Quad Blogs

I’ve never been a man who made lists of what needs to be done. Maybe I should begin making lists. I have this feeling that I will need to keep track of various writing assignments. And it’s really more a fact than merely a feeling. Yes, I should begin making lists.

For instance, I set out to write about this Mysteries of the Universe that debuted in late July on abc.com from the LOST folks. I meant to address it Monday but that topic got lost amongst the Oasis Off finale excitement. As I sat, preparing to write the very entry that you are reading, I pondered over whether to write a LOST episode of the day or whether to write about something else that isn’t an episode. I then remembered that Mysteries of The Universe is waiting to be written about.

I think it is time to write lists.

Anywho, before diving into the first two episodes of the Mysteries of the Universe, I’d like to write a few words about the future of this very blog. The school year is fast approaching. The first issue of The Quad is beginning to form. Oasis Off is now over. True Blood gets, at most, a paragraph in The Foot. Once the school year begins, you’ll find behind the scenes happenings at The Quad and other fun stuff like that and you’ll continue to get weekly thoughts about LOST as the sixth and final season nears.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Somehow the news of this faux-documentary didn’t register with me when it was announced at Comic-Con. The faux-documentary is presented as being originally aired on an ABC Primetime-esque program. The focal point of the documentary is The Dharma Intiative. It has a 5 episode run which will conclude in November. The first episode is set-up for what’s to come. The second episode is where it gets entertaining. The narrator speaks about the recruitment process of Dharma (the mysterious process). The filmmakers speak to a neighbor of PHIL (yes that Phil who hit Juliet and made my top 9 so and so list in May) who tells the narrator that he knew Phil was interviewing for a new job but that he was interviewed five times and then one day disappeared and had all of his possessions sold by anonymous men. The filmmakers also speak to the parents of Olivia Goodspeed (Horace’s wife, taught Ben and Annie at school) about their daughter’s disappearance.

A very interesting thing about the recruitment process is that it is similar to the recruitment we saw of Juliet to Mittelos Bioscience. The Dharma recruitment process is secretive, recruits simply disappear, have no contact with their families once a member of the Dharma Initiative. The difference is that Dharma didn’t use a front. They just seem to want to be hidden from society. Mittelos Bioscience is a front The Others used.

Another big difference: we know what Dharma was doing on The Island. We still don’t know the ultimate purpose of The Others (i think that’ll surely be addressed in the final season).

Below are the first two episodes of the Mysteries of the Universe:

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! FACEBOOK TO RELEASE ANOTHER VERSION!

Zuckerberg, Time Magazine's 52nd Most Influential Person of 2008.

Yes, you heard (read) correctly. Harvard grad Mark Zuckerberg is testing out another updated version of his social networking brainchild. But before we get into that – haven’t there been enough versions of Facebook in the past couple years alone? Let’s not forget the site started as a way to get Zuckerberg’s (then college sophomore) mind off being dumped. (What?!)

Again, yes, you heard/read correctly. Facebook started…(wait for it)…as a rebound.

Apparently, Harvard used to have a less-glorified version of the current “Hot or Not” application, where pictures of two resident students would be mashed up against each other, and the viewer would pick the one they found more attractive.

Broken hearts make people do strange things. Check out Zuckerberg’s thought process on hacking into the site to start his own social network: (October 2003)

I’m a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it’s not even 10 p.m. and it’s a Tuesday night? What? The Kirkland [dorm] facebook is open on my desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendous facebook pics. I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive.

—9:48 pm

Yea, it’s on. I’m not exactly sure how the farm animals are going to fit into this whole thing (you can’t really ever be sure with farm animals . . .), but I like the idea of comparing two people together.

—11:09 pm

Let the hacking begin.

—12:58 pm

[Zuckerberg quotes credit to Rolling Stone Magazine]

And so it began. Zuckerberg called his creation “FaceMash” and spent who-knows how many nights making quick calculations of attraction based off the space between eyebrows and possible acne. Now, somewhere along the line, the name changed to “The Facebook” and eventually just Facebook. Different features were added, like messaging and photo album uploading, and by June 2004, had moved the base of operations to California and was open to most US and Canadian universities.

Now, I opened up a Facebook account in the fall of 2006, when I was a senior in high school. Back then, you could only get an account if you had a verified email address from a college institution (the only reason I had one was from a dual enrollment senior English program at the local community college). The site was relatively simple: you could upload pictures, fill out basic information about yourself, join “group” and message your friends on their profile (though I forget exactly when the term “Wall” came about).

In every year since 2006, a new version of Facebook layoutting and profile enhancers has added to the site’s foundation and reputation. Twitter-like “statuses” ask us “what’s on your mind?” and “applications” like “Bumper Sticker” and “Mafia Wars” recruit more “followers” every day.  [So many quotes...]

All these extra additions to the site put quite a bit of stress on loading connections. For this reason, the new Facebook Lite has been released as a beta testing version. In the screenshot below you can see the simplified version, which focuses on stripping away the layers of applications not related to the intended use of the site as a social network.

Users so far have critiqued it as being similar to Twitter and FriendFeed (which Facebook Inc. recently bought for $50 million – interesting), but the makers deny all these accusations, claiming a rather sympathetic reason for creating the “lite” version.

Despite expanding beyond Harvard campus, Facebook was then still only designed for US and Canadian use. Since then, the site has gone international, though the main base of operations is in California.

Now – since I’m assuming everyone still reading at this point either has a Facebook of their own or knows the general idea of one – who has witnessed the loading problems that have been taking place in the past year or so?

One, two, thr- too many to count.

Now, imagine how that must extend overseas. To take it a step further, imagine the intensity of downloading problems Facebook may have in foreign countries without nationwide access to a high-speed Internet connection. Facebook Lite will serve as a version of the network that’s easier to load and to use.

Though the site is testing in India currently, there are rumors circulating that it will next be opened to Russia and China, says techcrunch.com

Personally, I find the intentions of Facebook Lite pretty sound. However, by the few screenshots I’ve managed to see of the alternate Facebook, it reminds me of the way Facebook used to be before it started adding applications and fan pages. So in a sense, rather than “improving” the site, I see Facebook Lite as the “de-evolution” of the current site.

One final note: I think Facebook Lite will do very well, should it go global. Along with making Facebook more accessible for Internet users with slower connections, Lite will be easier and more straightforward for those in generations older than Zuckerberg.  While plenty of businesses use and reference Facebook, the complexity of the site is hampering to those who’ve never used a tool like a network site before (Example A being my mother, who took 90 minutes to get her account set-up).  Facebook Lite will take away the confusing, unnecessary features while allowing for older users to connect with friends and family in a nearly instantaneous way.
What would you prefer? Facebook Lite or the current version?

The first four seasons of LOST are available on Netflix’s Instantly Watch. Season Five will be available in September. Take advantage of this opportunity, everybody. There’s never going to be a show quite like LOST. Make sure to be caught up by season six as well because there is nothing quite like watching a season of LOST in real time during its five month schedule.

Season One and the last half of season five are now available on hulu.com. I will be using hulu.com for my delightful LOST episodes of the week. I’ve been waiting for this for some time now so I’m glad hulu.com finally made at least some episodes available. Funny enough (and not funny at all actually) the next episode of the day will not be a season one nor latter half of season five episode.

Anywho, today is the culmination of Oasis Off. After about two months of Oasis songs and videos, I feel it is now right to connect Oasis with LOST (you had to know it would end this way, right?).

Yes, from the onset of Oasis Off, the endgame was tying it into LOST. This is Jacob’s Foot after all. Once upon a time, ‘You All Everybody’ by Driveshaft, Charlie Pace’s beloved band, was a pretty popular tune. You remember that, right?

You all everybody...YOU ALL EVERYBODY!

In a season two episode entitled ‘Fire + Water,’ Driveshaft makes some changes to the song for a commercial as they are willing to do anything for the almighty pound. The chorus changes to include the company name. Number Five on his Greatest Hits is the first time Driveshaft was played on the radio. Anywho, Charlie and his brother, Liam (also the lead singer) start the band together, record a record, and become a one-hit wonder, essentially. The drugs and groupies pour in. And then sibling rivalry begins. Charlie gets mad at Liam during a flashback in ‘The Moth’ for stealing Charlie’s parts in ‘You All Everybody,’ which reminds one of the stories of Liam and Noel arguing over who sings what. One can dare say Liam pulled a Liam on Charlie’s Noel. Oh yes, the band hails from Manchester.

Yes, Driveshaft is essentially a fictionalized version of Oasis, that is if Oasis was a one-hit wonder who bottomed out after Live Forever. The homage is there. Liam, Charlie’s brother, sings with the same swagger and snotnose style that Liam Gallagher has perfected through the years. Liam even uses the words ‘rock god’ as does Charlie.

My ramblings will stop here though despite the other connections I have not named but there’s a video to be shown. The season one dvd has an extra on Driveshaft. That extra is on YouTube and that YouTube video is right below these words you are reading right now so stop reading and watch:

And, of course, Charlie is seen playing ‘Wonderwall’ in ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes.’

Charlie will save Nadia after singing.

As for the final song of Oasis Off, it is none other than ‘Wonderwall.’ It is a song that Noel wanted to sing but Liam got to sing it. Noel feared Liam wouldn’t be able to hit the high parts. Noel later said that Liam did a fine job with it. Indeed, Noel. Indeed. ‘Wonderwall’ is the classic college song. You don’t know how to play guitar but would like to learn a cover to impress a lady? ‘Wonderwall’ is your song. Heck, I’m even going to learn the song. It’s fantastic. Keep on spreading the Oasis love with this song, folks. And now, here is ‘Wonderwall.’

And for good measure, ‘Wonderwall’ from ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes.’

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Box Office Round-up

Well, I went 2 for 3 in my predictions last week. I fell into a trap as old as time, made a mistake that millions, if not billions of people have made throughout the course of history.

I underestimated guinea pigs.

Sure. They look cute NOW. Just wait until they start using some of that government training against you...

I know, I know. How could I be so stupid to think that a gaggle of love struck Brits in funny robes would best a crack team of highly trained rodents that also happen to be government operatives?

Still, I’m pleased with going 2 for 3.

I’m also pleased to announce that “The Collector” has been nearly banished totally from our sights here on the “Box Office Round- Up.” It made barely over a million bucks in its second week out.

Yeehaw everybody.

Courtesy of Boxofficemojo.com

I wonder how many women jumped into “Julie and Julia” to avoid having to go see “G.I. Joe” and I further wonder just how many men jumped into that to avoid “Julie and Julia?”

Theaters showing "G.I. Joe" were marked with the sign on top. Theaters showing "Julie and Julia" used the one on the bottom.

I may have gone to see “G-Force” just to avoid both of them, but then again, I may just consider watching “J+J.” When it comes to Netflix that is.

Ahh the majesty of Netflix.

Sadly, the bottom dropped out of “Funny People” like a wet paper bag full of unsold tickets to “The Collector.” Yikes.

It would appear that audiences want more than just the funny when it comes to a drama-dy. Mr. Apatow has learned a valuable lesson— don’t promise people cake and give them pie.

I think that’s how WWI started actually.

A wide release finally got the exceedingly charming “(500) Days of Summer” into the top ten, which is nice to see. So far it holds the title of my favorite movie of the summer, but remember what I said last week in regards to bragging about being the tannest McGlinchey.

Me and my kitty Whiskers

Yup, not worth writing home about, quite yet.

Congrats to “G.I. Joe” and it’s nice to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt bookending the top 10.

I’m a fan.

Vaya con dios.

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Hitting the Silver Screen…

           Before we get going here, I must make mention of the late director John Hughes.

            Hughes truly was a legend— “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” are just some of the timeless films that he created.

            Few have managed to depict the frequently turbulent and occasionally magical high school years on the big screen better then Hughes.

            In addition to his directorial efforts, Hughes was also an accomplished screenwriter, some thing that he continued to do long after he stopped directing.

            The chances are pretty good that— if you’re anything like me— you were raised on John Hughes films.  You may not have even known it.

            “Beethoven,” “Vacation” and “Home Alone” are all franchises that bear his name.

             Despite the fact that his life was cut entirely too short, Hughes’ legacy will live on as his films continue to impact the lives of generations to come.

1950-2009

            There’s really no easy way to work this transition, but here we go.

            This weekend’s big release is “G.I. Joe.”

            Apparently one movie based on toys just wasn’t enough this summer. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the “Crash Test Dummies” and “Mouse Trap” movies due out next year.

            Unfortunately, the “Mouse Trap” movie may be delayed because no one actually remembers what the game was about exactly. Every time the screenwriters sit down to read the rule book they just end up playing with the trap instead.

            Back to “G.I. Joe.” The film stars Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans among other and was directed by Michael Bay Jr.

            Err… I’m sorry. I mean Stephen Sommers.

            If Michael Bay is the king of mindless, over-the-top action with no substance, than Sommers is certainly the crown prince.

            The only thing working for “G.I. Joe” right now is that no one expects ANYTHING from it.

            “Lowered expectations” is the name of the game these toys are playing after the critical epic fail of “Transformers 2″ and its own collection of truly awful-looking trailers.

            If you don’t want to watch stuff blow up, well then have Amy Adams and Meryl Streep have the movie for you.

            “Julie and Julia” follows Adams’ character as she cooks her way through the cookbook of culinary legend Julia Childs, played by Streep.

            There is a ton of positive buzz surrounding the film and Adams is the Swiss-Army knife of young actresses in Hollywood these days, so this one actually might be worth a viewing.

            “A Perfect Getaway” is a thriller starring Steve Zahn.

            If that sentence didn’t sell you on the film, then chances are nothing will. Zahn is always great, and this one is from David Twohy, the man behind “The Fugitive.”

            Expect lots of chase scenes and shots of beautiful landscapes.

            Sadly, he also bought us the “Pitch Black” movies as well— though, I did like the first one.

            Will it scare up more audiences then “The Collector” or will they try to get away from this one too?

            Bad dum chi.

            Seriously, Hollywood. You’re making it too easy.

            My predicted Top 3:

                                                    1.) “G.I. Joe”

                                                    2.) “Julie and Julia”

                                                    3.)  ”Harry Potter & the Half- Blood Prince”

            Vaya con dios.

I have a treat for everyone today. I’m barely going to write anything. I’ve gotten too greedy with word counts again and crossed 1000 the last two posts. Instead, I’m simply going to post the third episode of Guy Sahaf’s LOSTed entitled ‘Tableau Rosseau.’

Do you want to see Chan Ho Park enjoy Korean breakfast and mock Brad Lidge? Do you want to see the palace that Scott Eyre lives in? Do you want to see the dudes of the bullpen order tacos from a San Diego food establishment as they welcome Chan Ho to the pen? If any of these things has crossed you mind then you’ve got to watch The Pen on CSN (it begins tonight). CSN obtained the rights from the MLB Network for reality program featuring our Philadelphia Phillies bullpen. I should’ve written more about it during its original run but I didn’t so now is my chance to provide a preview.

SEVEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH ‘THE PEN’ ON CSN BEGINNING TONIGHT AT 7:30PM ON CSN:

–You won’t see this until the season finale of The Pen but Scott Eyre lives like a king. It’s amazing. No disrespect to the man but he pitches an inning a game and lives like a king. Sometimes he faces one batter and is done for the night. I’ll repeat myself: it’s amazing. Who needs to be a starting pitcher when you can be a situational southpaw? He’s got a pool that looks like it came from the playboy mansion, his house is gigantic. Just wait til you see his backyard. He also brings JC a cake when JC’s 50 game suspension ends.

–The haircut battle between JC Romero and Ryan Madson with J-Roll as the judge is fantastic. JC cuts Scott Eyre’s hair and Madson cuts Durbin’s hair. Once again, it shows that Eyre lives only a life of luxury. The highlight of the battle belongs to the great funnyman himself Chan Ho Park. I won’t spoil it though.

–The bullpen coach Mick Billemeyer is one relaxed dude. He just lounges, answers the phone, and jokes with anybody whether it’s his boys in the pen or fans in the stands. It’s a close one determining who the funniest member of the bullpen is and it’s between Chan Ho and Mick. You’ll have to watch to decide the funniest bullpen member.

–You’ll get to re-watch the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2009 season thus far up until the all-star break. The show spends some time remembering Harry Kalas which is nice. And yes, there’s a whole episode that consists of those miserable series with the Blue Jays and the Orioles.

–The show provides the occassional updates of the IronPigs. They show the audience how Majewski’s been making out in AAA as well as update us on Taschner after his demotion, and then the show goes to Lehigh Valley some more as they follow Lidge during his rehab and Eyre. There’s a visit to single A Clearwater to follow Condrey’s rehab.

–You’ll get to learn about how Clay Condrey made it to the big leagues. It’s a great story.

–Last but not least, Chan Ho Park’s antics are amazing. Watch it for the antics alone.

LOST!

There’s a good chance I’m going to get slightly blowhardy again with LOST in the coming weeks. Not today because I don’t want this entry to become a novella. But they’re coming. I apologize in advance but as Johnny Utah said to Bodhi as he protested to Utah on Bells Beach in Australia as the 50 year storm pounded the shoreline since Utah was finally going to nab Bodhi for everything he did: ‘it’s gotta be that way.’ It’s gotta be that way, readers.

No LOST episode of the day. Instead, I bring the second episode of LOSTed by Guy Sahaf entitled ‘Everyone Hates Henry.’ It’s my favorite of LOSTed. The early Hatch days Ben/Locke stuff is parodied so well. Once again, this parody began and ended before season three began. I don’t want to give anything away to anyone who will watch it but I encourage comments with your thoughts on this episode of LOSTed. Without further ado, here is Everyone Hates Henry.

TRUE BLOOD

Yes, ma’am! What an episode last night. All the bitterness I felt after last week’s episode disappeared with one hell of an episode. In this episode, Sookie reminded me why she kicked ass in the first season, Hugo betrayed the vampires and ended up in a lose-lose situation, Preacher’s wife shot Jason in the chest after she heard from the Rev that Sookie is Jason’s sister and they immediately believed Jason was a spy despite the fact that he was invited to the Fellowship of the Sun by the Fellowship of the Sun and would have never known about them if not approached by one of the clergy while in prison after he thought he killed Amy, Tara seems to be putting together the pieces of the puzzle, Lafayette’s getting some pizzaz back but he’s still not the same but he did call Eggs satan in a sunday hat (he did have some satan in him too he just didnt know it), Bill sat in a chair for the entire episode, Eric scouted the Fellowship grounds with Isabel and continues to improve as a character (he is not a ripoff of Spike thankfully), Hoyt and Jessica got closer, Andy Bellefleur will emerge as the hero of this season, Daphne was stabbed by the bulljawn who controlled Eggs (who actually stabbed Daphne), and Sam continues to be the best character on the show. Some other thoughts:

–I like Sookie much more as a single woman. The character’s terrific away from Bill. Anna Paquin seems better when she’s not acting alongside her boyfriend too. The ‘I take no BS’ Sookie was back last night. Love that Sookie.

–Great scene when Andy called out the town for the zombie orgy. I’m telling you Andy’s going to emerge as the hero at the end of this season.

–It’s obvious now that Eggs killed Miss Jeanette while under control by Maryann. Maryann continues to be the wet blanket of this season and has now surpassed the Anne Heche character of the third season of Everwood and the actress (who appears in the season four finale of LOST) has surpassed Heche as a terrible actress in a television series.

–Sam continued his reign as the best character on True Blood. He offered to turn himself into Maryann if that would result in Maryann leaving his people alone. He looks like he’s going to enlist Andy’s help to fight the bulljawn and hopefully Tara’s because Tara’s been underutilized thus far.

–Good ol’ mindreader Barry was nice enough to give Bill a message from Sookie and then he was pulled into the room by “Darla.”

–Godric showed up at the end and saved Sookie from a possible rape by Gabe. Gabe also got his ass kicked by Jason for calling his sister a whore. Wasn’t a fan of Gabe to be honest.

An exceptional episode. I’m really looking forward to next week. ‘Entourage’ was also good last night. All around positive evening for HBO.

OASIS OFF!

There’s actually two songs left in Oasis Off. I didn’t want to forget about the most underrated Oasis song…

‘Morning Glory’

Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

Box Office Round-Up 

           And so begins my favorite part of summer vacation.

            See, to most people August is a bit depressing. It’s a time for bad movies in theaters and, of course, school is lurking just around the corner.

            Those things are true for me as well, but I like to put a positive spin on August. It’s one of the few things that I do this with so bare with me.

            Last night was the last night (now, isn’t that repetitive?) of my summer job. I am now free to enjoy the rest of my summer. Free as an unemployed bird. Not saying I didn’t enjoy my time as a productive member of the workforce, but alas, my first love has always been sloth.

            Maybe that’s why I like Sid from “Ice Age” so much.

What a guy...

            In any case, I like to give myself these last few weeks to truly breathe deeply the majesty of summer. You should try it, it really is quite nice.

            All right, to the business at hand.

            Seeing as though I am now officially a lump on a log, I have no more excuses to neglect this blog. So let’s take a gander at the box office results from yesterday.

            Be warned however. If you are one of the producers of “The Collector,” things may get scary.

Seems the one thing this guy didn't collect was audience members... ba dum chi!

Courtesy of boxofficemojo.com

            Well, not Judd Apatow’s best opening ever. Or Sandler’s for that matter, but “Funny People” claims the top spot. The way the chart looked this week, that’s like bragging about being the tannest member of the McGlinchey family.

We're pale people folks...

            You don’t have a ton of competition is what I’m saying.

            The biggest surprise? Look at the last three spots of that list! How weak of a summer has this been!? I mean, I can understand “The Hangover” and to an extent “Transformers 2″ but “The Proposal?” Really? I guess the ladies out there like to laugh and the dudes like to oogle Ryan Reynolds. Well, dudes like me anyhow.

            Moving on, “Bruno” said “avita zein” to the top 10 as did “Public Enemies.” Both films continued to shed those pesky audience members in droves this past week.  

            Hmm… who would have thought that the Deppster’s latest would have worked better in the fall? High concept gangster movie by Michael Mann? Total summer blockbuster right? Right??

You're still the coolest guy ever. I blame Michael Mann for this!!!

            Whoops.

            And lastly, congrats to everyone out there who didn’t go see “The Collector!” I told you we could kill this torture porn crap once and for all! We just need to show a little restraint!

            The film, which was made by the idiots who brought us “Saw” 4,5,6 and 11-27, opened in 11^th place with a trim $3.6 million.

            The only downside? The film cost around $17 and a button to make so “The Collector 2″ is probably already in production.

            Dang. We were so close.

            Vaya con dios.