Okay, I’ve been watching LOST again and this season is even more interesting than the last. Now that they’re in the hatch, we’ve learned about The Dharma Initiative. I find it interesting that the tail section survivors also found a Dharma Initiative compound to live in. Since there are probably six stations (being that the Hatch was the third of six tapes), it makes me wonder if there are six sections of survivors, each at one of the different compounds.

I’m also seriously obsessed with the numbers. If you haven’t been watching, the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 appear together everywhere in this show.

So I decided to do what I could to try to figure out what I can about these mysterious numbers, though I have a sneaking suspicion they are randomly made up by the writers of Lost.

First of all, I made the numbers into a day. Fourth month of the year, eighth day of the month, and the date. April 8, 1516. Of course that excludes 23 and 42, but I’m clawing at scraps here. On the day of April 8, 1516, a letter was written from a reverand (or priest or something) to his brother, trying to convince him to turn to faith, or he would rot in hell. Turn to faith, that sounds a lot like what Locke is trying to convince Jack to do, does it not?

But alas, what of 23 and 42?

I came up with a new theory, one that used the exact day without excluding any numbers. The space between 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. Between the numbers there are the following spaces: 4, 7, 1, 7, and 19. That makes April 7, 1719. On that day, John-Baptist de la Salle a Priest who later became a saint died. He was known for founding a school that took both school subjects like science and math as well as religion. Man Of Science, Man Of Faith. Sound familiar? Another Locke/Jack relation it would appear.

But finally, I took the total. 108. There is a belief that the number 216 is a holy number. The number 216 applies to very many serious crimes and prominent events throughout all of history. It has been found in holy books, ancient writings and texts, and even the measurings of the Stonehenge.There are entire sites devoted to where it has turned up, and it is unbelievable how often it has. Scientific and Supernatural events alike, as well as days, times, places (longitude, latitude), and parts of scriptures (page numbers and etc) have experienced the power of this number. They believe 216 is being used as a code, but by who or what they don’t know. God, or some other higher power maybe. But many people also believe that sometimes 108 can be a powerful numbers as well, because 108 is half of 216.

Maybe this is one of those times 108 can be powerful.

The other night, I went out to dinner at a local Bar & Grille here on O’ahu and on the TV, everyone was watching women’s professional log rolling. First of all, I didn’t know there was such a thing. Second of all, why are Hawai’ians interested in log rolling? I will admit, it’s quite entertaining, watching grown women try to knock each other off a log using nothing but their feet. What’s even more fun, is watching them fall in the water. It must be one of those lumberjack sort of things because everyone was from Wisconsin. Is there nothing better to do in Wisconsin than roll logs?

On another note, apparently, I’m in the wrong business. I should be in the conveinience store business in Honolulu. You can’t more than half a block without running into an ABC Store here. ABC Stores are little stores that have a mixture of everything from souvenirs to groceries. They’re apparently open 24/7/365, as some most of them don’t even have exterior doors on them. I’m guessing security isn’t much of an issue in an ABC Store. There may be more ABC Stores on this little 30 mile wide island than Wal-Marts in all of the mainland, and I’m totally serious when I say this. These guys have cornered the conveinence store market on O’ahu.

Last night, I walked through Waikiki and stopped by some of the cultural events. Of course, these hula girls attracted my attention. Before any of you perverts say anything, they’re all in their 20’s. It’s quite amazing to watch these girls wiggle those hips. It’s easy to stand there transfixed by this amazing dance for hours. I know I stood there watching much long than I intended.

My trip here is winding down, unfortunately. I have about 36 hours left to decide if I am never going home.

Aloha!

You know you watched the Wonder Years when you were a kid… I’ll admit it… I did.

Ever wonder what happened to the object of Kevin’s affection, Winnie Cooper?

continue reading "Whatever happened to…"

Does anyone else find the current Burger King commericials especially disturbing?

I mean, if I woke up and found a man with a big plastic head in my bed, I think I would flip the hell out, not eat a breakfast sandwich and then laugh about it.

And there’s others… in another ad, a dog wakes the man up, who investigates the back yard and finds the King at his back door with a breakfast sandwich. The man eats the sandwich and suddenly the King is invited in to play with the man’s dog and everyone laughs. If I woke up and found you in my back yard, I’d shoot first and ask questions later.

The big-headed King even makes it to the Hootie commercial. You see the King briefly in this one too, pushing a girl on a swing.

Now with the introduction of the Enourmous Breakfast, it’s becoming obvious that Burger King is going after McDonald’s breakfast market. When I think of fast food breakfast, I think of two places: McDonalds and Chick-fil-a. I never think of any of the other fast food places… which is what I’m sure most of the rest of America does too. So, I can see why Burger King makes the big-headed King the center of attention in the commercial. So you remember: Burger King.

Although, now that I think about it. I’m not the only one talking about it. Just google ::google(Burger King Commercial):: and see how many other people are talking about it. One of the fundamentals of Marketing 101, create an ad that everyone talks about and remembers the product. That makes an effective commercial.

Well this has been another wasted weekend. I’ve spent the majority of it catching up on all the television shows my TiVo has recorded. Some people now are two TiVo homes, putting one in their bedroom. In my mind TiVo was a solution to a problem: getting control over when I watched TV and the ability to skip commercials. Now it seems more the other way around… TiVo has control of me. I recently read an article in the newspaper about this very thing.

You wind up watching more TV. I know I do. Before TiVo, I never would have watched nearly an entire season of American Idol or 24… I never would have discovered Airline or DogThe Bounty Hunter. My weekends would probably be a little more full of blog entries than they are now.

Right now, I’ve got tens of hours of shows and movies recorded that I want to see… some dating back to the beginning of January. None of which I’ve had time to watch yet. Sure, I keep up with the TV shows that people are talking about, but the movies and other TV shows I record… they get put on the back burner. I even upgraded my TiVo so I had more hard drive space to record more TV.

But would I trade my TiVo in? No way. I love my TiVo. In fact, surveys have shown most TiVo owners use the word “love” to describe the way they feel about their little TV time machines.

When I was kid, my parents would read me a bedtime story until I fell asleep… now, TiVo “reads” me to sleep. I fall asleep watching shows recorded on TiVo more often than I do going to bed first.

What’s the obsession? I’m not sure. Who’s got control? I’m guessing the TiVo does, because I always feel like I have to watch everything I’ve told TiVo to record.

You should see the stack of DVD’s I’ve bought and never watched… The poor DVD player is slowing going ot waste by neglect.

I wonder what life would be like without the idiot box…….

By now, certainly you’ve seen Hootie singing in the new Burger King “Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch”, haven’t you? Can someone please tell me why Darius Rucker has sunk to doing television commercials? Hasn’t Hootie and the Blowfish sold plenty of records? When I first saw this commercial, I was thinking… I know that guy… it took a few seconds, but then I realized… Hootie! Then, I said when the commercial was over, “What the hell was that?” It’s kind of weird for a fast-food spot. It’s definitely more “Artsy-fartsy” and less about the food. I mean, since when do chicken sandwiches grow on trees?

Woo-hoo, woo-hoo-hoo. Woo-hoo, woo-hoo-hoo.. When you hear that, who do you think of first? Vonage, or Chevy’s new Cobalt? I think it’s funny how two commercials surfaced almost one right after the other with the same background music. General Motors, the latter of the two to introduce the commercial, has since changed their tune.

I know one one of the guys in the Earthlink Commercials. You know the ones where two employees are begging for an extra week of vacation, a company car, etc? I just saw it on something I TiVo’d a long time ago, so apparently his contest is over (click here, go to Past Winners then TV Spots), but in the one called “Jay vs. Scott”, I know Scott. I used to work with him about five years ago at a software company in Atlanta. Talk about weird. Scott, if you’re reading this… sorry you didn’t get the parking space, buddy… if I had see your TV spot earlier… I’d have voted for ya!

Those are the only commercials that have caught my attention lately… TiVo is my friend.

Thank god reality TV is finally dying. ABC has me totally addicted to LOST (Wednesday nights, 8 Eastern/Pacific - 7 central).

For those of you living under a rock these past few months, LOST is about a group of people who survived a plane crash and are now stranded on an island… they don’t know where they are, there’s no other civilization to speak of… and the island is packed full of mystery.

Let’s begin by addressing some of the mysteries of the island:

WARNING - I address things that have occurred through the episode on March 2 and talk about things that MIGHT happen in future episodes. If you don’t like spoilers, don’t read any further.

continue reading "Are You LOST?"

This Police Drama
Contains
Adult Language &
Partial Nudity.
Viewer Discretion
is Advised

I looked forward to Tuesday nights, when this disclaimer would appear on the screen and usually followed by the words, “Previously, on NYPD Blue….”

NYPD Blue is arguably my all-time favorite television show. For 12 years I’ve been watching this show, keeping up with the lives of Andy Sipowicz, Greg Medavoy, and the rest of the ever-changing cast. It’s the reason I finally bought my TiVo… as my VCR just couldn’t keep up with the task of recording one TV show once a week and I got tired of missing episodes and waiting for reruns.

Last Tuesday was the end of an era…. the final episode of NYPD Blue. It ended gracefully, with Andy doing a 180 from the series premiere…. going from a drunk cop quickly headed to the unemployment line all the way up to a sergeant and the boss of the 15th precient’s detective squad. In the middle, there were joyful births and marriages, devestating deaths and destructive co-workers and temptation…. lots and lots of temptation.

Some people stopped watching after Jimmy Smits’s character, Bobby Simone, died…. and that’s unfortunate… While I do believe Smits’s character was a very strong and powerful one, I think NYPD Blue handled his exit well and moved on as a good show should. I’ve enjoyed many of the “after Bobby” seasons… and will really miss this show.

NYPD Blue was a pioneer in the cop drama genre. With the disclaimer I quoted above, a lot of telelvision stations didn’t want to carry the first season of Blue…. Funny how things work out… The first season racked up 27 Emmy nominations. “Blue” would win an Emmy for best drama in its second year, and earned 82 nominations over the course of its existence.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end… and tonight… ABC starts a new series… “Blind Justice”. I’ll probably TiVo it… watch it later… but I doubt it can compare to the brilliance of NYPD Blue.