Well, I promised something a little different this week, and here it is...as many of you have probably seen, Shan (of The Nonsensical Ravings of a Lunatic Mind) and I both do very in-depth recaps every week, and often notice and comment on some of the same things. So, this week we thought it would be fun to get together virtually via chat and have a discussion about "Some Like it Hoth."
The rather lengthy product of that discussion is linked HERE.
We had a good time going through our thoughts, theories, crushes, and tangents galore. Believe it or not, this is actually the EDITED version. We'll release the full version on the Director's Cut.
Hope you enjoy it!
Namaste.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bryan Evans - DGD
In the spirit of the fact that we have yet to have ONE offseason arrest this offseason (looks for wood to knock on...what are these desks made of, anyway?), here is a nice story about Bryan Evans reaching out to a former high school rival in need.
I was reading this, thinking about how these type stories don't get published enough. Sure wish I had an outlet to get these type stories out there more readily.
Duh.
Here's the link to a very rare FREE article on Rivals.
I was reading this, thinking about how these type stories don't get published enough. Sure wish I had an outlet to get these type stories out there more readily.
Duh.
Here's the link to a very rare FREE article on Rivals.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Quick thoughts on Lost and Idol
First off, the LOST recap will be a little different this week...stay tuned.
I liked the episode, didn't love it...felt very much like filler to me, and Darlton basically said as much on the podcast this week. They said they were proud of the episode, but that basically it was there to add a little levity between the heaviness of last week and the ridiculously intense build up to the finale. I guess it did that, though I actually thought Miles and Hurley were funnier when they were discussing time travel. I did like the fact that Hurley was re-writing Empire, with the sole purpose of avoiding the Ewoks.
As for Idol...I was (obviously) not surprised that Matt was at the bottom, but I was very surprised and disappointed that they used the save on him. They still had one more week to use it, and I think there were others, specifically Kris and Allison, who are more deserving. If one of them goes home next week, I'm going to be pretty ticked off.
I liked the episode, didn't love it...felt very much like filler to me, and Darlton basically said as much on the podcast this week. They said they were proud of the episode, but that basically it was there to add a little levity between the heaviness of last week and the ridiculously intense build up to the finale. I guess it did that, though I actually thought Miles and Hurley were funnier when they were discussing time travel. I did like the fact that Hurley was re-writing Empire, with the sole purpose of avoiding the Ewoks.
As for Idol...I was (obviously) not surprised that Matt was at the bottom, but I was very surprised and disappointed that they used the save on him. They still had one more week to use it, and I think there were others, specifically Kris and Allison, who are more deserving. If one of them goes home next week, I'm going to be pretty ticked off.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Idol thoughts - top 7
I was ultra, ULTRA excited about this week. It combines two of my favorite things: Idol and Tarantino. I was pumped to watch Tarantino really get to add some punch and energy to the performances...little did I know that he would be dealing with SIX ballads, and then Adam, which...what are you going to tell him about stage presence and performance?
On with the show...
1) Alison Iraheta: "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" - Did not like the fact that she chose a ballad for the second week in a row, and I don't like that she is having to go first. With the problems she has had building a fan base, neither one of these were good for her, in my opinion.
As for the performance, am I wrong or did she miss some words going into the bridge? I didn't like the arrangement at all in the beginning (plus I thought it was a little low for her), but I thought she pulled it out in the end. Still love her voice, still love her, but this might have been her weakest performance, in my opinion.
2) Anoop Desai: "Everything I Do" - Anoop picks another ballad, but at this point it's a good choice for him. This is what he has proven to be good at. This was a GORGEOUS performance...near perfect vocally, and I thought he had an emotional connection with the song that we don't always get from him. Kara was right...taking pop songs and injecting his soulfulness into them is what his wheelhouse is.
3) Adam Lambert: "Born to be Wild" - Verbatim from my notes: Sounds like a techno version. Holy Crap. Maybe the most amazing thing I've ever seen on this show.
Seriously. That was just crazy. In a good way. Simon talks about "indulgent" performances all the time like it's a bad thing, but is there a better word to describe a rock star than indulgent? This was the most "indulgent" performance we have ever seen on Idol, and it was awesome. It wasn't the greatest vocal, but, man...it was fun, wasn't it?
Simon is trying to be a little negative, so that he doesn't seem to be playing favorites, but he can't even keep a straight face. Plus, when he said it reminded him of Rocky Horror, Adam was like, "SCORE!! I freaking LOVE that movie!" Ha!! And...yeah, that's kind of what it's like, so they're both right.
4) Matt Giraud: "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" - I thought Quentin gave him great advice (as he did pretty much all night)...don't fall so in love with the runs that you lose the lyric. Matt chose to totally ignore that, and lost not only the lyric, but the melody, the rhythm, and pretty much everything about the song. This started out OK, but as soon as he started doing all of the vocal gymnastics he went totally off pitch.
And it MUST have been bad, cause that's the first time I can remember Randybot actually DISCOURAGING contestants from doing runs and riffs. Something must have gone wrong with his programming.
5) Danny Gokey: "Endless Love" - Good grief, ANOTHER BALLAD. You can't blame the contestants, I don't guess, since they are picking independently. But I keep waiting for Delilah to start talking between each performance.
Anyway, there was one little pitch problem early on, but after that it was a very nice performance. Very nice and very boring. The harp was cool, though.
6) Kris Allen: "Falling Slowly" - YES. I LOVE this song. I've been known to listen to it 4-5 times in a row. I know, very manly, right? Shut up, this song is beautiful, and I'm only crying cause I stubbed my toe on my weight bench on my way to drop an engine into my pickup truck so I can go shoot some animals and do a bunch of other manly stuff. Ahem.
I thought Kris sang this very well, though he continues to confound me with his choices as to when to play his guitar. Maybe he thought it was too much like the original if he played and sang?
Regardless, it was a nice performance, and the backup singer(s) had one of their few bright spots of the season. I totally disagreed with both Randy and Kara...Randy thought it was pitchy from the start, and Kara thought it was his best moment so far. My thoughts were somewhere in the middle, but I am predisposed to love the song so I may be biased. I will now listen to that song on a loop as I finish this recap.
Here, you can listen, too...
7) Lil Rounds: "The Rose" - Once again, Q gives great advice that will ultimately be ignored. The key to selling this big change in the middle is to commit to the FIRST part, so that the audience is surprised when it turns into something more.
Anyway, I really liked the arrangement...I just would have enjoyed it more if it was sung by someone whose voice I really liked. Once it goes "gospel," she is pitchy ALL OVER. She's really just not that good, as it turns out. Very disappointing, considering I really liked her in her initial audition and in Hollywood. She's just really been exposed on the big stage.
I sort of feel what she's saying in her retort to Simon, and I thought she did it in a respectful way. She DID try to change the song up and do her own thing with it...the problem isn't so much that it's a "Bette Midler song" as Simon said, it's just that she doesn't sound that good singing it. Plus, somewhere along the way she became REALLY boring as a performer, and I totally didn't expect that when we first met her. I think she has really let the judges get in her head and it has locked her up mentally.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
- Hate, hate HATED the 2 judge format. Would have been much improved if they had let Simon speak every time and just alternate the other judge.
Even worse, they STILL didn't make it out on time, due mostly to those stupid conversations Ryan has to have over on the stools with the contestants. I understand wanting the audience to get to know the contestants, but they really ought to save that stuff for Wednesday night, and get rid of the stupid group number that everybody hates.
- Mentioned it a couple of times, but what was UP with all of the ballads tonight? I've been going to movies all of my life and I know for a fact that I have heard several upbeat songs. They would have been better off just limiting them to songs that were in Tarantino movies. Then someone could have sang Stuck in the Middle With You and cut Randy's ear off, as Shan suggested to me via Twitter.
PREDICTIONS:
Is this the week they start doing bottom two instead of bottom three?
Who SHOULD be in the bottom two: Matt and Lil
Who WILL be in the bottom two: Matt and...Alison. Just a gut feeling.
Who SHOULD go home: Based on this week, Matt. Based on body of work, Lil.
Who WILL go home: Matt
And just to throw it out there...I say again that if Kris or Alison ends up with the lowest number of votes they will be saved by the judges. Otherwise, they will save it until next week, which is the last week it could be used.
By the way, if you want to see a really GOOD version of the song Matt G did tonight....
On with the show...
1) Alison Iraheta: "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" - Did not like the fact that she chose a ballad for the second week in a row, and I don't like that she is having to go first. With the problems she has had building a fan base, neither one of these were good for her, in my opinion.
As for the performance, am I wrong or did she miss some words going into the bridge? I didn't like the arrangement at all in the beginning (plus I thought it was a little low for her), but I thought she pulled it out in the end. Still love her voice, still love her, but this might have been her weakest performance, in my opinion.
2) Anoop Desai: "Everything I Do" - Anoop picks another ballad, but at this point it's a good choice for him. This is what he has proven to be good at. This was a GORGEOUS performance...near perfect vocally, and I thought he had an emotional connection with the song that we don't always get from him. Kara was right...taking pop songs and injecting his soulfulness into them is what his wheelhouse is.
3) Adam Lambert: "Born to be Wild" - Verbatim from my notes: Sounds like a techno version. Holy Crap. Maybe the most amazing thing I've ever seen on this show.
Seriously. That was just crazy. In a good way. Simon talks about "indulgent" performances all the time like it's a bad thing, but is there a better word to describe a rock star than indulgent? This was the most "indulgent" performance we have ever seen on Idol, and it was awesome. It wasn't the greatest vocal, but, man...it was fun, wasn't it?
Simon is trying to be a little negative, so that he doesn't seem to be playing favorites, but he can't even keep a straight face. Plus, when he said it reminded him of Rocky Horror, Adam was like, "SCORE!! I freaking LOVE that movie!" Ha!! And...yeah, that's kind of what it's like, so they're both right.
4) Matt Giraud: "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" - I thought Quentin gave him great advice (as he did pretty much all night)...don't fall so in love with the runs that you lose the lyric. Matt chose to totally ignore that, and lost not only the lyric, but the melody, the rhythm, and pretty much everything about the song. This started out OK, but as soon as he started doing all of the vocal gymnastics he went totally off pitch.
And it MUST have been bad, cause that's the first time I can remember Randybot actually DISCOURAGING contestants from doing runs and riffs. Something must have gone wrong with his programming.
5) Danny Gokey: "Endless Love" - Good grief, ANOTHER BALLAD. You can't blame the contestants, I don't guess, since they are picking independently. But I keep waiting for Delilah to start talking between each performance.
Anyway, there was one little pitch problem early on, but after that it was a very nice performance. Very nice and very boring. The harp was cool, though.
6) Kris Allen: "Falling Slowly" - YES. I LOVE this song. I've been known to listen to it 4-5 times in a row. I know, very manly, right? Shut up, this song is beautiful, and I'm only crying cause I stubbed my toe on my weight bench on my way to drop an engine into my pickup truck so I can go shoot some animals and do a bunch of other manly stuff. Ahem.
I thought Kris sang this very well, though he continues to confound me with his choices as to when to play his guitar. Maybe he thought it was too much like the original if he played and sang?
Regardless, it was a nice performance, and the backup singer(s) had one of their few bright spots of the season. I totally disagreed with both Randy and Kara...Randy thought it was pitchy from the start, and Kara thought it was his best moment so far. My thoughts were somewhere in the middle, but I am predisposed to love the song so I may be biased. I will now listen to that song on a loop as I finish this recap.
Here, you can listen, too...
7) Lil Rounds: "The Rose" - Once again, Q gives great advice that will ultimately be ignored. The key to selling this big change in the middle is to commit to the FIRST part, so that the audience is surprised when it turns into something more.
Anyway, I really liked the arrangement...I just would have enjoyed it more if it was sung by someone whose voice I really liked. Once it goes "gospel," she is pitchy ALL OVER. She's really just not that good, as it turns out. Very disappointing, considering I really liked her in her initial audition and in Hollywood. She's just really been exposed on the big stage.
I sort of feel what she's saying in her retort to Simon, and I thought she did it in a respectful way. She DID try to change the song up and do her own thing with it...the problem isn't so much that it's a "Bette Midler song" as Simon said, it's just that she doesn't sound that good singing it. Plus, somewhere along the way she became REALLY boring as a performer, and I totally didn't expect that when we first met her. I think she has really let the judges get in her head and it has locked her up mentally.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
- Hate, hate HATED the 2 judge format. Would have been much improved if they had let Simon speak every time and just alternate the other judge.
Even worse, they STILL didn't make it out on time, due mostly to those stupid conversations Ryan has to have over on the stools with the contestants. I understand wanting the audience to get to know the contestants, but they really ought to save that stuff for Wednesday night, and get rid of the stupid group number that everybody hates.
- Mentioned it a couple of times, but what was UP with all of the ballads tonight? I've been going to movies all of my life and I know for a fact that I have heard several upbeat songs. They would have been better off just limiting them to songs that were in Tarantino movies. Then someone could have sang Stuck in the Middle With You and cut Randy's ear off, as Shan suggested to me via Twitter.
PREDICTIONS:
Is this the week they start doing bottom two instead of bottom three?
Who SHOULD be in the bottom two: Matt and Lil
Who WILL be in the bottom two: Matt and...Alison. Just a gut feeling.
Who SHOULD go home: Based on this week, Matt. Based on body of work, Lil.
Who WILL go home: Matt
And just to throw it out there...I say again that if Kris or Alison ends up with the lowest number of votes they will be saved by the judges. Otherwise, they will save it until next week, which is the last week it could be used.
By the way, if you want to see a really GOOD version of the song Matt G did tonight....
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
G-Day thoughts
Pretty typical G-Day game, huh? Unlike some other schools, I feel like our spring game really is just the last scrimmage of the practice...we don't really tweak the rules to allow for more scoring, or give points to the defense, or whatever. Outside of a couple of trick plays that I doubt we will see much of once the games start for real, this was just the team lining up and running the things we have been working on.
Let's look at the things I was looking forward to and see how they turned out:
- Glorious High Definition. I was pretty happy with the ESPN broadcast...it was a nice little commercial for UGA football: Coach Richt in the booth, the Herbstreit-Stafford interview at halftime (where he managed to plug Richt/Bobo for any young QB's out there looking for a launching point for their NFL career: We don't run any of that sissy-boy spread football here...we play big boy football, just like they do in the NFL). Only thing I would have hoped for was that they were a LITTLE more familiar with who is who...I know it's the spring game, and they probably did around ZERO research beforehand, but maybe their spotter could at least be able to identify guys who are on the 2-deep?
As a side note, I though Stinchcomb sounded great. Nessler said in an interview beforehand that this was kind of a "mini-audition," and I think he probably helped himself. I loved the self-deprecating joke about that clip being the only time he blocked Kearney all game....it's funny cause it's TRUE. Maybe we'll see him instead of that imbecile Robert Smith on College Football Live next year?
- All four quarterbacks. We did in fact get a good look at all four. I thought Cox looked pretty good, other than he is LOTS shorter than I remember. They list him at 6-1, which is ridiculous. If he's 6-1, then so am I (I'm a quark shy of 5-9, if any of you ladies were wondering). He was accurate, he made good decisions for the most part...we'll have to get used to the fact that we no longer have Staff's cannon arm back there, but all in all I was pleased with his performance.
I was probably most impressed with Logan Gray. Very accurate, nice touch...the ball that Troupe dropped (more on that later) was about as pretty a pass as you can make, and would have been a sure touchdown. I think he ended up 6-9, and at least two of those incompletions were drops. Also, we didn't really get to see his full skill set, since they weren't running him at all due to his green jersey. If he's performing like this all the time, then he'll provide Joe C with good competition all year, although I still think the QB1 position is The Ginger Assassin's to lose.
As for the freshmen, I though Aaron Murray looked really good (and he was JACKED...apparently he worked out upper body a lot while rehabbing his leg injury). The throw he made where he was scrambling to his right and whipped a perfect 25 yard strike down field showed a glimpse of his ability...I think the future is in good hands.
Mettenberger didn't get a lot of opportunity, only throwing three passes. He completed none of them, plus he threw an UGLY interception. I think he is the most likely to redshirt, since he is far more raw than Murray, but he has all the physical tools you can ask for. He is making a huge step up as far as quality of both teammates and opposition, so he'll have a learning curve.
- Caleb King/Carlton Thomas. Neither of these guys really shined on Saturday, but I didn't see anything that would make me nervous, either. The defense played really well against them, so they didn't get a lot of opportunities in the open field or anything like that. I would have liked to see more, but I still feel the same way as I did before Saturday: We're going to miss Knowshon's heart and spirit more than we miss his considerable talents. There's a good bit of talent left in our stable of running backs, and I think with the improved offensive line our running game will be just fine.
- The secondary. Kind of a mixed bag here...the good first. I think Bryan Evans looks very comfortable at safety, and his experience and speed are going to be a big help for us. Sanders Commings is freaking huge, and I think he may be a playmaker at the nickel corner spot.
As for the bad, there sure were a lot of guys running free over the middle...if our receivers had held on to a few more balls, we may be lamenting how poorly our secondary played. Part of the problem there was that the QB was getting quite a bit of time, allowing those routes to come open, but they were a few too many soft spots in that zone for my liking.
So, I am still a little concerned about the secondary, but we still have some guys who are learning in some of those roles (Evans, Commings, Brandon Boykin), so there is ample opportunity for improvement.
- Defense as a whole. Well, I didn't ask for much...just look like you want to be there and you have a clue. They definitely fulfilled those expectations. I was happy with the effort, and there seems to have been a focus on the fundamentals this spring, which I appreciate. The most encouraging development was probably the play of both Justin Houston and Marcus Washington. If those guys continue to grow into legitimate pass rushers, and then add Jeff Owens alongside Gino Atkins, our defense will be vastly improved.
Final thoughts:
First of all, the wide receivers...I'm not really concerned about the dropsies for two reasons. Number one, several of them were by guys who I don't think we're going to be counting on to catch many passes this year. The one exception to that was Aron White, who I think is projected as the starter at TE, but we also have Bruce Figgins returning from injury and also uber-athlete Orson Charles arriving in the fall. Israel Troupe had a couple of drops as well, which was a little concerning, since we may need him to step up in the absence of Kris Durham.
The other reason I'm not really concerned is that, by all accounts, this has not really been a problem in the spring and they just had one bad day. The fact that this one bad day occurred in front of 42K fans and was captured by ESPN cameras will, of course, cause us all to obsess about it for the next 4-5 months, but it doesn't necessarily indicate a trend.
Something Coach Richt said in one of his sideline interviews really stuck with me while I was watching this...we have about 20 guys who did not participate Saturday due to injury who will be ready to go by the time fall practice gets here, as well as 20 incoming freshmen. That means there will be FORTY more bodies available in fall practice than what we had in uniform on Saturday. So, let's not get too hot and bothered about what we saw on Saturday. Take that team we just saw and add:
Trinton Sturdivant
Jeff Owens
Vince Vance
Richard Samuel
Dontavious Jackson
Darius Dewberry
Rod Battle
Chris Davis
Demarcus Dobbs
Josh Davis
Bruce Figgins
Neland Ball
Cornelius Washington
Those were some of the injured. Not to mention Marlon Brown, Branden Smith, Washaun Ealy (hopefully), Orson Charles, Abry Jones, Chris Burnette, etc, etc...
The pont is that the team that takes the field on September 5 may just barely resemble the one we saw on Saturday. So while it sure was fun to get to watch football played between the hedges on Saturday, I certainly don't think we can draw any conclusions about what this team is going to be. That being said, I definitely thought there were more positives than negatives, and I can't wait for kickoff!! Only 144 days away!!
GO DAWGS!!!
Let's look at the things I was looking forward to and see how they turned out:
- Glorious High Definition. I was pretty happy with the ESPN broadcast...it was a nice little commercial for UGA football: Coach Richt in the booth, the Herbstreit-Stafford interview at halftime (where he managed to plug Richt/Bobo for any young QB's out there looking for a launching point for their NFL career: We don't run any of that sissy-boy spread football here...we play big boy football, just like they do in the NFL). Only thing I would have hoped for was that they were a LITTLE more familiar with who is who...I know it's the spring game, and they probably did around ZERO research beforehand, but maybe their spotter could at least be able to identify guys who are on the 2-deep?
As a side note, I though Stinchcomb sounded great. Nessler said in an interview beforehand that this was kind of a "mini-audition," and I think he probably helped himself. I loved the self-deprecating joke about that clip being the only time he blocked Kearney all game....it's funny cause it's TRUE. Maybe we'll see him instead of that imbecile Robert Smith on College Football Live next year?
- All four quarterbacks. We did in fact get a good look at all four. I thought Cox looked pretty good, other than he is LOTS shorter than I remember. They list him at 6-1, which is ridiculous. If he's 6-1, then so am I (I'm a quark shy of 5-9, if any of you ladies were wondering). He was accurate, he made good decisions for the most part...we'll have to get used to the fact that we no longer have Staff's cannon arm back there, but all in all I was pleased with his performance.
I was probably most impressed with Logan Gray. Very accurate, nice touch...the ball that Troupe dropped (more on that later) was about as pretty a pass as you can make, and would have been a sure touchdown. I think he ended up 6-9, and at least two of those incompletions were drops. Also, we didn't really get to see his full skill set, since they weren't running him at all due to his green jersey. If he's performing like this all the time, then he'll provide Joe C with good competition all year, although I still think the QB1 position is The Ginger Assassin's to lose.
As for the freshmen, I though Aaron Murray looked really good (and he was JACKED...apparently he worked out upper body a lot while rehabbing his leg injury). The throw he made where he was scrambling to his right and whipped a perfect 25 yard strike down field showed a glimpse of his ability...I think the future is in good hands.
Mettenberger didn't get a lot of opportunity, only throwing three passes. He completed none of them, plus he threw an UGLY interception. I think he is the most likely to redshirt, since he is far more raw than Murray, but he has all the physical tools you can ask for. He is making a huge step up as far as quality of both teammates and opposition, so he'll have a learning curve.
- Caleb King/Carlton Thomas. Neither of these guys really shined on Saturday, but I didn't see anything that would make me nervous, either. The defense played really well against them, so they didn't get a lot of opportunities in the open field or anything like that. I would have liked to see more, but I still feel the same way as I did before Saturday: We're going to miss Knowshon's heart and spirit more than we miss his considerable talents. There's a good bit of talent left in our stable of running backs, and I think with the improved offensive line our running game will be just fine.
- The secondary. Kind of a mixed bag here...the good first. I think Bryan Evans looks very comfortable at safety, and his experience and speed are going to be a big help for us. Sanders Commings is freaking huge, and I think he may be a playmaker at the nickel corner spot.
As for the bad, there sure were a lot of guys running free over the middle...if our receivers had held on to a few more balls, we may be lamenting how poorly our secondary played. Part of the problem there was that the QB was getting quite a bit of time, allowing those routes to come open, but they were a few too many soft spots in that zone for my liking.
So, I am still a little concerned about the secondary, but we still have some guys who are learning in some of those roles (Evans, Commings, Brandon Boykin), so there is ample opportunity for improvement.
- Defense as a whole. Well, I didn't ask for much...just look like you want to be there and you have a clue. They definitely fulfilled those expectations. I was happy with the effort, and there seems to have been a focus on the fundamentals this spring, which I appreciate. The most encouraging development was probably the play of both Justin Houston and Marcus Washington. If those guys continue to grow into legitimate pass rushers, and then add Jeff Owens alongside Gino Atkins, our defense will be vastly improved.
Final thoughts:
First of all, the wide receivers...I'm not really concerned about the dropsies for two reasons. Number one, several of them were by guys who I don't think we're going to be counting on to catch many passes this year. The one exception to that was Aron White, who I think is projected as the starter at TE, but we also have Bruce Figgins returning from injury and also uber-athlete Orson Charles arriving in the fall. Israel Troupe had a couple of drops as well, which was a little concerning, since we may need him to step up in the absence of Kris Durham.
The other reason I'm not really concerned is that, by all accounts, this has not really been a problem in the spring and they just had one bad day. The fact that this one bad day occurred in front of 42K fans and was captured by ESPN cameras will, of course, cause us all to obsess about it for the next 4-5 months, but it doesn't necessarily indicate a trend.
Something Coach Richt said in one of his sideline interviews really stuck with me while I was watching this...we have about 20 guys who did not participate Saturday due to injury who will be ready to go by the time fall practice gets here, as well as 20 incoming freshmen. That means there will be FORTY more bodies available in fall practice than what we had in uniform on Saturday. So, let's not get too hot and bothered about what we saw on Saturday. Take that team we just saw and add:
Trinton Sturdivant
Jeff Owens
Vince Vance
Richard Samuel
Dontavious Jackson
Darius Dewberry
Rod Battle
Chris Davis
Demarcus Dobbs
Josh Davis
Bruce Figgins
Neland Ball
Cornelius Washington
Those were some of the injured. Not to mention Marlon Brown, Branden Smith, Washaun Ealy (hopefully), Orson Charles, Abry Jones, Chris Burnette, etc, etc...
The pont is that the team that takes the field on September 5 may just barely resemble the one we saw on Saturday. So while it sure was fun to get to watch football played between the hedges on Saturday, I certainly don't think we can draw any conclusions about what this team is going to be. That being said, I definitely thought there were more positives than negatives, and I can't wait for kickoff!! Only 144 days away!!
GO DAWGS!!!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thoughts on Lost - Dead is Dead
WHEW...this episode was quite a change from the "lighter" episodes we have seen the last few weeks, huh? Better just get to it...
- Maybe it was Charles' idea for everybody to walk around in ancient clothes and live in tents...he seems to really embrace this whole "jolly ole England" vibe. As TWoP said, he looks like Prince Valiant.
- Again, I ask...how did Charles end up in charge when Richard is still there? Especially since it appears that Richard is communicating with Jacob while Charles is not?
- The actor playing Young Ben is doing a nice job with this part...I thought you could actually see a change in his demeanor now that he has been healed by the Island and "lost his innocence."
- Ben wakes up to find Locke staring at him...is that all Locke has been doing since he found Ben in the infirmary? Just waiting by his side so that he can be the first thing that Ben sees? That may sound weird, but you know what? I probably would have done the exact same thing, now that I think about it.
- OK, let's stop here and try to sift through the different stories/lies that Ben tells in this episode, rather than try to address each one as they come up:
- Maybe it was Charles' idea for everybody to walk around in ancient clothes and live in tents...he seems to really embrace this whole "jolly ole England" vibe. As TWoP said, he looks like Prince Valiant.
- Again, I ask...how did Charles end up in charge when Richard is still there? Especially since it appears that Richard is communicating with Jacob while Charles is not?
- The actor playing Young Ben is doing a nice job with this part...I thought you could actually see a change in his demeanor now that he has been healed by the Island and "lost his innocence."
- Ben wakes up to find Locke staring at him...is that all Locke has been doing since he found Ben in the infirmary? Just waiting by his side so that he can be the first thing that Ben sees? That may sound weird, but you know what? I probably would have done the exact same thing, now that I think about it.
- OK, let's stop here and try to sift through the different stories/lies that Ben tells in this episode, rather than try to address each one as they come up:
- He tells Locke that he KNEW that he would be alive when they got to the Island. In fact, he says that the reason he killed him was because he knew that it was the only way to get everybody back to the Island, and that once they got here everything would be OK.
- Later, he tells Sun that he has no idea how Locke is still walking around, and it in fact scares him to death.
I think, as usual with Ben, the answer lies somewhere in between...he DID think that Locke's death would be what convinced everybody to come back, but he did NOT think that Locke would be alive when they got here. This is at least partially confirmed when we learn later (via Smokey Alex) that Ben is planning on killing him again.
Also....the whole "Locke has to die in order to convince everyone to come back to the Island" thing. That's not really what happened, is it? Kate came back for Claire/Aaron. Sun came back for Jin. Sayid came back by force. We're not sure why Hurley came back yet. Frank came back by happenstance (best we can figure). The only one who is coming back because of Locke's death is Jack. Maybe Ben thought that if he could get Jack, he could get everybody, but that turned out not to be the case, either...everybody has their own reasons for coming, and none of them have to do with Jack.
So what ARE Ben's motivations? Stay tuned..
- Is it just me or is Ben even creepier when he is trying to be nice?
- What is in that crate that Ilana seems so intent on?
- Wow, Ben finally found somebody who is easier to manipulate than Locke. He has Caesar on a string within 5 seconds of meeting him.
- Man, Ethan was just ALWAYS a creepy dude, wasn't he? He is practically begging Ben for the opportunity to go kill Danielle. Wonder how many ants he has fried with a microscope in his life?
- Love all of the backstory fill-in that we are getting with Danielle this season. This was something the producers promised, and I didn't know if they were going to be able to do it since A) Danielle is dead; and B) The original actress who plays her didn't want to live in Hawaii anymore and has gone back home to France.
This is, of course, the scene she described way back in season one when she had Sayid captive, and it also explains why she is so skittish about The Whispers.
By the way...a little more info given here about The Whispers, too...apparently they ARE somehow tied to The Others. Still doesn't explain why they often appear backwards, though.
- LOVE Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson's scenes together. And they win the line of the night:
LOCKE: Well, Ben, I was hoping that you and I could talk about the elephant in the room.
BEN: (Long pause) I assume you're referring to the fact that I killed you.
- Not going to go too far into this scene, since I already talked about the gist of it. But I did want to point out what a great job that Emerson did making Ben look UNCOMFORTABLE this week. Watch him in this scene with Locke, when he is trying to convince him of why he killed him...he looks TWITCHY. Very nervous. Not at all the eerily calm Ben we are used to seeing. Things have begun to spin out of control for him, and that is not a place that Ben is used to being.
- Even those words that usually work magic on Locke, "in the best interests of the Island", are not enough this time. Locke is now calling the shots. Awesome.
- I really didn't understand the point in Ben blowing away Caesar. I don't think Caesar was necessarily going to kill John there, do you? I think he was going to threaten him with the gun, for sure, but I don't get where Ben can claim to have "saved Locke's life." Maybe he is just desperately looking for some way to have John indebted to him?
- Another GREAT exchange between Locke and Ben on the dock...O'Quinn and Emerson just rock my socks. Some highlights:
BEN: That would be Sun and Lapidus. I showed 'em where the boats were, and Sun thanked me by smashing me on the head with a paddle.
LOCKE: You just make friends everywhere you go, don't ya?
LOCKE: No sense in me dying twice, right?
- And while I'm at it, O'Quinn also is doing a great job with the "new" Locke. Dying has done wonders for him. I think that the fact that the Island brought him back to life confirms to him for good that he does have a purpose, he IS special. His confidence and assertiveness show that he now is totally convinced of that. Which means that if things start going downhill for him again, it's going to get UGLY.
- Locke and Ben spend this whole episode slowly switching places. We see another step in that direction with Locke calling Ben out on what he REALLY is being judged for. Ben seemed surprised and a little frightened that Locke was able to figure that out so easily.
- Man, they keep jerking me around on the whole Ben vs. Widmore thing. Every time I think I have figured out who the "good guy" is they throw something else at me. This time it was the whole "Widmore calls Alex "It" and wants to kill her" while "Ben has a soft spot for babies...and wears bad hairpieces" scene. How can you root for Widmore after that?
- I know I sound like a broken record...but add this to the list of Ben/Locke exchanges that I loved:
LOCKE: Well, your people were living in the jungle. And then after you murdered the DHARMA folk, you relocated here. I just wondered if it was your idea.
BEN: Do you disapprove, John?
LOCKE: It just doesn't seem like something the Island would want.
BEN: You don't have the first idea what this Island wants.
LOCKE: Are you sure about that?
As this episode went on, every conversation they had just kept turning the wheel of power more and more, with Locke moving to the top and Ben moving to the bottom.
- Does Ben know who Christian is? He didn't seem to recognize the name when Lapidus mentioned it. Interesting...
- Loved everything to do with Smokey tonight, including the "summoning". Just spooky and weird, which is what I would hope and expect it to be. What is that water? Has it just collected on the surface over the years? Is it what "forms" Smokey? I wouldn't think so, since Ben just stuck his hand right in it.
- So now we know why Charles was banished. Pretty ironic, isn't it, considering that we know that Ben is later going back and forth from the Island as well?
Also, Ben mentioned that Charles had a daughter with an "Outsider. " We can safely assume that this is Penny, I would think, but I wonder if Outsider refers to someone off-Island or just someone who is not an "Other." A member of the D.I., maybe?
And also, maybe it's somehow WIDMORE'S fault that babies can't be conceived and born here on the Island, since he fooled around and got an Outsider preggers? And maybe that's one reason why Ben hates him so much?
- Runner up for Line of the Night:
LOCKE: Last time we didn't have to wait this long.
BEN: It's not a train, John. It doesn't run on a schedule.
- LOVED the look on Ben's face when Locke told him that he knows where Smokey is. Awesome, awesome.
- I FREAKED when Ben shot Desmond. FREAKED when he pointed the gun at Penny.
- And then I cracked myself up when Ben started his speech with "Hello, Penelope. My name is Benjamin Linus" and I fell all over myself finishing it with "You killed my father. Prepare...to die." I am such a dork.
- We get further confirmation of Ben's soft spot for kids...he can't pull the trigger once he sees Wee Charlie.
- That must be some SERIOUS adrenaline Des has going on right now, considering he just took a bullet in the shoulder. Still able to hold Ben down with one arm and pummel him with the other. Of course, we all know Ben...he's a liar, not a fighter.
- A minor problem I had with the writing this week was Ben's whole "Tell Desmond I'm sorry" scene with Sun. That was obviously thrown in there just to make us think that he killed Penny. I don't think he would be that broken up about just shooting Des in the shoulder, do you? He just unloaded a shotgun into somebody's chest like, 5 minutes ago.
- What lies in the shadow of the statue? Umm...what? And...WHAT IS IN THAT CRATE? Oh, this is going to be good, I can just feel it...
- It was right about here that I started thinking that Ben might actually die. Like I said last week, Ben was not part of the original story, he was only added as a major character because Emerson Rules All. So they could conceivably kill him off at this point and still tell the original story they wanted to tell. It was just all shaping up too well...we filled in a good bit of his backstory with Alex, we see that at the last minute he couldn't kill Penny, he comes to terms with his own culpability in the death of Alex. He could have died here and it would have made perfect sense from a storytelling perspective. So I was nervous when he entered that temple.
- Here is a screen shot of what was over Smokey's Hole:
Looks like the Statue and Smokey have met before, huh?
- I'm not going to rag too hard on the special effects, but the scene with Ben in the Smoke Shroud while various scenes played out in front of him looked like a "Made for Sci-Fi channel" movie. Not good. I appreciated the concept, just not the execution.
- The scene where Alex gets shot gets to me EVERY time I see it. Keamy's death could not possibly be slow or painful enough for me.
- BEN: Ohh, Alex. I'm so, so sorry. It was all my fault.
ALEX: I know.
Yep...that was the moment I thought Ben was a goner.
Oh, and...you all know that "Alex" was Smokey, right? Just like when he appeared as "Yemi" to Eko right before he died. Which was ANOTHER reason I though Ben was toast.
- So...the Island DID want Alex dead? Otherwise, why would he be allowed to live?
Or...maybe his punishment isn't death. It's that he has to live with Locke as his superior and obey every order he gives.
I think Ben would rather have died.
Namaste.
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