"For twenty-five years I have read criticisms of my stories, and I don't remember a single remark of any value or one word of valuable advice." A. Chekhov
A day like today calls for me to break my own blog rules. I am going to write a bit about the Cliff Lee deal and the passing of Jim Johnson (and then LOST).
Jim Johnson passed away yesterday afternoon. It wasn't a complete shock for anyone in Philadelphia. Once Sean McDermott was officially named the defensive coordinator, The Daily News sports section began speculating that Johnson's condition was dire. A quote in Monday's paper described McDermott talking about Johnson as omnious. Regardless, it's still very sad news. Seven months ago he was coaching his defense in the NFC Championship. It was some of the best defense I've seen in the ten seasons I was able to watch his defensive mind at work. I loved his defense. He was so creative and smart. He adapted so well. For example, an older Dawkins couldn't do what younger Dawkins did, and so Johnson used him as the joker. He helped mold Chris Gocong into one hell of a linebacker. Joselio Hanson could've been a starter in this league because of Jim Johnson but Hanson was loyal enough to stay (and the eagles recognized the talent of Hanson by giving him starters money to be the nickel corner). All of my favorite Eagles defenders (former and present) are products of the Jim Johnson defense. He wasn't afraid to make a move. I remember him benching Omar Gaither and inserting Akeem Jordan, the Lito fiasco which spawned Joselio, moving Darren Howard to tackle which paid off huge, deciding to let Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor go for Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard, the defensive line rotation, Quentin Mikell becoming the starting strong safety, etc, etc.
Year after year after year he kept it fresh. One of my favorite defensive performances was the Cowboys game from 2007 when the Eagles were heading for an 8-8 finish and the Cowboys were America's team again, and the defense just went into Dallas and smacked them across the mouth. A 10-6victory for the Birds. That's only one of many examples of Jim Johnson's defense. In 2001, the team didn't allow more than 21 points in any regular season game. His tenure has produced solid top 5 stats for the defense. He had an extraordinary mind. I didn't know much about his life except that he was a devoted family man and that he loved football. As a sports fan, he's given me great memories and showed me what great defense was.
As for the Phillies, they are 19-3 in July (the final game of the d'backs series has not yet completed as of this posting) and they acquired the reigning AL Cy Young winner from the Indians this afternoon. Yes, Cliff Lee is a Philadelphia Phillie. I'm pretty excited. I was worried about what they would've given up for Lee. When I saw the details of the deal, it wasn't too bad. I'm a big Lou Marson fan. He has a lot of potential to make a name for himself in this league. I would've liked to have seen him remain a Phil but the big picture is repeating in the world series so I'm okay with trading him. Carrasco was simply expendable. Jason Donald, the now former projected 3B of the future, was hurt most of this year at AAA. He needs consistency with the bat. And I didn't know anything about Jason Knapp other than he's supposed to become a very good pitcher. I hope he does. I'm very happy overall with the deal. I know this team can repeat. The big worry now is Lidge in the 9th. He's been struggling ever since the season started. Lidge is the only big concern. I think the fans have a clue of what the pen and rotation could could look like in a month and September with the call-ups: Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Happ, Moyer; Bullpen: Clay "The Con Man" Condrey, Durbin, Romero, Eyre, Chan Ho, Pedro, Myers, Drabek (hey it's a possibility), Tyler Walker, Mad-Dog Mammoth Madson, Lidge, Kendrick (just to speculate of course). Their lineup is out of this world. No need to elaborate on that. This team can very well repeat.
LOST!
Today, there is no LOST episode of the day. I recently found these terrific LOST cartoons that were made in 2006. It's pre-season 3 of course. I think they are brilliant. It pokes fun at the show and I get a kick out of it. Hopefully you watch and agree. My personal favorite will be posted at a later date. Thank you.
OASIS OFF!
Oasis Off has been effectively pointless but I will continue forth with it. There are two songs left and then I will determine if Wonderwall really is the best Oasis song to play acoustically with the hopes of getting laid. Today's song could very well steal the award from Wonderwall. Who knows?
Radio silence has officially ended for the last time. No longer will July be the highlight of the long, long hiatus for every LOST fan for this is the last hiatus fans will experience. Yes, the end is near. LOST at Comic Con for the final time was the first real instance of the inevitable conclusion of the series in May. Names were dropped as to who will show up at some point during the final season. I imagine every major, major character is going to show up at some point. Judging from the season six teases (and Lindelof and Cuse didn't reveal anything at all as to what to expect in the final season), it's going to be a special, bittersweet season. Jorge Garcia, who portrays Hurley, asked the funniest question of the day about whether or not the show would erase the last five seasons thanks to Jack's attempt to destroy those three years of time, claiming that to do so would be a real cheat. Lindelof and Cuse, as always, didn't answer. The final panel for LOST at Comic Con's theme was the fans. They appreciated the fans by showing various things created by fans whether they were videos, paintings, etc. LOST was revealed to the world at the 2004 Comic Con. It leaves Comic Con as the greatest show in television history. The crowd for the final panel thankfully beat the record-setting crowd set by Twilight fans for the Twilight panel. I don't think I would've handled LOST being beaten by that crummy vampire story. Nestor Carbonell (the great Richard Alpert), Michael Emerson (Benny Linus), and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) also made an appearance for the final Comic Con. And yes, as I expected and wrote last week, a new video (a "commercial" rather) to officially kick off the anticipation for season six was shown. Below is the video and my thoughts:
It's only 17 seconds long so it's safe to assume I won't blowhard about it. But it looks like Faraday's theory panned out, that detonating Jughead erased the last three years, and the plane never crashed because they stopped The Incident from happening. Hm. I'd like to mention that these things aren't officially LOST canon. Mainly, the obsessive die-hards watch these. I remember during the weeks leading up to season two's premiere that a website was created. I forgot exactly how I navigated it but I ended up witnessing the light shine out of the hatch again and I think saw two scenes from the premiere. Of course there have been interactive games such as The Lost Experience and Find815. Back to the video: Hm.
Back to the Comic Con panel now, a man in the audience was lucky to receive a statue of the bird Claire used as a possible messanger to the outside world from Par Avion. Damon also noted that no one asks what happened to that bird. Perhaps I will cover that when Par Avion is the episode of the day. Also, Claire was the secret word. Very exciting. Here's a picture of her for the hell of it.
[caption id="attachment_887" align="alignnone" width="204" caption="Claire was the secret word"][/caption]
Other highlights I've witnessed: when Josh Holloway surprises the crowd, 'tazes' Damon who he thinks is JJ Abrams, and demands Carlton opens a treasure chest that contains secrets from LOST. Once he has the info in his hand, he pauses, and Emerson says, "oh my god, you can't read!' Josh says he left his glasses on The Island. Emerson takes the paper and begins reading despite Carlton and Damon's protests that he not read. It turns out that it is a scene from Heroes. After reading it for a minute, Emerson asks, "What the [expletive deleted] is this?' Emerson was outstanding. He offers some great insights about LOST. He reiterated that he thinks LOST's ultimate conclusion will be for grown-ups. It was fantastic all around from Lindelof's atrocious acting, Cuse's atrocious acting, the joke that Holloway mistaked Lindelof for Abrams, Nestor and Jorge enjoying themselves, and poking fun at Heroes, and Emerson's reaction to what he was reading (and how he pronounced Sylar). The panel ended with a montage and then Dom Monoghan came out to surprise as Damon and Carlton bid farewell to the crowd.
THE 'LOST' EPISODE OF THE DAY!
The episode: A Tale of Two Cities Original Airdate: October 4, 2006 Written By: JJ Abrams & Damon Lindelof (Story By Damon Lindelof) Directed By: Jack Bender
Content: Jack, Kate and Sawyer find themselves in unusual locations after being kidnapped by the Others, who reveal themselves to be more sophisticated than anyone could have previously guessed.
Why It's Worth Re-Watching: The teaser of the episode is gold. It opens with Juliet, she's upset, and about to host the book club. And then what seems to be an earthquake hits and then the viewer realizes the scene is taking place on 9/22/04 as the others watch the plane split in two. The episode is worth re-watching for a few reasons. The first: Michael Emerson sat in during EW's Totally Lost panel. He spoke about Ben stabbing Jacob in The Incident. He's not sure what aftermath of that will be but he revealed that he knew what the scene meant for Ben and explained how he played the scene (i swear this ties in to A Tale of Two Cities).
Essentially, he sums up one of the most important themes of LOST: father/son relationships or lackthereof. He describes how Ben has always been looking for a father and that deep down in his heart he always expected Jacob to be what his own father never was so he pours his heart out to Jacob and only receives a 'what about you?' as the response but Michael states that Jacob is the one who willed Ben to stab him with the knife (which is indeed very interesting). Back to this episode, the flashback revolves around Jack's obsessive days with Sarah and her new lover but the underlying thread of the flashback is Jack and his relationship with his father. He suspects Christian of being the new guy in Sarah's life when he finds out Sarah's been calling him. This suspicion leads to Jack physically attacking his father at an AA meeting (it's revealed in the flashback that Christian has been sober for 50 days). The final scene of the flashback involves Jack and Sarah. Sarah bails Jack out of jail for the aforementioned incident with his father, and that she found out because Christian called completely drunk. When Jack hears this, it's like the monster just hit him. He's crushed. What's tragic about it is that Jack is the reason his father began drinking again, and drinking led to his death in Sydney. When he's in The Hydra, he hears his father say 'let it go.' I'm of the opinion this episode is underrated for the flashback alone. Jack's a favorite of mine because of his backstory, his conflicts, struggles, his ability to come through in the clutch, etc. I'll go as far as to say it's evidence of why the ultimate end of LOST will be sad (i of course see the other side as well). There's evidence throughout the show and yada yada. Back to the episode, the first episode of season three doesn't end happily. Kate's sad as hell, Sawyer isn't too happy, and Jack has to give in rather than continue to fight. And they are all locked in cages (Jack in an aquarium if you want to be matter of fact about it ). The Others have the clear upper hand at the end of the episode (of course that's not the case come Through The Looking Glass). It's a poignant story about the darker and more vulnerable side of Jack.
The episode also introduces the world to Juliet playd by Elizabeth Mitchell. It took some time for Juliet to grow on me but the character is great. Elizabeth Mitchell had the pathos of Juliet down in the first scene of the season. She brought humanness to the Others. The episode also has a badass scene in which the ocean rushes into The Hydra as Jack tries to escape. I remember seeing it in the previews and being wowed. Also, Sawyer cracks me up when he finally figures out the contraption in the cage and he dances to the triumphant music that plays as he gets his Dharma fish biscuit, peanuts, and water. Another recommendation: watch the episode and then re-watch it with commentary by Damon Lindelof and Elizabeth Mitchell. It's fantastic. Elizabeth Mitchell and Matthew Fox knocked this episode out of the park. And for good measure, here's the final scene of Jack's flashback:
TRUE BLOOD
In this episode, Alan Ball began to blatantly rip off the Angel/Darla dynamic as well as the Angel/Buffy/Spike triangle. Those flashbacks screamed Angel/Darla. I'm not a fan of that, Alan Ball. Bill is basically Angel. Evil and now tormented to a degree. So yeah, not a fan of that. Also, Lafayette was ordered to sell V again by Eric, and he's showing some severe trauma from his three weeks in hell. Terry helped comfort Lafeyette. Terry also laid a verbal smackdown on his cousin Andy. Eggs has some sort of supernatural ability but any interesting thing about that subplot desolved completely thanks to bulljawn Maryann. Daphne revealed herself as an accomplice to Maryann, setting up Sam (who is still cool) to be killed. Sookie and Isabel's boyfriend went undercover into the Fellowship of the Sun and the plan completely backfired (Bill could not help because of "Darla"). Eric wants to be romantically involved with Sookie and invited "Darla" to control Bill or something. As a matter of fact, when she returned last week, with that slow-mo walk, that was right out of season two of ANGEL when Dru returns to vamp Darla again (it's best I don't digress and explain why Darla was vamped a second time). Jason and Luke built some thing to murder a vampire. Jason had sex with Sarah Newlin. That's about it. You see, not a lot happened. This episode essentially had no story. It just things happening. It was basically The Joker saying "i just do things." Hopefully next week improves.
OASIS OFF!
I think there's only three songs left in Oasis Off so here is the first of the final three. I chose to embed a live acoustic version of the song because it's fantastic.
[caption id="attachment_867" align="alignnone" width="265" caption="The eclipse taking place all over Asia."][/caption]
I'm extremely excited for football season. It's always a good time with football. Since I like to stick to the entertainment side of life I don't write too much about sports. Luckily, television and sports for reality shows like MLB Network's The Pen (focused on the great Phillies bullpen) and in a few weeks HBO's Hard Knocks returns with the Cincinnati Bengals being the team of choice. It was only two years ago the world enjoyed the antics of the Cincinattica Bengals (Sports Guy's nickname for them of course). Only comedy can ensue from Hard Knocks: The Cincinnatti Bengals. Yes, I will review this on a (hopefully) weekly basis. It'll be terrific. Speaking of The Pen though...
The show delivered the best episode yet. The middle of the episode focused on Clay 'The Con Man' Condrey's journey to the major leagues (David Murphy, of course, wrote about his journey in March for the Daily News--terrific piece), the episode updated folks on Jack Taschner's re-assignment to the IronPigs, and they actually didn't speed through 3 weeks of baseball action. The show didn't bother to delight their audience and indulge them in the 22-1 victory over the Reds but Mitch did narrate a series of highlights of what the guys do in the bullpen during games. Tyler Walker being designated for assignment has yet to come in The Pen but I'm sure it'll be a doozy. Overall, I've enjoyed the look-in at the bullpen. I haven't learned anything new about the bullpen. I think they are saving all of the actual who they are outside of baseball for next week. Highlights have been when the crew followed Lidge to Reading for a rehab assignment, the pen's adventures in San Diego, the lunch when Taschner, Walker, Lidge, and Condrey recalled their major league debuts.
TRUE BLOOD
In this episode, the Rev's wife got sexy with Jason in a bathtub (her reward for him), Jason once again moved up in the ranks of the Sun, Godric (or is it Goddrick) was revealed as the Maker of Eric, Lafayette is back at Merlotte's and not the same ol' Lafayette, Daphne is also a shapeshifter and Sam likes her even more now, Maryann continues to be a so and so by messing with Tara at work as well as wearing Grams' clothes and inviting and then manipulating her way to a permanent stay in Sookie's house, Tara continues to be played, Sookie bothers Barry a whole lot, Godric's crew aren't loyal, Jessica and Hoyt are a more interesting couple than Bill and Sookie, Bill is still hilarious, Terry and Arlene seemed to have become close thanks to Maryann's 'whatever-the-hell-she-does-to-people' jawn, and Sookie agreed to go undercover within the Fellowship of the Sun. I enjoyed 'Never Let Me Go.' First of all, the title reminded me of the Third Eye Blind song 'Never Let You Go' and, secondly, interesting things transpired. Sam continues to be suave as hell. Looking forward to next week.
THE 'LOST' EPISODE OF THE DAY!
Doc Jensen posted 15 questions that fans want answered in season six. I will do that as well in the future. Comic Con is THIS weekend. The LOST panel is Saturday. I'll provide my thoughts on not only LOST but also Dollhouse and any other panel Joss Whedon is on. Perhaps I'll even cover Kevin Williamson's The Vampire Diaries starring Boone from LOST. I might indeed wait to comment on LOST's panel until I listen to the podcast. Decisions, decisions. Surely I'll be providing you with Dollhouse material. Onto the episode:
The episode: Pilot, Part 2 Original Airdate: September 29, 2004 Written By: J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof (Story by JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Jeffrey Lieber) Directed By: J.J. Abrams
Content: A group of survivors attempt to broadcast a distress signal for help, while Jack tries to save a man who has been impaled by a piece of shrapnel from the plane. Flashbacks show the events just prior to the crash from the points of view of Kate and Charlie.
Why It's Worth Re-Watching: Ideally, you watch the pilot as a whole and not in parts but as this is the episode of the day and not episodes...you know the deal. It is a request by STEVE, the other man behind the weekly in-season LOST rankings. Obviously, for rewatchability, it's the second half of the Pilot that began it all--all the magic, mystery, intrigue, etc. It's the beginning of a very special series. The end of the episode will leave the unitiated in silence. Mostly, it's cool to see how the series has progressed. The people were as mysterious as the Island they were on. One of my favorite scenes in this episode leads to a subplot in Hearts and Minds. I won't give either away because it'll make it less fun when you re-watch and connect the dots. Sawyer shoots a polar bear, Rousseau's transmission is picked up and translated by Shannon, Sawyer's backstory is hinted at when he looks at the letter he wrote to himself while Giachinno's music swells, Locke tells Walt a secret (also has one of my favorite Locke lines), the symbolism of Backgammon, Jack begins his attempt to heal Edward Mars, Hurley faints at the sight of Mars' blood, Claire feels her baby again after eating shellfish Jin made for people, etc, etc. It ends with Charlie's infamous words: 'Guys...where are we?'
I feel like writing an entirely too long and unnecessary entry about the fifth season of Dawson's Creek. A sort of 'How Not to Produce a Season of Television.' The thing is the fifth season isn't a total trainwreck. Their sixth and final season is an absolute trainwreck. The two seasons are related though. What it would boil down to really is how to recognize good television from bad television. Maybe I will do this. There's so much bad television programs. Besides Entourage and True Blood, all I watch besides Phillies baseball, ESPN, and the MLB Network is the occasional Simpsons episode since FOX29 is airing some great episodes and CNN. Besides Dollhouse in the Fall and the return of LOST in Jan. 2010, the future is bleak, folks. Friday Night Lights is still enjoyable. I may or may not be done with Heroes. How I Met Your Mother is always enjoyable but TV isn't as good anymore. Does the problem lie with show-runners or their writing staff? Is it the actors and actresses? Has television evolved like music in that now it's a very niche driven business? I'll stop rambling.
The Flyers have a brutal March thanks to that Olympic break. It's terrifying to look at on the schedule. It's absolutely brutal.
THE 'LOST' EPISODE OF THE DAY!
America and the nation of Honduras' favorite Jacob's Foot section is back! In fact, the rebel force which ousted president Manuel Zelaya threatened to oust me if I decided to write about LOST that didn't have episode of the day with it. I am flattered by the rebel forces in Honduras but I in no way condone their actions. Anywho...
[caption id="attachment_829" align="alignleft" width="399" caption="Before they were BFFs of course"][/caption]
The episode: House of the Rising Sun Original Airdate: October 27, 2004 Written By: Javier Grillo-Marxauch Directed By: Michael Zinberg
Content: When Jin attacks Michael without provocation, a rivalry begins to form, much to Sun's dismay. Meanwhile, Jack proposes that everyone move to the caves, though some argue that this would be giving up on possible rescue. Flashbacks in this episode concentrate around Sun and Jin's marriage and how it was slowly falling apart.
Why It's Worth Re-Watching: Well, this episode introduces the Adam and Eve skeletons. They've taken on a life of their own as now people wonder who they are. Mr. Doc Jensen over at EW.com has predicted the skeletons are Rose and Bernard. Jack stated that the man and woman had been dead for 40-50 years. The math doesn't quite work. Anything's possible with this show and the wild time travels. Hell, Dharma food that was dropped 16 years before 2004 arrived on the Island in season two. This is the first episode I ever saw of LOST. I remember thinking 'wow the dude from Oz is being attacked by Gavin from ANGEL!' Of course I loved everything I saw. It blew my mind. It's worth re-watching alone for the fact that it's just a great episode. Excellent character development, excellent performances. Everything I love about LOST is in this episode (except for Claire who is absent). The caves get their first full episode as Jack thinks everyone should move there but Kate disagrees. Also, this is the first flashback for Sun and Jin. A favorite B plot of mine is in this: Locke helps Charlie find his guitar while beginning the process to get Charlie off heroin. It's essential LOST in my opinion. Beautiful composition by Michael Giacchino as well.
In other news, Emilie de Ravin (Claire) is getting quite the coverage on the set of her new film. The reason? Possible love connection with the dude from Twilight. Not cool. She's better than that! Still this interest in her led to her being featured on Joblo.com's Movie Hotties sister site. She's wearing a nice dress and has brownish hair.
The next song was featured for quite a bit time on that AT&T commercial. The song evidently wants to be 'Hey Jude' and doesn't hide the fact that it does. It's very long but it's good. Liam sounds great. It's a relaxing track. It is...
"All Around The World"
Also, my 'Remembering Michael Jackson' has been featured on News Hammer On Campus, a blog that helps spread the love of university newspapers. Very exciting.
Before things get under way here in the ol' Foot, I have a link to provide you all with. It's a cover story about Michael Jackson written in 1983 for Rolling Stone when Michael could do no wrong but you'll notice things.
His intense shyness was present, his quiet and frightened self when he wasn't on stage was present. Quincy Jones reveals a poignant behind the scenes fact about the recordin of "She's Out Of My Life." But there's some stuff in here that'll make you think about the speculation about the circumstances of his death and it's all very tragic.
'True Blood' returned after a one-week hiatus. I don't think I'll devote too many words to the recap now. It's a good show but it is what it is I suppose.
In this episode, Jason took a massive leap to crazed religious fanatic, the Fellowship of the Sun attempted to kidnap Sookie, Bill got mad at Eric for Sookie-related reasons, Maryann became even more annoying and might launch me into a rant about a certain actress' time on Everwood, Eggs and Tara copulated (and Tara's mightily important to/for the bulljawnMaryann), Lafayette is in fact not a vampire (and I was fooled by the previews) and was healed by Eric, Sam has changed his tune completely with Daphne and they also most likely copulated as the bulljawn showed herself as the bulljawn, and then we got a very cool ending with Sookie meeting Matt, a dude who also reads thoughts.
Perhaps it was The Pen's emphasis on Jack Taschner being waived by the Phils or the fact that I re-lived the terrible swoon the Phils fell into before wrapping up yesterday's fantastic 9-1 homestand, I didn't care for this episode. Ken Tucker of EW.com declared it the best of the season. Alan Ball wrote it. But eh. Everything started coming together in a rather anti-climatic way. I know Jason's being used by the Sun. It hasn't been revealed but I know that'll be the endpoint for that particular storyline. He might have sex with the Rev's wife. He probably will. But since they wanted Sookie, there's a reason Jason is moving so fast through the ranks. I don't really care about the storyline though. It was interesting when Jason was torn but now that he's not it sorts of sucks.
I've complained about Maryann for the last few weeks now. The same old happened in this episode with her. She threw a party, it turned into Eyes Wide Shut. Only this time we found out she's the bulljawn. Tara's also important. Any one who wrongs her will be killed or nearly killed. I'm getting a whole Anne Heche in season 3 of Everwood vibe from Maryann. Season Three of Everwood was a pretty damn fine season but Anne Heche detracted from the season mightily. Maryann is going to destroy season two for me. The character AND the actress. Yes.
As for the dude who reads thoughts whose name may or may not be Matt, I think it's going to be a cool plotline.
TO LOST WE GO!
Yet again there will not be an episode of the day. I've got them waiting in the wings. The next one will be from season one. If you guess which one, I will feel indifferent about it! Knock your socks off!
Michael Emerson believes that LOST will ultimately end sadly. He feels that the show will end bittersweetly. The first thing that popped in my mind wasn't how I think it's going to end because it's me and I don't look that far ahead. I just want SciFi (or as they call it now SyFy) to return to airing the re-runs. Of course I can watch LOST whenever I want to likes to digital video discs. It is sweet turning on SyFy at 1AM and watching in HD though. I digress. What popped in my mind immediately was nothing really. I was eating pizza and fries. I now am just thinking about how talkative these actors have become. We've got Matthew Fox talking about how it'll all end (and Darlton telling a European newspaper that Matthew Fox doesn't know that much) and Emerson speaks up. I don't have a problem with it. It's just interesting. I liked Emerson speaking out more because I actually felt safe reading it. This is all leading me to this: Darlton ended radio silence early! I'm sort of offended. They don't speak until Comic-Con but they spoke to media in Europe where LOST was being honored. Yes, ladies and gentleman, the last radio silence for the show has come to end. I feel like this paragraph had two news-worthy items. Thank you!
OASIS OFF!
Exciting stuff last week. Continuing on with...
"Supersonic"
AND FINALLY A QUOTE FROM TWOP'S DAWSON'S CREEK RECAP INVOLVING THE KILLER ICE CREAM CONE TO END THINGS!
"Time for the most hysterical scene ever. Dawson visits the Flash's grave and plops right down on the grass and starts chatting. "How's it going?" he begins. Up in heaven, the Flash licks a vanilla cone and snorts that he's dead -- how does Dawson think he's doing?"
[caption id="attachment_812" align="alignleft" width="266" caption="If you guess which episode this is from, you will get a prize."][/caption]
Once again, no LOST episode of the day. It's coming back, my faithful 750,000 readership. There's some behind the scenes LOST business to get into. Brian K. Vaughn, for some unknown reason, has made the insane decision to leave the writers room of LOST right before the series wraps-up. As I'm sure you've all scoured the interweb for more news about Brian K. Vaughn's departure, I will reiterate that when he arrived in season three he is credited with tightening up cliff-hangers and was fantastic with pop culture humor. He's been a part of LOST during it's most important time in my opinion. Season Three through Season Five.
I'm a big fan of Vaughn because of his work with the ANGEL comic book that Joss Whedon himself oversaw. Vaughn actually wrote the scripts for the comic book. He's been featured in the LOST episode of the day twice now. He is responsible for Catch 22 (which he co-wrote with Jeff Pinkner) as well as Confirmed Dead (which he co-wrote with Drew 'He is The Man' Goddard who left the show after season four for Cabin In The Woods). The show didn't suffer at all without Goddard so I'm positive LOST will be fine without Vaughn. What's insane is leaving before the final season. He had gold, folks! I would love nothing more than to write for this show. He co-wrote some other great episodes like 'Meet Kevin Johnson' and 'Dead Is Dead.' I'll go into more detail with his episodes and Goddard's and such when it is their turn to be featured in the LOST episode of the day. The show has survived losing David Fury to 24 as well.
As long as Lindelof and Cuse are still running things, the show will be gold. Also, Lindelof and Cuse have basically ended radio silence which is sort of exciting. Lindelof says 'anything goes' for season six. I'm stoked for their comic con appearance.
OASIS OFF!
This song really needs no introduction. Noel Gallagher calls it the great song of the 90s. It was written as a response to what Noel saw as the pessimism of grunge after Cobain's suicide. He's not attacking grunge though. The lyrics seem to sympathize with Cobain. It might be the greatest Oasis song. Anywho, this is...
I saw the latest Woody Allen movie last night. It's called Whatever Works. It stars the man behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm (Larry David) as a pessimistic and nihilistic man who has a problem with everything. It's quite hilarious. I don't to step on Diddy's toes over at Tales from the Cineplax as this blog is basically a television blog. I will write a few sentences about the movie though. The highlight of the film is the gorgeous Evan Rachel Wood.
She's sweet and charming. She's fantastic.
I read some reviews from critics who criticized it for it being a typical Woody Allen movie. These are the same critics who praised Match Point when Match Point (a very good movie) is basically Crimes and Misdemeanors in London and with young people. Listen, Woody does what Woody does. I enjoy his movies so the same themes he returns to doesn't bother me. He continues to make consistently enjoyable films. Whatever Works is very enjoyable. That's the most important thing.
Moving on...
Since there was no new episode of True Blood last night, it feels like the right time to finally discuss the television series BONES. As you must know, the man himself David Boreanaz stars in the series as agent Seely Booth as does the dapper sister of one Zooey Deschanel. It's a very enjoyable show. I always try to catch it when it's on TNT. I've had my friend's season one dvd for quite awhile now. The thing is? This is a show you can't watch in order. It's impossible. I suppose it's not impossible. In fact, I imagine I am the only one who feels that it is impossible.
Entertainment Weekly recently described Bones as more of a romantic comedy procedure than a Law and Order procedure. I have no opinion on any of that. What I do know is that I watched the season four finale without having seen any of the prior episodes. It made no damn sense to me. I literally had no idea what was going on. The usual band of scientists and Booth were not in the Jeffersonian; rather Booth owned a bar and somehow booked Motley Crue to perform. I should also mention that I missed the teaser of the episode and a few minutes of the first act. Another thing: Zach was back. Yes. The man who assisted or was (never really clear on this) Gormogon (mind you i was never really clear on it because I again opted to watch the finale without seeing any of the prior episodes). Zach's presence did, for a moment, send me into thought: should I, indeed, watch older episodes to see where it came from? Or do I simply go to televisionwithoutpity.com's Bones forum and figure it out there?
I chose the latter.
I was surprised to discover, for the second year in the row, that the Bones fans were livid and insult by what Hart Hanson gave them for a finale: nonsensical plot twists and nonsensical episodes. It just doesn't seem worth it to watch the series in order now. Not when the creator successfully infuriates and insults a fanbase for two years in a row. It's an enjoyable show. I enjoy it much more out of order and in syndication though. Below is the season four finale from hulu.com
I am patiently awaiting the arrival of LOST episodes on hulu.com. I would like to include the embed jawn in this here blog for the LOST episodes of the day. It'd be extremely convenient for the readers. Until then, I will continue on with the LOST episode of the day. But not today. No LOST episode of the day today. Today, I have included my favorite LOST-related thing Jimmy Kimmel has ever done: LOST the musical. It is season one/season twoish. It is absolutely fantastic. Highlights include Hurley and Charlie and the construction of the raft. But before that...
THERE WILL BE AN 18TH HOUR OF LOST FOR THE FINAL SEASON!
Yes indeedy, folks! Michael Ausiello reports it from his Twitter. We get a 2 hour season premiere and a 2 hour series finale. And yes, this news alone gave me goosebumps. Anywho, I'll probably write more of my thoughts about this at a later day. Also worth mentioning: Comic-Con is at the end of the month. The official radio silence will end. Darlton will speak. And there will probably be another video that will serve as an official preview for the final season. It's exciting. Before we know it, the final season will be upon us.
LOST THE MUSICAL!
OASIS OFF
Finally, we come to Oasis Off. I got conned out of 22.99 when I bought an Oasis DVD at Best Buy. Should've gone with season two of Everwood or Incubus Alive at the Red Rocks. I've also decided to not include every song from Stop The Clocks. Anywho, it's time for the next song. You've heard it in that commercial. It's not "All Around The World." It is their latest single from their latest album. It's another song that can be played acoustically and get you laid. It is...
I feel incredibly unproductive from a writer's standpoint. David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, since Monday, wrote two game stories for the Phils, four 'notes' or 'notebook' pieces for the Daily News, and penned two substantial blog entries (one of those entries nailed the prevalent problem with American citizens). I am happy to report that David Murphy finished season three of LOST yesteve and is quickly approaching the time-traveling antics of season five. Ah, LOST. I have not written a single blog entry yet for the week. The Phillies are still struggling. I'm not too worried. Don't get me wrong though: I am concerned, especially when an opposing team's pitcher ONCE AGAIN flirts with a no-hitter against the Phillies. There's been a little too much of that lately. I am wiser though. Baseball is a game of ebbs and flows, of peaks and troughs as FIFA08 describes the tumbles and the triumphs of a season. Phillies games haven't been particularly enjoyable to watch lately. I enjoyed the 10-0 win over the Jays (of course). Happ pitched wonderfully. And the 5-4 win on Sunday. What is more painful to watch are the blown leads, the extra-inning heartbreaks, etc. There still things to be enjoyed during these games though. For example, the banter between Sarge and T-Mac borders on idiotic and is usually ridiculous, whenever Werth makes a fantastically casual catch in the outfield (he's the most casual outfielder in baseball), the entire infield defensively, etc.
As for True Blood, the third episode was a success. Follow me as I write more about it:
--In this episode, Jason began to feel as if the retreat wasn't for him, Sookie was nearly killed by a bull jawn, Sam is ready to leave Bon Tams for a bit, the writers seem like they are setting up a double twist with Lafayette who was freed in exchange for Sookie agreeing to go to Dallas to investigate the missing sheriff of area 9, Jessica and Hoyt became friendly with eachother, and Maryann continues to be the worst part of this show.
--I, of course, think Maryann is the bull jawn. She couldn't have been too happy when Sookie offered Tara a place in her house to stay. I'm not sure about anything in this plotline though because we don't really know anything but Maryann is big on getting people to copulate, and Tara. She also can make pigs disappear should a local detective inquire about a livestock permit. Also, I feel like Daphne is involved. Of course I'm not clear on what the significance of her having the scar of the bull jawn is. I probably need to re-watch to hear what the doctor said about it.
That's really all I have in me for True Blood this week. This episode, amazingly enough, was more like a setup for what's to come. Very enjoyable though. The show continues to get better.
THE 'LOST' EPISODE OF THE DAY
The episode: Confirmed Dead Original Airdate: February 7, 2008 Written By: Drew "Jaboy" Goddard & Brian K. Vaugn Directed By: Stephen Williams
Content: The survivors begin to question the intentions of their supposed rescuers when four strangers arrive on the Island.
Why It's Worth Re-Watching: It's a richer episode now than it was when it first aired as we know all about Faraday, Miles, Lapidus, and Charlotte. The writers did a great job introducing the audience to the newest characters. This episode is the first to set up how Widmore's involved in everything. We get the hint and eventually are told the rescue isn't the number one priorty (they want Benny boy among other things). Widmore, as we know, never had the intention of rescuing the Losties. Aside from plot stuff, it is a really enjoyable episode. I love the stuff with Locke and the people who went with him. Jack's great throughout the episode. He protects Kate and Juliet. One of my favorite scenes is when Jack asks Miles and Daniel politely to put the guns down. And, of course, who can forget the great exchange between Sawyer and Locke about Tall Walt? There's a great scene between Abbadon and Naomi as well. This is an absolutely essential LOST episode.
For Fun, Here's The 2008 Rankings and my original commentary on the episode (Exact Date: Feb 9, 2008):
Jack was great in this episode. He wasn't as secretive as he was last season with Juliet. I think the split between him and Locke is just going to 'up' his game so to speak. Jack's going to be great this season. And I think things are going to get ugly in Team Locke. If I didn't say it last week, I think Locke is the man in that coffin from the season three finale.
And Christian Sheperd is DEAD (a note to that: i got tired of people arguing that Christian never died so I wrote that).
As for the Rankings, we added two characters! Karl and Alex are in the rankings and caused some characters to drop a bit more. Steve is getting tighter with his rankings. He wants to see production or else they drop. Jin was the first victim of that as well. I have a new character in last place. Steve has a new number two. But enough of this...let's get to the OFFICIAL LOST rankings for this week:
AFTER EPISODE 2
CHRIS 1. Sayid 2. Desmond 3. Sawyer 4. Jack 5. Kate 6. Locke 7. Jin 8. Claire 9. Hurley 10. Karl 11. Alex 12. Rousseau 13. Ben 14. Juliet 15. Sun
STEVE 1. Sayid 2. Sawyer 3. Desmond 4. Locke 5. Jack 6. Kate 7. Alex 8. Claire 9. Jin 10. Karl 11. Rousseau 12. Hurley 13. Sun 14. Ben 15. Juliet
OASIS OFF!
You know the deal by now. I have a ton of Oasis songs to post in the next weeks and then you'll or I will figure out the best known or well-known song. Here is Lyla from the album Don't Believe The Truth.
Originally, I titled the blog Jacob's Foot after the giant foot that Jacob inhabited in LOST. That ended. It became TV With The Foot in 2010. I wrote about a lot of TV.
