Lost 5:14: The Variable – Thoughts and Pointless Musings

So last night’s Lost episode was pretty pretty good!

Things I Liked:

1. One of the things I loved the most was the parallel to The Constant episode which is my favorite Lost episode. Which one was The Constant? To recap quickly- it’s the one where Desmond’s conscious time travels all over the place and it takes contact with Penny (his Constant) that becomes of dyer importance. Basically, if Penny did not love him, he would literally die; her loved truly saved him. The big emphasis was the Desmond/Penny relationship and frankly, I just cant get enough of their sweet sweet story. So I was just giddy as the show unraveled as a tribute of sorts to The Constant.

2. More Blanks Filled In: We see more of Theresa, we learn Daniel himself was effected by his experiments, we see his Oceanic News Cry scene extended and the building up to his appearance, from earlier in the season, in the Orchid scene. We learned his relationship with his mother was indeed strained and of course, the big reveal with his father (no, not completely shocked but I still love to hear it). We also learned where Faraday went in the 70s (off island!). Fill in those blanks! I love it!

3. No chocolate before dinner: Charlotte mumbles this right before she dies in an earlier episode. It was cool to see where her conscious traveled in the past as she said the exact same thing *to Faraday* (as he spoke to her on the swing). That made her death scene even more meaningful to me and Daniel’s effort to try and save her even more heart-wrenching.

4. Best tear ever : As Penny is reunited with Desmond, amidst a beautiful scene show-casing such endearing love, a perfectly timed tear descends the length of her nose. I know it’s a tangent but I think the tear should get an Oscar. Well done! Okay- maybe its just a small indicator of the greatness of that scene (to me). The Desmond/Penny Love Story is near and dear to my heart.

5. Gun fights and 'Splosions!: I wanted to applaud during the gun fight. Yeah! Bring on some bullets!! Shoot ‘em – shoot em! Then YES – fuel – shoot the fuel!! Kaboom!! Wooo! I went from being an emotional noodle one scene to doing a tribal monkey dance around exploding flames the very next minute. Gosh I love this show!

6. Jack taking the lead! Sure it was jerky and I DO like Sawyer’s new leadership skills but I loved Jack taking the helm. The dynamics of that scene were great. Jack appeals to Kate, talks about Aaron and Sawyer then calls Kate Freckles. When Juliet replied, “We are done here” at first I thought she picked up on Sawyers “Freckles” name and the potential Love in that term but no- I think she meant they were done with their quiet little stay in New Otherton. Or maybe not? Juliet can have some defiant/creepy looks that make me go…Hmmm. Speaking of Hmmm….

Things that made me go, “Hmmm”…

1. Time travel confusion: I know there are people that have this figured out. I am not one of them. So now there are variables? So they can change the future – but not the past? But can a conscious past/future be changed? Will the entire series end with flight 815 landing calmly on the LAX runway with Jack, Kate and crew still knowing what really happened? Ugh…brain is smoking.

2. Is Daniel dead? The preview for next week shows Jack & Crew with Daniel's journal. He dropped his backpack in the camp before he was shot. So its not a tell-tale sign he IS dead. Anyone could pick up his stuff (including his MOM). I fear my little crazynuts Faraday is indeed Fara-dead.

3. It boggles my mind that Daniel’s Mom would send him back knowing he would be killed. By her. Sure Eloise is a bit heartless- but THAT heartless??

4. This isn’t so much a “Hmm’ as it is a “Oh for crying out loud!”. Why do people on this show either a) lose or b) just totally take off and leave their kids? Sun leaves her daughter, Kate hands off Aaron to yes, his biological Grandma but she’s a STRANGER, then Penny’s like “oh ok- yeah strange nurse: watch my precious child I had with my soulmate while I skip off to see him”. WHAT? People- stop leaving your kids!

All in all- a healthy 3.2 out of 4 toes.

Lily Doins 4-22-09

Here's the latest list of Lily doins. ..

1. “Ew Doing”: Or “What ya doing”?: One of two statements that have almost sent me to the crazy house due to ad-nausem repetition. It is said in total disregard to an answer, too. At first, I would answer “Fixing dinner”, “Putting on my shoes”, or “Just kidding, not fixing dinner”. I learned quickly, the answer rarely mattered. Finally, I decided to one-up her and replied, “I dunno. What are YOU doing?”. She replied flatly, “Mommy.” Dang. Almost had her.

2. “Whats THAT?”: The partner to #1 in the Mommy to Crazy House Send Off statements. This is also repeated and asked regardless of answer. I tried the “what do you think, Lily”. She replies again, “Mommy”. She’s a tricky one.

3. “Where’s_______”: We play this “where is” game a lot. Often it is an appendage or toy that is missing. There are times when the entire Lily is missing. The crazy thing is: she’s usually right under our nose hidden only by a mere napkin or sippy cup on her head.

4. “STOP!”: What Lily yells when our coolness is just too much for her. Usually this occurs when I attempt to sing a song or play with a toy. She just looks at me and yells “STOP”. We’re working on this one, of course, as it teeters into the Rude category (a fine line with Toddler Communication, I am learning).

5. “Eebees”: Or “Blueberries”: It’s a word I wish I could keep as-is. Eebees is just way cuter than boring ole “blueberries”.

6. “Wripes”: or “Grapes”: Sounds simply enough but little Lily cant get that "g" nor “a” in grapes. It is wripes, case closed.

7: Misc. one word vocab improvements: “seep” or Sleep; “ceeeze” or Cheese; “dunno” for Don’t Know; “kitty kitty” for Fasb (interchangeable with “Maow” for Fasb, as well); “Walk” when she wants down/out from being contained; “bubblesh” for Bubbles; and "THAT" - when in doubt and not sure of an item, she labels it "THAT". "Lily - what is that object you are holding?" She replies, "That, Mommy". Touche, tiny toddler. Touche.

8. “Barney Babop Riff”: How she requests watching a lovely episode of Barney and Friends. She mentions 3 of the main characters all in a burst of slurred words.

9: Sentence fragments: “Back, okay, Mommy?” or “Where’s Max? ‘Side!”: I am constantly amazed at the amount of communication our little 2 year old accomplishes. Her sentence fragments prove to be quite efficient. I notice a lot of my facial expressions mixed in with her fragments, too.

10. “Appppllleeee Juuuuice”: A song Lily loves to sing when just being silly. Her expressions always crack me up (see video below; this video is in my top 5 favorite Lily videos so far)…

Phone Pics Dec - April 09

Look ma, NO LOST!! I have to confess, I am creatively borrowing (stealing) this post idea from my friend, Krisha. Phone pictures? Pure genius, girl! I emptied my mini SD card from my phone recently. Forgive the quality. It is a wimpy camera. Incidentally, this has me thinking the Blackberry camera IS better. Sure I love Windows Mobile (minus the sailor-grade cursing that goes along with the frequent rebooting). But photo quality is almost reason enough, for me, to get a different phone (as I'm always looking for an excuse to gadget indulge).

Trying on her Easter outfit....

Rubbin' the buddha belly: buddha buddah!

Apparently, she sees this a lot from Mommy. WHAT?

Princess phone AND frilly crown. That's my girl!


Cheese!

These break my heart - this is from when Lily was hospitalized for dehydration (mean stomach bug). She was ZONKED. She was finally getting fluids and could sleep peacefully.

My sweet angels....

You can bet I stroked that sweet head a bazillion times as she recouped.

Ending on a less "sad" note: daddy and Lily filling up the bird feeder!

Lost 5:13: Some Like it Hoth

Okay- oneeee more Lost post then I'll return to more cute topics like Lily. Actually, I dont have too many Pointless Musings on tonight's episode. To me, it wasnt as Mind Bending as "Dead is Dead". Still good just...more straight forward.

Things I loved:

* More Air Time for Miles (or...wait for it..."Air Miles"): I'm glad we learned more about Miles. I doubt his lineage surprised anyone but still- its cool to get verification. Hearing more explanation (albeit still too vague for my liking) of his "power" was nice.

* More Hurley and Miles: No, I wont punish anyone (the 3 of you) with another bad Miles joke. I love the comedic (and informational!) dynamic of Miles and Hurley.

* Hurley's, "But I like the kitchen" and also "Dude, you're just jealous because my power is better" comments cracked me up.

* Naomi! What up girl? And more talk of Widmore's Plane + Different Bodies cover up. Its a good reminder of Widmore's power and agenda.

* The AFC (Ajira Frank Clockers) show up at the end in the van. I'm still sticking to my AFC theory (they are DHARMA). They sound all hippy and tree huggerish with their enlightenment type talk.

* A look into a corrupt 70s Dharma group (the inner circle) and all sorts of Treaty Breakin' with the Swan construction (sector 32 was it?). Its no shocker the Hostiles get ticked-off enough to go the Purge route. Provoked maybe?

* Danny boy!! I love me some Crazynuts Faraday.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm:

* More with the AFCs thus more questions: they know of Miles' powers and also, others have powers, as well. Reaalllyy? They hinted of the war Widmore referenced, too. In summary: ????!.

* Is Miles' Mom a liar? (GASP- people lie on this show?!). Is his Daddy really dead? Pierre looked pretty DaddyHappy with his Baby Miles, too. So...he didnt like him? Doesnt make sense. What if he's still alive and....wanting to get back on the island???? Is he the AFC Boss??

* Crazy Little Faraday: so he's back AND he knows Miles. So which Faraday is this or, to clarify, what does THIS Faraday know? He's too old to be Actual Time Faraday sooo...how'd he get there? Is he From Way In the Future Miles?

Okay- so I'll end it here for now. Verdict? 2.75 toes out of 4. Not too shabby!

Dead is Dead is not Dead

Yes, I am aware that is this blog, by page header definition, is "Latest in Lily News". Lost? AGAIN? How is this Latest in Lily News? Debatable yes, but I can pull a Kevin Bacon Degrees of Separation on ya: Lily has a Mommy and her Mommy loves Lost. So there, Lost is the Latest in Lily Pad News. Thank you, Kevin. I do have some Lily posts coming. So hang in there, Cindy. ;-)

Two more points (one an illustration, the other a theory) on 5.12: Dead is Dead then I'll stop (with 5.12).

1. Mystery Painting: there was speculation in an earlier season (3?) about the lady in the painting in Ben's cabin. His Mom? Annie? Nothing was conclusive. I could dig up the screen prints from that older season but its not needed as it was in "Dead is Dead" just recently. Take a look for yourself!

Could it be [pause for dramatic effect]................................. Juliet? Yeah, dramatic effect lost as it was in the above picture but you get the idea.

Granted Juliet knew Ben post Sub-trip-to-the-island. He could of very well painted her portrait after her arrival to the island. Sure, but my theory loses Umff there. What if a pre-Juliet-sub-trip-to-island Ben painted a picture of his mental image of "Mom" when really it was Juliet from his subconscious past? That is why he is so taken by her. She is buried in his mental subconscious! After all, Roger Linus told Kate, "A boy just needs his Mom." Okay- my head is hurting. On to a less headachey point 2.

2. New Theory (for me): I think the Ajira 4 (4? Sorry, still haven't confirmed how many), basically the Ilana headed group that clocked poor Lapidus on the head, are DHARMA. They asked a weird question, "What lies in the shadow of the statue", over and over. We have heard an off-the-wall question before. When John dropped into the hatch, Desmond asks, "What did the snowman say to the other snowman?" The reason? This was the Dharma secret question for Swan Station replacements. (Answer is carrots btw which is one of my favorite jokes.) Maybe the Ajira Frank Clockers, formerly Ajira 4(?), or aka AFCs, were asking Frank a secret group validation question? They didn't know if he was part of their secret group pieced together secretly. My summary: Ajira Frank Clockers are DHARMA. Who would like to get back on the island. Ohhh, me thinks Dharma. That's my story.

Sawyer's Nicknames

I found most of this on a website (http://www.losttvfans.com/page/Sawyer's+Nicknames?t=anon) so I will in no way claim originality. I added a few more to their original posting but not many. If you love/hate Sawyer, you will enjoy this list...

Sawyer's Nicknames
This is a page consisting of some of Sawyer's many nicknames for various characters on The Island.

Ben:
"Captain Bunny-Killer" [Funny yet accurate!]<-- My thoughts btw
"Bug-eyed b@st*rd"
"Yoda"

Jack:
"Doc"
"Jackass"
"Dr. Giggles"
"Metro"
"Jack-o"

Kate:
"Freckles"
"Sweetheart"
"Boar Expert"
"Thelma"
"Sassafras"
"Sweetcheeks"
"Belle of the ball"

Shannon:
"Sticks"

Charlie:
"VH1 Reject"
"Jiminy Cricket"
"Oliver Twist"
"Munchkin"
"Limey little runt"
''Chucky''
"Baby-napper"
"Tattoo"
"Hobbit" [LOTR greatness!]

Hurley:
"Stay Pufft"
"Jabba"
"International House of Pancakes"
"Jumbo-Tron"
"Avalanche"
"Grimace"
"Rotund"
"Cicciabomba"
"Lardo"
"Deep Dish"
"Rerun"
"Chicken Little"

Jin:
"Chewie" [Chewbaca]
"Bruce (Lee)"
"Crouching Tiger"
"Mr. Myagi"
"Sulu"
"Torchy" [In a deleted scene]

Sun:
"Tokyo Rose"
"Hidden Dragon"
"Sunshine"

Sayid:[All very funny]
"Captain Falafel"
"Abdul"
"Al-Jazeera"
"Ali"

Libby:
"Moon Beam"

Michael:
"Han" [Han Solo]
"Hoss"

"Mikey"
"Mike"
"Daddy"
"Boss"
"Pilot"
"Captinby"

Walt:
"Short Round"
"Kazoo"

Locke:
"Mr. Clean"
"Miracle"
"Tarzan"
"Indy"
"Daniel Boone"

Ana-Lucia:
"Rambina"
"Muchacha",
"Cha-chi",
"Ana-loo-loo" [Love that one for some reason]
"Hot lips"

Alex:
"Sheena" (the Jungle Woman)
"Sally Slingshot"

Paulo:
"Zorro"
"Pablo"

Claire:
"Barbie"
"Pregnant Girl"
"Missy Claire"
"Mamacita"

Aaron:
"Baby Huey"

Nikki:

"Nina"

Mr Eko:
"Shaft"
"Mr. Ed"

Tom:
"Zeke"
"Bluebeard"

Hurley, Charlie and Aaron:
"Three men and a baby" ("I counted Hurley twice") [LOVE it!]

Juliet:
"Blonde Chick "

Roger Linus:
"Skeletor"

Daniel:
"Dr. Wizard'"
"Plato"

The Island:
"The magic forest "
"Middle of d*mn nowhere "
"The wild "
"Jungle of mystery"
"The rock "
"Home sweet home"

Lost 5:12: "Dead is Dead" Thoughts & Pointless Musings

Okay- so I'm a huge fan of Lost. I love me some Lost! Last night's episode was very Smokey Centric (basically, filled to the brim with mythological awesomeness). So much of the awesomeness that I decided to blog about it. I know of the 4 people that occasionally read this, 3 or so are avid Lost fans. So really, I'm doing this for my "fans". ha!

I'm Anti-Spoiler and I ramble like crazy about Lost. So - consider yourself warned!


Things I loved:

* John and Ben: John had Ben's number! Normally John seems to flounder about but he was very focused, very confident and dead-on (no pun intended) about Ben's motives. I loved watching Ben's "holy crap, he knows" facial expressions.

* Johns quote of Ben's desk being "so corporate". Team Locke, baby!

* More. Frikin'. Smokey!! I love Smokey-centric (mythological) episodes. I wonder, are we seeing the flashbacks and forwards as SMOKEY would want us to? Are we really watching the show from his point of view? I pieced this together after Smokey showed Ben the flashback "movie" we had just viewed in that very same episode. Previously, in a similar scene, when Smokey met Mr Eko (season 2?) - Smokey flashes a similar Already-Seen-Flashback Movie in front of Eko. Like Ben's Smokey Movie, Mr Eko's Smokey Movie (you have to slow down the dvr for Eko's Smoke Movie) was all stuff we had seen in the episode via flashbacks. Hmm. So is the island showing us what it wants us to see? It's a crackpot theory, I know.

* Smoke Similarities: Along the same lines as the previous paragraph: Post Smokey Movie, Alex appeared, gave Ben an order, and Ben followed. Ben lived. Like Alex's appearance of "you must do this, do you agree??", Mr. Eko was soon visited by his dead brother Yemmy (?sp). Yemmy asked him for repentance basically (giving him a choice). Mr Eko declined, showed no remorse of his sins and then Smokey, well, smoked him out. Ben showed remorse, he was forgiven, he lived. Interesting correlation. It would appear that Smokey does indeed "judge" as Ben mentioned.

* Ben's shock of "your friends were in the Dharma Initiative?!". I wondered, too, does he remember Juliet? There's a painting of a Juliet looking girl in Ben's house. Did he paint that from memory of some motherly woman he knew and it was actually JULIET? Juliet wasn't in the Dharma Class Photo so Ben may still be unaware Juliet was Dharma too.

* Frikin' Egyptian Hieroglyphs! If you know anything about me, you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE Egypt. Sure we've seen hints of some hieroglyphs already but seeing them in all their temple-esque glory was awesome. I look forward to checking my favorite Lost Screen Shot website for HD quality viewings of them (here's the website, scroll to the bottom of the page when it loads, NO spoilers)

* A 30s ish Widmore! He was a little more Antonio-Banderas than I expected but still far from disappointing.

* So Penny wasnt killed! Yay! I was dreading that scene for a long time. I guess it was the intent of murder that Ben was apologizing for. I can't picture Ben recovering from that beating enough to go back and kill Penny. Sidebar: Boy Ben sure gets BEAT a lot!

* Ben telling a young Rousseau, "If you hear whispers, RUN". I dont recall Ben addressing the issue of the whispers before. It was cool to hear the acknowledgment and his advice (RUN). It makes me wonder even more, what ARE the whispers? Smokey Whispers? Island Whispers? Time Anomaly Whispers??

* A horse is on the island! Sure we've seen a mysterious black horse as part of a Kate-centic episode but seeing someone (widmore at that) riding a horse? Sorry but I thought it was cool. Lame, sure, but COOL.

More Questions:

* Ben mentioned Widmores daughter with an outsider (as he bid farewell to Widmore at the sub). So Penny's mom isnt Eloise Hawkings? OR - is Eloise (or Ellie) an outsider??

* How did John know so much about the temple? We know Smokey and John have met before (season 1). Was part of his Smokey encounter a relaying of vital Temple information? "Hey John, I'm Smokey. Nice to meet ya. Here's a map of the temple. Chat with ya later!"

* The Ajira 4 (was it 4?) harassing poor Frank about what's in "the shadow of the statue". Why are they asking? It's no shock, really, that they know this stuff. Was it just me or was a perfect answer to their question: Ummm- well, the Shadow is in the Shadow of the Statue (Smokey!).

* Going under the temple? Why? Does Ben know this way and that's why he originally wanted to go through the temple Wall? All that Temple knowledge boggles my mind. I loved Sun's reaction to the temple. You and me both, sista.

* Et tu, Ben? Poor Caesar. Betrayed by his friend Ben (very Julius Caesar if you ask me). So was he a pawn in an effort to win Ben's trust or did Ben really hope Caesar would kill John? Or both?? That Ben is so slimey.

* Pity for Ben: Though I will say, despite his slimeyness, I do feel sorry for Ben. He lost his daughter. How can anyone, especially a parent, not find sorrow in that? For a second, I thought the island resurrected Alex but alas- she was just another messenger. Kudos to the Lost folks for giving me a bad guy I fear yet pity.

* So many Smokey questions. There are so many. This show added even more to the list.

Okay- this is getting out of hand so I'll end it here for now. Lost 5:12? 4 toes of 4)!!

*Update: General Musing: The Island Wanted Alex Dead: That's my conclusion at least. Smokey infected Rousseaus crew w/some sort of "sickness" (after the one-arm pull below the temple). We witnessed Rousseau's hubby, after talking of the Smokey Security System with great knowledge, try to shoot Rousseau himself. That makes me think that the Island really wanted her dead. So was Widmore right? The Island did want this? But how could it? Killing a tiny baby? If the Island wanted Alex alive, it would of intervened (as it has with John countless times). Ben told Widmore (post Alex's death) - that Widmore broke the rules. Maybe Widmore didnt! Maybe Widmore was following them exactly and BEN was breaking the rules? I wonder too: what if Ben is ultimately the good guy- trying to make a Bad island good? (Or bad spirit:good, bad smokey: good, whichever)?

Easter Pictures!

Despite my aversion to the ever-scary Bunny, I fought through the fear and allowed Lily this fun photo experience. Why must children be crippled by their parents fear? Yes, I have come a long way.

The portraits were taken at school (so no Mommy Assistance). Hmmm...maybe I should fore go attending her portrait sessions more often!

Bunny Caption: "Um...guys? Play-dough hands!!"

Bunny Caption: "That's right. No touchy."

Bunny Caption: "Fine. Lets just get this over with."

Canton Crowd Pie Chart

I do love Canton First Monday Tradesdays. But aside from buying a goat, a new outfit, log furniture, name brand boutique goodies or personalized artwork all in one place, there is some quality People Watching to be had. Below is a visual of the typical Canton attendee....(Yes, I place myself in Normal + Fashion Faux Pas...+, okay, Scary).

Click on the picture to enlarge...

Pictures Post: March 2009

Boy does time fly! Here are the latest batch of photos (well, the latest for March). Lily turned two? I still cant believe it. But enough of the usual Time Progression Denial...on to the cuteness!