Wednesday's Word

Word: Yahd (V.)

Definition: to haul

About the same as twitch, except that usually a quantity of logs are yahded.

Also Noun: a place in the forest where deer dwell in the winter. 

Usage: a "de-ah yahd"

(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 pool balls are made from phenolic resin?  Phenolic resin is also used to produce laboratory countertops and various adhesives.

At one time, pool balls were made from either elephant ivory (until the decimation of the elephant herds made this impossible; 8 balls could be made from one trunk). Prior to ivory, pool balls were constructed of either wood or clay.

The modern pool ball, however, is made with the phenolic resin and is highly resistant to cracks or chipping.

Of course, if it's me playing a game of pool, the balls are also resistant to going into the pockets.

Monday Morning Chuckle

Is there ever a bad time for some Mitch Hedberg?  I think not.

Lost: Dharma Initiative Introductory Video

Hey gang.  Well, no Lost this week (hello, ABC, what the hell??), but I thought this might be a good chance to have you all check out the video that was associated with the Lost game between Seasons 1 and 2 (I think....).  There were various clues at websites that were shown during the show, and links from those sites to other sites.  Each site had a small video clip.  The idea was to download each clip, and then assemble the in order to see the whole video.

I'm a huge Lost fan...but I didn't play that game and waited instead for someone else with far more internet time to put them together and post them.

This video has been on YouTube for a two or three years - since the game ended and someone put the clips together - so you've probably already seen it.  But if not, it's a neat 7 minute video that tells a lot about the Dharma Initiative (note the references to University of Michigan, Karen and Gerald DeGroot, the numbers, the plague, etc).  First half of vid is Alvar Hanso talking about the D.I., and the second half is a clip taken 'stealth' style by someone trying to expose the D.I.

Check it out:

Wednesday's Word

Word: Twitch (V.)

Definition: to pull a log, or logs, with horse or tractor.

(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 it was 20 years ago today that the movie Field of Dreams was released?  

One of the best baseball and fantasy movies ever, the movie made $64 million back in 1989 and featured such actors as Kevin Costner, James Caan, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster, Frank Whaley and many others.

If you've never seen this movie, get it now!  And bring a box of tissues.  If you watch it, tears will come.

Monday Chuckle

It's hard to believe that a professional sports team, even one as bad as the Washington, DC baseball team, can fuck up the spelling of THEIR OWN TEAM on their uniforms.

This, is a true story.  The spelling of the NATIONALS was wrong, spelled NATINALS on their home jerseys on Saturday, April 18.

It's Monday April 20....4/20

Happy Birthday, TFKoP! Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

TFKoP turns 44 today...that's 6.66 Celcius. Scary.

Flannel Magazine

Some students at the University of Maine at Orono campus have put together a little 'zine called Flannel.  They do the work on it, get the artwork, write the little articles, copy it, and even tie each issue together.The latest issue, #2 in this 'zines' so-far brief existence, is out now, but there are a limited number of issues available.  Yeah, it's on paper and it's held together with yellow string!  Wicked awesome, eh?  I grabbed a copy on Thursday.  It's a good read.

It's all original artwork interspersed with brief essays that cover this issue's topic of death.  The observations are by contributors of this issue.  They are funny, quirky takes on the theme of death.  Pictures and artwork include a gull flying over a deserted beach, and a funny drawing labeled "this is your totem pole on drugs".

I'm hooked on Flannel.  The new issue (#3) is in the works according to their website found here.  I have to make sure I get up to the campus in time to grab a copy before they're all gone.  I never did get issue #1.  And this type of venture has an expiration of date of whenever they get tired of producing the magazine, or the magazine falling away as the original creators and contributors move on from the University.  So I say grab one while they're around.  You'll enjoy it.  They'll even mail you a copy for $2 sent via PayPal.

Great work, Flannel gang!

Lost, Season 5, Episode 13
Some Like It Hoth

Miles: Surprise...not! Miles is the son of Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle. Miles, while on a mission for Horace, meets his dad. But he never knew his dad, having left the Island with his mother when he was around the age of 4 or 5. In flashback, we see him as a teenager being told told by his mother that she didn't talk about his father because he kicked them out when he was just a baby. On the Island in the 1977 timeline, he uses his ability to read the final thoughts of someone who has died and learns that this Dharma Initiative worker had a tooth-filling pulled through his head, killing him. It's this ability to read thoughts of the deceased that brought Miles (back) to the Island. Naomi is seen in a flashback trying to recruit Miles, and offers him money to join their team because of his ability. He agrees to, and this is how he eventually winds up on the freighter. While in 1977, he sees his father playing with him as a baby, and Chang does indeed look like a happy father. It's likely Miles will make contact with his father, which will set off another series of events

Hurley: His back and forth with Miles continues to be quite amusing. He attempts to get Miles to own up to Chang that he is indeed his son, but Miles wants nothing to do with it. The funniest thing of all is Hurley working on the script for Empire Strikes Back, with a couple of improvements. Hurley wants to be ready for when George Lucas is looking for a script to follow up the 1977 release of Star Wars. Having seen Empire "like 200 times", Hurley is putting it all down in his Dharma notebook. Tells Miles he used to hate his dad too, who left with Hurley was 10. He was glad he was able to reconcile with him before returning to the Island. Going back to Star Wars, Hurley tells Miles that the whole problem with Miles and his dad is the same as Luke and Darth Vader, they just needed to communicate. After Miles talks about his ability to witness the thoughts of the dead, Hurley says that he also sees dead people, and sometimes plays chess with them

Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle: He is seen at the building site of the Swan Station. Interacts with Miles, but is unaware that this is his son Miles. There are some moments between Chang and Hurley that are funny. He is heavily involved in "top secret" stuff, and as we know, he'll be in the underground tunnels of the Swan Station soon enough

Juliet: With Roger sending up the alarm that Ben is missing, she says to Kate, "Well, here we go", knowing that all is about to come crumbling down as far as their secret and their infiltration of the Dharma Initiative. She's been aware that the return of Jack/Kate/Hurley would be end of things

Roger Linus: Finds that child-Ben is not in the infirmary and freaks out. He is beginning to see that something's up with Kate and Jack

Naomi Dorritt: Seen in flashback, she approaches Miles about working for a mission. She says her employer (Widmore) wants to use his talents

Sawyer: Confronted by Phil, who has seen Sawyer on the video taking Ben across the Pylons to the Others with Kate, Sawyer knocks him out. Not sure what he'll be doing with him other than tying him up, but it is another sign that the 3 years that Sawyer/Juliet/Miles have spent infiltrating the Dharma Initiative will be exposed

Other characters
Phil / Horace / Daniel / Jack / Kate / Radzinsky

Double Take
1. 3:16 on microwave. 316 was the Ajira flight number
2. Young-Miles finds key to the hotel room (#4) under a ceramic white rabbit
3. Bram, the guy who kidnapped Miles and told him not to work for Naomi and her boss (Widmore) looks like the same guy working on the Island with Illana, from the Ajira crash

Funny
--"You're just jealous that my power is better than your power" Hurley to Miles
--"If you breathe one word of this I'll have you shipped to Hydra Island so you can weigh turds for their ridiculous experiments" Chang to Hurley
--"Let's face it...Ewoks suck, dude" Hurley to Miles (AMEN TO THAT!)

Music
--"It Never Rains in Southern California" by Albert Hammond playing in van with Hurley and Miles
--"Love Will Keep Us Together" by The Carpenters in the van

Interesting
1. Sawyer told Miles "I owe you one." Wonder when Miles will ask for the repayment
2. Miles' mother appeared to be suffering from something like cancer. Wonder if this was because of exposure to the "Jughead" bomb
3. Miles' mother tells him when he is a teenager (?) that his father is "somewhere you can never go" (little does she know...)
4. Miles is another character with father issues
5. More Egyptian references, this time written on the blackboard that Jack was erasing (Old Egypt, Middle Egypt, New Egypt)
6. The Dharma Initiative, under Horace's leadership, isn't quite as innocent as they try to appear as we learn when the body of Alvares is picked up in a quadrant that they're not supposed to be in
7. Hurley driving into the Swan Station building site sees them stamping the numbers on the hatch - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

Question Answered
1. Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle is Miles Straum's dad (but we pretty much already had that figured out)

Questions
1. So, I guess Alvares became a victim of the electromagnetic force when it pulled one of his tooth fillings right out of his head, right? Why would he have been digging a ditch in a quadrant that's supposed to in Hostile territory?
2. Is it possible that the reason that Pierre Chang sent his wife and kid off the Island is because of Miles? If Miles decides to tell Chang that he is indeed his son, Chang might freak out. Remember this video that I shared over the summer? Chang said "don't let them see each other" or something like that in reference to the bunnies both numbered 15. Maybe he sent his wife and baby-Miles off the Island to prevent baby-Miles and adult-Miles from ever interacting
3. Which side are Bram and Illana on? Is the Dharma Initiative about to become a third-party in the events? You may all remember that last summer there was the Lost game involving the Dharma Initiative recruiting people (I took the tests and was assigned "Cameraman"). So, this may be a sign that not only will we have Ben's side and Widmore's side, we'll likely get the Dharma Initiative back involved (lead by Eloise/Ellie...?)
4. Daniel is the man from Ann Arbor, but do you remember who else is from Ann Arbor? That's right, Gerald and Karen DeGroot. Refresh your memory here with the Dharma training video for the Swan Station
5. Is Daniel working with a re-grouped Dharma Initiative?
6. So, which version of Empire Strikes Back did I see, the Hurley version or the Lucas version? It remains the best of all of the Star Wars movies, so I hope it was the version that Hurley improved on. Just with he would've improved Return of the Jedi...

Something to check out if you haven't seen it, a video shown last summer at ComicCon (comic convention) in California. It's a vid that hasn't appeared in a Lost episode yet, but may in one form or another. Here is the link to the vid on youtube. Things to note in this video: We see someone referred to as "Hans" (Alvar Hanso, perhaps?); Pierre Chang is professor of physics at Ann Arbor University; you can hear a baby crying in the background and he tells Laura off-screen to take him (baby-Miles?) outside; there is a lot of electromagnetic inference in the tape; he says he's sending the message forward (to 2007) from 30 years ago (1977); we see that he still has use of his left arm; and he says that they will all be dead ('purge') because he got the information from a reliable source (adult-Miles?) and he's pleading for the Dharma Initiative to re-group. And, the voice you hear off camera at the end, is that Miles himself??

Tune in in two weeks for Lost, Season 5 Episode 14 "The Variable". Until then, you're all in the circle of trust, dude.

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

Wednesday's Word

Word: Vah or vy.

Definition: An expression of mild rebuke or tease used in coastal Maine.

Usage:

"Vah, you're asking Stephen over for suppah? I thought you didn't like him?"

(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 only sardine plant still existing in Maine is the Beech Cliff factory in Prospect Harbor, Maine? The sardine-canning business had been a staple in Maine since the 1870s, but has decreased considerably since the late 1970s.

Stinson Seafood ran the plants (there's also one in Bath, Maine) until 2000, when it purchased by another company.  But, the two facilities continue to produce these tasty (and amazingly healthy) treats to this very day, as well as canned Fish Steaks and Kippered (smoked) herring.

Sardines (named for the Island of Sardinia) are actually herring, and the herring caught for Beech Cliff are caught off the coast of Maine.  The herring population is healthy and not in danger of being decimated.  Varieties of the canned fish include those canned in water, oil, mustard and tomato sauce.  The herrings are put into the cans, then cooked, and shipped to your local store.

Sardines are LOADED with nutrition: omega-3s, iron, potassium, and protein.  And because herring a low on the food chain, the levels  of mercury in them is minimal.

Monday Morning Chuckle

A man was walking in the cemetery and he saw another man crouching beside a gravestone.

"Morning", he said.

"No, just taking a shit", said the other man.

Lost, Season 5, Episode 12
Dead is Dead

Locke: Pre-resurrection Locke was always unsure of himself, always doubting. As he says to Ben, always following others around hoping they would lead him to whatever it was he was looking for. But not anymore. Since coming back to life after the Ajira crash, Locke has gained confidence and a continuing sense of clarity concerning his destiny to be on the Island. He's been telling everybody since the crash that he felt a destiny to be on the Island, and it's obvious he was right. Locke is no longer believing Ben's lies. Also thinks Ben wants to be judged because he let Alex die and not because he left and then returned to the Island, as he says

Ben: His ability to control everything continues to slip away. With Locke enjoying his new-found confidence, Ben is no longer running the show. Yet he continues to try to deceive. First, he deceives Cesar about Locke. Later deceives Sun about knowing that Kate/Hurley/Jack/Jin were part of Dharma 1977 (we know this because he later admits to Locke when they're going to the Temple that the Temple is where he was taken as a child...and it was Sawyer and Kate who brought him there, so he knew). Maybe a way to convince Locke that he's on his side was to kill Cesar. (WHOA! Didn't see that coming...) But, it would be an attempt by Ben to back up his claim that he supports Locke, but you know he doesn't. He seems to genuinely accept blame for Alex's death for not leaving with Keamey when they gave him the opportunity to do so. In flashback style, we see Ben (1988/1989 Island-time, so would've been 24/25) with a young Ethan taking a crying baby Alex from Danielle Rousseau's tent. Returning with Alex, he's challenged by Widmore to kill the baby. Ben refuses saying he will not kill a child and it's not the Island's wish for the baby to be killed. He also tells that Widmore he did not kill Rousseau

Charles Widmore: The tensions between Widmore and Ben are obvious, going back to when Ben was a child and had just been healed by the Island (in the Temple). Even then, Widmore told Richard it was wrong to have brought Ben there to begin with, and is upset when Richard wouldn't just let Ben die. (Not wanting children to live is becoming a trend for Charles)

Sun: When Sun and Frank are met at Ben's old house in Dharmaville by Ben and Locke, she shows him the picture of Hurley, Jack and Kate in the 1977 photo of the Dharma Initiative given to her by Christian. She opts to stay with Locke and Ben to try to find Jin, at which point Frank heads back to the other Island where the Ajira survivors are

Frank: Upon returning to the Island from Dharmaville, he's accosted by Illana and some of the other armed men. He's knocked out after being unable to answer the question posed by Illana, "what lies in the shadow of the statue?"

SMonster: Okay, so it seems that the SMonster starts as some sort of liquid below Ben's old Dharmaville house. When it is judging Ben, it does the same thing it did when it surrounded Eko: it flashes parts of Ben's life (with sound) involving Alex, including her death. Ben genuinely seems emotionally affected by the loss of Alex and this reminder of it, so does the SMonster forgive him? It's still not clear who or what controls the SMonster, but we know that it takes form of dead people (Christian, Yemi, Dave) and possibly animals too (the black horse that Kate saw). So, when Alex appears after the SMonster retreats back into the vent, it's apparent this a representation of Alex as done by the SMonster. The SMonser lets Ben live, but for how long is anybody's guess

Alex: Seen in flashbacks in the SMonster's montage to Ben while judging him. But, her appearance after the SMonster disappeared is memorable. Alex/It slams Ben up against the wall and says she/it knows he wants to kill Locke, but if he tries she/it will hunt him down and destroy him. Alex/It also tells Ben to follow Locke and his every command

Illana: It seems obvious that if she's there with a whole metal crate full of guns that she's there on some sort of mission. It's likely that this is the work of Widmore. After all, it's been alluded that he staged the crash-site of Oceanic 815, so it's likely he used his money (and power) to set-up another flight and seated it with the people he needed. It's curious how Ben, Sayid, Jack, etc. all would end up on the flight too, but it still seems like a set-up by Widmore

Other charcters
Desmond / Penny / Danielle Rousseau / young Ethan / Cesar (es tu, Cesar?), but only briefly / Richard Alpert

Double Take
--There's a game of RISK in Ben's house
--The SMonster oozing out of the grate and surrounding Ben

Funny
--"I was just hoping for an apology." Locke to Ben after Ben tries to explain why he killed him in L.A.
--Cesar to Ben: "How do you feel?" Ben: "Like I've been hit in the head with an oar."
--"This gentleman and I are taking a boat. Does anyone else have a problem with that?" Ben to the other thugs after he shoots Cesar
--After Ben tells Sun that Locke is not dead and is in fact right out the window, she looks out and Locke just waves

Interesting
1. Ben tells Sun to go into the house because he "can't control what is coming out of the jungle", and the it's Locke, not the SMonster, that comes out of the jungle
2. Illana asks the question "what lies in the shadow of the statue?". You may remember Desmond asking Locke in Season 2 in the hatch "what did one snowman say to the other?"
3. Above the altar area where the SMonster came up was a carving with Anubis (the statue from the Island and also the Egyptian god that carries the dead to the afterworld) with the SMonster in front of Anubis, as if obeying him or awaiting some sort of command
4. While talking to Widmore after child-Ben was saved, Richard says that he didn't let Ben die because it was what Jacob wanted. Then he said the Island chooses who the Island chooses. Does this imply that Jacob and the Island are one-in-the-same?
5. Richard is watching the exchange between Ben and Widmore very closely, as though the bad-blood between them is necessary. He does nothing to stop them
6. Widmore, before leaving the Island in exile, telling Ben that if he was wrong about keeping Alex alive, the Island will take care of that eventually. Also tells Ben he'll one day be on the outside
7. Widmore was exiled because, as Ben said, he left the Island constantly and also fathered a child (Penny) with an off-islander. Ben says he broke the rules
8. On the beach, Ben drinks from an Ajira water bottle. Wonder if this is the water bottle previously found in the outrigger by Sawyer and Juliet?
9. Ben can only summon the SMonster, but he can't control it

10 Ben tells the young Rousseau: "If you ever hear whispers, RUN!"

Questions Answered

1. The Island heals child-Ben

2. Widmore was once the head of the Others/hostiles
3. It's Desmond who put Ben in the bloodied condition we saw him in as he was in getting on the Ajira flight. Arriving to follow-through on his promise to Widmore that he would kill Penny, it's Charlie (their child) that makes Ben change his mind, it seems. He wouldn't kill Alex as a baby, and he won't kill Penny because of Charlie. This realization, however, matters not to Desmond who after being shot, but not killed, by Ben, pummels him as the gun falls into the water. After hitting Ben about a dozen times, Desmond rolls him into the water, all bloodied and beaten

Questions
1. Is it possible that the Island put Ben in place as a temporary place-holder while it waited for Locke? Remember, Locke turned down two previous offers from Richard Alpert (once during the compass/knife/sand/comic book test when Locke was five and then again when he was a teenager and turned down the chance to go spend the summer at Mittelos Labs), so it's possible he was expected to be on the Island sooner, but turning down these offers put all of that on hold.
2. How does Locke know how to find Jin?
3. So, what does lie in the shadow of the statue? The 'Jughead' bomb? The room with the Island-Wheel? The Temple? We know where the statue once stood...seems to be near the well that Sawyer/Miles/Juliet were at when Locke ventured down to turn the wheel.
4. What was the liquid that Ben released before the appearance of the SMonster? After releasing it, he says to nobody "I'll be outside". What was that all about? Did he have to tell the liquid/SMonster where to go to find him?
5. Where have Desmond and Penny gone since Des broke open the can of whoop-ass on Ben on the L.A. Marina?
6. Does Charles Widmore know more about what the Island wants? He was right about Ben
eventually being exiled, but is surprised to learn that Ben is going back.
7. Who was the mother of Widmore's child off-island?
8. What was it that Locke had to do? When Ben was looking for him, Sun said Locke told her he had something to do
9. How did Locke know where to find the Temple?
10. What are all the mechanical noises associated with the SMonster?
11. Did child-Ben already know Widmore somehow? The look on Ben's face when Widmore introduced himself seemed to indicate this
12. Is it because of Widmore's always wanting kids to die mindset what causes the Others to eventually revere kids? Ben has seen Widmore's side when it comes to children, so maybe Ben as the leader was always protecting children. (The children, remember, were taking first from the Oceanic 815 survivors by the Others)

Tune in next week for Lost, Season 5 Episode 13 "Some Like It Hoth".

Until then, if it's in the best interest of the Island, you'd better stay out of the way.

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

Wednesday's Word

Word: Gant (Adj.)

Definition: variation of gaunt. Often 'ganted' or 'ganted out'

Usage:

"Don't Pete look awful?"

"Ayuh, he's all ganted out.  That boss of his drives him somethin' fierce."

(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 since bananas grow upwards, the stem is actually the bottom of the banana?  So if you use the stem to peel your banana, you are actually peeling it upside-down.  The non-stem end of the banana is the actual top of the fruit.

Pointing at the actual top of the banana

Next time you peel your banana, peel it from the real top and not the stem end. You'll find it easier and not only that, you won't smush the end of the banana like you do when you use the stem end, and even better, you won't get any of those white stringy things (the fruit's phloem tubes) hanging off the banana either!

Monday Morning Chuckle

Baseball's opening day is upon us, so what better way to celebrate than with some baseball pictures, eh?  Let's see what's happening on the field.

Hey now!  Watch those balls....and strikes.

Here we've got the ole baseball-on-a-string gag going on.  The unknowing fan (who can't see the big string attached to the ball) will track that ball as it's pulled by the player.  The player who catches the biggest fan at the end of the game wins.

Oh yeah, that's gotta hurt.  But who nose, maybe it didn't? (get it?  Nose?  Knows?  I kill me.)

Before we wrap up, let's go over and see what's happening with the sucky New York Yankees.

Of course, what else would it be but giving each other injections in their rears.

Go Red Sox!  Yankees Suck!

LOST, Season 5, Episode 11
Whatever Happened, Happened

Kate: In the 2007 timeline, Kate meets up with Cassidy, the ex-con-girl who worked with Sawyer. She meets her to give her money as per Sawyer's request to her before he bailed out of the helicopter when they were leaving the Island. Ultimately, Kate tells Cassidy what happened and that they've been lying the whole time about regarding their crash and subsequent 'rescue'. Kate's dynamic with Aaron is a good one. For the first time, Kate is being responsible but ultimately, will be running away again. She brings Aaron to Claire's mom who is still in LA after getting the money from Oceanic's settlement. But in giving Aaron to Mrs Littleton she also tells her about the lie they've been telling about their experience, including the fact that Claire was still on the Island. On the Island in the 1977 timeline, Kate befriends Roger Linus although she obviously knows that his son grows up to be a meanie. It's Kate who feels the need...the motherly need....to get help to save child-Ben because regardless of who he grows up to be, at this point in time he's still a child. She goes with Sawyer to bring Ben to Richard Alpert. On the way she tells Sawyer about his daughter Clementine.

Ben: Before being brought to the Others for help, he gasps to Kate "tell my father I'm sorry I stole his keys". For all of the crap his father has done to him, to still feel the need to apologize shows that at one point in time, Ben was a kind and decent person. Boy, how that changed.

Jack: Though he's done well staying quiet, he finally decides that he is not going to assist in saving child-Ben. Deciding that he'd rather have Ben die so as not to grow up to be adult-Ben, he refuses to help save him when Sawyer asks for his help. This of course drives Sawyer to bring child-Ben to Richard Alpert, which will of course put everything on course to happen as it already has. Even though Jack refuses to help, the universe is self-correcting, so Ben will live with or without Jack. (Jack isn't aware of the whole universe-self-correcting thing, but we are, and we know this is what will happen). Stupid Jack. Maybe he does screw everything up. Interestingly, Jack tells Kate that maybe the Island wants to fix things itself and that maybe he was getting in the way always trying to fix things. Jack...coming around to Locke's way of thinking? Big zinger when he tells Kate "you didn't like the old me" when she says she liked him better when he took things into his own hands.

Juliet: Works to save child-Ben's life, but is having a hard time. While getting blood from Kate to give to Ben, Juliet finds out that Kate and Jack were engaged briefly after they got off the Island. She knows she can't save Ben saying that he's in a medical situation that is not resolvable. At this point while talking to Kate, Juliet realizes that the Others may be able to do something to save him. Juliet is pissed that Jack wouldn't help save Ben. She tells Jack that Kate and Sawyer are bringing him to help.

Sawyer: Helps Kate bring Ben to the Others for medical assistance. Tells Kate that he and her would never have worked out. Also tells Kate that he could never have been a good father to Clementine.

Roger Linus: Finally starting to realize that he's been a jerk to his son (Ben) when he's talking to Kate and looking at Ben in the hospital bed. Tells Kate he had visions of being the greatest Dad ever, trying to do what he thought his wife (who died giving birth to Ben) could've wanted him to do. Realizes that Ben took his keys in order to get Sayid out of the jail cell.

Miles: Seems to understand the time-issues that are being experienced by the Losties. His grasp of this implies that he knows more than he's let on. His ability to feel spirits hasn't been used in a while...wonder if we'll be seeing something with this in the upcoming episodes.

Cassidy: Sawyer's ex becomes, for a brief period of Kate's off-Island time, someone she confides in. Cassidy thinks Kate is crazy for wanting to go back to the Island. She does provide some comfort for Kate when Kate tells her how she briefly lost track of Aaron in the grocery store. Cassidy tells Kate that Aaron needed her as much as she needed him. Regarding Sawyer, she doesn't have much respect for him assuming that the reason he jumped off the chopper had less to do with saving fuel and more to do with him having to become responsible if he returned to the mainland (she's probably right).

Other charcters
Horace / Phil / Richard Alpert / Mrs Littleton (Claire's mom)

Double Take
--Kate telling not one, but two people (Cassidy and Mrs Littleton) about the lie the O6 have been telling. (Kate then went on Oprah, Jerry Springer, Maury Povich and Good Morning America to tell even more people about the lie. She even goes on to reveal that Bruce Wayne is Batman, Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father, and that there are really no nuts or grapes in Grape Nuts cereal. In case you couldn't tell, I'm being sarcastic.)
--Kate and Sawyer bringing child-Ben to the Others for help

Music
--I've Got Your Picture - Patsy Cline (playing in the car as Kate was on her way to Cassidy's)
--Kate singing Catch a Falling Star to Aaron (not the first time we've heard that song in relation to Aaron)

Funny
--"You're all free to leave when you want, but I'll shoot you in the leg." Miles to Jack when Jack was asking about them being under house arrest
--The talk of how time travel works (or doesn't work) between Hurley and Miles was classic! Hurley's reference to how time travel worked in the movie Back to the Future was hilarious
--Hurley and Miles were playing Dharma-noes. HAHA! Get it? Dharma-noes? Dominoes? I kill me

Interesting
1. Miles explaining time-travel things: "You can't change anything. Your maniac Iraqi buddy shot Linus. That is what always happened. It's just, we've never experienced how it all turns out."
2. Kate donating blood for child-Ben.
3. The blond who finds Aaron wandering the grocery store looked a little like Claire.
4. Kate thought Sawyer was helping her get child-Ben to the Others, but he in fact did it for Juliet who told him that no matter what Ben grows up to be, it's wrong to let a kid die.
5. According to Richard, if he helps heal child-Ben, Ben will forget that any of this happened and he'll forever be one of them. Also interesting that he takes Ben into the Temple (where the SMonster resides.)
6. Locke to adult-Ben when he wakes up being conked unconscious from the oar swung by Sun: "Hello, Ben. Welcome back to the land of the living." The look on Ben's face seeing Locke alive was priceless.

Questions Answered
1. Kate returned to the Island because she wanted to help get Claire off the Island and back to Aaron
2. Jack returned to the Island because he was "supposed to", but hasn't figured out what that means exactly

Questions
1. What did Richard mean when he told Sawyer and Kate that Ben would be changed forever and would lose his innocence if he's helped by the Others?
2. How did Miles know that Ben turned the Island-Wheel? Nobody was in the wheel-room when he did it.
3. Where is Claire?
4. Where did Sayid run to hide and will the SMonster be the thing that finally brings him down? (C'mon...you don't think he'll be alive for long, do you?)
5. What do Ellie and Charles have to do with the Island in 1977? Richard says he doesn't answer to either of them. Are they in charge/the leaders at that time?
6. So, who does Richard report to? Jacob?
7. What's with all the black mascara around Richard's eyes? (Egyptian statues always have black rings around their eyes, too.)
8. Charles Widmore and Ellie/Eloise (Hawking)? It could be, as surmised here before, that they are the parents of not only Penny, but also Daniel Farrady. After all, Widmore was funding Daniel's research off-Island.

Tune in next week for LOST, Season 5 Episode 12 "Dead is Dead". Until then, don't shoot me in the leg if I get up to go.

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

Wednesday's Word

Word: Fallen away (Adj. phrase)

Definition: physically wasted, gant

Usage:

"Poor Michael has fallen away something awful since his wife left him."

"Well, he's moving in with his mother now. She'll fat him up."

(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.)