Take Me Out To The Ball Game

It's been a long time since I went to a baseball game. The last time I saw a baseball game Arizona didn't have a hockey franchise and the Nationals were still known as the Expos. It's been that long. Nic, Nesrin, Lisa and I saw the Nationals play the Dodgers tonight. It was Lisa's first National League game. She's a big Yankees fan and has attended American League games all her life.

Nationals fans look like a very fickle bunch. People were still coming into the stadium after the first inning, people started leaving the stadium en masse after the bottom of the seventh inning.

I'm not a baseball fan, but even I could tell that the Nationals were having a rough day. I'm sure the fans weren't too disappointed though, because the Nationals did manage to hit a lot of foul balls into the bleachers. It was a complete shut out. The Dodgers got six runs in the seventh inning. Final score? 10-0.

Weeds, Season 2

Weeds has one of the best ensemble casts on television, and while I have no idea where Weeds fits on the continuum between The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm, I know I like it. So there. Put that in your bong and smoke it.

Of course, that figurative bong I mentioned in the last paragraph is one of the main reasons why I enjoy the series so much. You don't have to use a bong in the literal sense of the word to enjoy Weeds.

I don't want to hang around scofflaws or potheads in my every day life, but Jenji Kohan manages to make a compelling contemporary comedy of manners (or lack thereof) out of the suburban milieu her characters inhabit.

The bourgeois baiting that goes on in the series can be a little bit too cute by half, but the humor makes it a lot more palatable. As much as I enjoyed American Beauty, Weeds makes the latter look ponderous and heavy.

The writers on Weeds have been especially good at ratcheting up the narrative tension with each episode this season. Last seasons cliffhanger was good - Nancy found out she had just slept with a DEA agent. This seasons finale was even better - a Mexican standoff involving two rival groups of drug dealers and it looks like Nancy's son, Silas was just arrested with a trunk full of marijuana in his car. I can't wait for the third season to start!

Real Time With Bill Maher

One of the finest intellects in America today, P.J. O'Rourke was a guest on Real Time With Bill Maher. O'Rourke is one of the best humorists in American letters since Mark Twain. So who does Bill Maher book as the other guest on the panel that evening?

Ben Affleck.

I'd always felt indifferent to Affleck, but after seeing him opposite P.J. O'Rourke, I think that Affleck is an asshat. Everything that came out of his mouth was so vapid when compared with what O'Rourke had to say. Who books the guests on that show? The only logical explanation for this mismatched pair would be that there is no booker - Maher gets a couple of chimps to pick names out of his rolodex. I can't imagine a more stupid and random way to pick guests.

I can't wait for the guest panel featuring Paris Hilton and Christopher Hitchens!

Lost, Season 3, Episode 22, "Through The Looking Glass"

The very first episode of season three was called "A Tale of Two Cities". It was nice to see that the writers brought the highbrow literary name dropping around full circle with an allusion to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan which also pays homage to that literary classic written by Charles Dickens.

I found myself hoping that Charlie would manage to escape the doom that Desmond predicted for him. The manner of his death though was absolutely brilliant. Charlie's final moments were not unlike those of Spock or Sydney Carton. It was sad, but from a dramatic point of view I found it very satisfactory. The end of Desmond's relationship with Charlie had a bittersweet quality. There was really nothing that Desmond could do, and the information that Charlie gave Desmond could be useful if Desmond can get it to the survivors in a timely fashion.

For now it looks like Desmond's visions are accurate, but they tend to play out in ways that even he can't full understand. It's beginning to look like he is taking on the attributes of Casandra. While Desmond is able to foresee the future there is nothing that he can do to forestall it.

If the Looking Glass Station was the dramatic lynch pin around which the episode was structured than the exodus from the beach to the radio tower was...a little disappointing in hindsight. It looks like the survivors have the upper hand for now, but it remains to be seen how long that will last as it looks like Ben might not have lied about the ship that has been waiting offshore.

There was one final mystery that not a lot of bloggers are writing about, but it is one that I increasingly find relevant. What is the Canadian connection? Is it just a gag or will there be future episodes of lost set in Canada? Ethan when he was introduced in season one claimed to be from Canada. When Mikhail surfaces and see the two women he says:

"I thought you two were on assignment in Canada."

Is this some shorthand for an obscure boring place that won't offer any suspicion when offered as part of a cover story? Or is there some sort of darker conspiracy at work?

As always I found myself grinding my teeth during Jack's flashbacks. I find his flashbacks to be some of the most boring and redundant on the show. That's no easy feat given how many candidates there are for that particular prize.

Toward the end of the special two hour long episode I began to despair that there would be no dramatic payoff, and than in the last scene, the writers pulled what I suspected but dared not hope as I watched the flashback unfold. The audience was watching a flash forward and not a flashback. At the end of the episode I was one very happy Lost fan.

John Podhoretz, Tool

Somehow I'm not surprised this one slipped by the copy editors over at The Weekly Standard:

When a director named Wes Craven made a cheap little movie about a bunch of rednecks turned into monsters by atomic waste called The Hills Have Eyes, he said he had been inspired by the work of the Swedish existentialist filmmaker Ingmar Bergman--particularly The Virgin Spring.

Close, but no cigar Mr. Podhoretz. The cheap film by Wes Craven that he claimed was a remake of The Virgin Spring (or Jungfrukallan as it is listed on the IMDB) was The Last House On The Left. That odious little snuff film had a bunch of Charles Mansonesque hippies terrorizing, torturing, and murdering two teenage girls.

I don't really care for either film myself. However, claiming that Wes Craven said that The Hills Have Eyes was inspired by Ingmar Bergman unfairly stacks the deck in your favor, Mr. Podhoretz.

The Sopranos, Season 6, Episode 19, "The Second Coming"

The very first shot in this episode of The Sopranos shows a pile of bags full of asbestos dumped in a meadow by the side of the road. If I had to make a prediction about Tony's eventual fate, I'd argue that if he goes to prison it will be because of the asbestos. I don't think Tony will get punished, but if he does, asbestos will be used in a manner similar to income tax evasion, which was what put Al Capone in prison. If nothing else, the asbestos storyline seems to be a clear violation of the dictum, "Don't shit where you eat."

Another reason why I think asbestos will figure prominently in Tony's eventual downfall is a the fact that the characters note that the kickback they received from the construction workers was not placed in an envelope in two different scenes. Why mention it twice if it was an unimportant detail? It could be a red herring, but then again it might be a sign of larger issues at play.

There are plenty of other clues about what could happen in the last two episodes of the series. Tony and Phil are arguing over money, and Phil's henchmen beat one of the foremen on Tony's construction site. Tony ups the ante by inflicting a brutal beating on Coco for making inappropriate comments to meadow. Phil refuses to meet with Tony to smooth over the most recent developments in their feud.

While it is overshadowed by the feud Tony is having with Phil, Agent Grasso drops by Satriale's to talk about terrorism. I don't think there has been an episode in the second half of season six where Agent Grasso hasn't made an appearance. I'm not sure if it will be a factor in the last two episode, but at this point this is the one small narrative strand (unlike the Russian) which won't go away.

AJ's problems have reached a climax with this episode. AJ is a chip off the old block but his mental deterioration appears to be happening at a faster pace than that of his old man. It could be the compressed time line but I couldn't figure out if his new found social conscience was genuine or just a case of limousine liberalism. It's not as totally out of left field as Tony's problem gambling - AJ has occasionally shown signs of cracking open a book.

AJ's method of suicide (asphyxiation) was not entirely dissimilar from the way Tony murdered Christopher in last weeks episode. The young men in Tony's life appear to be "suffocated" by his proximity, whether literally, as in the case of Christopher, or figuratively, as in the life AJ has led under the shadow of his father.

One of the most interesting moments of this particular episode didn't occur during the episode itself but in the recap that preceded it. In the final shot of last weeks episode, a deliriously happy Tony shouted out:

"I get it!"

He never said (as I originally thought I had heard):

"I did it!"

In conversations with Dr. Melfi and his crew in this episode, Tony puts a lot of stock in the revelation he had while on peyote. Whatever wisdom he gleaned from his psychedelic vision had entirely dissipated by the time he went to visit his son in the hospital ward by the end of the episode. Irrational exuberance was replaced by a world weary shuffle into the ward where his suicidal son was being held under observation.

Lost, Season 3, Episode 21, "Greatest Hits"

At the start of the latest Lost episode, Desmond was giving Charlie, those pained, slightly constipated looks he gives Charlie whenever he has a vision of the latter man's impending death. Desmond had bad news for Charlie, but possibly some good news for some of the castaways.

As Jack's plan for rescuing the castaways is revealed, Charlie's fate becomes more clear. The cable and the death by drowning have occurred in Desmond's visions before, so it was interesting to see both the cable and drowning incorporated into Desmond's latest vision.

The flashbacks did remind me why I originally liked the character. Charlie, at the start of the series was a lot more carefree, not unlike the character we saw in the flashbacks. All the angst made the character rather dull, and I think some more lighthearted flashbacks like Hurley's would have made things a lot more interesting.

The most arresting visual image this episode was Alex skinning a rabbit. Later, she talks to her boyfriend Karl, and he thinks he is getting fresh bunny for dinner. I'm not sure if Alex plans to betray Ben, but if this isn't foreshadowing I don't know what is.

Bunnies play a recurring role in Ben's narrative arch. He used a rabbit when he conned Sawyer, and we later see a younger Ben using a rabbit to make sure the sonic fence around the Dharma compound has been turned off.

There are spoilers circulating on the internet that say the season finale will make the audience wonder how the series can continue. My wife thinks that during the season finale they will make it look like the survivors of Flight 815 get rescued, and then introduce a plot twist (the airplane, helicopter, or magic carpet bursting into flames) in the season four opener. I think that's as good (and logical at this point) guess as any.

Update: Simon Crowe has a wrap up of last nights episode here and Andrew Dignan has a great post (as always) here. Rounding out my favorite trio of Lost critics is James Brush, who has posted on the subject of Lost and literature here.

Smoothie Secrets

Using yogurt to make smoothies was a great idea, sweetie. I get a thicker smoothie, and the yogurt gives the beverage a nice bite to it. I was comparing the soy milk and yogurt labels, and it looks like yogurt is a better source of calcium.

Masters of Horror: Jenifer

Masters of Horror: Jenifer. Directed by Dario Argento. Starring Steven Weber and Carrie Anne Fleming.

The characters may have said "upstate" in an attempt to place the series in New York, but that Second Cup takeout cup sitting on the dashboard of the car in the opening shot places this episode of The Masters of Horror in Canada.

Dario Argento directs this episode, and it was adapted from the classic Bruce Jones and Berni Wrightson story, "Jenifer". It was a pretty standard Tales From The Crypt treatment of the story, which made for an entertaining hour.

Personally, I think that when a shorter work has that kind of O.Henry "shock" ending a half hour is better than a full hour, but Argento managed to keep the narrative moving at a good clip. I thought it was interesting that Argento introduced a new element to the story - Frank Spivey (Steven Weber) seemed to have been literally infected by Jenifer (Carrie Anne Fleming) but Argento drops that thread shortly after Spivey's life starts going downhill.

Michael Moore, Slicko

Wifey asked me if I wanted to see Sicko, the new Michael Moore documentary when it hits theaters. I guess I should go and see it. However, I was doing a little bit of research on Moore's website and I have to say that I'm not impressed so far. The first paragraph in Moore's open letter to Henry Paulson addresses the controversy regarding his trip to Cuba. However, I suspect the second paragraph reveals Moore's real intentions:

I believe that the decision to conduct this investigation represents the latest example of the Bush Administration abusing the federal government for raw, crass, political purposes. Over the last seven years of the Bush Presidency, we have seen the abuse of government to promote a political agenda designed to benefit the conservative base of the Republican Party, special interests and major financial contributors. From holding secret meetings for the energy industry to re-writing science findings to cooking the books on intelligence to the firing of U.S. Attorneys, this Administration has shown time and time again that it will abuse its power and authority.

Does Moore really plan to make a film about the health care industry in the United States, or is he going back to the Bush-bashing well one last time before W leaves office? I'd find a documentary about health care interesting, but I think a thinly veiled attack against George W. Bush would put more bums in seats. If Hillary Clinton gets into office, Michael Moore is going to have four very lean years.

The Sopranos, Season 6, Episode 18, "Kennedy and Heidi"

Last weeks episode of The Sopranos was great, but this episode was brilliant. I'd always wondered what would happen to Christopher. Ever since Season 4 and the intervention, Christopher has been walking around with a bullseye on his chest.

I had complained last week that I was unsatisfied with the resolution of the feud between Paulie and Chris, but now I understand why things played out the way they did last episode. The real feud all along wasn't between Paulie and Chris, but between Tony and Chris.

Tony's murder of Chris is the perfect crime of opportunity. Suffocating Chris after his vehicle rolls over was a nice twist. The drug use that Chris admits too after the crash provides Tony with a motive for killing Chris, and the accident insures that not too many questions are asked.

I find the sessions with Dr. Melfi disturbing. The therapy seems to be making Tony into a better sociopath. He no longer seems interested in wrestling with his conscience on the couch, and I'm not sure why Dr. Melfi thinks she can do any good in this relationship. It's interesting to see that AJ's sounds like his father did in Season 1 when he visits his shrink.

This weeks episode laid the groundwork for what I assume will be a confrontation between Tony and Phil Leotardo in the final episodes. If they handle that narrative thread in the same manner as Christopher's murder, Sopranos fans won't be disappointed.

Elvis Costello at the Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD

Elvis Costello has younger fans in Japan. I'd been to two concerts he held in Osaka, and I didn't see as many receding hairlines amongst the audience members as I did in Baltimore. My sweetie pie and I helped bring down the average age of the concert goers significantly.

Regardless of the place or age of his audience, Costello always puts on a good show. The first time I saw him perform it was a stripped down acoustical set, but in Baltimore he really rocked out the venue.

While there was some new stuff mixed in, Costello stuck to a play list culled from My Aim Is True, Armed Forces, Imperial Bedroom, This Years Model, and Get Happy. "Green Shirt", "High Fidelity", "Watching The Detectives", "Shabby Doll", (The Angels Wanna Wear) My Red Shoes were some of the highlights of the shoe.

Starting the encore with "Alison" and finishing with "Pump It Up" and (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding was a brilliant move by Costello. It really brought down the house.

Christopher Hitchens at Politics and Prose Bookstore

Somebody please get Christopher Hitchens a hip flask. The poor man was taking slugs from one of those little mini bottles of what looked like vodka. It was pretty clear that he desperately wanted to take a bigger belt from the bottle but had to pace himself because of its small size.

Christopher Hitchens was at Politics and Prose on Connecticut Avenue at 7 PM to promote his new book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Ruins Everything. The bookstore was packed. Hitchens can draw as big a crowd as Mark Steyn and P.J. O'Rourke can for their speaking engagements. The man is a brilliant public speaker, and is able to dominate a room like no one else I have ever seen. My old parish priest had a similar effect, but he had the benefit of a captive audience.

There were a lot of believers who came looking to score points against Hitchens during the time alloted for questions. Hitchens would always listen politely, if not attentively, and then proceed to tear them a new one in the figurative rather than the literal sense of the word.

One of the believers in the crowd apologized for not reading the book as attentively as he could have while he struggled to frame his incoherent question. Hitchens brought down the house when he responded, "As long as you got a receipt for it I don't care."

Maybe the air conditioning could have been turned up a little higher, but this was one of the most ornery crowds I'd ever seen. Some of the believers, and one of the atheists got booed by the audience for their questions or comments.

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for any speaking engagements Christopher Hitchens has in Washington D.C. - seeing him on C-Span is one thing, seeing him live is quite another!

Lost, Season 3, Episode 20, "The Man Behind The Curtain"

Another Lost episode, and further evidence that my generation is starting to take over the world. Last episode there was an obvious shout out to Return of the Jedi and this episode had a homage to the Evil Dead. The only thing that was missing from the scene with Ben and Locke in the Cabin was the Raimi Cam speed ramp. I can't wait until Hurley discovers a Betamax VCR!

Anyone over fifty reading this blog can relax. Your generation refuses to lose its death grip choke hold on our popular culture. I noticed that this episode was the second time that they incorporated Three Dog Night into the soundtrack. Ben sharing a beer with his father before he killed him contrasted nicely with the genuine camaraderie on display when Hurley, Jin, and Sawyer fixed up the Volkswagen bus in the aforementioned episode.

There are still plenty of mysteries left after this Ben flashback. While I thought the four toed statue was visually compelling, I've never found it as interesting as what happened to the Dharma Initiative. The broken statue (at least for now) is nothing more than a prop, while the Dharma Initiative is drama and conflict.

Last nights episode answered what happened to the Dharma Initiative to my satisfaction. The more important question now is why were the hostiles and the Dharma Initiative fighting to begin with, and I can only guess it has something to do with the dislike of technology evinced by Jacob.

Speaking of Jacob,it looks like you are right yet again, sweetie pie. I've got a strange feeling of deja vu. The man that Ben met as a young boy in the jungle was Richard Alpert. I thought it might be Jacob, but it turns out I was fooled by his wig and fake tan. Now that's acting!

I enjoyed the sudden left turn near the conclusion of the episode. While I wouldn't write Locke off just yet, it was nice to see a character placed in mortal danger without a flashback to tip off the audience as to what might happen.

With all the information being revealed at an alarming clip, the series is obviously reaching it's dramatic climax. I can't wait until next weeks episode to see what plot twists will emerge.

Update: Simon Crowe has an interesting post on the death of John Locke.

The Moustache

It looks like you were right, sweetie pie. I was shaving my beard off and I thought I'd see what I looked like with just a moustache. When I shave I look like Casey. For my American readers, Casey is the person in the middle of that photo. When I've got a beard going I look like Ashton Kutcher.

Unfortunately, when I've got a moustache I look like this guy. I don't look like this hep cat at all.

A man's got to know his limitations. I promise you I'll never be seen sporting a moustache be it handlebar, walrus, toothbrush, or pencil.

The Sopranos, Season 6, Episode 17, "Walk Like A Man"

Where is the vendetta between Paulie and Christopher going? I enjoyed the latest installment of the episode quite a bit, but the ending was anti-climactic. The feud between the two mobsters reached a boiling point this episode and what happens at the end?

Christopher shoots J.T. Dolan, the writer of Cleaver, in the head.

From a narrative point of view I thought it was a cop out. If Christopher was angry enough to shoot someone, wouldn't he have vented his rage on Paulie sooner? I've got a bad feeling that the final episode will restore the status quo of the series. Nothing major will have changed since the start of the series. A few minor players will be killed or incarcerated, but no matter how stupidly some of the major players on Tony's crew behave (such as Paulie and Christopher this season) they'll just go on living as they did before.

The other storyline this episode involving AJ complemented Christopher's story quite well. AJ seems to be walking down the same path as his father, but whether or not he is as successful at it remains to be seen. His friends boast about the fact that AJ is Tony Soprano's son, but Robert Iler lacks the physical presence that James Gandolphini has onscreen, and as a result AJ invariably looks like more of a follower than a leader.

The specter of Islamic terrorism rears it's head again this episode, but I'm still not sure where that storyline is headed. I'm not sure if it will eventually help upset or maintain the status quo at the end of the series. Agent Grasso states that any information that Tony gives him on the matter would be taken into consideration by a judge during sentencing. I'm not so sure Tony would have been so ready to give up information if the "terrorists" were connected to anyone other than Christopher or Paulie.

Apart from the jarring conclusion, the episode was interesting to watch from start to finish. I've been enjoying how the multiple narratives for the different characters complement and contrast with Tony's own narrative as the final season winds down.

America 1, Canada 0

Canada: 10 years ago.

Two months: Average wait time to see a GP.

Two more months: Length of time it takes to see a dermatologist after a referral from my GP to have an ugly looking cyst on my back checked out. Dermatologist opts to do nothing.

Cost: Nothing. Manitoba has a single payer health care system.

Feelings I have looking at that ugly cyst in the mirror and wondering what the hell it is exactly: Anxious and a little nervous about what it might become.

USA: This year.

Less than 1 week: Length of time it takes to set up an appointment and see a GP.

Less than 1 week: Length of time it takes to set up an appointment and see a surgeon in order to have the cyst lanced.

5 minutes: Length of time it takes for the surgeon to lance, drain and remove the cyst.

Cost: Our insurance handles most of it, but I am out of pocket $66.30.

Feeling of satisfaction I have looking at the scar and knowing that the issue has been resolved entirely to my satisfaction for the first time in ten years: Priceless.

Lost, Season 6, Episode 19, "The Brig"

So Locke hasn't drunk the Kool-Aid - at least not yet. The last time Locke talked to Kate I was left with the impression that he had joined the others. However, with three more episodes to go I'm sure there is plenty of time for another turn of the screw.

Locke, much like Jack, seems to get along well with the others. The others allow Locke and Jack a certain amount of freedom while imprisoning the obviously criminal elements (Sawyer and Kate) of the castaways. I'm not saying the others are the "good group" but I'm starting to think that the real battle between good and evil is fought on an individual rather than a group basis.

Locke enlists Sawyer to help kill his father. Ben wants Locke to do this to prove that he is worthy of the others trust. It's an interesting reversal of the story of Abraham and Issac.

Locke gets Sawyer to do the job after a helpful other named Richard gives Locke Sawyer's file. I'm not so sure how farming out the actual killing to Sawyer makes Locke any less culpable for murdering his father in cold blood. Locke literally had to bear the burden of his fathers murder as he carried the corpse back to the others camp.

This episode did a real 180 degree turn on another front. Usually characters don't share what seems to be crucial information with each other. Today a split was generated amongst the survivors on the beach when Kate informed Jack about the rescued pilot and the lack of trust he had managed to generate amongst the other survivors.

Locke was also in a giving mood when he outed Juliet as a mole and revealed the others plan to kidnap Sun to Sawyer. Locke even had evidence that Sawyer could use against Juliet.

So far the show has been consistently delivering narrative momentum or entertaining filler episodes. Before the Season 1 or 2 finales I always thought any sort of misstep during the last episode would be disappointing. However, with the way the episodes have been going lately, they could do three more "tattoo" episodes and while I would be bored I wouldn't be disappointed.

For those of you interested in the Lost literature angle I suggest you read what James has to say about Catch 22 and Lost here.