Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Setback

  I'm a little nervous about what I did to myself this weekend.  We were selling stuff at the inlaws' garage sale and on Friday I was moving carrying stuff I shouldn't have been.  I dropped it and whacked my wrist, causing the incision to split open and bleed.  Then on Sunday I tripped and landed on the same wrist.  Then that night, I lifted Kasey's sleeping body and almost dropped her from the pain.  Yesterday my arms were tingling for a little while as if I hadn't even had any surgeries.  I am currently feeling like I will never be normal again.  Even though the weather was gorgeous and we made some money, I was still miserable.  At this very moment,  I feel a burning in my wrists like I have a giant paper cut on each one.  UGH.

Next week, I was hoping the doc would clear me with no restrictions, which is what my job requires.  Now I don't think it's going to happen. 

It will be my own fault if I did more damage.  I am not medically cleared to lift more than five pounds and I did it anyway.  UGH again.

----

  I decided this week that it is going to to take a lot to knock Gnarls Barkley out of the number 1 spot.  This is one of those monster-sized favorite songs that I never found last year.  Not that Bloc Party isn't great, but "Banquet" never gripped me as tightly as other top songs of the year had.  I think "Crazy" might have that power.

This Week's Top Ten:

1. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley

2. Hands Open- Snow Patrol

3. The Number- Pretty Girls Make Graves

4. Fraud in the 80's- Mates of State

5. Elevate Myself- Grandaddy

6. This Isn't Farm Life- Essex Green

7. Miss Murder- AFI

8. Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

9. Saying Sorry- Hawthorne Heights

10. February- The Appleseed Cast

Thursday, May 25, 2006

LOST- Episodes 47 & 48: Live Together, Die Alone Parts 1 & 2

  The sadness of the dual funeral is quickly forgotten as everyone is now pretty excited that there is a boat off in the distance.  Jack, Sayid, and Sawyer quickly disrobe and start swimming for it.  For the ladies, I believe this is the first time we've seen Shirtless Sayid.  (That one will be in Series 15 of the upcoming LOST action figures-you know, after they start running out of ideas like they did with the Simpsons.)

  Our heroes climb aboard the boat cautiously, waterproof guns drawn.  It is not long before they are being shot at from below deck.  After their attacker runs out of bullets, Jack kicks in the door and is surprised to see his old pal Desmond.  Desmond finds his third chance meeting with the good doctor drunkenly hilarious and it is his haunting laughter which cues the creepy LOST title screen.

  That night, Jack walks over to Desmond who is sitting on the beach, drinking his troubles away.  Jack is a little miffed that Des failed to mention that he had a boat.  Des says it doesn't matter anyway.  He was heading for Fiji but the first piece of land he found was their island.  He thinks it is all that is left of the world.  He asks Jack if they are still pushing the button.  As he walks away, Jack laughs and says yes.

  Alone now, Desmond flashes back to his clean-shaven, short-haired days.  He is being released from a military prison and is getting back his personal effects.  These include a photo of him with his lady love and a Charles Dickens book which he plans to read right before he dies.  The soldier releasing him points out that no one knows when they are going to die, then gives Des his official dishonorable discharge.

  Outside, Desmond is ushered out of the rain and into a waiting car.  The man inside shows him a box full of the letters Desmond wrote to his love, Peneolope, from prison.  Since she never got them, she has moved on and is getting married.  He offers Desmond a monetary settlement to leave his daughter alone forever.

  In the present, Sayid has come up with a plan and tells Jack about it.  He will use Desmond's boat to get to Other Town faster than Jack will on foot.  He will scout them and then light a signal fire.  When Jack and company get there, they will proceed from there together.

  Down in Station Three of the Dharma Initiative, Locke limps into the computer room and finds Mr. Eko.  He tells him that the whole thing is a joke and he should not push the button anymore.  Eko says, "Don't tell me what I can't do."  Locke doesn't react to his own catchphrase and physically tries to stop Eko from pushing the button.  Of course, Eko is a lot stronger than Locke and wins the scuffle easily.  He whacks Locke in the face with his stick and removes him.

  Back at the beach, Michael's team is ready to go.  Kate is a little skeptical about the Others' identity, remembering the costumes she found in the abandoned medical station.  Michael assures her again of what he saw. 

  Elsewhere, Sayid asks to use Desmond's boat to head north.  Des relinquishes owenership of the boat and offers no help when Sayid says that he doesn't know how to sail it.

  Desmond flashes back to a coffee shop where he does not have any American money on him to pay.  A friendly red-headed stranger we know as Libby offers to pay for him.  He jokingly asks her if she has another $42,000, which intrigues her enough to sit down with him.  He reveals his plan to win a race around the world as a way to stick it to Mr. Widmore, the man who tried to buy him out of his daughter's life.  Conveniently enough, Libby's recently deceased husband had a boat and she thinks he would want her to give it to Des.  He thanks his new friend Elizabeth, for whom the boat is named, and promises to win the race for love.

Elsewhere, Sun tells Jin that Sayid needs him to sail the boat so he can help Michael.  Jin refuses, not wanting to leave his pregnant wife.  Sun says he won't have to because, "I'm coming with you."  There, I think we got all the catchphrases out of the way. 

  In the jungle, Kate stops Sawyer from triggering another one of Rousseau's baby doll traps.  He is only a little stunned to learn that the term "caught in a net" was literal.  Just then, a gigantic ugly bird emerges from the tree tops and swoops down at them.  Michael is largely stunned to learn that his gun has no bullets.  Jack apologizes for the mix-up and is forced to hand some bullets over to Michael.

  Elsewhere, Charlie is strolling through the jungle when he happens upon Locke crying like he just got whooped with a Jesus stick.  Charlie has a little fun with it, telling himto go drown his sorrows with Desmond.

    Elsewhere, Desmond tells Claire that she is wasting her time shooting herself up with the vaccine.  Desmond flashes back to his training days at the stadium.  This is the night he meets Jack, but that comes later.  Jack is only just starting his run in the background at this moment.  As Des prepares for his own run, a car pulls up behind him.  He asks Penelope how she found him.  She replies that with enough money and determination, you can find anybody.  With tears in her eyes she asks why he didn't write from prison.  For some reason, he chooses not to tell her about her father's treachery and instead asks when she is getting married.  He tells her that he will be back in a year-after the race, perhaps implying that she should wait for him.  As he turns away from her, she asks what he is running from.  He replies that he has to get his honor back.  "That's what I'm running to."

  It is night again at the beach as Locke approaches Desmond with a smile and asks what one snowman said to the other snowman.  "Smells like carrots," is Desmond's reply.  They share a drink and Locke tells Des about the Pearl Station he found and how everything inside Station Three was just a psychological experiment.  To prove it, Locke shows him the orientation tape.  He tells Des to sober up because tomorrow they are going to find out what happens when the button doesn't get pushed.

  The next day, out on the Elizabeth, Jin tells Sun there is something she should see.  Sayid hands her the binoculars and points out something strange on the shore.  It is a giant statue of a four-toed foot. 

  Back in Station Three, the lights begin to flicker which gets Mr. Eko out of his chair.  While he is in the magnetic hallway investigating, Desmond and Locke sneak into the computer room.  Des crosses some wires and another lockdown begins.  The blast doors close, sealing Locke and Des in with the computer and Mr. Eko out in the hall.     

  Desmond flashes back to a storm at sea.  His body washes up on shore and in a half-conscious state, he sees fuzzy visions of a man in a biohazard suit  dragging him through the jungle and nursing him back to health in Station Three. 

  Things become clearer and as Desmond lays in bed, his rescuer, a grey-haired man with steely eyes and a beard, leans over and asks, "Are you him?"  After it is established that Des doesn't know what the guy is talking about, the man introduces himself as Kelvin Inman.  The alarm begins to sound and with an annoyed sigh, Kelvin trudges over to the computer, enters the numbers and hits execute.  

  Later, Desmond watches the orientation film for the millionth time.  Des asks why there are missing parts and Kelvin tells him that his former partner Razinski made some edits.  Next Des asks why Kelvin wears the bio-suit and he tells him it's so he doesn't get infected outside.

  In the present, Eko uses the rope Locke tied to climb his way out of the original hatch.  It is there that he sees the QUARANTINE label on the door.  This sends him running.

  At the beach, a panicked Eko asks Charlie how the hatch door got open.  Charlie tells him, and then Eko tells him what Locke has done.  Eko believes that if the button is not pushed, everyone on the island will die.  Charlie sees the conviction in Eko's eyes and agrees to help him.

  As Team Michael continues their journey, Kate pulls Sawyer aside and points out that two of the Others are following them from across the river.  She pulls her gun out and starts a shootout.  They nail one of them but the second one escapes.  Kate wants to go after him, but Jack stops her.  "They've already been warned," he tells his troops while staring directly at Michael.  He grabs Michael by the collar and demands that he tell everyone the truth.

  In near tears, Michael tells them about the list and about letting Henry go.  Hurley asks if Michael was the one who killed Ana-Lucia and Libby.  He says he had to, but Libby was a mistake.  He apologizes, but Hurley still wants to go back.  Jack tells him he can't, but don't worry, he has a plan.

  On the Elizabeth, Jin points out the giant rock with a hole in it.  They have arrived at their destination. 

  In the jungle, Charlie leads Eko to a destination of their own- the unused dynamite that Hurley hid after they blew up the hatch.  Very carefully, Eko takes the explosives into Station Three.  Charlie tries to warn Locke about Eko's plan. Desmond assures Locke that the door will hold.  After all, it's not called a blast door because it's a lot of fun at parties.

  Desmond flashes back to his earlier stay in Station Three.  He positions a beaten metal cabinet in an archway, then crosses the wires again to create the lockdown.  The blast door drops but is stopped halfway by the cabinet.  After slipping into the living quarters, Des watches Kelvin paint the invisible map on the door.  Kelvin tells him that it was originally Razinski's idea, which makes Des wonder whatever happened to him.  Kelvin shows him a spot on the ceiling where Razinksi blew his brains out.  Desmond tells Kelvin that he will go crazy too if Kelvin doesn't let him be the one to go outside sometime.  Kelvin apologizes but respectfully denies the request. 

  In present day Station Three, Eko is continuing with his plan as Charlie continues to warn Locke.  Charlie gives up on that and tries to convince Eko that maybe Locke is right.  Eko removes Charlie's belt and hurls it at the magnetic wall where the buckle sticks.  A little disturbed, Charlie takes his belt back and begins to leave.  Eko gives Locke one last chance to open the door, which he doesn't take.  Eko then lights the fuse against Charlie's better judgement.  Charlie runs and ducks behind a wall as an explosion of fire rattles through the hallway and up out of the original hatch.

  In the Station Three of the past, Desmond can't find Kelvin and there are only seconds left on the countdown.  He enters the numbers and hits execute, then begins to search for his partner.  He hears drunken singing coming from a previously unseen trapdoor in the floor of the computer room.  He finds Kelvin down there dangling a key over a system termination panel and regretting that he couldn't do it.  Des asks about what is behind the wall and what the "incident" was.  Kelvin explains that they are on a spot that has geologically unique electromagnetism.  The incident was a leak that causes the magnetism to charge up.  Every time they push the button, they discharge it and keep it from getting too big. Desmond asks why they don't just stop pushing so Kelvin asks his friend if he has the courage to take his finger out of the dam and blow everything up instead.

  Back inthe present, Desmond is concerned that Eko and Charlie may have blown themselves up.  Locke thinks it's a trick and stops Des from opening the doors.  They sit down for a chat and Desmond asks if Locke is letting the clock run down so he can look down the barrel of a gun.  Locke tells the story of how he believed the hatch was his destiny and how Boone died for it.  The night Boone died, he pounded on the door in frustration and the light came on.  Now he realizes that the light wasn't a sign, it was only Desmond.

  At the big rock with a hole in it, Sayid makes his way ashore and quietly begins his invasion of Other Town.  He finds the huts and tents just as Michael described, but what he doesn't find is people.  He makes his way to the Dharma hatch that was being guarded and opens it to find that it is just a doorway to a rock.  It is absolutely nothing.

  In the jungle, Kate finds something odd and points it out to everyone.  It is an enormous pile of office mail tubes next to a pipe sticking out of the ground.  It would appear that the work done in the Pearl is actually the big joke, not the Swan.  They look through some of the notebooks, completely clueless as to what it is.  Jack even finds Locke's map.  Sawyer sees Sayid's smoke signal way off in the distance and Jack begins to realize that they may have been had.  As he confronts Michael, the gang begins to hear the ominous whispering we haven't heard much of this season.  Then suddenly, Sawyer gets hit in the neck with a dart and goes into immediate convulsions.  Jack warns everyone to run, but Kate is the only one who listens.  Hurley just ducks down while Michael starts yelling.  Kate gets hit next, so Jack hoists her onto his shoulders.  He doesn't make it much farther before he is darted himself.  Before he passes out, he sees a blurry vision of the Others moving in and putting a sack on his head.

  Back in Station Three, Locke describes the Pearl station and everything that happened in there.  Desmond is skeptical, thinking that perhaps the experiment was being done on those inside the Pearl.  Locke gets angrier with every question that Desmond asks, finally throwing the computer print-out at him.  Desmond scans page after page of the button-pushing log, apparently looking forsomething relevant.

  He once again flashes back to his previous stay in the Swan.  He becomes suspicious when Kelvin puts the bio-suit on and says good-bye.  He becomes even more suspicious when he sees that the suit has a noticeable tear in it.  He puts his shirt over his mouth and stealthily follows Kelvin out the door.  He sees his partner remove the suit and head into the jungle.  They proceed out to a large rock formation on the shore where Desmond is shocked to see the Elizabeth in a cove, fully repaired.  Kelvin approaches from behind with gun drawn-he knew he was being followed.

  Kelvin invites him to come along.  "Screw the button.  Who knows if it's even real."  This angers Desmond who doesn't buy that the electromagnetics and system terminations were the rambling of a drunk man.  Kelvin says he lied about it because he needed a sucker to stay behind after he left.  Desmond attacks him and during the fight, Kelvin hits his head on a rock and is instantly killed.  Dismayed, Desmond snatches the termination key from around Kelvin's neck and sprints back to the hatch. 

  When he gets there, the whole place is shaking, rattling and rolling as the speakers announce a system failure.  With debris flying around him, Des is able to keep enough of his composure to get the numbers in and reset the counter.

  In the present, Desmond finds what he was looking for on the print-out.  It was the system failure he was just thinking about.  When Locke tells him the date of the plane crash, Desmond confirms it as the same day as the near meltdown.  "I think I crashed your plane." Desmond says grimly.

  The Others arrive at a dock and remove the sacks from their captives' heads.  Through her gag, Kate tries to tell Beardo that she knows his beard is fake.  Miss Klugh fills him in on what she said, accidentally calling him Tom.  Thank God I finally have something to call him.  Tom thankfully removes the itchy beard and addresses Miss Klugh as Bea.  The spat is interrupted by the arrival of the small boat that the Others used to kidnap Walt.  The person driving the boat is none other than the man known to us as Henry Gale. 

  Henry walks and talks with a lot of confidence now-almost as if he is the leader of this gang of ragamuffins.  He yells at Tom for not having his beard on.  Then he turns to Michael and tells him it is time to take care of business.  

  In Station Three, Charlie wakes up with ringing ears and finds Eko unconscious in a heap of debris.  On the other side of the blast door, Desmond has changed his mind and is convinced that the button should be pushed.  Locke is still angry and to emphasize his point, he throws the computer monitor on the floor, breaking it.  Desmond says that Locke just killed them all.  "No," Locke replies, "I've just saved us all."  Des crosses the wires and ends the lockdown.  He runs into the living area and gets his Dickens book down from the bookshelf. 

  Desmond then flashes back to his darkest moment in Station Three.  He is holding a gun and contemplating ending his time there for good.  He opens his Dickens book and a note slips out.  It is from Penelope.  She left it there because she knew he would read it during a time of great despair.  She reminds him that all you need in the world is one person to love you and he has it.  She will always wait for him.  Instead of finding this comforting, Desmond flies into a rage because the world is all gone.  He throws all the books off the shelves and tosses all the records around the room.  After he collapses in exhaustion he hears a banging.  He proceeds down the magnetic hallway and hears Locke shouting and crying to the heavens.  Des turns on the floodlight, which causes Locke to see the hatch take on a benevolent glow.  Desmond stares up the long tunnel and begins to cry with joy.

  Back in the present, Desmond has his book and is prepared to take it down with him into the system termination trap door.  As he moves the computers to access it, he explains to Locke what happened on the night he lit up the tunnel.  He thinks fate brought them together.  Locke saved his life and now he is going to return the favor.  Locke grabs him by the shoulder, still not convinced.  With the alarm getting more threatening behind him, he assures Desmond that none of it isreal and everything will be fine.  Desmond says he is sorry John stopped believing, but it is all real.  He tells him to get far away from there because he is going to blow the dam.  The counter hits zero and the mayhem begins.  Desmond descends into the trap door and says "See you in another life, brother."

  Things are going nuts now.  The entire station has become drawn to the magnetic force behind the wall.  Charlie wakes Eko up just in time to avoid the flying utensils, darts and exercise machines.  Eko pushes Charlie away and tells him to go.  Then he heads to the computer room to find Locke.  Locke is stunned.  Even the counter is imploding on itself from the force.  With panic in his eyes, Locke meekly tells Eko, "I was wrong." 

  Down below, Desmond says a little prayer and inserts the key into the system termination panel.  He thinks of Penelope, his one true love, and turns the key as he proclaims his love for her.

  The entire island begins to glow with shockingly white light and there is a loud humming that forces most to cover their ears, even those pesky Others.  Then, just as suddenly as it started, it is over.  At the beach, Bernard looks up and sees something falling from the sky.  He gets Claire and Aaron out of the way just in time to avoid it.  The hunk of metal wedged in the sand is smoldered and has QUARANTINE printed across it. 

  Camp is a mess and the clean-up has begun.  They see someone approaching.  It is Charlie, who tells Bernard and Claire he is okay, except for the ringing of the ears.  He is stunned to learn that Eko and Locke have not come back yet. 

  At the dock, Henry tells Michael he is not happy with the arrangement but since both parties live up to their word, he will have to accept it.  Walt was more than they bargained for, anyway.  He tells Michael the compass bearing that the boat must follow to find rescue.  Michael is not convinced that he is just going to be allowed to leave.  Henry tells him that they are willing to bet that Michael won't want to tell people about this place because he might have to reveal what he did to get his son back.  Besides, once he leaves, he won't be able to find the island again.  Michael then asks about his friends and Henry assures him that they will not be harmed.  Michael's final question is "Who are you people?"  "We're the good guys, Michael," Henry replies. 

  Michael then climbs aboard the boat and is at long last reunited with his son.  They try to shoot the hugging at an angle, but you can tell by his arms that Walt is probably taller than his dad now.  This show's narrow timeline can't support growth spurts so Michael fires up the boat and sets off to be rescued.  Meanwhile, Miss Klugh cuts Hurley free and instructs him to return to camp and make sure that none of his friends ever come there.  As for his three friends, they're going home with the Good Guys.  Hurley is reluctant but gets an encouraging nod from Jack, so he slowly walks away.  As they are being hoisted to their feet, Jack exchanges an oddly knowing glance with Kate.  Then the sacks are put back on their heads.

  That night at the beach, Charlie lies to Claire that nothing happened down in Station Three.  After they stop talking, Claire leans in and kisses him.

  The End...or maybe not... Somewhere in an arctic bunker, two dudes who I believe might be Russian, though I am no language expert, are playing chess.  One of them notices something on the computer screen they are supposed to be watching.  It is a pop-up window that says Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected.  Strange that their computers would be in English, yet they don't speak it.  Anyway, apparently this anomaly is exactly what they have been waiting for.  An alarm goes off.  One man frantically enters something into his computer and warns that this is not a false alarm.  The other man uses the telephone.  The person he calls to alert about this anomaly is Penelope Widmore.

  If you have enough money and determination, you can find anybody.  It looks like someone has finally been missed on that island.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Games. Movies and Music

  Diner Dash has sunk its claws into me.  After my wife, daughter, brother and sister all became addicted to it, I had to sit down one day and see what all the fuss was about.  That was about a week ago.  Last night at one in the morning, I completed the game.  As the first one in the house to finish it, and as a video game expert, I feel qualified to offer these helpful hints:

- Diner Dash is like life- sometimes you just have to ignore the old people.  I call this strategy the After-Hours Senior Special.  Anyone who has seen Wrestling Ernest Hemingway knows that old people don't come to restaurants for food, they come for company.  Flo is no Sandra Bullock, but as long as you find time to stand at the podium and talk to them, the seniors will stand in line from open to close with a smile on their face, waiting for you to seat them.  The most important thing you can do to win Diner Dash is save the old people for last.

- The first thing you must do to get past the higher levels is let the line build up until it is out the door.  If a group is waiting outside where you can't see them, they don't get mad.  Only the line that is on-screen gets grumpy about waiting.  Once you have a line, seat any non-senior group at a table.  If you have a bar, save it as a last resort in case you have a group of business women or college kids who just won't wait in line when you have no tables left.  I have made it past some levels without even having to use the bar.  The bar is also useful if you have a line full of old people and another group of seniors is next to walk in.  If you absolutely have to sit seniors, at least take a group you can color code with the chairs.

- While everyone is looking at the menu, stand at the podium and keep the old fogies happy.  They just want attention.  Once every one has their order, take the orders all at once.  The only way to pass most levels is to chain actions together.  This is another important reason to let the line build up.  I passed the final level on my first try because I was getting chains in double digits.  It didn't even matter if I lost the occasional table.  Chain the orders together and then do the same thing serving food.  Do not serve snacks in between because it breaks the chain.  The only time to serve snacks is after a chain is over andyou happen to be close by.  Otherwise while everyone is eating, you should stand at the podium and keep the geezers happy.

- Handing out checks in a row gets the most points, so make sure you finish everyone off at the same time.  Then clear all the tables in a row.  Flo will do that on her own if you check everything off, so while she is cleaning, you should be looking at your line anticipating color matches.  After cleaning is done, stand at the podium while you are seating the next batch of customers.  Then repeat the order and serving process over and over again until closing.  Once all the tables are clear and the restaurant is closed, it's finally time for the After-Hours Senior Special.  Some of those dudes have been waiting all day for it!  Repeat the chaining process until everyone is gone.  This strategy should make you an expert on almost every level.  :-)

-------

    On Friday, my brother and I went to see See No Evil, the WWE produced film starring WWE wrestler Kane.  It wasn't a cinematic masterpiece, but it wasn't supposed to be.  It was a classic-style R-rated horror movie.  It was no better or worse than anything Jason or Freddy or Michael Meyers has to offer.  If you like slasher films, then you will like this movie.  My brother complained about some of the plot holes and ridiculousness of it all, but as I pointed out to him, half the fun of this type of movie is picking it apart.  If you can accept, or at least laugh about the notion that Jason Voorhees can squeeze someone's head until their eyes pop out, then you should certainly have no problem with Kane removing an eyeball in tact with his fingernail.

  The only problem I can see with the movie is the inherent stigma that comes from the phrase WWE Films.  My wife didn't want to go and her initial reason was that she didn't want to see a wrestling movie.  Other than the fact that the killer is played by a wrestler, this movie has nothing to do with wrestling.  I really think Vince McMahon made a mistake naming his film division WWE Films.  He should have called it VKM Films or something.  That way it would still be named after him, but not everyone might initially realize that the movie was in any way associated with that filthy, lowest common denominator establishment known as pro wrestling. 

  I think the film did reasonably well in its limited release.  The evening show we wanted to go to was sold out and we had to come back at 10.  If we hadn't had our tickets in advance we would have been shut out then too.  It may have come in 6th, but that was on only 1000 screens.  It had the third highest gross per screen, which means you could techinically say it did better than RV and MI 3.  If it had opened wide on 4000 screens like Da Vinci, See No Evil would have been third or even second.  Horror movies have a built-in critic-proof audience and have been bucking the downward box-office trends lately.  I dare say that in a wide release with no competition from a summer tent pole like Da Vinci, Kane could have been a Number 1.

BTW, even though there were no sex scenes like a good horror movie should always have, the best thing about See No Evil was that it was rated R and was not afraid to amp up the gore.  It was certainly better than the PG-13 garbage that has been passing for horror lately like Boogeyman, The Fog and the abysmally boring When A Stranger Calls.  Remember kids, if a horror movie is PG-13, then it is going to suck.  It's an ironclad rule.

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Not much change on my music scene this time around.  The stuff I like now I have not yet grown tired of and I haven't had much car time to hear anything new.

This Week's Top Ten:

1. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley

2. Hands Open- Snow Patrol

3. The Number- Pretty Girls Make Graves

4. Fraud in the 80's- Mates of State

5. Miss Murder- AFI

6. Conventional Wisdom- Built to Spill

7. This Isn't Farm Life- Essex Green

8. Saying Sorry- Hawthorne Heights

9. Hard to Beat- Hard Fi

10. New English- Ambulance LTD 

Thursday, May 18, 2006

LOST- Episode 46: Three Minutes

  Previously on LOST: Jack and Kate found Michael, Michael found the Others, and then he came back and killed Ana-Lucia and Libby.

  13 days ago Michael came to Locke in the armory and asked to borrow a gun.  He "accidentally" dropped some bullets on the floor and when Locke stooped down to get them, Michael knocked him out.  Next he ran to the computer and tried to contact Walt.  After a tense minute, Walt responded that there is no time and Dad must come soon.  He instructed him to head north to the big rocks with a hole in the middle.  Michael heard Jack coming and pointed the gun at him.  He told him that he is going after his son and locked him in the armory.

  In the present, Michael is outside Station Three staring at a piece of paper.  He takes a lighter to it and burns it away.  Jack opens the door and invites Michael in for a talk.  Inside is a strategy session.  Sawyer informs the gang that they only have 11 guns.  Michael wants the five people there to head out immediately, but Jack is reluctant.  He wants to bring an army.  Michael says that if there are too many people, they will be heard approaching.  Hurley finally shoots down the 'leave right now' plan once and for all by reminding everyone that there are two dead bodies that haven't even been buried yet.  Jack's final decree is to have a funeral that night and then figure out what's next from there.  As everyone else leaves, Michael is left alone to stare at the puddle of blood on the floor.  This somber moment cues up the creepy LOST title screen.

  13 days ago, Michael ran through the jungle following his compass north.  If I recall correctly, compasses don't work properly on this island, but that's no matter.  Soon Michael came across a man peeing and ordered him to put his hands up at gunpoint.  Good thing the dude had time to zip.  The man surprised Michael by recognizing him as Walt's father.  Before things could be resolved, Beardo showed up behind Michael and forced the rifle out of his hands.  Michael escaped and ran off.  He exchanged shots with the Others, but Beardo reminded his younger charge that they need Michael alive.  He then lassoed Michael by the leg and told the other Others to tie him up quick because his friends are coming.

  In present day Station Three, Michael is mopping up the blood when Mr. Eko shows up, back from his journey.  They get to talking and Michael asks him about hell.  Eko tells the story of a young boy in his church who confessed to killing his dog to save his sister.  The boy was not afraid of going to hell, but was rather concerned that when he got there, the dog would be waiting for him.

  This gives Michael something to think about, so he heads out into the jungle to puke his guts out.  Jack finds him, so Michael uses this chance to emphasize how much he wants his son back and how much he wants to do things his own way.  He wants to take just the people who know already and keep everyone else out of danger.  Jack reluctantly agrees that since it's Michael's son, Micheal gets to decide how the rescue is done.

  At the beach, Charlie tries to break the ice with Claire and Aaron but she is still pretty cool to him.  He shows her what he took from the supply drop- a Dharma medical kit that is full of vaccine.  He doesn't know what it's for, but somehow he knows that this is exactly what Claire wanted.  Charlie tells her he tried it on himself to make sure it was safe, but he doesn't feel any different.  After she thanks him, he tries to talk his way back into her heart but barely gets a word out before she is reacting to the sight of Michael approaching. 

  Everyone is happy to see that Michael is back- Claire, Sun, Jin, you know, all the people who are hardly ever on the show.  The mood darkens, however, when Sun notices the blankets concealing two dead bodies and Kate and Hurley digging graves.  Michael explains that Ana-Lucia and Libby were murdered.  Hey, he ain't lying.

  13 days ago, Michael was led to a campfire with a bag over his head on the night after his capture.  Beardo removed the bag and got spit in his face in response to his friendly greeting.  Another Other brought in the Kate he found and captured, so Beardo warned Michael to be quiet while he delivered a message.  Michael overheard the confrontation between Jack and Beardo so Alex told him that everything is going to be okay.  Alex got called to bring Kate out but refused to do it.  Once somebody else did it, she asked Michael if Claire was okay and if the baby had been born.  When Beardo returned, the guns were divvied up and Alex apologized before knocking Michael out.

  In the present, Sawyer and Jack are collecting the guns they have left while Sawyer quizzes the doctor about what happened in the jungle with Kate.  Jack says there is nothing to tell-they took so long because they were caught in a net.  Sawyer grins and doesn't buy it.  When they exit the tent, they are met by Sayid and they confirm the news that Henry is gone.  Sawyer adds that they are taking the guns out to finish this thing, so Sayid asks when they leave.  Jack tries to explain about Michael calling the shots.  Sawyer sees the inherent flaw in taking Hurley over Sayid so he hands Sayid a gun and welcomes him aboard.

  Back in Station Three, Eko notices his cross being pulled by the magnetic hallway and then rushes over to enter the numbers when he hears the alarm.  Charlie finds him there, so Eko asks him to bring him his stuff.  Charlie is surprised that Eko no longer feels the need to build the church and is so upset that he tells the priest to get his own darn stuff.

  Back at the beach, Sawyer gives Michael the good news that Sayid is in and they are leaving in the morning.  Michael is upset by this but when he realizes that his overreaction is suspicious, he tells Sawyer that it is okay that he told Sayid.

  11 days ago, Michael and the Others ended their two day hike to Other Town.  Michael saw the rock his son mentioned and got a glimpse of how the Other side lives.  There are tents, and shoddy clothes and a hatch guarded by two men with guns.  Beardo instructed Alex to "tell her we're here".  Another guy came up and drew some blood from Michael.  Then a black woman came to see him and introduced herself as Miss Klugh (why yes, I did look up the spelling).  She began to ask about Walt's childhood such as if he ever appeared in a place he wasn't supposed to be.  Michael was confused and couldn't answer most of the questions, a fact Miss Klugh found interesting.  "For someone who wants his son back so badly, you don't seem to know much about him, Michael."

  In the present, Michael breaks the bad news to Sayid that he is not coming.  He again insists on doing things his way.  Sayid says "of course" and shakes Michael's good hand. 

  Elsewhere, Charlie is having a hard time building the church by himself.  Then Vincent brings him a Mary statue.  An incredulous Charlie follows the dog back to Sawyer's tent where he finds the entire heroin stash.  He takes the statues to the edge of the ocean and one by one tosses them all into the water.  When he is done, he notices that Locke was watching him from afar. 

  Down in Station Three, Jack confronts Eko about not coming back right away.  In typical Eko fashion, he answers without answering.  Jack tells him about the funeral but Eko has decided to mourn them in his own way.  Frustrated, Jack walks away.  He and Sawyer start loading up the guns and talking about Ana-Lucia.  Mistaking this for a boys' locker room, Sawyer admits that he screwed her.  'Got caught in a net', if you will.  Jack asks why he is being told so Sawyer admits that Jack is the closest thing he has to a friend.  All together now-Awww.

  No one else has noticed that Kate and Hurley are digging alone, so one-armed Michael comes over to help.  He tells them they are leaving in the morning.  Kate agrees, but Hurley says he doesn't want to go.  As a pep talk, Michael reminds him that Libby was killed.  Hurley says he is sorry about Walt, but he is not going.  Michael tries to protest, but Kate gets him to back off.  They continue digging in silence.

  3 days ago, Michael was tied to a post in a shack and asked Miss Klugh when he was going to be killed.  He was tired of answering questions he doesn't know the answers to.  Miss Klugh told him about the Henry situation and said that he and Walt can go free if Michael frees Henry.  Before agreeing to anything, Michael demanded to see his son, which finally was allowed to happen.  Walt was shown in and assured his dad that he was okay.  They just make him take tests.  Miss Klugh told him not to talk about it, so Walt asked about Vincent.  Walt tried to pull free and warned his dad that They are not who they say they are.  This angered Miss Klugh, who cut short the three minute visit.  Walt broke free and hugged his father, begging him not to leave him.  As Walt was carried away, father and son shouted I love yous.  Michael sobbed and told Miss Klugh that he would do whatever she wanted.  She handed him a list and told him that he has to bring them the four people on it and only them.  The list read:  Jack Shepherd, Kate Austen, Hugo Reyes, James Ford.  After he clarified who James Ford was (Sawyer), Michael's final demand was to get the boat.

  At sunset in the present, the funeral for Ana-Lucia and Libby is about to begin.  Locke does not attend, but instead cuts off his leg support and walks away.  As they walk toward the site, Jack tells Sayid about his dead father.  Sayid sympathizes, but moves right on to his suspicion that Michael has ulterior motives.  Sayid believes that Michael freed Henry and wants to lead his friends into a trap.  Jack is skeptical but Sayid reminds him that he was right about Henry being an Other.  They decide on a course of action- let things continue with Michael thinking he is in control until they can create an advantage.  The only problem is that they don't know how to get the advantage yet.

  Jack struggles to say a few words about Ana-Lucia, but not as badly as Hurley struggles to talk about Libby.  He powers through it with the help of Kate, then turns to Michael and tells him he is going to go after all.  It should be noted that Claire took Charlie's hand during the ceremony.  Things end abruptly when Sun notices a boat approaching.  A boat!  I don't think a sail boat can fit 40-odd people, but it's a start!

Next time:  We are promised some answers by voiceover man- What happens when the counter hits 0?  How did Flight 815 crash?  And has salvation arrived?   

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Top Ten

   I've had a little problem ever since I got this computer back.  And I do mean little.  It seems that all text and fonts are just slightly smaller than they were before.  Even at the top of this screen where it tells me the name of the journal, Journal: The Voyages.. is so small that it looks like a different font and the letters are all compressed.  I have tried everything I can think of to adjust the size but nothing seems to work.  This is getting very frustrating.

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  I read my wife's comments and agree with her correction of the goof she noticed on Greys.  Overall I was a little letdown by the finale.  After the mortal danger presented in the Super Bowl episode, I thought they would have something gigantic happen.  I don't care enough about Meredith for who she ends up with to be the cliffhanger.  I also thought Burke being shot would be a more life-threatening issue.  It would have been better to have the psycho gun man running around the hospital on the loose, I think.

  As for Prison Break, it was exciting to finally have everyone on the loose.  Though since they end almost every episode on a cliffhanger, there was not much they could have done to make a really great ending.  I'm sure in the first five minutes of the next season, they'll jump in a hole and get away or something.

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This Week's Top Ten

1. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley

2. Hands Open- Snow Patrol

3. Fraud in the 80's- Mates of State

4. The Number- Pretty Girls Make Graves

5. This Isn't Farm Life- Essex Green

6. Song With A Mission- The Sounds

7. Phenomena- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

8. Miss Murder- AFI

9. Conventional Wisdom- Built To Spill

10. New English- Ambulance LTD

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Health Update- Last night I pulled on a car door that I didn't know was locked and I really hurt my left hand.  It felt like the bruise was back and my wrist was throbbing all night.  I think there is something really wrong with my left hand maybe even beyond CTS.  Doc said to give it a few months, but when the hand that was operated on last Friday feels better than one that was done on April 3, that doesn't seem right.  Oh well.

 

EDIT: I had to increase the size of the text just so I could read this once it was posted.  I apologize if it appears gigantic on your screen.

Monday, May 15, 2006

The world is back on my lap

  My laptop was repaired successfully by the recovery disk.  My six chapters were not lost, so that's good.  of course, I can't write anything right now because when my wife is home, the computer is hers.  That's okay, though because I've been in a little bit of pain today.  I foolishly tried to squeeze toothpaste out with my right hand and paid the price.

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My wife noticed quite a significant goof on Grey's Anatomy.  If they don't address it on tonight's finale, I'm going to submit it to imdb and tv.com.  Dr. Burke was shot on his way into the hospital, but he had been traveling by helicopter, so he should have landed on the roof.  You've got some 'splaining to do, writers.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Another Post-op entry

  I can't tell you how much I did not want to have the surgery done on my right hand.  But the good news is that it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  I am not crippled and helpless after all.  It still hurts but I think righty is generally just tougher and more resilient than lazy, weak-minded lefty.  With lefty I didn't even want to wiggle my fingers for a week.  Righty is already doing some light grasping.  I got my jeans on, I can use a pen when I have to and best of all, I can use the mouse and type!

  Yesterday was my thirtieth birthday. Ouch!  Thanks to everyone who sent best wishes.  Here is what my brother got me:  http://shopzone.wwe.com/displayimage.asp?product=04009X.JPG

Neat!  Unfortunately, the wife would not welcome Carlito Bear into our bed. 

My mom handed me some cash which I used yesterday to buy the first season of Veronica Mars.  It's pretty good so far.  Remember I told you about our Target's blowout sales on DVDs?  Well they were doing it again.  Best Buy and a different Target want 45 bucks for Veronica and I got it for 22.99 at the Target near us.  Crazy!  They also had all the OC seasons for the same price, but it was my birthday, not Keri's.

  The best present I got was obviously the laptop, but something terrible has happened already.  Keri was playing Diner Dash on there and the battery died.  Unfortunately, when you're playing a game and the battery dies, the computer shuts down to protect itself.  Now we can't start it because it keeps making errors.  We called tech support and they are sending recovery CDs which don't come with the computer.  So even though I can type, i cant write. :(  As I understand it, the computer doesn't come with the CDs because it is supposed to save itself without them, as long as you dont have anything stored.  As Keri said, Who doesn't store anything on a computer??  We could have reset to factory default, but I would have lost the 6 chapters I worked on all week.  Not happening!   The lesson:  keep the laptop plugged in unless you absolutely can't.

  Also at Target we bought my mom a bicycle for Mother's day.  It didn't fit in the car so I rode it home.  During the ride I found something that my hand couldnt do.  Squeeze the brake hard enough.  That could have been a disaster, but luckily I have mad skillz.

 

Friday, May 12, 2006

:(

I don't want to go!!!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

LOST-Episode 45: ?

  Previously on LOST: Locke got trapped by the lockdown, Henry may or may not have pushed the button, Locke saw the blacklight map of the island, Hurley planned a picnic for Libby but forgot blankets, Jack demanded the guns from Sawyer, and Michael pulled off the most shocking swerve this season.

  At the beach, Mr. Eko is feverishly chopping wood when he is interrupted by Ana-Lucia.  He explains to her that he is building a church because he was told to in a dream.  Ana tells him that this is a dream now and turns all bloody right before his eyes.  She tells him he needs to help John.  Eko's thoughts start spinning and they are mostly Dharma related.  When it stops, he is in Station Three of the Dharma Initiative and his brother is seated at the computer.  Eko apologizes to his brother for getting him killed, but Brother ignores him and tells him that the work being done there is very important.  Eko must get Locke to take him to the question mark.  As things begin shaking, Yemi tells him to bring the ax.  This wakes Eko from his dream in a cold sweat.  Eko grabs the ax and tells Charlie that he needs to find John.

  In the jungle, Locke and friends bicker about how Ana-Lucia got the gun, but all that stops when they see Michael stumbling out of Station Three.  He explains that "some guy" had a gun, shot him and took off.  Jack helps Michael up just as Eko arrives to offer his services.  Inside, Sawyer and Kate are the first to see the gruesome aftermath of what Michael did.  Kate declares Ana-Lucia dead.  The armory is empty.  Sawyer hovers over Libby and gets a face full of bloody vomit.  Libby still being alive certainly gets Michael's attention.  It also cues the creepy LOST title screen.

  In a private moment, Mr. Eko says a prayer over Ana-Corpsia and notices Locke watching him.  Meanwhile, Jack and Kate try to keep Libby alive.  Jack decides that they need to go after Henry.  Sawyer reminds him that he is the only doctor and can't go.  Eko volunteers to go and suggests taking Locke and his tracking skills with him.  Jack agrees, but only if they come back the second they find something. 

As the two mysterious partners begin their quest,  Mr. Eko flashes back to when he was acting as a priest in Australia.  He takes confession from a man whose sin is forging ID papers for a man pretending to be a priest.  Eko meets him outside the confessional and pays the man for a passport.  The man offers to hook Eko up with some men in Los Angeles, but before they can discuss the matter further, they are interrupted by Eko's superior.  He tells Eko that he will have to postpone his trip because there has ben a miracle.  A woman explains that her daughter drowned, but then came back to life the next day.  Eko is assigned to the investigation of this miracle because of the fact that he doesn't believe it.

  Out in the jungle, Eko is in an awfully big hurry, which confuses Locke, who has seen no sign of a trail from Henry.  Eko turns around and asks Locke where the question mark is.  When Locke plays dumb and refuses to take Eko anywhere, he earns himself a disabling headbutt.

  Later, Locke wakes up and asks if Eko is insane.  Eko explains about the mission he received in his dream.  Locke shows him his primitive map and Eko uses it to determine which direction to go in. 

  Eko flashes back to his meeting with the coroner.  The man plays a tape of his autopsy where the procedure was interrupted by the horrible screaming of a girl coming back to life on the operating table.   The man gives Eko the tape, saying that he never wants to hear it again. 

  Eko and Locke have begun moving again.  Eko steps on a Virgin Mary statue and gets an idea about where they are.  They step out of the brush and see the crashed and burned plane that came from Nigeria.  Eko asks how the plane fell and Locke explains about the island demanding the sacrifice of Boone.  This perplexes Eko, so Locke drops it.  They decide to make camp and wait for their next sign.

  Back in Station Three, Jack wonders where Locke and Eko are.  Michael asks the all-important question.  Did Libby say anything?  Jack says no and adds that there is nothing he can do for her without the proper medical equipment.  Sawyer takes offense at the insinuation that he hasn't handed all the medical stuff over, but that's not what Jack means.  All he needs at this point is the heroin to ease Libby's suffering.  He insists that Kate go with Sawyer to get it.  Sawyer's dilemma is to either show Kate where his stash is or let Libby suffer.  For once, he does the right thing.

  Day has broken at the beach and as they walk, Kate can't help but wonder how Ana-Lucia got the gun from Sawyer.  Seems a little bit too soon to go back to flirting and teasing so soon or even during a tragedy, but what are you gonna do?  It's Kate and Sawyer.  He takes her into his tent and reveals that his stash has been right under their noses the whole time.  Hurley approaches and asks if they have seen Libby.  The camera pulls back so we can't hear, but we know that Kate is breaking some bad news to the big guy.

  In the jungle, Locke is sleeping and Eko sees his brother, Yemi calling to him.  He tells Eko to follow him and they begin climbing the jungle vines that the plane had initially been stuck in.  When they get to the top, Yemi tells John to wake up and Eko falls to his death.  Locke wakes up in a panic and Eko is pleased that Locke was dreaming.  This is confirmation that they needed to work together.  Locke reveals his dream and sends Eko on the dangerous climb.

  As he climbs, Eko flashes back to his visit to the not quite drowned girl's home.  The mother comes out and tells him that it is not a good time.  It is not long before Eko finds out why.  The man of the house, who just happens to be Claire's psychic, comes out and tells Eko that there was no miracle.  The coroner was a hack who couldn't recognize hypothermia and his wife is a zealot who wants to spite her husband.  When Eko asks why, the man answers that it is because he makes his living as a psychic.  The kicker is that he is a complete fraud.  Eko says he will report that there was no miracle.  All that matters is that the daughter is alive.

  Eko gets to the top of his climb and sees...a whole lot more jungle.  There seems to be nothing of importance there.  Then he looks back down at Locke and sees it.  In the brush on the ground below there is a pattern.  A pattern shaped like a question mark.

  Eko comes back down and sees that the ground that makes the mark has been salted so nothing can grow there.  Eko pokes at the ground with his ax and hits metal.  He and Locke push the plane out of the way and find yet another hatch.  This one opens much more easily than John's first hatch and soon the two menare staring at a long and dark descent. 

  In Station Three, Jack administers the heroin to Libby.  Hurley sits in sadness and tells Michael that they were going to have their first date.  Then he adds that he is glad Michael is okay.  Michael says nothing.

  Meanwhile, Locke and Eko head down the ladder.  Locke finds a lightswitch and the two enter a room filled with television screens.  Locke starts fiddling with the knobs and soon they are watching a very clear security style view of Jack walking around Station Three.  Next they see a computer with a prompt on it asking if the log should be printed.  Locke hits 'Y' and soon they have page after page of numbers, followed by "accepted".  41602108:05  accepted.  41602109:05 accepted  etc etc.  Eko opens a closet and finds a whole lot of notebooks.  Locke sees an office mail vaccuum and sends his drawing of the map up, up and away.  Then Eko finds something really useful- an orientation film.

  They watch the tape and see the same man as the first film-only he gives a different name.  They are in Station Five: The Pearl and their mission is to monitor the people in the other stations.  They are to observe a psychological experiment in progress.  The subjects believe that what they are doing is of the utmost importance.  Eko asks if they should watch it again.  Locke looks again at the screen with Jack on it and says that he has seen enough.

  Eko begins to gather up all the notebooks, thinking them to be important.  Locke scoffs at this, but Eko says the work in Station Three is more important than ever.  Locke, with his whole hatch-a-licious destiny crashing down around him, begins to whine and cry that everything in his whole miserable life has turned out to be meaningless.  He is nothing.  Eko says that the reason to push the button is not because they were told to but because they believe they are meant to.

  As Locke continues to rant and rave, Eko flashes back to the airport.  The young lady who died and was reborn has come to meet him.  She tells him that while she was between worlds, she saw Yemi and he gave her the message that he is proud of Eko.  He believes in him even if Eko doesn't.  Eko is furious, believing this to be a cruel joke, but the girl insists that one day he will believe her.  Libby makes a cameo to ask if everything is all right.

  Eko tells Locke about his brother and the almighty coincidence that put he and his brother, in seperate plane crashes, on to the same island.  He does not believe that anything that happens on the island is meaningless.  If Locke won't continue to push the button, he will.

  In Station Three, Hurley asks to speak to Libby.  In tears, he tells her that he is sorry he forgot the blankets.  Libby wakes up a little to gasp the word 'Michael'.  Jack assures her that Michael is all right, which gives Libby the peace she needs to die.  Okay, that's not quite right, but she's still dead.  In the other room, Kate bawls her eyes out and receives comfort from Sawyer.  As everyone else is busy being sad, Michael stands alone in the armory, practicing his evil glare.  The End.

  Next time: We learn how Michael was captured and what exactly happened to him, Sayid suspects that something is up with Michael, and Claire says Oh my God! as everyone stands on the beach and looks at something!   

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Birthday Blues

  I just found out that no one in my extended family can come to my 30th birthday party.  So not only will I be recovering from a depressing, disabling surgery, now I can sit at home and do nothing on my actual birthday. 

My family doesn't love me.  What a kick in the nuts!

 

***To answer Lisa's question from yesterday- I've been thinking about getting into 24, Veronica Mars, and House.

***Word Count: 6184

This Week's Top Ten

Here's what I've been listening to this week:

Prmotional consideration NOT paid for by myspace.com  

1. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley- www.myspace.com/gnarlsbarkley

2. Hands Open- Snow Patrol

3. Fraud in the 80's- Mates of State- www.myspace.com/matesofstate

4. The Number- Pretty Girls Make Graves- www.myspace.com/prettygirlsmakegraves

5. Skeleton Key- Margot and The Nuclear So and So's-www.myspace.com/margotandthenuclearsoandsos

6. Gold Lion- Yeah Yeah Yeahs- www.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs

7. Song With a Mission- The Sounds

8. Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

9. New English- Ambulance LTD-www.myspace.com/ambulanceltd

10. Bullets- Editors

Monday, May 8, 2006

The last days of the prime of my life

   I get very upset when someone tries to read my writing before I am ready for them to.  I think it's because it takes me a long time to convince myself that it is not total crap.  Plus, the first stuff I write is just the skeleton-I only want to get the story down-then later I worry about tweaking, adding, changing and decorating.  The part I'm doing now is just embarrassing and I get completely mortified when people want to read it. 

  In other words, I owe my brother an apology for ripping my laptop out of his hands yesterday. :)  But that's why.

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  It's birthday time this Saturday.  As if turning thirty isn't depressing enough, I will also be incapacitated by my surgery.  Worst birthday ever!  Since I will be able to do absolutely nothing for the next month, I would like DVDs for my birthday.  Preferably TV shows I haven't seen so I can just watch many hours of episodes all day long.

  I was complaining at dinner about getting older, but Kasey put everything in perspective by assuring me that I still have 15 years left.

LOST- Episode 44: Two For The Road

  Previously on LOST: Ana-Lucia got her revenge on the man who shot her, Michael went after his boy, then much later, Jack and Kate found him in the jungle.

  Things pick up right where they left off last time.  Kate tries to revive Michael while Jack searches for the Others.  Kate tries to convince him that their friend was alone, so Jack reluctantly gives up the search and hoists Michael onto his shoulders.

  Down in Station Three of the Dharma Initiative, Ana-Lucia makes sure that Locke is asleep, then stares at the armory door.  She flashes back to the police station parking lot (she parks near cars # 23, 16, and 15) where she is met by Chief Mom.  They go for a ride to the morgue and Mom shows Ana the corpse Ana recently created.  Mom knows her daughter did it, and Ana knows her Mom knows, but instead of accepting help, Ana decides to quit the force instead.

  In the armory, Ana-Lucia brings Henry some food and tells him how she used to be a cop.  He mumbles something which makes her lean in closer and walk right into his trap.  Henry strikes fast and hard-choking the life out of Ana and reminding her of how she killed two of his people.  Luckily for Ana, Locke comes hobbling in and saves the day by whacking Henry with his crutch.  This cues up the creepy LOST title screen.

  In flashback land, Ana-Lucia is now working in airport security.  She heads to the bar where she meets up with a man she has apparently seen there before- one Christian Shepherd-Jack's father.  They get to talking about how they both lost their jobs because parents and children shouldn't work together, and it is not long before the doctor is offering Ana a job.  Come to Australia with him and be his bodyguard.

  At the beach, Ana-Lucia is patching up her wounds and admits to Libby what happened in Station Three.  Libby, having seen a great deal of Ana's temper during the first 48 days, warns her not to do anything stupid.

  Back in Station Three, Locke enters the armory and begins talking with the now tightly bound Henry.  Locke asks why Henry attacked Ana-Lucia but not him when he had the chance.  Henry figures he is a dead man-either by Jack failing to strike a bargain or by Henry's great leader not taking his failure well- so he begins to finally spill the beans.  He says that Locke is one of the "good ones" and when he was captured by Rousseau, he had been on his way to LOST camp- to get John Locke!

  In the jungle, Ana-Lucia finds Sawyer picking fruit and asks him for a gun.  Sawyer, still a little sore from Jack and Kate running off together, says no.  Ana scowls and walks away to have a flashback.  It is a hotel room in the middle of the night and there is a knock on the door.  A drunken Dr. Shepherd tells her it is time to do what they came to do.  She drives him to a suburb and waits in the car while he pounds on someone's door and demands to see his daughter.  The woman who answers is not happy to see him, but before things can become violent, Ana gets out and pulls the doctor away. 

  At the beach, Hurley asks Sayid for the radio, but Sayid tells him it doesn't work.  Hurley had wanted it to score points with Libby, so as an alternative, Sayid suggests taking her on a picnic to the special beach where he once took Shannon.

  In Station Three, Jack tends to the injured and unconscious Michael, while Locke speculates that his return at the exact time Jack went out there was no coincidence.

  Back in the jungle, Sawyer senses someone following him and is not surprised to learn that it is Ana-Lucia.  She tries to take a gun by force but is quickly overwhelmed by Sawyer's manpower.  He lays on top of her and taunts her.  Tough girl Ana secretly thinks submission is hot, so she kisses him.  One things leads to another and since this is not HBO, we have to take a commercial.

  Back in Australia, Ana is driving Dr. Shepherd somewhere and calls him pathetic.  He doesn't disagree.  She asks why they are there and he says it is because he can't make up with his son.  He has run away, just like her.  He notices that they have stopped the car in front of a bar and invites her in for a drink so they can be pathetic together.  Ana refuses and offers to get them both out of there.  The doctor says, no, he can never go back and gets out of the car without her-almost knocking Sawyer over in the process.

  In the aftermath of love, Sawyer jokingly wants to cuddle, but Ana stalks off, telling him that if he tells anyone about what they did, she will kill him.

  At the beach, Libby catches Hurley packing his bag full of food and he admits that he is busted.  She tells him she won't tell him what to do around food, but he was not cheating on his diet, he was packing a picnic.  Even though the surprise is spoiled, Libby still agrees to go with him.

  In Station Three, Jack notices Ana-Lucia's cut but she and Locke don't tell him how she really got it.  Kate comes over and tells them that Michael is awake now.  He is groggy for a minute, but comes around and begins to tell his tale.  He followed an Other to their camp.  They are dirty, mostly old people and women, and they live like animals.  They only have two guns which they use to guard another hatch.  Michael thinks Walt is in there and he came back because he knows that collectively- "we can take them."

  Later, Jack apologizes to Locke about the whole Henry business.  Locke and Sayid were right all along.  Locke forgives him and asks in return to be let in on it next time Jack makes a move.  Jack's next move is soon, it turns out.  It is time to get the guns back from Sawyer.

  In the jungle, Libby is pretty sure that she and Hurley are LOST, but he thinks they have found just the place.  He shows her the most romantic, private beach ever, but then Libby notices Jin fishing and realizes that they have not gone very far at all.  They decide to just have the picnic there, but Hurley didn't bring blankets or drinks either.  She still appreciates the gesture and tells him to go get drinks while she gets the blankets and they will still have the picnic-eventually.

  Elsewhere, Sawyer is reading Bad Twin- coming soon to a bookstore near you!  Jack interrupts him and gets right to it.  He tries the bully approach by throwing the manuscript into the fire and pulling out his gun.  Sawyer reaches for his own gun and finds nothing.  Not hard to figure out what happened there.  When Locke realizes what Ana has done, he says that he has to tell Jack something.

  In the armory, Ana-Lucia throws Henry a blade and instructs him to cut himself free.  As he does this, he tells her that Goodwin thought she was misunderstood and could be saved.  "But he was wrong."  He stands up and Ana pulls the gun on him.

  At the airport, we get our third helping of Jack arguing to get his father's casket on the plane back to L.A.  Ana-Lucia is watching from the back of the line.  Jack's grief reminds her of what is really important in life, so she calls her mother and cries for forgiveness.  She just wants to come home.  Mom says that she will be at the airport waiting for her.

  In Station Three, Ana-Lucia is pretty upset, but not having the cajones to murder someone is not something to be upset about!  She's a decent person after all!  Michael, however, has much fresher and deeper motivation to want the Others dead, so he offers to kill Henry for her.  She sees the conviction in his eye, gives him the combination and hands over the gun.  Michael stares at the gun for a minute in near tears, before apologizing to Ana-Lucia and shooting her dead!  Libby comes to see what all the commotion is about but calling Michael's name only earns her two slugs in the gut.  The lesson, of course, is Never drink and drive, kids!  Michael looks horrified by what he has done, but he presses on with his dark motives.  He opens the armory door, stares down Henry and then shoots himself in the shoulder.

  Next time: Locke and Eko go on a mission and, Tailies be damned, it looks like Eko falls from quite a great height. 

Saturday, May 6, 2006

Get This!

  When we went to get our pizza last night, the new place we tried didn't accept cards of any kind.  Can you believe that?  In this day and age of convenience-of paying for gas by pressing a button, or swiping a card to get your Big Mac-there is still a place out there that only takes cash!  We actually had to go to a gas station and pay a fee to use the ATM so that we could have dinner.

  That's not the best part, though.  Kasey noticed this on the ride home and it was hysterically ironic.  On the top of the pizza box was an ad.

An ad for the Visa check card.

 

Word count: 3608

Friday, May 5, 2006

Production

Today was a pretty productive day.  I'm happy.  That's why the title of this is Production and the mood is Happy.

  First, I finally got someone on the phone about some worker's comp thing I got in the mail telling me I have to fill out some forms or I'll be fined.  Apparently I wasn't supposed to get that-it was supposed to go to work.  The guy I talked to told me that they probably got a copy and it was for them to worry about.  I should do nothing.  No problem there.  Nothing is all I've done since December.

  Next, I wrote the prologue to my novel as well as 5 more pages of chapter 1.  I am rolling.  My goal is to get as much done as possible in the next week before I lose the use of my right hand for a while.  Bad news: I cut the LOST recap out of my plans for today.  I'm still kind of mad about that, anyway.

  I discovered something else pretty cool about Realplayer Rhapsody.  It gives me my own personal charts.  With one click, I can see what 60 tracks I've listened to the most, what bands I lean toward, as well as albums.  It's neat.

Second novel word count: 3124

Thursday, May 4, 2006

ARG!

Laptop waited less than 24 hours to irritate me.  I was 75% complete with the LOST recap when it decided to log me off and make me lose everything.  I'll do it tomorrow- I right now I am anxious to get to my more important writing.  Sorry, everyone.  :(

More exciting news

1. My laptop came yesterday so I am writing this in bed.  Now I can finally have the mobility I need to get some privacy and/or quiet when I am writing.  The other benefit I almost forgot about was that I can do the LOST recap today right into the 'puter without having to jot it down first.

2. I discovered that songs I have downloaded can be added to a Rhapsody playlist.  So all the songs I've been disappointed about because they 'weren't available' can be added myself.  And if you knew how excited this makes me, you would think I'm crazy.  Maybe you do.

I thought I had more, but I guess I don't.  I would like to share part of a conversation my wife and daughter had last night.   
Kasey:  fsku yuo
Keri:  bedtime

That was not punishment for trying to curse her out- that F word was somehow supposed to be 'Thank' .

Coming after my doctor visit: a recap of last night's fully loaded episode of LOST.  SEE YA!

 

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Oral Trauma

I just got back from the first visit to the dentist I have had in a long time. 

First, the hygeinist couldn't finish the cleaning because I was bleeding so much.  Then the dentist told me that I have to lose both wisdom teeth.  Hopefully, I'll stay smart.  Also, the tooth with the big chunk missing in my smile line has to come out, but that's not urgent.

The good news is that while I was in the chair, I thought of an improvement to my novel's plot.  Exciting!

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

By the Numbers

# of words in "Untitled Document", the tentative title of my second novel:  1860

# of hours spent writing yesterday: 4

# of songs on my Rhapsody playlist: 654

Projected time it would take to listen to that playlist from end to end: 1.7 days

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Lots of car time this past week, so I think I have to do a top twenty this week.  Here's what I've been listening to:

1. Crazy- Gnarls Barkley

2. Hands Open- Snow Patrol

3. Fraud in the 80's- Mates of State

4. Skeleton Key- Margot & The Nuclear So and So's

5. New English- Ambulance LTD

6. Bullets- Editors

7. Miss Murder- AFI

8. Conventional Wisdom- Built to Spill

9. Gold Lion- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

10. Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

11. Song With a Mission- The Sounds

12. Hard to Beat- Hard Fi

13. MakeDamnSure- Taking Back Sunday 

14. The Number- Pretty Girls Make Graves

15. Catastrophe Keeps Us Together- Rainer Maria

16. I Want You So Hard- Eagles of Death Metal

17. Steady, As She Goes- The Raconteurs

18. Dress Up In You- Belle & Sebastian

19. The Blues Are Still Blue- Belle & Sebastian

20. Mr. November- The National

Monday, May 1, 2006

# 2

  I have some very exciting news.  For the first time in over a year, I have been writing.  Over the weekend, I got an idea.  Then I went for a long walk and solidified it into an entire plot line for a novel.  So far I have 500 words with no signs of slowing down.  I am in the zone- the writing zone that makes you euphoric and excited and reminds you of what you can do.  It feels out of my control.  I don't have to force anything.  I'm amazed.  I had almost given up on this never happening again.

The bad news is that I might not be around here as much. 

  In other writing news, we ordered my surgery sympathy/birthday/father's day present last night.  It's a laptop, like I've always wanted.  Now I'll be able to do my writing from anywhere, which will come in handy for times like this morning, when I wanted to tear into it, but Kasey was playing on here.  I am excited.