What’re Words For, Part 19

Hi there, chummies. It’s that time again here in Philadelphia for candidates to start lining up for the mayoral election. The four-year cycle has come around again, and now Philadelphians can get ready for a long, mud-slinging 9month period where the mayoral-hopefuls tell us their ideas for solving this city’s unbelievable murder rate, the high taxes, the filthy neighborhoods, and the out-of-control pay-to-pay culture that exists within the city’s own government. Of course, none of them will be able to fix anything and are just blah-blah-blah’ing on and on to get your vote. Lucky for me I’m moving back to Maine in July, so I won’t have to be witness to the dirty politics that is so Philadelphia.

It seems appropriate to me that the word this week is so geared towards the people who are running for mayor in Philly.


Word: Scurvy (Adj.)
Definition: dirty or villianous
“Did you see the crew that got off that trawler?”
“Gorry, wasn’t they a scurvy-looking outfit! Hadn’t washed for a month, I’ll bet.”
“I know it. Enough to gag a maggot.”

(Definition from: "How To Talk Yankee", by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Have at it Philadelphia. You’ve got mayoral candidate scurvy one, scurvy two, scurvy three, scurvy four, scurvy five, and scurvy six.

Your outlook doesn’t look too good.

I’m a Loser

I’ve been dieting since December 30th, and in that time I’ve lost 30 pounds!

If you happen to find this lost weight, do NOT feel obligated to return it.

Lost, Season 3, Episode 9, “Stranger in a Strange Land”

Okay, sometimes it happens. Once or twice out of 22 episodes a year, we get that’s just kinda so-so. Last night’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” was one of those times. The episode moved. Kind. Of. Slow. And I’m not sure what the three big questions are that were answered. Yeah, we find out what happened to the kids and the other tailies. Yeah we find out about Jack’s tattoos. But, what was the third thing? Hmmmmm….

Anyway, the episode title is also the title of a song by heavy metal rockers Iron Maiden, it’s the body of a caveman found buried in the ice. Not sure that has anything to do with this ep other than something being out of place. It’s also a book by Robert Heinlein, better known for his “Starship Troopers” book that was subsequently made into a (really great!) movie. That book is about a human being that has been raised by Marians and eventually being returned to Earth and his eventual re-intergration with humans.

On with the show….

Jack: We learn about Jack’s stay in Phuket, Thailand, and the eventual tattoos. The girl he meets, Achara, tells him of her “gift”, and eventually Jack finds out she can “see who people are”, and she “marks them”. Not sure exactly what she means by she can see who people are, unless it’s a reference to her being psychic. In any case, after “seeing” Jack for who he is (“You are a leader, a great man. This makes you lonely, frightened and angry”), she puts the tattoo on him. She tells him that receiving the mark will have consequences, to which Jack replies “there always are”. After getting the tattoo, the boy who was friendly Jack on the beach (and sold him soda) now ran from Jack, even though the tattoo was not visible to the boy…it’s like he knew. Then Jack was beaten up by 4 guys (NOTE: 4 is one of the numbers) on the beach as Achara watches from afar. Jack is told to leave the beach and leave the country. It’s as though he’s a Stranger in a Strange Land. (funny that this takes place in Thailand although the tattoo is in Chinese). On the island, Jack is put into the same cage Sawyer was in, which he probably couldn’t stand knowing that Sawyer and Kate had bumped-uglies in there. In reference to Jack and Achara, you think they practiced safe sex, or did Jack just say “Phuket”? ha ha!

Karl: Still in the boat heading to their island with Kate and Sawyer. Hearing Kate and Sawyer arguing about where to put the boat ashore, he tells them to stop fighting, and that “God loves you like he loves Jacob”. The name Jacob has had a couple of showings this season: two episodes ago the name Jacob was part of the brainwashing video that Karl was being forced to watch; and, as you may remember during the first half of this season, there was mention of a “Jacob’s List”, but we have yet to find out about this list. After getting ashore with the boat, Kate, Sawyer and Karl set up camp, but Karl takes off on his own, and while crying in the jungle (“I thought you people were supposed to be tough?”) tells him to go back after Alex (whom Sawyer calls “Sally Slingshot”!!! ha ha!), the girl he loves and likes to name stars with. Remember, Karl told Kate and Sawyer about how he would lay in the backyard with Alex and name constellations, pointing one out to them he called “Ursa Theodorus”. In our own sky, there are two “Ursa” constellations, the Ursa Minor (aka Little Dipper) and the Ursa Major (Big Dipper). “Ursa” means BEAR, so I’m thinking Ursa Theodorus would mean Teddy Bear. Which, we do see one of the kids in the episode holding the teddy bear. Karl thinks he’ll be killed if he goes back, but leaves the company of Sawyer. He tells Kate and Sawyer that Alcatraz Island is where they work, not where they live, and that they give the kids a better life. (Goodwin also mentioned giving the kids a better life. What does this mean? How can life for the kids be better? They don’t even know of the Brady Bunch…)

Kate: Wants to go back to get Jack, but Sawyer does not give in. Her relationship with Sawyer is strained, as they are arguing most of the boat trip back to their island. She is rejected by Sawyer when he says he knows she only hooked up with him in the cage because “you knew I was a dead man”. Kate is upset, but carries on. She is pissed that he let Karl go, though.

Sawyer: Funny reference to the movie “Jaws” as Sawyer, Kate and Karl were leaving the Others island and on the way to the Losties island: Sawyer singing the same song that the fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) was singing right before the shark attacked the boat, “Show me the way to go home, I’m tired and I wanna go to bed, had a little drink about an hour ago, and it’s gone right to my head…”. I was half expecting the Dharma Shark to attack them! It’s gotta be fun to write Sawyer’s part, mostly for the funny lines they give this smart-ass. Examples: Kate wants to turn the boat around and go back for Jack, to which Sawyer says “What do you think Captain Bunnykiller (Ben) would do to us?” (Karl replies: “Kill you.”) Also, Sawyer referring to Alex as “Sally Slingshot”. Great one!! When Kate suggests they sail the boat around the island until they find their camp, he says “You got a map you ain’t showin’ me, Magellen?” The funniest line he’s ever uttered, in my opinion, was when Karl told Sawyer and Kate that they (the Others) work on ‘projects’, Sawyer says, “Like the steal-the-kid-off-the-raft project?” ha ha! Also, when Karl told Sawyer about laying in the backyard naming constellations, he says “You have backyards?” ha ha!

Juliet: Being tried by the ‘sheriff’ for her shooting of Tom Pickett, and this is being viewed by the Others. Jack lies to the person called the sheriff when she asks Jack if Juliet said she wanted Ben dead, when Jack finds out that Juliet will probably be killed for the murder, he enlists the help of Ben to save her. When Ben commutes the death sentence, Juliet is marked (just like Jack was ‘marked’) with a weird upside-down starburst burn on her lower back. Like Jack, Juliet is now a ‘stranger in a strange land’. This may put her on the outside of the Others, and maybe be the door that puts her in with the Losties?

Isabel: ‘The Sheriff. This is a new character, apparently responsible for the discipline on the island, because as we heard, they (the Others) don’t like when they kill one another. She does not look happy when Ben commute’s Juliet’s sentence, but follows-through on it. She was also able to read the Chinese of Jack’s tattoos, telling him the meaning: “He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us”, to which Jack replies “that’s what it says, but that’s not what it means.” I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her.

Cindy: The stewardess who served Jack his drinks on the plane flight, and disappeared when the Tailies were heading through the jungle with Sawyer in the stretcher going to the Losties camp. Now she’s back, and so are the kids. When Jack was in the cage, and Cindy came to talk to Jack, she said they were there to “just watch”. Watch what? And who were the other people with her and the kids? My guess is the other plane passengers who had been ‘taken’ during the night. I’m thinking they’ve all been brainwashed by this point, and are part of the Others village now. When Jack asks her “what are you doing with them?”, she replies “they’re not…ummm….it’s complicated….” What’s complicated? Are they “Watchers” now? What do they watch? Why do they watch?

The Kids: I remember Zack and Emma mostly, because they were the ones that Ana Lucia helped, which is why they asked Cindy to ask Jack how Ana Lucia was doing (they don’t know she’s dead). Spooky seeing the teddy bear again.

Ethan Rom: We find out that he was the surgeon/doctor on the island. Now he’s gone, and they only have Jack? Wonder how long he’ll cooperate with them….

Rousseau: We haven’t seen her in a while, but I’m wondering: In season 1, she said that The Others took her child Alex. We now hear that Ben is Alex’s father. So, if Ben and Rousseau are the parents of Alex, and Rousseau is not “in” with the Others now, I wonder if she too had been “marked” (like Juliet) for something she did against the Others, and was kicked out of the Others group?

Walt/Michael: Where are they? What happened to them?

Preview for next week: I think I saw Vincent…….

Until next week,

Namaste.

*joe

Cool LOST sites with screenshots and info:
http://lost.cubit.net/forum/index.php

http://darkufo.blogspot.com/

Givin It All Up for the Lent Myth

So, today begins the 40 day period the Catholics call Lent. This time is supposed to represent the fairy-tale story about Jesus going 40 days without food and water, or something like that.

But, I feel that since I really like the Christmas holiday (originally a winter solstice celebration that got stolen and renamed by the Catholic religion), I figured I’d go ahead and play along this year with one of their other celebrations and give up something. For forty days.

So, I’ve decided to give up eating Candi. But that’s only because she just moved out of Philadelphia and I won’t get a chance to see her.

LOST, Season 3, Episode 8 "Flashes Before Your Eyes"

Well, how many ways are there to say Wow? This was a GREAT episode. One of the best so far. Having Desmond’s story as the focus has filled in many pieces of the Widmore puzzle, and poses the question ‘what is fate’ to the Losties, and is it actually possible to change their fate by their actions, or will the island get what it wants no-matter-what.

Interesting that last week we’re introduced, via Juliette’s flashback to “Mittelos” Bioscience, with Mittelos being an anagram for Lost Time. This week, we experience some lost time with this Desmond-centric episode.

Desmond: So, our favorite Scotsman has the ability to foresee future events. He apparently has the ability to foresee future events while he’s going back to the past to relive past events too. Or maybe we were privy to what was going on inside Desmond’s head and what he was thinking when he turned the key to prevent the hatch from exploding. Or maybe time travel offers so many different options that we don’t know what is happening to Desmond. Suffice to say that Desmond’s flashback (within a flashback…what a novel idea!!!) shows that Desmond’s and Penelope’s relationship started off in the red (ha ha! The red paint spilled all over the floor when Des fell off the ladder in their flat, er, apartment) and was rocky for its entire run. Though they loved each other, forces conspired against them. Her dad did not approve of Desmond. The jeweler-lady did not approve of the relationship. And ultimately, Desmond opted to withdraw from it so as to continue on his fated path. However, some points of interest: Desmond foresaw the lightening bolt that was going to hit near Claire’s tent, so he built the lightening rod. Desmond foresaw Claire in the ocean, and ran in to save her. These events, however, were to save CHARLIE (who Des said would’ve been hit by the lightening and would’ve drowned trying to save Claire). As Desmond bounced between flashes, many of the Lost references popped up: the ads in the soccer stadium of the game he was watching were for Hanso Foundation, Apollo Candy Bars, Mr Cluck’s Chicken, Buddies Diapers, Oceanic Air. And 1:08 showed up on his clock. He was in the Widmore offices when a deliver guy came with a package for “815” (which as you all remember was the flight number of the Losties Oceanic airplane that crashed). But the interesting part was Desmond meeting the lady in the jewelry shop when he was looking for a ring for Penny. Desmond has an ability, and I think we’ll be finding out in future episodes that he will play a big part in solving the Lost/Island mystery. And even if he doesn’t, just remember to NEVER call him a coward. Des also had many “déjà vu” feelings in this ep, obviously tied into the fact that he was in his flashback WITH the knowledge of what has happened to him in the future. Make sense?

Penelope (Penny) Widmore: As the daughter of a wealthy, and apparently shady man, Penny has to deal with the fact that her father does not like Desmond. But Penny is not interested in her father’s wishes, and loves Desmond and wants to marry him. Problems for the couple begin almost immediately in the episode: Penny moving into Des’ apartment (“flat”) finds Des on the floor having fallen from a ladder while re-painting the walls with red paint (“I don’t even like red” says Des). As the flashbacks continue, we see Des becoming more and more distant from Penny, while Penny is still trying to hold on to him. When Des is trying to break up with Penny, she calls him a coward. Could it be that like Ethan Rom, Penny is just a recruiter for Hanso and for getting people onto the island? Not sure, but remember this: last year’s final episode had Penny searching for Desmond, and had picked up the hatch explosion, so has an idea where he may be.

Jewelry Lady: So, is this woman Desmond’s conscious, or someone who really knows what he’s going through? Maybe she's some kind of sage. The fact that she knew the guy in the red sneakers was going to die shows that she’s got the same kind of ability as Desmond. But she is in sync with it, explaining to Desmond that she couldn’t save the red-sneakers man because it was his path to die, and if she had saved him, the universe would have gotten him anyway because the universe has a way of “course correcting”, implying that if something doesn’t happen the way the universe planned, it will make it happen so that the event does happen eventually. So, predetermined events will eventually happen if they’re changed in advance. This of course freaks Desmond out. After spending some time with Jewelery Lady, she convinces Desmond that his path is to go to the island to push the button, and that this will be “the only truly great thing you’ll ever do.” Desmond leaves the shop, and ends up throwing the ring he bought for Penny into the river (the Thames, I assume).

Charlie: As he and Hurley go through Sawyer’s tent to look for supplies, they find the bottle of MacCutcheon Whisky, along with some other Dharma yummies like Macaroni & Cheese. They use the whiskey to get Desmond drunk to find out what is going on with him. How about the flashback where Des sees Charlie in London singing by the side of the road for tips? Charlie’s sign shows his full name to be Charlie Hieronymus Pace. How about that middle name? Charlie, however, finds out that Desmond created the lightening rod to save Charlie, who would’ve been hit by the bolt. Des also tells Charlie that the reason Des saved Claire is because it was Charlie who would’ve drowned trying to save her if Des hadn’t gotten to her first. Now, back to the part where Desmond sees Charlie singing on the street (Des recognizes Charlie, but Charlie does not recognize Des), Charlie is singing the song “Wonderwall” (by Oasis), but more importantly he’s singing the line “maybe you’re gonna be the one who saves me….”. Which, as we learn, Desmond DID save Charlie twice (from getting hit by lightening and from drowning). Wacky stuff.

Hurley: Nice to see him again! After Desmond pulled Claire out of the ocean, Charley asks “how did you know she was drowning?” As Desmond walked away without answering, Hurley replied “I’ll tell you how he knew. That guy sees the future, dude”. (Remember: in previous episode Des mentioned a speech to Hurley that Locke would give even though Locke had not given the speech yet.) Not much else for Hurley to do this episode except get drunk with Charlie and Desmond, but it was funny when Hurley, who of course has been in a psychiatric hospital, made the “he’s crazy” motion to Charlie in reference to Desmond! Ha ha!

Charles Widmore: Penny’s dad. Head of Widmore Industries (of Widmore Constuction, and Widmore Pharmaceuticals, one could safely surmise). Drinks McCutcheon whiskey to let Desmond know that this whiskey is top of the line, and Desmond does not deserve any, nor does Des deserve to marry his daughter. As part of the conversation, Charles tells Des of his hosting of an around the world boat race. Desmond is intrigued (and we saw more of this in last year’s Desmond-centric episode). Charles Widmore…..could he be the one who took over Alvar Hanso’s role? Could Charles be a competitor to Hanso’s research? I bet we’ll learn more about him in some upcoming episode (and no, I can’t foresee the future…just guessin’!) In Charles’ office was a picture/painting of a polar bear, and the word NAMASTE was written backwards on it (see attached pic). In a nice twist, Desmond DOES get to drink some McCutcheon Whisky when it’s presented to him on the island by Charlie.

Claire: It was so awesome to have her in an episode where she wasn’t yelling “MY BABY!!!” every 5 minutes. Ha ha ha!

Sayeed and Locke: Just in the episode to tell Charlie and Hurley that the island killed Eko, and that they need Charlie and Hurley to help keep the other Losties calm when they give them the news.

The color red: For those of you who saw the movie “The Sixth Sense”, there were some parallels that I noticed between that and this episode. One, the title of the movie “The Sixth Sense” is pretty much the ability that Desmond has. Also, in the Sixth Sense, you may recall that the color red was everywhere in the movie (doors, doorknobs, balloons, clothes, cars, etc). Now, in this episode, we were shown many things that were red: the man with the red sneakers; the red paint that Des was lying in after he spilled it; the red shirt he was wearing in the picture taken with Penny (in front of the fake marina print); Claire was wearing a red shirt when Des pulled her from the water; red box (cigar box, maybe?) on Charles Widmore’s desk; microwave flashes red light when done with cooking cycle; red boat on the Thames River; red bus by Charlie when he’s singing on the street; etc. Not sure it means anything, but it’s interesting to note.

The Tailies: With Eko’s death, I think they’ve all been knocked off, except for Bernard, Rose’s husband, but we see so little of their characters he might as well be a goner.

Miscellaneous:
1. “Make Your Own Kind of Music” by Mama Cass Elliott was playing on the jukebox; this is the same song that was playing in the hatch in the first ep of Season 2 (“Man of Science, Man of Faith”) when Desmond was working out before the Losties blew the hatch.
2. Desmond said he too has been on the island 3 years, same length of time as Juliette. Is it possible they arrived together? Do they know each other?
3. More father issues! In addition to the father issues already associated with Kate and her dad, Jack and his dad, Locke and his dad, Sawyer and his dad, Penny and her dad, we now find out that Desmond’s dad died.
4. Numbers: 1:08 showing up on Desmond’s clock; delivery to Widmore offices for “815”; Desmond on the island for 3 years; Desmond mentions having 3 brothers
5. Penny telling Desmond that he’s a “good man”…the Others are always talking about being the “good guys”
6. Both Charlie and Penny at different times calling Des a coward.


Whew! These wrap-ups keep taking more and more time to do thanks to all of the storylines that are wrapping around each other. Hope you’re not bored by the time you get this far!

Let me know what I missed.

Until next week,

Namaste.


Check out this site for great screen-shots:
http://lost.cubit.net/forum/index.php

Happy Valen-fuckin-tine's Day

Whoopee. It's Valentine's Day. A holiday created by a greeting card company to increase its profits by telling people that TODAY, more than any other day, you should tell your significant other how much you love them. Since you haven't been telling your loved one how much they mean to you at any point prior to today, it's time to do it. Yes, all of you couples are apparently so stupid that it takes a made-up holiday to get you to love each other. And amazingly, everyone buys into this.

So, I guess, I'll wish all of you a happy Valentine's Day, and I hope that after all of your flower and candy exchanging, after all of the dining out or homecooked meals, after all the 3 or 4 rounds of bootknocking that you do throughout today and tonight, and all of the little kisses and "I love you"s, you find that you're able to do all of this again tomorrow or the next day.

If not, remember you'll have your chance to do it again one year from today. And don't worry about forgetting the date, the greeting card companies will begin reminding you around the middle of next January.

And hey, greeting card companies, how about making up a holiday for everyone who is single. Yeah we don't have flowers to buy for each other, and we probably wouldn't go out to eat, but we'd probably exchange cards with other singles. And, like the couples on Valentine's Day, we would end the day in bed with the one we love most (ourself), and who knows, maybe even get lucky. Twice.

What would the "singles day" holiday be called? Happy Solitary Day? Happy Not Tied Down Day? Happy Not Having To Compromise on Anything Day? Happy Don't Have In-Laws to Hate You Day? Happy Grab a Tube Of Lube Day?

LOST Season 3, Episode 7 “Not In Portland”

Welcome back, Losties, to my weekly wrap-up of LOST episodes. It’s been a long hiatus, 16 weeks. A lot has happened in that time: people got engaged, married, and/or divorced all over the world. We celebrated the winter holidays and welcomed in a new year. Brittany divorced K-Fed. We won the Iraq war. Oh wait…nix that last one.

But now it’s back to the show you’ve come to love, LOST.

Last night’s ep was a Juliette-centric episode. Without further delay, let’s chat:

First and foremost, in reference to the episode title, I guess we can all agree that the island is “Not in Portland (Ore.)”. ha ha

Juliette: We first see Juliette going into a room in Miami, Florida, and passes ETHAN ROM on the way in. (Note: Remember that LOST uses lots of anagrams: ETHAN ROM = OTHER MAN). Juliette is treating her sister with an experimental drug in the hopes of allowing her to become fertile. We don’t learn what she is suffering from disease-wise (or I missed it), but when the sister tells Juliette that she is indeed pregnant, the look of success on Juliette’s face implies that the drug does work. We meet Juliette’s ex-husband, Edmund Burke (note: found an Edmund Burke on the ‘net, and he was a supporter of the US colonies during the Revolution, and he lived in England. Don’t know if that has any reference to this character.) When Edmund finds out that Juliette’s work has led to the successful pregnancy of her sister, he wants in and promises to not spill the beans that she was doing the testing illegally. Juliette then goes for a job interview in Portland, Oregon with Mittelos Bioscience (ANAGRAM TIME: MITTELOS = LOST TIME), who want her to work for them due to her abilities as a fertility doctor. She interviews with a Dr Albert. She turns down the job saying the ex wouldn’t let her leave her current job to take this one (she knows he would hang her work on her sister over her head to keep her, probably), but wishes she could. When he asks “what can we do to get you here?” she says she wishes her ex would be hit by a bus, which of course he is later in the episode. On the island, Juliette assists in the freeing of Kate and Sawyer because she wants Jack to save Ben. She and Ben, we find out from Tom (aka Mr Friendly), “got history”. To have Jack save Ben, Juliette kills Danny Pickett, and lets Kate and Sawyer take Alex’s boat to get back to their island. Juliette tells Jack that she’s been on the island 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days, and Ben had told her while he was on the surgery table that if she convinced Jack to save him, he would finally let her go home. If she’s been on the island that long, it would mean she probably missed the birth of her sister’s baby.

Jack: Uses the surgery on Ben to create a way for Kate and Sawyer to escape: by nicking Ben’s kidney sac, he gives the Others 1 hour to let Kate and Sawyer go or he’ll let Ben die. Tells Kate via walkie talkie to NOT come back and look for him, but for them to get away. Funny line was when Jack and Tom were in the observation area of the OR watching Juliette talking to Ben, and Tom says, “I’m Tom, by the way.” Ha ha!

Kate/Sawyer: In their escape from the cages, they get help from Alex, who we know as Rousseau’s daughter who, according to Rousseau, was taken from her by The Others when her shipped crashed on the island. How great was it when Sawyer took Pickett and smashed his head 3 times against the cage button so that he would get the shock?? Ha ha! Alex agrees to help them escape if they’ll help her find her boyfriend, Carl, who had been in the cage across from Sawyer the first day he was caught by The Others. While running from the Others, Alex hides Kate and Sawyer in an underground bunker. Sawyer: "Nice to meet you, Sheena.” Ha ha! They help her find Carl, and eventually get him to Alex’s boat with them. When they leave the island, they take Carl with them.

Alex/Carl: Rousseau’s daughter? Maybe not. In talking to the guard of the building where they think Carl is being held, he says “your dad doesn’t want you out here”. Who’s her Dad? Referring to Ben, perhaps? They find Carl in a room in the building being pounded with loud music, and a bizarre looping film with God references, weird images, and several other references to being “loved”, and also see the name “Jacob” a lot. (In the Bible, Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah. He married Rachel [NOTE: Rachel is the name of Juliette’s sister] and ended up working for Rachel’s dad. He’s the one who dreamt of the ladder that reached from Earth to Heaven , Jacob’s Ladder. He was always in trouble, but still was close to God, showing how forgiving God could be. As a note, Rachel was sterile and was unable to have kids with Jacob. Nice parallel, eh?) So, the film may have been a way to let the “troubled” Others know that no matter how far they stray, they would always be welcome there. Scary the way he was being brainwashed, though. How many of you were thinking “this is so Clockwork Orange”? ha ha! As Kate and Sawyer were getting ready to leave the island in Alex’s boat with Carl, Sawyer says: “So, you’re the boss’s daughter? I didn’t see that coming.” Ha ha! Great line. But, Juliette tells Alex that she can’t leave and has to go see her father (Ben?). She stays behind as they leave in the boat.

Ethan Rom: So, we’ve now seen that the Hanso Foundation had ‘recruiters’ working off the island to find people to bring to their location. Ethan was one of those ‘recruiters’, and apparently so is Dr Albert (reference to Einstein, who worked on matters associated with time?). Ethan showed up again later in the episode, with Dr Albert, in the morgue where Juliette went to ID the body of her ex-husband who had been smashed by the bus. How many of the other Losties were ‘recruited’ do you think? Well, the psychic that Claire visited in Season 1 could well have been one, telling her to go to LA to give up her baby. And, remember that Kelvin at one point said something about being a Hanso worker for over 10 years (and he was also in the Gulf War…maybe ‘recruited’ Sayeed”?). In the morgue, Dr Albert tells Juliette to come work for them, but when she asks if her sister can come to, they tell her that their office is “not quite in Portland. We’re remotely located.” Yeah…no kidding.

Miscellaneous:
1. Did you see that when the ex-hubby (Edmund) got hit by the bus, there was an ad for Apollo Candy Bars on the side of the bus?
2. There were lots of mentions of the number 3 in this episode: Juliette asked for “three minutes” to talk to Ben. (Side note: remember last year’s ep where Ms Klugh gave Michael “three minutes” to talk to Walt.) Sawyer smashing Pickett’s head into the cage button 3 times. Also, Juliette has been on the island 3 years. I think (have to re-watch the episode this weekend) that Juliette fired 3 shots to kill Pickett.
3. In the brainwashing video, at the end, there was a clip with Dr Gerald DeGroot in it.
4. Guard at the building where Carl was being held was reading “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking.
5. Did you notice the Widmore items, also?? Check the screen shot.
6. Did you see the Oceanic airplane fly past Rachel’s window in Miami?
7. I’m beginning to wonder if Hanso has “recruiters” working on the outside to get people to the island, then maybe the Losties plane (Oceanic 815) was supposed to land somewhere on the island, but crashed when Desmond didn’t push the button. I know, we haven’t seen a landing strip that long, but I’m just putting it out there for you to ponder. So start pondering.

I was very happy with this episode, and look forward to the next 15 uninterrupted episodes!!!

It’s so nice to be back! ;-)

Have a good day.

*joe

Check out some great screen shots here:
http://lost.cubit.net/forum/index.php
Look under the INVESTIGATIONS link on the left side, and then select Season 3.

What're Words For, Part 18

Well, winter has sure come-a screaming into the Philadelphia area these last few days. We had been cruising along this winter with temperatures in the 50s and sometimes 60s, but the last couple of days have found temps bottoming out in the teens, and adding in the wind, the temperature has been sitting in the "minus" numbers. Brrrrrrrrr......

I guess I should start getting used to it what with my impending move back to my home state of Maine this coming July.

Today's word? Has something to do with it being cold....

Word: Bahmy (Adj.) balmy

Definition: Use this for irony. Said of fiercely cold temperatures.

Usage:

"It was cold up there on Spider Lake?"

"Bahmy. Thirty-five below on the last day of February. Never did get much fishing done."

"Well, wan't no blackflies to bother ye."

(Definition from: "How To Talk Yankee", by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

I guess you could say that Philadelphia has been a bit bahmy these last few days. And judging by the forecast for the next several more days, we'd better get used to it.

The Post Where I Mention "Weed"

I heard a funny joke yesterday.

Q: What do Notre Dame football and weed have in common?

A: They both get smoked in bowls.

How funny is that??? ha ha ha ha!

Groundhogs and Wings

On this Friday, February 2nd, all of Pennsylvania is abuzz with two major festivities occurring today. One is known nation-wide, the other is more of a local thing. But both draw big crowds at their respective events, and the attendees at both of them have most likely been drinking in the hours preceeding the events.

The first celebration is known all across North America as Groundhog Day. While several states lay claim to “the groundhog”, everybody else knows that “the” groundhog that matters on this annual tradition resides in Gobblers Knob, PA, and his name is Punxsutawney Phil. Punx gets yanked from his cage…I mean, makes his appearance…and if he sees his shadow, winter lasts six more weeks, if he doesn’t then the winter will be ending on time. Turns out that this year Punx did not see his shadow, so we’re supposed to expect the winter to end on time. We’ll see if that works out.

And yes, Groundhog Day is also a hilariously funny movie starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott.

The other big event happening in PA today is the Wing Bowl. I guess the Wing Bowl is actually more of a Philadelphia thing than a Pennsylvania thing. The Wing Bowl is a gluttonous Buffalo wing eating contest that is attended by thousands. Now in it’s 15th year, the Wing Bowl was started in 1993 by two DJs from Philadelphia’s WIP AM Sports Talk station because they decided that if no Philadelphia sports teams could bring any kind of championship to the city, then they would. So they came up with this Buffalo wing eating contest, called it the Wing Bowl, and that first year had only a couple of contestants, was held in a hotel meeting room, and the winner won a Hibachi grill.

Now, all of these years later, the Wing Bowl is held in the Wachovia Center, the arena where the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team play. Tickets always sell out about 5 weeks in advance, and most of the 20,000+ who show up for the 5am doors-opening have already started drinking. The event begins at 6:30am to lots of pomp and circumstance, with each of the dozen or so contestants being announced to the table like a boxer to the ring, their posses accompanying them on the walk, the crowd cheering, or booing, accordingly. Once seated, there are a couple of rounds of 5 minutes of wing eating, and people are eliminated based on consumption. In the end, one person wins, and now instead of getting a Hibachi grill, they win a car! Not a bad prize I’d say.

So folks, the state of Pennsylvania just gets crazy early in the month of February each year. Don’t you wish you could just live here? Of course, this being Philly and all, you'd expect that the eating contest would be cheesesteaks. Hey, maybe the city of Buffalo should have an annual Philadelphia Cheesesteak eating contest.

Whatever, I'd rather just have a Groundhog burger.

UPDATE at 3pm on February 2, 2007: The winner of the 15th Annual Wing Bowl was the returning champ, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, from San Jose, California. Joey was also the winner of last years event, and word is that next year, the winningest Wing Bowl eater, known as El Wingador, will face off against Jaws Chestnut. Wow. The world waits in anticipation.

I’m a Code-iac

Last night, I was ramming around New York City for the first time ever. (Caveat: I was in Queens a couple of years ago with a friend of mine visiting her grandmother, but we went to Queens, visited gram for a few hours, and then drove back to Philly. We didn’t go into the city, so I’m not counting that time.) Manhattan to be more specific.

The reason for my big city adventure? What other reason could there be? THE CODES were playing at the Knitting Factory!

Yeah yeah…you’ve read all about The Codes here at TFKoP. You may have even used the handy-dandy link I’ve provided for you on your right to link to their website. I don’t really need to re-iterate that they are friends of mine, and have a really great band.

Last night was their second time performing at the Knitting Factory. The room they played in was deep in the basement of this old building. Deep enough that there wasn’t even cell phone service. They were the second of 4 bands playing, and there were a lot people there to see them.

Their sound, to me, is sort of like Buffalo Tom. You remember them, right? **waits patiently for everyone to say “yes we do”** A rock sound with an alternative bend to it. Together since last summer, they spent 3 months practicing their all-original songs, and since October, have begun to appear at clubs or parties as their name slowly makes its way into the pulse of the Philadelphia (and I guess NYC) music scene.

Last night’s show was a 9-song set, and they actually did a cover (It’s a Shame About Ray) for the first time live. Some of the other songs in the set included: Inspiration (one of my personal faves); Brain Game; Honor Plan; Push Button Nose; Cara; Two Tone Monkey; and Houseboat. There were a couple of more they played, but I couldn’t recall them this morning, the aftereffects of far too many Yuengling Lager drafts imbibed on a work night.

We got back to Philly around 1:30am. It wasn’t easy getting up this morning, but my place in keeping the US economy going required me to go to work. And you know me…I don’t want to be responsible for wrecking the economy.

The Codes will next appear at the Khyber Pass in Philadelphia on Tuesday, February 6. I hope they finally do that cover of “Freebird” I’ve been asking for.