Quad Blogs

Written by Chris Monigle

Gotta love independent movies and OnDemand. Right now, if I so chose, and for the modest price of 6.99 and 9.99 respectively, I could watch the French movie Summer Hours or the Soderbergh picture starring that porn star everybody is wild about, and I’m not sure why. I’m interested in both. In fact, I think today is the last day I can watch The Girlfriend Experience OnDemand. But here’s the thing: it’s 78 minutes. Paying 9.99 for 78 minutes. But then a new Woody Allen DVD with no extras and a film that runs 90 minutes is sold for 21.99 or something. So, why do I run away from a 9.99 movie in theaters OnDemand and embrace 21.99 DVDS? That’s actually a trick question: I buy DVDs as cheap as possible. The likely candidate to be watched soon is Summer Hours. Foreign films have the ability to tell good stories with actual substance. The movies currently playing in lovable corporate multi-plexes (and can be viewed for the fantastic price of 10.25 a ticket) barely ever leave me with the feeling that the 10.25 was worth it. I’d like to see Hugh Jackman be a badass as much as anybody but not for 10.25 and especially not when (I’m pretty sure) Roger Ebert spoiled the entire ending. The last movie I saw in the theaters (I Love You, Man) entertained me. I enjoyed it. But…bleeding 10.25 for that? I alternately love and hate HBO. Sometimes, they constantly play trash. Other times, I can watch Kung Fu Panda up to 4 times in one day. It’s fantastic. I’ve watched Fred Claus, no matter what part, whenever it’s on. In fact, I’ve literally never paid to see Kung Fu Panda. I worked in a movie theater last summer. The point: I am stingy. I feel like I’ve slighted The Girlfriend Experience though since I made an elitist-blowhard statement about foreign films. The Girlfriend Experience has been getting great reviews. There are many American films that deliver and don’t make you hate yourself for spending an hours + wage on a movie such as Rian Johnson’s ‘Brick,’ and Linklater’s ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset,’ and, for good measure, ‘Waking Life.’ Another point: I’m not sure what my point is because the purpose of this entry is to compare The Mars Volta and LOST. Maybe the point is that I’d like more movies to be offered OnDemand. Probably not though. That’s a lame thesis. How about all you deconstructionists and post-structuralists come out of hiding and tell me what the meaning of this paragraph is since I, the author, do not exist? I don’t know. This whole paragraph is a trainwreck.

Here’s the deal for the forseeable future of my blog, Jacob’s Foot: as LOST won’t be back until January 2010 (which sucks), the blog will branch out into other areas of entertainment and sports (oh yeah. i’m a sports addict). It is my plan to devote space to LOST each and every week until January 2010. I’ll post some old things I’ve written about episodes and seasons past and I’ll write new material for the show. I will be writing about my favorite season five moments sometime in the future. I’ll be doing crazy stuff like I am today with comparing Mars Volta and LOST. As for the branching out part, I’ll be writing about two shows that have been off the air for over five years (Buffy and ANGEL). I’ve seen the entirety of both series more than once so I’ll probably just write down random thoughts about a random episode or season. I’ll write about Dollhouse a bit as well. The big thing will come in September: I will be bringing my weekly NFL picks to Jacob’s Foot. I’ve been writing weekly picks for the last three years. I usually post them every Thursday because I read Bill Simmons’ NFL picks every Friday. It’s like how I am with LOST. I don’t want anything to influence what I write. I want my thoughts to be me and me only. During the summer, I might try to interview a band or something and post it here. I’ve been reading some David Foster Wallace nonfiction so I might report on some things (for instance my 3 days down the shore with friends). The possibilities are endless. Anywho…

The Season 3 cast. Emilie de Ravin looks absolutely fantastic.

I’ve finally arrived at the purpose for this entry. The Mars Volta are one of my favorite bands. They’ve made two brilliant records, a great record, and a good record. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez never runs dry of ideas for a record, never fails in the execution of a record, and always finds the best musicians to play the music he’s written. Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s voice is a perfect complement to Omar’s music. I figure there is no better way to, sort of, discuss the Mars Volta records than comparing them to seasons of LOST. There are only four full-length Mars Volta records and five seasons of LOST (well five Mars Volta if you count the live album but I won’t count it). Believe me, I’m aware. But it all works out. 

THE FIRST SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S FIRST RECORD ‘DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM’

The First Season Poster

The first season of LOST was some experience. I began watching the show because of the involvement of David Fury, a former writer of ANGEL and Buffy. The year was 2004. Autumn to be exact. ANGEL had ended its run in May of 2004. It sucked. I began watching Buffy during my junior year of high school and ANGEL in the summer before my senior year. In fact, my first ANGEL episode was season four’s ‘Orpheus.’ Blew me away. But I digress. I enjoyed LOST immensly. It was riveting, exciting, and it had the best storytelling on television (since theWB cancelled the last Joss show on TV). And then LOST aired ‘Solitary’ on November 17, 2004. It’s that episode which made me into the guy who writes 4,000 words about a finale. Coincidentally enough, David Fury wrote ‘Solitary.’ Solitary introduced the whispers, The Sickness, the idea of The Others. It was awesome. I remember how I felt when Sayid heard the whispers in the jungle as he headed back to camp. And then the following week was the episode when Claire was kidnapped…fantastic. Season 1, as a whole, tells great, great stories full of nuance and feeling. The location is beautiful. Giacchino’s music is beautiful. I think his greatest composition is the one that plays when the raft takes off. Vincent chases after the boat. It’s a moment of triumph. It’s among my favorite scenes of LOST. The first season is 25 episodes. Very few shows can produce a quality 25 episode season. The Office, it seems, failed to put together a consistent season with 26 episodes. Heroes, as always, faltered with a 25 episode third season. LOST never did in the first season. There isn’t a single weak episode in season one. 

Go to lala.com and listen to this record

The first album of The Mars Volta clocks in at over 75+ minutes. 10 tracks of exceptional music. I discovered the band on MTV2 when I watched the video for ‘Inertiatic ESP’. Great, great song. The atmosphere of the album begins with the opener ‘Son et Lumiere’ and the atmosphere continues throughout the record. It’s an emotinal and beautiful record. Inspired by a short story of Cedric’s and the late Jeremy Ward, it tells the story of Cerpin Taxt who attempts to commit suicide by overdosing on a mixture of rat poison and morphine. He lands in a week-long coma in which he experiences visions of humanity and his own psyche. Upon awakening, he is dissatisfied with the real world and successfully kills himself by jumping to his death. The story was inspired by the death of their friend Julio Venegas. The emotion is palpable throughout the 75+ minutes. There’s amazing crescendos and decrescendos throughout (absolutely fantastic in ‘Roulette Dares), beautiful interludes and ambience. I think it’s their best. The totality never fails to move me as a listener. The interlude in ‘Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt’ is mind-blowing. It’s not complicated musically nor is it simple. It’s just right. ‘Cicatriz ESP’ is an up-and-down whirlwind musical experience. The album surprises with beautiful simplicity out of nowhere, emerging from chaos. ‘Drunkship of Lanterns’ builds and builds and builds, and when it bursts, it’s bloody fantastic. I think the album is my favorite of the four. But it’s close. You’ll see.

THE THIRD SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S SECOND ALBUM ‘FRANCES THE MUTE’

A brilliant and fantastic season

It gets a little tricky here, you of my 750,000 readership. I was hoping like hell season three of LOST wouldn’t be like season two. I’ll dive into season two more at its proper place but, suffice to say, I didn’t want to be disappointed by season three of LOST. I was not at all. I often am privy to declaring season three to be my favorite of LOST. Once the season returned from the three-month hiatus in February 2007 after the first six of season three, I knew the show I love was back the way I wanted it. What solidified that for me was Desmond’s ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes,’ an episode that revealed what happened to Desmond after the Hatch explosion/implosion. A gem of an episode. Time-travel is introduced into the show. Emotional character story for Desmond. Charlie being told that he’s gonna have to die. After that episode, LOST could do no wrong. They struck a great balance between revealing things about the Island (New Otherton/Locke’s adventures/Jack being there, ect) and flashbacks that revealed new layers to the characters. It wasn’t the re-hash I felt was going on in season two. Until ‘Whatever Happened, Happened,’ ‘Left Behind’ was my favorite Kate episode. ‘Par Avion’ is my favorite Claire episode. ‘Further Instructions’ is an underrated Locke episode. ‘Catch-22′ is a great Desmond episode (Flashes is better of course). It’s a great Locke season which features his Island tour of blowing things up. Fantastic Ben/Locke moments. I love, love, love the Island stories like Hurley conning Sawyer into being decent. Season Three is terrific. My favorite Juliet episode is in season three ‘One of Us.’ The great unkillable Mikhail is in season three and Charlie’s arc was fantastic. ‘Greatest Hits’ is among LOST’s best. And, then, of course, the finale features a flash back with the infamous line by Jack: ‘WE HAVE TO GO BACK!’ I get goosebumps just writing about it. It’s no coincidence that the story tightened once Lindelof and Cuse got an end-date from ABC. Season Three tells a terrific story. There’s catharsis (The Brig with Sawyer) and Sawyer finally gets Tom for taking the kid off the raft. It’s an extremely satisfying season and has terrific re-watch value. I’ve seen the episodes multiple times and never tire of them. Even ‘Stranger in a Strange Land,’ Jack’s tattoo episode, is better on re-watch (when that originally aired, it ruined STEVE’s week. he hates that episode). I love season three. 

only these names i clutch will bring me to my home. OOOO YEAH

Frances The Mute is the second album of The Mars Volta. I remember listening to it during my senior year of high school (fantastic year all-in-all: first season of LOST, The Everglow by Mae, Frances The Mute by the Mars Volta, Kairos, and general kick-ass stuff with school and friends and whatnot). It’s five tracks. The label forced the band to divide it up into 12 tracks though there are just five songs. There are 4 songs that are over 12+ minutes song. The Widow is the shortest at just over 4 minutes. The record was inspired by a diary the late Jeremy Ward found in his days as a repo man, and noted the similarities between his life and the author–they were both adopted. The diary told of the author’s search for his parents. Frances The Mutes follows this story. The opener ‘Cygmund…Vismund Cygnus’ opens acoustically before kicking into drive as Cedric flips between the English and Spanish language. The breakdown in ‘Cygmund’ is terrific. It’s simple. It breaks down and then begins to build back up again into the thesis of the record ‘only these names I clutch will bring me to my home.’ Musically, Omar upped the ante. Each member recorded their parts separately–a technique Miles Davis implemented: refused to let members know the other members part, forcing each to play their part as if it were a self-sufficient song. Each member recorded to the pulse of a metronome. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante plays on the record and Flea (who played bass on De-Loused) plays the trumpet. The final song ‘Cassandra Gemini’ is 32 minutes. There’s absolutely no filler in it either. Omar covers a whole range of musical styles in Cassandra: jazz, latin, jazz fusion, etc. I’m all about the music with the Mars Volta. I don’t put alot into the lyrics. Cedric’s voice is another instrument. Cedric’s not as good on Frances as he on Deloused on Bedlam but he’s pretty good. Frances The Mute is a remarkable album though.

THE FIFTH SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S FOURTH ALBUM ‘BEDLAM IN GOLIATH’

What a poster. I want to marry it.

There’s plenty of already written things for the fifth season of LOST so I’ll keep it brief. The Time-Travel season. The first five episodes of season five are frantic and jump from time to time while telling some damn good stories. The season settles down once the Oceanic 6 get back to the Island. The season did a good job going back to the past to prepare everyone for the future. I feel like the season was geared toward the fans who never left. It really dove into the mythology of the show at, literally, the expense of characters. Barely any Desmond. No Claire. Strings of episodes set in Dharma. No Dharma when they were in 2007. But everything was very cohesive by the time the finale came. Nothing felt forced. I loved the emphasis of the themes of redemption and destiny as we saw with Sayid and his struggle with his demons, Jack developing a Lockean disposition. ‘The Incident’ is quite simply fantastic. Not a weak moment in the entire episode. Lindelof, Cuse, and the writers took a bold chance by moving the show 3 years. It didn’t get talked about much and I barely wrote about it but its worth bringing up because of how Sayid, Kate, and Jack changed off-the-Island. Season Five was about the past, the present, and the future and, perhaps, the importance of time and time’s relation with destiny, and destiny and the Island bringing these characters to places where they played a vital role in what became their present. It’s my favorite Ben season. I enjoyed Ben as a defeated man. Desmond’s episode kicked ass. Loved the scene with him talking about England to his son. I enjoyed the character development of Jack and Sawyer. Loved everything with Locke and “Locke”. I liked experiencing Dharma. I liked meeting Radzinsky and the development of Goodspeed. That scene with a hungover, depressed Goodspeed and Sawyer is among my favorite moments of the season. I liked that Miles actually resolved his daddy issues. Loved Pierre Chang. He was hilarious. So yeah, Season Five is very good. I’m sure I’ll more about season five in the future.

This is a wild album. Conjucal Burns is wicked.

‘Bedlam in Goliath’ is a wild album. It’s not as experimental or progressive as the previous three Mars Volta record. It’s more straight-forward. The album doesn’t slow down until ‘Torniquet Man.’ ‘Goliath’ is an chaotic song that is amazin. The story behind the album is that it was born out of an Oujia board Omar bought for Cedric while in Jerusalem. They dubbed it ‘The Soothsayer’ as it would give names, make demands, and were contacted by three different people who were of one form–Goliath. The band claim Goliath haunted the studio where they recorded and nearly ruined the record. The album chronicles this Goliath. It’s a kick-ass record and it brought the kick-ass back to The Mars Volta (they may have gotten too lax with Amputecture’). The album is also the first without Jon Theodore. Thomas Pridgen (who is out of this world on the album) replaced drummer Jon Theodore. It’s an album that is very tight musically. Thematically, it deals with religion and spirituality. ‘Soothsayer’ begins with a religious song/chant/whatever you want to call it. ‘Cavalettas’ dives into the world of Goliath and the chaos he brought into the band. It’s a very good record. I enjoy it immensley. 

THE SECOND SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S THIRD ALBUM ‘AMPUTECHTURE’

The season two poster. It's like an old school Royal Rumble poster.

The second season of LOST sits better with me now than it once did. Season two suffered from re-runs. It felt like ABC would air two new weeks of LOST followed by five weeks of re-runs and so on and so on. Season two has some great stuff. For instance, the introduction of Desmond and the Dharma Intiative, the button question, the introduction of Ben. I never cared for Ana Lucia though. I didn’t really care about What Kate Did when season two rolled around, I was mostly anticipating The Others and never really got it until the end of the season. I felt like the flashbacks were re-hashing things we already knew about characters. It’s in no way a perfect season but it’s not terrible. It’s good. Sayid’s episode is a highlight as is ‘Man of Science, Man of Faith,’ ‘Orientation,’ ‘Everybody Hates Hugo,’ ‘Lockdown,’ ‘The 23rd Psalm,’ ‘Live Together, Die Alone,’ and ‘?’. I still love the confrontation between Tom and Jack, Sawyer, and Locke in ‘The Hunting Party.’ I think the season suffered from the no-end date though. 

Don't bother with the final song on this album.

‘Amputechture’ isn’t a bad Mars Volta album. It just doesn’t have that ‘hook’ that the others have. I love the opening track as well as ‘Viscera Eyes’ and ‘Day of the Baphomets.’ ‘Tetragrammaton’ is very cool. I’m a big fan of the lyrical output of the record. The music isn’t as good though. Cedric said this about the album: 

“This album’s a commentary about the fear of God instead of the love of God, which goes hand-in-hand with Catholicism…To me, religion is the reason there is so much conflict in this world, and I think it’s just so unnecessary to believe in this blue-eyed, white-bearded, white-haired God. Amputechture is my personal way of describing enlightenment, or just the celebration of this person who is a shaman and not a crazy person. It’s about the pineal gland and how it has certain elements that mimic a DMT experience, and how we can come up with cures for cancer and AIDS if we’re more in tune with what’s going on in the rainforest.”

THE FOURTH SEASON OF LOST

Love this one. It's neat.

Since there’s no other albums of The Mars Volta, Season Four stands apart from what I was doing but I still wanted to write about season four. The season opened with a bang (Hurley yelling ‘I’m one of the Oceanic 6) which really set up everything. Throughout, I wondered who was also part of the Oceanic 6, wondered who would live and die on the Island. The finale was intense, folks. I was yelling at the television, pacing, standing, sitting, etc. The knowledge that the Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron, and Sun got off didn’t kill my enjoyment at all because I was left wondering what happened to those on the Island. I was prepared for anything in that finale. I still remember my jaw-dropping when it was revealed Kate had Aaron in Eggtown. The Constant is one of the best of LOST. Henry Ian Cusick shines in that episode. As I wrote previously, Hurley’s arc is great. I really dug his ‘I talk to dead people’ angle. ‘The Beginning of the End’ is, maybe, my favorite Hurley episode. I liked that the series devoted an episode to Charlie’s death and the characters reaction. Hurley’s speech (I’m listening to my friend! I’m listening to Charlie), Jack thinking about Charlie with Kate at the Fuselage (a call back to the Pilot), Claire’s reaction Charlie. Season Four also brought us Faraday, Miles, Frank, and Charlotte. The finale offered a few surprises such as Desmond reuniting with Penny and Frank getting off of the Island. We also got closure on the story of Michael. ‘Meet Kevin Johnson’ was a highlight because we got to see how Michael dealt with his own past. It also was something that the Island would not let Michael die. Keamy was a great villain. I remember the scene when Juliet told Jin that Sun cheated on him in ‘Ji Yeon.’ Very shocking, folks. All-in-all, season four is terrific. I feared that the writer’s strike would kill it but it didn’t. It’s a very quality season. ‘The Shape of Things To Come’ is great for many reasons. Here’s one: I loved that it opened with Ben after turning the donkey wheel. Loved Sawyer being a badass. Didn’t love Keamy blowing up Claire’s house. Season Four is fantastic. 

Believe-you-me, readers, this is not the last time I write about any of these seasons. I got really into writing about each. That was fun. Hope you enjoyed reading about it. Here’s some other random thoughts:

–I’m watching ‘Field Of Dreams’ as I write this. It’s a great movie. I will use this movie (as Simmons does) to determine whether or not a woman has a soul. The poignant thing about this movie now besides the many poignant moments in the film is that the Phillies video team used the Field of Dreams music in their tribute video to Harry the K. It gets a little dusty when I hear the music and think of Harry the K. Phillies baseball isn’t the same without him.

–I maintain that the saddest scene in ANGEL is when Angel says goodbye to baby Connor in season three’s ‘Sleep Tight’ because I know everything that happens after that moment. I don’t want to spoil things for anyone planning on watching ANGEL but I dare anyone find me a sadder moment than that, taking in account the totality of the series.

–It’s that time of the year where I begin making moves in fantasy baseball. I tend to wait 2 months to to assess players. I’ve made some moves and I am now wondering when to pull the trigger on fixing my pitching. My problem in fantasy is that I’m loyal. I like the guys I draft to be the guys I win with. My i dont like the mets squad is pretty good but I need to turn around my pitching. I’ve got guys on my radar but the question indeed: when to begin change? MLB Network is also my favorite channel. 

I think I’m done. Have a splendid weekend, folks!

Hello, all! I’m back, spewing more Express experiences to fully satisfy your vicarious journalistic needs!

First off: an important poll!

What is Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s fate at the end of “The Wrestler?”

He’s dead. Get over it.
or
He lives! Yay for sequel options!
[please post answer as a comment because poll tools are being extremely temperamental]

I promise this is work-related. Well, kind of.

Onto the happenings! Only two days in this post, thanks to Memorial Day and its fantastic ability to completely throw off my sense of days and dates.

TUESDAY (<- I wrote that as Monday twice already) 5/26:
-thank you, ewire.
I’ve just learned some absolutely fantastic news. Both “Scrubs” and “Chuck” will return to television next fall season (though Scrubs will no longer be centered around JD/Zach Braff), while “My Name is Earl” and “Kath and Kim” were cancelled.

All I have to say is good riddance to bad rubbish.  “Earl”‘s Jaime Pressly pulls off the “white-trash ho” bit a little too well…which (besides being sadly the most interesting part of the show) may explain why she’s been typecast ever since (coincedentally) “Poor White Trash.”

Also, “Kath and Kim” may have been successful in Australia, but introduce  Molly Shannon to absolutely anything and it’s sure to find it’s way to the chopping block.

We're cancelled? Shucks, I guess that means we should stop hanging out on lawn chairs so much...

-Back to the Express…today I had a meeting with Amy and Dustin regarding the next couple issues of [EXPOSED] – Amy has a lot of vacation time coming up, so Dustin’s being placed in charge. I’m basically continuing on as usual, but I need to figure out my angle for the road trip story.

Wednesday 5/27
-There is a box on Amy’s chair the size of a small dog.
10:02 a.m: The box has been opened. It’s….basically a ton of barbecue sauce.  More than anyone should ever need.

-Today I led a chat (note: CoverItLive = awesome chat hosting program) – It focused on the Musikfest 2009 Mid-Atlantic band competition, which offers area bands spots to perform at the festival in August. Since Dustin gave me partial reign of the [EXPOSED] myspace, I sent out invitations to all the bands via their pages, and a good 6-7 of the 20 showed up. It went really well, and as far as the Quad goes, it’s possible that we could incorporate a chat room in some way in conjunction or separate from our weekly podcast idea.

You can replay the chat here. Yay for sherpas.

To vote in the second round of the competition (narrowing 10 bands to four) click here.

That’s it for today, folks.  Please vote in the above poll, and spread it around to your friends, neighbors, estranged family members, and pets.

peace&love,
Tara T.

Hello all! I’m greatly behind in posting, so this will wrap up my entire third week of the Express. Things were actually pretty crazy this week, so I didn’t have a chance to made a mid-week post.

So now, sit back, relax, and learn of more informative tomfoolery that is your personal behind-the-scenes view of the newsroom.

wrapping oneself in a blanket is merely one way to enjoy the Quad Blog

Monday 5/18:
- a new intern started today with the Photo and web department – a to-be senior at NYU. Again – why am I so young? haha
-the e-mail server is being really temperamental today. it’s actually taking over the entire system. our database, browsers, and wire services are reacting particularly slow, which is ticking off just about everyone in the office.

Tuesday 5/19:
-the server/email/database problem is still in effects – it’s gotten to the point that most of us are working from personal e-mails and such (when the internet works)
-Chris Martin = renewed hero of mine, as far as personal caliber goes.
-Today I sat in on a meeting with some of the people from NJ.com, going over ways to make our website more popular and appealing. Colin – sometime in the future I may be sending you an e-mail or such with some ideas.
-So the SANDS Casino in Bethlehem is opening Friday, and Bruce (photog) met Emeril Lagasse! he has a restaurant in the building, and today was a tour around the kitchen and such.

"are you just going to stand there or are you going to start dressing the salads?! BAM! photo courtesy Express-Times files

4:34 p.m: I just read on the wire that “My Name Is Earl” got the NBC axe! yesssss. Long overdue. That show was trash – and revolved around it, actually.
-sometimes I insert alliteration and assonance where it’s not appropriate out of unconscious habit: “just a few of the jews”

Wednesday 5/20:
-Musikfest released their last headliner band: Panic! At the Disco. Now, while not on my list of top favorite bands, I have listened to them from time to time, and my editor told me that in a few days I should call up the reps at Musikfest and see if I can schedule a preview interview with them or Third Eye Blind (the Musikfest show I actually intend to go see) – so…how awesome?! I’ll answer myself: very.
- got a lot of stuff done today. 3 articles, two briefs, and quite a bit of [Exposed] work.
-Found out that i’m working the 3-11 shift tomorrow so that I can attend the Freddy awards (high school theater Tony’s, for a four-word summary). This should be pretty sweet.

Thursday, 5/21:
-so I’m prepping to leave for the Freddy’s, and my boss walked by in a tux and sunglasses. Every year he presents the Express-Times Student Achievement Award, which rewards a senior with a summer, paid, internship at the Express. He said, “Tara, you’re young, you know what’s hip. Sunglasses or no?” Talk about pressure.

Perhaps he doesn’t know this, but clearly if someone is coming to me for fashion advice, they have lost all other resources. I’m the girl with the bandannas and bare feet, who doesn’t wear makeup or shirts that cost over $10. I am not a good source for fashion advice.

just a few of many, many people (and animals) with better fashion sense than I.

—–
After the Freddy’s – that was insane. I didn’t actually get to watch any of the ceremony, because I was too busy backstage trying to get a hold of the winners and other people of import for quotes, while calling back to the newsroom during the commercial breaks so that they could update the website and stories ASAP. what a rush. and shout out to Andy Truscott, WCU Theatre member, who was backstage as well as the presenter prompter. Thanks man.

Friday, 5/22
-relatively one-track day. Dustin handed over the [EXPOSED] Myspace (linked above) to me, so I’ve been on that all day.

Yes. I’m on Myspace at work. and getting paid for it.

On a final note, if anyone has any more road trip location idaes, please let me know! (I’ll need to do some “research” and get some images for my story)

Till next time,

peace&love,
TjT

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Box Office Round- Up/ Hitting the Silver Screen

            I know, I know.

            I’m late again with the box office round up. That’s two weeks in a row. Once more and I might as well turn in my blogger badge and gun and walk off into the sunset, hanging my head in shame.

            Trust me: I will not let you all down again. Certainly not with what they’re paying me to do this blog. Talk about lucrative. I don’t want to brag but it rhymes with “smalot.”

            That’s “a lot,” by the way. Whoops! I fear I’ve said too much.

Me and you are through professionally. I can't believe you tried to take my ticket to the killer robot movie!!

            Wait a second. They’re not paying me at all… and I was never issued a blogger badge or a blogger gun! What’s the deal with that? I need to talk to somebody about all of this.

            Oh well. Back to what I was saying before I got sidetracked regarding my compensation problems, I assure you readers that this week I am late, but with a purpose.

            If you’re anything like me, and I expect that you are, you’ve all been huge “Terminator” fans since birth. I mean, come on! Who out there can honestly say that they never settled down in their “Terminator” peejays, with their hair spiked up like Arnold’s, clutching an armload of “Terminator” action figures to watch  “Terminator 2″ on DVD?

            WOW. That’s a lot of hands.

            Did I say DVD, by the way? Yikes, I meant VHS. In no way did that happen last week.

            Ok it did. Don’t judge me.

Excuse me ladies, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a theater showing the killer robot movie?

            Needless to say, I am very, VERY excited to see the latest entry in the “Terminator” saga— that’s the only word that can truly describe the “Terminator” films, they far extend past a mere franchise— “Terminator: Salvation.”

            I must admit that initially, I wasn’t all that thrilled about another “Terminator” movie. T-3 was great for what it was, but did we really need a fourth film?

            Before long, word came out that Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t be in the film due to his gubernatorial duties. No real surprise there, I guess, but can you make a “Terminator” movie with the TERMINATOR himself? I don’t think so.  

            And then I heard that McG, the filmmaking icon behind the “Charlie’s Angels” “films” would be directing.

            Suddenly, I REALLY didn’t want another sequel.

            Talk about a recipe for disaster. Remove Arnold, Add McG?

Nope, no killer robots down there...

            Imagine watching something that you’ve held sacred since childhood be treated with such disrespect. If anyone has seen the “Indiana Jones” episode of “South Park,” think that but WORSE. This is, after all, McG we’re talking about here.

            Just when all hope seemed lost, something miraculous happened.

            Christian Bale aka Batman, signed on to play John Connor. There were NO words to describe the JOY that I felt. Incredibly, it seemed as though this thing could work out after all.

            My beliefs were strengthened as one badass trailer after another hit the interweb and local cineplexes.

            Consider my hopes up.

            I don’t even want to get into Bale’s expletive-laced, on-set tirade. I actually found it funny, but not really newsworthy. Who hasn’t had a moment where they take something TOO far? The only difference is, when common folks like us do it, it usually doesn’t find its way onto the net.

Trust me son, you'll find those killer robots. Would a guy wearing a hat THIS cool lie to you?

            Also, I don’t have to like Bale as a person. That’s of no concern to me. The man is a TERRIFIC actor. He, along with the Nolan Bros. and David Goyer SAVED Batman. Can he do the same for my beloved “Terminator?”     

            And now here we are, on the eve of the aptly named “Salvation” hitting the silver screen.

            I am PUMPED.

Hey guys! I totally found the killer robots! There are like a hundred of them in here! This is soooo cool!!!

            Alright, well enough of that nonsense, for now. Let’s take ourselves a quick look at the box office results from last week.

                                                                                    Courtesy of boxofficemojo.com

            Seems as though movie goers weren’t all that interested in seeing Tom Hanks’ new do in “Angels and Demons.” Sure the film finished in the top spot, but its $46 million haul is a far cry from the $77 million “The Da Vinci Code” made way back in the year 2006.

            “Star Trek,” meanwhile, continued to draw in crowds. The film dropped less than half its audience from last weekend. Not too shabby, as most sci-fi/ action movies tend to drop significantly in their second week out.

            Yeah “Wolverine,” I’m talking to you.

            Editor’s Note: Also due out this weekend are “Night at the Museum 2,” starring the great Ben Stiller and “Dance Flick,” from the formerly great, now just annoying Wayans Brothers. They will not be covered in this column because they lack any killer robots or Christian Bale. “Museum 2″ looks good though.

I can see "Terminator: Salvation" so many times with all this money! Also I can finally buy a razor and shave this stache!!

 

 

            Alright, that’s it. Check back later this week for updates and make sure you check out wcuquad.com for my “Terminator: Salvation” review. It will be posted during the week. Thanks for reading! Vaya con dios.   

Written by Chris Monigle

Yep. This blog is now 'Jacob's Foot.'

As you can see, I’ve changed the title of the blog to ‘Jacob’s Foot’ since it was revealed Jacob’s Cabin hasn’t been Jacob’s cabin in a long time. It’s time to dot my I’s, so to speak, with the LOST finale. Yes, I still have more to write about the LOST finale.

–’What lies beneath the shadow of the statue?’ ‘He who will save us all’ is THE answer to the question. By now, I’m sure everybody that reads anything online about LOST knows that. I discovered the answer about 3 minutes after I posted my recap. My whole deal is: I don’t like to read or hear anything about people’s thoughts on an episode until I have my recap finished. Why? I want my thoughts to be my own and not influenced by anything else. And then afterwards everything is fair game. And I’ll shove my absolutely wrong thoughts in a garbage can once Lindelof and Cuse introduce something totally different from what I thought into their show.

–Speaking of Lindelof and Cuse being awesome and me being inferior to them, I really, really, really, really (you get the gist) believed in the idea of John Locke as special, and the only character who could be resurrected on the Island. While doing so, I tossed aside the previous season’s commentary by Lindelof and Cuse about a character being dead once the show kills them off (it’s still a wait and see with Jack’s daddy). They even titled an episode ‘Dead Is Dead’ in season five. To say the least, John Locke falling out of the cargo jawn did shock me. It doesn’t matter that I heard someone say that John Locke isn’t John Locke because, to be honest, I don’t listen to any theories the average fan has to say about the show. I’m an elitist so-and-so when it comes to LOST. If there’s anything that steams my clams, it is literary theory that states the author is dead. Good ol’ Roland Barthes wrote the blowhardy essay arguing that the author is dead. How does this relate to my intolerance for LOST theories? Well, first of all, I’ll state that I am not against fans thoughts on the show. What I hate are people who care more about their dumbass theories than the story itself. It reminds me all too much of these blowhard literary critics who claim that the readers create the text rather than author. No. Not how it works. Without these texts, literary theorists can’t be blowhards. So, the author is in no way dead. With LOST, I’m all about the story. I won’t always buy what the writers are selling me but I won’t entertain any theory unless it becomes part of the story. It’s the way I roll. Another thing about theories. Fans just can’t throw anything on their theory wall, hoping that it sticks. You gotta have evidence for anything you theorize. It’s like writing an English paper. If I want to write about…say…Jane Eyre as a text about strawberry milkshakes and the growth of Victorian belief in cows as overlords then I need textual evidence to support my arguments. See what I’m saying? That’s about it. Just think.

Anywho, now with the pieces of the season five mosaic fixed in place, it’s all so obvious with Locke. I might’ve been too quick to say that Mr. Nameless (Doc Jenson came up with that and I like it so I’m using it) hijacked John Locke’s body because (it’s pretty clear) that Locke’s body fell out of the cargo. Times like these, I should let my dog hit me over the head with a bleeding two-by-four. Here I was, on Wednesday/Thursday, writing about how Mr. Nameless gives off a Smokey vibe and I’m writing about HIJACKING A BODY?!? I expected better from myself. If Mr. Nameless is Smokey, and it seems likely, he just assumes the form of people. What confused me, my 750,000 readership, was the whole idea of the loophole. If Mr. Nameless is Smokey, what makes John Locke the loophole? What about John Locke being dead creates the loophole? Or is it something larger than that? Or maybe all of these questions I’m asking is taking me and you away from the bigger issue at hand: the scene with the Ajira folk at Jacob’s Cabin. Bram finds the ash surrounding the Cabin (it’s not even Jacob’s cabin) disturbed. Ilana enters and then exits, claiming that Jacob hasn’t been here in a long time. This scene takes me back to season three’s ‘The Man Behind The Curtain’ in which we hear ‘Help Me!’ uttered by the dude seen in the chair for a brief instant. He’s a fellow who looks like an older version of Mr. Nameless. It seems as if he was set-free but it still doesn’t explain why he used John Locke. So this will probably be a pretty big plot-point for season six. I wonder what it means for Claire. Mr. Nameless better have been good to her.

–I am of the opinion that time will not be erased. I think Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Miles, Hurley, Jin, and Sayid will be in 2007. But I’m all up for being surprised. 

–I made a big commotion about the line ‘If it only ends once, anything before that is progress.’ Well, the meaning of it hit me one day as I played FIFA 08 on ps2. I made it more complex than it actually is. All it means really, in the context of the scene and the conversation, is that Jacob is the optimist and Mr. Nameless is a nihilistic pessimist. Or to generalize it biblically and enter blowhard territory: Mr. Nameless represents the Old Testament vengeful God whereas Jacob represents the merciful, selfless God of the New Testament. Now this is beginning to resemble my essay on The Merchant of Venice so I will move right along…

–…To John Locke again! Obviously, as evidenced by the rankings, John Locke is one of my favorite characters. I’ve been watching season one re-runs weekday afternoons on sci-fi, and Locke owned those early season one episodes. Yesterday, ‘The Moth’ was on, the episode in which Locke helps Charlie overcome his drug addiction. Locke is one of the most fascinating characters on LOST. If his paralysis could be healed by the Island, I believed any other miracle, including being raised from the dead, could’ve happened. I always loved the story of John Locke. This guy who felt hopeless about his life until he came to the Island, was healed, and found his purpose, felt he realized his destiny. I liked how he made mistakes, sometimes fatal (as with Boone). One of my favorite moments from season five is when he tells Sawyer that he needed that pain, when explaining why he doesn’t want to change anything. I will miss John Locke. It is surprising that he’s actually dead. But dare I, despite everything I’ve written in this, hold out hope that the real Locke is not totally dead? I don’t know. 

That’s about it for the additional thoughts on the finale. I’ll probably have more as the summer wears on. I’m going to post some favorite moments from season five soon. And soon, I’ll cover other things that are not LOST. But not yet.

hello all! Happy Saturday!

So, to go back to the topics I mentioned in my last post:
the LOST finale? *stares. blinks rapidly* just check out Chris’ blog, while I continue to attempt to wrap my brain around what could be. I did a minute bit of theorizing with my friend who introduced me to the show, Dave (whose got some interesting points), but I’m perfectly fine saying I’ve no idea what’s going on.

now. the Office finale. [non-spoilerish] Slightly disappointing, but still pretty good. I don’t know if it was because it was only a half-hour, or because I felt that the writers made unnecessary “big changes” – either way, I still love the show, and this episode was a prime example of how they pull off the documentary-style camera work to a tee, (for example, capturing Andy’s face after Erin whoops during the volleyball game). I also do love how there were “matches” for different characters in this episode, as seen with Dwight and Toby. I’ll say no further though, for those of you who haven’t seen the episode yet.

and now, for a fusing: LOST + the Office

However, I’ve decided that this blog will serve a second purpose in the coming semester: the Office epsiode reviews/recap. Sorry Chris and Colin, I’m kind of butting into your territory of TV Shows and Entertainment, but hey! You gave me the blog space – and quite frankly, my sirs, I’m going to use it.

Lastly  – I just got 21st Century Breakdown. I’m only about halfway through it – I like it a lot so far. Greatly like, not love. Once I get through the whole thing I’ll be able to make a better observation. (Though I do quite adore “Before the Lobotomy” and “Peacemaker”)
———————————————————-

So. 1/5th is not a substantial fraction. 1/5th is similar to the number of dentists who don’t approve of Orbit or various Crest products.

*avid user of Colgate and Juicy Fruit

That being said, I am done with 1/5th of my internship at the Express-Times. Here’s the daily updates:

Wednesday, 3/13
-today I learned how do schedule blogs to release at a certain date/time. Also, I fiddled around on Merlin, our photo-database program. we’re also to gear all of our blogs to as many popular terms as possible so search engines can pick them up. Nifty site: google.com/trends/hottrends. the list updates every 15 minutes with the top 100 searched terms

12:46 p.m: it WAS a slow morning. Luckily, I just got handed three more stories, one of which is due by 4 p.m. And someone brought in birthday pretzels! Which means I have to remember to make something for the office for my own in June…

3:15 p.m: we just had our phone system go down for 5 minutes for maintenence. I never realized how much we rely on phones here before. Exact opposite of the Quad office. We didn’t even have a working phone there til about March, and even then when it rang, it was reacted to with a blank stare or quick game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would pick it up.
Thursday, 3/14
so our “rival” paper, mcall.com, is changing their timestamps on their blogposts. One of the early morning online editors reported a story at 7:29 a.m., and she’s been checking both ours and their sites for hits and stories – they just posted the same story now, at 10:30a.m. funny thing is, “apparently” they posted the same story at 7:17 a.m.

11:15 a.m: I’m typing up letters to the editor – apparently there’s someone up for elections named Candy Barr. Now, not to sound disrespectful, but that sounds like a very generic name for a hooker.    [...] and it is. Parents, do not let your kids Google-search “candy barr”

- Alright: here’s a reach out to all (4) of you who read this: I’m doing a story for the main entry in a June issue of [Exposed] on road trips. I haven’t yet set a certain mileage, but what are some day trip-ish places/things you’ve gone to/done in the past? I’m trying to stay away from obvious ones, like Philadelphia/NYC/Ocean City, etc… thanks all!

2:28 p.m: notable quote – “dude, we just got this story about some guy who *does* really old people and really young people”/”no one in between? that’s sounds like a case for benjamin button”

warning: Easton parents with elderly children please lock your doors at night

Friday, 3/15
published today: [Exposed]; impromptu piece on a student-written/choreographed/directed dance show in NJ, and fig-farmer (Thursday). Sunday the FREDDY section comes out, with my story on the new director.

-today I took a walk with Amy around the building, and learned how to get in through the back entrances. Amy felt bad, because apparently that was something I should have been shown on Day 1 – but I feel it’s more my fault for not asking. At least it won’t take 5 minutes to get from my parking spot to the newsroom now *facepalm*

2:08 p.m: you can’t say “crick” in journalism. (for people from New Jersey reading this: “creek”)

3:08 p.m: some kid in New Jersey was just arrested for shoplifting. He was wearing a dark-blue Snuggie (aka WTF Blanket). I don’t know which was the worse crime.

snuggies in public? that breaks every single rule in "Maintaining Self-Dignity 101"

well – that wraps it up for me today!  check out the other blogs on the Quad site, don’t run with scissors, and remember to check back in a few days for another post!

peace&love,
Tara

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Hitting the Silver Screen…

            Well, this is going to be a slow weekend folks. Unless, of course, you are one of those people who doesn’t enjoy reading, so you wait for a book to be made into a movie and then you check it out.

            If, in fact, you are one of those people, I must ask: what are you doing here? NO! Don’t leave!! I was merely asking a question, in no way was I asking you to leave. Stay, we’ll talk. It’ll be fun, I promise. Just don’t turn into one of those people who over stays their welcome. When you’re done reading this, check out one of our other fine blogs, and then skedaddle. No one likes a lingerer. Or an E-LINGERER in this case.

            So anyway back to those movie-watching, book-hating types. I must say, I tend to see some of the logic in their argument. After all, who wants to spend weeks reading a book, when you could get the cliff notes version in two or three hours? And the cliff notes can be enjoyed with over-priced, yet magnificent popcorn? Also, an ICEE if that floats your boat and it does mine.

I'm in love...

            Now, I’m one of those reading types myself, so save your hate mail for when I go off on another hot button topic-next week: green grapes vs. purple grapes, the debate rages on.

            There are just some books that I’d rather not read. Sure, everyone says they’re great, but alas, I’m a busy man. I can’t just read every book that people say will change my life. Besides, I’m quite happy with where my life is presently, and on top of that: I’m scared of change.

            Take for example, Dan Brown’s megahit “The Da Vinci Code.” Everyone from close personal friends to complete strangers on the street told me how great it was. I get it all of you, now please stop emailing me.

            I just had no interest in reading the darn thing. And lo, like a beam of meandering light from heaven, came news that Ron “Not the Foz” Howard himself would be directing the film based on the book. In addition, Tom Hanks would star. Praise be to Lethargy, the God of Laziness!

The temple of Lethargy

            Who needs a book? I got my Ron Howard behind the camera, I got the nicest guy in Hollywood in the leading role, I got a jumbo popcorn. I’m good to go. Start this thing up.

            Now sure, the movie was a mess. It was boring, confusing and the dead squirrel that Tom Hanks had on his head throughout the movie was very distracting.

Tom Hanks wit'

            I know what you’re saying: the book WAS better! Yeah, it usually is, and this was probably the case here. I won’t argue that. But sometimes you just need to indulge your lazy side by taking a shortcut.

            Now when strangers approach me on the street and start raving at me about Dan Brown novels, at least I have an elementary knowledge of what they’re going on about.

            That brings us to the only major new film hitting screens this week, the sequel/prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels and Demons.” Howard returns to direct, while Hanks is back sans dead squirrel.

Tom Hanks without...

            Rumor has it that the squirrel’s agent was demanding too much money.

            Now to you readers out there, this is actually the first of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon novels. Well, Hollywood ain’t no stinkin’ library and if Ron Howard wants to make it a sequel, then Ron Howard is going to make it a sequel!

            I feel like this is going to come back and bite some poor student in the butt on a term paper for a modern American novel course.

            To all you students out there: watching the movie is NOT always the best bet. That’s what Wikipedia is for, after all. Are we heathens?

            Reviews of “Angels and Demons” have begun trickling in and they seem lukewarm. Uh-oh. Maybe, I’ll actually read the book this time. Or maybe, I’ll just save my money and see “Terminator: Salvation” an extra time. I like the sound of that.

            Also on the small page-to-big screen front, the trailer for the long awaited adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” hit the interweb today. Those of you keeping score at home will remember that this movie was supposed to be released last November. It’s now scheduled to hit screens this October. That can ONLY mean good things, right?

Great book, just great...

            If you haven’t read it, the book is absolutely fantastic. It may be one of the best apocalyptic novels ever written, so this film has massive, Shaq-sized shoes to fill.

            The trailer doesn’t look promising. In fact, it’s downright misleading. For one thing, the trailer focuses heavily on the apocalyptic event that occurred, something the book took great pains not even to mention. Strike one.

            Also, it prominently features a certain character, one who doesn’t factor heavily into the action of the book. At all. Strike two.

            Strike three and four are due to the horrible canned scream that comes in at the 2:02 mark of the trailer. This isn’t “AHH! Real Monster,” people.

            Strike five comes as a result of what looks like a massive amount of questionable acting, some of it from Viggo Mortensen himself. Sorry, beardy.

            I’ve lost track of how many strikes “The Road” has, but I think that I may have just pitched a perfect game. In any case, I must acknowledge that I got chills when I saw the ash-covered landscapes and the shot of the huge ships just hanging out.

            Whatever you do, my written-word loathing friends, read “The Road.” Don’t wait for the movie! There is no way it can replicate the bone-chilling detail of the book, or the harsh, unrelenting world that the characters inhabit.

            Although, all hope may not be lost for the film. Esquire Magazine recently got to check it out, and they called it the “most important” movie of this year. Ok, I’ll keep my fingers crossed on that. I’ll put my trust in “Beard-go” Mortensen. I’ve done it before and he’s never disappointed me.

Yeah, that's a BEARD alright.

            So, to recap. Out this week: “Angels and Demons.” Out in several months: “The Road.” Out eventually: “My Life with Depp,” a memoir I’m presently writing. All I need now is to actually MEET Johnny Depp. I’m working on that part, don’t worry.

            Vaya con dios.

Written by Chris Monigle

"If it only ends once, anything before that is just progress"

Well, they got me again. Every year! And I love it every year even if the realization of the 8 month hiatus sweeps over me and hits me like the 50 year storm in ‘Point Break.’ I absolutely loved every moment of the season finale. I was on the edge of my seat for the final twenty minutes! My jaw dropped when the dead body of John Locke rolled out of the cargo carried by (I believe them!) the good guys. Very intense fight scene between Sawyer and Jack. But I guess I’ll save these thoughts for their usual place. This finale solidifed LOST as the greatest show ever created. That’s not even hyperbole. It is the truth. No show, for a long time, will ever match the brilliance of LOST. Lindelof and Cuse, you are the kings. 

But you know all that talk about this recap being epic? Well, I lied, in the context of it being epic in the blowhard sense. I had an epiphany. I don’t like turning these LOST recaps into an english essay, full of blowhardiness. I’m going back to how I used to do it. A paragraph or two about what interested me most followed by a extreme amounts of bullet thoughts about the episode. No insane analysis. I’ve always been about this story and letting it unfold itself and I will continue to do that until it ends next year. It’ll probably be pretty long still but hardly the blowhardiness I’ve indulged the last few weeks. With that said, I’m going to talk about Jacob!

“If it only ends once, anything before that is just progress,” says Jacob to the man who eventually will hijack Locke’s body. No name given. He is a man who looks like he could be Radzinky’s father (and no i’m not going there). He spoke with contempt, acknowleding to Jacob that he is aware that the only reason he brought the Black Rock to the Island is to prove him wrong. Jacob says that he is wrong. The man tells him that it all ends the same: ‘they come, fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.’ To which Jacob replies: ‘if it only ends once, anything before that is just progress.’ The man then asks, rhetorically, if Jacob realizes just how much he wants to kill him. Jacob knows. The man says that, sooner or later, he will find a loophole and that he will Jacob. Jacob tells the man that when he does, he’ll be on the Island. 

What a way to open the season finale, which is a launching point for the final season of the show. I expected them to open with something like this because, well, this is how Lindelof and Cuse roll with the finale. For so long, we fans have wondered and wondered about Jacob. Hell, when I wrote about the season three finale on my livejournal, I even placed pictures of Jacob, just wondering. Last year, in my season four finale recap, I included a huge excerpt about Bentham and the Jacobeans. After all the wondering, we finally meet Jacob. With Jacob comes a whole new set of ideas and questions. I watched the opening scene three times. It’s one of the most intriguing scenes I’ve seen on the show. What does Jacob think the man is wrong about? What in the world does ‘If it only happens once, anything before that is just progress’ mean? There’s so many questions about Jacob. So, of course, he dies. I’m probably going to be dreaming about that scene until January. It’s going to be one of those scenes that I just watch and watch. So, yeah. It had quite an impact. The most interesting thing about Jacob was/is his insistence on free-will and choice. For five seasons, we have heard about destiny and fate from Ms. Hawking, Ben, Locke, ect. I’ve written incessantly about destiny. And Jacob, who might be the Island literally or something, is talking to our favorite castaways about choice and free-will. The mere presence of Jacob though is the lives of the castaways suggests something about their destiny on the Island though. He was there when little Kate, with the help of her friend who would eventually die for her in ‘Born To Run.’ Jacob was there to console little Sawyer at the funeral for his parents. He was there to, in a way, bless the marriage of Jin and Sun. Jacob told Locke that everything would be allright after his father pushed him out of the building. He was there after Jack’s first major surgery, when he cut the girdle sac we heard about in his first conversation with Kate. Jacob was the one to turn Hurley around, telling Hurley that it is his choice. But, really, what does choice mean to Jacob? There’s little choice for those who are kidnapped to be with the Others. But that’s for another time I suppuse. But why? Why these people? What is their destiny? Add to that are the lists. Those lists which were responsible for the fun times the tailies and losties had during the first 48 days. Why? I am really eager to find out in the final season of LOST. Back to the unnamed man, why did he want to kill Jacob? It seems as if he could not kill Jacob. He needed Ben to do it. It was really something, seeing the role reversal. Ben was in Locke’s shoes while “Locke” was Ben. The scene when Jacob is killed by Ben is one of the greatest scenes in the show’s history (we even saw Jacob in his chair!). Michael Emerson knocked that out of the ball park. We finally saw the human element of Ben, a man who questioned why he never saw Jacob, expressed frustration because of that fact and the lists, and his time as a leader. We also learned that John Locke is not John Locke, something that has been speculated about for some time now, but seeing the dead body of Locke still had quite an effect on me. My jaw literally dropped. John Locke really is dead. It’s very sad. So, this raises the question about the unnamed man: is he Smokey? Is “John Locke” just another “Yemi” and “Alex”? It explains why Smokey as Alex threatened to destory Ben if he interfered with Locke at all. Should that be true (and seems pretty damn plausible to me) then that raises yet another set of questions. The most important question has got to be: what does killing Jacob mean? What are the consequences of such an action? My good ol’ friend STEVE (and rankings buddy) thinks that Juliet’s detonation did not cause the white flash but rather the death of Jacob. It’s something to chew on during the next 8-9 months. I’m eventually going to get to the white out but not right now. I’ve been talking about game-changers throughout the season. This I know: killing Jacob is a game-changer. That’s all anyone knows right now except for Lindelof and Cuse and their band of writers. I can’t wait to see what killing Jacob means. With all of this going on with Jacob, I have the prevailing idea that Jacob is good. There’s no way OUR John Locke would kill Jacob. The presence of Jacob in the lives of the castaways means a lot of different things. An interesting aspect of Jacob’s presence is simply that: his presence. He never interfered (though it seems he distracted Sayid so Nadia would be hit by the car). He was always there. Our beloved characters’ fate and destiny lies with that Island. But maybe Jacob dying changes things. Who indeed knows. That is something for 8-9 months from now. It’s time for some other thoughts about the brilliant season five finale:

–We finally saw The Incident, the event which is responsible for the entirety of season two and the intrigue of the latter half of season one. It was a blast to the past of season two, seeing the power of the electromagnetism. I liked how we learned of Radzinky’s intentions with The Swan. He wanted to change the world. He gets his wish with The Swan. The poor guy has to push that button for a long time. I mean, Radzinky wasn’t all bad. Sure he was annoying and he yelled a lot (sort of like Pickett actually) but he wasn’t a bad guy. He was all about The Swan. That’s why he was so damn paranoid. Phil, on the other hand, was a bad guy. He had a taste for blood, folks. He would’ve shot Sawyer too if not for those poles. The Incident pretty much happened as described. Dr. Chang will eventually lose his hand because of what happened to it at the site. That was such a nice scene when Miles rushed to his dad’s aid immediately. One of the most underrated stories of the season: Miles and his dad. I’m so glad the writers told that story. 

–The Incident also killed Juliet. In fact, the body count might be three when all is said and done in 1977. Does that blow my belief in whatever happened, happened? NO! 1977 was their present. Faraday didn’t die in ’77 (well he did but he didn’t) just as Juliet did and didn’t. I think Sayid will live. Never saw him die! It’s exactly like what happened with Michael and Jin in the season four finale. We know Michael was toast because the bomb detonated just as Juliet’s gone because she detonated the bomb. Never saw Jin die. Never saw Sayid. Very fitting that it was Jin that kept taking care of Sayid. Lindelof and Cuse talked about time loops in their interview with Doc Jensen and his friend on EW.com. Don’t mistake it for a paradox because it’s not. They referenced Ms. Hawking with Daniel at the piano when she was in tears (as Doc Jensen interpreted: because she just got back from the Island where she killed her little boy Danny Faraday) and her insistence on Daniel devoting his time to science and physics, hoping that he can create a time loop which would prevent what happenes in 1977. Once again, don’t mistake it for a paradox. Yes, Daniel died in 1977 but little Daniel is going to grow up to have the life we witnessed and it will end. If detonating Jughead worked then Daniel succeeded in the time-loop. It’s all or nothing basically. Either time doesn’t change or it changes so that everything that happend didn’t happen. There will be no paradox and this is the 1,354,789th reason that LOST kicks the hell out of that fraud of a show HEROES and blows that show out of the water. Just walk away from Heroes, Kring. End the show. You’ll never, ever, EVER be LOST.

–How bad-ass was Jack in this finale? Probably the most bad-ass he’s been in the five seasons of LOST. I loved how he had Sayid’s back the moment Sayid was shot by Mr. Linus. Jack’s a loyal guy. He always looks out for the people of Oceanic 815. 

–People were worried about Sawyer, Kate, and Juliet getting off the sub being a paradox. Once again, no paradox because Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are brilliant. I always love when Juliet just completely owns someone. Such an underrated bad-ass. I remember back in season three, I wrote something about ‘Left Behind’ (it hadn’t aired yet). The previews previewed a Juliet/Kate fight. Back in season three, Juliet rubbed me the wrong way but I’ve since grown to love her but I digress. I wrote that there was no way Kate would lose in a fight to Juliet. Well, I was proven wrong. Don’t mess with Juliet. Ah I will miss Juliet. Elizabeth Mitchell did a wonderful job portraying her especially Juliet’s final moments as she hit Jughead. Very powerful. One of my favorite Juliet moments happened this season: when she delivered Amy’s child. It’s those stories that I really love about LOST. Never underestimate my love for the characters of LOST. Juliet had a hell of a time delivering babies because the mothers and the child died on the Island. So, I’m glad that moment happened. The fans and the character deserved it.

–The fight between Sawyer and Jack was five seasons in the making. They’ve had their good times and their bad times. Jack’s plan to change everything seemed to be just an excuse for Sawyer to kick the tarnation out of Jack (Jack got his shots in too). The whole thing blew up when Jack expressed his regret for losing Kate. I’ve never been into the love stuff on LOST (and apparently Matthew Fox thinks the show is too intense for a triangle) but I didn’t mind the love stuff in the finale. In particular, when Sawyer was holding onto Juliet…damn. It nearly got a little dusty in my family room. Josh Holloway is terrific. ‘DON’T YOU LET GO!’ And then Sawyer breaking down when she dropped. Holy moly. Kate and Jack pulled him back. You see, Jack always has their backs. 

–No one drives a Dharma van like Hurley. He had no problem driving that thing through the battlefield the future New Otherton became. I really enjoyed the scene with Hurley and Jacob. Jacob’s perspective that Hurley is blessed because he can still talk with Libby and Charlie was very nice. In fact, I loved the return to season one which we got with Jacob and, well, how the season ended. But I’m going to write more about season one in a bit.

–Poor Jin. Not enough of screen-time for him in season five. 

–Loved Miles’ line about Jack causing the Incident. Once again, Lindelof and Cuse are brilliant. Always anticipating fans thoughts.

–I loved how everyone got together to protect Jack at the site of The Swan. I love this show and these characters.

–Richard knocked Ms. Hawking out because he said she was pregnant. We know Daniel is alive. So, who is Daniel’s sibling?

–VINCENT!!!!!!!!!!!! VINCENT!!!!!!!!!!! ROSE AND BERNARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was overjoyed to see Vincent run out of the jungle, and then Rose, and then Bernard. They had a nice set-up. I got a kick out of Rose guessing that Jack is doing something Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate don’t agree with and their purpose to stop him. Bernard had a particularly touching line when he said ‘then we die.’ It was really great seeing those three again.

–I will now turn it to the 2007 story. Wait, what’s that you say? I didn’t address the insane cliffhanger they left us? Patience, my lads. Patience.

–The central story, obviously, of 2007 was the journey to kill Jacob. “Locke” and Ben. My favorite part of the story, as noted earlier, was/is Ben. They really opened up Ben in this finale. Since season two, Ben has been shrouded in mystery, always lying and deceiving. But he was different. He just seems exhausted or tired. His response to Sun after she said something about his lies was full of weariness and a sense of ‘no use in lying anymore.’ The disposition of Ben crescendoed in the four-toed statue of Jacob’s, when he was baited and proded by the man who hijacked John Locke’s body, thirty five years coalesced into one moment with Jacob, when he spoke about the lists, and never being able to see Jacob, and Richard delivering Jacob’s instructions, and the fact that Ben devoted his life to the Island and, as “Locke” reminded him, all he got was cancer, a dead daughter, and banished. Everything for Ben has always been about the Island so it was quite a moment (I was on the edge of my seat, completely immersed in the world, feeling the emotions of Ben) when Ben asked ‘What about me?’ and all Jacob said was “What about you?’ After all of the years of devotion, Jacob never really cared for Ben at all. Ben was never special. You best believe that was a powerful moment. And then Ben stabbed Jacob, just like he stabbed Keamy. And then, in what will stay with me for a long time, “Locke” coldly kicked Jacob into the fire, torching the leader of the Island, solidifying his death. Holy moses. Before Jacob is kicked into the fire by “Locke,” he says they’re coming to which “Locke” pauses for a moment, and then with contempt and disgust, kicks Jacob into the fire while Ben looks on like he just realized the immensity of the act he just did. Who, indeed, is coming?

–More Ben: he finally admitted that he realized he was talking to an empty chair when he took Locke to see Jacob in season three. I just really enjoyed everything Ben’s been through in season five. Great character development. He had no idea what happened when the cabin went wild. Locke heard ‘help me.’ 

–I’m glad we finally figured out that the Ajira crew seem to be good. This is really something. The Others are the good guys now. For the first three years, the Others were the enemies and now they are the good guys. Jacob went to Ilana, who was hospitalized and banaged (burned?). Jacob most likely healed her. He then asked for her help. Jacob probably saw all of this coming. They torched Jacob’s cabin. They carried around cargo which we find out contains Locke’s body. I still have no idea what lies in the shadow of the statue because I didn’t understand the language Richard answered the question in. Hopefully Doc Jensen has the translation (I will be reading that recap as soon as I’m done this). But, you know, I like the Ajira crew.

–Poor Sun. All she wants to do is find her husband and she’s having a heck of a time doing so. “Locke” isn’t even Locke. When she saw Aaron’s cradle, I thought we might get some Claire. Only for a second or two. I realized it would send get her thinking about Ji Yeon and her husband. I appreciated her finding Charlie’s ring that he gave to Aaron before heading out to the Looking Glass. I enjoyed seeing the camp again even though it was pretty much destroyed. 

–We learned Richard doesn’t age because Jacob made him that way. The most obvious question is: why? He told “Locke” this after asking him about dying and then resurrecting. I think Richard is going to step up big time in season six or at least provide a lot of answers. Whatever way you look at it, he’ll step up. Richard just seems like a nice guy. He offered Sun water. He’s never been malicious. I think, and hope, he is a good guy. But we’ll see.

–Good ol’ Frank. That’s really all I have to say about Frank. I didn’t want to ignore him in the recap.

–I love the official LOST podcast. I’ve listened to it since it began in 2006 during season two. Lindelof and Cuse never cease to crack me up. After the finale (since it’s taken me a bit of time to finish this and it’s thursday), I listened to the podcast previewing The Incident. I couldn’t contain my laughter while walking my dog when Lindelof joked that Jacob was 60 feet tall and made of flames. Ah man. Terrific. You gotta hear it to get the full effect of the joke especially with Lindelof’s idea for how Follow The Leader should’ve ended with the acknowledgement that Jacob is 60 feet tall and made of flame.

–Back to 1977 and the detonation of Jughead!

–So, Juliet survived the fall. She woke up and saw that Jughead never exploded on impact. She grabs a rock, crying, and hits it and hits it, until it explodes…and white. The first whiteout for LOST. And with that, we go into the sixth and final season of my favorite show of all-time.

It’s the classic LOST cliffhanger. I still remember how I felt, five years ago, when the Others took Walt, and the feelings I had when Jack and Locke looked down the Hatch. This finale felt like that season one cliffhanger. No, no children were abducted. But that same creepiness and, hell, frightning feeling was present when we discover that Locke is really dead and the unnamed man hijacked Locke’s body, and Jacob’s death. The big thing of it all is: did everything change? Or will they sent to 2007? They are coming, Jacob says. I will write a little the sixth and final season.

Everything is beginning to fall into place. Not Locke tells Jacob that he has no idea what’s he done to get to this point. The Ajira crew are there for Jacob. The battle is going to begin. We’ve got Widmore, Hawking. Desmond’s around. And we still have to see Claire again. And believe you me, we are going to see her in the sixth and final season. I know it.

I won’t even beat around the bush here. The sixth season is going to reflect the first season. How do I know this? Damon Lindelof and Cartlon Cuse have said so. The time-travel stuff is season five. Season Six is going to be, simply put, ‘destiny found.’ It’ll be more grounded and character-centrice. I believe everything is going to coalesce. Jacob says, “It takes a very long time when you’re making a thread. I suppose that’s the point, isn’t it?” It’s something that Damon or Carlton could say to their fans. It has taken five years and now these threads are going to create the complete design that Ben sees on the wall. It goes without saying that I’m delighted to hear about season six as a reflection of season one. I think season one is the most brilliant television season ever produced. I won’t even say ‘one of’ because I don’t believe it. The character stories of the season one are mind-blowing. The first episode I ever saw was ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and it blew me away so I watched every week from then on. Season six is going to be about these characters, their stories, and their destinies. It already began in this finale, going back to key moments in the childhoods of our characters. Going back to season one moments. I already get sad thinking about this show ending but I know it’s going to be fantastic and that it’s for the best that this show ends. I can already see where it is going a tiny bit. But as always, I like for the story to tell itself.

All in all, for season five, and the finale, it kicked ass. The cast and crew deserve so much applause and accolades for the season it was. I really, really enjoyed it. It was exciting storytelling and all that jazz. As for the finale, I went through the usual flurry of emotions. They shocked the hell out of me and sent me to the floor as the whiteout engulfed the screen and LOST appeared. An absolute A+ finale. Thank you, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. I’m going to be thinking about this for the rest of 2009. You are the kings.

“If it only ends once, anything before that is just progress.”

TO THE RANKINGS (with commentary!)!

THE OFFICIAL LOST RANKINGS!

Me and STEVE did a commentary on each character last year. I liked it so much that I suggested we do it again. We did. My rankings contain a first that will probably never happen again. But no need for setup. Read and enjoy!

AFTER EPISODE 16 & 17
RANKED: 5/14/09

CHRIS
1. Desmond-He’s been missed
2. Sayid-he’ll survive that bullet wound or land safely in LAX
3. Jack-The most bad-ass Jack has ever been was this finale
4. Richard-the coolest Other ever
5. Hurley-No one drives a dharma van like Hurley
6. Sawyer-what a goodbye with Juliet.
7. Jin-Only dude taking care of Sayid.
8. Ben-Probably my favorite Ben season yet
9.  Juliet-I’ll miss her. I really warmed up to her since she first appeared.
10. Miles-The second most logical character on the show plus agreed with me about Jack causing the Incident
11. Kate-Good ol’ Kate
12. Sun-Poor Sun.
13. Frank-Always liked Frank. Just doesn’t get enough screen time.
14. Daniel-Did he, in fact, make time?
15. Widmore-Nature of the Rankings Beast
16. “Locke”-No idea how to rank this dude now

STEVE
1. Desmond-Please come back
2. Sayid-Alive or dead at numba 2
3. Kate-Sexy
4. Miles-Miles is jaboy for using his head at times where no one else would
5. Sawyer-We loved his emotion in the last episode
6. Ben-Mans up and stays at 6
7. “Locke”-R.I.P. John Locke
8. Jin-Didn’t get enough exposure this season
9. Richard-Wild for not aging
10. Frank-Frank’s a good guy. He means well and he needs more airtim.
11. Sun-poor Sun, stuck with a dead locke, a real locke, a man who doesn’t age, and a man she doesn’t trust.
12. Jack-Jack
13. Widmore-We don’t know enough about him yet I feel
14. Hurley-Only reason he was ranked that high is because of last week’s laugh he gave us.
15. Daniel-Last time he’ll be on the rankings hopefully.
16. Juliet-She is dead last for trying to control Sawyer and being a famous 5 letter word that begins with B. She deserved to die.

I’ll write about LOST sporadically during summer and fall but this blog will branch out a bit. To what exactly? Wait and see.

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Weekend Box Office Round-up

            The dream is over for the Washington Capitals.

            Tonight, the boys dressed in red were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the dastardly Pittsburgh Penguins.

            Of course, the dream for the Caps wasn’t just to win the Stanley Cup, not at all. The Caps dream was to win the Stanley Cup with no effort from anyone on their team other than a 23-year-old, goal scoring phenom (Alexander Ovechkin) and a  21-year-old goalie (Simeon Var-LA-mov) who’s played in more career playoff games than regular season ones.

            For a while there it seemed like they could do it too. Star players like Mike Green and Alexander Semin spent most of the series against Pittsburgh safely tucked in their beds, while former starting goalie Jose Theodore read them a bedtime story.

            Now, the only thing that remains unclear is whether he read it in English or Russian.

            Or maybe he read it in Spanish, just to keep things fresh.

            Also, I don’t want to discount the efforts of Nicklas Backstrom, who is undoubtedly a superstar in the making. Backstrom did his job, and at times he seemed to be doing other people’s jobs. He’s not a household name yet, but he will be and soon. Go ahead, Washington. Put him with Ovechkin, you won’t regret it.

            And so the Pens advance. Yet again. Yay.

            Clearly a message has been set to whoever plays the Pens next, a message that should have been obvious to anyone who paid any attention to this team throughout the regular season: the Pens are never, EVER out of it, so don’t take your foot off of the gas pedal. Not even for a second. Not even to stretch your legs at a rest stop. Not even at a toll booth. Not even at a drive-thro… Sorry. I got a bit carried away there.

            The point remains that, like any good horror movie monster, the Pens don’t stay down for long. The Flyers learned that when they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 6, only to lose by a final of 5-3.

            How about the regular season? The Pens were out of playoff contention until the MIDDLE of February. Then they fired their coach and finished as the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference. Yay.

            A word of advice to whoever is lucky enough to play the Pens next: skip the game film. Sit down and watch the “Halloween” franchise for all the advice you need on how to handle them.

"And now starting in goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins..."

            Poke them in the eye with a coat hanger, get them in the neck with a knitting needle and just when you think they’re down, they sit back up. You MUST run like the dickens. (* Editor’s note: In no way is “Tales from the Cineplex” advocating harming the Pittsburgh Penguins in any way, shape or form. Simply drawing a comparison between the team and a popular horror movie villain for COMEDIC purposes. Don’t sue. I have no money.*)

Nope, no money here, best sue someone else...

            Despite the fact that you’re running as fast as your legs will carry you and they’re walking at a leisurely pace, you will NOT be able to lose them.

            In fact, the only thing the Pens are missing is a portly psychiatrist running around calling them “EVIL.” If I gain some weight and get a doctorate, I think I can fill that role. I will begin eating nothing but KFC from here on out. Actually, that might make a really good documentary. I could call it, “Larger Size Me, Please,” because I AM polite, after all. I’m going to look into this.

What have I gotten myself into?

            As for our poor friends from Washington? Well, they held a 2-0 lead in the series, which they then blew. Then they tied the series at 3, only to get absolutely smoked in game 7. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. No use crying over spilled milk. Hit the golf course guys, send my regards to Mike Richards and Simon Gagne while you’re out there.

Always room for some more out here!

            And then… what’s that? I didn’t do what? Box office roundup? And here I am ranting and raving about the NHL! I’ve neglected you all and I apologize.

            See, in addition to my dangerous obsession with out of market NHL games, I’ve recently become a contributing member of society again. That’s right! I’ve finally returned to the workforce. No longer am I merely floating through life, waking up when I please, doing nothing. For that I believe I should be congratulated.

            So let’s take a quick gander at the box office results

                                                                                                                                              Courtesy of Boxofficemojo.com

            Yeah, no surprise there. “Star Trek” takes the top spot and the wheels start to fall off of “Wolverine” a bit. No, the question remains, whether or not “Star Trek” will have the legs of, say a “Monsters vs. Aliens,” or will it sink like its be-clawed competition did this week. A quick note, the pervious entry in the “Star Trek” franchise, “Nemesis” opened way back in 2002 to a meager $18 million. To be fair, it also opened in 1000 fewer theaters, and with a fraction of the hype that this film received.

            Alright, well I apologize for the delay on this one. Also, I apologize for the fact that I spent very little time talking about the box office results.

            But back to hockey for one last moment.

            Here’s hoping that either the Hurricanes or the Bruins (preferably the HURRICANES) can knock the Pens out of this thing. Same goes for the Red Wings out west. Does anyone outside of Pittsburgh or Detroit REALLY want to watch that matchup in the finals AGAIN?

            I mean other than Gary Bettman that is.

Pittsburgh and Detroit again? Excellent.

            Dynasty’s suck. There is absolutely nothing more boring than watching the same teams battle it out year after year after year. Unless, of course, it’s your team doing the dominating. Then it’s ok.

Well, hello all! I’ve decided I’m going to do bi-weekly updates, at minimum, so as to keep my posts from becoming obscenely long.
Before I go onto the main portion of my post, I’ve got to say this -  perhaps its just my own little world peeking out from a vast web of tangled orbits, but there are so many awesome things happening in entertainment between today and Friday.

Let’s see. It’s Finale Week for many of my favorite shows. The LOST finale tomorrow is sure to be just absolutely teeming with plot turns and character insights fit to mentally scramble viewer’s minds, for sure.

this is your brain. this is your brain on LOST. still tasty, though!”

Second, “the Office” finale on Thursday – need more be said? My favorite TV show, on my favorite night, featuring some of my favorite kinds of humor… it doesn’t even need to be the finale – the fact that it’s on is a highlight enough! However, since it IS the finale, it’s that much more to look forward to. I am interested to see what will happen – Season 5 is started to wear on me a little – the quality is still good, just nowhere near the brilliance that is Season 2. And though I do greatly love the show, I wish the characters would have stuck to, well, their characters! Angela now subliminally portrays an eager Christian “schoolgirl,” and show has lost it’s “kiss-ass” in both Dwight (who is now just a snarky asshole) and Andy (who really just seems to be….there, as of late).

Finally – Green Day’s 8th album, “21st Century Breakdown” is being released Friday. Set in the similar rock-opera style as their last album (American Idiot), 21CB is divided into three “acts” which narrate the story of a young adult couple living in a post-Bush (aka, destroyed) America. Naturally, I enjoy just about anything from Green Day, and though their style has morphed over their last few albums, I’m really pumped to see what’s in store now.

"I am a nation, a worker, a pawn/My debt to the status quo..."

Okay, now that my little obsessive rants are over, here’s what’s been going on at the Express [please do not continue reading if you are terrified of Morse Code, Hannah Montana, or Ritz Crackers]

Friday 5/8
-we got a press release from the Ritz Crackers company. In it were various products, such as different crackers, a light up ball with a cracker etched into it, and a Ritz slinky, again, marked by a cracker. Amy gave me the slinky. I’m wearing it on my wrist.  [And people say 80's fashions are dead]
-Today Exposed came out, and my Freddy nominations story ran in the Local Alive section

-The police radio here is freaky. every so often I’ll hear a siren, that will jar me from my chair. Also – sometimes Morse Code comes on, and combined with some of the noises the phones make, it makes for a pretty sweet techno beat.
2:46 p.m. shoutout to anyone who watches Parks and Recreation: I keep going to send an e-mail to a coworker and I always search Leslie Knope.

Monday 5/11
Do you know how sometimes during the middle of the week it feels like a Monday? Then when you realize “Oh! It’s actually a much later day in the week, hooray!” – it does NOT work the opposite way.
Today I got set up for the Trax login. That’s how we manage photo assignments. It’s a really nifty system – each writer can submit a photo assignment with specified fields that are required – time, location, place, specified shots, etc…etc…and it goes to the photo editor, who assigns it.
- 1:20 p.m. Apparently Avenue Q is coming to the State Theatre – how awesome?!

Tuesday 3/12
Something I really appreciate about working here, is that all of the editors have me sit with them while they go over my articles. It’s a bit difficult for us to do that at the Quad, since our writers can be absolutely anyone on campus. Everyone who writes for the Express, is in the newsroom. Perhaps we should offer our hours for our writers to come in and go over their articles…Colin – idea? Far-fetched, but idea!

I spent a lot of time working on Exposed today – in the “by the numbers” research I found a HomeStarRunner game for Wii? Strong Bad’s “Cool Game for Attractive People”
—-Also – something disappointing: the Hannah Montana Movie Soundtrack is in the top 10 most bought CDs on iTunes this week. The apocalypse is coming.

Relatively short amount of information as far as the Express goes – hopefully I’ll have another post over the weekend, after all the awesomeness that is the rest of this week goes down!
Until then, enjoy yourselves, everyone!

peace&love,
Tara