Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Blockade Billy
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Rambles
Monday and Tuesday we had contractors in the house. On Monday Lisa minded the store, but Tuesday was my day off, and so I was stuck at home with the kids keeping an eye on the work (aka reading a book cover to cover). The sucky part for the wee ones was that, for safety reasons, they were prevented from going in the back yard or upstairs, and I wasn't leaving the house unattended so they were confined to the first floor all day. But they actually took it in stride, and somewhere along the line Ginger fell asleep on the couch. Even in dreamland, she refused to release her hold on her yellow balloon.
She talks like a champ by the way, and the way she says "OK" is the cutest thing ever.
Later that day LuLu wanted to impress (disgust?) the family by showing us how she could scratch her ear with her toes.
Smiley tried to repeat the trick but failed. Meanwhile YaYa, who is seemingly always in an over dramatic, sour mood lately, was actually happy and smiled for the camera.
I should mention that last week Thursday we grilled out for the first time EVER at our house. Keep in mind we moved in in the early months of 2007, so it was a full FOUR years since we pulled out the grill. I'm not sure why that is; we grilled out constantly at our old flat. I think we were too busy in '07 with the remodel and move to fire it up, and by 2008 it was buried in the shed. Pathetic.
Anyhow, I won't lie and say it went smoothly. It was rather chaotic, with kids running around trying to toss paper into the fire and Lisa claiming that I tried to set her hair ablaze.
That last bit is, of course, categorically mostly untrue.
Oh, speaking of firsts the day before the contractors arrived I finally got around to installing the handle on Smiley's sunlight, which meant he was able to open it and get some air at night!
* * *
Weird how the kids are a mix of their parents. Take the following:
YaYa: my complexion, Lisa's nose and hair. My passion for reading, her Mom's flair for the performing arts. My dramatics, her Mom's temper. A bit of a hoarder. Naturally outgoing but held back by a desire not to look the fool; as most adults know, that's just about a guarantee you'll wind up playing the part. A good sense of humor but sometimes unable to translate that into a joke or prank that 'works'.
LuLu: My gorgeous hair, Lisa's pale, quick to burn complexion. (Lack of) height that seems a throwback to an earlier generation. Sadly, my asthma, but no great love of books, although she's become a heck of a reader. "Not my thing," she told me last week. Very kind, if quick tempered.
Smiley: size from both of us; my complexion, Lisa's hair. Super sweet. Very concerned with eating healthy ("it heal-ty?" he'll ask about *everything*, even though he has a weakness for hot fries). Super diligent about following rules and maintaing social order; at present, on pace to be a cop. Loves being read to and helping cook.
LuLu: my eyes but with Lisa's great blue color; Lisa's hair and nose with a complexion that's a cross between us both. Easily the closest to Lisa in appearance. A known hoarder who often falls asleep with a dozen stuffed animals and as many books; a great love of stories and books like her Dad. VERY very independent and a quick learner; possibly the greatest natural intelligence of the lot.
All of them have my dimpled chin.
* * *
Last week I finished a drainage ditch I was working on and the 70ish neighbor across the alley stopped and asked me if that was to correct for my (downed) gutter, which he bluntly said "looked like shit." I told him truthfully that I'd had trouble getting someone reliable out to do a job with so little income potential. (I don't have a ladder tall enough, nor the interest in learning the job while 20 feet in the air).
He volunteered to do it, having worked construction all his life, and for the rest of the afternoon we rehung the fallen gutter and braced two more. He wouldn't take payment but I did buy him a pack of cigarettes, and he seemed genuinely pleased by how ecstatic I was with the results of his efforts.
Anywho, as we made small talk I asked him how long he'd lived in his house. The answer? Since 1941, when he was two years old. Nineteen forty-one, while the USS Arizona was still afloat and well in Pearl Harbor and Hitler owned half of Europe. Wow.
He went on to say that the neighbor beside him was moving in part because the garage on that house was built to accommodate a Model T and was unable to house anything larger than a compact. Fascinating stuff. Can you imagine how much change he's seen in the neighborhood? And he pays attention, because he remembered the very day my current gutters were hung (before I bought the place) and judged the workmanship poor at the time.
* * *
I'm still stuck with the vivid dreams. As a for instance I dreamnt that I was in Mexico City as a hurricane brewed, and yet the population wouldn't heed my warnings. Fearing it was a language problem I hired a young man as an intepreter, but he simply spouted a poetic version of my words that did little to arouse attention. When the storm hit the city was pulverised.
A moment later I was in a dark hallway with two Skittles vending machines against the wall. A quarter was in both machines, and I remember thinking how grand a gesture that was; how I should pay it forward in the future and brighten someone's day for the cost of mere pocket change.
Then a man appeared out of the blue, and announced he'd released the tiger. Sure enough, behind them a fierce wild tiger appeared.
In another dream I was in a grocery store trying to find/buy some Nutty Bars, and for some reaosn it was a very elaborate process, as if they were illegal to own. Soon I was in a prison that was more like an elaborate dormitory, and there was a crooked and sadistic guard who made sport of some of the prisoners. I tried to avoid him but got into it over - you guessed it - the Nutty Bars.
Sweet stuff huh?
Now I don't read anything into this stuff, and I sure don't believe it to be any reflection of my mental state, so please spare me the psycho-babble.
The bad part of this is my sleep is interrupted quite often; the good part is instead of having six blank hours a night, I now have a mini-movie to look forward to while I sleep. It feels, honestly, like I've gained extra hours in my life.
OK, way too long of a post. Have a good one!
She talks like a champ by the way, and the way she says "OK" is the cutest thing ever.
Later that day LuLu wanted to impress (disgust?) the family by showing us how she could scratch her ear with her toes.
Smiley tried to repeat the trick but failed. Meanwhile YaYa, who is seemingly always in an over dramatic, sour mood lately, was actually happy and smiled for the camera.
I should mention that last week Thursday we grilled out for the first time EVER at our house. Keep in mind we moved in in the early months of 2007, so it was a full FOUR years since we pulled out the grill. I'm not sure why that is; we grilled out constantly at our old flat. I think we were too busy in '07 with the remodel and move to fire it up, and by 2008 it was buried in the shed. Pathetic.
Anyhow, I won't lie and say it went smoothly. It was rather chaotic, with kids running around trying to toss paper into the fire and Lisa claiming that I tried to set her hair ablaze.
That last bit is, of course, categorically mostly untrue.
Oh, speaking of firsts the day before the contractors arrived I finally got around to installing the handle on Smiley's sunlight, which meant he was able to open it and get some air at night!
* * *
Weird how the kids are a mix of their parents. Take the following:
YaYa: my complexion, Lisa's nose and hair. My passion for reading, her Mom's flair for the performing arts. My dramatics, her Mom's temper. A bit of a hoarder. Naturally outgoing but held back by a desire not to look the fool; as most adults know, that's just about a guarantee you'll wind up playing the part. A good sense of humor but sometimes unable to translate that into a joke or prank that 'works'.
LuLu: My gorgeous hair, Lisa's pale, quick to burn complexion. (Lack of) height that seems a throwback to an earlier generation. Sadly, my asthma, but no great love of books, although she's become a heck of a reader. "Not my thing," she told me last week. Very kind, if quick tempered.
Smiley: size from both of us; my complexion, Lisa's hair. Super sweet. Very concerned with eating healthy ("it heal-ty?" he'll ask about *everything*, even though he has a weakness for hot fries). Super diligent about following rules and maintaing social order; at present, on pace to be a cop. Loves being read to and helping cook.
LuLu: my eyes but with Lisa's great blue color; Lisa's hair and nose with a complexion that's a cross between us both. Easily the closest to Lisa in appearance. A known hoarder who often falls asleep with a dozen stuffed animals and as many books; a great love of stories and books like her Dad. VERY very independent and a quick learner; possibly the greatest natural intelligence of the lot.
All of them have my dimpled chin.
* * *
Last week I finished a drainage ditch I was working on and the 70ish neighbor across the alley stopped and asked me if that was to correct for my (downed) gutter, which he bluntly said "looked like shit." I told him truthfully that I'd had trouble getting someone reliable out to do a job with so little income potential. (I don't have a ladder tall enough, nor the interest in learning the job while 20 feet in the air).
He volunteered to do it, having worked construction all his life, and for the rest of the afternoon we rehung the fallen gutter and braced two more. He wouldn't take payment but I did buy him a pack of cigarettes, and he seemed genuinely pleased by how ecstatic I was with the results of his efforts.
Anywho, as we made small talk I asked him how long he'd lived in his house. The answer? Since 1941, when he was two years old. Nineteen forty-one, while the USS Arizona was still afloat and well in Pearl Harbor and Hitler owned half of Europe. Wow.
He went on to say that the neighbor beside him was moving in part because the garage on that house was built to accommodate a Model T and was unable to house anything larger than a compact. Fascinating stuff. Can you imagine how much change he's seen in the neighborhood? And he pays attention, because he remembered the very day my current gutters were hung (before I bought the place) and judged the workmanship poor at the time.
* * *
I'm still stuck with the vivid dreams. As a for instance I dreamnt that I was in Mexico City as a hurricane brewed, and yet the population wouldn't heed my warnings. Fearing it was a language problem I hired a young man as an intepreter, but he simply spouted a poetic version of my words that did little to arouse attention. When the storm hit the city was pulverised.
A moment later I was in a dark hallway with two Skittles vending machines against the wall. A quarter was in both machines, and I remember thinking how grand a gesture that was; how I should pay it forward in the future and brighten someone's day for the cost of mere pocket change.
Then a man appeared out of the blue, and announced he'd released the tiger. Sure enough, behind them a fierce wild tiger appeared.
In another dream I was in a grocery store trying to find/buy some Nutty Bars, and for some reaosn it was a very elaborate process, as if they were illegal to own. Soon I was in a prison that was more like an elaborate dormitory, and there was a crooked and sadistic guard who made sport of some of the prisoners. I tried to avoid him but got into it over - you guessed it - the Nutty Bars.
Sweet stuff huh?
Now I don't read anything into this stuff, and I sure don't believe it to be any reflection of my mental state, so please spare me the psycho-babble.
The bad part of this is my sleep is interrupted quite often; the good part is instead of having six blank hours a night, I now have a mini-movie to look forward to while I sleep. It feels, honestly, like I've gained extra hours in my life.
OK, way too long of a post. Have a good one!
My Thoughts
The only thing worse than fiction that ignores the moral ambiguity of our world is fiction that creates ambiguity where there is none. Sometimes right is right and wrong is wrong, and watching a character struggle with obivous moral decisions doesn't inspire me: it tells me the author is lazy and ignorant of his characters motivations.
A Great Quote from Lost
MIB: Am I [wrong]? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.
FB March 15th - 17th
March 15th:
* Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet announced her marriage was ending, and I posted that I 'still had a shot'. This was promptly and good naturedly shot down by some Facebook friends. I responded:
Bob (I), here's the plan. Eventually, her career will flounder. By then I'll have had a book or two published, and sold the rights to one to Hollywood. That screenplay will have a part that could ressurect a great actresses career. Sadly, she'll be far down the producers list of options - but maybe I could be convinced to tip it in her favor. Wink wink nudge nudge. ;)
To which he replied: Ah I worship the ground that you walk on Sir. I like your plan and wish you all the best.
and my grade-school friend Tom wrote: A well thought out plan indeed. Good luck on your mission. I myself am still holding out for Kate Beckinsale.
* I received & completed the census form today. We were already subjected to the 'long' form earlier in the yr. Assuming u don't mind answering questions about your race, bills, income, transportation, etc. the long form isn't invasive at all ;) Today's form was easy-peezy, and I'll admit I felt proud listing the whole family. In a weird way, I feel we now 'exist' in history.
* [on word that the museum was thinking of dropping the weekly free day for County residents] Utter crap. As much as I love museums, MPM is dull. Very little of substance has changed in decades, except to remove the wonderful arms/armour exhibit for the PC rain forest area, & that was 20 years ago already. Take away the free day & I'll never take the family; it simply wouldn't be worth the cost. I'll draw the kids a map from memory & call it a day.
* [RE: reports that babies may be banned from airline flights because of noise complaints] My youngest flier was 3, but I've been on flights that included crying tots. Here's what I think of the people who complain about them: Nut up. You're an adult, she/he's an infant whose ears are hurting. You don't like listening to it, buy a f*ing Ipod as-hole.
* NASA found a shrimp like creature swimming 600 feet below the Antartic ice. It's a great discovery, but this line from an article about it "[the shrimp] could challenge the idea of where and how forms of life can survive" seems old hat. Haven't we already agreed that life pretty much exists wherever the hell it wants to?
* The kids are in bed & I'm waiting for Lisa to return before cranking up AI on the DVR. Meanwhile I'm watching "Alone in the Wilderness" on PBS. When he retired in 1968 Iowan Dick Proenneke moved to Alaska, where he lived on his own in the wilderness, crafting everything by hand & filming ala Survivorman. A very cool if mellow film.
March 17th:
* Gawd, American Idol was boring. I'm not a huge Stones fan to begin w/, but most of the 12 seemed bound & determined to make each song xtra slow and shi--y. Siobahn was the glaring and inspired exception, & the night belongs to her. Tim Urban should be voted off the show this wk.
* Tapes of 1954-1962 "General Electric Theater", hosted by [Ronald] Reagan, were believed to be damaged or lost. But they were recently uncovered in the General Electric/NBC Universal archives and will be delivered to Nancy as part of the celebration for what would have been the late Prez's 100th birthday.
* Another backroom deal?? Rep. Kucinich called the bill "little more than a boondoggle" for private insurers, and yet now, after several closed door meetings with Obama, he's changed his mind. A sincere and selfless decision it ain't.
* Detroit is closing 44 of its public schools. However, I should mention this is due to declining enrollement and a lack of students, and so (from a surface reading) it's more of an indictment of the city's overall decline than that of the school system.
* Despite it being a lovely spring day, Ginger is obsessed with wearing her pink snow boots around town, and Lisa's drawn a line in the sand.. "I'm serious, you're not going anywhere unless you put shoes on. There is NO SNOW. You look like a goof. You're making US look like goofs. Take them off. Now!" Good luck w/ that. I caved after 5 min yest.
* Riots errupted and two people were shot in the aftermath of the [Ugandan] royal tomb's destruction. The tombs were a UNESCO World Heritage site of historical and spiritual significance to Uganda.
* On the same day Rangers manager Ron Washington admits to failing a drug test, Nationals' player Elijah Dukes is cut. It's a shame. Dukes was/is a bad-ass w/ a dozen different marks against him, but he sucked it up & held it in check long enough to give himself a chance in TB/Washington. In the end, his #'s just weren't there.
* 12 Christians were attacked and had their tongues cut out in Nigeria, only a week after more than 200 Christians were butchered in their homes. The country is split nearly evenly between Christians in the south and Muslims to the North. If you haven't heard about this, don't sweat it - the media buries violence against Christians in the back pages (when they report it at all).
* Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet announced her marriage was ending, and I posted that I 'still had a shot'. This was promptly and good naturedly shot down by some Facebook friends. I responded:
Bob (I), here's the plan. Eventually, her career will flounder. By then I'll have had a book or two published, and sold the rights to one to Hollywood. That screenplay will have a part that could ressurect a great actresses career. Sadly, she'll be far down the producers list of options - but maybe I could be convinced to tip it in her favor. Wink wink nudge nudge. ;)
To which he replied: Ah I worship the ground that you walk on Sir. I like your plan and wish you all the best.
and my grade-school friend Tom wrote: A well thought out plan indeed. Good luck on your mission. I myself am still holding out for Kate Beckinsale.
* I received & completed the census form today. We were already subjected to the 'long' form earlier in the yr. Assuming u don't mind answering questions about your race, bills, income, transportation, etc. the long form isn't invasive at all ;) Today's form was easy-peezy, and I'll admit I felt proud listing the whole family. In a weird way, I feel we now 'exist' in history.
* [on word that the museum was thinking of dropping the weekly free day for County residents] Utter crap. As much as I love museums, MPM is dull. Very little of substance has changed in decades, except to remove the wonderful arms/armour exhibit for the PC rain forest area, & that was 20 years ago already. Take away the free day & I'll never take the family; it simply wouldn't be worth the cost. I'll draw the kids a map from memory & call it a day.
* [RE: reports that babies may be banned from airline flights because of noise complaints] My youngest flier was 3, but I've been on flights that included crying tots. Here's what I think of the people who complain about them: Nut up. You're an adult, she/he's an infant whose ears are hurting. You don't like listening to it, buy a f*ing Ipod as-hole.
* NASA found a shrimp like creature swimming 600 feet below the Antartic ice. It's a great discovery, but this line from an article about it "[the shrimp] could challenge the idea of where and how forms of life can survive" seems old hat. Haven't we already agreed that life pretty much exists wherever the hell it wants to?
* The kids are in bed & I'm waiting for Lisa to return before cranking up AI on the DVR. Meanwhile I'm watching "Alone in the Wilderness" on PBS. When he retired in 1968 Iowan Dick Proenneke moved to Alaska, where he lived on his own in the wilderness, crafting everything by hand & filming ala Survivorman. A very cool if mellow film.
March 17th:
* Gawd, American Idol was boring. I'm not a huge Stones fan to begin w/, but most of the 12 seemed bound & determined to make each song xtra slow and shi--y. Siobahn was the glaring and inspired exception, & the night belongs to her. Tim Urban should be voted off the show this wk.
* Tapes of 1954-1962 "General Electric Theater", hosted by [Ronald] Reagan, were believed to be damaged or lost. But they were recently uncovered in the General Electric/NBC Universal archives and will be delivered to Nancy as part of the celebration for what would have been the late Prez's 100th birthday.
* Another backroom deal?? Rep. Kucinich called the bill "little more than a boondoggle" for private insurers, and yet now, after several closed door meetings with Obama, he's changed his mind. A sincere and selfless decision it ain't.
* Detroit is closing 44 of its public schools. However, I should mention this is due to declining enrollement and a lack of students, and so (from a surface reading) it's more of an indictment of the city's overall decline than that of the school system.
* Despite it being a lovely spring day, Ginger is obsessed with wearing her pink snow boots around town, and Lisa's drawn a line in the sand.. "I'm serious, you're not going anywhere unless you put shoes on. There is NO SNOW. You look like a goof. You're making US look like goofs. Take them off. Now!" Good luck w/ that. I caved after 5 min yest.
* Riots errupted and two people were shot in the aftermath of the [Ugandan] royal tomb's destruction. The tombs were a UNESCO World Heritage site of historical and spiritual significance to Uganda.
* On the same day Rangers manager Ron Washington admits to failing a drug test, Nationals' player Elijah Dukes is cut. It's a shame. Dukes was/is a bad-ass w/ a dozen different marks against him, but he sucked it up & held it in check long enough to give himself a chance in TB/Washington. In the end, his #'s just weren't there.
* 12 Christians were attacked and had their tongues cut out in Nigeria, only a week after more than 200 Christians were butchered in their homes. The country is split nearly evenly between Christians in the south and Muslims to the North. If you haven't heard about this, don't sweat it - the media buries violence against Christians in the back pages (when they report it at all).
March 13th thru the Ides of March
March 13th:
* I'm waiting to pick something up off of Craigslist. The last email? "You can come at 11 and pick it up". Yeah, uh, howsabout at some point you give me a phone # or say, an *address* so I can do that.[this was a sewing machine for Lisa. It worked great for nearly a month, then went kaput]
* My intense common sense/demands u stop right there/hearin' bout your missionary style/does not make me smile/no no/I get sweaty as a sauna/when I think of you up on'a/uh-uh/I don't mean to hate/but you ugly folk should masturbate - Danielle Fischel on The Dish
* Finished 'Gone for Good', the first novel I've read by Harlan Coben. It's a good read and a solid page turner. Still, while one twist or turn is great, an endless parade of them (all more extreme than the last) gnaws away at the all important suspension of disbelief. Unless you're watching The Sting. Then it's cool.
March 14th:
* Actor Peter Graves passes away. RIP.
* [re: a hypothetical Pujos-Howard trade] The logic in the article is persuasive, but I don't see it happening. Howard's #'s will fall off a cliff in a few years, and assuming a) you can afford Pujols and b) he's not outed for steroids (hint hint nudge nudge) Albert's the better option.
The Ides of March:
* "I want to be remembered when I'm dead. I want books written about me. I want songs sung about me. And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great heroic actor of the age." - Happy International Blackadder Status Day!
* Archaeologists Find 40,000-Year-Old Tools at Tasmanian Construction Site
* TV quote of the morning: "I *do* have oily skin. I'm 30 years old and I still look F---ing 22. 'Cuz I have oily f---ing skin." - Raven on Rupaul's Drag Race
* [on the 25th anniversary of the dot-com] Happy annivesary, you beautiful user-friendly web addy you!
* If word gets out that I'm missing, 500 girls will kill themselves and I wouldn't want them on my conscience - not when they ought to be on my face! - Happy International Blackadder Status Day!
* Good news: Smiley's cast will come off at 9 a.m. on my birthday. Bad news: one of LuLu's fish was obviously dying, and so I fed him to our turtle (circle of life and all). I had Smiley and Ginger say a prayer over him as they were a bit too gleeful over the feeding bit. He was a good fish, nothing more than a 30 cent feeder that's lasted since last May. RIP noble swimmer.
* The Bucks' Andrew Bogut was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week
* Woman aims to become world's fattest
"In order to pay for the enormous amounts of food she is eating — her weekly grocery bill is $815 — Ms Simpson makes money by running a website where men pay to watch her consume fast food." As Lisa said - that's just sad.
* I'm waiting to pick something up off of Craigslist. The last email? "You can come at 11 and pick it up". Yeah, uh, howsabout at some point you give me a phone # or say, an *address* so I can do that.[this was a sewing machine for Lisa. It worked great for nearly a month, then went kaput]
* My intense common sense/demands u stop right there/hearin' bout your missionary style/does not make me smile/no no/I get sweaty as a sauna/when I think of you up on'a/uh-uh/I don't mean to hate/but you ugly folk should masturbate - Danielle Fischel on The Dish
* Finished 'Gone for Good', the first novel I've read by Harlan Coben. It's a good read and a solid page turner. Still, while one twist or turn is great, an endless parade of them (all more extreme than the last) gnaws away at the all important suspension of disbelief. Unless you're watching The Sting. Then it's cool.
March 14th:
* Actor Peter Graves passes away. RIP.
* [re: a hypothetical Pujos-Howard trade] The logic in the article is persuasive, but I don't see it happening. Howard's #'s will fall off a cliff in a few years, and assuming a) you can afford Pujols and b) he's not outed for steroids (hint hint nudge nudge) Albert's the better option.
The Ides of March:
* "I want to be remembered when I'm dead. I want books written about me. I want songs sung about me. And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great heroic actor of the age." - Happy International Blackadder Status Day!
* Archaeologists Find 40,000-Year-Old Tools at Tasmanian Construction Site
* TV quote of the morning: "I *do* have oily skin. I'm 30 years old and I still look F---ing 22. 'Cuz I have oily f---ing skin." - Raven on Rupaul's Drag Race
* [on the 25th anniversary of the dot-com] Happy annivesary, you beautiful user-friendly web addy you!
* If word gets out that I'm missing, 500 girls will kill themselves and I wouldn't want them on my conscience - not when they ought to be on my face! - Happy International Blackadder Status Day!
* Good news: Smiley's cast will come off at 9 a.m. on my birthday. Bad news: one of LuLu's fish was obviously dying, and so I fed him to our turtle (circle of life and all). I had Smiley and Ginger say a prayer over him as they were a bit too gleeful over the feeding bit. He was a good fish, nothing more than a 30 cent feeder that's lasted since last May. RIP noble swimmer.
* The Bucks' Andrew Bogut was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week
* Woman aims to become world's fattest
"In order to pay for the enormous amounts of food she is eating — her weekly grocery bill is $815 — Ms Simpson makes money by running a website where men pay to watch her consume fast food." As Lisa said - that's just sad.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
TV
We're watching the finale of DWTS, and in particular Kate Gosselin's 'rise to the heavens'. May I just say - WTF??? Lisa and I burst out laughing, as did Tom Bergeron, and probably most of America. Oh Lordy.
Nicole won Season 10 of DWTS, and she deserved the title. The whole finale was over the top but fun to watch. OTOH, American Idol sucked. Bowersox's 'Black Velvet' was impressive vocally but she looked (let's be honest) like a clydesdale in that black dress. Yikes. Meanwhile Lee brought his C game at best. Bowersox will/should take the crown of a crappy, crappy season.
Torchwood
I DVR'd a Torchwood marathon on BBC, the first time I've had a chance to see this Doctor Who spinoff. Much darker than Who, but so far the acting and writing are top notch. The negatives? As usual writer/creator Russell T. Davies tries hard to push his personal beliefs on the audience, which always gets on my nerves.
The Little Stranger
Lost's finale: A more detailed exploration
I intentionally avoided any details/spoilers about the Lost finale yesterday, but by now you've either seen it, or have no interest in ever taking the plunge. So I'd like to put some of my thoughts down, in part to refute some of the wilder (aka dumber) notions out there. Not that I blame the fans; for once we were treated to a more-or-less straightforward story, with clearly defined cause and effects, and I think some Lost fans just can't change gears at the last moment.
Let's start out simple. I think Desmond was put on the island by Jacob as a weapon, just as Jack said. Destroying the island was a temptation MIB couldn't pass up, and he was too busy relishing the idea to realize disconnecting the source once again made him mortal and vulnerable. It was, to paraphrase Sawyer, a long con.
What was the source? Who/what put it there? We'll never know. Neither did any of the characters, and if they're not complaining, why should we?
Was Jack destined to die? It was his choice to take the job, but there's that gray area of fate/free will again. Knowing Jack, was there any real question who would accept the duty? Was he steered towards the position because he was a better candidate (no pun intended) to physically defeat MIB? Was he sacrificed in order to preserve Hurley's eventual reign?
You tell me. None of it matters. Come to think of it, did anything?
I don't know if letting MIB free would have destroyed our world. Still, I can't imagine it's a good thing to have a cunning, ruthless and violent immortal walk the streets of Topeka. I can empathize with him, to a degree; keep me trapped for two millenia and I'd get miffed too. But oh well. Whatever his motives, whatever Mommy issues he had, he'd grown into a murdering thug. The last thing the world needed was him walking free.
Now, as to the 'flash-sideways'. Yes, it's purgatory, and if that word bothers you because of some 'Papist' connotations, deal with it. They are dead but not in heaven or hell, but rather in a 'holding cell' where they explore and move past the issues that plagued them in our world. In other words, a sort of purgatory.
It is NOT solely Jack's afterlife, where each character could be nothing more than the sum of his memory. Each character is clearly independent of the others; connected by their shared past, but dealing with a full life of their own.
No, this is a communal afterlife. Now I don't know if it's an L.A. created and occupied only by the Lost cast, or if it a larger, general 'world' that the characters borrow as their stage. My money is on the latter. When Christian talks of the cast making a world to find each other, I think he means that the force of their bonds drew each of them into proximity with one another. Their experiences - their 'world' - is fashioned by their need to reconnect.
So what about David, Jack's son? Who pops out a kid in purgatory? I go back to some references this season about how much the boy resembled Jack when he was young. I view him as a surrogate for Jack himself. I think Jack imagined/was given David to work out his issues with Christian and break the Shepard's dysfunctional father/son relationship.
Was the island (and all the events of the series) real? Yes, dangit, didn't you listen to Christian? It was real, so real that the relationships forged on the island transcended death. It was real, there were no do-overs, what happened happened.
Finally, Jack's death scene: I teared up. It was the ONLY suitable ending for the show, and I like how, thanks to Vincent, he didn't 'die alone'. Well done.
Well done indeed.
Monday, May 24, 2010
In
RE: Lost's finale: it makes television history as the first scripted/non-sports TV show to have an episode be simulcast in multiple countries, other than the US and Canada. Italy, Israel, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom showing the episode at the same time as the West Coast broadcast in the early hours of May 24, 2010 (5am to 7am, depending on location) in Europe
Ms. Hutchinson
St Adalbert Alumni - Today I ran into Miss Hutchinson for the first time in 20 years. Her hair was cut close to the scalp, with a pencil thin ponytail running down her skull to her shoulders. Not quite the traditional look of a Catholic school principal, eh?
My Opinion
No doubt mold exposure has health consequences, but HGTV is on & the steps taken to contain & remove a *small* amount of mold seem insane. Then a revelation - the contractor started out in asbestos removal. As that biz declined, the owner says they morphed to mold removal & "got the word out about the dangers". Huh. You'll excuse me if I think that translates to "stoked America's paranoia to keep the $$ coming in."
grrrrr
I spent some time w/ a friend before watching Lost, and he p*'d me off by blasting Lost as 'mainstream' (as if that's an insult) and all but an opiate of the masses. Here's what I think: I think anyone who watches 'The Cleveland Show' and literally LOL's at the lame, mildly racist 'comedy' is someone who's opinion on TV matters for shit.
Lost: The End
You want another insight into my chaotic head? For years now I've made the series finale of Lost a benchmark in my life, a goal that I had to reach. I was always a little worried that God, with His sense of humour, would have me drop dead a week before the finale just so I'd never know how it ended. Along the same lines I've decided, well in advance, to avoid becoming interested in anything after the age of 70, just so He can't screw me out of the answers to that too :)
Now . . . it's over. I made it.
And you know what? The word that comes to mind when I think of the finale, more than any other, is 'satisfied'.
As always Lost stayed devoted to the 'story', a true rarity on TV. The characters moved us and spoke to our hearts, but they existed to move the story along, not to bump it to the side. I love that, just as I love characters like Jack and Desmond.
What also impressed me is that through all the confusion and all the theories, Lost stayed true to its own canonical beliefs. There was an unapologetic belief in the spiritual, and the unflinching rule that 'what happened, happened'. There was no reset button, no 'it was all a dream'. For the characters, free will is real and powerful, even in the face of fate, but what is done is done; no amount of wishing will absolve them from facing the consequences of their actions. They may come to terms with the past, but they can never outrun it.
As to the finale in particular: I think Jack's fate on the island was what it needed to be, a necessary (and freely chosen) sacrifice as part of Jacob's long con; that the means of Smokey's defeat was surprising and emphatic; that the role of the Protector went to the person who was always destined to carry the burden. I also think the duct-taped jet using a dirt runway was a stretch, but who am I to argue with a majic island?
For the record, I think the resolution to the 'flash-sideways' was poignant, sweet, and most importantly, absolute. We know their fate was was exactly what we saw on the island - what happened happened, no takebacks. We also know that in the end it all mattered immensely - and didn't matter at all.
I think back on the last shot of the series, that perfect bookend to the pilot, and I'm torn between a smile and a tear.
Lost, I'll miss you. It's been a hell of a ride.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Quote of the Day
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.- George Bernard Shaw
Recital Weekend
2 down 2 to go.....I'm sooo tired. Thanks to everyone who helped watch my kids this weekend, really helped us a lot. 🙂 - Lisa
The Lost Finale (delayed)
Too much chaos here to watch the Lost series finale in 'real-time', so I'm DVR'ing it. I'll watch it once the kids and the Mrs. are asleep, so I can enjoy every second. One near disaster: Lisa walked into the living room to find the kids had shut off the recording of the pre-show to put on Disney. Lousy buggers!
GI Smiley
A moment ago Smiley was crouched in the sandbox. He was barechested & tan, with khaki-army(ish) pants slung low, & his blonde hair was in a near crewcut. He was filling a containter with sand, & on his face was a barely disguised look of fatigue/contempt for his lot in life. I laughed. "Jeez Smiley," I said, "You look like an extra from Platoon. All you need is a cigarette dangling from ur mouth & a chopper overhead"
Kate Gosselin
Lisa said something very insightful. She said that since Kate Gosselin is so damn stiff and difficult to watch on her gigs on DTWS, Entertainment Tonight, etc it's proof that her persona on J&K+8 was genuine. "She isn't a good enough actress to fake being real," Lisa said. And you know, she's right.
What the - ???
80 degrees outside, a backyard baking in the sun, a kiddie pool set up and in full use - and Junie comes outside wearing a swimsuit, snow boots, and a winter cap with tassels.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The Brewers need some confidence...and skill
I think it's sad that a real-time Brewers publication brags about having in the lead in the bottom of the ninth, then fiinshes the post with "Let's hope the Brewers can hang on!". Yeah, let's hope. Geesh, things went south here quickly, didn't they?
Cleaning the House
Cleaned the house all afternoon, capped by MAJOR fit by YaYa a few minutes ago. The kid deserves an Oscar, honest and truly. What a freakin' drama queen; you'd mistake her fits for outakes from Hostel. Alas (for YaYa) we didn't give in and made her clean our room & take out the trash. Unfortunately alll the dust of the cleanup set off a major asthma attack for Lu, but she's back in action now.
Hoarders
While at the Dollar Store today I ran into a Milwaukee man who was featured on "Hoarding: Buried Alive" He was there w/ his two foster children. I asked if he'd been on 'that TV show', intentionally avoiding its name, and he said yes. His kids got very excited & said they were stars & wanted to make a movie now. I said I was glad the show helped him and we went on our way.
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