Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) baseball team hasn't played a home game since 2005?  The campus, located in Northeastern Maine, has snow well into May making it impossible to have their baseball field ready during the college baseball season.  So, the Owls have all of their games on the road.

The New York Times did a nice article about the team and you can check it out here.

Monday Morning Chuckle...another PM Edition

ringgggggg ringggggggg

"Hello?"

"Hi honey, this is Daddy.  Is Mommy near the phone?"

"No, Daddy.  She's upstairs in the bedroom with Uncle Paul."

After a brief pause, Daddy says "But honey, you haven't got an Uncle Paul."

"Oh yes I do and he's upstairs in the room with Mommy right now."

Pausing for a few seconds, Daddy says, "Uh, okay then, this is what I want you to do.  Put the phone down on the table and run upstairs, knock on the bedroom door and shout to Mommy that Daddy's car just pulled into the driveway."

"Okay, Daddy, just a minute."

A few minutes later, the little girl gets back on the phone saying "I did it, Daddy."

"And what happened, honey?"

"Well, Mommy got all scared, jumped out of bed with no clothes on and ran around screaming.  The she tripped over the rug and hit her head on the dresser.  Now she isn't moving at all."

"Oh my god!  What about your Uncle Paul?"

"He jumped out of bed with no clothes on, too.  He was all scared and jumped out of the back window and into the swimming pool.  But I guess he didn't know that you took all of the water out last week to clean it.  He hit the bottom of the pool and I think he's dead."

Long pause.

Longer Pause.

Even longer pause.

Then Daddy says, "Swimming pool?  Is this 555-733-5345?"

"No, I think you have the wrong number."

Lost, Season 5, Episode 10

He's Our You

Okay, first and foremost I must offer an apology. For the past couple of weeks I've been saying how it won't be long before Jack screws up everything Sawyer has been trying to establish within the Dharma Initiative (DI). Well, my apologies to Jack because it turns out it's not him who screws everything up, it's.....

Sayid: Sayid's refusal to kowtow to Sawyer's plan of having Sayid admit he's a hostile but would prefer to join the DI is a catalyst to the upcoming conflict, I now believe. Though it appears for a time that Sayid is going to take pity on child-Ben in 1977 because of his jerk of a dad, Sayid instead takes matters into his own hands and shoots child-Ben in an attempt (presumably) to stop what Sayid knows he will do in the future. Sayid is literally taking the age old question "If you could go back in time and kill Hitler, would you?" into his own hands by killing child-Ben. Sayid hopes to stop all of the madness that Ben will create in the future by taking this incredible step. In Flashback mode, we see that Sayid (in 2007) gets duped by Illana the bounty hunter and is caught and will be taken back to Guam to answer for one of the killings he did for Ben (killed a Russian named Andropov). Coincidentally, the trip to Guam is made on Ajira 316. It's too bad that Sayid has come to this. If Ben had stayed out of his life off-Island, Sayid probably would have gone on to a happy life with Nadia, but Ben's interference has again put Sayid into the doldrums and at that point he doesn't feel a sense of purpose. That changes when he sees child-Ben...his purpose is to kill Ben. Or so he thinks.

Ben: Ben as a child in the 1977 timeline is fragile, a condition we further learn has been exacerbated by his overbearing-blaming father. Telling Sayid that Richard told him he could become a hostile/Other but would have to be patient, child-Ben is intent on helping to get Sayid out of the cell so he can take him back to the hostiles part of the Island (despite Sayid not really being a hositle). Creating a distraction involving a flaming Dharma van crashing into a building, child-Ben gets him out of the cell only to have Sayid shoot him after he knocks out Jin to get the gun. It's doubtful, however that child-Ben is dead or if he is, will be for long. Adult Ben has been working off the Island (in 2007)to convince Sayid that he is a killer...all of the murders that Ben had Sayid commit in Nadia's name only reinforced Sayid's killer instinct. And also continued to fuel Sayid's hatred for Ben. Ben uses this hatred to his advantage in the future...er, I mean the past.

Roger Linus: Blaming Ben for all of his woes has made Roger (Workman) Linus the kind of person you could learn to quickly hate. We know that he already blames Ben for the death of his wife (Ben's mom, natch) during childbirth. As the janitor in cell where Sayid is being held, he puts down Sayid for being caught by the "dumb" people of Dharma. When Ben comes in to bring Sayid a chicken-salad sandwich, Roger freaks out and berates Ben in front of Sayid.

Sawyer: Sawyer's safe and secure standing in Dharma is turning into a house of cards thanks to the re-emergence of Kate/Jack/Hurley/Sayid, but mostly Sayid. Of all of the characters, Sawyer's seems to have gone through the most drastic change, at least regarding the Oceanic 815 people. He started the series as a cold and angry person, but has become a nice and caring dude. This is exhibited especially in his expression when he has to vote to put Sayid to death with the other Dharma Initiative group. He still believes he can get things under control, but this seems doubtful.

Oldham: "Hi I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl." Oldham is the Dharma Initiative's torturer in the same way that Sayid was a torturer in Iraq. As Sawyer says to Sayid when he asks who he is, Sawyer tells Sayid "He's our you." Oldham lives outside of the Dharma Village in a teepee/tent. He drugs Sayid and gets information from him about the crash of Ajira 316, which leads to his telling of the Oceanic 815 crash. When Sayid rambles on about the Stations (Flame, Swan), and the eventual death of them all, he believes he gave Sayid too much of the drug. Not sure at this point if they believe anything Sayid said, although Radzinsky's paranoia does.

Other characters:
Juliet / Horace / Amy /Jack / Kate / Phil / Hurley / Phil / Radzinsky / Jin

Double Take
--Sayid in airport before catching Ajira 316 sees Hurley, Kate and others waiting for the flight. Asks Illana if they can take another flight. Then he sees Ben and knows that things aren't good
--child-Ben gives Sayid a copy of Separate Reality by Carlos Castaneda, the story of a man who takes a drug-induced trip with an Indian (Yacqui) sorcerer. (And then Sayid ends up going on a drug-induced trip under torture.)

Funny
--"I just had a young Benjamin Linus offer me a chicken-salad sandwich...how do you think I'm doing?" Sayid to Sawyer
--"Don't forget to try the dipping sauces, they really bring out the ham" Chef Hurley to Kate & Jack when he brings them pancakes for breakfast in the mess hall
--"They live together, but not as roomates" Chef Hurley to Kate & Jack in reference to Juliet and Sawyer
--"Three years with no burning busses, you guys are back one day..." Sawyer to Jack after the burning VW Van crashes into a Dharma house

Interesting
1. The opening scene when Sayid (and not his brother) kills the chicken winning the praise of his father. This was similar in nature to the scene when Eko, instead of his brother Yemi, kills the man when forced by the gang to do so. (And Eko ended up dying on the Island...I'm just saying...)
2. Juliet again proves to be very alert when she notices that the return of Jack/Kate/Hurley/Sayid will be the end to of "all this". Sawyer tries to convince her otherwise, but she doesn't believe him and he likely doesn't believe it himself
3. For being such a smart guy, Sayid got caught pretty easily by Illana when she employed the oldest tricks in the book: wearing hot black boots and sex
4. While drugged by Oldham in 1977, Sayid gave up the information regarding both Oceanic 815 and Ajira 316 crashing on the Island to Oldham, Goodspeed, Sawyer, etc. He also gives up that he knows about the Swan Station, the Flame Station, and that they're all going to be killed. Hard to know if they believe him or not. I would expect that it's this information that somehow gets to Ben and he uses it in the future (2004) to organize the boarding of Oceanic 815 to get them all to the Island in the first place. Get it? Yeah..time travel paradoxes can be convoluted
5. The scene between Sayid and child-Ben before he lets him out of the cell: "My father was a hard man, too", Sayid says
6. When Sayid asks Illana if she's working for Ben Linus, a man responsible for genocide, she wonders aloud why she'd work for a man like that. "I did," Sayid says
7. It's very interesting that Ben told the O6 that they had to go back to the Island because the lives of everyone on the Island was in danger, when in fact nobody on the Island was in danger until the O6 did return

Questions
1. So, the big question for me is this: does child-Ben know that Sayid is coming? Again, and I've said this before, it seems that he does. Using experiments done by Daniel, is it possible that Ben (at some point in the future) was able to send his consciousness (not his body...his consciousness) back in time to when he was a boy? If so, this would then allow him (as a boy) to prepare for the arrival of Sayid on Oceanic 815, get him off the Island, then bring him back on Ajira 316, and Sayid would be full of hate towards child-Ben because the adult-Ben that Sayid knows is an evil, manipulative man who Sayid would just love to kill. This would mean that the entire time we've been watching LOST, Ben has been working towards getting Sayid to hate him and convincing him that he is indeed, Sayid The Killer. Now, if Ben, like Locke, had to make some sacrifice in his past for the Island, it could be that Ben's sacrifice comes when he's a child. But....
2. Do you really think Ben is dead? It's likely one of two things will happen: a) the Island will heal/ressurect him in the same way it healed/ressurected Locke and maybe Christian; or b) Jack will come in and do surgery to save child-Ben (just like he operated on and saved adult-Ben). But, if Jack does the surgery, it's going to give it away that he shouldn't be a janitor and that his aptitude results were probably fudged
3. Does Sayid's shooting of Ben begin the war that leads to the purge? Does it lead to the incident that Marvin Candle/Pierre Chang has referred to in the past?
4. Do you think it was Ben who hired Illana to capture Sayid?
5. What happens now to Sawyer's facade within Dharma? Can he (and Juliet/Jack/Kate/Hurley) remain undetected? And what role do they play in the upcoming war/purge/incident?

My one problem with this episode is this: when Sayid killed somone, he always pumped a couple of bullets into them just to make sure they were deader than dead. With child-Ben, he only shot him once - albeit, it was in the heart. C'mon. If he wanted child-Ben dead, he would've fired again. Of course, it's always possible that when Sayid said "I finally know why I'm here", it could mean that Sayid understood that Ben had to die in order to come back/resurrect to be the leader. That's a stretch, though, I know.

Tune in next week for Lost, Season 5 Episode 11 "Whatever Happened, Happened". Until then, be sure to use the dipping sauces!

Feel free to share your views, theories, money....

Wednesday's Word

Word: Barge (N.)

Definition:  container

One of the many names for the receptacle into which clams are placed as they are dug out of the mudflats: hod, roller, rocker, basket, etc.

(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)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that 40 gallons of maple syrup will only produce one quart of pure maple syrup?  It's maple syrup season here in the great Northeast...Maine being the greatest...and the syrup producers have been working long hours getting their delicious product cooked and bottled for sale.

This past Sunday was Maine Maple Sunday in which the sugarhouses of Maine were open to the public for tours and tastings.  Very soon, Maine maple syrup from this spring will be arriving somewhere near you. While Vermont leads the US in syrup production, it's really no contest...Maine's is better, but we also like our New England neighbor's syrups, too.

It's great on your standards like pancakes, but here's a little taste-tip for you out there:  take it from this Mainah - next time you're dishing out some ice cream, put a little maple syrup on it. It takes the word YUM to new levels of yummyness.

Monday Morning Chuckle

The pope has been blathering on lately that people shouldn't text during lent (LOL!) and that Wiccans should repent their religion...blah blah blah.  Shut up, dude.  You should instead be focusing your attention to this:  nun soap that looks like a dick!

I bet it's a smash in the nunnery.

Thanks: fail blog

Lost, Season 5, Episode 9
Namaste

Sawyer: Three years in the Dharma Initiative (DI) has gotten James (and Juliet/Jin/Miles) deeply entrenched in their culture, so don't expect James to concede any power to "act-without-thinking" Jack. Remember that during his time with the Losties when they first crashed, Sawyer's attempt to lead was always quashed by either Jack or John Locke. Not anymore. Dealing with the introduction of Jack, Kate and Hurley into the DI is Sawyer's focus, although Sayid's appearance does create problems. Sawyer, still known as LaFleur (French for 'the flower') to the DI folks, tells Jack that he likes to read because it gives him time to think, something Winston Churchill once claimed to do. Tells Jack that Jack's "act without thinking" philosophy always got people killed and so now he'll just have to concede that it's Sawyer who is now running things regarding whatever it is they have to do.

Jack: Jack is introduced to Dharmaville by Sawyer as an arrival on the submarine. Funny that Sawyer sets it up so that Jack's aptitude results dictate that he should be a Workman. HILARIOUS! Jack, however, does not appear to be happy knowing that it's Sawyer calling the shots now. If Jack tries to wrest this control from him, it would blow Sawyer's three years of infiltrating the DI. Jack's going to be busy as the Island's janitor so that should keep him occupied for a while! haha! But you just know that Jack is somehow going to screw all this up. And I wonder if he'll be seeing his father again on the Island? Maybe his father is not there in 1977...or is he?

Hurley: Points out to Sawyer that the Dharma Initiative gets wiped out by Ben in their future. Wonders if Sawyer has a plan for that.

Pierre Change: aka Marvin Candle. He's seen in this episode in the welcoming video that is playing to the recruits arriving from the sub, and also assists in checking the recruits in, including Jack. He's complaining that he got pulled out of his lab to assist with checking people in and that things are out of sorts. He still has full use of his left arm, so the 'incident' he has referred to previously in the hatch-videos has not yet happened.

Sayid: He's also returned to 1977, but he's still in the handcuffs he was escorted onto Ajira 316 wearing. Since the FBI Agent (Illana) ended up in 2007, I guess he's hoping someone has a cuff-key, eh? Until then, he's labeled as a hostile and Sawyer has to treat him as such until he figures a way to get Sayid out of this situation. Until then, Sayid will be kept in a jail cell and monitored. Phil has already got it in for Sayid because of the whole hostile-thing, and Phil will likely be a problem in the future. Or past. You know what I mean.

Sun: Still lying and manipulating, Sun in 2007 gets Ben to divulge where on the Hydra Island (the Island where the Others live/lived) she can find the dock and then whacks him on the head with an oar. She and Lapidus then row to the Island where they are met by Christian. Sun, as per Christian, will have a long journey to find Jin (who is 1977).

Ben: Time-hopped back to the Island in 2007, begins to head over to the Hydra Island where the Others were originally settled. Convinces Sun that this would be the place to look for Jin (not aware that Jin is back in 1977). Once he gives up the location of the dock on Hydra she wallops him with an oar. Ben falls unconscious and is left on the beach near the outriggers, one of which Sun and Lapidus take. Knowing that Ben is eventually in the hatch with other injured people from Ajira crash, it's likely that it's this incident of Sun whacking him that injures him and lands him in the hatch where Locke will identify him as the man who murdered him. And what is it with Ben...is he superhuman? He's been shot, beat up numerous times, kicked, tied up, and now whacked in the head and yet he is still alive. Mr. Indestructible.

Frank Lapidus: While piloting Ajira 316 you could just tell that Frank was nervous. He handles the plane well through the time-hop and takes it to a runway on the Island (it's almost like he knew it would be there) and is able to land the plane. Follows Sun while she is tailing Ben, and accompanies her to the Hydra Island.

Caesar: Points out after the Ajira crash that there is another island across the water (the Hydra Island) and there are animal cages. He wants to go search the buildings and try to find a radio or food. He's obviously planted here for some purpose, but it's not clear yet which side he is playing for.

Christian: For whatever reason, I believe that Christian has now taken over for Jacob. Jacob's name is still being used by the Others who are not aware that this change has occurred. Maybe Locke will be the next to take over? But, take over what??

Other characters

--Juliet: Interacts with both Jack and Kate as they are being checked-in as new recruits. Not much else except to establish to Kate/Jack that Sawyer and her are now an item after having spent the three years on the Island

--Radzinsky: We heard about him from Kelvin, who was the other person in the Swan Hatch with Desmond. Just as a reminder: Kelvin had told Desmond that Radzinsky was the one who started the glow-in-the-dark drawing on the back of the hatch's blast door, but later Radzinsky blew his brains out

--Phil: one of Sawyer's security team. Phil is anxious to do something with Sayid

--Ben as a child in 1977 (about 12 years old): brings sandwich (no mustard) to Sayid in the cage he's been locked up in. The way that Ben looks at Sayid makes me think Ben as a child already knows adult Sayid

Double Take

--Crash/time-hop of Ajira 316 was awesome. Yikes for the co-pilot who didn't handle the birch-tree piercing too well, being dead and all

--The Muppet Show was playing on one of the televisions in the Flame Station

--Radzinsky (the former Swan Hatch partner of Kelvin before Desmond arrived) in the Flame Station working on the plans for the Swan Station

--The look on Juliet's face when Amy tells her that they've named their baby Ethan. The look on Sayid's face when the kid says his name is Ben

--It's been three years that Sawyer/Jin/Miles/Juliet have been living with the DI, and it's also three years since Jack/Kate/Hurley/Sayid/Sun returned to the mainland. It's crazy with the time travel because this means that Sawyer et al have had their three years covering 1974-1977, while Jack/Kate/Hurley/Sun have had their three year period from 2004-2007. Funky stuff, that time travel

Funny
--"Ohhh...what??" Hurley to Sawyer when he finds out their on the Island but in 1977

--"I actually missed that." Hurley to Sawyer in reference to the nicknames after they greet and Sawyer calls him Kong

--"So the woman who told you how to come back, did she mention that it would be thirty years ago?" Kate to Jack regarding Eloise Hawking and their landing on the Island in 1977 instead of 2007

--"I vote for not camping" Hurley answering Sawyer as to whether they want to go to Dharmaville with him or camp

--Ride Captain Ride (by Blues Image) playing after the recruits have been dropped off from the sub dock to be checked-in at Dharma Initiative. (Ride captain ride, on your mystery ship....)

Interesting
--It's interesting to note that all of the problems associated with all of the characters and stories in this show have to do with the fact that everyone is lying about something. Lying about how the O6 survived the crash, the lies they told of the other people from Oceanic 816, the lies about their pasts, the lies about their plans and schemes.... Hurley told his Mom he didn't like that they were all lying, so I think that the lying somehow plays into all of this

--Also interesting that Sayid is captured and labeled a hostile then locked in a room in the Flame Station by the DI in the same way that Ben was captured and labeled an Other (by Rousseau) and then locked in a room in the Swan Hatch by the Losties (Season 2)

--The word 'list' is used often in this episode, referring to the lists of names for the recruits who came in on the sub. There's also the updated list that Juliet has. Lists lists lists. Speaking of which, whatever became of Jacob's list?

--The whispers could be heard when Sun and Frank arrived at Hydra Island and walked into the abandoned Dharmaville. Right after the whispers subsided, Christian comes out of the building

--The picture that Christian shows Sun and Frank shows Hurley, Jack, Kate as new recruits from 1977, and he tells Sun that Jin was back in 1977 with them

--Hurley is assigned as a chef. Couldn't see what Kate's coveralls said her role would be. Not sure Hurley as chef is such a good idea...

--Loved how Sawyer told off Jack saying he preferred to think about the situations before acting, the way Jack did. Sawyer points out that Jack's ways always got people killed, and the fact that he has thought about the current situation he's been able to save Jack's/Kate's/Hurley's and Sayid's asses so far

--Part of the truce requires a "hostile" to identify themselves as one

Questions Answered:
1. Ethan is the son of Horace & Amy Goodspeed

Questions:
1. Why was there a runway on the Island? Was it built because at some point in time someone knew that the Ajira 316 flight would need to have a place to land?

2. Hey, here's one for you: who has been doing the food drops onto the Island? We saw that one parachute delivery happen in Season 3, but we never find out who was actually coordinating the drops.

3. Where is Daniel during all of this? Is this the point where he is working in the future Swan Station with Marvin Candle, aka Pierre Chang? Sawyer mentioned to Jack that Daniel wasn't there and he had a lot of theories about what's happening, but doesn't say where he is - or when. He must be on the Island somewhere, right?

4. Why do people who take the submarine to the Island have to be sedated first?

5. Was that the SMonster off in the distance that rattled the trees when Sun and Frank stepped onto the dock on the Hydra Island?

6. What is Desmond's role in all of this? Why is he "special"?

7. Where is Claire?

8. I still want to know who Ben got into it with before they went back to the Island? Who pummeled his face?

9.  Separate question:  do you think that the Black Rock ship ended up on the Island because it had the misfortune of being at sea in a place where the Island time-hopped?  I think this may be the case because of the ship's location is so far inland on the Island and nowhere near the shore.  The Island essentially just appeared under the ship.

Just a note: for those of you who get a chance, rent/buy/steal a copy of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 5) episode called Cause and Effect. Check out the synopsis at wiki. I said this to some friends a couple of years ago and now I'm sharing this with you: I think the LOST-story is going to be similar to the story of this ST:TNG episode. If so, WICKED AWESOME!

My thinking? We are watching an ongoing loop of a specific timeline. For whatever reason not yet explained, the Losties/Others/Widmores etc. are stuck in an ongoing loop that will forever be a battle for the Island between whomever is deemed good and whomever is deemed bad. Like backgammon...black vs. white...good vs bad. For us as viewers, the writers had to drop us into their story at some point, and they chose to drop us in at the crash of the Oceanic 815 flight and we've followed the story from that perspective. For this battle, Widmore is always going to send people back for his side, and Ben is always going to be sending people back for his side.

Tune in next week for Lost, Season 5 Episode 10 "He's Our You". Until then, right on! Enjoy some free Dharma hamburgers and punch!

What'd I miss? Feel free to share your views, theories, money....

Wednesday's Word

Word: Yo! (Interj.)

Definition:  Hail

Usage: Used when trying to locate someone who is at a distance -- down in the far pasture, maybe, or lost in the woods -- because of the sound's carrying qualities.

"Yo-o-o!"

Or:

Shorter form employed to stop a passing vehicle when you recognize an occupant and remember you wished to speak to him.

"Yo!"

(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)

Monday Morning Chuckle

Hmmm....maybe the advertising department for this fast-food chain should rethink this sign:

Or maybe it's just to let you know what the food tastes like....?

Wednesday's Word

Word: Mud season (N.)

Definition:  fifth season, between winter and spring

Usage:  From late November to the middle of March, the provident Yankee carries a snow shovel in the trunk of his car or the back of his pickup.  In mud season, approximately mid-March, he switches to a spade.  Roads and driveways, which had heretofore been dependable, firm gravel surfaces, become axle-deep soup.  Town meeting time always comes in mud season.

(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)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the last traditional stone-ground mustard mill is located in the United States' easternmost-city, Eastport, Maine?  (Eastport is first point in the US that the morning sun touches.)  Raye's Mustard has been producing stone-ground mustard since 1900, and has been in its current location since 1903.

Raye's has produced award-winning mustards, including two awards this year when their "Down East Schooner" mustard won the gold medal in the Classic Yellow Mustard category at the 2009 World-Wide Mustard Competition (held in Napa Valley, CA), and their "Winter Garden" (with hints of dill, garlic and celery) won the bronze medal in the Herb Mustard category.

The Raye family still runs the mill and produces a great line of gourmet mustards.  Their mill has a retail store, the Pantry Store, where their products can be purchased.  They also have free tours of their facility.  Visit their website here, Raye's Mustard, and if you're ever up in Maine, think about taking their tour.  Until then, look for their product.  It's wicked good, ayuh.

Monday Morning Chuckle - The P.M. Edition

Does your bar offer this sort of phone service?  If not, ask about it.

Lost, Season 5, Episode 8
LaFleur

Sawyer: Mr. Jim "Head of Security" LaFleur. After their last time jump (when Locke turned the wheel), Sawyer, Miles, Juliet and Jin find themselves back in 1974 on the Island. Sawyer spins a tall-tale that he and the others were part of a salvage vessel looking for an old slave ship called the Black Rock. At some point in the three years that he's within Dharma he earns enough trust to be appointed head of their security. He and Juliet are an item after three years together...but hold on, with Kate now back, who knows. (I hope the whole love triangle thing with Jack/Kate/Sawyer is done. Sawyer with Juliet is just fine.)

Juliet: Along with Sawyer she has become a part of the Dharma Initiative, but she is working in the auto garage, until the unexpectedly early arrival by two weeks of Horace and Amy Goodspeed's baby forces her into baby-delivery mode. She delivers the as-yet-unnamed baby boy via C-section, and the baby survives. This is contrary to her work previously on the Island (in her earlier timeline) when none of the babies born on the Island survived. Her relationship with Sawyer has completely developed over the 3 years they've lived there, 1974-1977. They're, like, a lovey-dovey couple now.

Horace Goodspeed: Head of the Dharma Initiative on the Island in 1974. You'll remember Horace (Mathematician) as the man who pulled over the assist Ben's parents after Ben was born by the side of the road (The Man Behind the Curtain episode), and Horace also appeared in John Locke's visions (Cabin Fever). Horace talks of a truce with the group of hostiles, but doesn't elaborate. The hostiles (led by Richard Alpert) have their truce violated when Sawyer and Juliet kill two of them who had killed Amy's then-husband Paul. Horace and Amy later marry and three years after the arrival of Sawyer et al, they become parents of a baby boy. Horace will later die in the Ben-led purge.

Richard Alpert: We already know he's been on the Island at least since the 1950s when Locke first walked into their camp (via a time-hop), but it's going to turn out he's been on for a very long time. Although the statue (from the back) appears to be the Egyptian god Anubis, wouldn't it be interesting to see Richard's face on the statue.

Daniel Faraday: Jumps to 1974, but Charlotte's body does not go with him. He tells the others that with their headaches and nosebleeds done, they've made the final jump. Where they've landed...when they've landed...is where they're staying. "The record is spinning again, we're just not on the song we want to be on." Later, in the Dharma village, he sees Charlotte as a little girl. (The same little girl who told Daniel as a dying adult that she remembered him as the crazy man who told her to leave the Island and never return.) Daniel's craziness may be starting at this point. But he still has work to do in the Swan Station and the electromagnetic force that's been discovered there.

Double Take:

1. The statue! From the back it appears to the Egyptian god Anubis. If you look it up, you'll likely recognize the statue. From the back, it appears to be holding an ankh in his right hand, and some sort of staff in the left hand. Paul's necklace was also an ankh. (Since we didn't see the front of the statue, wouldn't it be wild if the face turned out to be Richard Alpert's?) This statue is a tie-in with all of the hieroglyphics that've been seen in the wheel-room and around the temple.

2. With so the statue and hieroglyphics, it makes sense (in a Lost sort of way) that Hurley was water-coloring an Egyptian scene with the sphinx in the sanitarium.)

3. The submarine is already being used, and is offered to Sawyer, Juliet et al, but they pass and decide wait two more weeks. Heading back on the sub would put them in 1974, where everything they know "doesn't exist yet."

4. Problem with the Charlotte sighting: If that was Charlotte, the timeline was 1974. But, in a season four episode, Ben went on about Charlotte being born in 1979. So, this could be weird.

Funny:

--the brownie-infused-hootenanny going on in the Security Station between Rosie and Jerry. Buncha hippies. (That was Tony Orlando & Dawn's Claudida playing in the background)

--"Or maybe when we get there you'll want to go back to the Orchid again, and when that gets boring we can head back to the beach. It's the only two plans you people have." Miles to Sawyer when Sawyer wanted to head back to the beach. (Miles is taking over the funny-comment role that Sawyer used to have, it seems.)

--Horace hammered blowing up trees with dynamite. (Dynamite from the Black Rock, perhaps? If so, he lied to Sawyer about his knowledge of the boat)

Questions Answered:
1. The Dharma Initiative built the sonic fence.
2. The statue is Egyptian in nature.
3. Jack, Kate and Hurley land on the Island in 1974 and reunite with Jin and Sawyer.

4. Daniel is on the Island in 1974, which will likely be how he is able to work with Candle in the Swan Hatch and the electromagnetic force that exists there.

Questions:
1. Who does the baby of Horace and Amy grow up to be?
2. What is the war that's coming? Is the truce broken?
3. Is the statue a victim of the coming war? We know that it existed in 1974, but had been destroyed at some point prior to the Losties arriving in September of 2004.
4. How long before we reunite all of the Losties with Locke, Ben, and the rest of the Ajira survivors? Or, did the Jack/Hurley/Kate group arrive in 1974, but Locke/Ben/Caesar and the other injured survivors crash in 2008?
5. Was Ben on the Island at this time of the Ajira crash?
6. Will be soon be learning of "the incident" that Marvin Candle mentioned way back in the Swan Orientation film?
7. What made Juliet stay on the Island? She told Sawyer she'd stay two more weeks, but ends up staying three years. What happened to changer her mind? Does it matter?
8. We don't see much of Daniel: had he already been assigned within Dharma to work at the Swan Station? We know he ends up there with Marvin Candle. Does Daniel have something to do with the incident?
9. Where are Sun, Sayid and Frank Lapidus?
10. Why do I have to wait two whole weeks for the next episode??

I think there's still going to be one more time-hop. Somehow, somewhere, sometime.

In two weeks, be sure to tune in to LOST, Season 5 Episode 9, titled "Namaste".

Until then, enjoy your brownies and have a wicked awesome hootenanny.

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Honk (V.)
Definition: to move, or accelerate

Usage:
"He was honking it right to her when that deer jumped out in front of his pickup. Stove the grill all to hell."

Or:
Mother always gave my father credit for coining the phrase "honk her for home", which is still heard in the region.
"Seven o'clock. I'd better honk her for home. We've got company coming."

(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)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that today's date, when written numerically, is 3/3/09 and represents a date that is its own square root? That's right....3x3=9? So, the square root of 9 is 3. Wicked cool!

Next time this happens is 4/4/16. Then 5/5/25. Tune in on those dates when I'll point this out again.

Monday Morning Chuckle

An example of how ineffective editors are, I present the children's book below.

I wonder what the follow-up story is called...."Pet My Dick"?

Cardboard Carnival 2009

Yesterday, WKIT, Bangor’s rock and roll station, held their annual Cardboard Carnival at the Essex Street hill. (For those outside of Maine, we pronounce this kahdbooud kahnival.) This event is essentially a soapbox derby, but with sleds. There are only three items that can be used to make your sled. Being it’s called the Cardboard Carnival, you can guess that one of those items is cardboard. The second item is duct tape, and the third item is paint. Contestants each take a turn riding their sled down the hill and winners are decided based on the furthest distance traveled.



Here are some pictures of some of the great sleds created by the people who entereded the event. You'll see a school bus, a couple of race cars, a taco shell, the flamingo ride, there are couple of different spider mobiles (one the guy rode inside and he shot silly-string out of the mouth as he went down the hill to show his ability to also shoot a web and the other had to two riders dressed up as flies who rode down the back of the spider), the tow truck from the movie Cars, a VW Love Bus, the Yellow Submarine. There were a lot of others I didn't get pictures of from tanks to a guy who just rode a square piece of cardboard!


The runs were done in a couple of ways. The first run was for sledders who rode solo. The second run was for multiple rider sleds. There was also a prize awarded for the best looking/most creative one.

WKIT's Mark 'the Shark' Young was the emcee and kept the crowd entertained and had a funny line when the Back to Future Delorean (pictured to the right) went down the hill saying that if he didn't win, he was just going to go back in time and try again and we would never know!

Yesterday’s event had about cardboard creations in vying for a prize. The weather was about 30 degrees and sunny. About 400 people showed up to watch and they were treated to a great time. It was my first time attending, and I gotta be honest…it was wicked awesome!

For more information and the winners (I assume that winners will be posted), go to WKIT’s website.

Thanks to Trace Oullette (pictured to the right, kneeling, helping WKIT's sales guy Bill getting the sledders out of the starting gate)and the Bangor Parks and Rec Department and all of the sponsors who made the Cardboard Carnival for 2009 such a great success.

And congrats to all who participated!

Looking down Essex Street Hill. See that dot in the center? That's a person. HUGE hill!!

Mark 'the Shark' Young from WKIT (on right in blue hat with microphone) watches as the Flamingo Sled begins its downward journey