Long Time...

How is everyone doing? Still haven't decided what I'm going to do yet, but I have the glimmerings of a new blog in mind, one that would focus on a number of interests of mine, including baseball.

I'll have an announcement up here once I get it up and running. :)

An Excellent Question...

I'm back! My Top 108 Lost Moments list is coming, although I'm still revising it because after looking it over I realized there were a couple important ones I left out. As a result, over the long weekend I read through the Lostpedia synopsis of every episode again. Of course this drove my list up above 140 and I'm now working to pare it down to 108 with about 10 honorable mentions or so. Will probably take me a couple more days before the first post goes up. I'm also trying to find clips or screenshots for all of them and that's been adding a lot of time to the project.

But Matt sent me an e-mail this morning on something else I've been meaning to address:

I was looking over your list of top ten episodes, drawn up at the end of season three. I know that you've got the 108 moments list cooking, and that the more charitable thing to do would be to identify the ten best episodes from the last three seasons.

I'm curious, though. What would a top ten list for the whole series look like? Relatedly, are there any episodes on the original list that you see in a different light with the series as a whole in mind?

I have been meaning to draw up a new Top 10 Episode list (you can read my previous one here) for the series as a whole, although I'm unsure as to how to go about it. I could add reviews for new entries on the list and simply reprint any holdovers or just do a short, one-post update to the list itself. I'm currently leaning towards the former, likely after my moments list is finished.

But the really hard part is that my opinions of some episodes have changed a lot. I didn't even include "Through The Looking Glass" on my original list because at the time, while I thought it was good, I don't think it had sunk in yet just how good it was. I made my list shortly after that finale aired and I also think part of me didn't want to include it because it was too new. Also I already had two season openers and a season finale on there and I wanted to spread the love around a bit. Now I don't think you could have a Top 10 episode list without having it on there somewhere.

Rereading all the synopses has also given me a new appreciation for some of the episodes too. For example, while the mini-series at the beginning of Season 3 was by-and-large still terrible with a lot of plot elements that didn't really work (Ben and Kate on the beach, Ben's tumor, Ben's "con" of Sawyer, Kate's wedding, Bear Cage Sex, etc...) that mini-series also contained a few of the best moments of the entire series (with the really prominent one being Ben showing Jack the Red Sox winning the World Series).

All of this has really only gone in one direction for me - i.e. it's made me like some episodes more than I did before; episodes I really, really liked have continued to hold up pretty well. I don't think any episodes are going to be removed from the list on their own, I simply think they're going to be bumped off by better ones or ones I now hold in higher regard (like TTLG).

I also put up a new poll. The results from "The End" were really impressive as 75% of you thought it was "above average" or better. Bodes really well for Lost's legacy overall and that's really nice to see. After all, we do want someone to eventually find the next "Lost," eh? :)

Technical Difficulties...

Thanks to Firefox crapping out on me on the train, I lost everything I typed this morning. As a result, my review won't be up until a bit later this afternoon. And usually I back everything up in Word, but for whatever reason I didn't today, so now I have to type it all over again. *facepalm*

So... very... angry....

So in the meantime, discussion topic: What did you think of "The Source" and the Mother's quasi-explanation for it. I have a strong opinion, but I am curious to see how many of you agree.

Greed, For Lack Of A Better Word, Sucks

It seems I'm now officially caught in the crossfire of yet another Cablevision dispute, only this time it's unfortunately with ABC, meaning I may not be able to watch LOST on Tuesday night if this isn't resolved between now and then. Anyone know how soon after a show airs it goes up on either ABC.com or Hulu? If it's right afterward, I might be able to get my review done my the next day, if not it won't be going up until Thursday this week.

Can't we all just get along? :P

Edit: Crisis averted. ABC back on my airwaves. *phew*

Action-Packed Review...

...coming soon. Got to get something quickly started in lab first. Last night was a fun episode, eh? :)

Review Coming...

Cranky baby last night gave the review a late start. Should be up in a hour or so. :)

Awesome!

Did everyone enjoy the opener as much as I did? Loved the new show format, loved all the action, really loved Zombie Locke! Review up tomorrow morning. :)

Happy LOST Day, Everyone!

Are you ready? Can you stand waiting the last few hours? We're making tacos tonight for the big event. 8pm can't come soon enough! :)

Not Dead

No, I'm not dead. Not with the imminent return of our favorite show. Tomorrow will be the first day I've had in two weeks where I'm not either working or traveling and I do have a little preview post planned.

After that, reviews should be be up by the next day, provided I don't fall asleep on my morning train. :)

Three more days, people. Three more days.

One More Hour

No, not for me. I'm so buried with work I haven't had time to post anything lately.

However, it does seem that we're getting an extra hour of LOST next season! Think of it as a little, happy tidbit to brighten your summer. Hope everyone has a good 4th! :)

New Poll

Not surprisingly, "The Incident" ran away with the best episode poll, though quite a few other episodes got at least one vote - certainly more than I thought would. The new poll is for the best LOST ending of Season 5, i.e. a shock trombone ending that has to be the last moment or two of the episode.

I picked the ones I thought were best overall rather than listing every single one (like Desmond telling Penny he has to go to Oxford in "Because You Left"). This poll, I think, will be a bit more divided between a couple choices. See what you think.

I'll be away until next Tuesday, but should have a new poll for next week and maybe a posting or two upon my return. Have a nice weekend everyone! :)

New Poll

I was surprised "Jacob's Nemesis" won my previous poll on what to call him. I'll be using that whenever I refer to him over the summer. My schedule the next couple weeks is going to be busy as I'm traveling to both Boston and New Orleans, so my blogging time is going to be rather sparse.

My new poll is up, although I expect it's going to be heavily skewed towards "The Incident," but you never know. "LaFleur" and "Dead is Dead" were both terrific episodes (especially the latter, given we now about Jacob's Nemesis) and the ending of "Jeremy Bentham" certainly becomes much sadder in retrospect.

I'm revising my Top 10 episode list as well, but I have to back and rewatch a few before I start posting those. Everyone have a nice Memorial Day? :)

Review Note...

As I have just realized Lost ends at 11pm tonight as opposed to 10pm, my review might be up a wee bit later in the morning than usual. If I work on it on my spiffy new laptop on the train, it'll probably be up around 10am or so. We'll see, maybe I'll be so excited I'll just stay up and finish it after the show.

Enjoy tonight, everyone! :)

Quick Note

I do have some additional thoughts on "The Variable," but they'll probably have to wait until next week (or at least Sunday) because I'm swamped at work right now. Still sad about Daniel dying though - why do they have to kill off all the best characters? Way things are going, Ben and Desmond will probably die in the finale. :P

Lost Week

Since it's a quiet week with no new Lost, I thought I might go through some of my old theories postings to see if we've learned anything new since I posted them. Keep in mind, most of these were posted between Seasons 3-4, so we've come a long way since then.

My very first Theory Question regarded Richard Malkin, who was one of the most puzzling aspects of the entire first season because more than anything else, his insistence (and later admittance that he was a fraud) strongly implied that someone knew that Flight 815 would crash and specifically hired him to get Claire on that plane.

This is especially interesting now that it seems Claire (and Aaron's) role seem to have been diminished by the fact that neither of them went back in time. Now one could argue since Aaron is one of the Oceanic Six his presence helped get Kate, Jack and the Others go back in time, but there certainly wouldn't be any time-loop problems if a pregnant Claire never got onto the plane.

That being said, someone still must have hired Richard Malkin to get Claire onto that specific flight. One of my initial thoughts was that Christian, before he died, without any knowledge that Flight 815 was going to crash, hired Malkin to put Claire on the same flight as her brother and that the adoptive family waiting for her was going to be Jack's mom. Thus Claire's presence on Flight 815 was kind of an accident - Christian had no idea that the Flight was going to crash, he just wanted her on the same flight as Jack. This also kinda preserves the "you must raise this child yourself" theme. Once in the states, Claire could live with her half-brother and his family and raise Aaron herself.

But the time travel changes everything. Now we know, assuming they survived the decades, that there are several people in 2004 with prior knowledge of the crash: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid, Miles, Daniel and Juliet, plus anyone they might have told over the years. Any of them could have arranged for Claire to be on that flight.

Now why would they if they knew the plane was going to crash? Well, my guess would be that they essentially become course-correctors, making sure everyone who's supposed to be on Flight 815 gets on there. Claire certainly needed a good deal of persuasion to get on that plane; certainly wouldn't have herself without Malkin's influence. And they might not have to do it directly, just as long as they leave specific instructions on what has to happen and when.

That's my updated guess for now - Malkin was one of the first things that fascinated me about Lost. I have no doubts we'll get an answer to this question before the end of the show.

Happy LOST evening!

Had a brutally busy week, but I'm through the rough patch. Review should be up sometime tomorrow morning. Enjoy the show, everyone! :)

Two For The Road

I'm going to have two, count 'em, TWO reviews for LOST's big opening night because 1) there's just too much stuff to pack into one review and 2) they were two separate episodes (though, to me, it didn't really feel that way - more on that later).

Loved last night! New polls up soon! First review hopefully up by the evening. :)

Happy New Year!

I haven't had much time to blog lately, but needless to say my episode reviews will be up as usual following the show. The only difference being it may take me a day or two longer to get them up with my new commute. I also have several half-finished posts I'll try and get up and running as well. Part of the lack of posting is that I'm really, really trying not to spoil myself for the opener, a feat which is becoming increasingly difficult given that several people on the internets have seen it. Note: I have NOT read those two linked articles and they probably contain spoilers!

In the comments of my previous post, Ana has a nice review of some of the extras on the DVD (which I haven't had time to watch yet - maybe Friday since I have it off). But she also asks the following question:

Do you think Walt is a part of the “everyone” that has to go back to the island?

I think this is one of the most interesting questions going into the new season, not just for Walt, but for Desmond too. Neither of them were officially part of the Oceanic 6, yet they're arguably the two most important characters on the show. Personally, I'd be shocked if both of them didn't return to the island at some point, but who knows?

I hope everyone has a safe, happy and fun New Year! Of course, with new LOST being just three weeks away, 2009 is already shaping up to be AWESOME! :)

Wedding Props

Em and I just got back from our short, but sweet, honeymoon and went back to the grind yesterday. The wedding was, with no hyperbole whatsoever, pretty much as perfect as can be. The only thing that really was a bit awkward was people getting there early and not wanting to sit outside on a crisp October day while simultaneously the reception hall crew didn't want them in the big room while they were setting up. But this was all easily remedied by a quickly opened open bar in one of the side rooms. :)

Because everything went so well, I wanted to throw a couple props out to a few of our vendors who were so wonderful and helpful on our big day.


1) West Sayville Country Club - One could recommend this on the location and price alone given that, while it's not as elegant as some of the other Lessings venues on Long Island, it still provides a beautiful view of the bay and is considerably cheaper. But the real reason to go with West Sayville is because of their sales manager, Stephen Braun, who is not only one of the most professional, helpful and organized people I've ever met, but he and his staff made putting everything together incredibly easy and took a lot of stress off us on the day itself. He also went out of his way to let us personalize our menu (extra passed apps, less chafing dishes, top shelf liquor of specific brands), but he also spent several hours with us on multiple days to go over everything and get everything right. You can't put a price on that kind of attention, but it was worth it's weight in wedding cake. Going to have a LI wedding? Go with West Sayville, absolutely. Additional big props to Dawn, the maitre d’ at our wedding, who was as fabulous and organized as Steve. The day simply wouldn't have happened if she wasn't there directing everything.


2) A Starry Night - Gabriela was our DJ from A Starry Night, a Manhattan based DJ/Live Music company that also handles weddings on Long Island. We booked Gabriela early (actually she was the first person we called) because she handled my brother's wedding two years ago in Manhattan and was simply fabulous. Our wedding was no different. Everything we wanted her to play, she played. Everything we didn't want her to play she didn't (buh-bye, Chicken Dance). We also needed a microphone for our outside ceremony that she graciously supplied. She was professional and a complete delight to work with and I can't recommend her enough. You can check out her bio here along with all the other Starry Night DJs.


3) Laura Ryan Photography - We haven't gotten back our photos yet from Laura, so this is a bit of an advance plug. But she was such a delight to work with and has such a large portfolio of wonderful brides and grooms, I have no doubt they're going to be spectacular. Laura actually had her own wedding at West Sayville on 07/07/07, which is how we found her, so she knew all the best places to take photos backwards and forwards. We really lucked out with the weather, so she took us down to the marina to get a few sweet shots in the remaining sunlight of the day. Highly recommended, especially if you choose West Sayville. She also has a blog you can check out and comment on.


4) The Boathouse B&B - Okay, this isn't one of our wedding vendors, but it is THE best B&B we've ever stayed in. Our room had a gas fireplace, hot tub and balcony overlooking the water. That alone is terrific, but it's really the little details that made it an incredible stay. The fridge, microwave, sink, glasses for wine, cheese board and knife, a corkscrew and ice bucket - all small things that made our stay perfect. We had brought a bottle of wine and some snacks up for our first evening after the drive, planning to relax in the tub and unwind. It was like everything was set up perfectly for us.

And the breakfasts were fabulous too. Joe and Patti run the place - Joe greets and brings coffee while Patti cooks. Every meal had a fruit starter (we had strawberries and cream, honeydew melon, and yogurt and apples), a main course (breakfast "pizza" with scrambled eggs and bacon over flatbread, a fried pancake with sauteed peaches and apples and a fritatta with hash browns and patty sausage) and a fruity, frozen palate cleanser for dessert. Twas interesting conversation too, since breakfast was only served at one time (9am) , forcing everyone to sit down together in sort of a little social experiment. There were a pair of Australians staying there so we asked them what they thought of the American election. Sparked some very fun discussion.

The Boathouse is also only a ten minute walk from the historic Sagamore Hotel and has an agreement with the place so guests can use the Sagamore facilities (mainly the gym and pool) with a card Joe and Patti provide. It also gives you 10% off any of the other Sagamore services (restaurants, spa, gift shops). We ate at the Grill steakhouse one night (the Trillium restaurant was sadly closed for a private party) and had cocktails on the Veranda. Very cool.

I can't recommend The Boathouse enough. It's not cheap, especially in season, but well worth every penny. And Joe and Patti were simply a delight as our hosts. If you're ever looking for a getaway in upstate NY, check and see if they have any availability.

Lastly, in case you're curious, we do have two sets of wedding photos already online by a couple of our terrific shutterbug guests. Now it's back to the grind again, although it's so nice not to have to talk about wedding planning anymore. Only one more month until the LOST Season 4 DVD! :)

Random Thoughts (and a Mets postmortem)

Sheesh, it's been a while since I posted. My wedding's in a week and I'm buried trying to do wedding stuff and preparing at work for my time off. Few random things on my mind, pop culture and entertainment-wise:

* Em and I are almost finished with the fourth season of "House" and IMHO it's really the best season we've been treated to since the first. And while I'm a bit sad at the diminished role Chase, Cameron and Foreman have, I love all the new characters immensely. :)

* Watched Persepolis the other day too. Terrific, highly recommended.

* Now that my wounds from the Mets' second last-day-of-the-season elimination in a row have scabbed over, I thought I'd revisit my Mets thoughts I posted back in June before Willie was fired. Here's a bit of what I posted along with some current commentary:

Pelfrey is starting to look like a bust to me, since he still can't throw a breaking pitch for a strike, but he's young, cheap and doesn't come with a giant, expensive boot on his foot *seething anger at Omar*.

Shortly after I wrote this, Mike discovered how to throw a breaking pitch for a strike and started challenging hitters. He ended up having a terrific season (13-11, 3.72, 200IP) and is really one of the brightest spots of the entire season for the Mets, who now have a solid 25-year-old #2, #3 workhorse starting pitcher under their control for the next four years. Couldn't have been more wrong about Mike.

The Mets do, however, need to purge all the old bench scrubs on their team. Since they currently sport one of the worst benches in baseball, why not bring up a bunch of young guys and give them a chance? It'll certainly be more entertaining to watch them fail than Fernando Tatis and Raul Casanova. Who knows, it might give the team some badly needed energy. Did anyone have any faith in Marlon Anderson when he came up last night in the ninth? I certainly didn't - he's been injured and awful this year. Seems the shine's off Endy too, dead last on the team with a -7.3 VORP (although he at least can still play defense).

Despite Tatis' resurgence (and hustle, have to give him that), I still stand by this. Anderson was awful all year long, Casanova and Endy hit a bit, but got far too many at bats with the injuries to Church and Castro. Their return and the development of Dan Murphy and Nick Evans, however, rectifies this a bit for next season. Anderson will certainly be gone, Tatis and Casanova possibly and rumor is Omar's going to attempt to find some sucker to take Luis Castillo off our hands. Teh bench will be stronger (and younger) next year.

Delgado should just be cut outright and Mike Carp should be brought up. Even if he fails, it's still better than watching Carlos' corpse flail at another double down the line.

Um, yeah. Well, to be fair, everyone else was wrong on Delgado too.

If I were Wilpons, I'd get rid of Omar too. I'm not a huge Willie fan, but I'm convinced Omar is more of the problem than Randolph. Omar simply places too much value on players he's familiar with and is obsessed with going with experienced veterans instead of youngsters. Yes, yes, he can sign the big-name free agent and maybe without him we wouldn't have Beltran or Santana. The trade for John Maine was also a steal. But think about this bench he's assembled. Think about the contract he handed to Castillo this offseason, El Duque last season. Think about Heath Bell, Brian Bannister, Ruben Gotay. Think about his fascinations with Brian Lawrence, Chan Ho Park, and... *shudder*... Jose Lima. I really think the main reason this team is struggling is because of how it's been assembled, not how it's being managed.

I stand by this as well. It infuriates me that Omar was given a contract extension. Omar excels at one thing, luring and signing the big free agent. That's it. His eye for talent is horrible and his fascination with experience over youth backfires more often than not (Castillo, Alou, El Duque, his fifth starter merry-go-rounds). Jerry Manuel did a fine job, but Omar shares a large portion of the blame for constructing an old, expensive roster that kept breaking down all season long.

So what do the Mets do for next year? Well, we know Alou and El Duque's contracts will be up - that frees up about 14.5 million in salary right there. Then they have make decisions on three players: Pedro, Delgado and Oliver Perez. I think Delgado will be back, Pedro will be gone and it's 50/50 whether they re-sign Oliver. If Church is okay and the front office is okay with the Murphy/Evans platoon in left (and I think they are) then the priorities in the offseason will be:

1) Find a pitcher or three for the starting rotation (depending on the status of John Maine and whether they re-sign Perez).
2) Shore up the bullpen (and figure out who's going to close).

If Omar's able to trade Castillo so Murphy can play second, even better, but I'm not holding my breath. Personally, I'd throw everything I had at Sabathia before I gave Oliver a huge contract, but I certainly wouldn't be broken up if they re-signed him.

* Haven't really been following the Lost ARG and though I occasionally click over to Lostpedia's summary page, there really doesn't seem to be much there aside from the Pierre Chang video. Anyone following?

* I haven't seen another "Fringe" episode since the first. How's the season going? Anyone still watching? :(

Hope everyone's having a good fall. Hopefully my life will slow down a bit in a couple (very happy) weeks. Cheers!