vitklädd med ljus i hår

For Christmas decorations, I placed a figurine of Lucia on top of the fridge and B asked me about the lit candles on her head. What did they signify? I wasn't sure and asked my Grandmother, who was born in Sweden, but she didn't know either. So I googled.

Lucia was an Italian saint who appeared vision-wise, as saints will, along with a ship of food during a Middle Age famine in Sweden's Varmland province. Since Lucia wore a wreath of candles on her head and took food to the poor people in dark tunnels, she became a symbol of light. In Sweden, on December 13th, the oldest daugther traditionally prepares a special breakfast of Lussekatter (saffron flavored rolls) and gingerbread cookies, wears a white dress with a red sash and the wreath of candles (now typically battery operated because too many gals had their hair catch fire.) Following her are similarly dressed girls (tärnor) and boys wearing a tall pointed hat carrying a star wand (stjärngossar.) They sing carols and then everyone enjoys coffee and the rolls and cookies.

Quote for the day

"I know all they lyrics, except for the ones I can't understand."
--B

24: Redemption

Jack decided to get away from it all, where else but in the unstable African country of Sangala (probably next door to Senegal?) A UN guy delivers a subpoena but Jack’s got no time for that. He’s busy helping Hamish MacBeth (or Robert Carlyle from The Full Monty) run a boys school which is soon under attack by seemingly 50 soldiers Jack easily picks off one by one all by his lonesome. I’m not sure how long he’s carried that stick of dynamite in his pocket (or purse/Jack Sack he’s still toting), but it came in handy. And I saw the Thighs of Death about to be used as soon as the torture scene began.

More miraculously, his facial burns recovered in an hour. He helps transport the boys to safety but when one of the boys steps on a landmine, Hamish sacrifices himself and takes the kid’s place. Nice guest appearance for Carlyle, despite the messy blow-up. For the kids to be air lifted out of Sangala (Sangria?), Jack must agree to give himself over to authorities, setting up next season. The subplot was as incompressible as Ozzy ordering coffee. The writers must have thought Hillary would win the election. Next up: Chloe delivers a surprise bundle of joy.

The Pets get ready for Christmas

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

If you really want to hear our views

Yes, it's nearing that time again, which everyone who hasn't been living on Neptune for the past oh four years must know. Election day = November 4th. So everyone in the States who's registered, please express your opinions with a vote. For everyone not in the States, you can virtually vote on If the World Count Vote.

It's been a long long long time

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. An entertaining adventure film continuing the long, and I mean long, running series. The one character asking, “How much of human life is lost in waiting?” made me think of how long viewers have to wait for Spielberg and Lucas’s next installments. For the love of all that is sane, Raiders of the Lost Ark was 27 years ago. Anyway, to tie in the Mr Pilkington’s “Do We Need ‘Em?”-- how about those Siafu ants which were voraciously swarming upon and munching on the bad guys. In real life, these ants are not as large and are slower moving (and also not native to Peru.) While they have shearing jaws and move in columns of up to 50 million, they rarely take human life unless there’s a reason someone can’t escape. Disability or illness. Since they consume crop pests from insects to large rats, it appears we do need ‘em. Sorry Karl. Stuff of nightmares, they are.

Pilkie's making podcasts again

As marketing for his newest book due out in the next few weeks, Karl Pilkington now has his own blog, Karlology. He also teamed up again with Ricky & Steve for another podcast series. Here are some highlights from the K-Man:

• If this is still in, then it didn’t go well.
• I have not got room for a live owl, never mind a dead one.
• They all went mimimulistic.
• If something’s not used over 3 months, chuck it out, it’s not needed.
• I don’t wear a tie. I would if it had pockets.
• Any problem solved is a new problem made.
• Look at me, I wouldn’t survive as a gay man.
• This is a made up man and I know I don’t like him.
• The in-your-face woman and the in-your-face man, I don’t want any of ya.
• Water’s just happy where it is.
• That’s like having a no trespassing sign and they’re just going “bollocks to that.” (re: slugs)
• Brains that don’t wanna do what their owners are good at. Let’s go to the extreme: people with no legs who wanna be swimmers. Don’t be stupid.
• A plumber who can plumb is annoying when he chucks it in.
• Problem I’ve got with me legs, how they sort of come alive at night. (re: Restless Leg Syndrome)
• They’re not problebleming me.
• What was the last thing that was invented by nature?
• Never seen a track in its life, that track suit.
• Doesn’t Jane get annoyed? Doesn’t she feel like she’s been ripped off? (re: Ricky's weight gain)
• Food’s too nice now.
• A fat person’s always got the fridge open.
• Same with babies: sometimes you just wanna slap their head. Not hard.
• You might’s well be some sort of moth. (re: Anne Frank)
• There’s a woman in the loft, it’s just the norm. With all the Jewish people around, everyone must’ve had a Jew in the loft.
• A squatter with a diary. (re: Anne Frank)
• Your eyes get bored of anything. That’s why relationships break up, Me eyes want a change.
• I don’t want to be annoying meself.
• If I’ve got a better vocab, I’ll have a good little chat.
• If you bore yourself, what’s the point?

Erin wants to know...

Directions! Now, Here Is What You Are Supposed To Do...And Please Do Not Spoil The Fun! Hit Forward, Delete My Answers And Type In Your Answers. Then Send This To A Whole Bunch Of People That You Know...And Send It Back To Me So I Can See Your Answers, The Theory Is That You Will Learn A Lot Of Little Known Facts About Those You Know. Remember To Send It Back Please.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
> > Yes. A girl my mother went to school with.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
> > Friday night
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING
> > printing yes, cursive no
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
> > roast beef
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
> > Only the one I live with :)
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
> > Yes
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A Lot?
> > Yes, sometimes too much
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
> > no
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
> > not unless my life depended on it
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
> > Captain crunch
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
> > no
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
> > not physically
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
>> vanilla, but I can't eat it because I'm lactose intollerent
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
>> their eyes
15. RED OR PINK?
> > Pink
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
> > Being friendly doesn't come naturally
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
> > my grandpa Carlson
8. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
> > Yes.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
> > I am wearing a black, red and blue flowered skirt with black shoes
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
> > french toast
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
> > the hard drive whine
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
> > Green
23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
> > apple pie
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
> > Randi
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
> > extremely much
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
> > Hockey
27. HAIR COLOR?
> > brown/chestnut brown?
28. EYE COLOR?
> > green
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
> > I did but had to switch to glasses
30. FAVORITE FOOD?
> > Swedish kaldormar
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
> > Happy Ending
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
> > Kabluey
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
> > black
34. FAVORITE SEASON ?
> > Summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES?
> > Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
> > Pies: raspberry, strawberry, peach, pear, apple, pumpkin, any pie!
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
> > not sure
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND
> > People I don't sent it to
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
> > Just finished "The Book Stops Here" by Ian Sansom
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
> > gateway symbol
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
> > an episode of Brothers & Sisters
42. FAVORITE SOUND?
> > music I like
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
> > Beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
> > Scotland
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
> > Crocheting
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
> > Jamestown, NY
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
> > everyone

Images of broken light which dance before me

Movie: Across the Universe. A visual and auditory masterpiece. Vibrant, stunning, trippy, and creatively crafted by the perhaps brilliant director Julie Taymor. B might have called her a genius. Not to take anything away from her or the actors who performed spectacularly, but there were things I couldn’t help wondering as someone who lived through the majority of the 1960s. First, B and I were singing along and using the same inflections and nuances that the Beatles did, which the actors did not. Especially the high notes. Where was the scream at the beginning of “Revolution”? Where was Shakespeare at the end of “I am the Walrus”? (Granted, they did have background talking, but it was far from King Lear.) The word died in “Oh Darling” isn’t died, it’s “dieieieieied.” (Or similar.) I could list probably a hundred more examples but won't. And “While my Guitar Gently Weeps” was just painfully slow.

Second, is it possible to think of those songs not in terms of what was happening at the time they were written and released when you’re as ancient as me? For example, can “Dear Prudence” be about anyone besides Prudence Farrow? Thirdly, not lastly, but I’ll stop there so as not to sound like I’m slagging off the film, the singers seemed to sing the songs, and just that. (See above, lack of Beatles nuances.) This seems to be a plague of today’s commercial music. Lack of putting one’s soul and guts into a song. No substance. Just notes. The exceptions being Dana Fuchs who played Sadie (and who could step right into any Joplin biopic), Joe Cocker (who always puts everything he has into a song), and Bono. So, watch it and enjoy it for what it is, but buy the Beatles albums.

A very very fine house

Find out the value of your home in years to come at Home Value Calculator.

Carried away

Movie: Sex and the City. Watched this last weekend with B who spent a great part of the often times seemingly interminable two and a half hours calling the main characters (especially Big) rather unsavory names, the only printable one being, "Idiot!" A chick flick for fans of the original television series. I have sincere hopes that Carrie never wore any of those old clothes she was trying on. "Some labels are best left in the closet" indeed. B was more frightened by the scene of Sarah Jessica Parker without makeup. I'd really like to know who has three friends that can take off and fly to Mexico with you just because you've been jilted rather than say, "Get over it, he wasn't worth it." And the truly pressing question, does Miranda call her son Brady Brady?

Get a good job with more pay and you're okay

If you're lucky enough to save some money each month, you can find out how what you save compares to how much the average American saves at Bankrate. I'm still trying to figure out what banks are giving 6% interest rates.

You know I love you still

Yesterday a brother-in-law once again stated that he thought there were no good songs on the Beatles "White Album." I scoffed aloud & he challenged me to name one & the first one I thought of was "Birthday." Unfortunately, he didn't give me time to name others. IMO nearly every song on the double album is good. Here's a list of what I consider exceptional:

• Back In The USSR-- The answer to the Beach Boys' "California Girls" and Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA."
• Dear Prudence-- Written for Mia Farrow's sister Prudence.
• Glass Onion-- Playfully refers to a bunch of other Beatles songs: Strawberry Fields Forever; There's A Place; Within You, Without You; I Am The Walrus; Lady Madonna; The Fool On The Hill; Fixing A Hole. Lennon wanted Badfinger to use the name Glass Onion. They chose Badfinger after "Badfinger Boogie," the original/working title of "With a Little Help from my Friends." Perhaps they'd have had better luck with Glass Onion.
• Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da -- I was very young when it was released & it was easy & fun to sing with.
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps-- I became tired of this one because it was played & covered to death, but the brilliance remains.
• Martha My Dear-- Written about Paul's sheepdog, or Jane Asher. Jane probably hopes it was the dog.
• I'm So Tired-- Me too
• Blackbird-- Musically inspired from a Bach piece, written for Black women.
• Piggies-- humorous social satire from Harrison.
• I Will -- Beautiful McCartney love song.
• Julia -- Dedicated to John's late mother and Yoko.
• Birthday -- Paul rocks
• Yer Blues -- Those were my teen years.
• Mother Nature's Son -- I find myself humming this all the time.
• Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey -- John rocks
• Helter Skelter -- Paul rocks again. Who knew.
• Long Long Long -- Beautiful love song (to God) by George.
• Revolution 1 -- I prefer the faster single version, but this is excellent too.
• Cry Baby Cry - Although the final song, "Good night" was written as a lullabye, this one fits in my mind better. I hum this a lot too. And have been to Kircaldy.

It's just that mean old Texas sun

Texas Ranch House: another installment in the PBS House series. The premise is to go back in time to an era, in this case 1867, and live as they did then. But in interviews, several participants stated that they were told to bring their 21st century values with them. Either they misunderstood or the show’s producers wanted to defeat the entire purpose. Which they sure did.

Most of the Cowboys seemed immature and I hate to say lazy because when they worked, they worked well, but they sure needed to wake up long before 9 o’clock, especially to avoid some of the day’s heat. They childishly resented their first foreman, The Colonel, for his strictness. Lucky for them The Colonel was fired over an altercation with Nacho the Cook, perhaps provoked by Nacho’s whining and lack of cleanliness. Cowboy Ian left before the halfway point, using the death of a friend to get out while the getting was good. I don’t want to sound uncaring, but what else could he do besides attend the friend’s funeral? Guess if I was a fellow Cowboy, I’d have felt hurt and abandoned. Before long, Nacho’s filthiness & sickening all the Cowboys got him fired. If only it improved from there.

The ranch owner, Mr Cooke, is the henpecked wimp of his “bloviate” wife Mrs Cooke. They live in the Big House with their three daughters who seemingly did little besides eat and make a couple corn husk dolls. Only a few times did Mr Cooke go on the cattle roundups and then didn’t last long, which couldn’t have commanded respect either. The Cooke family seemed to keep themselves separate and above the Cowboys, not sharing enough food, causing further resentment. Especially since they had a garden full of veggies they neglected because they “weren’t vegetable people.” If I’d been a Cowboy, I’d have snuck in the garden during the night, taken produce and blamed the Comanche’s who had no problem spiriting away several horses.

The girls shouldn’t have been surprised when the Cowboys showed little interest in dancing with them at the Fandango. And when the Cowboys returned from the cattle drive to find four lazy women hadn’t done dishes for eight days or picked up a shovel to move manure from the front door so they wouldn’t be infested with flies, they must have been livid. I was. The maid of all trades living with the family seemed superfluous since the three daughters should have taken care of the house. (Then again, see above.) Maura said she was told she’d be allowed to ride with the Cowboys and I don’t understand the producers thinking behind this because it wasn’t done then and she needed to live within societal restraints, not try to prove herself as some hero with a personal agenda.

The participant who seemed to most understand his role was the Comanche chief Michael, although he was far too lenient on everyone. Any Cowboys riding up to him and saying “Howdy” would not find themselves taken in to play the flute. I was hoping when he returned to the ranch to negotiate, he would take the Cooke women, as they sure deserved it. For not defining the terms of the negotiation, Mr Cooke was negligence to the point of stupidity, then in the final episode blamed Jared who seemed to be the most easy going, straightforward Cowboy. Simply appalling behavior of Cooke. I was glad all the Cowboys stuck by Jared and said adios to the ranch. Back in 1867 word would have spread about Cooke’s actions and he would have found it nearly impossible to find anyone to work for him.

Final word: praise must go to Shaun who took over Nacho's duties and showed diligence & patience & maturity beyond his years.

I am a goat girl

Find out How many goats are you worth?

Personally, I am worth 4. Not sure out of how many, but apparently I'm almost golden, except for the fact I'm not. I'm the silver egg, second choice, let's say. So THEY say.

What a long strange trip it should be

Check out (from your local library, literally) the book 1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die. If you're like me, and I pray you're not, you need to do a lot more travelling. Here's what I've seen so far:

1. US Supreme Court
2. White House
3. Capitol Building
4. Washington Monument
5. Ford's Theatre (spooky!)
6. Library of Congress
7. Lincoln Memorial
8. Arlington National Cemetery
9. Empire State Building
10. New York Public Library
11. St Patrick's Cathedral
12. Plymouth Rock
13. Casa Loma
14. Toronto's Union Station
15. Bannockburn Battlefield
16. Edinburgh Castle
17. Forth Railway Bridge
18. Glenfinnan Monument
19. Palace of Holyroodhouse
20. Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews
21. Stirling Castle

Quote for the day

"Why does it look like it's been thrown on the floor?"

-- BDT at age 6 regarding whole wheat spaghetti but who ate & enjoyed it nevertheless.

They didn't spell compliment right either

According to BlogThings, people like me! They really like me! Let's all laugh at that.

People Definitely Like You

You are very well liked, and many people admire you. You are friendly, well mannered, and fun to be around. Of course, you're not perfect... but that's okay. Your friends are usually willing to accept you for who you are! What People Don't Like About You: People don't like that you're quite sensitive and easily offended. People feel like they have to watch their words around you. People don't like that you secretly are annoyed by them. You may think they can't tell, but they can. People don't like that you forget them easily. No one wants to be friends with someone who doesn't remember their name! What People Like About You: People like that you are genuine and real. They can count on you to be yourself. People like that you can defend what you believe in calmly and rationally. You stand your ground and gain respect. People like that you take responsibility for your actions and admit your mistakes. They appreciate your maturity.

That's what I want

If you use the Simple Savings Calculator it will do the math for you and figure out how much you can save over a certain amount of time. I don't know who's managing to swing over 6% interest these days, but if you save a $100 a month at 2.5% interest for 10 years your total = $ 13,618.96. If you plan on living a long time and save $100 a month at 2.5% interest for 50 years your total = $ 119,408.87. Good luck everyone!

It's not easy being green revisited

Choose your favorite color from a few possibilities at this site and it will tell you what your personality is like.

My favorite color is green, so!

• Green is the color of healing.
  
• 
  Green personalities want to help every one. They are natures mothers. These people are usually in the medical profession or some occupation which helps people.
  
• 
  Preferring to watch rather than to become involved in others business, they usually keep their thoughts secret. Others see them as good listeners because of this quality. This characteristic makes them wonderful counselors. Others take for granted that the green personality can see more than one side to a situation without bias.
  
• 
  Green personalities make others feel at home in their house by putting them at ease immediately. They try to take care of others with all the care their mothers gave them.
  Peacemaker is their sworn duty. They want harmony in every one's life. Green personalities may even stop an argument between others by starting one themselves.
  
• 
  Others think that green personalities make the best of friends because they are jovial, caring and can keep a secret.
  
• 
  In order for a green personality to feel good about themselves, they have to be helping someone or something. Nurturers by choice, they are the ones who take care of animals, humans and plants.
  
• 
  Green personalities need to be careful not to make martyrs of themselves. This is something they easily can do

Today's misspelled word, as seen on the web

Chaous.

That would be Chaos, or if you're on the side of evil in Get Smart, Kaos.
"Missed it by that much!"

it's my birthday!

Birthday Meanings

Is your birthday day 11 of the month?

Your Life--You are gracious, elegant and prudent. People admire your qualities and some even become jealous of you. You are realistic, flexible and adaptable. You are remarkably kind and moral person.

Your Love--You are willing to sacrifice yourself for the one you love. Your lover will always have your gentleness, care and loyalty. You will always be happy to hang around the one you love.

Question of the day

If you see a dress in the thrift shop that looks exactly like one back home in your closet, is it time to donate your closeted dress to said thrift shop?

I got lost on my wedding day

If you've ever wondered how you would rate as a husband or wife in the 1930s, (and who hasn't?), you can take the test to find out at 1930s Marital Scale. I rated as an average wife with a score of 47, but that might be because I'm not married.

Tell me who are you?

According to the How Many Of Me? site, at this moment there are 304,432,235 people in the U.S. Ever wonder how many share your name? You can find out using their search engine.

For fun, I entered the name Varushka and was surprised to see anyone else at all, much less 1,522 people (or fewer) in the U.S. with that first name. As for my last name, there are 207,014 people in the U.S. with it. And it's the 132nd most popular last name. There are 2,452 people in the US with my father's first and last names combined. Only 63 with my mother's.

Create copy & print online

If you need customized address labels, business cards, memo pads, postcards or similar, check out Staples Custom Printing where you can create your own. Like this one above.

Carolyn's Just Curious

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. Copy this and paste into a new email that you can Send; change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you.

1. What is your occupation? Library technician or similar
2. What color are your socks right now? Blue
3. What are you listening to right now? The computer hard drive whirr
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Crackers for break
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Ha ha! (laughing hysterically) No.
6. What color would you be, if you were a color? Emerald
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Someone who called work asking for Martin.
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Very much.
9. How old are you today? Above 40 but in denial as to the exact number.
10. Favorite drink? Raspberry herbal tea
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Hockey.
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Only when I was a kid to streak it green for Halloween.
13. Pets? 2 cats: May and Gus.
14. Favorite food? Pizza or cheesecake or raspberry pie or...
15. Last movie you watched? The Other Boleyn Girl
16. Favorite Day of the Year? Can't think of one.
17. What do you do to vent anger? Scream, slam cupboards, throw things, cry.
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Little Kiddle dolls.
19. What is your favorite time of year? Used to be summer but maybe fall?
20. Cherry or Blueberry? Cherry.
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes.
22. Who is most likely to respond? Erin.
24. Living arrangements? At my house with the cats.
25. When was the last time you cried? When I had to go to the doctor. I hate doctors with a passion.
28. Favorite smell? Just baked apple pie.
29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Plain or cheese - or mushrooms if available.
30. Favorite car? VW bug? Or anything Honda.
31. Favorite cat breed? Tuxedo: black & white.
32. Number of keys on your key ring? I have several key rings. House key is on Scottish castle ring. Work locker key on Swedish flag ring. Rest of house keys on Reykjavik ring.
33. How many years at your current job? 23? What year is this?
34. Favorite day of the week? Sunday.
35. How many states have you lived in? 2: NY & MA

Growing beside my garage

These lovely Columbine flowers:

Pilkingtonisms 2008

• It's like a museum: everyone rushes to the weird stuff first.
• If I'm not me, what am I?
• When do you ever see an old worm?
• The Scottish voice sounds old. Even though he was a baby, he had the voice of an old man.
• We've got all these years: See something... But I'm saying, watch it on the telly.
• My brain was quite happy working on the book but my ears got bored.
• Me brain can think better without me ears.
• It's Dunkin Donuts & Starbucks. (regarding Boston)
• Sloths never get the flu 'cause that's when you're replenishing.
• You never see 'em getting run over 'cause they're too small to hit 'em (regarding midgets)

Where the hours go

If there are 168 hours in one weeks, where does all your time go? You can find out at: A Delicate Balance

In my case, the breakdown is an estimated or guestimated:

Work: 40 hours 24%
Sleep: 45.5 hours 27%
Meals: 24.5 hours 15%
Commute: 2.5 hours 1%
Leisure: 28 hours 17%
Chores: 21 hours 13%

That leaves a few unexplained hours, but this survey didn't take into account things like showering, getting ready for work, cleaning up cat puke, etc. And the fact that I tend to eat in front of the television, thereby combining meals and leisure.

Where the songs are

Sort of an audio form of youtube (and no wonder since it seems they take the audio from a lot of the videos at that site), Songza is a music search engine. Type in the artist you want to hear and with luck you'll receive a list of songs you can play streamed. You can also make playlists and share which songs you like via e-mail. As for copyright, it all seems above board as the site says "Songza pays for licenses from all the major performing-rights organizations, who then pay the publishers and writers in proportion to the number of plays." And they have a surprising amount of Icelandic and other foreign music.

Lost: There's no place like home Pt 2 Hour 2

Lost: Ben explodes the vault and explains to Locke that whoever moves the island can’t come back. It’s Locke’s turn to lead the Others. Ben goes into a tunnel or cave until he finds a frozen wheel which he turns. Sawyer swims to the island where Juliet watches as the freighter burns. Frank thinks he can reach the island with what little fuel they have but the island disappears. He orders everyone to put on their life vests before they crash in the ocean. They pull themselves onto the life raft. Someone drags in Desmond, who’s not breathing until Jack performs CPR. Hurley reasons that Locke moved the island. Jack realizes they have to lie after all. A Portuguese boat finds them and Penny happens to be on board (or she found Desmond by tracking his phone call) so they can have a happy reunion. Jack hopes he never sees Frank again.

In the flash forwards, Kate is troubled by nightmares, including one where she’s warned by Claire not to “bring him back.” Bring Aaron back to the island or bring Sawyer back off the island? Sun confronts Widmore in London and urges him to call her. Jack breaks into the funeral home where Bentham awaits burial. Ben creeps up behind him. Bentham spoke with Jack about a month ago and mentioned Ben was off the island. Bentham also said that bad things happened after they left and it’s Jack’s fault. Jack feels he must go back. Ben knows the island won’t let him go alone. They must all go back, including Bentham who turns out to be Locke, or an incredible simulation.

Lost: There's no place like home Part 2 Hour 1

Lost: Keamy takes Ben to the chopper. Kate and Sayid, being chased by Others, run up. Keamy is about to kill Sayid when Dr Alpert, still the same age as ever, shoots Keamy. Ben keeps his promise to allow Kate and Sayid to leave the island. Jack/Sundance and Sawyer find Hurley at the greenhouse. Locke wants Jack to stay on the island, reasoning they’re not supposed to go home. Not a good enough reason for Jack, so Locke asks him to lie to protect the island since miracles happen there. Big talk from someone who couldn’t find the anthuriums. Ben sends Jack to the chopper, then descends the elevator with Locke who watches a video from Edgar Halliwax/Candle about experiments in space and time and negatively charged exotic matter. He warns viewers never to place metallic articles in the vault, which is what Ben does.

Keamy finds the elevator and explains Alpert didn’t kill him because of his body armor. He’s sure Ben won’t kill him because he has a heart monitor masquerading as a bomb detonator strapped to his arm. Locke wants to talk but Ben goes ballistic & kills Keamy, thereby killing everyone aboard the boat. With Sayid, Hurley, Sawyer, Kate and Jack aboard the chopper, Kenny Rogers/Frank realizes they’re losing fuel due to a bullet hole in the tank. Hurley seems nervous they need to lose all excess weight. Sawyer whispers something a la Lost in Translation to Kate and orders her, “Just do it.” Then he jumps out into the ocean. In an unrelated event, Dan can’t convince Charlotte and Miles to accompany him on his next trip to the freighter.

Meanwhile, Desmond figures out the explosives are on a timer, triggered remotely (Boom!) by a signal. Michael thinks they can freeze it with liquid nitrogen while they work out the wires. But the red light comes on. Desmond rushes to get people off the boat while Jin & Michael stay in hopes of deactivating it. The chopper has no fuel and has to land, despite Desmond’s warning. Luckily Sun and Aaron hop on. Michael sends Jin out but he doesn’t reach the chopper that takes off again before the freighter explodes. Can we hope Jin jumped into the ocean?

In the flash forwards, Kate’s incensed that Jack says they have to go back. He appears to have left her and Aaron three years ago. Sayid kills a lookout at Hurley’s hospital, then asks Hurley to go with him. Jeremy Bentham is dead, ruled a suicide. Hurley won’t go. He finds paranoia is keeping him alive. Later the now high school aged Walt and Grandmother visit. Bentham dude, before dying, visited Walt who asks why the Oceanic 6 are lying, Answer: to protect everyone who didn’t come back.

Where the weeds are

Now that I finally have a yard, I’ve been trying to learn more about how to take care of it. So I took home a video from that practical gardening guy, Jerry Baker, to see what advice he offered. He suggested mowing after 7 pm as it’s better for you and the lawn. Obviously he doesn’t wake up at 3:30 am like I do. By 7 pm, I’m on the couch, fighting off the zzz’s. Only feed plants in the morning, which makes sense as far as needing daylight to photosynthesize and whatever else they do. Lemon scent repels flying insects. Use salty water to kill weeds. That’s something I’ve read before and have been meaning to try for the couple cracks in my sidewalks. Then he mentioned something about including hair when planting and I fell asleep, only to wake during the credits. So yep, that’s it for me and gardening.

Except to say, I know Veronica is a weed, but I still find the flowers very pretty.

Lost: There's no place like home (part 1)

Lost: The Beach Gang can’t use the phone to call since it is monitor only. Hearing Keamy discuss a secondary protocol worries Dan. On the way to the chopper, Kate and Jack run into Miles and Sawyer who mention the Chopper Gang tried to kill them. Jack and Sawyer rush to the chopper and find a captive Frank. Meanwhile Sayid lands on the beach and says they must go to the freighter because the Chopper Gang plans to kill them. Kate and Sayid go after Jack and Sawyer. Dan drops off the first group. To make up for what he did, which it doesn’t, Michael got the engines working but something on the boat is broadcasting and causing interference. Desmond discovers a room of explosives. Kate and Sayid run into Dr Alpert and find themselves surrounded.

Locke, Hurley and Ben head to the greenhouse. Never mind the crackers are 15 years old, what did Ben communicate via mirror to the Others? They find the Orchid Station but the Boat People are already there. Ben encourages Locke to go to the greenhouse, past a patch of anthuriums (it’s all in the detail) where he’ll find the switch that activates the elevator. Ben has another plan for himself: surrender. He also has the best no kidding line of the episode with: “I wasn’t being entirely truthful.”

In the flash forwards, a chopper carries Bad Mojo Cargo: the Oceanic 6. Jack thinks it best they keep their mouths shut. At a press conference, it’s said they used an Indonesian fishing boat that washed up on shore of their island, Membato, to reach another island. Sun says her husband never survived the crash. Kate says she gave birth to Aaron. Sayid finds Nadia waiting for him. Sun ends up buying a controlling interest in her father’s company. Hurley’s parents throw him a surprise party. His father fixed up the old car but the speedometer has The Numbers and Hurley runs from it. At his dad’s funeral, Claire’s mother informs Jack that Christian went to Australia to see his daughter Claire, who happened to be on the plane with Jack. Funniest line from Hurley’s mother: “Jesus Christ is not a weapon!”

Where the squirrels are

A few weeks after hanging up my new birdfeeder out in the back yard, I looked out one day and to my horror found that it was no longer hanging. It was on the ground with a pesky squirrel (who had chewed through and broken the hanger) happily munching away at its contents. As if what the birds had dropped on the ground wasn't enough for the critter. So when I saw a video titled Squirrel Wars and How to Win Them, I decided to watch and see what they had to say.
The emphasis was on placing a feeder 5 feet off the ground with a clearance of 7 feet on both sides and 9 feet on the top. How on earth you would fill the feeder, I don't know. A pogo stick perhaps. Other things suggested were:

• Empty soda bottles attached to a wire (squirrels slip off them when the bottles spin).
• Dome baffles or some sort of inverted cone on top of the feeder.
• Wire mesh.
• A slinky attached to the bottom pole so the squirrel ends up with a bouncy ride which looks very amusing.

Some more ideas from the internet:

• Mix hot pepper in the birdseed. The capsaicin within is too spicy for mammals but the birds don't taste it. (Although it will bother the birds eyes, so this doesn't seem like a good solution to keep birds around.)
• Put cayenne pepper and crisco on the pole or any wires near the feeder. Slip and slide time.
• Use safflower seeds instead of sunflower seeds. Squirrels don't care for safflower.

Lost: Cabin Fever

Lost: Locke and Ben are following Hurley to Jacob's cabin which is a pretty good trick considering Hurley isn't "even in front." Locke has a dream of meeting Horace who keeps chopping down the same tree as part of building a getaway place for him and the Mrs or a break from the Dharma Initiative or a way to kill time since he's been dead 12 years. He tells Locke to find him and Jacob. Ben used to have dreams too. Hurley wonders if the three of them can see the cabin because they're the craziest. No one argues. Locke gives Hurley the chance to leave so he's not in harm's way except the jungle is no safer. After finding the cabin plans in Horace's skeleton, Ben refuses to go inside, figuring the island wanted him to get sick which must mean his time is over. Hurley's cool with Locke going alone. Locke discovers Christian Shepherd who is not Jacob, but can speak on his behalf. A spaced out or drugged Claire is there too. Locke learns to save the island, he must move it. Which gives us the chance to echo Hurley's "Uh, what?"

Frank and the mean guy Keamy chopper back to the freighter with a smoke monster casualty. "A pillar of smoke ripped his guts out," not your average epitaph. Keamy's upset that Ben knew everything about him and beats up Michael for telling Ben. The Captain stops him from killing Michael. They need him to fix the engines since he's the one who broke them. Sayid enlists the Captain's help in getting the people off the island before Keamy torches it. But Keamy goes berserk, threatens to kill Frank, does kill the doctor who washed up on shore in a previous episode and then shoots the captain who we'll miss because he was mighty good looking. Frank relents and the chopper flies to the Beach Group. Unknown to Keamy, Frank drops a bag with a tracking phone. Jack figures they're meant to follow the signal.

In the flashbacks, a 1950s Reese Witherspoon or similar sneaks out to meet her twice her age boyfriend but is hit by a car. She informs ER she's pregnant and they save the baby, Locke. Dr Alpert, who either time travels or never ages, visits the child Locke but doesn't believe a knife belogns to him and deems him not worthy for his school. In high school, a teacher resuces the geeky Locke from being stuffed in a locker and mentions how Locke was noticed at the science fair by a representative from Alpert's Mittelos Labs. Locke doesn't want to go to science camp, even if he isn't a superhero. Later during rehab, the orderly, or a lot more since he recruited the Chopper Gang, discusses needed walkabouts with Locke. Best exchange: Locke and Ben's: "I'm not you." "You're certainly not."

Where the birds are

Should you want, you can keep track of what the birds or other wildlife are doing around your bird feeders, baths, houses or in their nests while you're not there with the Wingscape BirdCam. It's weatherproof and motion activated and can capture photographs or videos which you can then upload to your computer. Batteries not included, though.

Where the poets are

While poetry isn't as popular as it used to be in the happenin' romantic 18th century when Brits were harking all over the place, it still exists and thrives. To find poets in your state, head on over to Poets and choose where you live to bring up a list of names.

Lost: something nice back home

Rose doesn’t care for Charlotte’ tone. Or possibly hair color. Because we’ve seen the previews, we know Jack’s not okay. He keels over, claiming food poisoning. Juliet respectfully disagrees. His appendix must come out. She sends Dan and Charlotte, under Sun and Jin’s supervision, to the medical hatch for supplies. Rose is as confused as views why Jack would get sick when the island makes everyone better. Ask Ben’s tumor. Jack’s ego wants Kate to hold a mirror so he can see the surgery. Yes, we’re all surprised he’s not doing the surgery himself. Jin realizes Charlotte knows Korea and gets her to admit it by threatening Dan. He demands Sun be on the departing helicopter, which is the same in Korean as English.

Claire’s woozy and seeing things as she, Sawyer and Miles walk back to the beach. Miles hears voices which lead him to Karl and Danielle’s very shallow graves. The Boat People, though, are not Miles’ buddies and he didn’t sign up for whatever he’s doing. Seeing him leer at Claire a few times, Sawyer places an imaginary retraining order on him. Frank runs out of the jungle and warns them to hide from the Boat People. The night after they escape, Claire sees her father and walks off with him. As far as we know, she’d never bee told Dr Shepherd was her father. Due to the retraining order, Miles could not stop her. Sawyer finds the baby, but not Claire.

In the flash forward, Jack trips over a Millennium Falcon toy. Not the first or last shout out to Star Wars. He and Kate are raising Aaron. Dr Stillman contacts Jack because Hurley isn’t taking his meds. Jack visits. Hurley says they’re all dead. He was happy for a while, but then he saw Charlie. Hey, we all feel that way. Hurley’s message for Jack is that he’s not supposed to raise Aaron. Jack returns home and asks Kate to marry him. A co-worker actually says that engagement is supposed to reduce stress, not create it. There’s someone who never planned a wedding. Jack briefly sees his dad again. Worse, he doesn’t trust Kate. She admits she’s doing something for Sawyer who chose to stay behind. Jack reminds her that he saved her and nastily reminds her she’s not related to Aaron, suggesting he knows he is.

Lost: the shape of things to come

Jack’s not feeling too spiffy. He thinks it’s just a bug. Let’s all laugh. The Beach Group find a drowned man who didn’t down since his throat was cut. Dan identifies him as the freighter’s doctor, who was fine when last he saw him, although “when is kind of a relative term.” Somehow Bernard knows Morse code and figures out Dan and the Boat People are never going to take them off the island. Meanwhile Alex is taken by said Boat People to the security fence and told to deactivate it.

Hurley, Sawyer and Locke are playing Risk and it’s probably not a coincidence that “Australia is the key to the whole game.” The phone rings with code 14J, obviously for Ben, not pizza. The code was Alex’s warning that the Boat People are on their way. Ben thinks Locke should stick close to him because they won’t hurt him and Locke needs to survive so they can go to Jacob. Hurley needs to survive because he knows where the cabin is. Sawyer makes a mad dash to get Claire and is ambushed. Claire’s house blows up but she’s alive. Miles ends up at Ben’s door. The Boat People have Alex hostage. Formalities are dispensed with. They refuse to fly away and forget they ever heard of the island. Ben claims Alex means nothing to him so the Boat People kill her. And more of a surprise, I felt sorry for Ben. Rules should never be changed mid game. No goal!

Ben quickly heads into some secret room and releases the smoke monster to off the Boat People. Hurley regrets following the wacko’s. In the flash forwards, Ben’s in the Sahara and ambushed by some camel dudes that he overpowers rather expertly. He ends up at a Tunisian hotel under the name Dean Moriarty on October 24, 2005. On the news he sees Sayid is about to bury his wife. Was he married to Nadia? Ben approaches him and together they set up the man who killed the wife and kill him. Ben visits Charles Widmore and vows to kill Penny as payback for Alex. Charles is sure he’ll never find her. Ben is sure Charles will never find the island.

Iceland Rocks - or Socks

While we're having fun, here's your chance to send a sock-o-gram from Iceland. Visit Iceland Express's site and send your friends a "sock movie." Sort of a channelling of Sherri Lewis and Lambchop, you choose the two socks you want to appear in the little clip, name them and write in a phrase for them to say.

And while we're on sock puppets, check out one of the truly inspired entries in last year's YouTube competition for make and post your own video for non-Icelandic but still genius Kristin Hersh songs.

Four wheeled friends now

For a bit of typing fun, head over to Type Racer and see how fast you can type. More fun: play against others and see how many your cute little VW car can beat. I got a 2nd place, which makes my day and says pretty much how uneventful the day has been. But if whoever won 1st place can not fulfill his or her duties, hey, I'm ready to take the crown!

Catch the Mouse

For all the cat people out there, here's a game to play where you get to be the cat who catches the mouse: Catch The Mouse.

Birthday Calculator

Head on over to Birthday Calculator and place in your birthdate and year and it will give you more facts than you knew were available. Here are some of mine:

11 July
Your date of conception was on or about 18 October which was a Tuesday. (A little TMI, but thanks.)
You were born under the astrological sign Cancer.
Your Life path number is 8.
Your fortune cookie reads: Your heart is pure, and your mind clear, and your soul devout.
Life Path Compatibility: You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22. You should get along well with those with the Life Path number 6. You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 1 & 5. You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 3, 7 & 9.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Ox.
Your Native American Zodiac sign is Woodpecker; your plant is Wild Rose.
Celebrities who share your birthday:
Lisa Rinna (1965)
Suzanne Vega (1959)
Mark Lester (1958)
Leon Spinks (1953)
Giorgio Armani (1934)
Tab Hunter (1931)
Yul Brynner (1920)
E.B. White (1899)
John Quincy Adams (1767)
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 6.6880626223092 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)
Your lucky day is Monday.
Your lucky number is 2 & 7.
Your ruling planet is the Moon.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.
Your opposition sign is Capricorn. (Sorry, Lori!)
Today is not one of your lucky days! (Oh no!)
Your birthstone is Ruby --> Ruby is said to open one's heart to love.
Your birth tree is Fir Tree, the Mysterious.
Extraordinary taste, dignity, cultivated airs, loves anything beautiful, moody, stubborn, tends to egoism but cares for those close to it, rather modest, very ambitious, talented, industrious uncontent lover, many friends, many foes, very reliable.
The moon's phase on the day you were born was waning crescent.

Gotta go, gotta go!

With everyone and their neighbor who can afford it going on spring break or some other vacation this time of year, it's helpful to know, when you have to go, where to go. So here's a Public Toilets site that will tell you the locations of some public rest rooms around America and the world. In time it looks like it will become more comprehensive. Until then, if where you're headed isn't on the list, best of luck.

Light up the darkness

Movie: I am Legend. Adapted from the classic 50s novel of the same name by Richard Matheson. I watched this while alone in the house at night and since the weather is warming, the neighbors were out and about outside. With the movie being so intense, every little noise outside was making me think one of the creatures was about to break in. Pretty much a one man show, that man being the talented and always good looking Will Smith, the movie moved at a fast, exciting pace. Bonus points for the Bob Marley music. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen the other film based on the novel, The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston (RIP), which might have been slower but still as gripping. Makes one think how you would survive and how you would feel if you truly were the last person living in a vampire filled land. Read the book, watch the films. With some company.

Money for nothing

At the Global Rich List site you can enter your annual income and find out where in the world Carmen Sandiego is. Or where you fall in terms of everyone else's income. Before taxes, my "rich list position" is 611,464,295 which puts me in the top 10.19% richest people in the world! After taxes, that number falls to 674,400,662 and puts me in the top 11.24%. Not as impressive and probably rather lame in comparison to other Americans, but still way over to the right side of the world chart. Something to be grateful for.

Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson

Locke reveals to his group that the Chopper Gang is there for Ben. But yeah, “we kinda like knew that forever ago.” Once they have Ben, they’re ordered to kill everyone else on the island. And the spy on the boat is Michael. Locke’s not concerned with the 3 million dollar deal since there doesn’t appear to be a bank on the island but Miles know Ben gets what he wants. Ben sends Alex and Karl to the Temple sanctuary where the other Others already are. Danielle goes with. En route, Karl starts to wonder if it’s a trick and is shot. Danielle’s survival skills let her down and she’s taken out too. Aw, bummer. We liked you, you crazy French chick. Maybe the bullet hit something in her backpack. All Alex can do is surrender to the unknown.

Sayid confronts Michael who says he (Michael/Kevin) is on the boat to die. That’s not good enough. He better do some ‘splainin. When he left the island, the guilt was too much for him and he tried to kill himself by listening to Mama Cass or driving into a dumpster. Didn’t take. In the hospital, he thinks he sees Libby, but she’s an hallucination. Probably. He’s given Walt to his mother to care for and she refuses to let him see his son. He pawns Jin’s watch in exchange for a gun. This suicide attempt is interrupted by Zeke/Tom who’s keeping tabs on him and says the island won’t let him kill himself. He’s ready to try again when the 815 wreckage is shown on TV. This is the last thing he wanted to see in life? The news?) He seeks out Zeke who explains the plane wreckage was staged by Widmore so no one will find where the plane really ended up.

Zeke wants Michael to go undercover on Widmore’s freighter and as a way to redeem himself, to kill the Boat People before they kill everyone on the island. He’s unsure when he meets some of them who seem like decent sorts but then he sees a target practice and is made fun of so he opens the crate delivered to him and detonates the bomb inside. Not so fast Blofeld. A note pops up that says “Not yet.” He receives a phone call from Ben who says there are still innocent people on board and he won’t kill them. Michael’s to make a list of names and disable the radio and engines so the boat never reaches the island. Hearing this, Sayid drags him to the Captain and tells him Michael’s a traitor.

Thanks e e

in Just-
spring
when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame baloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old baloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's spring
and
the
goat-footed
baloonMan
whistles
far
and
wee
--ee cummings

Quote for the day

"It's the kind of day that make you want to go look for a duck."

--Martin S at work

Lost: Ji Yeon

Regina’s looking harried and is reading upside down. The lima beans are only part of the little problem in the ship’s kitchen. Someone slips Desmond and Sayid a note through the door that warns them not to trust the Captain. On this show, that’s a given. They hear some nonmechanical clanging. No one tries to help as Regina, weighed down by chains, jumps into the ocean. The Aussie Captain introduces himself to Desmond and Sayid. The crew has cabin fever or is too close to the island. Since a saboteur has messed up the engines, they’re stuck. He has the black box (or burnt orange, really) from 815, recovered by a salvage vessel along with the plane’s wreckage and all its passengers. One question he wants to ask Ben is where does one find 324 dead bodies to stage a fake plane crash? Desmond and Sayid are taken to a room that looks previously used for an execution or suicide, Kevin Johnson is called to mop up the blood stains. Kevin = Michael with a better haircut.

Sun decides she and Jin would fare better with Locke and asks Juliet for more prenatal vitamins. Juliet didn’t hop off the boat yesterday and warns her not to trust the other group but Sun doesn’t trust Juliet either. Juliet knows Sun has 3 weeks before an unpleasant death and tells Jin about the affair. He’s devastated until Bernard invites him fishing and says even though Rose has cancer, she’s staying with Jack’s rescue-hoping group because Locke’s a murderer. If you make bad choices, karma will make bad things happen. Guess nobody told Harold Kushner. Somehow Jin realizes he wasn’t the best of husbands and had Sun’s betrayal coming. Guess that means it’s okay for women to cheat if their husband is hotheaded and inattentive.

In the flash forwards, a heavily pregnant Sun calls for an ambulance to take her to the hospital where she has a baby daughter. Jin’s still irascible, so it’s obvious he’s in flash backs, and is out buying a panda for Mr Paik’s grandson. Hurley visits Sun and baby, asks if anyone else is expected. She says no. Way to be supportive, rest of Oceanic 6. Hurley and Sun drop by the cemetery and Jin’s grave whose headstone has a death date the same day as the plane crash. So is he really dead?

Lost: The Other Woman

When Juliet arrived on the island, Ben wanted to make her feel at home, but her high profile job made her feel like the center of attention. Therapy didn’t help, possibly because her therapist, Harper, seemed mean and spiteful. It helped to meet Goodwin, who she treated for a burn on his arm whose origin her lied about. Harper, Goodwin’s wife, knows Juliet and Goodwin end up involved and warns her there will be consequences. Not from her, but from Ben. Goodwin feels, since he’s been sleeping on the couch for a year, Ben can’t do anything but when 815 crashes, Ben sends him on a mission doomed to result in death. Three weeks later at what Ben means to be a romantic dinner for two, Juliet questions keeping the kids, but their names are on the List. Now that they have everyone on the List, shouldn’t Goodwin be brought back? Ben takes Juliet to where Ana Lucia harpooned Goodwin. She realizes he arranged it. He informs Juliet that she’s his. Possessive much?

Claire asks to talk with Miles, believing he’ll find her less intimating than Locke who nixes the idea. Locke demands Ben tell him who the Boat People work for. They arrange a deal. In a hidden safe there’s a tape of Charles Widmore beating an Other he caught. The boat is his and he’s trying to find the island to exploit it. Yeah, we’ll buy that. Ben shares a dossier on Widmore. Locke asks who is Ben’s man on the boat. He should sit down for the answer, which is given off screen, thank you very much.

After Charlotte and Dan head off into the jungle, Harper appears to Juliet with a message from Ben. The two are headed towards the Tempest, an electrical station that powers the island. All inhabitants will die if they reach it. Ben wants Juliet to kill them. Kate stumbles on Charlotte and Dan and for her troubles is lied to, then bonked over the head. The J’s find her. The gas masks in Dan’s bag concerned her and make Juliet high tail it to the Tempest where there’s one minute until contamination. Dan insists he’s trying to render the gas inert so Ben can’t use it against them like he used it in the past. Juliet knows if they wage war against, Ben, he’ll win. Ben also knows her feelings about Jack, which don’t make his future look uneventful. Best line: “She seemed kind of hostile, even for a therapist.”

Lost: The Constant

Flying to the boat in the chopper, Desmond expects answers. We had a good laugh over that one. A storm or turbulence disorients him. Upon landing, he’s taken to sick bay where Dr McCoy hypos him. No, wrong show. In the next bunk is the former communications officer, Uhuru, or George, who was taking calls except for those he was ordered not to: the ones from Penny. Two days previous someone sabotaged the equipment and they lost communications. Sayid works on a patch while George, suffering from a more advanced case of whatever Des has, dies. Sayid rigs up a phone so Des can call Pen. She’s been looking for him for 3 years, knows about the island, spoke to Charlie. And Desmond’s memory is jogged.

During this mess, Juliet wonders why Charlotte isn’t worried they lost contact with the chopper. It’s complicated but if Dan talks real slow, they may be able to follow. There are side effects to leaving the island. Their perception of time isn’t correct. Electromagnetic exposure could cause confusion. Dan talks to Des (while he was in sick bay in paragraph one) and makes sure he goes to Queen’s College in Oxford in the past to find him working there as a professor.

In the time travels, Des returns to his unpleasant army stint. He has two days leave and wants to see Pen but broke up with her and she’s moved. He finds Dan at Oxford and says, “I think I’ve just been to the future.” Dan suspects a prank but Des knows about Eloise. She’s the lab rat who expertly finds her way through a maze that Dan teaches her in an hour. Time travel, though, causes her death, probably because she has no anchor, something familiar in both times. Des figures he’ll use Pen as his anchor but her number has been disconnected. He finds her father at an auction where bids are taken on the Black Rock’s first mate’s journal and gets Pen’s address. She’s trying to make a clean break but he in eight years he’ll need to call her and memorizes her number and we’re back to paragraph one. Best line from an internet viewer: “The one constant is that every Desmond episode rocks!”

Corollary to the toast always lands butter side down:

The dropped library book pocket always lands glue side down.

Lost: Eggtown

Locke takes breakfast and reading material to a captive Ben in the basement but receives only taunting in return. Kate asks to talk with Miles but Locke’s regime is not a democracy. She intercepts Hurley taking Miles lunch. He’s more than happy to let her waitress since “That dude creeps me out.” Yeah, me too. Miles (Bruce Lee from the freighter) wants to talk with Ben. Over Dharma wine in a box, Kate tries to enlist Sawyers help. He runs straight to Locke for a game of backgammon. Or to delay Locke so Kate can nab Miles. She takes him to Ben, gives them one minute to talk.

Miles knows who Ben works for and will tell him he’s already dead in exchange for 3.2 million. Call it blackmail, call it extortion. Ben has two days to come up with the money even though his “present situation is a little bit restricted.” Locke finds them all chatting and banishes Kate. Sawyer unbanishes her and promises to keep her safe. She informs him she’s not pregnant. His relief gives her an excuse to split but he knows she’ll bounce back. Locke places a live grenade in Miles’ mouth. He’s responsible for the wellbeing of the island and won’t let Miles jeopardize that. At some point during this mess, Dan calls the boat. Jack and Juliet want to make sure their friends arrived safely. What friends? Regina on the boat thought the chopper was with them.

In the flash forward, Kate’s up against the People on charges of fraud, arson, theft, murder, etc. And she has the guts to plead not guilty. She refuses to allow her lawyer to use her son at the trail. Her mother’s going to testify against her. Or not. She backs out after gibbering about the doctors giving her six months to live four years ago. Them’s some good doctors. On the witness stand, Jack testifies he and 7 others crash landed in the water and Kate miraculously took care of them, even though two didn’t survive. He says he doesn’t love her anymore. Or he does and wants to go for coffee. But he doesn’t want to see the baby. After being granted a ten year probation, Kate goes home to relieve the sitter who has the strangest line of the episode, saying, “I’m so glad you’re back.” Free might have been a better word choice since she almost went up the river for life, not just down to the Piggly Wiggly for milk. The baby in question turns out to be Aaron. So where’s Claire? Truest line of the episode: “You’re more lost than you ever were.”

Lost : The economist

Not caring for Miles’ bad attitude and nickname giving is Sawyer’s domain. Frank promises to fly Sayid off the island in exchange for Charlotte. Sounds like Sayid will try diplomacy with Locke rather than shooting him, unlike is flash forwards where we see him playing a friendly round of golf with the Spanish Alfred Molina. Had Letterman been there, he could have said, “No wagering please.” When Sayid mentions being one of the Oceanic 6, all bets are off and bang bang, Señor Molina, whoever he was, is dead.

While Sayid, Kate and Irascible Miles search for the Locke Gang, Juliet retrieves Desmond who demands to know why Naomi had the picture of him and Pen. Frank didn’t hang around with Naomi in the cafeteria since she was senior management. The possibly schizoid or at least bipolar Dan performs some experiments with a tripod and beacon which proves “far more than weird.” I don’t know what that was about, but am sure it’s been dissected in detail by the Internet People, since it involved the Numbers. Locke can’t find Jacob’s movable cabin. Sawyer wishes he could send a certain little piggy (Ben) to market. Hurley didn’t sign up for hostages but Locke feels they’re beyond compromise and he’s the one making the decisions. “Is that gonna be a problem for ya?”

Soon Sayid’s Gang find Hurley tied up in an Other house. He claims Locke left him but it’s really a trap. Sorry dude. Sawyer guards Kate, wondering why she wants to return home when nothing awaits them. He’d rather stay on the island and play house. Locke and Sayid agree the Boat People are liars and they need to find out who they are and what they want. Ben’s spy on the boat is a secret. Sayid ends up returning to Jack and Frank with Charlotte. He traded Miles for her. Dan warns Frank to follow the exact same bearing when flying the chopper. Roger that.

Back in the future, Sayid chats up Elsa in a Berlin café. There’s discussion of his Employer and her Employer and dinner and whatnot. Sayid mentions that people will ask what happened to her Employer and she realizes Sayid used her to get to him. Sayid tries to explain her Employer is on some list and not an economist but she shoots him in the shoulder. He grabs a gun and kills her, which he feels bad about, if that’s any consolation. She appears to be wearing the same bracelet as Naomi. For help with the bullet, Sayid goes to what might be a veterinary clinic and explains to his Employer that Elsa was trying to get info on who he works for. And that would be… Ben. So, is he working for Ben in the present?

Until the next episode, check out Lost : the Rock Opera.

And I'm stranded here with my empty basket

When you need to make a grocery list, check out this online helper at Working Mom's Grocery List . While it's a convenient and quick way for busy Mom's to print out just what they're looking for, non-Mom's can benefit too. All you have to do is check which items you need that week or day and then submit them and a form will be generated for you to print out and take to the store. For the courageous, also see about their printable Working Mom's Coupons. But if "buy 1, get 1 free" doesn't mean I can buy just one for free, count me confused.

Sung to the tune of "I Fought the Law and the Law Won"

With apologies to Bobby Fuller:

Breaking up ice chunks in the bitter cold
I fought the driveway and the driveway won
I fought the driveway and the driveway won

I needed a snowblower but I had none
I fought the driveway and the driveway won
I fought the driveway and the driveway won

My back is aching and I feel so bad, this is no longer fun
The city plow throwing me an extra 4 feet of ice makes me mad
I fought the driveway and the driveway won
I fought the driveway and the driveway won

Why are people out, why is anything open?
I fought the driveway and the driveway won
I fought the driveway and the driveway won

My fingers have frostbite, this is no longer fun
I fought the driveway and the driveway won
I fought the driveway and the driveway won

Lost: Confirmed dead

At some point in the not too distant past, a sonar team stumbles on the sunken Oceanic airplane off the coast of Bali. Physicist Daniel from Mass seems upset about the news, yet ends up in a mysterious Gang of 4 in a helicopter, being pushed out onto the island during an electrical storm or similar. Kate and Jack see him and his precautionary gun. He admits their rescue is not his primary objective. Cohort Miles, a ghostbuster or soil sample collector, knows they killed Naomi because she used a code over the phone. Kate quickly rats out Locke. Miles is more concerned that the island doesn’t scan right until Jack informs him the Lostaway Calvary has guns trained on them. A signal coming towards them turns out to be Vincent, making Kate realize Locke has Chopper Gal. They find the pilot Frank who landed safely, though. He studied the plane manifest enough to know there was no Juliet Burke on flight 815 and demands she tell him where Ben is. Curiously, he was supposed to pilot the Oceanic flight that fateful day. So why didn’t he?

Hurley starts to tell Locke the cabin is in a different direction. But never mind, dude. Locke receives his orders from Walt, only taller. “Like a giant?” He didn’t ask any follow up questions because he’d be dead if he still had a kidney. Ben wonders why Sawyer thinks Kate would chose a lowlife scam artist over a fist class surgeon, causing Sawyer to go ballistic on him. They find Charlotte who has already encountered the Dharma sign on a polar bear’s collar at an archaeological dig in Tunisia. She may have encountered R2D2 too. Ben shoots her when she says she didn’t drop in to rescue them. Luckily, since she still has two kidneys, she thought to wear a bullet proof vest. Ben begs Locke not to kill him since he has answers. Not to what the monster is, but he does know the backgrounds of all four chopper gangers and know they’re a threat. Plus he knows they’re after him because he’s planted a man on their boat. Line of the episode: “What’s wrong with you people?” The show is only 60 minutes with commercials. There’s so not enough time to answer that.

From the: How lazy do we have to be? files

I'd heard of the robotic roomba type vacuum cleaners for carpets and floors indoors. Yesterday while reading This Old House, I saw a blurb about robotic lawn mowers. You set them outside and they do all the work for you, providing you have the cash to buy one. Sadly, I don't. If you Google robotic lawn mowers, you can get an idea of their prices and what each type is capable of. They're quiet, lightweight, batterey powered, so all you have to do set up a perimeter (much like on 24) and press the Go button. Other features:

A cutting method much healthier for the lawn.

Valuable nutrients return to the lawn. (Grass is cut into very small clippings buried in lawn roots where they decompose and act like natural fertilizer, giving you a better looking lawn and no need to collect and remove clippings.)
Trims up to walkway edges and around flower beds and swimming pools.
Identifies trees, rocks and obstacles.
Environmentally friendly (No Gas, No Oil, No Emissions)
They mulch better than a traditional mower due to a Triple-Chamber-Mulching system.

Check out the Robomower
And the Lawnbott

Crazily enough, something called an Aquabot also exists. This is a pool cleaner vaccum that automatcially cleans your pool.

Lost : the beginning of the end

I’m not sure where we left off but it doesn’t matter since I didn’t understand what was going on back then anyway. Some guy from the possible rescue boat (George?) calls and wants to speak to Naomi. She’s gone “to get some firewood,” a euphemism for having a knife thrown in her back by Locke. But wait, she’s not quite dead and has crawled away. Jack and Danielle go looking for her but lose her trail almost as fast as Jack loses the phone to Kate who embarks on her own search. She’s tackled by Naomi falling from a tree onto her. Naomi claims she was only trying to help rescue them. Kate reminds her that Locke acted on his own. When the Boat People call, Naomi lies and says she was wounded by a branch. She helps them change their tracking frequency, then dies.

Hurley sees Desmond/Scotty return with the canoe but no Charlie. Bummer, dude. Later Hurley stumbles on the shack of whatever the Head Honcho’s name was (Joseph? Jonah?) but it may not really be there. Locke finds the disoriented Hurley and reminds him Charlie can’t have died for nothing. Then Jack comes along and clocks Locke a good one and grabs his gun. Locke’s sure Jack won’t shoot him but Jack pulls the trigger. Good thing the gun wasn’t loaded. Locke still asserts that he acted in everyone’s best interest while Jack thinks he blew up every chance they had to get off the island. Locke’s going to the barracks where he’ll have some security from the Boat People. Hurley goes with, as do Claire, Sayid and some others.

In the flash forwards, Jack watches the police chase a vintage Camero on the news. Turns out Hurley is driving. He’s cornered and tries to make a run for it, despite his weight. Then he tries for lenience by reminding the officers he’s one of the Oceanic 6. We guess Kate and Jack are two of those six, leaving three Lostaways who probably escaped. But who? Ana Lucia’s partner questions Hurley but has a lot to learn from Jack Bauer about the fine art of interrogation. Hurley claims he never met Ana and hallucinates he’s at the submerged hatch.

Relief should come from being tossed in the nut house but first he’s visited by an Oceanic attorney who feels terrible and wants to upgrade him to a better facility. Since his business card is at home, Hurley says, “Then we’re done, dude.” Later Hurley sees Charlie who’s dead but also there and tries to convince Hurley, “They need you.” Finally Jack visits. Hurley wonders if he’s checking to see if he was going to tell. Tell what? He apologizes for going with Locke and says “It” (the island?) wants them to go back. Jack’s vehemence against it turns around in the next few months, whereupon he contacts Kate.

Drink up, dreamers

In the foreword to Poppy Z. Brite's Antediluvian Tales (her latest book of short stories concerning New Orleans), she mentions the website: Songfacts which will allow you to search by title or artist or browse their catalogue if you like to learn more about why and how a particular song was written and what sort of a life it may have taken on post-production.

The site also inclues random songfacts, trivia quizzes, staff picks, message boards, song fallacies, the top 10 searches for any given day, artist interviews and much more. While some of the more obscure bands and artists I listen to are not (yet) included, in just browsing through the A's, here are some of my favourite songs:
The Smiths' How soon is now?
Simon & Garfunkel's America
George Harrison's Apple scruffs
Jethro Tull's Aqualung

Luftgitar!

Who knew? Every year in September (so you can start practising now!) the Air Guitar World Championships are held in Oulu, Finland. It's become a 3 day event where the best air guitarists battle it out until a winner is chosen. I have at least one nephew or two who I know would get a kick out of attending and/or participating. If you can't stay away, check out the rules. Accomodations seem reasonable. Can't speak for the airfare.

As said to the puking girl:

"I don't get sick, I cleanse."

Day and night world map

If you for any reason need to know which parts of the earth are in daytime and which are in nighttime, check out this map: Daytime/Nighttime World Map

I've entered in the Western NY city closest to me, although not that close, as of 9 a.m. And the above is what it looks like.