July Misc Update (Cooking, Interests, and Extra Trip Photos)

[I accidentally published this prematurely, and there was stuff from June mixed in and missing photos; this is the updated post]  July was a great month for me.  You don't know what you have sometimes until it's gone, and being able to get back out again for fun, get back to (swim) class for Isaac, continuing my tutoring and Pampered Chef gigs, among other things, just felt great.  I also loved the return of the Olympics, though sad about Covid, and "Top Chef."  

I was pretty excited for all the new sports coming to the Summer Olympics, including rock climbing, surfing, skateboarding, and karate.  I was also excited for it to be held in Tokyo. Unfortunately, with Covid, they didn't have the host city segments they often do, and the athletes didn't have all their family and/or friends cheering in the stands.  It was a little strange that everything still said 2020 even though it was 2021, but they probably had all the merchandising and logos set to 2020 for years.  I'm glad for the athletes that they were able to compete, especially those for whom this would be their last games.  My favorite events are...all of them.  But mainly I followed track and field, gymnastics, archery, diving, swimming, and the new events.  The big talk of course was women's gymnastics and Biles pulling out.  I feel it was the right thing to do, to look out for her health and the team.  No one who's followed her can accuse her of not having grit or determination.  A lot of athletes expected to do well didn't, and that's sometimes how it goes.  But the opening and closing ceremonies were still great to watch, and I had my little watching buddy in Isaac.  He surprisingly enjoyed the swim races the most.  

Here are some highlights from the month.  One thing not pictured is my return to tutoring with a family who found me through tutors.com.  It was a great match, and I enjoyed teaching the little girl.  I only planned to do it through the summer, but I am still tutoring her now at her parents' request.  I decided not to take on any other students or I wouldn't be able to take care of and teach my own kids.  It feels great to be able to do this, and I will probably continue to tutor until I can fully return to the workforce.

At the mall with Naomi

Out for spicy ramen

Key Lime Cups I made for a Pampered Chef online party in the Quick Cooker (basically their answer to Instant Pot, and yes, superior in many ways).

Locomoco made in Pampered Chef Rockcrok Everyday Pan

Tiger Sugar Boba, one of the best

After watching Luca, Naomi was craving the Trenette Al Pesto featured in the movie, and I was happy to oblige since I wanted some, too.

I forgot to post some photos Manny and Naomi took.  More close up.

Tomatoes have arrived!

Isaac getting into using the telescope from Grandma

Nectarine upside-down cake also in the PC Rockcrok Everyday Pan.  I was using up overripened nectarines but forgot we don't all love baked nectarines

So glad to see it back, and it was in a different climate, where many restaurants were closing due to the pandemic.  Really brought out the best in many of the contestants.

Ham, shrimp, broccoli beef, mandu, and I can't remember what else.  We eat a lot!

More from Santa Cruz--Pizza My Heart

They have a special relationship

On the swings

Waiting for the log ride

Carousel

Isaac in swim class.  He turned into a fish in July and August and loved it.

A critter got to my tomatoes!  I lost a lot of tomatoes before getting some netting from the Buy Nothing group and covering it.

Pluto deciding which bag to crawl into.  He actually ended up trying all of them.

january misc:

Looking back and seeing a rainbow in the clouds behind me.  God's promises always there.

It's been a while, but we're renting a Rug Doctor!

Naomi wants to bring her lunch so she has more food/nutrition to sustain her long days at school and practice for her show.  I think she was inspired because I make Manny's lunches.

Naomi insisted on going to the bakery alone.  Bought me a pastry.  💓

Veggie scramble for breakfast.

We got Disney+!  Nacho got Frozone since they're both black (and running out of Incredibles characters).

Isaac on the parallel bars.  Gymnastics still his favorite thing ever.

Getting some exercise in on a rainy day.

Cutting celery for Manny's lunches.

My friend sent our group of friends this question her daughter got on her school homework:  The sum of two decimal numbers is 5.3; their difference is 1.7; and the product is 6.3.  Are they doing algebra in 3rd grade already?  I couldn't see any other way to solve it than to sit there and do trial and error all day.  I was so happy to do some math again.  Naomi has never really asked for help on homework, not even projects.

A bed and pillow on sale for $10.  I would never spend more than that, since he tends to tear at them or pee on them (so far this one is still intact and not marked).

Cooking fish

Nacho was playing fetch with Isaac, and then about 5 or 10 minutes into it, was just spent.

top chef:

I only am able or willing to watch one show at a time.  These past few months, it's been Top Chef All-Stars.  This was the 8th season of the series, but my first watching it, because it had many of my favorite contestants from past seasons of Top Chef proper.  I allowed Naomi to watch it with me, although there is a lot of bleeping.  She predicted the winners of both challenges in every episode she watched, about eight or nine of them.  Maybe I should have had her do my NCAA brackets.  For those that follow it, I think it would have been interesting to see Richard vs. Dale or Richard vs. Angelo, but it was good to see underdog Mike step up at the end.  I liked the episode where they discovered their genealogies, even though for myself I probably can't discover much being that we don't know anyone's names beyond my grandparents', and I wouldn't know how to find ancestry in China.  There was a part of me that wondered if there was some rigging going on so that the top five were people with extensive American family histories.  I get suspicious of anything on TV.

I'm not really a foodie or a chef, but I like to see all the possibilities in these shows.  I am a big fan of  sandwiches.  Yesterday I made simple ones using rotisserie chicken, roasted bell peppers, mixed organic greens, fresh mozzarella, ciabatta bread from the bakery, and Annie's organic balsamic dressing.  I've had something like it at Le Boulanger.  It was easy, tasty, healthful, and looked fancy.  The kids didn't like the bell peppers or mozzarella, so I had to "deconstruct" theirs.  I like to have taste purity and freshness in food.  I also like to use up our inventory.  When I used to look for new recipes, I'd end up with leftover ingredients I normally wouldn't use (like certain spices and extracts) that would take me a long time to use again.  I miss cooking like that sometimes, but now it's more economic and satisfying to look around at what I have and figure out what I can make from it.  (Still use recipes for baking, though, that's a given).  I still plan meals for the week, but there are usually back-up plans in my mind.  Sometimes there aren't leftovers when I thought there would be, and also the opposite.  I like cooking for my family with love.  It's cooking for others that is usually the hard part for me, especially not knowing what they like.  I personally can eat just about anything except sashimi, so like I said sometimes I'll buy a little something just for me.  Some women like to go to the salon or go shopping for clothes, and me, I like to eat.  :)

lost didn't win:

Whatever happened each season after the first, when LOST won for Best Drama Series, people always said or assumed the show would have a major awards sweep in the final season.  Not that awards are perfect indicators, but they're nice to receive.  There is no denying the talent of Emerson (Ben) and O'Quinn (Locke).  Even Fox had some of his finest moments as the series progressed.  The music was always moving, composed by Oscar winner Giacchino(sp?).  I usually don't tune in to the Emmys, so I only read the winners' list after all is said and done.  And I read it twice this time, thinking I'd missed something.

I didn't expect LOST's last season to win for best series, even though it should have/could've/would've had it in the bag.  Perhaps if Season 6 were on par with the previous two seasons, it would've swept, but many say it was too choppy and disappointing.  However, I was surprised that the show didn't win a thing.  Not that I've watched enough of the other shows to judge, but particularly in Emerson's case, there was some superb acting.  I think they've won before, so I guess it's okay,

Well, I think we're pretty much done with LOST (Manny certainly put a fork in that delicious ham and called it a day after the finale).  We figured the island was a purgatory, everyone guessed it, so then they had to move in another direction to prolong the show.  Then they decided to go back and change it from purgatory to some similar storyline that would lead to Abrams' original ending, throwing away the fantastic build-up and mystery of the previous seasons.  That probably rubbed some of the Emmy voters the wrong way as well.

So, what to watch/follow now?  Manny (and Kevin) recommended 'Fringe.'  The couple episodes I watched were pretty good, but I wanted to throw up.  We might give 'Undercovers' a try and hope for the best with another Abrams series.  It's like the M.Night thing--he had one good movie, and no matter how bad the rest are, you keep giving him another chance.  Haha.  Actually, I liked Unbreakable and Lady in the Water.

post-lost post:

Jacob's twin's name was Samuel, according to the scripts (news source).  

It's also mentioned in this article:  What Was Cut From the Finale.  Apparently a grown M.D. Kelley might have filmed a scene for the finale, but we didn't get to see it (Walt was also promised by the producers--boo).  It will appear in the Season 6 DVD (source).

Reportedly 12-14 extra minutes on the DVD will involve Hurley and Ben's time on the island, an epilogue (source).

Plane crash images after then ending not part of the finale (but they threw people off--thanks, ABC).

Movieline Attempts to Tie Up Almost 100 of Lost's Loose Ends -- nice try, but we would've preferred the writers did that.

naomi on tv:

Naomi danced with the Wiggles on TV!  Well, her image did anyway.  Naomi selected a photo, did the zooming and cropping, chose the song (Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes) and clicked Submit.  They played it on PBS Sprout, a cable preschool channel, on the the Wiggles' morning show.  I can't post it here because our location's mentioned in it, but if you'd like to see it, you can email me for the video.

24--the final hour:

We're fans of '24' as well, although I've only watched maybe 2.5 seasons in total.  It's mostly due to time constraint, but also because Manny can easily fill me in.  I'm also too squeamish for the violence.  I braved it for these final two hours (well, I turned away a lot and had Manny give me the play-by-play).  I tend to trust others for that. In college, I looked away for a lot of Braveheart, and my roommate said, "Okay, you can look now."  She spoke too soon, and I had the pleasure of seeing a head fly across the screen, and I screamed and gagged.  lol 

The finale was alright, if they make a movie to take it a little further; otherwise, it's a bit sad that he didn't get to see Kim, his granddaughter, or even Tony again.  Good suspense and pacing.  The clock counts down to zero, as Jack escapes in typical Jack Bauer fashion.

In the end, Jack acknowledges the important women in his life--Chloe, his daughter, and to some degree, Renee.  Jack reminds the president, a woman this season (good actress), that peace must come from a place of mutual trust and respect, and not a piece of paper.  It reminds me of all those peace treaties in the middle east--they're bound to be broken.  Even though it's always been the same formula or more of the same, it's quite entertaining to me, and I can step in and out at any time. 

Thanks for a good run, and all the interesting commentary on politics and human nature, not to mention the entertaining and sometimes hilarious improbabilities carried out by Mr. Bauer.

lost finale--the end:

Ok, so I see that it was a love/hate ending for a lot of fans, as expected.  I would probably give it an 8 for story, 9 for execution.  [Edit:  The news is reporting the finale as saying the islanders were always dead and it was all purgatory--wow, no.  They should rewatch the part where Christian explains it all point blank.]

Was the build-up pointless?  I don't think so.  All of it--the Others, Dharma, Jacob/MiB, their lives on the island--it was important.  In the eyes of our castaways, the most meaningful part of their lives were the relationships they had with each other on the island.  In the audience's eyes, we can presume that they succeeded in keeping evil/MiB from escaping and protecting the light/electromagnetic source and thus saving the world (side note:  it was confirmed in the preview show the MiB and Smokey were one).  The Others, Dharma, Vikings, whomever--these were the groups that FakeMom and MiB said always came, fought, corrupted, etc.  They wanted to figure out and perhaps harness that light/water source for their own purposes, always wanting more.  Our Losties rose above that, so Jacob was right about them after all.  It wasn't all for nothing, but there were aspects of it they never answered, and I understand it's left some people unsatisfied.

Alt-Reality.  The alternate universe is apparently how they dealt with their decisions and perhaps their regrets before they could move on.  For Jack, David and his former marriage to Juliet were perhaps how he dealt with his own father/son issues and Juliet's death.  For Sawyer, he is a good cop instead of a con artist.  And so on and so forth.  For Locke, though, even though he could walk again in this afterlife, it turns out his life really was that tragic.  I guess it was suitable for MiB to be in his form; he was also a tragic character, even if evil to the end.  The most straightforward part of the episode was probably Christian's explanation--they all died at different times, and wanted to find each other before they moved on.

Minor characters.  Frank is alive, and flies most of the survivors out of there.  Richard begins to age, and now wants to live.  Would've been nice to say something about Isabella, but I guess he had his closure with her already.  Ben got to be special as Hurley's #2, as he wanted to be Jacob's #2 originally.  And he was redeemed in the end.  Eloise doesn't want to move on and lose Daniel, who's not leaving yet.  Ben now doesn't want to move on either.  Perhaps Daniel and Alex haven't died yet in the real universe and they're waiting?  Frank never showed up in the alt-reality.  I think he was never that tied to anyone or anything.

Fight scene.  Jack's flying punch.  lol, but good one.  I imagined more Smokey in the fight scene, but I guess they wouldn't have been able to overcome him.  More teamwork, too, rather than a shot to the back.  A few more punches for our friend Ben over here!   Hurley is the new Jackob.

Some answers.  It wasn't the bomb that "worked," but Juliet was just crossing into the alternate reality as she was dying (thus why she said the dutch and coffee lines before she died as well).  The cave is actually a structure built by some ancient people.  Desmond's purpose.  Who stayed and who left or tried to leave.  No replacement for MiB.

Ending.  I had waterworks over here, and I wasn't expecting that.  The kids were a little distracting, we had to get them to bed, etc., so Manny and I watched the very last part separately.  I think it was good, because I don't think he cares for death endings (we'll have to discuss it later), and I like movies like this.  Maybe because I've watched Asian movies for so long.  And that last part with Vincent!  I'm a total dog person, so that was just...wow.  He didn't die alone.  I was never into the love triangle stuff or any love subplot, but I think they did a good job with the storytelling.  They ended it the right way, I think.  It came full circle.  I haven't seen the alternate endings yet [edit: oh, nvmd--Kev said they were just for fun].  Plus there are 20 extra minutes or so that will be on the DVD.

Now for some of disappointments.  1)  Michael and Walt.  If Ben who murdered way more people in cold blood could be invited to move on, why not Michael?  Poor Michael, stuck on the island whispering for eternity, and yet he had shown remorse/regret/a turned heart twice already.  No indication of Walt being special or a moment from him.  I think they gave his role to Desmond, but there could have been something more as Walt was the one with active powers.
2)  Miles.  I'm glad he just kept running away and was presumably safe, but would've been nice if he could've revealed more in the end.  Like how was it possible for Sayid (and maybe even Claire--I still think she died in the explosion) to come back to life?  Didn't need to be explained in the finale, but comic relief was not enough reason to keep his character.
3)  Hurley can make new rules.  So, I guess people can get off the island.  Why have any?  I guess he made it so he could die, too?
4...10)  I don't mind that they didn't answer everything, but I think they should have given us a couple more explanations, even if deadpan or straightforward, earlier on in the season.  There were only two answers I wanted.  The first was the interest in the children and particularly Walt (ok, foreshadowing the candidates list and Desmond's role, but...sigh), the second was why women couldn't have kids (yeah, okay, the radiation from the incident or Jacob's doing, your pick--but then why Tawaret, goddess of fertility, and bringing Juliet in, etc?).  I get that it doesn't matter in the big picture for the castaways, but if you're going to answer some, you might as well answer the questions you spent so much time building up.  I accept they won't go way back to the Egyptians or whoever built the statue, temples, and structures, but they easily could have addressed that more back with the Dogen stuff.  Even more science with Zoe.  I know they're saying it wasn't about the mythology or scientific explanations, but a lot of it was.

Still, it was a solid ending for me.  I'll probably never be so invested in a TV show again.  Oh, and 24's series finale is here.  :(

What did you all everybody think?

lost post--what they died for:

*spoiler warning as always*

This was the last episode before the finale.  Just five more days until it's all over.  It was a good set-up episode, but a little boring for me, too. 

So, the reason Jacob brought these particular candidates to the island is because they were all flawed and alone.  Um, that means a lot more people could be candidates, right?  I sort of wish he'd added to it, like he also knew they in particular would make the right choice when called.  Or tell us why Hurley has the power to talk to the deceased and got cursed with the candidates' numbers.  And now he's burned and gone before I could hear the rest!  Jack steps up as the new Jacob, not surprisingly. I was almost hoping Hurley would step up, too, and Jacob would choose.  We also see it's the water that has the "powers."  In one of the videos in my entry below this one, they mention that originally the script called for FakeMom to dip the cup in the water when she did her incantation.  So...the wine was secondary or had the water in it? 

I might have missed it, but did Jacob tell them how to defeat Smokey?  Or does Jack now magically know?

Ben brings up how he thought he could summon Smokey (I still laugh about that drain), but now realizes Smokey was summoning him.  I hope that means he isn't going to let Smokey summon him anymore.  But I think now that he wasn't redeemed; he just wanted Ilana not to shoot him.  Widmore says Jacob came to him, and that's how he found the island and why he brought Desmond.  So he was Team Jacob.  Penny's a big bargaining chip, but it's weird that Widmore presumed at this point Smokey could win and get off the island.

Precious screentime in the final season--why spend so much of it on new characters like Ilana and Zoe only to kill them in such awful ways? We could have had more screentime for the answers, the characters we know/care more about, even more time on the cameo appearances, or even more laughs from Miles.  Not that I'll miss Zoe's character too much, but it was a pointless, gruesome end.

Ben killing Widmore, not that big of a surprise as they brought up Alex right before it.  But what about his redemption?  Or is he just manipulating Smocke because he's the only one that can?  Miles runs and gets away, again.  And our poor Richard got smoke-handled (but I don't think he's dead).

Sayid told Jack Desmond was in the well, but somebody appears to have let him out with a rope.  Smocke doesn't care, because he now knows Desmond's ability and thinks he will somehow get him to destroy the island.  I wonder how Desmond will be persuaded, because Smocke said once he gets off the island, he's going right for Penny (or he was just being manipulative to get Ben to kill someone again). 

Flashsideways:  Still not my favorite, but much more tolerable with Desmond moving everyone and everything along.  Beat up Ben, check.  Get Sayid and Kate out of jail, check.  Get Hurley to bring the cash and the car, check.  Have a little black dress for Kate to wear, check.  Desmond says Ana Lucia isn't ready--that's kind of odd.  He knows which people on the manifesto to go after.  And thank you, Sawyer, for not letting Kate flirt her way out of jail.  What is Desmond going to do with Sawyer?  He's the last one, right? 

Ana Lucia's back, but she's accepting bribes.  Boo.  Rousseau's back, but Ben's giving her the googly eyes (or is it a pondering look--hey if I marry you, Alex could be my daughter!).  After seeing his vision, he seems to be a bit different again (the line from his conversation with Alex--I thought you were the nicest guy.  No you must have mixed up with someone else ). Back to Ana Lucia, Hurley seems to know her.  It's apparent that everyone sees more than just a short flash.

A few more familiar lines are said between Jack and Locke in the alt-u.  And Jack is going to fix Locke after all.  We don't know yet what Locke saw in his vision, or why Jack's neck wound is getting worse.  [Edit:  And Ben saw the marina off the island, as opposed to something on the island.]  Where's Claire?

Discuss.  [Edit:  Here's a good point someone brought up--Smocke says to Ben, "I'll give you the island!" and then says, "I'll have Desmond destroy it!"  Um...]

jacob and mib skit/discussion/game:

There is some language and recaps of violence, so not for kiddos.

Totally Lost:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5 - or some random part, no part 5 listed
Part 6

Connect Four Million:

lost post--across the sea:

I can see why this episode left many fans disappointed, but I had no expectations and personally thought it was pretty interesting (but like Ab Aeterno should have aired earlier in the series).  The fake mom/OG protector starts off saying, "Every question I answer will only lead to more questions," and that was a warning about this episode and the show in general.  I do think they'll explain a little more by the end, though.  They're adding 30 minutes to the finale (or is that just for ads?).

They make us ask more questions, but maybe the point of the show is that human nature is not black and white--Jacob is not all good, Ben is not all evil, none of them are totally in charge, etc.  Everyone has their issues, stories, etc. and we can't judge that based on one action or period in time.  There's always more to it.  But, yeah, if we don't get the closure by the end, there are going to be some serious anonymous internet riots.

Spoiler warning per usual.

We now know who Adam and Eve were/are, but too bad they weren't characters in which we had invested over the years.  And it's Fake Mother/Son (Oedipus) versus a couple in love to the end, like Bernard & Rose.  Also, we see the stones that A&E had with them came from the Senet game Jacob found (which, btw, is Egyptian).  They sure made a big production of the A&E reveal.  Haha.

It's confirmed that Jacob and his brother are, well, brothers.  They're not some gods playing chess with humans since the dawn of time, but stolen twins with fake-mommy issues.

The light is what they're protecting, but what is it?  A hole in the fabric of space and time?  Control over life and death?  Fake-mom said "life, death, rebirth."  I thought it was a bit too yellow/gold.

Jacob's brother remains unnamed.  He can see the ghost of his mom but Jacob cannot.  He starts building the donkey wheel to control the light, but we don't see its completion (if it's even the same wheel?!--why do you do this to me, LOST?).  I like that they brought up the magnetism in an archaic way.  Wells instead of Dharma stations.  Smart men (Vikings?!) instead of scientists.

So, in went Jacob's brother and out came the smoke monster and his body.  Was it an unleashing of evil, or was it what the mom had said--that if you go in, you suffer a fate worse than death?  I think it's the latter, because Fake-Locke told Kate (or Claire?) that he once had a body and his mother was crazy, and that he wanted to leave, but then again, he could have just obtained Jacob's brother's memories.

How did the mom kill the whole camp and cover the well so quickly?  Was she also a Smokey? [Edit:  People were stabbed, so maybe not.]  Could she now be killed at last (you could tell she wasn't aging) because she passed the cup to Jacob, so to speak?  Same with Jacob passing the cup to Richard?  Richard's not the next Jacob, though, so...huh?  Oh yeah, no Latin spell was spoken in that case, just touching of the shoulder.  Or probably the wine is just to make someone stop aging.

We don't get to hear all the rules, but it's sort of implied that the Protector decides the rules?  I would have liked it if they explained more the consequences of not following the rules.  Jacob's brother tells him that one day he can make up his own game and his own rules (like he did with the senet game), so it's probably safe to assume that Jacob did just that.  He will allow MiB/Smokey to leave if he can win his game.  [Edit:  Oh, didn't Mom say she made it so they wouldn't be able to kill each other or something like that?  How did Jacob kill his brother?  Or was it because Mom died and the rules had to start anew?]

In terms of views, we hear MiB's dialogue from last season again through the mom.  She also seems to favor him over Jacob.  Jacob also has jealousy issues and is a bit melodramatic, very different from the calmness he now has.

The tapestry is back.  The ancient dagger appears to be back [and someone pointed out that Fake-Mom was killed with a stab through the heart without being able to say a word first--the way people were told to kill Smocke].  But overall the Egyptian stuff is still wide open--who made the statue?  Why can't Smokey get past the ash?  Hieroglyphics?  Dying pregnant women?  Only 3.5 hours left (with ads)...

lost post--the candidate:

At first I was like :), then I was D:, then I was :(((, and then ;__;, and finally :O.

Major spoilers ahead! 

I'm not even bothering with the forums and darkufo tonight--I'm still reeling from what all just happened.  Wow.  Lapidus deserved a little more screentime for his death (if he did die?).  They brought Sayid back from the dead and then boom.  At least he died (again) to save the rest, so he chose to do good in the end.  I guess Desmond's persuasion was powerful enough to cure him of the infection or whatever was causing his zombie state?  They finally reunited Sun and Jin and then...poor Ji-Yeon.  Three more minority characters gone!  :(  Glad they went back to speaking Korean at the end, for real.

They point out again that Kate is not a candidate, adding that her name was crossed off in the cave (which the producers said was accidentally edited out of the cave scene).  Sawyer again leaves Claire behind, even though she's defending them. 

Flashsideways, which I don't care that much for:  Locke mutters, "push the button" and "I wish you had believed me" in his sleep.  He doesn't want to be fixed out of guilt.  His father has been in a vegitative state since the accident.  We see Bernard, but he's a bit creepy.  Music box played "Catch a Falling Star," Claire's lullaby.  Jack and Claire look at their images together (more mirror motif).  And they paged someone over the intercom with #23 at the hospital.  Jin passed by Locke as well.

I guess we'll never know which Kwon was the candidate?  And why Sayid was an emotionless zombie and wasted character most of this season?  What or whom did alt-Locke see when Desmond hit him?  Where are Bernard and Rose and Vincent?  (This aside from Adam & Eve, why women die having babies, etc.)

I'm looking forward to them reuniting with Ben, Miles, and Richard, who are wandering around the jungle like characters on LOST usually do.  And down with Smokey!

I'll have to edit later.  Need to sleep!

lost post--the last recruit:

Again, please don't read if you haven't watched it yet!

Season 2 did the Jin/Sun reunion better:


What was going on with the writing and camera angles this episode? Only on LOST does the pace pick up, people are on the move, but not a lot happens.  That's okay--something big's being set up, and people have formed their alliances.  Jack goes rogue (sounds like 24).  Did anyone else think the Kwons were going to be electrocuted by the pylons?  I think I'm paranoid of those things.

So Claire confirms Smokey did appear as Christian, as we suspected. However, he probably wasn't the "Christian" that appeared on the freighter to Michael (well, maybe) and off the island to Jack, if it's true he can't get off the island.

I highly doubt island Desmond is dead.  Maybe Sayid's coming around and there is redemption for zombies after all.  Sayid confirms Smokey brought him back to life.  Is that the infection/sickness?  So, did Claire really die?  I still remember it was Miles that asked, "Are you sure?" when she said she was okay after the explosion at Othersville.  And Miles knows when people have just died. 

On the other hand, why does Smokey say Jack is with him now?  Double meaning?  Is Jack dead/dying?

In the alt-u, creepy Desmond is creepy, though I get he's trying to help.  A lot of uniting happens in the alt.  Of note is Sun's recognition and complete fear of Locke, Sawyer and Miles arresting Sayid (garden hose was funny to me), Jack finding out Claire's his sister, some Sawyer-Kate talk that I just glossed over, and Jack about to operate on Locke.

Now that they've revealed her name as Ilana Verdansky, I can say that the actress that plays her said in an interview that her last name was Radzinsky--wouldn't that have been interesting?  Maybe not with only four episodes left. 

So Widmore was planning to take Smokey out with bombs?  Would that even hurt a smoke monster?  Or is he trying to destroy Smokey's army in general?

Kate is fickle, but I guess a person's allowed to change her mind.  She goes with Sawyer willingly, then won't leave without Claire.  Unless she did that so Claire wouldn't shoot everyone.

A few repeat phrases like, "The island isn't done with [us/you/him] yet" and "Get off my boat."  (Or am I just imagining someone said that second one before?

Trivial stuff:
Elizabeth, the sailboat named after Libby that she gave Desmond, is the sailboat they use to reach the Hydra island.
A lot of folks on floor 15.

Hiatus:  No new episode next week but supposedly a repeat of Ab Aeterno.  Boo.  But when it resumes, we'll finally learn about Jacob and MiB.

[Edited to add:  Re: Sawyer and Kate's conversation, they made a point of Sawyer saying it would never work--they may flirt and "fate" may keep their paths crossing, but I don't think they're soulmates like the rest.  Also, island Kate was very upset and kept blaming Sawyer for Jack's leaving.  Also, like we theorized, Sawyer didn't turn Kate in so as not to reveal that he had gone to Australia.]

lost post--everybody loves hugo:

Have someone coming over tonight, so this is going to be pretty choppy.

Someone pointed out that Dr. Chang, whom we knew worked at the Natural History Museum from Sawyer's ep, should've looked a lot older.  Truth be told, I know quite a few Asians around 70 who don't look it at all, closer to 50, really.  So who knows if this was intentional or if it's just that yellow don't mellow.  [Edit:  His hair does appear to have gray, although it might be the lighting]  We see Hurley's mom; no Cheech, though.

In the alternate timeline, at the mental hospital, I think I saw the "numbers" guy--would've been cool if he mentioned the numbers again--playing Connect Four again?  [Edit:  Someone confirmed that the numbers guy, was in fact not there in this scene--maybe why Hurley is not "unlucky" in the alt]  We see the island photo in the doctor's office, and he's the same (Hurley's?) doctor from before, and the wall hangings inside are mostly the same.

The young boy is the same actor as the one who played the little blond boy, but now he's a brunette and looking older--Desmond sees him, and Sawyer saw him (or the other one) last time, but not Richard.  Why?  Are they Jacob reborn and growing fast, or are the Jacob and MiB as kids, or just some other kids in charge?

The whispers were revealed to be voices of the dead who are stuck like ghosts due to what they've done.  I didn't like the explanation, but I guess it's one way of doing it.  Would've been cool if Michael, Eko, and others showed up that second time and not just Michael, but I guess Hurley only talks to one at a time.

Ilana blowing up was a semi-surprise, but I was hoping she would've died more heroically, maybe while actually protecting the candidates.  All the time they invested in her feels a bit wasted to me, not to mention how she trained her whole life for it, and now she's just another pawn.  Bye-bye, Ilana.  You got Arzted.

Desmond told Ben in the alt-u very readily that his son's name is Charlie.  Premonition?  Just from hanging out with a Charlie and working for a Charles?  New awareness?  And btw, I was glad to see a teacher looking out for the kids.  Creepy Desmond.

Why did he run over Locke?  I don't think it was to give him a near-death experience, but maybe.  I thought he wanted to get rid of Locke--maybe he never knows that Smokey on the island is not really Locke.  There are others like Daniel or Libby who don't have to face death to see their love.

Ben, Miles, and Richard separate from the pack because they have different ideas about what they should do.  Sun, Lapidus, Jack, and Hurley go see Locke.  Now Locke has all the candidates together, or does he?  Depends on if it's Jin or Sun.

The new Jack is more likeable or respectable--he comes to terms with reality and takes responsibility for his actions and his decisions as a leader.  He shows Hurley that he trusts him, similar to how Hurley followed him way back when (but regretted it later).

Hurley appears to take Jacob's ashes from Ilana's things.  Ilana has a book by Fiodor Dostoyevsky called Zapiski iz podpolya (Записки из подполья); English translation: Notes from Underground.  Interesting quote from Wiki:

"War is described as people's rebellion against the assumption that everything needs to happen for a purpose, because humans do things without purpose, and this is what determines human history."

Numbers:  Connect Four, 42 is Desmond's order number

I do not recall Hurley looking at his reflection like our other candidates. 

Libby's back. And the actress originally declined, so good for her. But I do feel like they've spent so much time on these alternate realities, and I wish the direction had been to just go back and reveal things to us. I know the producers said she was in the mental hospital originally because her husband passed, but there's so much more they could have done with all the actors returning to reveal backstories. I don't know. I get it, but I wish, for example, the whispers were revealed as something more complex, and we could've seen the backstory there.  Or why/how Hurley sees the ghosts or that pterodactyl/Hurley bird.  They've answered things, but many of them with just a quick blurt rather than a full reveal.  I guess they've just been focusing on the last few episodes.  But at least things are moving along.  But, Desmond, don't run over any more people in wheelchairs!

lost screencaps (part 2 of happily ever after):

Leftover stuff.  Here is an image of Juliet's branding in an earlier season.  Compare that with the two brooches Eloise is wearing.  And what does having two brooches represent?  Some say it's twin realities, perhaps two nuclear explosions.

Below it is the comparison of the scale paintings.  There appear to be two of them, one with a dark frame and one with a light frame.  In one, the stones are black, and in the other, the black stones appeared to have been painted gold or some other lighter color.  What do two paintings represent?  You can click on it to see the larger version.

Also, Manny reminded me that Penny did meet up with Desmond at the bleachers in a previous episode while he was running.

Screencaps from losteastereggs.

lost post--happily ever after:

So much happened in this episode, and in terms of the season's progression, this might be my favorite of the season, maybe top 5 ever.  Except...Zoe escapes again!  It was a Darlton-written episode, so I really tried to pay attention.  I think Manny thought I was a little overboard, but no way!  This is LOST!

Differences in the alt reality:
-Desmond has a job.  lol
-He works for Widmore, who is married to Eloise.  Daniel ends up being the Widmore (as opposed to Faraday), and Penny is the half-sibling with the different last name (now Milton).
-Desmond is not married and does not have a son (yet?).
-Daniel ends up being a musician (remember that Eloise discouraged him from piano so that she could get him back to the island, presumably to preserve the timeline of her killing him).
-Charlie, Claire, Sayid, and Jack interactions are different, obviously.  Penny is now jogging the stadium instead of Desmond and Jack.  Desmond tells Charlie again that he has a choice.  Desmond seems to almost know Claire is having a boy, and that she'll be in danger if she gets that.  And Sayid, well, he goes right along with him.
-He's the first character whose flash to the other reality we see.  He doesn't just get it from near-death, but also from electromagnetic bombardment.
-He pushes a button!  But it's for the MRI.  The man says to him to try not to push it again, or we'll have to start over from the beginning (!).
-He and Charlie getting flooded; Charlie raises his hand.  Creepy at first, then sort of sad. 

Easter Eggs/Cameos:
-There is a painting in Widmore's office of the scales with black stones on one side and white on the other.  Later, someone spotted that the black stones appear gold.
-Minkowski (?) was the guy on the freighter that died from flashing around or something, and he's Desmond's driver in this ep/reality.
-Daniel was again playing Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu (same as when he was young, same as what Jack's son David played).
-Widmore has the McCutchen scotch again, which seems to trigger something in Desmond's mind.
-We see the marina again--maybe the one from Desmond & Penny's photo or where they were hanging out when Ben found them.
-Quote from a forum:

Seamus' calls the white rabbit by the name of Angstrom, this references Harold C. "Rabbit" Angstrom, the main character in five of John Updike's novels (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit at Rest; Rabbit Remembered).

Eloise:
-She says, "Well, it's about time" when she meets Desmond.
-She says if Desmond keeps searching, it'll be a violation.  What is the rule?
-She seems to know what's going on.
-She says, "What happened, happened."  Usually it's whatever happened, happened, but I think the meaning is the same.
-She reveals that Desmond has gotten what he wanted.  I think there's the answer to the Alt-U--they (or perhaps some of them) got what they wanted, but was it really what they wanted?  Be careful what you wish for?

Daniel Widmore/Faraday:
-He says he set off the nuclear bomb--how does he know?  Does this confirm that the alt-u was caused by the bomb?
-Funny that he shows Desmond his physics again, and Desmond is like, uh...ok.
-Desmond says to him, "It's just an idea.  It has no validity.  You can't prove it."  Or something like that.  He's talking about his vision of Penny, but what is really just an idea?  The island?  Their "reality"? 

Other random stuff:
-Alt-Charlie says a couple times that "none of this matters."  This goes back to Eloise's remark about them getting what they wanted.
-Widmore wants Desmond to make a sacrifice--it seems in the end going with Sayid means heading toward the sacrifice he will make.  And why is Desmond so willing and ready now?  Because he knows he'll be with Penny no matter what happens?  Or is it because Penny touched his hand, so now with her as his constant in that reality, he can go back and forth (or side to side, haha) again?
-I hope Desmond doesn't keep passing out in one reality and coming to in another.  Maybe he'll eventually be able to do it all simultaneously.
-Also, we were trying to remember if the box--the one where Locke's dad showed up, is the same as the cabin thing Widmore was using, but we don't recall it being at the Hydra station.

lost post--the package:

Sorry that my recaps jump around the episode quite a bit. Also, these types of recaps take away from the magic of the show, so feel free to skip and just talk to me in the comments. :)

Per usual, don't read if you haven't watched it yet!  More or less a predictable episode with few major answers, but there was progress and some good dialogue (some rehashed/recycled).  From what I see, how people rate the show depends on what attracts them to it--some like the show for the acting chops and storyline, others want gotcha moments and twists, and others want more answers.  I think for me, I'm okay without the twists if they were replaced with a few more answers rather than a Sun striptease.  :/  Jin just standing there in the bathroom was kind of funny, though.   I missed about 5-10 minutes of the episode. 

This week's episode moved the plot along, maybe--Locke and Widmore confirm that the war has come (maybe what Jacob meant by "they're coming"), Sun is dying in one of the universes, and aside from Jin, most people seem settled on their team.  Locke reveals that he needs all the candidates in order to leave.  Good ol' brotha Desmond makes his return as "the package" aboard the submarine, further setting up what Widmore is about to do.  We thought it would have been more interesting if it were Walt, but the black characters have unfortunately all but disappeared (yep, I said it).  Desmond sees soulless Sayid swim up on him like a ninja. 

It will be disappointing for me if Widmore is just Team Jacob.  His company made food drops and pregnancy tests, he was banished from the island, he doesn't care too much about killing people, and he doesn't acknowledge Faraday as he does Penny.  So they set him up as someone much shadier, it seems.  There could be a greater good to all of this (I mean in the realm of the show), but I think it would be nice to tell us how he came to be Team Jacob, if that's the case. 

There was no revelation of Sun's business deal with Widmore, although I guess that is long past now.  Also, Jin and Sun do not reunite on the island, at least not yet.  If they haven't by now, and with the line, "Some people are just not meant to be together" (or something like that), I now think they are not going to, and on the contrary may end up on opposing teams.  Or perhaps go the way of Romeo and Juliet.  Ji-Yeon's existence is also in question in the alt-universe, as Sun announces she's pregnant, but has been shot in the belly.  Keamy reveals that he's been hired by Sun's father to kill Jin.  The obvious difference is that they don't marry in the alt-u.  Back on the island, Jin sees pictures of his daughter for the first time, so we know they haven't forgotten about Ji-Yeon or Aaron. 

I don't like Zoe too much, but I guess they need a geophysicist.  She brings back Dharma, Room 23 with the subliminals, and Jin's work during his Dharma stay with the electromagnetic map.  She also denies him the right to leave, and Widmore is emphatic about his free will.

Speaking of free will, Locke tries to get Sun to come with him, using the prospect of a reunion with Jin as bait.  She runs from him and straight into a tree branch--and now no longer speaks English.  lol  The theory floating around is that this is really due to her dying in the alt-universe, and thus her realities are merging/crossing (like Juliet and Charlotte as they were dying?).

Jack is now acting like Locke.  Yep, we get it--man of science turned into man of faith.  Or is he acting like Jacob, maybe, to foreshadow something?  There are other ties to earlier seasons as well, like Sun's garden.  And the last random thing is that Sun stares at herself in the mirror in the hotel room, much like other characters in the alt-u who have been looking at their reflections.  Smoke and mirrors this season.

Easter Eggs, not too many:
-Mikhail ("Patchy") returns--and gets shot in the eye.  He was never meant to have that eye.
-Jin and Sun stay on the 8th floor; Jin's room is 842.
-Return of Room 23, where we saw the subliminal messages about Jacob--how did the Dharma folks know about Jacob?

lost post--ab aeterno:

Ab Aeterno was a great episode.  I think many were hoping for more major reveals, but they did answer or at least confirm a lot in this episode.  Either way, Nestor Carbonell turned out a stellar performance.  He was on a horse.  I liked the Spanish, the music, the costumes, and the overall feel of the episode (Kate and Zoe's absence didn't hurt either).  This is the first flashback of the season, and maybe (hopefully) the game-changing episode.  It was slightly uneven and predictable, but it was my favorite episode of the season.

We learn where Richard is from (not an Egyptian god), how he got to the island, how Black Rock ended up crashing so far inland, what destroyed the statue, how Richard became ageless, what motivated him to ask for that gift, what his job is/was, and what Jacob and Smokey told him about the island.  We also learn that Jacob took away Smokey's body and humanity (well, according to Smokey).  So, a tidal wave smashed against the statue, along with the ship.  The writers/producers like to kill two birds with one stone, or at least connect everything, but I was hoping the statue destruction would have revealed something about its origin.  Good answer, though.

We learn what Jacob asked Ilana to do, how he has a hands-off approach (though he does touch people and bring people to the island) while Smokey scans, manipulates, and kills people directly.  If he escapes from the island, we can assume he'll unleash the "sickness" on the world, claiming many, and perhaps killing the rest.  So, why does Jacob keep bringing people to the island to become claimed or die?  What will he gain by proving his point?  Or perhaps he is only focused on finding a successor.

There is a lot of recycled dialogue--probably intentional, but nothing to lose sleep over.  Examples:  Why are you doing this?  I was (am?) always with you.  Kill him before he says a word to you (paraphrase).  Someone also pointed out "sooner than you think."

Tenerife, Canary Islands is known as the site of the deadliest aviation disaster in history.  It was a Spanish colony invaded by several European nations.

Richard reads from Luke 4, regarding the temptation of Christ by the devil. 

Magnus Hanso is the owner of Black Rock, as revealed in an earlier season.  He is the great grandfather of Alvar Hanso, who sponsored the Dharma Initiative.

Richard is dunked in the water four times by Jacob--is it waterboarding or a baptism?

A blue CGI butterfly flies through the ship--is it a nod to the moth in Season 1 or something else?  I thought of butterfly effect, but it doesn't seem to fit well.

There was a rumor that the island's name was four letters, with an "o," but no "a" or "e."  I went with the obvious "lost" (land outside space and time), but from this episode, the answer appears to be "cork."  When Smokey breaks the wine bottle, it's as if to say he'll find another way out--perhaps by killing Jacob.  He vows to go after his replacement as well.

Jacob says one cannot enter unless invited.  He also defends himself against Richard.  These are clues that he allowed himself to be killed by Ben, or at least he wanted to see if Ben would change his mind. 

Since they brought up Hurley Joel Osment (I see dead people), I've been thinking about shoes again.  When Hurley saw Dave, he held his physical shoe.  Christian is seen in both black and white shoes.  Locke's body was put in black shoes before it was returned to the island and Smokey took over. 

C, to answer your question, I go to lostpedia, lost-forum, losteastereggs, and wiki after the episodes for info and screencaps.  I do occasionally read the darkufo recaps as well.  There was also sledgeweb, but it's seldom updated now.

lost info:

Next Tuesday's episode of LOST will have six extra minutes.  It is a Ricardus-centric episode entitled, "Ab Aeterno," which means "from or since the beginning of time" in Latin.

lost post--recon:

This week's episode served up Sawyer with a side of Miles.  Another play on words appears in the title--he's redoing a con and also doing recon for Smokey.  The episode wasn't that suspenseful for me, but it had its moments.

Sawyer is a cop in the alternate world, but is he a "good guy" now or just someone who is mainly out for revenge?  Some have asked why he would help Kate escape in the Kate-centric episode.  The possible answers are that either he has some memory of her in his psyche and wants to help her, or he didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he was at LAX instead of returning from Palm Springs, or he simply doesn't care and is just out for Sawyer as usual.  We do see some change of heart when he opens up to his partner Miles.  Anthony Cooper is still responsible for his parents' deaths in the alt-u.

The cameo return of the week is Charlotte (and also Liam Pace, who tries to bail Charlie out of jail).  Maybe Ana Lucia or Faraday would have added to the storyline as well.  We've seen some satisfaction for Ben, Jack, and Locke in the other life.  Ben chooses Alex, Jack is a good father and might fix Locke, and Locke has Helen and seems more content.  Kate, Sayid, and Sawyer's alternate lives seem less satisfying (or was it that I didn't like their episodes as much?).  Kate does get to help Claire and Aaron, but she's still on the run.  Nadia is alive, but Sayid isn't really with her and hasn't really escaped his past.  And Sawyer is still out to get Sawyer/Cooper.  Could these be their lives without Jacob's intervention?  Are the outcomes different depending on whose side they've chosen?

On the island, Claire attacks Kate while Sayid looks on.  Smokey lies to the temple folk about being the one that killed those that remained behind.  However, he tells the truth about being the smoke thing (who remains nameless).  He also tells Kate about his mother being like Claire.  Is it true?  Is he trying to manipulate her for his own gain?  Both?  The dialogue seemed so awkward to me.

Widmore's team arrives, and a new character (no!), Zoe, is introduced.  I thought she was Desmond for a second, with wild hair and...hips?  Ok, not him.  Widmore tells Sawyer how little he knows.  Feels like he's talking to the viewers.

More questions and possibilities:
-What or who is in the locked room in the sub?  A bomb?  Desmond?
-Who killed and piled up the rest of flight 316?  Someone said the flies and smell indicate they have been deceased for some time, and Widmore just arrived.  Also, they appear to have been beaten rather than shot.  Someone pointed out that Locke said in a previous episode that he was going to "take care" of the rest of the flight.  That's probably why Locke does not seem surprised and evades Sawyer's comments about the dead people.
-But he does seem surprised about Widmore's arrival.  Are they going to go to war?  How does one kill Smokey?  Can he even die?
-Ok, no pilot for the plane.  How will they steer the sub?  Maybe take a couple of Widmore's crew hostage?
-Was Charlotte just naturally curious?  Or snooping with a purpose?

Revelations:
-Miles' dad, whom we can assume is Dr. Chang, works with Charlotte at the museum in the alt-u.
-Widmore puts up pylons and seems to oppose Smokey.  Are Ben and Widmore then both Team Jacob?  Widmore is probably just Team Widmore.
-If true, Smokey had a mother.
-Claire appears to have a moment of sanity at the end (or does she?).
-Jin is sort of stuck with Smocke's camp for now (I'm using "Smocke" instead of "UnLocke" as there's less pretense now).

Easter Eggs:
-Numbers:  At the beginning, the time is 8:42.  The number under the Ajira airplane wing is N9748C (4 and 8).
-Watership Down is on Sawyer's dresser.  He had found the book in Boone's belongings and read it in an early episode.  We've seen A Wrinke in Time and Lancelot (under Watership Down) before as well.
-Sawyer watches 'Little House on the Prairie' in the alt-u which he told Kate he watched in a earlier episode when he had mono.  I missed most of this part of the episode.
-Sawyer brings a sunflower to Charlotte, same as he did for Juliet.  A nod to "LeFleur."  The name is also Sawyer's signal for the cops to come in at the beginning.
-We see a couple Dharma logos in Claire's tent/camp.
-Mirror motif:  Sawyer breaks a mirror after seeing his own reflection.  Lots of mirrors and reflections this season.

I missed quite a bit of the dialogue last night tending to the kiddies.  Maybe I'll try to watch those parts later.  Probably not.  Looking forward to next week's Richard-centric episode--don't forget the extra six minutes if you're recording!