself with only 5 episodes left to watch on the day before the premiere. I think I might actually do it.

I read Mo Ryan's wonderful 3-part interview with Lindelof and Cuse, and what they said about how the show is really mostly about character, and how the mysteries are secondary, well, it really is so true. I had seen every episode at least twice *before* I began this rewatch, yet I still cried when characters died, when they were born, when they left, when they were re-united. And because of that, I have great faith that no matter how the mysteries are or aren't resolved, I am going to be enthralled by this final season. I can't wait!

I will be re-capping all of the episodes this season, so please check back. They may not all be complete, straight up recaps, but I promise I will post something for every episode. Unfortunately, the task of making rewatch notes fell to the wayside as the pressure mounted to finish and I just didn't have the time to post much. I did continue to post #TheGreatLOSTRewatch updates at Facebook and Twitter,however, and I'll share them here once I finish.