Lost

I really liked it, although since it's been about 18 years since we've seen a new episode i guess any new episode would have been great. i kid, i kid. i really did like it. i forgot how much fun new eps are.

so here's what i liked ... the parallels between eko/his brother and charlie/his brother. very cool stuff. eko like many others is starting over on the island. he's now become a "priest," just like Locke became a biped, Charlie "kicked" (perhaps) his junkiness, Jack became a leader, Sun became an English speaker and a gardener and a nurse, Hurley became a stud (hello Libby!), Michael became a father, Jin became his father (the fisherman) [btw, the Jin-father connection through fishing just hit me now for the first time], Claire became a mom, Sayid became a torturer again (just as he seemingly had escaped that), Kate became a good person and gardner and stylist, and Sawter became a good guy (at least deep deep down on the inside, but still an ass on the outside). interestingly, Boone, who couldn't become anyone really was killed off, and shannon whose transformation would be very limited was also killed off. Granted, it's not like all those transformations are that big a deal.

Did you notice all the like flashes of people in the black smoke as the smoke seemed to "stare" at Eko? It was like silhouettes almost or the types of impressions you see when a dark room is lit very briefly by a camera flash. I couldn't make out who any of the people were though. so eko and locke have both had confrontations with the monster and done OK. in each case i think we're dealing with two peopel who approached it without fear. does charlie having survived count as anything? Also, did locke merely just see smoke? and oh yeah, were those flash images some kind of electromagnetic disturbance? just wondering ...

The ending montage had some typical cheesiness to some extent. it felt a little too long, as usual. but i did like the jin-sun-analucia moment. And the hurley thing was funny. it just should have been a little shorter. The very end with Charlie was OK. I liked that Charlie had that huge stash of smack. and with claire throwing him out (i guess i hadn't realized how much they had started playing House) better send him back to the white lotus, though, otherwise i'm gonna be PISSED. but you're right, any drama that hinges on him seems to be set up for a letdown.

as for the michael-walt computer stuff. i'm not sure what's going on. at first i had thought that michael had turned the monitor off before jack snuck a peek. but i think that's something that we'll see or learn about soon enough. i think that we're going to learn that this is something like a screensaver or sleep mode or something. nothing too big would be my guess.

i am hoping that next week is a sawyer episode, like as he joins in on the hunt for michael. but i think i'm reaching there. btw, this jack protecting kate stuff is getting really tired and pissing me off. why is jack such a fucking neanderthal about all this shit? it better have to do with his wife and the breakup, b/c if it doesn't i'm gonna puke.

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As bad as being a Buffalo sports fan has been (wide right, immaculate deception, No Goal, a bankrupt hockey team, the shrewd strategizing coach who defines straightshooting as hiding who the starting quarterback will be when everyone already knows) it could be worse.

This is from the AP story of the New York "Hockey" Islanders firing another coach:

Fired Islanders coach Steve Stirling, who ran practice Wednesday morning, was hired as the 11th coach in Islanders history in June 2003 and became the eighth dismissed by Milbury in his 10 years as general manager.

...

Milbury has revamped the roster several times, changed coaches eight times and has never won a playoff series since he's been in charge. Yet his job has never been threatened by team owner Charles Wang.

Milbury even relieved himself of coaching duties twice.

When Stirling replaced Laviolette after the Islanders' second consecutive playoff appearance following seven years out of the postseason, Milbury figured this was the last coach he'd be allowed to hire.

That wasn't the case.

He took a chance on a guy who had never led an NHL team after Stirling came off a successful two-year stint as coach of the Islanders' AHL Bridgeport affiliate.

While Stirling lasted less than 1½ seasons, Laviolette moved on to Carolina and now has the Hurricanes in first place in the Southeast Division, just one point behind Ottawa for the best mark in the Eastern Conference. Laviolette will also be the U.S. coach at next month's Torino Olympics.

HOLY YIKES, BATMAN!