life, and a little more

Is It Time To Close The Office?

Mar 27

metalman777The Office television, The Office, tv 1 Comment

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.   I’ve been mildly obssessed with NBC’s The Office for about 4 years now.  So don’t label me a hater as I get this off my chest.

The Office has always been filled with the funtastic antics of The Office staff.   It has always been an over-the-top goofy show; but  it has always had a 1/2 foot in reality.

Fans know a boss like Michael Scott would’ve been fired a very long time ago.  Yet we all have worked for/with a boss/co-worker that has been just as clueless and naive as the Great Scott.  We all have a Dwight Schrute at our place of employment.  We have all had stupid birthday parties and Christmas parties and have all participated in the shenanigans that The Office gang have participated in.  That is what made this show so great – it was pure satire that made us laugh at the drudgery in our own office.

I’ve really been struggling with Season 5 of The Office.  The humanness of the characters has been stripped away.  They have been made into bad caricatures of what they are supposed to represent.  The most recent episode, “Two Weeks“, has pushed me over the edge.

I can understand Michael quitting.   We all know that he will get his job back somehow.  Really, could The Office survive without Steve Carrell?  We all know Michael is a stupendous salesman, but also a stupendous moron.  We all know he has no chance in heaven, heck, or even hell in starting a paper company.

Pam knows this, yet she decides to mimic the Jerry McGuire movie and quit DunderMifflin to join Michael’s never-existing paper company?  I was just waiting for the line “You had me at hello”.  Man I was ticked!

Pam quitting to follow Michael might be the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.  Maybe I’m still in a bad mood because Battlestar Galactica just aired it’s Series finale.  Maybe I’m expecting too much from what used to be an awesome TV show.  Maybe I should just shut up.

Maybe I shouldn’t.  What could be a better way to end The Office other than Michael quitting and DunderMifflin going down the drain in the bad economic times?

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Maybe There is Nothing Nice Back Home

May 02

metalman777Lost Lost, tv No Comments

Sure was good to see Lost in top form last night.  I totally did not see Jack’s proposal coming at all!  Christian Shepherd was sure busy.  That guy is starting to give me the creeps.

As always, here are some trivia points and pieces of crucial information that might have been overlooked.  The following was taken from Lostpedia.com.

Also, check out The Lost Blog and The Tail Section for some more info.

Trivia

General

• By virtue of the Yankees/Red Sox and Indians/Mariners scores in the newspaper article, only one date is viable for the publication of the paper: August 31, 2007. Article states Yankees finish their sweep of the Red Sox with winning pitcher Cheng Mei Wang beating Curt Schilling 5-0. The only occurrence of this game is the date above. Whether this is meant to be canon, or simply a production oversight, remains to be seen.
• Early in the episode Claire mentions her relief at not “seeing things anymore”. This is a reference to a scene cut out of the previous episode where Claire has a prophetic vision. ^{[source needed]}
• This is the first time in the series that, while the mysterious whispers are heard, the listener doesn’t get startled — Miles is a psychic and consciously tries to extract information from what he hears. It is implied that his approach might have its merits, since he gets Danielle’s and Karl’s names and burial sites from the whispers.

Production notes

• The Yankees/Red Sox newspaper article is by “Gregg Bilson, Staff Writer”. Gregg Bilson is the founder of Independent Studio Services, a company that produces props for the film and television industry (Bilson brand cigarette props appear in Lost). The email address marvin.mancia@studiographics.us also appears in the article. The address studiographics.us is used by Independent Studio Services. Much of the text seen in the article appears in a real New York Times article here.
• Ben, Desmond, Locke, Michael, and Sayid do not appear in this episode.
• John Terry appears as Christian Shepard but was not listed ahead of time in the offical ABC press release.

Bloopers and continuity errors

Jack does not have an appendectomy scar in the future, although this may be a result of the Island’s healing powers.

Recurring themes

• The episode starts with a close up of Jack’s closed eye. (Eyes)
• Rose calls Charlotte “Red”. (Nicknames)
• Sawyer calls Miles “Donger”. (Nicknames)
• Kate says that Jack never says anything good about his father. (Parent issues)
• Jack proposes to Kate. (Relationships)
• Jin figures out that Charlotte speaks Korean. (Character secrets)
• Miles finds Karl and Danielle‘s dead bodies (Life and death)
• Aaron has a black and white whale doll. (Animals)  (Black and white)
• Jack’s life is threathened if his appendix ruptures. (Life and death)
• Jin pledges to do everything to get Sun of the Island. (Sacrifice)
• Jack has his appendix removed. (Missing body parts)
• Rose questions if Jack’s infected appendix is caused by the Island. (Fate)  (Healing properties)  (Faith versus science)
• Claire and Jack both see their father. (Visions)
• Claire seemingly leaves Aaron in the jungle. (Parent issues)
• Jack is sedated for the operation against his will. (Fate versus free will)
• Frank alerts Sawyer and his pack to hide so they won’t be seen and killed by Keamy and the other mercenaries. (Deceptions and cons)
• Jack pretends to be unconscious while Juliet and Kate talk about love. (Deceptions and cons)
• Jack is awaken by his assistant calling him up, saying she has to do so because Jack has problems with dates. (Time)

Cultural references

• Star Wars: Jack steps on a Millennium Falcon toy. (Movies and TV)
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Jack reads a section from the beginning of this book to Aaron. (Books)

Literary techniques

• Hurley mentions more visits from Charlie than the ones seen in previous episodes. (Unseen character)
• Even after the events portrayed in previous episodes, Jack and Kate eventually develop an unexpected off-Island romantic relationship. (Plot twist)
• Claire is mysteriously missing, apparently having abandoned Aaron at the end of the episode. (Cliffhanger)
• Jack, the surgeon, comes out as a stubborn patient in an operation performed on him by someone else. (Irony)
• Jack is seen taking self-prescribed pills both on the Island and in his flash-forward. (Juxtaposition)

Storyline analysis

• Juliet tells Kate that Jack kissed Juliet to try to prove to himself that he wasn’t in love with someone else. (Rivalries)
• Jack is incapacitated and Juliet and Bernard must perform surgery on him. (Leadership)
• Juliet and Bernard knock Jack unconscious during the surgery against his wishes. (Leadership)
• Sawyer imposes himself as the leader of his pack by imposing a restraining order against Miles. (Leadership)

Episode references

• Kate tells Jack to “let it go”. (“A Tale of Two Cities“)
• Richard Malkin convinced Claire to give up her child for adoption to a couple in Los Angeles, who he said were “good people“. (“Raised by Another“)
• Jack gets the same medication (Clonazepam) as Hurley does/did. (“Dave“)
• A nurse shows jack X-rays of someone’s L4 vertebra. Ben’s tumor was on his L4 vertebra. (“Every Man for Himself“)
• There is a ladybug on Jack and Kate’s refrigerator, just like the one in Santa Rosa hospital. (“The Beginning of the End“)

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Something Nice Back Home/Theories

Flashforward

• What was Kate doing for Sawyer?
• Why did Sawyer decide to stay on the Island?
• Why is Jack not supposed to raise Aaron?
• How is Christian appearing to Jack?

On the Island

• Where did Christian lead Claire to?
  • Why did she leave Aaron behind?

The Shape of Things to Come (sure looks good!)

Apr 25

metalman777Lost Lost, tv No Comments

Lost was sure in top form last night!  Even made staying up very late worth it!  Poor Sayid!  He does find Nadia, the love of his life only to have her ripped away and murdered!  Now that I think about it, a tragic loss like that would be the only thing to push Sayid over the edge and make him work for Ben.

Well, here are some tidbits and trivia facts from Lostpedia.com:

Trivia

General

• DHARMA logo seen on the breast of the parka worn by Ben has yet to be introduced in the series. It features concentric circles surrounding an unknown object.
  • The logo looks very much like the well-known celtic symbol “Triskel”. Triskel, surrounded by a spiral. It may have something to do with time, because both the triskel and the spiral symbolize reincarnation.
  • This parka also has the name “Halliwax” emblazoned on the left breast of the parka.
  • Screencaps of Ben in Parka
• Ben speaks Arabic and Turkish. He asks the Bedouin if they speak those languages in order to communicate with them.
• One of the Bedouin points out how Ben does not have a trail. The other replies, “Where did this [guy] come from? Down from the sky?”
• The pill bottle opened by Jack says “Amoxicillin”, a common antibiotic.
• The warning/security code for the fence was entered as 1623 and the dial was not turned; as a result, an early warning system was activated causing the phone in Ben’s house to ring with an automated female voice announcing “code 14J”.
• Ben’s flashforward takes place in October 2005 – One year and one month after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
• Keamy‘s first name is revealed to be Martin.
• After John reassures Sawyer that he will not hurt Hurley, Claire’s baby cry is the same audio clip used in Jim Cramer’s Mad Money sound board.
• The piece Ben is playing on the piano right before the phone call is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C Sharp Minor. Some British publications include the title The Burning of Moscow or The Day of Judgement.

Production notes

• Desmond and Michael do not appear in this episode. Sun and Jin appear with no lines.
• The three redshirts killed in the attack were portrayed by Sean Douglas Hoban (as Doug), Jim Mazzarella (as Jerome) and Dakota L. (as an unnamed castaway).

Bloopers and continuity errors

• The version of Risk being played by Hurley, Sawyer and Locke is the 2005 “library” edition of Risk. ^{[source needed]}
• Many of the Arabic scripts (including the news broadcast and the signs in Tunisia and Iraq) are erroneous. The letters are not connected as they should, as if they were independent of each other (i.e. they did not form words). Moreover, even if they were connected, many of them still would not form proper words. Sayid’s name, for example, missed some letters, had irrelevant ones, and the letters were not in the right order.

Recurring themes

• A close up of Ben’s eyes when he awakes in the desert in Tunisia (eyes)
• Ben refers to Alex as a pawn. (Games)
• Hurley, Locke, and Sawyer play Risk. (Games)
• Ben says “The rules have changed”. (Games)
• Ben has a shotgun hidden in the piano seat. (Secrets)
• Alex is taken hostage. (Imprisonment)
• The code to the security fence is 1623 (The Numbers)
• Alex is killed, as are three redshirts. (Life and Death)
• During the final scene, the light casts a shadow over half of Widmore’s and Ben’s faces. (Black and White)
• Sawyer called Hurley “Chicken Little” and says that the sky isn’t falling yet. (Nicknames)
• Ben tries to bluff that Alex means nothing to him, and as a result she is shot. (Parent Issues)
• Sayid said he was looking for Nadia for 8 years. (The Numbers)
• Ben manipulates Sayid into working as an assassin for him. (Deceptions and Cons)

Cultural references

• On the Road: Dean Moriarty is name of the “hero” of Jack Kerouac’s novel On The Road. The character of Dean is based on Neal Cassady who had a huge influence on the core Beat Generation writers.
• Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty is the surname of Professor James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ best known antagonist and mathematical genius.
• Moby Dick: The man Sayid executes is named Ishmael, which was also the name of Captain Ahab’s first mate in Herman Melville’s Novel.
  • Ishmael is also the name of a wise talking gorilla in Daniel Quinn’s trilogy of Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael
  • Ishmael is also a biblical name. He was Abraham’s first son, who was born not of his wife, but of her servant, whom he had also married. Ishmael’s half-brother was Issac, who was the father of Jacob.

• Exodus 2:3: “But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.” In the biblical text, Jochebed, mother of Moses (Aaron’s brother), hid Moses in a basket to protect her son from the Pharoah’s order to drown all of the Hebrew children. In The Shape of Things To Come Aaron is placed in a basket to be shielded from what we have been told is Widmore’s order to kill everyone on The Island. Moses and Aaron follow Jacob in the Judeo-Christian prophetic line. (Exodus 2:3 – 23 (The Numbers))

• The Shape of Things to Come : The name of the episode is also the name of a book by H.G. Wells which is written in the form of a history book from the future.

Literary techniques

• Three background survivors are killed in the initial attack on the camp. (Redshirt)
• Hurley repeats an old line of his, “we’re all gonna die” though this was shown in an ironic sense as it was said before it was revealed that he was talking about a game of Risk. (Regularly Spoken Phrases) and (Irony)
• Jack takes a pill, which he says he “prescribed for himself,” while Kate looks on suspiciously. This foreshadows Jack’s pill addiction and attempt to self-prescribe after he gets rescued. (Foreshadowing)
• Jack asks why the message said “the doctor is fine” when he is actually dead. Jack is a doctor who is becoming sick but says he is okay. (Irony)

Storyline analysis

• Ben is somehow able to either control or at the least summon the Monster from a tunnel hidden in the secret room of his house.
• Keamy executes Alex. (Crimes)
• Keamy and his men attack the Barracks. (F-Missions)
• Locke and Sawyer argue over who Hurley will go with. (Leadership) (Rivalries)

Episode references

• When Ben appears in the desert, he is wearing a parka labeled Halliwax. Edgar Halliwax is the alias used by Mark Wickmund in the Orchid orientation video.
• Charles Widmore has a glass of MacCutcheon Scotch whisky while talking with Ben. (“Flashes Before Your Eyes“)
• Ben uses one of his fake passports. (“The Economist“)
• Ben tells Miles that it seems unlikely that he’ll get his 3.2 million dollars after the attack on the Barracks. (“Eggtown“)
• Sayid asks Ben, “who’s next,” foreshadowing his role as Ben’s assassin. (“The Economist“)
• Locke accuses Ben of lying when he said he “didn’t know what the smoke monster was”. (“Confirmed Dead“)
• Ben knows Hurley has seen Jacob’s cabin after his slipup in the jungle. (“Confirmed Dead“)

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Shape of Things to Come/Theories

Flashforward

In the desert

• How does Ben end up in the desert?
• How did Ben get the cut on his arm?
• Why is Ben wearing a parka?
• What DHARMA logo is on the jacket?
• What did the Bedouins say as they approached Ben on horseback?
• Why is Ben unsure what year it is?

Widmore

• Why can’t Ben kill Widmore?
• What nightmares is Widmore having?
• Why is Widmore sure Ben can’t find Penny?

On the Island

• What did Ben do in his secret room?
• Who killed Ray, and why?
• Why does the message from the freighter say that Ray is fine?
• Who wrote the hieroglyphics on the wall in Ben’s hidden bunker, and what do they mean?

She's got my vote in '08

Apr 15

metalman777Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica, humor, tv No Comments

Meet Kevin Johnson (aka suicidal murderer boat smasher-upper)

Mar 21

metalman777Lost Kevin Johnson, Lost, Michael Dawson, tv No Comments

So, you tell me, what did you think of Lost last night? I was impressed and would give it a solid A. This is another episode to watch at least 2 or 3 more times!

Without further ado, let’s dive into some trivia and stuff we might have missed but Lostpedia didn’t.

Trivia

General

• Libby is the first non-original main cast member to reappear after leaving the show.
• Michael’s flashback is suggested to have taken place sometime between Days 68 (the day Michael and Walt leave the Island), as Michael is estranged from Walt since he revealed what he did on the island, and Day 82 (the day the Others leave the barracks), as Ben is shown at his barracks house.
  • Likewise, Tom’s appearances would seem to have been set between Day 74 and Day 80 as he was at the Hydra before Day 74 and at the Barracks on Day 80.
  • The Kahana left port in Fiji prior to Day 87 (the day Naomi arrived on the Island).
• Despite his mission to kill everyone on board, all the known deceased members on the Freighter thus far have not died because of Michael.

Production notes

• Charlotte, Daniel, Jack, Jin, Juliet, Kate, and Sun do not appear in this episode.
• Cynthia Watros is the first former cast member to return to the show as a guest star to not be credited as a “special” guest star.
• Kewalo Basin, the small commercial harbor in Kaka’ako, was transformed into the Port of Suva, Fiji’s largest port and gateway to its capital city for this episode.
• One of the few episodes of the series to take place almost completely in flashback. This is the longest flashback to date beating Flashes Before Your Eyes by just a few seconds.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• The actor playing Walt is not Malcolm David Kelly

Recurring themes

• Michael said that he’s on the boat to die. (Life and Death)
• Michael tries to kill himself 5 times in the episode — once in a car accident, once in the alley with a gun, twice in his apartment with the gun, and once again on the freighter. (Life and Death) (Sacrifice) (Car accidents)
• A game show is on TV during Michael’s suicide attempt in his apartment. (Games)
• Ben told Michael that he can consider himself one of the good guys. (Good and bad people)
• Michael is on the boat to redeem himself. (Redemption)
• Sayid reveals Michael’s status as a “traitor” to Captain Gault. (Deceptions and cons) (Secrets)
• Ben needs Michael to get him a list of the people on the boat. (Lists)
• Karl and Rousseau are attacked and left for dead by unknown assailants. (Life and Death)
• Michael “sees” Libby twice. (Dreams and visions)
• Michael’s mother is upset with Michael for his behavior toward his son Walt. (Parent issues)
• Closeup of Michael’s eye as he wakes up in the hospital. (Eyes)
• Ben pretends to be Walt to get Michael on the phone on the freighter. (Deceptions and cons)
• The bomb Michael is given via a care package is a fake. (Deceptions and cons)
• Hinted at in “A Tale of Two Cities“, it is revealed that Tom is gay. (Relationships) (Secrets)

Cultural references

• Kurt Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse Five, is mentioned as an answer on the game show Michael is watching. (Books)
• The Shining is a 1980 horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. Minkowski remarks that Michael reminds him of the film’s main character, played by actor Jack Nicholson. (Movies and TV)
• Star Wars: Before his death, Karl says, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” This is a line that is spoken in every episode of Star Wars. (Movies and TV)
• Cass Elliot: The song playing in the car when Michael tries to kill himself is “It’s Getting Better” by Cass Elliot, who also recorded “Make Your Own Kind of Music“. (Music)
• The Hotel Earle is a fictional hotel which is a metaphysical manifestation of hell itself for an awkward, isolated New York City writer in the 1994 Coen Brothers film Barton Fink. (Movies and TV)
• Star Trek: The second sneak peak for this episode featured the “red alert” sound effect from Star Trek: The Next Generation as the freighter’s alarm. This was altered for the broadcast version. (Movies and TV)
• The Godfather: Miles Straume is eating, and offers Michael, an orange before getting on the freighter. Oranges are seen in each instalment of the Godfather trilogy before deaths or assassinations. (Movies and TV)
• Cars: In the flashback, Michael drives a green Dodge Aspen

Literary techniques

• Michael trades Jin‘s Rolex watch for a handgun with which to kill himself. On the island, Jin tried to kill Michael over the same watch. (Irony)
• Ben says that Charles Widmore is “without conscience.” (Irony)
• When Michael attempts his automotive suicide, an optimistic song is playing. (Irony)
• Tom tells Michael, “You still have work to do.” (Regularly spoken phrases)
• Michael is seen attempting to fix the engines, the same that he agreed to sabotage. (Irony)
• Ben calls Michael “one of the good guys”. (Regularly spoken phrases)
• Sayid turns in Michael because he works for Ben. In the future (as seen in “The Economist“), Sayid himself works for Ben. (Irony)
• Michael made terrible sacrifices to get Walt back from the Others, only to lose him again after telling him about killing Ana-Lucia and Libby. (Irony)
• Frank muses the idea of finding 815 survivors that are alive. He tells this to Michael. (Irony)
• The episode ends with Karl and Rousseau seriously wounded by gunfire but with their condition and the identity of the assailant(s) unknown. (Cliffhanger)

Storyline analysis

• Michael attempts to detonate a bomb in the engine room of Kahana with the goal of killing himself and everyone on board. (Crimes)

Episode references

• Before attempting suicide, Michael says “I’m sorry,” just like he did immediately before shooting Ana Lucia. (“Two for the Road“)
• Michael sells the watch that Jin gave him. (“House of the Rising Sun“) (“Exodus, Part 2“)
• Michael tells his mother that he wants to see Walt “because he’s my son. That is my right.”, just as he told Jack. (“The Hunting Party“)
• When Libby appears in Michael’s vision she is carrying blankets, just as she did when he shot her. (“Two for the Road“)
• Tom is revealed to be gay. Tom once remarked that Kate wasn’t his “type”. (“A Tale of Two Cities“)
• Walt is living with Michael’s mother. Before their plane took off, Michael called her to ask if she would take Walt. (“Exodus, Part 2“)
• When crew members nearly take a raft off the boat, Captain Gault reminds them of what happened to the last two men to do so, specifically calling out the late Minkowski. (“The Constant“)
• Ben calls Michael “one of the good guys”. Before he left the Island, Michael asked him who they were and Ben responded “We’re the good guys”. (“Live Together, Die Alone“)
• Michael guesses that Naomi is from Manchester, England. Charlie, also from Manchester, guessed that fact as well. (“Greatest Hits“)
• The bomb Michael is given has a button labeled “EXECUTE”, much like the computer in the Swan. (“Adrift“)

Unanswered questions

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Meet Kevin Johnson/Theories

Flashback

• How is Tom able to travel from the Island?
• How did Michael and Walt reach the United States after leaving the Island?
• How is the Island preventing Michael from killing himself?
• What was Ben’s intention when he gave Michael fake explosives?

On the Island

• Why does Ben feel the Temple is only for the Others?
• Who was shooting at Alex, Karl, and Rousseau?
• Are Karl and Rousseau dead?

External links

• ABC Primetime Grid