LOST Complete Collection!

Hey, guess who got the LOST Complete Collection! (Thanks, Lynn!) Besides having every episode in high def and lots of bonuses, the packaging is really cool, with some surprises, mysteries, and even an answer!

Your Five Favorite Bands

OK, guys, I have a proposition. First an explanation: One of the radio stations here is asking listeners to send in their favorite 5 songs of all time. I think that would be really hard. So I’m going to start off slow. I want you to list your five favorite bands/singers/artists. No more than five! One question: Should we include solo artists and the groups they sang in together, or separately? Like is John Lennon a separate artist from the Beatles, or should all his work be considered together? What about Paul Simon with and without Art Garfunkel? To me, John Lennon is a different artist that The Beatles, but Paul Simon’s work should all be considered together. What do you think? I leave it up to you.
In future postings I will ask for favorite Beatles songs, then other artists, then perhaps favorite classical and/or jazz and/or show tunes and/or hymns/carols, then eventually, favorite five songs of all time. So be pondering….

Hawaii Five-O

My second TV review. I decided to watch the pilot of Hawaii Five-O. Anybody care to guess why? Anyway, here’s my review. The story was non-existent: crime solved in two clues, bad guy found with little effort except a gun battle and car chase, bad guy dispatched in a fist fight and another gun fight. The rest of the story centered on McGarrett ridiculously being named to head a secret above-the-law paramilitary police unit, then equally ridiculously assembling his team. The banter between McGarrett and Danno was cute. The characters are cardboard (see previous post), except Danno, who is actually sympathetic. He’s a New Jersey cop who follows his ex-wife to Hawaii when she moves there with their daughter. The build-up to - and delivery of - McGarrett’s famous “Book him, Danno” was painful. At the end, the team is relaxing with some beers, and trying to come up with a name for their new team. It’ll probably be a hit.

The Event

It was advertised that The Event was a fix for LOSTies undergoing withdrawal. So, of course I gave it a try. Sadly, predictably, it wasn’t even close. In a supposed tip of the hat to LOST, the story was set up in fits and starts. After the initial scene, they backed up and told the precursor story starting some minutes earlier. Then they did it again, backing up several days, then again, months. The pacing was frenetic, the story wildly confusing, until the end, when it made semi-sense. Of course, there were huge mysterious holes, to be filled in coming weeks, presumably. It was sort of irritating, but the worst part was the lack of character development. The beauty of the LOST pilot was the ingenious way it presented a few of the mysteries of the island in short intense scenes, almost as side events. They introduced the characters in such a way that we loved them or hated them but we cared about them, while hinting at their interesting back stories. Unfortunately, The Event did exactly the opposite, using cardboard characters to introduce a full-blown apocalyptic mystery in a choppy narrative style. I predict this will last about as long as Flashforward did.
I’ll probably tune in next week anyway.

Enquirer note, and two pics

The above is from the Enquirer-Democrat. I know you can't read it, so I'll quote the last paragraph: Ryan's Pub baseball team was champion of the CISL Eastern Division of the Central Illinois Sports League. Team members were Jon Reid, Dan Armstrong, Jared Benjamin, Greg Burcham, Josh Reece, Josh Manning, Jason Bertinetti, Tim Lambeth, Josh Mahkovzt, Brad Suhling, and Brad Shade.

Here are a couple pics I took after the last game of that tournament. Dan got a bit beat up in that game.

Back-yard Nature

Whilst mowing Gramma and Gramps's back yard, I noticed this tree trunk



So what, you ask? Scroll down...




















Still don't see it? Scroll down further.....

The Poo Rock

Recently a student brought me "rock" one of her coworkers asked me to identify. She called it the Poo Rock. See why?







So far I've determined it's not really a rock at all, but a piece of metal. It conducts electricity. It's density is close to that of selenium, but it's probably not selenium, but rather an alloy of some sort. My next step is to determine it's specific heat, and try to find an alloy that matches its density and specific heat.

Pictures and a Video relating to Jeff's visit

As you may remember, I had problems getting pictures and video into my last post. I'm still having problems, in that the "pictures" show up as html code until I hit Publish Post, but then they appear as normal pictures in the actual post. Oh, well, have a look:

Here's Jeff and Mie



Mie and us:



The wonderful lacquered plate Mie gave us:



One of the place mats she gave us:



Lamphier Park, Sliders batting:



Man with bucket on his head:



Speedy, the Sliders' mascot:



Speedy again:



There goes Speedy



And finally, Jeff improvising on the piano:

Jeff in Carlinville

See pictures on next post.

It was great having Jeff here. We really did enjoy it. He came in by Greyhound from Philadelphia, mostly without incident. He got here that evening, then had to turn around and head out early the next morning and drive to O'Hare to meet Mie coming in from Japan. They stayed there several days, saw the sights, went to a Cubs game, met up with Mie’s friend from Ann Arbor, went shopping. I’ll let Jeff blog about all that, if he so chooses. Part-way through his stay there, he and Mie drove south to meet us in Bloomington. We all went to the world-famous Avanti’s. Mie is as cute as a button, and very sweet. We exchanged gifts and had a wonderful visit. Jeff was very impressive acting as translator, though Mie did fine with the few sentences she tried in English.

After Mie flew back to Japan, Jeff returned here. He helped mow the lawn, both at our house and at my parents’ house. It’s mostly cleaned out now, and on the market. The piano is now here, and Jeff favored us with lots of music, which we loved.

Jeff and I enjoyed some superior homemade pecan pie. We watched several Cardinals games on TV, and I enjoyed his comments. We also saw Garza's no-hitter. One day, by happenstance, Diane Van Winkle had two free tickets to the Sliders game in Springfield, so I snapped them up, and Jeff and I attended their game with the Danville Dans (!). I hadn’t realized that Springfield is not even a minor league team, but instead is in an amateur league. The Sliders’ VP for Baseball Operations is Jack Clark (yes, that Jack Clark) and their field manager is Curt Ford (Cardinals 85-88, Phillies 89-90), but the players are mostly freshmen and sophomore players for Division I universities. The Sliders have players from Creighton, Illinois, Purdue, Iowa, Washington State, Pepperdine, UCLA, etc. I was amazed at how mediocre the play was. Makes you appreciate the Cubs and Cardinals! But the game was a lot of fun. Lamphier Park was only about 1/10 full and we could easily have sat right behind home plate. Plenty of kids and other interesting people were milling around. We sat in front of a kid wearing a Blackburn baseball shirt. Turns out his brother is going to BC in the fall. More about him in a minute. The Sliders’ mascot is Speedy the Turtle.

Between innings they do all sorts of fun amusements and contests. A mother and daughter from the audience were dressed in sumo-like fat-suits and ran into each other until one fell down. Two guys spun around with their foreheads on baseball bats until they were really dizzy, then raced to third base. A woman in the stands tried to throw water balloons into a bucket on the head of her husband standing on the field. Because she actually got one into the bucket, she won a used water bottle autographed by one of the players! Two guys raced from home plate to cups of “soda” (actually beer, apparently) positioned about halfway to third base, chug them, then race to two more cups even with the bag, chug them, then race to the finish line down the outfield foul line. They were tied until after the second cup when, for some reason, the one guy (brother of future BC student) turned around and ran the wrong way! It was hilarious. Anyway, the Dans ultimately won the game. There were some pretty good fireworks after the game, the kids got to run the bases, and we all went home. A thoroughly satisfying and fun evening.

I drove Jeff to the airport early yesterday morning because he had to tutor that afternoon. We had a great time. I wish his stay could have been longer.

How awesome are my kids?

I have wonderful sons and daughters-in-law (current and future). Here's one reason. First some background: They recently went through the stuff in my mother's house and found a small home made recipe book. It had been made by my second grade class from favorite recipes the kids brought from home. Mine was my mother's recipe for pecan pie. Pecan pie is my favorite pie and close to my favorite food of all time. Well, for a birthday present my kids filled a box with the recipe book, and all the ingredients freshly purchased at the market. Mind you, this is NOT a heart healthy dish. Four tablespoons of butter, a cup of Karo syrup PLUS some sugar. Three whole eggs. Lots of vanilla. Plenty of pecans. Plus two pre-made crusts, ready to bake. So last night I whipped up a pie, took some pictures, and ate a piece. Here are some pictures of the pie, plus Mom's healthy alternative dessert.

Requested Photo of Jack and His Burger

Here are a few.

Last Lost post

Sorry, non-Losties, one last post. OK, after ruminating a bit, I'm ready to give a reaction to the Lost finale. Interesting (and not surprisingly for die-hard Losties), I found myself viewing the show on two levels. Emotionally, I found it most enjoyable and satisfying. The on-island plot was tied up nicely. The FSW plot was syrupy sweet, with most everybody we care about getting together in the end and fading off into bliss together: I loved it! And most of the questions were answered. Intellectually, the on-island story wasn't far from what I had predicted. I just knew Jack would not be the ultimate protector (I can't lie though: I thought it would be Aaron.) Having it turn out to be Hurley was fitting. I wasn't thrilled with the way Kate, Frank (Told you he wasn't dead!), Miles, Richard (Cool that he's got a grey hair now), Sawyer, and Claire left, leaving Jack and Hurley to fend for themselves. As for the FSW plot ending, I sure didn't see that coming. I like the idea that THAT was a sort of purgatory, since many fans were convinced the ISLAND was going to turn out to be purgatory. I was troubled by the fact that the two story lines ended up having very little to do with each other. I was hoping for some interaction between them. And the explanation of who-was-allowed-to-be-at-the-church was not clear to me: mostly I think it was a matter of which characters were popular, and which actors they could get. That Ben declined to go was a juicy tidbit worthy of future discussion during the long cold days of No Lost ahead. And I actually find the idea that there is no "when" in purgatory fascinating, given recent ideas published about time.

If I were the King of Lost, here’s how I would have ended it. After Aaron is born, and our heroes become aware, Desmond, Widmore, and Daniel (and their counterparts on the Island) manage to merge the plotlines. But Aaron gets left behind. He is brought to the island by Eloise. He is protected and trained. Jack’s (or Hurley’s) reign is temporary, just till Aaron can take over. Aaron would seem the logical choice since both he and Jacob were conceived off the island, but born on it. I think the writers may have originally intended for something like that to happen: the whole “raised by another” issue, the psychic’s flip-flop, and the Others’ fascination with the inability of island women to bear children conceived on the Island. Enough for now.

Across the Sea and Genesis

I’ve been pondering last week’s episode almost non-stop since it aired. An excellent episode if only because it makes you think! Before Lost comes on again tonight, I have a few comments about last week’s episode. I have avoided reading Lostpedia or any other Lost related media, because I want my thoughts on that most unusual episode to be mine alone.

First, typical of Lost the episode answered some major questions (What were the origins of Jacob and MIB? Who were Adam and Eve? How did the donkey wheel get there?) while posing some more (Is Jacob’s brother really dead? If so, who is MIB/smokey? What is the origin of the goddess figure? [Did anybody else have trouble buying CJ in that role?] Why was the dark brother “special”? Were the other ship survivors the original Others?) Not typical of Lost, the episode had no flashback/forward/sideways parts at all, save a couple of very brief replays of events from the first season. Furthermore, it features NONE of the major characters, again excepting those brief replays. The episode focuses on three characters, two we’ve seen briefly in earlier episodes, and one we’ve never seen before, nor had any clue even existed. And she turns out to be perhaps the most important character of all!

Second, the episode was highly mystical, with clear references to Genesis of the Old Testament. I recommend a careful reread of Genesis, it can be quite enlightening. Jacob and his brother display aspects of Jacob and Esau, of Caine and Able, of Isaac and Ishmael, and even Aaron and Moses. The Island Woman seems quite Jehovah-like, and the light under the waterfall seems like heaven. I will focus on the similarities between the ancient Lost characters and the sons of Isaac, ie. Jacob and Esau. Like Jacob and his brother, the Old Testament men were fraternal twins; one was a stay-at-home mama’s boy while the other went off and did his own thing; one was favored by his mother. In Genesis, Jacob had 12 sons, one named Benjamin (the candidates?). One (Joseph) was sent to a distant land before carrying on the family traditions (Aaron?) Unlike the Lost characters, the OT Jacob was born second but claimed the birthright from Esau by trickery. Or perhaps that’s not a difference. Did Jacob claim the role of Island Protector by trickery?

Sidenote: Probably coincidental, but in Genesis 26:15 Jacob’s father’s (Isaac) wells were clogged up by the Philistines. Sound familiar?

I have lots more thoughts but now it’s time for this week’s episode, the penultimate. We’ll see if any of these thoughts have anything to do with the plot. And now, on with the story…….

Alternate Universes on LOST

I knew it! I said in an earlier post that I thought Juliet would both succeed and NOT succeed in blowing up the island attempting to reset the timeline, so we would have two alternate universes. I was right....

But it was clear from last night's episode that the "reset" universe was not exactly the same as the original from season 1. The internet is already full of postings about the differences, but the most obvious one is: no Shannon. (Also no Michael and Walt, but they could just have been out of camera range. And what was Desmond doing there??? Was he even really there?)

Anyway, it occurred to me today that the title of the episode is LA X, not LAX. (Cuse and Lindelof confirmed that that is significant, not a typo, on Kimmel last night.) So I'm theorizing that there are many alternate universes, or at least 10, with LA X meaning LA 10. In universe 10, Juliet succeeds in detonating the bomb in 1977, leaving the remnants of the island under the ocean, allowing Jack et al to land safely in 2004. This is different from the original universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashes, and the island remains undisturbed (LA I?). It is different yet from the universe we've been watching in seasons 1 - 5, in which Juliet fails to explode the bomb and our heroes remain (albeit somehow transferred back to 2007; LA II?).

In season 6, we will be watching universe 10, LA X, and also the familiar universe from seasons 1 - 5, LA II . Want to bet we'll see others?

The Indefatigable Frog

It's been over a month! Wow. But I have been thinking about stuff to blog about. I'm slowly making my way through the Phillip K. Dick story anthology Jeff gave me, between Newsweek and doing New York Times crossword puzzles. As much as I found "The Variable Man" and "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford" and "The Builder" childish, I loved "The Indefatigable Frog".

A pair of professors are arguing about the old conundrum: "If a frog jumps half-way toward the wall on each jump, we he ever get to the wall?" The philosopher says Yes and the physicist says No. (I think Dick got it backwards, but Oh well.) Hilarity ensues when they are forced to work together to invent a device that will let them determine the answer experimentally. Of course one of them ends up in the device, forced to repeat the experiment. I would not have predicted the outcome. It is pure genius. But I'll let you read the story for yourself.