Jacob's Foot: Hurley and Whatever

First order of business: West Chester Entertainment Related News! Do you like The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus? I don't particularly care for them but that's no matter. In fact, I haven't thought about them until this news came to the good ol' quad entertainment e-mail inbox and I feel obligated to mention it. Every other music-related press release is generalized but this is specifically West Chester. I respect that and will therefore spread the word. They will play The Note on August 25, 2009. Apparently they have a new album that debuted #14 on the Billboard Top 200. I am shocked. I have a rather unpleasant memory of the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. In 2007, whilst working at a movie theater, their one song whose name I do not know's chorus played on a loop every 5-7 minutes. I had 7-8 hour shifts. The only thing worse than that experience was the Anna Faris bunny movie trailer playing on a loop every 7-9 minutes (and this time working 7-9.5 hour shifts). I'm lucky I didn't go insane.

THE 'LOST' EPISODE OF THE DAY!

On this, the day after Michael Jackson passed, one needs a great cheery pick-me-up. There's only one character to turn to: Hurley!

The episode: Everybody Hates Hugo
Original Airdate: October 29, 2005
Written by: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed By: Alan Taylor



Content: Hurley worries that his new job will make him the most unpopular man on the Island. Sawyer, Jin and Michael learn that their captors are actually survivors from the tail section of the plane. Claire finds the message bottle from the raft, making her and Sun fear the worst. Sayid's exploration of the Hatch raises suspicions.

Why It's Worth Re-Watching: Hurley's the heart of LOST. After three episodes which took the viewers to a weird, unfamiliar place (the Hatch), this episode let the audience re-gain their "footing" so to speak (sort of what "The Lie" did in season five and....YOU GUESSED IT! Hurley's the focus of that episode). Plotwise, this is the episode Sayid checks out the Hatch. Sayid notices the heavy amount of concrete and the electromagnetic energy in the Hatch (thanks to Jack showing him). He remarks to Jack that "The last time I heard of concrete being poured over everything in this way was Chernobyl." It's especially cool considering season five (and the whole season five mirrors season two). It's mostly worth re-watching because it's a nice episode. Hurley's in charge of rationing the food but he's having trouble. His flashback juxtaposes his present. In the flashback, he's afraid everything will change once people learn that he's won the lottery so he doesn't tell anyone and before anyone finds out he has a great day with his best friend Johnny and he asks out Starla (and she says yes). Everything does change of course and he's afraid everyone will hate him for not giving people food when they want it. He does end up making everybody happy in the end, and doing what he wants (with Rose's helpful advice of course). It features one of my favorite montages with everybody happy and eating. Charlie gives Hurley a big hug. Claire finally gets her jar of peanut butter. It's fantastic. Sun also reveals herself to be an utter pessimist when she buries the bottle of notes that washed back on shore. Sweetie-pie Claire gives her the bottle because she feels like Sun should decide what to do with it. I understand all of the symbolism around the scene. I just took an opportunity to rip on Sun one last time. As for the adventures of Sawyer, Michael, and Jin they find out they are in the hands of the Tailies. Ana Lucia is belligerant and beats up Sawyer. Not cool. My disdain for Ana Lucia will slowly be revealed throughout this retrospective. The ending's very sweet: Rose saves an apollo candy bar for her husband. She never lost faith that he's alive. There will be no youtube videos for this one. If you're sad about Michael Jackson and a fan of LOST, pop this one in the DVD player.

OASIS OFF!

Since I'm about to listen to "Whatever" again, "Whatever" will be today's song in Oasis Off. It was released after Definitely, Maybe but before What's The Story, Morning Glory? Liam sounds fantastic. I also recommend watching Noel play this acoustically as it does not disappoint. So check out the video below. And, also, listen to Michael Jackson's song "Childhood" in the previous post. A wonderful song.

"Whatever"

Jacob's Foot: Remembering Michael Jackson

I can't help it. I know every major media publication is providing massive coverage for Michael Jackson. I know there are timelines, retrospectives, etc available at every major media and news website. I feel like I have to write about Michael Jackson though. A little something at least. His music was the music of my childhood. That's no exaggeration. It was Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, or the Jacksons. I listened to his music before I ever became aware of rock 'n roll, before I purchased a Marcy Playground or Matchbox 20 CD in '97 or 3EB in the summer of 1998. His music informed what my later tastes would be as well. There's really no going back once you hear "Off The Wall" or "Thriller." Those two albums are near perfection. "Thriller" suffers from one weak track. The rest is gold after gold after gold. I opened a piece I wrote on Carolyn Leonhart with a quote from Shakespeare about the charms of music. There really is magic in music. There's some intangible transcendental quality to music, in music. It exists within the creation. On those early solo albums, he combined disco (but good disco not that ABBA nonsense) with the soul of Motown and R&B. We all know "Thriller," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Rock With You" and a bunch of other songs that are too many to list. We can throw out adjective after adjective to describe the power of his music but in the end his music is indescribable and that's what makes it as great, magical, and transcendent as it is. He just had the ability to tap into that part of our brain, something that is inherently within us and open it up (i hope you followed me there and understand what I mean).

I remember as a boy listening to my mother's Jackson 5 tape with all of the hits. I used to wear penny loafers (the closest I got to his trademark black shoes), tried to mimick his moves, made an embarrassing Thriller video at the age of 6 or 7. I used to sing Billie Jean and Beat It at the top of my lungs as a boy. I remember watching Moonwalker with my sister and playing the Michael Jackson video game on Sega Genesis I know there's countless others who grew up with the music of Michael and his brothers. My sister told me that the bars come alive whenever a Michael Jackson song come on.

It is sad though. I was watching CNBC when the news first broke and then followed it for about 2 hours. America has lost some wonderful entertainers and legends in 2009.

Included are some videos. I feel sad watching and listening to these songs especially the 1970 performance of I Want You Back when he and his brothers were so young. Gone Too Soon is what I like to call a Kairos song. Do enjoy. I'll be back with the next song in Oasis Off later in the day.

"I Want You Back"--1970 performance



Motown 25 Jackson 5 Reunion



Childhood



Gone Too Soon



Baby Be Mine



Off The Wall

Jacob's Foot: Rock N Roll Star (and Catch-22)

THE 'LOST' EPISODE OF THE DAY!

[caption id="attachment_730" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) in "Catch-22""][/caption]

The episode: Catch-22
Original Airdate: April 17, 2007
Written by: Jeff Pinkner and Brian K. Vaughn
Directed by Stephen Williams

It's the second Desmond episode of season three. It is the 66th episode of LOST produced. It is episode 317 of season three. I've come up with a more coherent way to write the LOST episode of the day so I will switch into that mode right now.

Content: When Desmond has a flash of a stranger arriving on the Island, he recruits Charlie, Hurley and Jin to join him. Meanwhile, Kate seduces Sawyer after witnessing Jack and Juliet together.

Why It's Worth Re-Watching: Not only is this the episode in which Desmond and Penny meet but it is the episode when we meet the first member of the Freighter: Naomi. The content above is the original description of the episode from a television weekly publication or something so it really doesn't reveal anything. Desmond enlists Charlie first because (he doesn't tell Charlie) he thinks Charlie needs to die THAT DAY in order for everything to work out. Hurley and Jin tag along which results in one of the funniest scenes in the series (the walking/whistling the theme from Bridge of River Kwaiscene). Desmond's extremly intense throughout the process. I view this episode as the beginning of the endgame for LOST. We don't get to where we are without the freighter. The introduction of rescue was momentous during season three. Everybody expected the series to end with rescue. Of course one had to be skeptical if anything would come of the rescue. The big thing we were expect to believe is that Naomi came on Penny's boat. After all, she had a photograph of Desmond and Penny in her Portugese edition of Joseph Heller's Catch 22. Knowing what we do know, this episode is tremendous to watch. It's a very cool experience. There's no Others in this one. Eloise Hawking shows up as well. Back then, we knew very, very little about her. There's a subplot with a jealous Kate and her sleeping with Sawyer because she's depressed about Jack and Juliet but the meat of the episode is with Desmond and Charlie.

Other Reasons to Re-Watch: Fantastic scene when Jin is telling a ghost story and he scares the bejeesus out of Hurley. It's fantastic.

[caption id="attachment_729" align="aligncenter" width="180" caption="Jin telling his scary story in Korean"][/caption]

Desmond's flashback is pretty great too. We discover that Penny's not the first girl he feared commitment with. He joined a monastery to get out of marrying Ruth. And Jack and Sawyer battle in ping pong which is fantastic. They manage to like eachother for a few minutes but then Kate is brought up and it ruins all the fun for Sawyer.

For fun, here's what I wrote about the episode two years ago: "As far as tonight's episode, I enjoyed the questions of sacrifice, fate, running away/running to, and the Catch-22 parallels." I obviously became much more blowhardy.

Here's two videos of the "Catch-22" highlights so to speak. YouTube is king as is Portugal.





OASIS OFF!



Overwhelming response to the first Oasis Off. Am I being serious? Anywho,  time for the next song in Oasis Off.

Today's song: Rock N' Roll Star

It is the first song off of their debut "Definitely, Maybe." It is the first song on their greatest hits album "Stop The Clocks." Considering the sky-rocket confidence that we've seen from Liam and Noel about their music, there is no better song to open their careers as musicians. "Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' roll star" is a prophecy. Eventually there'll be some kind of voting process for the greatest known or well-known song but once again I am prepared to decide it myself if need be.

Noel said, about this song: "Rock n Roll Star is the whole manifesto of the band. I ve never wanted to say anything else in a tune. We re going to be rock stars, and even if we don t, even if we re just playing the fucking Boardwalk the rest of our lives, we re going to act like fucking rock stars. When we started it, my ambitions were to have a jet, a monkey, a house in Ibiza. Did I ever get a monkey? I ve got Liam. He s the only monkey I ll ever need."

Jacob's Foot: OASIS OFF!

Many things to get into today and by many I mean three things to get into. In other news, I'm actually going to update this more than once a week and make it into more of a blog. You'll have a clear idea of what the content of subsequent, more frequent posts will contain later in this entry. Review of Octahedron is coming later this week. Time for some "True Blood."

EPISODE 202: "Keep The Party Going"

In this episode, Jason began the Leadership retreat with the Fellowship of the Sun and is experiencing a conflict of the soul, of the conscience (he's thinking of what he did for/to Eddie), Sookie's good nature backfired considerably with Jessica AND Bill, Eric deemed the information Lafayette gave him useless, Lafayette was shot in the leg by crazy-glamoured-blond and gave Eric, Pam, and Bouncer Vamp Whose Name Escapes Me the idea of vamping him, Sam is still moody, and Maryann showed that she has the power of starting a wild dance party.

--Overall, a great, great episode. The second episode of any season is usually always better than the first because the premiere likes to set the stage for the season. The show continues to get better. It's very enjoyable.

--The Jason Stackhouse storyline did not disappoint in episode two. It was equally entertaining and thoughtful. He's not as stupid as he was last season. I got a kick out of his enthusiasm for everything. I indeed laughed out loud when he credited Moses as the one who walked on water in his scene with Mr. Envious-Former-Tight-End-for-Texas-Tech. He was quite shaken after acting out that scene with Mrs. Newlin (who it seems will eventually have sex with Jason). 

--The Sookie/Jessica stuff was good. I especially got a kick out of Jessica's impersonation of Bill: "I have errands to run; errands which do not require your attendance" is the line I believe. Jessica's story with her parents brought to mind the season one episode of ANGEL "The Prodigal." Angel decides to kill his father. It's the first thing he does as a vampire. Killing his father leads into killing his entire family. It is exactly what Jessica tries to do until Bill, angry as all hell, arrives and puts the kaibash on it (though he morbidly tells Sookie that he has to clean up the mess that she's created). It is how the episode ended. Will Bill kill the entire family? No way. All he'll do is glamour the family. I guarentee it. Speaking of the family, the actress who portrayed Colin Hart's mother in "Everwood." Once again, that actress portrayed the mother of a dead child. Colin's mother, to digress, always had a bit of an attitude. In fact, the entire Hart clan did! I should buy season two on DVD. Anywho, I though the morbid way in which Bill told Sookie of new-vampire-impulses would lead to attempted murder on the part of Jessica. It did not.

--Lafayette was hilarious tonight as was Eric. The teaser of the episode was hilarious though extremely gruesome and bloody. Eric was concerned about blood-in-his-hair because Pam would flip. Slowly but surely Lafayette biting-way-of-being back. He got to the point where he stopped taking bullocks from people but then he showed extreme vulnerability when he was being taken to the basement again. Nelson Ellis is a terrific actor. He would've been great on LOST. Will he be a vampire the next time we see him? Yes. Alan Ball won't kill him off, and there's no way he survives being bitten by Pam, Eric, and BVWNEM.

--As for Maryann, she thinks in a foreign tongue, can eat endless amounts of food, and is able to incite dance parties. She also can turn Sam into a dog at will. Not cool, Maryann. I don't like her, folks. Tara should move in with Sookie and forget about Maryann altogether but I know that Maryann will stick around. Her schtick is going to get old fast so Alan Ball should make whatever she is interesting. Another Obvious thing to note: everybody dancing moved their hands in the fashion of that statue shown last week.

That's it for 'True Blood.' Time for LOST!

LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do I have up my sleeve this week? Simple. I am introducing the LOST episode of the day. In no way will there be a LOST episode of the day every day but there will be a LOST episode of the day for every entry. 

THE LOST EPISODE OF THE DAY!

I should do a viral version of this entry so I could have a drum-roll. But this is text. The LOST episode of the day is...

The Variable!

[caption id="attachment_321" align="alignnone" width="250" caption="Daniel is unsure why he's so upset upon seeing the wreckage of Oceanic 815"][/caption]

Written by Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

Directed by Paul Edwards
Original Airdate: April 29, 2009

I, literally, wrote about this episode two months ago. I had a vague dream about The Variable. It wasn't about the episode itself. I wasn't watching the episode in my head. I was, rather, living moments of that episode with the vague awareness that I felt like Daniel Faraday. I'm a geek. There's no hiding that. I kept thinking about the doomed relationship of Daniel and (not Charlotte to surprise you all but rather) Theresa as well as the scene when Daniel is watching the discovery of wreckage of Oceanic 815 and he describes his feelings to Widmore as a reaction to the news story. "It's just so sad." I really feel like the writers gave Faraday the short-end of the stick. I mean, he went out with a whimper. Yes, he gave Jack the idea to change time, to (in his own words to his mother) 'make time.' Who knows what season six holds in store but I hope that Faraday returns somehow and in someway. This episode, as confirmed by Darlton, is the counter to the episode 'The Constant.' Carlton, I believe, used the phrase 'a darker 'Constant.' This episode is well-worth re-watching. Here's an excerpt from what I wrote after watching the episode: "The episode brought up the themes of LOST: free will vs. destiny, science vs. faith. Faraday has abandoned sciene in a way because he is just hoping he can change the future to undo the death of Charlotte."

OASIS OFF!



I'm a big Oasis fan. Many Americans are huge fans of 'Wonderwall.' But is 'Wonderwall' their greatest song? That question is what begins the purpose of Oasis Off. What, in fact, is the best Oasis song? Is it 'Wonderwall'? Or is it 'Champagne Supernova'? Or is it 'Live Forever,' or 'Supersonic'? Or none of these? I will not go through every song from the Oasis discography but there will be a substantial amount of songs that I will post on a frequent (maybe a daily basis but if not daily then I guarentee I won't miss more than one day). What I'd like is feedback from people but if I don't get any then I will take it into my own hands to decide their greatest song. Allow me to clarify what I mean by greatest. I merely am referring to songs that are known or well-known. And there's a good chance every song on 'Stop The Clocks' will be included in Oasis Off as it is considered the greatest hits record and put together by the band themselves. I, personally, am extremely excited to do this. I want college students, in particular, to realize there are more songs in Oasis than 'Wonderwall' and 'Champagne Supernova.' I want them to realize that there are other songs that can be played acoustically and will produce the desired result that playing 'Wonderwall' on acoustic at a party results in: getting laid. Here goes:

'Don't Go Away"--Be Here Now

It's considered 'Wonderwall'-lite. It's from a (for some reason I do not understand) critically maligned album. Oh wait, I understand. Americans have ADD and can't tolerate songs longer than 3.5 minutes. Be Here Now is fantastic. The third album of the one of the greatest first three albums ever released by a band. Anywho, 'Don't Go Away' features some of the softest and gentlest vocal performances from Liam. His trademark scowl and snarl is not present during this track. His singing attitude (which makes him terrific mind you) disappears for the 4:48 length of the track. The song features some great guitar-work from Noel. In a word, it's a nice song. A really nice song. Go ahead and take a listen for a video is included in this very post.

Jacob's Foot: My dog is asleep on the floor

[caption id="attachment_664" align="alignnone" width="270" caption="Why does Chicago get its on ESPN website?"][/caption]

"True Blood" began its second season Sunday on HBO. I finished the first season successfully and in time for the premiere. Don't expect this to be like my LOST recaps/reviews. LOST is special. I like "True Blood" as I wrote last week. I'm not particularly invested in any one character though. I have favorites, of course. On the whole, though, it's no Joss Whedon show or LOST. I won't bother explaining my favorite characters. Hopefully, you pick up on it as I deliver my thoughts on a weekly basis. If you don't, it's no big deal. 
EPISODE 201: 'Nothing But The Blood'

--The episode dealt with the corpse in Andy's car, began to reveal a little about lover-of-pigs Maryann and the history with Sam, the justice side of Eric's sheriff duties, Bill's role as father to the woman he turned as punishment for killing Longshadow, Jason's interest in the Fellowship of the Sun, as well as the grief Sookie still experiences for her grandmother. 

--Readers of the books "True Blood" is based on did not shut up about Lafayette being the corpse in the car. It wasn't. Fans are happy regardless because Lafayette's an awesome character. Miss Jeanette was the unfortunate victim in the car. Tara was mightily spooked and paranoid that she'd be a suspect because she yelled at Miss Jeanette (the actual name is Nicole something but I'll just refer to her as Miss Jeanette) for conning her and her mother out of a lot of money (she gave exorcisms to both) though she did teach Tara about the importance of faith which Tara promptly ignored resulting in her current stay with Maryann (which seems like a good deal right now but probably will not be such a good thing as the story progresses). Two questions here: why did the murderer plant the body in good ol' Andy Bellefleur's car? And, why was Miss Jeanette killed? Let's hope season two isn't about another serial killer. The end is always disappointing when done in a television series. I might exclude Veronica Mars from that list though. I have to think about both seasons. Season Two of Veronica only dealt with the person who caused the bus accident so it was a killer but not a serial killer. I'm afraid this is going to lead me into rant about what would've been a better way to tell season two of Veronica Mars structurally speaking with regards to order of episodes. Perhaps another time...

--I'm on board with the Jason Stackhouse storyline so far. There's no annoying Amy Burley this time around or 'V'. It seems as if Jason is interested in redeeming himself as a person and is not a vampire-hater (which is a good thing because he was a fan of Eddie and I dislike inconsistency in a story). On the televisionwithoutpity.com forum for "True Blood," they are wondering how long it'll take Jason to have sex with Rev. Newlin's wife. I doubt that'll happen. Another interesting aspect of Jason's conversion involves his interpretation of receiving the money Uncle Bartlett left Sookie. He, of course, perceived it as an act of God; as a sign that he's meant to take part in the Leadership program. Jason contradicts this newfound faith of his by lying to Sookie about the church that is holding the Leadership conference. He'd probably feel quite differently if he knew that he received the money as a result of something a vampire did, a part of Satan's darkness as written about in the Rev. Newlin the Senior's book. I'm sure that was intentional on the part of the writers. I think it's going to be a complex, deep and engaging storyline.

--Well, we've found out the deal with Maryann. Not only does she love being outside naked with pigs but she also enjoys sex with minors. There's that mystery. I'm sure the whole epileptic-like seizure she had is of no importance at all and I can move right along without writing anything about it? Oh, wait? It is important for the story? Oh, well. I still don't care about Maryann's deal. I am interested in knowing why she came to Bon Tams to find Sam since she seems to be devoid of human emotion and sentiment known as love. We'll see.

--Bill is extremely cooler as nerdish and stumbling over how to "raise" Jessica as a vampire than he is as an Angel rip-off. One of my favorite Bill scenes from season one was his Wii golf scene. More of that and less of the brooding. I mean, come on...he's not Angel. Never will be. Also: here's hoping the Bill/Jessica story remains an aspect of comedy. 

--The death of Uncle Bartlett came back to bite Bill for about two seconds and then he called Sookie his miracle which led to Anna Paquin topless nudity for the male audience and some quality sucking of the blood for good ol' Billy. We were all winners.

--I have a sense that Andy Bellefleur will soon emerge as the hero at some point. He's been humiliated and embarassed for a bit of time now. It makes narrative sense for him to emerge from this, for he to become the man he always claimed himself to be. 

--Eric likes to exact justice on those who have engaged in wrong-doing against vampires which putting highlights in his hair (or whatever it's called). I found that funny. He's also in control of the fate of Lafayette who it turns out is not dead which is great because Lafayette is hilarious. Previews have him asking Eric to make him a vampire. It'd be cool, I guess. Becoming a vamp isn't like becoming a vamp in ANGEL or Buffy. They don't become instantly evil and souless. It reminds me of the final scene in episode six of the third season of ANGEL. Fred tries to console Wesley after Wesley tried to kill her after being infected by Mr. Misogyny Billy's touch. She says that what happened wasn't in him but, rather, it was something that was done to him. It's like that in "True Blood." Don't be surprised if I continue to mention ANGEL (and possibly Buffy) in these reviews/recaps/thoughts/whatever you want to call it. I thought of ANGEL a bit during the first season (and I've been re-watching ANGEL late at night). Go ahead and make Lafayette a vampire.

--I'm not looking forward to the possible return to drunkard Tara's mom. Maryanne gave her a whole chunk of her mind outside of the police station and Lettie May look rather frazzled by the tongue-lashing. I'm really not into the drug/alcohol addictions on any show. I was elated that Charlie-is-addicted-to-Heroin plot went away in mid-season two. I dug it in season one but not in season two. It's connected to one of the problems I have with season two which I believed I addressed in that fantastic entry with LOST and the Mars Volta. Don't you worry, reader, I will be diving into LOST soon. I do not plan on breaking my promise of writing about every week until the season premiere in January. Back to "True Blood."

--For a show that has a main character, they pretty much ignored her in the premiere. Sookie wasn't involved in much. She attempted to clean out her Gram's room but could not because it's her Gram. I liked that. Other than that, she got mad at Bill for the Jessica thing, Sam didn't put up with her nonsense this time (which was great), and then she forgave Bill after getting mad at him for the Bartlett stuff. That's about it.

--Other stuff: Terry's slowly charming Arlene, some girl named Daphne joined the staff at Merlotte's, and we saw that the Sheriff is a square-dancing fan. All in all, not too bad an episode.

LOST!

I recorded season two's "Maternity Leave" on DVR when it aired on ABC late Saturday night/technically early Sunday morning. I only wanted to watch the last scene with Claire talking to Aaron (when she gives him the slipper she knitted him while in The Arrow).

 

[caption id="attachment_665" align="alignnone" width="800" caption="Emilie De Ravin!"][/caption]

Something struck me though and I began thinking about the season-five-mirrored-season-two. There's a scene in "Maternity Leave" when Claire has Sun take care of Aaron because Claire is about to embark on a journey to The Arrow to (she hopes) retrieve medicine for Aaron. Now Claire's extremely pissy throughout the episode. Yelling at people and whatnot. Sun doesn't seem comfortable taking Aaron. Yunjin Kim did a great job playing the scene. She tells Claire that a mother should not leav her child. Claire does not appreciate Sun's opinion and wonders, rhetorically speaking, whether Sun is a mother. Sun of course says no. 

AND THEN CUT TO SEASON FIVE! Sun is the mother of Ji Yeon. She leaves South Korea to take revenge on Ben but plans on going back to S. Korea. Things change when Ben tells her that Jin is alive and uses the wedding ring as proof. As we all know, she boards 316 and comes back to the Island. Sun is the one who leaves her child now. It's not an exact mirror because of the motivations behind Sun's decision. There's a quote from either Damon or Carlton about LOST and the concept of the looking glass. Alas, I cannot remember the quote. Season Five showed the motivations of some characters turned 360 degrees like Jack. Jack was a staunch man of science during season two. Didn't believe in the button. Always thought Locke was crazy. In season Five, he is entirely a man of faith so much so that he believes he was meant to change time and the future. There are other elements which I've detailed in recaps past which I won't reiterate in this space. I wanted to write about the Sun thing though because it's cool. 

OTHER STUFF!

--I'm going to begin writing about music very soon. I'll have a review of the new Mars Volta record next week maybe as well as thoughts about the solo efforts of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. I'll also write about the greatness of Incubus and Oasis.

--I might have a review of Summer Hours up in the near future. 

--I'll probably write a little about David Foster Wallace's non-fiction as well.

-Chris Monigle

Jacob's Foot: Am I the New Editor-In-Chief? Plus LOST, True Blood, and Dawson's Creek

Written by Chris Monigle

I have come to the realization that less is certainly more for this blog. There's about a 1% chance you'll see a another 3,800 word entry for the rest of the summer. LOST might strike my fancy which is why I left a 1% chance. I also remembered that entertainment is my biggest focus at The Quad since I am, you know, the editor of that section; therefore, the experiential piece I planned to write will no longer be written as it would contain very little entertainment besides a bit about LOST, two video games, and multiple failed journeys to see Pixar's UP, so it wouldn't even be a review of the movie but rather a review of my experiences trying to see the movie. I did battle Colin, our Editor-In-Chief, for the position of Editor-In-Chief in a game of Touch Football. Do not misunderstand me: it was literally touch football that we played on Peter J. Smith's iPod touch. I set an over/under of 19.5 points. I took the under. Colin didn't even put the position on the line as much as I stated that me and him would play for the position of Editor-In-Chief. It's a simple game. All one does is slide their index finger on the screen to try to a score a touchdown. I sadly lost the touch I had when I battled Smith months earlier. It was Diddy's first time playing the game (and Diddy is the nickname I've given Colin).

[caption id="attachment_613" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The two savvy competitors in Touch Football"][/caption]

The question that everybody seeks an answer to is: Am I the new Editor-In Chief of The Quad? Did I, in fact, defeat and whisk the title from Diddy? 
I did not. In fact, he shut me out. A 12-0 final. I didn't even come close to ever scoring. Either my slide was too powerful or my index finger betrayed me when it was my turn i.e. it barely moved. Diddy displayed a calm poise, allowing the game to come to him, to reveal itself. It was fun though.

Back to the point: I was struck on Sunday night by the realization of the entertainment aspect of this blog. It's not like I strayed. I didn't. I merely planned to stray into other areas of non-entertainment. I was also struck by how enjoyable "less" can be than "more." I will write as much as needed for LOST and anything else entertainment but I won't put an entry on life support to satisfy an internal blowhard word-count that is in no way mandated by The Quad. I can be my own worst enemy.

'True Blood' has become the show that will occupy me during the hiatus of LOST. I'm not the type of person to toss a show aside once LOST returns though. In fact, Dawson's Creek was an 'Occupy Me' show once upon a time.

[caption id="attachment_611" align="alignnone" width="316" caption="Hell to the Yeah."]Those crazy kids from the Creek!

Jacob's Foot: Some Season Four Action in this one!

[caption id="attachment_588" align="alignnone" width="250" caption="Love this one. It's neat."][/caption]

Written by Chris Monigle

 

I promised archival LOST writing pieces and today you shall get the first of the archival LOST writing pieces...in time. I'm taking a little shortcut way to getting an entry this time. I have my reasons. Firstly, I am (dare I say) pressed for time this week and by pressed, I mean, I am unable to devote the 3+hours it takes me to write a gargantuan entry this week. Now you might be wondering why I don't simply write it in spurts, why I write it in one fell swoop, and I do not have an answer. The truth: I do break up the days of writing. It's better in the long run. Better for me because I love to write long pieces. I feel like you get the most bang for the buck you don't spend by reading a long piece rather than a short piece. I got into a habit (you can decide whether it is bad or good) of writing more than the 600-800 word count required for articles. And I felt that I'd be doing a major injustice to the season five LOST finale if I didn't write at least 4,000 words (I wanted to get 6,000 but I came way short of that and settled for 4,000 and some change). But enough about word-counts!

I'm in the process of preparing the biggest thing that I will write this summer. Inspired by the experiential post-cards (as he liked to call them) of the late David Foster Wallace, you will, at some point, be reading about my experiences from May 30, 2009 until June 6, 2009. It is a week that includes a trip to the shore, a return to philly that began at 6:52am june 2nd, a return to the shore, and other wild things. Get excited.

Time to spend a few words on sports: Antonio Bastardo made his start last night. I saw about one inning from the entire game because I passed out from my lack of sleep just as the game began at 10pm. It was one of those dealies in which you aren't concious of passing out but you also are. You'll find out more about that day in the big jawn I'm going to be writing! But yes, Bastardo pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball. He threw mostly a fast-ball and didn't really change speeds all too much. But the dude throws heat. Averages 94-95 mph. I happened upon a start of his a saturday or two ago when he was with the Iron Pigs. It was his first start in AAA after pitching twice in AA (I believe). The dude was unbelievable, cruising through the first 4 or so innings before running into a little trouble. Here's the question though: are the Phillies simply showing him off as a means to end to replace Myers? If I was a betting man, I'd say probably. They've got to at least get Roy Halladay though. Just saying. As a whole, the Phils team is playing very solid, fluid baseball. Ruiz is rust-free now and a big, big help out of the 8th hole. It's an absolutel complete line-up now especially with the offense of Pedro Feliz. The bullpen has been as good as ever. Madson is terrific in the 8th. It's amazing watching him now that he's no longer lost in 'I should be a starter' thought. One of my favorite memories from the World Series run is when Madson hit 97 on the radar gun. He finally arrived when that happened and realized the potential he's had since becoming a major leaguer in 2004. That's about it for the Phillies.

THE LOST SECTION OF JACOB'S FOOT!

Anywho, it's time for the archival LOST writing piece! What is below is my season four recap which has quite a lot of text from lostpedia.com and Jeremy Bentham. In hindsight, it's entirely unnecessary given that Widmore thought it'd be funny to name Locke after another philosopher. There are quite a few things in this recap that have been shot down completely by the show itself which is yet another reason why everything should default to the people who run the show. There's a terrific interview with Damon and Carlton at lostpedia.com (which i finally read. i refused to go near it until season five had wrapped. i didn't read the entertainment weekly cover story on LOST that was featured in early february until the day after the finale ended and it turned out to be a good thing because there's loads of stuff that didn't happen when the cover story originally was published) and Damon addresses the world of fan theories. Now, with season six looming in a few months, every thing is going to fall into place but this quote from Damon is certainly apt. It even connects back to a rant of mine from, I believe, the Dead Is Dead recap (in which I went off on Smoky theories). Here's the man himself:

Alex: Have you ever seen any theory that has come close to solving any major mysteries? Like the Smoke Monster or Jacob?

Damon: You know, the answer is not really, because... Sometimes, like for example, there were popular theories probably about a year ago, or maybe as long as two years ago, right around the time I guess Eko died. About the Smoke monster's function was some sort of judge. It basically took your memories and processed your life and decided whether you were worthy of living or not, and that is certainly, kind of, one of it's functions. We've dealt with that more specifically now on the show, but the audience simply does not know enough yet to make an educated guess about where all of this is leading. You will know a lot by the end of the Fifth season, probably a lot more to begin to get a much better sense of what the end game of the show may be, but we've had to hold a lot of that stuff back so that people wouldn't get it too early or that all the answers were coming in the penultimate season of the show. Considering what the audience has to work with, they've proven to be incredibly resourceful and insightful, but there are some clues that we have not yet presented them, that are really integral to figuring out what the real endgame of the show is, so there's no way that they could really, you know, really...(http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lostpedia_Interview:Carlton_Cuse_%26_Damon_Lindelof)

There's also a great quote from Lindelof from that EW Cover Story about What Is To Come and lays out exactly what they mean by season six mirroring season one: 

'the storytellers hope that anyone who has ever been a Lost fan will tune in next year as the show moves into payoff mode and begins resolving long-term character arcs. Indeed, compared with this year, season 6 sounds like it could be something of a blast from the season 1 past. Lindelof teases that the sci-fi-heavy season 5 (which includes more Smokey, four-toed statue, and numbers intrigue) ''sets up where we need to go in season 6, which will be much more grounded and character-centric than it is this year.'''

I can't wait! But in the meantime, here is my season four recap from June 12, 2008 at 9:02pm.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME PARTS TWO AND THREE!

I haven't been able to stop thinking about LOST. I don't even mean simply the finale. The show as a whole has been on my mind. I've been re-watching episodes. I've been reading lostpedia.com, thefuselage.com messageboards, old billie reviews, the bible, and alice in wonderland. I'm not even reading these for theory purposes because I don't really give a damn about theories to be honest with you. I'm refreshing my memory with regards to the past three seasons which is why I'm reading lostpedia, thefuselage, and old billie reviews. I read Doc Jensen's columns over at ew.com because he's great with picking out the allusions to literary texts (which i'm very much interested in). When it comes to theories and all of that jazz, I'm much more interested in waiting to see where the show goes instead of going over theory after theory. Most of all, I'm most interested in the characters. LOST is a character study/drama at its core and thats what drew me to the show in the first season. The first season is one of the greatest seasons in history of television. Episodes like Walkabout, White Rabbit, The Moth, Confidence Man, Solitary, Raised By Another, Special, Outlaws, ...In Translation, Numbers, Deus Ex Machina, Do No Harm, and the Exodus finale are some of the finest episodes EVER. How can we forget the reveal that Locke was paralyzed prior to crashing on the island? How can we forget the scene when Jack finds his father's coffin empty and proceeds to destroy it as well as the scene in which Jack tells the airport clerk the importance of burying his father? How can we forget the scene between Locke and Charlie when Locke tells Charlie about the moth's struggle and the scene when Charlie battles his way out of the collapsed cave because Jack's arm is dislocated? How can we forget the scene when we learn that Sawyer wrote the letter to the man who ruined his family as well as the scene when Sayid goes to map the Island because he's ashamed of himself because he tortured Sawyer? How can we forget Sayid's first flashback with Nadia? How can we forget Claire's first episode with the psychic Malkin, her reluctance to have Aaron (a great Claire moment, by the way, is in her episode in the second season in which she talks to Aaron after she's been to the Staff station. The moment bridges her season 1 and season 2 flashbacks). How can we forget the struggle Michael endured while he was kept away from Walt (and subsequently the bond the two forged on the Island)? Of course, I have more to write on Michael later in the entry and the story that was his. Who can forget the scene between Christian and Sawyer in the bar or the scene when Sawyer killed the wrong guy? Outlaws also had the great Sawyer vs. the Boar plot. Who can forget the great Jin flashback in which we find out he is ashamed of his lineage? One of the top 7 scenes in LOST is when he returns to his father and they talk on the fishing boat. I will have more to write on Jin later as well. How can we forget Hurley's first flashback in which he travels to Australia to discover whether he's bad luck or the numbers? How can we forget the epic scene in which John Locke pounds on the door of the hatch, yelling: 'I've done everything you've ever asked me to do so why did you do this to me?' and then the light goes on inside of the Hatch (we of course later learn that Locke ended up saving Desmond's life that night just as Desmond saved John's. The light gave John more hope and restored his faith in the Island, and Desmond discovered he wasn't alone.) Who can forget the birth of Aaron as Boone dies as well as the flashback of Jack's wedding day with Sarah? Do No Harm is the first episode in which a main character dies. And then there is the Exodus finale in which we see everybody boarding flight Oceanic 815. The point of this long paragraph: I'm big on character study and development. Come on, I'm a Joss Whedon fan. That guy's all about character. Anywho, those episodes are very cool because of the mythological stuff. I'll never forget the first time I heard the Whispers in Solitary as Sayid's wandering through the jungle or when Ethan was there to kidnap Claire (I had to leave for Kairos the next week and missed All The Best Cowboys have Daddy Issues! Drove me nuts!). But this isn't about the first season. This entry is about the fourth season finale of LOST.

Damon and Carlton did one hell of a job with the season finale. There were three deaths. The Island moved. The Freighter exploded. Lapidus' copter crashed. Penny Widmore ended up rescuing the Oceanic 6 (with Frank and Desmond). The Others were back in their most primitive form. Locke became the leader of The Others. Sawyer jumped out of the helicopter so that the rest could make it to the freighter to re-fuel. Daniel's lost at sea along with some random survivors. Charlotte, apparently, was born on the Island. Now it's time for some thoughts:

--I re-watched the scene when the Freighter explodes and have come to the conclusion that Jin is probably dead. Unless the blast sent him overboard before he was killed and he can survive in the water on something then color me wrong but I think Jin is no more. He's one of my favorite characters. Before his episode in the first season, I had the sense that Jin was a good guy. Indeed Jin was/is the personification of good. I hope but it is a slim hope.

--I know Michael's dead. Everything changed for Michael once Walt was taken by The Others. But he redeemed himself in the end. I do hope Walt has some part to play in the final seasons. Damon and Carlton owe it to the fans.

--Is Claire dead? I'm not sure anymore. Had that been real and not a dream, I would've been certain Claire died in the explosion. I think she is alive. Not sure what Jacob wants with her. Hopefully Damon and Carlton answer that next season. The opening of Raised By Another is a scene in which Locke tells Claire that she gave him away and now everyone will pay. Just saying.

--The Suicide Beard himself was back: Jack Shepard. Loved everything Jack did in the episode.

--I feel like Sun's going to become my least favorite character on the show. In the flashforward, she basically tells Widmore that she and the other five weren't the only ones to leave the Island. She's going to ruin everything but Yunjin Kim knocked it out of the park after The Freighter exploded. Holy cow! Intense.

--Looks like it took Ben 10 months to re-surface after moving the Island. No comment until I see more but Ben is one of the greatest characters ever created. Michael Emerson deserves an Emmy. 

--I'm excited to see the zany antics and adventures Hurley and Sayid will have together next season as they try to get out of harm's way. But I think Sayid's safe place is that Island. Speaking of Sayid, his fight vs. Keamy rocked!

--There's gotta be more Richard Alpert next season. Very interesting character. If there's one thing Richard does its get rid of someone he feels is no longer qualified to lead his people. Is that what happened with Locke? We shall soon see (I hope and, of course, in about 8 months. Ugh.) 

--Speaking of John Locke's corpse, he was going by the name Jeremy Bentham! Who is Jeremy Bentham? Welllllllllllllllll keep reading (there's very interesting info in here especially about The Jacobins):

FROM LOSTPEDIA.COM

Jeremy Bentham (15 February 1748–6 June 1832) - was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He was a political radical, and a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law. He was a child prodigy and was found as a toddler sitting at his father's desk reading a multi-volume history of England and began his study of Latin at the age of three. 

He was a political radical best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism, a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome - the ends justify the means. Utilitarianism argued that the "right" action or policy was that which would cause "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". His critics objected saying that it would therefore "...be acceptable to torture one person if this would produce an amount of happiness in other people outweighing the unhappiness of the tortured individual." 

Bentham also designed a famous prison structure called the "Panopticon", which creates a sense of constant surveillance and paranoia amongst prisoners. 

Bentham was also known for his outspoken opposition to the French revolutionary discourse of natural rights, an idea championed by philosopher John Locke (whose father, also named John Locke, worked for Jeremy Bentham). He also suggested a procedure for estimating the moral status of any action. His principle regards "good" as that which produces the greatest amount of physical or spiritual pleasure, and the minimum amount of pain; and "evil" as that which produces the most pain without the pleasure. 

Bentham also argued that the ability to suffer, not the ability to reason, must be the benchmark of how we treat other beings. He stated that if the ability to reason were the criterion, many human beings, including babies and disabled people, would have to be treated as though they were things, rather than beings. 

The Jacobins
Bentham was an outspoken critic of the violence which arose after a group called "The Jacobins" seized power in a coup after the fall of the French monarchy -- on September 21, 1792. 

Originated as the "Club Bentham", "The Jacobin Club" was the largest and most powerful political club of the French Revolution. It was led by Maximillian Robespierre, self-styled as "the Incorruptible", he was a disciple of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As such, his political views were rooted in Rousseau's notion of the social contract, which promoted "the rights of man" (however, Robespierre's version was of collective rights, rather than individual rights). Any club member who by word or action showed that his principles were contrary to the constitution and 'the rights of man' was to be expelled, a rule which later on facilitated the "purification" of French society by the expulsion of its more moderate elements - this became known as the "Reign of Terror". Robespierre described it thus: "Terror is nothing other than prompt, severe, inflexible justice." 

Later, Robespierre (leader of The Jacobins) had a decree passed that established the "Cult of the Supreme Being". The notion of the Supreme Being was based on ideas that Jean-Jacques Rousseau had outlined in "The Social Contract". Robespierre made it clear that his concept of a Supreme Being was far different from the traditional God of Christianity. Robespierre's Supreme Being was a radical democrat, like the Jacobins. He explained: "Is it not He whose immortal hand, engraving on the heart of man the code of justice and equality, has written there the death sentence of tyrants? Is it not He who, from the beginning of time, decreed for all the ages and for all peoples liberty, good faith, and justice? He did not create kings to devour the human race. He did not create priests to harness us, like vile animals, to the chariots of kings and to give to the world examples of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood. He created the universe to proclaim His power. He created men to help each other, to love each other mutually, and to attain to happiness by the way of virtue." 

Bentham's auto-icon
As requested in his will, Jeremy Bentham's body was preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet, termed his "Auto-icon". The Auto-icon is kept on public display at the end of the South Cloisters in the main building of University College London, his alma mater. For the 100th and 150th anniversaries of the College, the Auto-icon was brought to the meeting of the College Council, where he was listed as "present but not voting". Tradition holds that if the council's vote on any motion is tied, the auto-icon always breaks the tie by voting in favour of the motion. The Auto-icon has always had a wax head, as Bentham's head was badly damaged in the preservation process.

--I'm positive that Sawyer's still surviving on that Island despite the horrible things that have happened. If I were a betting man, I'd bet the season 5 premiere belongs to Sawyer. It's just a gut feeling.

--'If anything goes wrong, Desmond is my constant'--Daniel's words in his journal. Again, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that Daniel uses his constant while he's lost at sea. I don't think he moved with the Island.

--Regarding Charlotte, I think we'll finally learn about the toe statue in season five. And Miles is going to tell me what happened to Claire! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!

That's about it for thoughts on the finale. It's time for the Rankings!

THE OFFICIAL LOST RANKINGS

For the first time ever, me and STEVE commented on each character's ranking. Me and STEVE have new number ones. Yes, Sayid is no longer number 1 for the first time since the rankings became official. The new number one for me deserves the top spot. I need not say more. Read and enjoy the final rankings until our pre-season rankings in January 2009. Mic's Rankings will be posted sometime before the fifth season begins.

AFTER EPISODES 13 AND 14
Ranked: 5/30/08

CHRIS
1. Jack--He got them rescused and now he needs to go back to finish what he started. Welcome back to the top spot, Jack.
2. Sawyer--JABOY season for Sawyer. I'm sure he'll be kicking some more ass in Season 5!
3. Sayid--Sayid's great. Always dependable. But don't kill Penny, Sayid. She rescused you. And sorry, Sayid. Records are sometimes broken.
4. Locke--'Wait til you see what I'm about to do' and 'This is a place of miracles.' Locke is amazing.
5. Desmond--He's great. Sure he was absolutely wrong about his vision of rescue but he never stopped helping the effort to get off of the Island. One of my favorite characters.
6. Michael--You stepped up, Michael. 
7. Hurley--I love crazy Hurley.
8. Jin--Don't believe he's dead. He could've grabbed onto debris. Come on, Lindelof and Cuse! Jin's amazing!
9. Claire--She might be dead. Who knows. I still love her. BAM!
10. Ben--one of the greatest characters of all time. He is 10 because it is a numbers game.
11. Kate--How dare she call Aaron her son with Claire sitting there!
12. Frank--the best freighter character.
13. Juliet--Solid character she is.
14. Daniel--Was once 4 and now is 14. Why? Not sure. Just feels right.
15. Miles--He's great but hasn't done anything to move up.
16. Sun--How dare she blame Jack for Jin’s death!
17. Charlotte--Don’t care about her yet.

STEVE
1. Ben - The most original character of the show. He's wild. The actor is great. The writing is great.
2. Sawyer - Should be part of the Oceanic 6 if it wasn't for Fatty McFatFat
3. Desmond - I love the character of Desmond. Hopefully we will see more of him.
4. Locke - Crazy Locke. Great stuff this season. Can't wait till he's resurrected. 
5. Sayid--The only reason you're down this far is because you after the island.
6. Jack--They should of made Jack black.
7. Michael--He did what he had to do. RIP.
8. Jin--RIP
9. Miles-- Don't know why Miles is this high...I wanted to get him to #8. Get it 8 Miles. 8 Mile...ha..whoo whoo ha ha
10. Frank--The Real Flyin' Hawaiian holdin' shit down.
11. Sun-Woo Kim
12. Claire--Ghostface
13. Kate-Murderer! Stealer of a child! Slut!
14. Charlotte-Starting to Like her
15. Daniel-Can't stand 'em.
16. Juliet-She said she wanted to get off the island as bad as anyone. Then she didnt even get on the boat to get off the island. WHOOOOOOOOORE.
17. Hurley-Should of jumped out of the plane. Unnecessary weight.