That's Dark, Jack. Very Dark.

I really don't have the time to discuss last night's Lost finale in the way it deserves. Instead, I'll just give you a few of my highlights...

(Clearly, you don't want to read this if you haven't seen it and are avoiding spoilers.)

- Miles ended up being a fairly under used character because of the strike shortened season, but he has delivered some great lines both in terms of amusement and in terms of show mythology. Last night's "what do I mean?" was both.

- Finding out that there is more to Charlotte than an obnoxious freighter person who criticizes everyone.

- Michael's redemption arc coming to an end with him sacrificing his life to try to give everyone just a few more moments to get away.

- YJK's performance as Sun both as hysterical grieving wife and revenge plotting business woman.

- Locke coming into his own as Ben's successor. Ben's dismissal of him, ending with "You'll find your way, John. You always do." Was perfect for Locke, the man who wants to be a leader, but has always been desperate for the approval and guidance of any male authority figure to realize that he doesn't need it. Unfortunately, I think the power and importance of this scene (and Ben's realization that he is leaving and not coming back) might have been overshadowed by other things later in the episode.

- The island's disappearing act.

- Hurley calling Jack out on the fact that there is no way he could possibly explain what happened other than Locke moving the island. "Unless we overlooked it..."

- The look of resignation on Jack's face when he realized that Hurley had him and that Locke was right all along. That was probably the moment where Jack began to move toward the path that would lead him to Hoffs/Drawlar in Through the Looking Glass.

- "If you mean time-travelling bunnies, yes."

- The look on Locke's face when he sees Ben doing exactly what Halliwax is telling him never to do.

- Ben's revenge for Alex.

- "So?"

- Sawyer's sacrifice and eventual return to the island.

- "Checkmate, Mr. Eko."

- Desmond and Penny reuniting. As soon as the captions said "shouting in Portuguese," I sat up a little straighter hoping that these were the Portuguese guys from Penny's listening station in the finale of Season 2.

- Christian Shephard really just won't stay dead, will he?

- Sawyer calling Frank "Kenny Rogers."

- For the second year in a row they have taken and idea which, on paper, sounds like it might be horrible and made it work perfectly. (Wait, so they are going to turn a giant wheel covered in ice and make the island disappear?)

- "Bad things happened...and it was all my fault."

- The set up for season 5.

- So much more.

and of course, the questions...

- Where/when did the island go?

- If Ben can't ever go back after moving the island, why does he seem to think he's going back?

- How did Locke get off the island?

- Why is Locke off the island? Was it just to try to get the O6 to come back?

- Who is involved in "all of you have to go back"? The whole O6? Desmond? Frank? Walt?

- Is Sun really wanting to help Widmore? I have to admit to watching that scene hoping she was a double agent (for lack of a better term) and that the second person she blames is Widmore.

- Did Jin die or is he going to make it back to the island?

- What did Miles mean about Charlotte spending so much time trying to get back?

- Did Charlotte just imply that she was born on Craphole Island? How is this possible?

- Did Dan et al get transported to the same place as the island?

and finally

- What happened to Locke?

And now it's back into Lost hibernation for a few months really long time until it's time for the new season. (It does appear that there is a new ARG starting, but I just can't get into those because they take so much time for so little payoff.)

How about you? Highlights and/or questions?

Namaste and good luck.

Je voudrais le poulet et les frites

There is a commercial for a language learning program that I hear on the radio fairly often. In this ad, the person talks about how all his friends doubted him when he said that he could order in French. He then goes on to explain what he said when the waiter arrived and how it makes him so much cooler than any of his friends¹. My problem isn't so much that he learned to speak another language or that he used his new found skills to order. In fact, my issue is not really even with the superiority complex he seems to have developed along with his linguistic abilities. My problem is that (a) I speak French like a 5 year-old² and I could have said what he did and (b) the commercial cuts off before his friends find out that their oh-so-sophisticated friend just asked for chicken and french fries³. I'd like to think that they all ordered something nice off the menu and since he insisted on ordering in French, the only thing he could figure out how to say was something off the kids menu. Hopefully, they brought him some milk in a sippy cup, too.

¹ This isn't actually stated in the commercial, but it's implied. I mean, come on. He's trying to impress his friends by ordering in French, and clearly looks down on the because they can't.

² And not a bright 5 year-old, either. It's like the really slow one that everyone says/hopes will eventually catch up to everyone else.

³ Which is not to say that there is anything wrong with chicken or french fries or even both of them together⁴. It's just that if you need to order in French, there might be something slightly more daring you could try.

⁴ There was initially an entire rant here spanning at least two more footnotes about combining chicken with various things, including waffles, how to order chicken'n'waffles in French and whether they would even know what you were talking about in a French restaurant if you tried to order chicken and waffles. I eventually decided it was a little too wordy and even calling it tangential would be a stretch.

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Yesterday we went to see Indy 4 for Melissa's birthday. Unfortunately, it's a hard movie to review. It has a lot of baggage before it ever gets started that will make people's opinions tilt one way or the other. There is no way to look at the movie without looking back at Raiders or even looking back over the 20 or so years since The Last Crusade came out.

You know what: If you aren't ready for total geek mode, you might want to turn back now, because you are about to reach the point of no return. So, before I get into that, I'll give you my recommendation: If you want to go see it, go see it. Don't go in expecting to see Raiders again, but go in expecting to have fun. Many people like it, many people don't. I liked it and would be glad to see it again.

Going in, I was excited yet skeptical. I knew it wasn't going to be Raiders again. Nothing else is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even Han Solo has a hard time being as awesome as Indy in his first film. Likewise, I was aware that Harrison Ford had aged. Everyone does, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to see Indy become older. He is supposed to be young and practically invincible. Harrison Ford is well into his 60's now, and I didn't know what to think of the possibility of an older Indy who couldn't do everything he used to do. The doubts all went away the first time I saw him put on the hat. The feeling of nostalgia took over, and it was time to just go along for the ride. Ford is Indiana Jones. Even in his 60's, he still makes you believe that he can do whatever it takes to keep important artifacts out of the hands of the movie's evil group (i.e. Nazis, cultists, Russians).

The not so good:

One thing that the films have always been good at is stretching the believable as far as possible, but never too far. Indy would get into a situation that seemed inescapable, but with a wave of the writer's deus ex machina wand, a way would appear. It would never work that way for you or me, but this is Indiana Jones we're talking about here. Early in the film, however, he was put into a situation that served no real purpose for the story, and the way of escape provided was absurd even for Indiana Jones movies. It bothered me when it happened and continued to distract me for a while.

There were a few other things I had issues with as well, but none were truly major. Much as I was in the previous paragraph, I am going to be intentionally vague to avoid spoiling things for anyone who hasn't seen it, but hopefully those who have seen it will know what I am discussing. The biggest of the issues was the central theme of the movie. It took me a little while to decide that it really wasn't too much of a departure from the other films, which used religious, mythical and supernatural issues as the back drop for the story, but that it had just taken a different turn when dealing with them. I realize this was a real problem for some people, but for me the issue was more temporary and then I adjusted my suspension of disbelief to accept it. Other issues included Shia and the monkeys, moving car swordfights, and the fact that we have apparently reached the point where the humor in the film needed to included repeated hits to the crotch.

The so-so:

Cate Blanchett, who seemed to be to big of a name for the part, was ok as a villain, but was certainly no Belloq or Toht. Then again, thinking back on The Last Crusade, I realize that there were villains, but I remember them more as faceless Nazis performing the role of antagonist than anything resembling a true villain.

The good:

I was certainly skeptical of Shia LaBoeuf as a new major character, but The Beef turned in a solid performance and was a welcome addition to the group.

Once Karen Allen and Harrison Ford were back onscreen together, their chemistry (which mostly involves arguing) was back to what made them by far the best couple in any of the Indy movies (which is probably why they are the one to be in 2 movies).

As is the case with all of the movies, the best part is Harrison Ford stepping into the role of Indy. He wears the rogue's smile as easily as he wears the fedora. He is smart, adventurous and always gets the girl. An entire generation of boys grew up wanting to be him, and now that those boys are men, they can continue wanting be like Indy when they grow up, even if that means never growing up.

Bob Barker Is Rolling Over In His (Proverbial) Grave

I've mentioned in the past that I often watch The Price is Right when I go home for lunch. It is entertaining, often amusing and occasionally gives me something to babble on about. Today, however, something happened that was so shocking that I needed to post about it. I'm still not even sure that it wasn't all some sort of weird dream. Normally, the models stand around holding or pointing at prizes while waving and smiling as much as the Botox allows. Today, during the first Showcase, three models were sitting around a table pretending to have a discussion about the former guys in their lives when it happened. . . The models spoke. One by one, they shared a "story" that led into a reveal of the next prize. I couldn't believe it. I was fairly sure that there were rules against this sort of thing, but apparently not.

Did anyone else see this, and were you as surprised as I was?

Apologies to Melissa for stealing and slightly altering her statement to use as the title for this post.

Another Day, Another Meme

I've been tagged with a meme for the first time in I don't know how long. Oh sure, I've stolen them now and then, but no one's actually tagged me in forever. At least getting tagged by Esther gives me something to post.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

Ten years ago, I was just finishing finals and graduating from NMSU and getting ready to get married in a couple weeks.


Five things on my To-Do list today:

1. Go to work
2. Freak out about things that aren't done and need to get done
3. Try to remain calm
4. Go home
5. Try to relax and sleep so the process can start over tomorrow


Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Live wherever I want. Do whatever I want. Not have any bills.


Three of my bad habits:

1. Not keeping in contact with people, even the ones I care about
2. Obsessing over every little thing
3. Being generally lazy


Five places I've lived:

1. Huntsville, AL and surrounding area
2. Vicksburg, MI
3. Las Cruces, NM
4. Rantoul, IL
5. Portage, MI


Four jobs I've had:

1. Microbiologist
2. Graduate research assistant
3. Tutor
4. Pizza making guy at Little Caesar's


Five books I've recently read:

1. Something by Terry Pratchett
2. Something else by Terry Pratchett
3. Yet another thing by Terry Pratchett
4. Noticing a pattern in my recent reading yet? I'm sure there were other things, but I really can't think of any right now.
5. Most of The Time Traveler's Wife


Five people I'm going to tag:

I don't even know who's out there for me to tag, so if you have a blog and you're actually still reading this, consider yourself tagged.