What it means to be "Made in America"

Besides a near heart attack at the end, I got two things from last night's series finale of The Sopranos:

1. The decline of the Family business from the heyday of the good old days, a theme we've seen the show return to, time and time again. Little Italy has been reduced to little more than a block of restaurants - Butchie didn't have to walk far while talking on the phone with Phil before he was in Chinatown. Tony's crew has been whittled down to just him, Paulie and a few young thugs (and a hysterical cat that just kept staring at a photo of Christopher on the wall. Maybe she was Adrianna reincarnated). Uncle Junior is wasting away in a state mental hospital with no memory at all of his prior life as head of the NJ family. And the next generation of Leotardos literally runs over and crushes the prior one. (that was so gross, and I only heard it)

2. I also think Chase really drove home one of his main themes last night: that no one ever really changes, especially these people. You go through life and then you die and nothing changes and life goes on. How many times was each member of Tony's family confronted with an opportunity for growth and change, only to revert to the status quo? The only changes in the show from the very first episode in 1999 to the very last one were the losses of the characters who died. Think about it. Otherwise? Tony went through 7 years of therapy and came out of it with nothing but an excuse for his sociopathic behavior; Carmela is a little more world-weary, but she is still as materialistic as ever, even though she more openly acknowledges Tony’s ‘business’; Meadow is still smart, still Daddy’s little girl, and will end up probably being a mob lawyer, if there’s a mob left to lawyer, and won’t completely escape the life the way Tony had wanted her to; and AJ’s depression, suicidal tendencies and anger at the state of the world all disappeared in the blink of an eye with a cushy, meaningless job and a cool BMW that his parents got for him. Christopher was the only character who made any real changes in his life, and look where that got him.

I understand the anger that people are expressing about the way the episode ended. I was shocked at first, too, but then, I thought it was brilliant. I thought I was going to have a heart attack at the end and that was before the screen went blank. That final scene in the diner was like a master class in creating suspense. The music, the editing, everything. There was no way for David Chase to come up with an ending that would be satisfying to everyone. So, life goes on for Tony, et al, and from that scene you can see what it’s going to be like for him for the rest of his life – if he doesn’t end up in jail - always looking over his shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or, maybe the guy that went to the bathroom came back and shot Tony in the head, who knows? In the end, Chase just pulled the plug on the TV and left it to us to figure out.

Personally, the choice of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”, and the line “The movie never ends it goes on and on and on and on...” as the song on the jukebox was perfect. For a perfect ending.

In my opinion.

Born Under a Bad Sign With a Blue Moon in Your Eyes

It all ends tonight. Will Tony survive NY's hostile takeover? More importantly, does Tony deserve to survive it?

Remember Your Cup

Memorial Day in the woods.

Memorial Day in the woods., originally uploaded by gina64.

Holly picked up a little flag at the Big Y grocery store on stuck to one of the porch columns on the cabin.

Shorry, Juniah.

Mishter Connery is enjoying retirement too much:

"I get asked the question so often, I thought it best to make an announcement. I thought long and hard about it and if anything could have pulled me out of retirement it would have been an Indiana Jones film. I love working with Steven and George, and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison as my son. But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun. I, do however, have one bit of advice for Junior: Demand that the critters be digital, the cliffs be low, and for goodness sake keep that whip by your side at all times in case you need to escape from the stunt coordinator! This is a remarkable cast, and I can only say, 'Break a leg, everyone.' I'll see you on May 22, 2008, at the theater!"

Classhy.

This makes me unreasonably happy.

Paris Hilton may return to jail: "Hilton, who is serving her jail sentence from her Hollywood Hills home, was headed for a courtroom showdown that could put her back behind bars, as prosecutors sought to hold sheriff's officials in contempt for releasing her early from jail."

I just don't get it.

What planet is he on?:

"In an exclusive interview Thursday with CNN, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said some areas have seen 'breathtaking' improvements, thanks to a push launched in January to pacify Baghdad and surrounding provinces."

Apparently, he didn't read the blurb at the top of the page:

I think 'Sweet' might be stretching it a little.

Murder suspect's likely MySpace page: "He calls himself 'Jack' and considers himself a 'Sweet Troubled Soul' on his MySpace page. His interests include 'eating small children and harming small animals.'"

Spoiled. BRAT.

Paris Hilton out of jail: "He (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman) said privacy rules prohibited him from giving details about the medical issues, but celebrity Web site TMZ.com earlier quoted sources saying Hilton was refusing to eat much of the jail food served her."

So now it's house arrest. It'll be tantrums next.

If I had kids, this would be me.

‘omg my mom joined facebook!!’: "I have reached a curious point in life. Although I feel like the same precocious know-it-all cynic I always was, I suddenly am surrounded by younger precocious know-it-all cynics whose main purpose appears to be to remind me that I’ve lost my edge."

Only 5 and a half weeks 'til I'm there.

This way to the beach., originally uploaded by gina64.

And this year I'm going for 2 weeks.

LOST: Season 3 Fi-F*ckin-ale

Through the Looking Glass

I am so back in total love with LOST. Even when some aspects of the storytelling this season had me frustrated, and my faith in the integrity of the story had its shaky moments, I knew I would never abandon the show. But I had no idea that LOST, in the second half of its third season, would not only reward me for my faith in it but would just blow my socks off and re-establish itself as one of the absolute best shows on TV.

Let me ask this straight out: what the bloody hell do you guys think is going on? I have no idea, but I was thinking...

The flash-forward is another way to play with the timeline, isn't it? But did we see what could just be a possible future? Or do the writers have some serious cajones and is that the point at which the story will resume in the fall? According to the newspaper, the flash forward took place in April/May of 2007, or present time. Imagine if the show came back and was now told from the perspective of them trying to get back to the island!

I don't think that will happen, though. And that's because you would lose the majority of the cast. I think what happened in the flashforward timeline is that, like Ben said, the people on the ship are bad guys and very few people made it off of the island alive. And it's guilt over that loss of life that makes Jack turn into a drunk and drug addict. If that's the case, and the show picked up the storyline next season where the flasforward left off, the cast would have been decimated and we'd be left with just Jack and Kate and maybe one or two others. Nah, not happening.

So, will Jack, or possibly Desmond, get a glimpse of what we saw in the flashforward and realize that leaving the island is not what they should do? And who are the people on Naomi's ship, anyway? If Penny is to be believed, they are not there working for her. Perhaps her father, Widmore, has sent his own people to intercept Desmond before Penny can get to him?

I was absolutely convinced that Desmond was going to die. Convinced and very unhappy about it. What a relief it was when he didn't! Charlie's death, on the other hand, was very satisfying. Not because I particularly wanted him to die, but because we actually got a payoff for the season-long story thread of Desmond's premonitions of Charlie's death, and the writers didn't gyp us with a cop-out resolution. It also provided a satisfying emotional payoff, with Charlie finding meaning in his life by dying a brave and purposeful death and Desmond catching a fleeting glimpse of his beloved Penny.

I was amazed at the body count! Let's see...Tom, Pryce and various other Others in the beach raid, Bonnie, What's -Her-Face and Mikhail down in the Looking Glass, Cholly, Naomi...did I miss anyone?

Hurley crashing through the beach camp in the VW bus and saving he day was da bomb.

We got the much anticipated reunion between Rousseau and Alex. I love that the first thing Rousseau says to her daughter is "Will you help me tie him (Benry) up?" Hee!

So, Juliet kisses Jack, who loves Kate, who is possibly pregnant by Sawyer, who loves Kate, who loves Jack. Tune in next season for more of The Young and The LOST!

And oh my Gosh, Locke and Walt! I almost forgot! What a great holy crap moment that was.

Things to Think About Over the Long Hiatus

Why did Jack refer to his father as if he were still alive in the flashforward? Was he so wasted that he didn't know what he was talking about? Or were we looking at a different timeline? Or is there another explanation?

What was Walt? Was it really him? Was he a projection of the Island? Did the smoke monster manifest itself as Walt? Did Jacob have anything to do with it?

Penny's transmission was an "incoming transmission" - is it safe to assume that Penny just happened to be sending out a transmission just as Charlie disabled the signal jammer?

If that's "Not Penny's Boat", then whose is it? If they are "bad" people, how does Benry know they're bad?

What temple did Richard and the remaining Others head off to? Who or what is worshipped there? Does he/she have only 4 toes?

Then there's the obituary.



Who do you think died? Is it John? Is it Ben? Or is someone we have yet to meet? You can get a closer look at the clipping here.

Who was Kate referring to when she told Jack she had to leave because "he'll be wondering where I am"?

Will we see more flashforwards next season, or was this a one-time situation for this finale?

I guess my final question would be: What the Hell is going to happen next?! It's going to be a looooong 9 months, so let's take the time to appreciate the hotness of Sawyer and especially Desmond.





I'll miss you!

This post brought to you by Diazepam.

The Cold River

The Cold River, originally uploaded by gina64.

We just plunked our chairs in the water and sat with our feet dangling in the cool river.

Frog

Frog, originally uploaded by gina64.

The Friday before Memorial Day was exceptionally hot, so after lunch we all grabbed our chairs, snacks, towels and drinks and spent the afternoon hanging out on the Cold River (which actually wasn't nearly as cold as I had expected it to be).

It was an awesome way to spend the day - we barely noticed the heat - and adding to our enjoyment were these cool frogs who surrounded us and were surprisingly unafraid. And they were very cooperative models.

Tracks

Tracks, originally uploaded by gina64.

Waiting on a train

Waiting on a train, originally uploaded by gina64.

There's a new gnome in town, and he needs a name. We already have Bertie the Traveling Gnome. What do you think this little guy should be called?

Kayaker

Kayaker, originally uploaded by gina64.

How about a few pictures from my Memorial day trip? Posting those doesn't require too much brain power!

This was taken from a railway bridge over the Deerfield River in Massachusetts, near the Hoosac Tunnel.

I don't like Mondays.

I don't like Mondays., originally uploaded by gina64.

But Valium helps.

Here I am, apologizing again for being absent. I had every intention of catching up on things this weekend, after a wicked crazy week at work (with one person on vacation and another out sick with a newly discovered lesion on her brain), but then I came down with a MOTHER of a headache on Friday that unfortunately is still with me. I couldn't do much more than lie on the couch all weekend.

I went to the doctor this morning and the diagnosis is a muscle spasm in my neck that's causing a tension headache. So it's a Valium and 4 Advil, 3 times a day, until I feel better, which will hopefully be within a couple of days. Right now, I can barely lean over or turn my head side to side.

Actually, truth be told, right now I can barely type and I'm staring to feel REALLY good. I guess the Valium is kicking in. Time to go to bed.

Please hang in there and I'll be back soon with a LOST post, photos from my camping trip and various other random things. I love you guys!

OK, I'm getting sloppy now...

ETA: All of this was likely the result of a massage I had on Thursday night. Word to the wise: don't let anyone touch your neck!

500 Years of Female Portraiture

And if I'm not mistaken, they've been painting Sean Young all along.

Jose Chung's From Hartford

Or at least he was from Hartford. Unfortunately, he's also dead.

RIP, Charles Nelson Reilly. In your honor, I post my favorite picture of you:



You made all of those wasted after-school hours that I spent watching Match Game and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir a little bit more worthwhile.

LOST: Episode 3-22

Mind. BLOWING.

I'm leaving soon for the holiday weekend, but I wanted to at least post something and let anyone who would want to discuss the finale in the comments. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone. We'll talk more when I get back.

Oh, and rest in peace, Cholly. *sniff*

Idol Top 2: Performances

I listened from the kitchen, and Jordin is nowhere near as good as the judges seem to think she is, but she'll win.

I highly doubt I'll watch tonight - just too much to do before leaving for vacation tomorrow and I HAVE TO watch the LOST finale. If I do watch, it will be in a very casual way, in between doing other things, so there won't be a final Idol recap this time. Sorry.

I hope your favorite wins!

Britain demands Russia hand over polonium suspect - Yahoo! News

Doesn't "polonium" sound totally made up? Like maybe the Joker used it to try to blow up Gotham City in the old Batman TV show, or maybe it was used to power the Enterprise or something.

A very rare occurrence.

A very rare occurrence., originally uploaded by gina64.

Heroes: "How to Stop an Exploding Man"

Ok, so what did you think? A few quick thoughts:

1. Nathan ROCKS. And they're totally not dead. He flew up really high, let go of Peter, flew away, Peter "exploded" and when he was falling and healing, Nathan came back and grabbed him. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

2. His name is Noah, but he'll always be Bennett to me.

3. Micah is just adorable.

4. I'm so glad Ando didn't die!

5. Was that Mr. Nakamura under the warrior's helmet at the end? I swear those were Sulu's eyes. So what do you think the eclipse means? There must be a connection with the heroes' powers.

6. Claire also ROCKS. Man, she's a good crier!

7. Sylar lives. In the sewer, where he belongs.

Discuss!

We can rebuild her.

The people behind the new Battlestar Galactica have given the same treatment to The Bionic Woman. From what I've seen, it looks pretty good, a lot like Alias. See for yourself.

Finale Week

All of our favorite shows are having their season finales this week! Are you ready?

Monday, May 21

Heroes, 9 P.M. on NBC
24, 2-hour finale at 8 P.M. on FOX

Tuesday, May 22

Veronica Mars, 2-hour series finale at 8 P.M. on CW

Wednesday, May 23

American Idol, 2-hour finale at 8 P.M. on FOX
LOST, 2-hour finale at 9 P.M. on ABC

I'm going to try my best to watch them all on the nights they air, but I'm going away on Thursday for 5 days and I have to get myself packed and ready to go in the evenings so it's going to be tight!

So tight, in fact that I'm afraid you'll all have to wait for recap posts until after the holiday weekend. If I have time, I may do a quick post for each show after it airs so we can at least have a comment thread discussion.

Have fun watching!

24 Minutes

A milestone morning with Bart and company - USATODAY.com: "At the table, Mary Lynn Rajskub, 24's Chloe, joins eight Simpsons voice actors, who will perform more than two dozen voices in the episode, which features Bart (Cartwright) and Lisa (Yeardley Smith) trying to prevent a stink-bomb strike at the school bake sale."

This turtle is seriously pissed. (and cute)

Bye-Bye, Veronica.

A moment of silence, please, for the best noir television show about a teenage girl detective, ever.

LOST: Episode 3-21

Greatest Hits

Alright, how many of you cried? I did, during the entire Desmond/Cholly boat scene. Good Lord, that list! And the hug with Hurley! And the baby touching Charlie's face! I could cry again. I still think Charlie will die, in fact a part of me hopes he does. Otherwise, all that crying would have been for nothing.

Not a lot of mytharc stuff last night, but a lot of good drama and character development. A few thoughts:

I'm totally happy that Jack and Juliet are finally knocking off the squirrelly routine and people are working together, but come on, did Jack really have to be so dramatic and blow up the tree? What if the Others heard that? Can you really afford to waste the dynamite like that? And Jack, don't be so rude to Sayid! Yes, Jack still bugs. I'm happy to see that he hates the Others as much as everyone else, but he still bugs.

Rousseau is so cool, and so is her daughter, Alex. Great casting. I loved the symbolism of Alex killing and cutting up one of her "father's" beloved white rabbits. And when she was running from the camp through the jungle, I was positive that she was running to find Locke. But I was wrong. Hang in there Locke!

The Looking Glass Station is not on the blast door map, so I guess that begs the question: is it a DHARMA facility? Or not? Or is that even the question to be asking? The looking glass in Alice in Wonderland allowed Alice to travel between worlds, or "realities". Perhaps this is the point where people arrive at the island reality from the "other reality", or other timeline, whatever you want to call it. When you arrive at the Looking Glass, the blue sub waits to take you to the dock. When you want to leave the island, the submarine takes you to the Looking Glass, and that's as far as it goes. How it works from there, I don't know, but it makes sense!

Hang on, I was just looking at screencaps and the Looking Glass is definitely a DHARMA station:



And that's definitely a rabbit - a White Rabbit, perhaps?? Like the one in Alice in Wonderland?? Like the white rabbits Benry loves?? AWESOME. But who are those chicks with guns?

Rose and Bernard! Good to see you guys again! I hope that Bernard has not volunteered for his own death.

If you weren't sure whether or not Benry was crazy before, just take a look at those eyes.



This was my first LOST episode in high def and wow!! It really is a beautiful show to look at. And speaking of beautiful, Desmond was particularly dreamy last night.



Holy smokes.

Next week, it's the 2-hour season finale, starting at 9:00!

Idol Top 3: Stupid Results

I have all these notes from last night and all this talk about how I was feeling ambivalent, and disconnected from the performers, and blah blah blah, but you know what? I wrote all of that before the results were announced. I'm not even going to bother.

As I feared, the best singer American Idol has probably ever seen was sent packing last night. I harbor no ill will against the two that remain - they weren't the ones voting and it's not like they're Sanjaya or anything - but I just don't care at this point. This season is done for me. I'm not even all that angry. I'm just finished.

If someone were to ask me today if will be watching next week, I'd say no, but I will probably break down and at least watch the finale. Last year's was awesome and that awesomeness had nothing to do with the Final 2. Plus, I'll want to hear Melinder sing one more time.

Just a few items I did want to remark upon:

1. Melinda, I loved your "Death Cheater" tank. Too bad it didn't work for you.

2. Elliot, you look and sound awesome. I love the new choppers!

3. Nigel, dude, we saw you doing the Janet Jackson snake move while Maroon 5 was singing. You should never do that again!

Congratulations to the Jordin and Blake fans. See ya next year!

Top Ten Surprises in the Heroes Finale

Yatta!!

Heroes: "Landslide" (Spoilers!!)

I am loving seeing them all gathered together. This show is so consistently good that I am already mentally preparing myself for the inevitable sophomore slump.

You know, I was going to use a screencap of Linderman's face as DL squeezed his brain, but after careful reflection (with one hand over my eyes) I came to the conclusion that it was far too disturbing. Awesome, but disturbing nonetheless.

This episode had quite the body count! Dead or apparently dead: Ted, Johnson, Linderman and DL. And was Parkman shot, too? The only two that I really believe are dead at this point are Ted and Johnson (Eric Roberts). Linderman has that healing power, and I think DL may have still been alive, albeit barely, when we last saw him. Even so, I was surprised at all the killing! Does this mean that no one will die in the finale? Or does it mean that they've only just begun the slaughter?

I was right about Micah and the voting machines. I wonder what Candace looks like for real? Maybe she'll get killed in the finale by Sylar (which is what happens, according to the future we saw) and right before she dies we'll get to see what a hideous form she really has right before she keels over?

Do you think that Nathan sending DL and Jessica to Linderman was what FutureSylar referred to as betraying his own kind? Or is there something else?

How cool was Hiro's dad? I'm so glad he's a good guy. I wonder if there was a split in the previous generation of Heroes, with Linderman and Mrs. Petrelli going to the dark side, and Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Petrelli on the good side? I really hope that Ando doesn't get killed. Really.

How did Peter get those annoying bangs back so quickly?! He's not so hot to me anymore.

Next week: the season finale! "Boom."

Idol Top 3: Performances

Each contestant sings 3 songs: A judge's pick, a producer's pick and a singer's pick.

Judges' Picks

Jordin - Simon chooses "Wishing on a Star" for Jordin. She starts off sort of shaky but it picks up in the chorus and I can see why Simon picked it. She looks very pretty.

Blake - "Roxanne"... Paula chose this song and I think it's a good choice for him. It's not a Singer's song, but I think she picked up on his 80's vibe. He's changed his hair color again. And that's probably the best outfit choice of the season for him. No old man pants and his butt doesn't look huge.

Wow, Simon has some serious product in his hair!

Melinda - "I Believe in You and Me" by Whitney Houston! WTF? This song was chosen for Melinda by Randy, who has told anyone who has ever sang a Whitney song to NOT even attempt a Whitney song. And he picks a crappy one at that! Sigh. But she makes some magic with it, of course. Randy says he picked it to challenge her. Whatever. I don't blame her for calling Randy Johnson.

Producers' Choice

Jordin - "She Works Hard for the Money"... Wow, what a shitty song choice. She's got her stripper shoes on, appropriately enough. Jeez, she can't walk in those at ALL. They must make her like 6'4"! It was just okay, I think. She's not as good on the fast-paced songs. So far, she's not having the best night.

Blake - "This Love" by Maroon 5. It's a perfect choice for his voice and modern, which is the one thing he's got going for him over the other two. That and the whole boy thing. Overall it was another good performance.

Paula's hair looks really pretty tonight.

Melinda - "Nutbush City Limits"... Oo, a Tina Turner song! And she rocks! How many singers can do a Whitney song and then a Tina Turner song and knock both of them out of the park? I would have preferred hearing "You Better Be Good to Me" or "Simply the Best", because those are so recognizable that I think she would have brought the house down, but this was still awesome.

Singers' Choice

Jordin - "I Who Have Nothing" She repeats her best performance from the season. Does that hurt or help? I don't know. I'm still not jazzed about her high notes, but there's no question, that was very good.

Blake - "When I Get You Alone", by Robin Thicke. You know what, it's not bad. I think this could be a single. He can't outsing the other two, he's gotta do something to stand out and I think he really made himself a serious contender tonight.

Randy still has no hair.

Melinda - "I'm a Woman"... Another repeat performance, and this time she brings out her backup singers. Classy move. She really has an amazing range of styles. As Simon would say, I want "my girl Melinder" to win.

Who's going home tonight? I think it's a toss-up between Blake and Jordin, but there's a small part of me that is worried about Melinda, the part that voted last night for 20 minutes with only one busy signal. Yipe!

My new ride.

05-12-2007 003, originally uploaded by gina64.

After nine years of faithful service (for the most part), I finally traded my 1998 Ford Ranger pickup for this. A 2007 Honda CR-V. I LOVE it!!

(yes, that's my house in the background)

Heroes: "The Hard Part"

Well, they've been talking about saving the world for the entire season and I guess now comes the hard part: Actually doing it.

A few thoughts before tonight's episode:

Given the opportunity last week, Hiro couldn't kill Sylar (and that reluctance does him credit, I think). I wonder if a threat against Ando's life will be the catalyst for Hiro going through with the murder?

I was happy that we got to see into Sylar's origins a little bit with his visit to his super-smothering mother. The snow globe scene was so beautiful. Until he lost control and beaned her with one, of course. She's been harping on and on about how special he could be for years, though, and now that he finally shows her, she freaks out. Sylar's still pretty much an insane homicidal maniac, but I do feel some sympathy for him now.

So the Walker Tracking System is little Molly Walker. Cool. She's a real cutie. Whoever casts the kids for this show does a great job of picking ones that are not over the top precocious. I have a question, though: I understand how Mohinder's blood could help cure his sister, but how does that apply to little Molly? I would think you would have to be related for it to work.

I guess now we know why Mrs. Petrelli is in such a hurry to get the heck out of New York - she knows about the bomb! I have to believe that Nathan is going to try to stop it. I still stand by my assertion that he's not all bad.

I couldn't believe it when Peter starting heating up right away when he was standing next to Ted! Certainly it's not already happening! Maybe someone wises up and tells Ted to go sit in the car?

Almost everyone is in NY now. Now we just need Nikki and DL to get there (Micah is already there, right, in the tower above the square where Parkman, Bennett, Ted, Peter and Claire all meet up?) and the fun will really start.

Have fun watching tonight!

No need to put down the pipe yet!

'Law & Order' shows get reprieve: "NBC Universal and producer Dick Wolf struck a last-minute deal Sunday to keep 'Law & Order' and its two spinoffs on the air, although 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' episodes will first be seen on the USA cable network."

We're having beautiful weather.

05-12-2007 0121, originally uploaded by gina64.

Idol Top 4: Results

Does anyone else think it's really weird to see Bill Maher in the American Idol audience? Even he looks like he's not quite sure how he ended up there.

Another hour-long results show that was jam-packed with filler, so just the highlights:

1. Pink sings "Who Knew?" in a taped segment from Idol Gives Back, that they pretend is live. I would rather have heard "U & Ur Hand", but TPTB thought it was too risque, or so I hear.

2. Wow, this has to be the absolute worst group song EVER. It's completely underwhelming. Note to American Idol people: BeeGees and AI are a bad combo.

3. Oh dear, Barry looks like someone's Grandpa up there. I suppose he is someone's Grandpa, huh? Oh, and NICE sheer shirt, Barry. Ew! Damn, I just looked him up on imdb and he's only 61 - I thought he was at least in his 70s! He looked happy to have made it to the end of the song still standing.

4. OK, finally, it's down to Lakisha and Blake, as everyone predicted. Lakisha is going home. Unlike Chris Richardson, you can see from her goodbye montage that she has really come a long way.

I'm not sure what the theme is next week, and I can't find the information anywhere online. I think it might be the week where each of the Top 3 have to sing songs chosen by Simon, Paula and Randy. Maybe?

Speaking of Namaste.

Namaste., originally uploaded by gina64.

Did I ever blog this last year?

Painted over the doorway of an artist's shop in Shelburne Falls, MA. Local Hanso Foundation headquarters, perhaps?

LOST: Episode 3-20 (SPOILERS!!)

OK, I have no idea where to begin! Do I drop my jaw at the revelations in Benry's backstory? Do I applaud the way the folks at the beach have finally started to communicate with each other? Or do I gasp in shock and horror at the ending? How about all of the above?!



The Man Behind the Curtain

I know that some of you are chomping at the bit, wanting to talk about the episode, so I'll just make a few observations and open up the floor for discussion.

Benry - So Benry was NOT born on the island! Was I the only one who thought when Horace (Tooms!) drove up in the red car, that he was Jacob and he was going to adopt Benry and raise him on the island? No? Anyway, Benry's backstory was amazing. We found out that he came to the island as a part of DHARMA, when he was about 12 years old and was not always an "Other". He killed his father (Roger Work Man!), and he aided and abetted the "Purge" of the DHARMA group. Do you think he killed his father as a sort of initiation into the Others, the way he wanted Locke to kill his father?

It was made clear that Benry is not as much of an omniscient leader as he would have us think. He did not plant the tape recorder for Locke to find and I don't think he intended for it to be given to Sawyer, et al. From what we saw of his backstory last night, he's clearly a bit of a psychopath and the people who "follow" him are quite aware of that fact (see Richard's talk with Locke last week, Tom's refusal to help Mikhail when Benry ordered him to this week, Alex's rebellion against him and Juliet's betrayal).

Richard - If that was the same man that Benry enountered in the jungle as a boy, he doesn't seem to have aged at all! The effect of some temporal weirdness, perhaps? Why was it significant to Richard that Benry saw his dead mother and especially that she spoke to him? Did this make Benry special to the Others, the way Locke is "special" to them? Why did Richard tell him he would have to wait to join them? Why wouldn't he always wear his hair long since it makes him look like Aragorn?

Purge - I'm assuming that this is different from the DHARMA "incident" that was referred to in the LOST Experience and on the blast door map. I believe the Purge is what we saw last night and that it occurred after the "incident" (which took place in 1986, I think). What happened in the time between Richard and Benry's first meeting and the Purge? Why did Benry think it was necessary to obliterate the entire DHARMA group? Did he blame them for something that happened in the intervening years? Am I assuming too much?

Annie - Do you think Annie died in the Purge? Or was she dead already? From a pregnancy, maybe?

Jacob - Do not even ask me to theorize about what the heck happened in that cabin! God that was freaky! And thank God for the internet because check this out: Right after "Jacob" throws Benry to the wall, there's a quick flash of a man in the chair:


(I brightened the screencap up a bit, thank you lost-media.com)

I thought at first that Benry was just a lunatic, but then things started flying around the place, and then Locke heard Jacob saying "Help me" (creepy!). Why does he need help? Is Benry keeping him captive in some way? Is that line of ash on the ground around the cabin what's keeping him in place? Who is he???

Locke - Whoa!! Obviously, Alex gave Locke that gun so he could protect himself from Benry, not from Jacob. There is no way he is dead. He's just mostly dead, like Mikhail. The island fixed his paralysis, it can repair him again. I would bet money, though, that we won't be seeing him again until February. Well, just a little bit of money. Benry must have shot him because Locke was able to hear Jacob, and thus presents a threat to his authority. Maybe?

Naomi - According to Mikhail, the Others had no knowledge of the parachutist and he did stumble upon her by mistake. There goes that conspiracy.

More Questions - I still have no idea who the Others are: Are they descendants of the shipwreck? Did they always have the ability to travel between the island and the rest of the world, or did that only come after DHARMA arrived? Speaking of which, how did DHARMA find the island, if no one else can?

Oh, so many questions!

I love not being spoiled. I can only imagine how much less of an impact this episode had on people who can't help themselves. It was so good that I didn't even notice that there was no Desmond until I started looking for a picture of him for this post! He did, however, make a brief, yet sexy and mysterious appearance in the scene on the beach:



(So much for just a "few observations"!)

Namaste!

Wednesday is LOST day.

Unbelievable "speed-painting" portraits of Sawyer, Locke and Kate. Which one is your favorite?

Idol Top 4: Performances

Disclaimer: I am a BeeGees fan and I'm not ashamed to admit it (anymore), but I view their music the same way I do Elvis': No one but them should perform their songs. Anyone else comes off looking silly. Not because they're the best singers or anything, but because these songs were written with a specific singing style in mind and in most cases are a product of a specific moment in pop culture and do not transcend those obstacles easily.

This is going to be a rough night.

Round 1

Melinda - "Love You Inside and Out" Not the greatest song choice, and I agree with the judges, no big "wow" factor. It's unfortunate that just a solid vocal isn't enough.

Blake - "You Should Be Dancing"...He's totally gonna beat box this one, isn't he? Yep. What did I say about looking silly?

Lakisha - "Stayin' Alive"... Why in God's name would she choose to sing this? Oo, this is kind of rough, and too slow. These songs are not easy.

Jordin - "To Love Somebody"...Finally someone picked a good song, probably my favorite song of theirs. Tonight is going to boil down to song choice and Jordin just won the first round. She didn't sing any better than Melinda, but it had that wow thing, I think.

Round 2

Melinda - "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"... my second favorite BeeGees song. Holy crap, that was just beautiful. Really nice. Way to snatch the glory, at least temporarily, from Jordin.

Blake - "This is Where I Came In"... I suppose he's got to establish himself as really different from the girls, but hoo-boy, methinks he may be writing his ticket home tonight. Blake represents the point at which the audience splits stylistically, though, so he may do fine if a lot of people enjoy his style of performing. Because for what it is, he does a good job.

Lakisha - "Run to Me"... Oo, another song I like! Not a great rendition. She should have stayed with the softer, higher voice throughout the performance, and sung it quietly and not rose to the usual shout-y part. It would have made more of an impression, I think. (whether or not she could sustain the higher notes, that might have been the problem) Simon is right, it's a toss up between her and Blake when it comes to going home tomorrow.

Jordin - "Woman in Love"...Her high notes are a bit piercing, and she kind of lost her way in the middle a little bit. Actually, it was really pretty bad.

Rough night, indeed. It'll be either Lakisha or Blake going home tonight.

LOST: Episode 3-19

The Brig

Oh, what will Sawyer do now? His entire life has been leading up to this moment. Now that he has taken his revenge on the man who was responsible for his father's suicide and his mother's murder, what force will drive him? Will the show actually kill him off, the way they have other characters whose back stories are even semi-resolved? God, I hope not! Sawyer can be a bit one-note at times, but he's a perfect counterbalance to Jack's pompous do-gooder. Josh Holloway was incredible in this epsiode, from beginning to end, but most especially in the scene where he killed Locke's father, his "Sawyer". I would never have thought that a storyline involving Sawyer could bring me to tears, but I was wrong.

I loved the Rousseau/Locke scene, and the unspoken "I won't ask if you won't ask." Hee. Do you think we will ever learn what she needs the dynamite for?

The Others - I just can't believe a thing any of them say. Like how about Benry all of a sudden being able to walk because of the proximity of Locke? That doesn't make sense to me, except as a way to inflate Locke's sense of self worth. Also, he totally planted that tape recorder for Locke. He wouldn't be so careless as to be listening to it out in the open air like that (especially after sending someone to fetch Locke) and then very conspicuously placing it in that unlocked drawer. But did he foresee that Locke would give the recorder to Sawyer? Is he trying to sabotage Juliet, or is this all a part of the plan?

It didn't take Richard very long to get to the island, did it? Especially considering Locke blew up what was supposed to be their only means of getting to and from the island, the submarine. And I don't buy all this hiking and tenting and carrying packs on their backs. They were technologically savvy enough to have a video feed connected to Miami just a couple of days ago. Are you telling me they wouldn't have at least a golf cart? No, I don't trust them at all. And I can't wait to find out the meaning of all of the ruins around the island.

So, can Jack be any more of a shit? Good God, I wanted to slap him right across the face! And then slap him again! I gotta believe this big secret he and Juliet have has something to do with knowledge of the Pregnant Lady Raid that's coming up. I just hope he has a good explanation for being such an ass lately.

Theory. I have pretty much stayed away from formulating any over-arching theory for the show, but the developments in this episode have me actually speculating that what we're talking about here (and pardon me here because I am nowhere near the geek I may appear to be and this isn't really all that well thought-out) is either a parallel timeline or alternate reality, a situation where you could have Flight 815 crashed into the Pacific and everyone dead in one timeline AND everyone alive on the island in another. Maybe only the island exists in this "other" place/timeline? Maybe a rift was created between the two realities when Desmond let the computer countdown reach zero and the EM blast was released (the first time, when the plane crashed)? Maybe the Others know how to travel between the two realities or whatever you want to call them and they sedate anyone they bring to the island so they can't tell the outside (other) world? Desmond's issues with time could play into a scenario like this. Just thinking out loud...

WTF was up with Sayid's fingernails?? Dude! They freaked me right out. Ironic isn't it, that with all of the weird shit going on in this show, something as simple (and realistic) as Sayid's long fingernails would give me such big heebeejeebees.

And last, but certainly not least, Desmond showed his pretty face again this week!

Headline of the Day

Skywalkers in Korea cross Han solo


Give that headline writer a raise!

(thanks, the house next door)

I've always wanted to use schadenfreude in a sentence.

Ready?

Let the schadenfreude begin.!!

The end is in sight!

ABC details final three "Lost" seasons: "The Emmy-winning adventure series will run for 48 more episodes over three seasons. Each season will consist of 16 episodes, which will air uninterrupted."

This news made me unreasonably happy when I heard it on the radio this morning. I don't want to think about it ending, and I don't want to have to wait until February to see it again, but to know that the producers and writers have a handle on the sometimes unwieldy LOST mythology and that this show will probably not suffer the same heartbreaking, slow death that The X-Files suffered, well, that makes me very happy.

Oh, and pardon me while I geek out: 16!

Giant Robot Dinosaurs

Idol Top 6: Results, Again

Two will go home tonight. I haven't cared since Gina left, but now it's getting to the point where it will be sad no matter who leaves.

Before we get to the important stuff, Robin Thicke sings. Like a girl.

Melinda, Phil and Lakisha are put into the first group of 3. Melinda is safe and so is Lakisha - wow, that is so the right result. I am very glad that I was wrong. So, Phil leaves us in a blaze of glory. You got farther than I ever thought you would, Phil, and you seemed like a nice guy. See you on Halloween!

The remaining contestants are grouped together: Jordin, Balke and Chris. Jordin is immediately told she's safe. Just as I thought. So, who's going home, Blake or Chris? We'll have to wait, of course, until Bon Jovi sings a new, really mellow song that reminded me of Joshua Tree-era U2.

Finally, Ryan tells us that Chris is going home. In the look back at his time on AI, it strikes me that unlike all the other contestants, he hasn't changed a bit from the day of his audition. I don't like the way you sing, Chris, but you also seemed like a nice guy. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of you.

And so we're left with a final four - Melinda, Lakisha, Jordin and Blake - that was predicted early on by most viewers. As far as I'm concerned, these are the people who should be there.

Next week, Boogie sounds and Barry Gibb!

Heroes: "String Theory"

Now the crudely-drawn, evil-looking version of the painting of Nathan in the White House makes SO much more sense.

I know I've said this about other episodes of Heroes, but this really was one of the best so far, if not the best. To be honest, I'm still a little confused about what exactly happened - or will happen or might happen or won't happen anymore now that Hiro and Ando went to the future and back again - with regard to the nuclear explosion and who actually caused it. But I'm hoping that a re-watch will help with that. Time travel makes the head hurt.

I have to say that I hope that Hiro and Ando don't change the future completely because I'll tell ya, Future Peter is hot! The hair, the scar, the scruff and especially the complete command he had over his powers made him irresistible.

It's interesting that there seem to be locations that the heroes keep coming back to again and again, the Burnt Toast diner, especially. I wonder if there's any significance to that or if it's just easier from a storytelling perspective?

I'll be interested to see if we get to find out what Nathan did - or does - that Sylar described as turning against his own kind. Does Nathan really betray the heroes, or does he just betray Sylar?

The episode didn't only raise new questions, it also answered a couple of things for me. Now we know why there was never a Future Ando with Future Hiro. And Hiro got the comic book from the future so it doesn't matter when it gets published.

If there was ever an episode that needed to be re-watched, it's this one. I look forward to viewing it again before Monday night!

Keepin' It Real in the Field.

Idol Top 6: Performances, Again

It's a night of Bon Jovi music! I own not a single Bon Jovi album (that's "CD" for you youngins), but that doesn't mean I don't crank the volume when "Livin' On A Prayer" comes on the radio. Besides, he's smokin' hot.

Hey, Gina's in the audience! Hi, Gina!! It's sort of ironic that this is the show you're attending, isn't it?

Before we start, Ryan tells us that "Idol Gives Back" raised almost $70 million! That's awesome.

First up,

Phil - "Blaze of Glory"...Jon get the chills listening to him in the practice session. Someone should tell him that a drop in room temperature always happens when one of the undead enters a room. Anyway...Jeez, it's another really good night for him. Who'd have thought he would have come on so strong at the end? I agree with Randy, that's the best performance he's done on the show so far. Simon's wrong - Phil isn't going anywhere.

Jordin - "Livin' on a Prayer", a favorite in the thisisgina household. Jordin reminds Jon of just how old he really is when she tells him, "My mom is gonna flip out". Oh dear, who'd have thought this was such a hard song to sing? It's really out of her range or something. Ouch! This is AWFUL. Well, at least she knows it. And maybe I'm weird, but I thought she looked great.

Lakisha - We had a DVR mishap and missed Lakisha. I hear she was really good and she and Simon kissed! Of course we missed it. I hope she was good enough to stay.

Blake - "You Give Love a Bad Name"...He's going to do his own arrangement and Jon Bon Jovi ain't down wi'dat. Blake's got some big ones, I'll say that (no wait, those are socks, I forgot). I'm diggin' the dark hair and you know what? I think I liked that. Normally, I cannot STAND the beatboxing, but here...I think he was smart keeping that chorus intact. He took a huge risk and this week it paid off for him.

Chris - "Wanted Dead or Alive"...Not bad. But nowhere near as good as anyone else tonight (with the exception of Jordin). I think this was your swan song, Chris.

Melinda - "Have a Nice Day"...JBJ loves her. She's the person who I thought would struggle the most with the theme but of course she doesn't really struggle and she channels Tina Turner and she's awesome.

Oh God, a special message from the Bushes. Does this mean we can vote him off? Pretty please?

Do they do a Bottom 3 when there's onlly 6 left? If so, it's gonna be Chris, Lakisha and Phil again. We're losing 2 this week because of last week's charity reprieve, so say bye-bye to Chris and Lakisha.

LOST: Episode 3-18

"D.O.C"

OK, what's with all of these good episodes? This one had its share of LOST's patented shocker moments, which I loved, but I think what made "D.O.C." a great episode is the emotional weight it carried. And I think that's true of almost all of the Sun/Jin episodes, which are some of my favorites. The actors share a great chemistry and for some reason the episodes which feature them always seem to be thematically tight and well-written.

That was quite the bomb that Naomi (the parachutist) dropped at the end there, huh? No survivors of flight 815? That could mean anything at this point - "fake" wreckage was found with no bodies/dead bodies, the real wreckage was found with the real dead bodies and our cast is in Purgatory, or she's a big fat liar - and so I hope they start to provide some explanation sooner, rather than later. What's with the different languages she could speak? Where did she think she was landing/crashing? According to Lostpedia, and contrary to what Mikhail told Desmond, she did not say "thank you" - she said, "I am not alone". Who is she with? Why would Mikhail lie? I'm telling ya, he knew about her and the helicopter...

And speaking of Mikhail!! WTF? Wasn't he just dead? Did he fake his death somehow? Was he only "mostly dead"? Did the island heal him? Did he just happen to stumble upon Desmond, etc., or did he come running when the flare went off? Was he expecting to find Naomi? Did he (and by association, the Others) know that Naomi was coming? He's certainly hiding something. (no kidding, gina) Did anyone else (besides Holly) notice that he was grabbing his coveralls when he was running from Jin when they first chased him? What was that all about?

I'm liking Juliet more every week, and I was so happy to hear her say "I hate you" to Benry, even though the tape recorder was shut off. I'm looking forward to the day when she tells him to his face but for now, it's enough to know that she's doing his bidding reluctantly.

Sun is so beautiful, isn't she? "D.O.C." stands for date of conception, and if Juliet is to be believed, and I do believe her, Sun's baby was conceived after the crash, 53 days ago. This means the baby is Jin's, and not from her affair with the bald hotel guy. The scene where Sun finds out that the baby is Jin's was amazing. She is stuck in the middle of her own Catch-22: If she conceived before she got to the island, the baby would not be Jin's but she would survive; but if the baby was conceived on the island, and was Jin's (as she hoped), then neither mother nor child would survive the pregnancy. As the flashback so beautifully illustrated, Sun's deep love for Jin drives her to protect him from shame and hurt to the point that she is filled with joy at hearing the news that the Jin is the father, even thought it means that she has perhaps only two months to live (no!).

OK, the elephant in the room: Why hasn't anyone raised the issue of abortion? I know it's a touchy subject, but it really should be addressed one way or another. Can they save the lives of the mothers by terminating the pregnancy? Or is it already too late for them once they have concieved?

I understand, on the surface of things, why Jack would be asking Sun so mysteriously about how she was feeling - he knows about the pregnant women dying and he's concerned for Sun but doesn't want her to know he's concerned - but I'm still getting a weird vibe from him. I swear he's not himself and is operating under some weird Other mojo.

If the island increases the male sperm count by so much, do you think Kate could be pregnant after her unprotected trysts with Sawyer? Juliet mentioned in her recorded message to Benry that she was working on getting samples from the other women, including Austin.

Hey, check this out...from Lostpedia's recap: "Sun goes to her father's office. As she approaches her father in a meeting, one of his men is reporting that they have not yet received the fake construction permit. Mr. Paik comments that the Hanso Foundation is upset because the Paik Heavy Industries did not provide them with some equipment. That wasn't translated onscreen was it? If it was, I totally missed it! I won't speculate too much on what a connection between Sun's father and Hanso could mean since in all likelihood this is just a fun Easter Egg the writers planted for us to find.

And finally, the hottest Scottish/Peruvian castaway on the island:

Just Because.

A post about this week's episode will be up soon.

This is what Joy looks like.

Stephen Hawking Floats in Zero Gravity, free of his wheelchair for the first time in almost 40 years. How cool is that?

Idol Gives Back: Top 6 Results and Telethon

I'm going to skip the recap this week. I just can't be critical or cynical after seeing so much real sadness. But I will make a couple of comments.

(Oh, and no one was eliminated, "in the spirit of things", but this Tuesday's votes will be added to next week's and 2 contestants will be going)

1. The Celine/Elvis thing was technically amazing and, well, amazingly freaky.



And I'm going to contradict myself here and be cynical on this one thing: The money they spent putting that together could have been much better spent. How many mosquito nets would that have translated into?

2. I thought the best performance of the night was Kelly Clarkson with Jeff Beck.



She was incredible! Doesn't it look like she and Jeff Beck had never met until that moment? I'll be downloading that song, for sure (You can download it at iTunes and the money goes to Idol Gives Back).

3. We got Bono! At last! For 2 minutes at the end!



4. And the funniest part of the night:



I think that the concept of Idol Gives Back is a good one, but the execution was a bit clumsy. It was a weird mix to have the telethon draped over the frame of a results show. It should be a separate event, imo.

If you'd like to make a donation to Idol Gives Back - a donation to help in the fights against AIDS, malaria and hunger in Africa and poverty, hunger and illiteracy in the U.S. - please go here. And see if there's anything at iTunes that you'd like to download!

Hugh Grant Beans Photographer.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I wonder, is there such a thing as "beanhab"?

Idol Top 6: Performances

It's Night 1 of "Idol Gives Back"

Ryan says tonight's mentor is BONO! and in keeping with the theme, they'll be singing "Inspirational songs".

Chris - "Change the World"...Eric Claption. (hey! where's Bono?) It's a good song choice, and he tones down the nasally stuff in the beginning, but it starts to go off somewhere around the middle. It's going to be difficult to be too critical on a night like this, though, and the judges are nice. And he looks very cute in his suit jacket.

Melinda - "There Will Come a Day"..Faith Hill. (hey! where's Bono?) She is just unbelievable. I've never heard this song, but she almost made me cry. And she looks great.

Blake - "Imagine"...John Lennon. (still no Bono - they must be saving him for tomorrow night) It must be a special night - Blake's wearing jeans and not old man pants! Well, that was nice. He basically sang it note for note, but I agree with Paula, it's a simple song that should be sung simply. I don't think that was enough to pull him out of the Bottom 3, though.

Lakisha - "I Believe".. Fantasia. She was good. Better, certainly, than the judges thought she was. Still Bottom 3, I think.

Phil - "The Change"..Garth Brooks. Hey - It's the Addams' Fam-il-y! He stays in the country genre and it works for him, again. Nicely sung, especially if you don't look at him.

Jordin - "You'll Never Walk Alone"...She's wearing a beautiful dress and it's a beautiful performance. Not quite as earth-shatteringly good as Randy seems to think, but good enough to put her in the lead, I think. Especially with how emotional she was at the end.

They all did very well, which was good, because it would have sucked if the judges had to be mean on a night when they were trying so desperately to be nice.

I'll say the Bottom 3 will be Chris, Lakisha and Blake, and Chris and Lakisha are in a dead heat when it comes to getting booted off.

I'm going out to dinner tonight and I'm not sure when I'll be home, so I may be watching it tomorrow night. Tonight's results show is the 2-hour telethon show, from 8:00 - 10:00.

I'll let you know what's what tomorrow.

Heroes: ".07%"

They're back!

I'm totally jazzed about there being a prior generation (for lack of a better word) of Heroes that most likely include Linderman, Hiro's father and Mrs. Petrelli. I can't wait to find out more about them: What are their powers? How many of them are there? What went wrong? It's interesting that Linderman's gift is healing, a gift that could really make a positive change in people's lives, yet he is so obviously evil. I wonder to what purpose he's actually used it? Healing his henchman after a big tussle?

I knew that Peter wasn't going to die, and I was just waiting for Claire to pull that piece of glass out of his head, but I have to say that I really liked the scene where Nathan comes into the room and sees his body. See, he's not all bad. He does seem to have taken Linderman up on his proposal, though, doesn't he?

Speaking of Linderman's proposal, what do you think he wants Micah for? Fixing voting machines, perhaps?

When Mohinder knocked on the Petrelli's door with Peter's body and I saw that cab in the background I couldn't believe he brought the body in a TAXI! Then I remembered that his father, Suresh, was working as a cab driver when he was killed so it's probably his car. Whew.

Poor Isaac. Actually, I don't feel that badly for him, since he was never a favorite of mine, but it still sucks to be crucified to the floor with paintbrushes and then have the top of your head cut off and your brain removed. I'm glad he completed an entire edition of his comic book before dying because I'd really miss his paintings. Do you think he sent it to his publisher? If so, will it be published before the bomb goes off so Hiro can see it? I'm dying to know how came to figure out how to kill Sylar.

The Bennett/Parkman/Ted escape was cool and now they're all headed to NYC, too. Any ideas on what the "tracking system" is? It was neat seeing them sitting in the same diner where Hiro met Charlie. Poor Charlie.

Here's a question I read at another blog, and it's something I don't like to think about: Why is Future Hiro always alone? Where's Future Ando?

And on a shallow note: Peter actually looked hot with that hair off of his face. Well done, Sylar!

Next week takes place completely in the future. Awesome!

When does your favorite show begin its new season?

Or has it been cancelled?

The Futon Critic has a handy guide that will help you answer just those questions.

TV Talk

24 - This season hasn't packed the punch that last season did (I really miss the Logans and Aaron), but it has had its moments. One of the more disgusting moments took place Monday night, when the Veep kissed his assistant Lisa Miller; how could something so dispassionate (Old Granite Face never changed his expression) be SO skeevy? Good God. I am so over the little soap opera going on between Chloe/Morris/Milo and Nadia/Milo/Doyle - those stories had better pay off in the long run in a relevant way. Like, Milo dying by getting shot during the struggle to take the gun that Morris was going to use to shoot himself with. Like that. On the other hand, I can't get enough of Karen and Bill Buchanan - if he's really gone, I will not be happy. At all. I hope next week he gets Kiefer's message on his home phone and decides to go rogue with him to take down Cheng. Preferably while wearing a t-shirt and jeans. And finally, the manpurse is back!

I'm not ready to break up with Jack, but I thought this was cute.


Futurama - I'm WAY late to the party, but I'm getting addicted to the reruns on the Cartoon Network - it's so good!!

Doo Wop

04-16-2007 012, originally uploaded by gina64.

Don't Forget!

"Heroes" returns tonight, at 9:00 P.M. on NBC!!

LOST: Episode 3-17

OK, I have a dilemma: Which picture of Desmond do I use? And how many? Oh, I should have such a problem every week!

Let's go with this one (for starters).



Catch-22

Please don't take my delay in posting as a sign of apathy toward this episode. I thought it was very good. In fact, I think this current batch of episodes is by far some of the best stuff this show has done. It was sort of getting to be something of an obligation to watch - now, I cannot WAIT to watch it!

Desmond

I think it's been pretty firmly established through flashbacks that Desmond has "cowardly" tendencies (I can't bring myself to call him a coward, I'm sorry). Here's a question for you: Which would have been more cowardly - letting Charlie die or saving his life? Like Abraham, Desmond was being asked to sacrifice someone. But who was he supposed to sacrifice, Charlie or Penny? I mean, either way he made a sacrifice: Charlie's life for Penny, or Penny for Charlie's life. I'm glad he chose Charlie's life, but was it a "wise" (or un-cowardly) choice?

Did anyone else see Mrs. Hawking in the photo with the Abbott?

You remember Mrs. Hawking right? From Desmond's time travel episode? Seeing her in the photo made me wonder if it was no accident that the Abbott was the one to find Desmond passed out in the gutter. Have they (whoever "they" may be) been steering him to the Island all along? Oh, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the Abbey is associated with the Widmores, who are connected to DHARMA.

Penny to the Rescue

It's nice to see that Penny hasn't given up Desmond for lost. As for who the girl who landed on the island is, I know only two things: her name is Naomi and she knows Desmond. Oh, and she probably speaks Portugese, since she was carrying a copy of Catch-22 in Portugese ("Ardil-22"). This fits in nicely with what we last saw of Penny, which was two Portugese men calling her to tell her that they found the EM signal.

Re: Naomi - It can be no coincidence that there are women named Naomi (parachutist) and Ruth (Desmond's first ex-fiance) in this episode. By all appearances, they are completely unrelated, but Naomi and Ruth share a special bond in the bible:

"Ruth is rightly remembered for her pledge of total devotion and loyalty to Naomi (Ruth 1:16-17). Ruth clung to Naomi even at the cost of renouncing her people and her gods in favor of Naomi’s people, the Israelites, and Naomi’s God, Yahweh: "Your people will be my people and your God my God" (verse 16). The totality of this commitment is emphasized by its terseness (merely four words long in the Hebrew: ‘amekh ‘ami we’lohaikh ’elohai, which literally means "your people my people; your God my God"). Yet Ruth extended her commitment still further, beyond death itself: "Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried" (verse 17)."

Of course, I have no idea if any of this means anything. Were they just tossing around biblical references because the story involved Desmond's stay at a monastery? I don't know. I'm just sayin'.

Camping

I thought Hurley's pretense of a camping trip to get Jin to come along with him and Desmond and Charlie was sort of silly. Aren't they all camping every day, living on a beach in tents, sitting around campfires? Now, if Hurley had suggested they were going to stay at the Others resort, with soft, cushy beds, running water, indoor plumbing and refrigeration, now that's an enticement.

I'll let the weak camping excuse pass, however, because it was all worth it just to see Jin telling his campfire ghost story.



Back at the Beach

Not much really happened. Kate is still mooning over Jack. I was really hoping that she was over him. I'm happy, though, that at least Sawyer is aware of what's going on. And he's being surprisingly mature about things. For him.

I'm really beginning to believe that Jack was somehow programmed or brainwashed during his time with the Others. He's way too complacent, don't you think?

So what do you think is going on with Desmond? Was Naomi sent by Penny? Or was she sent by Ruth? (Nah. I don't think so) Will Charlie die before the season ends?

The boys spent Earth Day at the park.

The boys, originally uploaded by gina64.

Veniero Panicceria

Veniero Panicceria, originally uploaded by gina64.

Italian bakery on East 11th Street. Everything looked SO good, but I was too full from dinner!