Around the horn - 05.31.07

NEWS:

Potter buffs may soon be able to visit Hogwarts.

I can see the lawsuit now. Radcliffe V. Rowlings & Organziation charged with building Potter theme park.

“I begged them not to do this… I surely will NEVER get laid now that these plans are under way.”

Israeli, Palestinian leaders to hold talks.

Both sides of the table insisted on a furious round of beer pong tournaments before they will resume peace talks. As you can see, the Israeli Armed Forces are rushing to be spectators at the event- tanks and all.

Ex-KGB spy: UK tried to recruit me as a denture model.

Proving that the residents of the UK and Russia all see the same dentist. Apparently the Austin Powers look is big throughout all of Europe.

SPORTS:

A-Rod distracts Jays, Damon gets 2,000th hit as Yanks snap skid.

For real? I suppose when you get a HUGE win that puts you a meager 13.5 games back, you do whatever it takes. WHAT AN A-HOLE!

2007 American League Standings
EAST
Boston
36 - 16
Baltimore
26 - 27
Toronto
24 -28
Tampa Bay
22 - 29
NY Yankees
22 - 29 (13.5 games out of first.)

MOVIES:

This a movie for all those kids who got picked last for kickball…
Nerds of a feather with headgear flock together…

PERSONAL:

Tis that wonderful time of the month we in the financial world like to call "month end." I love and hate this time of the month because the work schedule is grueling, but it's great to see the fruits of your labors at the end.

Future Mrs. LCT and I are leaving for ATL late on Friday and will attend a wedding for the former roommate of Future Mrs. LCT.

Otherwise there is no real news... Only 72 days until the wedding and all is well.

That is all.... Have a great Thursday Kiddies and stay safe.

A Wednesday without LOST..... I shed a tear...

News:

If I had to spend more than 60 minutes with this J.W.B. Jr I would also be pissed off and ready to kill. Let alone show up to the meeting to find out we're wearing the same outfit?!? That son of a bitch!


The rest of the news today is actually too depressing to even entertain making fun of. Mothers killing their kids, whales missing in Northern California... A man can only take so much...

Sports News:

2007 American League Standings
EAST
Boston 36 - 15
Baltimore 25 - 27
Toronto 24 - 27
Tampa Bay 21 - 29
NY Yankees 21 - 29

And why are the Red Sox in red, white, and blue.. Because g-d's children should wear the nations colors, and the Spankees are in pink because girls just wanna have fun, or win a game, or not be in last place 14 games back. Something like that...

I would comment on other sports, but until the Patriots regular season begins, is there really any point?

Personal News:

I don't want to totally steal T-Guy-J's thunder, since he did such an outstanding job on reporting the outcome of Sunday's BATTLE OF THE AGES.. So please click on the hyperlink to get the shot by shot account of the match.

Future Mrs. LCT and I are off to Hotlanta this weekend for a wedding. It will be joyous.. Heat, humidity, Klan rallies, and horrible artery clogging fried food. What else could a growing boy want?!?

The season finale of LOST was fantastic, but for those of us here at LTC it was somewhat like the superbowl. Leaves you feeling empty and sad because you know that Wednesday nights will be craptastic for at least 8 more months, until the 4th season starts. Thank the lord above for Netflix!

Movie News:

Those of us here at the LCT were treated this past weekend, to not 1 but 2 screenings of the Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End.

We don't want to give anything away - but we will say this... Don't do drugs, or drink heavily before this film. In fact perhaps some Adderall or Ritalin might do you some good- because there are so many mind blowing, fast paced action scenes, intermingled with plot twists and people screaming ARGGG... It's somewhat hard to keep pace with the film. There are some extra craft esc cheesy moments, but all in all - the film is not too bad and get's the LCT seal of approval. In summation- the film is worth your $10.

This is a super busy week for those of us here at the LCT.. Look for more new posts in the coming weeks.

Summation.

IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED – LOST “THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS”, PLEASE AVOID READING THIS ENTRY UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN IT, AS IT WILL SPOIL THE FINALE FOR YOU.

So the responses to the post earlier were not as forthcoming as I had hoped so I will just create my own interpretation of the season finale of LOST SEASON III.

I would have to say that this was in the top 5 episodes of the entire series if not the top episode for me. Not only was the acting fantastic, but the storyline, cinematography, and execution of the plot was flawless.

The episode took a methodical approach at setting up the storyline and arch for the remaining 3 seasons of LOST, but at the same time left room for more elaboration of what transpired on the island after the emergency rescue call went out. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The episode was Jack centric and focused on a devolved and crumbling Jack. Pill popping, drinking in excess, and self destructing. In short he was a broken man that has slowly started to turn into his father, who by the time the episode is over- you are not entirely sure if Christian Sheppard is alive or dead.

The show switches back and forth between scenes of Jack’s descent and current happenings on the island- which included Jack leading the group to the radio tower, the killing of 7 others on the beach, the rescue of Sayid, Bernard, and Jin by Hurley, the death of Charlie after he turns off the jamming signal, the appearance of WALT as Locke is stopped from committing suicide, and the call to Naomi’s ship as she is killed by Locke.

I know that was a quick and vague recap- but the episode was two hours long and really involved.

The big twist in the show is that in the flashbacks- they aren’t flashbacks at all- but rather flash forwards to Jack after being rescued from the island. Jack’s devolving is a result of being back at home, and his yearning and struggle to go back to the island. There is a true sense that something went VERY wrong when the group was rescued from the island but there is enough ambiguity to let your imagination run wild in trying to figure out what that is exactly. The show culminates with Jack meeting mystery person (KATE) at LAX and crying and screaming that they have to go back.

Now everyone noticed that the name of the funeral home was an anagram for FLASH FORWARD, but here are a few other things that people might have missed.

1. The song that Charlie was making in his head as he was tortured. I think… Not positive, but I think was the song that Jack was listening to in his car as he drove to the funeral home.
2. I believe that obituary that Jack read – and later attended the funeral for was none other than Michael.
3. I believe that Charlie didn’t need to die but was rather written out of the show because the actor who portrays Charlie - Dominic Monagham, had long been rumored for wanting to leave the show and take advantage of his success in motion pictures. He is staring in a movie in 2008 called “I sell the dead.”

Here are the things that I will thinking about as I wait for the shows return next year:

1. I am curious to know if Naomi and her shipmates are actually the Hanso Foundation – which in my opinion would make perfect sense.
2. I am curious to see if the show picks up in the present tense- with all the survivors stories once they return home, or if the show continues on the island at the point of “rescue.”
3. I want to know what happens to Ben and the remaining “Others.”
4. I want to know who/what/why/ and how Richard Alpert and other “hostiles” are.
5. I want to know about the island in it’s entirety.
6. I want to know what “the temple” is.
7. In short- I want the same answers that have been looming for 3 seasons.

I will say that although I don’t feel I know A LOT about the underlying and overbearing questions of the show, the finale did make a lot of ground in the way of entertainment value. I believe that a lot of the fans of the show will spend the next 8 months discussing the “what ifs” and be more than happy to tune in when the show returns in February of 2008.

First of two posts for today.

Top O The Morning LTC readers. As you may have guessed, todays entries will be mostly about last nights finale of LOST season III. The first post is actually not going to be written by me- it's going to be written by you!

This is an open thread asking you all to please post your thoughts on the finale, specualtion, answers, thoughts, observations, etc etc...

Please try to attach a name to the comments, as I would like to quote some of you in my post that will come later today.

Cheers, and happy writing.

Mr. LTC

A little humor for hump day...

Quick entry.

Tonight is the finale of LOST season III. I am beyond excited to see the show redeem itself with a good send off until next February.

SPOILERS - DO NOT CLICK ON LINKS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW. NOTHING MAJOR- JUST SOME MINUTE LONG SNEAK PEEKS OF TONIGHTS 2 HOUR FINALE.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

US PREVIEW

CANADIAN PREVIEW

UK PREVIEW

Tomorrow night… I return.. .That’s right… For all of you who thought you killed off Captain Shaun Sparrow … I say ARGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

I am having this kind of week!

The precursor…

I am beyond excited for this memorial day weekend. This past weekend was not a great one, as the future Mrs. LCT was ill and had to take it really easy. It was terrible to see her so under the weather, but we fixed that up (slightly) by joining the rest of the audience (who happened to be our height – although the average age was 8) at a noon showing of Shrek III.

The movie was really good- but unfortunately not good enough to make the Mrs. Feel 100% better.

This week is going to be VERY busy for me, and so posts might be few and far in-between. But here are some highlights that I hope to accomplish by Monday of next week.

1.LOST season Finale on Wednesday.
2.Pirates of the Caribbean III on Thursday.
3.Drive up to VT on Friday after work.
4.Have a rousing round of mini golf at Bromley Mountain with Mr. and Mrs. T Guy J.
5.Have an even more rousing series of high speed races down the alpine slide at Bromley Mountain.. Hopefully I won’t toss my cookies on the way down.
6.Potentially have a round of golf with the soon to be brother-in-law, law student.
7.Hopefully celebrate another 2/3 of complete sweep of the Boston Red Sox (G-d’s children) over the New York Spankees.

T-Guy J has stated that he intends to win at Mini- Golf. You better bring you’re a-game vanilla bear- because Gizmo plans on taking you Mrs. T Guy J to school. OLD SCHOOL that is! The weather forecast is sunny with a chance of humiliation and a 4 stroke loss.

Follow the white rabbit.

In last nights episode of LOST my faith in the writing and direction of the show was renewed for season III. I re-watched last weeks episode “The Man Behind The Curtain” and got a new perspective on the show. I didn’t really take much away from it other than Jacob is real. I went frame by frame through the climactic scene in which Locke and Ben go and see Jacob, and sure enough at one point there WAS a man sitting in the cabin.

While I felt that the storyline has become less mythical and more humanistic, I now feel that the show might have an air of possibility to become something great again in season IV.

With that being said- Although I “know” per a spoiler what the season finale includes (this happens to also include the BIG plot twist and revelation for the next season) I hope that it is well executed and brings an air of excitement and commitment back to the viewing public.

One thing from last nights show that intimated to me that the show will take a more supernatural/ethereal stance is the magnitude of the LOOKING GLASS station and the fact that on the schematic for the station was…………… a white rabbit.





Will the white rabbit lead us down the whole and onto the path of answers, resolutions, and finality to what exactly is going on and why? Probably not- but at least we are assured that the two hour finale will be action packed and hopefully provide some substantial subject matter that brings the bigger picture into focus.

And then there were two.

I have to say that for most of season III of LOST, I have been really disappointed with the show. Not because of the format of the show- that has really never changed, but more so the direction the show has taken. This past summer if you played the LOST game on the web and finally got to see the 7 minute synopsis of the video with Alvar Hanso- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAsRPP2I38 it renewed your faith in the genius of the program and made you want to tune in for season III.

Season III has been about self discovery while trying to answer the questions about the others. So far we have learned that DHARMA was purged and all involved other than Ben were killed. The “Others” were native to the Island in some sense, and reclaimed their property by killing the science and humanity driven efforts of the DHARMA Initiative. Although the glimpses that we have seen really don’t tell you much of anything. There is no clear definition of who were the “good guys” and who were the “bad guys.” As we learn with this show- there are always 4815162342 sides to a story- they just never seem to get to the point with a clear and definitive statement and answer.

Yesterday I read a scathing rant on the www.tailsection.com about a site that posted the spoilers for the final two episodes of the season : “Greatest Hits” and “Through the looking glass.” I’m not sorry I read them because regardless of whether they are spoilers or foilers- the premise shall be entertaining to watch- and keep in line with the themes of season III.

I am hard pressed to see how the show transcends into 3 more seasons of enticing, viewable, and captivating story telling, because this season really didn’t do the trick for me. It gave humanity and fallibility to a story that was so bold, mystical, and ominous for the two initial seasons.

I will be interested to hear feedback after tonight and more importantly next week. I honestly believe that the shows creators never imagined that the show would have this much success and completely deviated from the original plot line. I just hope that the new vision that is inspiring them to drag the story out another 3 years gets dramatically better as the show goes on.

Some things that I feel the show has not addressed and needs to:
1. Who are the others/ where are they from/ what is the Island/ Besides reproductive research, what are they actually doing there?
2. What is with the 4 toes statue?
3. Who is smokey/ Jacob, and what role does he/ it play?
4. What are the numbers?
5. If the DHARMA Initiative was purged- how/why was Kelvin in the hatch?
6. What is the point of the show?

What a weekend!

Today’s post won’t be heavy with details of this weekend as I want to make a longer and more detailed post of the events of the weekend and the wedding we attended that will be accompanied by photos.

I will say that this weekend was one of the most fun I have had in a long time and that Megs and I danced until we just could not dance anymore.

I figured I would go over the usual suspects and see what I can come up with.

News:

Hamas-Fatah cease-fire collapses CNN
“Does anyone other than me see this as politics at it’s finest? Although I disagree with the war in all it’s embodiements- I have said for a long time that the only way the Middle East conflict will be resolved is when all aggressors essentially turn on one another and start to take one another off the face of the planet. It seems that all over the region, the factions that have been warring against the US occupation are starting to turn the conflict within and war amongst themselves.” SDG

Couples get up to $42,000 to have more babies CNN
“How do I get signed up for this?” SDG

Old man beaten as people watch, tape shows>CNN “
"In a perfect world the next two contestants would be the President and Vise President of the current administration.” SDG

Teachers fake gunman attack on sixth graders CNN
“And the valuauble lesson in all of this is that 6th graders should really wear diapers to protect themselves when simualtions result in them crapping in their shorts.” SDG

Sports/ Self Affirmation:

2007 American League Standings
EAST

Boston
25 11 .694 - 11-5 14-6 198 125 Won 2 8-2
Baltimore
18 20 .474 8 12-8 6-12 172 182 Lost 2 6-4
NY Yankees
17 19 .472 8 10-9 7-10 200 175 Lost 1 5-5
Toronto
15 22 .405 10.5 9-11 6-11 167 185 Lost 1 2-8
Tampa Bay
15 22 .405 10.5 8-9 7-13 161 221 Won 1 3-7

Papi, Lugo, and Romero all celebrate their come from behind 6 run inning in the 9th to beat the O’s and take an 8 game lead of the AL EAST, AND the 3 month marker until my wedding day.



Personal:

As I mentioned – we attended an amazing wedding this weekend of the new and improved T- Guy J and Mrs. T Guy J. It was hands down one of the best weddings I have ever been to. More to come on this later in the week.

One thing I really took away from this weekend was that I am a very lucky man. My wife to be- the future Mrs. LCT’s is an astonishing woman who I love more than I can explain and I am so blessed and proud to be with. This weekend was total affirmation in every way – and made me understand even more than I did how excited and ready I am to marry my best friend.

Work place rant and other news.

Work place rant: There are some STINKY human beings on this earth. One thing that I have become very aware of and take great pride in is personal hygiene and good practices. One of said practices is being courteous to other people when using the rest room. The bathroom at work is like a little personal Mecca. It’s not supposed to be a place where you walk in and want to vomit because some stank ass before you made it smell like death. I think that there should be a compulsory law… A man law if you will that states that if you make an incredibly fowl smelling deposit in the place some of us call Shangri-La, then for g-d’s sake LIGHT A MATCH!

News: Again restated: “Is everyone taking crazy pills?”

Blair stepping down in June. CNN
G.W. Bush was seem quietly clutching a picture on Tony upon the announcement.. and it is rumored he was overheard mumbling: “I thought you’d love me forever.. you said you’d never leave.” SDG

Romney: Sharpton remark bigoted. CNN
“What you talkin bout Willis?” SDG

Kid breaks teacher's neck over seized iPod. CNN
“Hey, when an angry kid needs some Eminem to relax during class.. A kid needs some Eminem. I think this kid should be publicly caned and then made to listen to David Hasselhoffs greatest hits on repeat for the next 50 years in a small 10” X 8” cell for the rest off his life.” SDG

Monkeys frolic atop monstrously big rodents
“ It’s a monkey.. riding a rat the size of a dog.. Oh those Asians… putting the “enta.. what the fuck”… Back in entertainement! “ SDG

Sports:

2007 American League Standings
EAST

Boston
22 -10
NY Yankees
16-16
Baltimore
16 - 18
Tampa Bay
14 - 19
Toronto
13 - 20

G-d is good! Clemens can suck it, and I have 5 words for you: Schilling, Dice-K, Beckett, Wakefield, & Tavarez.

Now if G-d's children aka The Boston Red Sox, can just keep that 6 game lead in place for the next few months.. say I don't know... 4 or 5 months worth.. We may have another shot at the World Series!

LOST: WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW ACTUALLY ABOUT?!?!? All the “answers” we were getting revealed nothing more than the fact that the writers are reaching HARD in order to stretch the show out another 3 seasons. VERY disappointing… All the mysticism of the show is being humanized, and while this could make for a good storyline- it’s taking the fun out of it for me.

Personal News: Tonight Megs and I are headed to the tasting for the wedding and then onto VT for a wedding of a couple we are good friends with. It is going to be a nice relaxing long weekend. But there will be no posts until next week. Hopefully I will have some good pictures to post come Monday or Tuesday.

Lyrical tag you're it part II.

I had me a vision, I was a fireman in a time of fires, And I was paralyzed. A robot heart for a theme park world, Whatever keeps us alive, Whatever keeps claim to us being civilized.

-Matthew Good.

I think about this line from "Sort of protest song" often because to me, it sums up the worlds inaction towards all the shit that is going on. Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan, and list goes on and on...

Where to even begin.

The LCT has been sorely neglected lately and all I can say is.. ehh….

In all seriousness – things have been so busy and great lately that I have had little time to actually dedicate to ye old blog. So here’s a recap of what’s been going on.

Three weekends ago we had the luxury of spending some time with Ankil and Anju. Ankil is my best man and Anju is his lovely girlfriend. We had an awesome time at a Mets game and ended up coming home early due to spending a little too much time in the sun. It was a really nice afternoon spent with two people that we don’t see nearly enough. Getting older – it seems so much harder to find the time to see the people you want to see most.

This past weekend we headed to NY state to spend some QT with the family-in-law. Megs spent the day on Saturday with her mom doing all sorts of fun stuff for the wedding and I spent most of the day working. I did have the chance to get some lunch with Meg’s father and youngest brother. That evening we had the pleasure of meeting said youngest brother’s girlfriend. I have only known youngest brother for 2 years or so – but I feel we have become close in that time, and it is really wonderful to see how he has grown so much in that time.

This coming weekend we are headed back up to NY state on Thursday night for our tasting for our wedding. This shall be an excellent evening because the food and the place are both out of this world. On Friday we are headed up to Vermont for the weekend. One of Meg’s friends is getting married and I happen to have become good friends with the groom- T Guy J of http://tshirtguyj.blogspot.com/

Friday night we are headed to the rehearsal dinner followed by drinks at the hotel/resort http://rockresorts.com/info/equinox.asp where the wedding will be taking place on Saturday evening.

This summer is shaping up to be a very busy one. June we are headed to Atlanta for another wedding and then the rest of the month is somewhat slow. July I am away for business from the 6th -15th. I will be in Boston and then head to Las Vegas. August 12th is our wedding and then on the 13th we’ll be heading somewhere warm for our “mini” honeymoon. That following Saturday we’ll be back in NYC for yet ANOTHER wedding.

I’m dizzy just having typed that all…

Any who.. hope you’re all doing well out there in loyal reader land.. and we’ll talk again soon.