Thursday, March 05, 2009

LOST - "LaFleur" - A Thirty Second Review

Jackie's TV Blog, Lost

We moved forward a bit as we jumped back and forth between a three-year span. Here's the scoop:
  • Locke's turning the wheel in the Orchid Station did stop the time jumping for the island.
  • That doesn't mean the viewers stopped time jumping.
  • Faraday, Miles, Juliet, Sawyer, and Jin are stranded in 1974 on the island.
  • That's not to be confused with being stuck in 1973 Manhattan.
  • Sawyer (and Juliet) saved a damsel in distress.
  • Said damsel and her (now late) husband are part of the Dharma Initiative.
  • The husband was murdered and she was about to be murdered by "hostiles."
  • Richard Albert is the leader of the hostiles and still looks exactly the same (no matter the year). Surprise, surprise.
  • Sawyer and cohorts were kind of taken in by the Dharma folks.
  • Sawyer is now a flower. Er, he's going by the name Jim LaFleur, which is Jim the Flower in French. (See, all those years of studying the language certainly have made a difference in my life.)
  • In the beginning, Sawyer was told he's not Dharma material. Heh. He definitely isn't!
  • They must have worked their way into the hearts and minds of Dharma as they're there three years later and in with the in crowd of the initiative.
  • Sawyer now is with Juliet and deems Kate a distant memory.
  • They're still waiting for Locke to return.
  • But it's Jack, Kate, and Hurley who turn up.
  • Now we know why Jin was wearing the Dharma uniform.
  • And, Sawyer may just fall for Kate all over again, eh?
They've discontinued the LOST Entangled videos, but here's the video briefing of the episode from the ABC website.

Monday, March 02, 2009

The Bachelor's Big Finale Blog Discussion Post


Oh my, it's down to Melissa and Molly, eh? Here's a new blog discussion post as the last one got really swamped with comments. Remember to watch for the link to read more comments once we hit over 100! If you want to peek in at the official website, it's here.

The Celebrity Apprentice - Season Two Blog Talk


Unlike many of the shows I set up a blog discussion post for, I do watch Celebrity Apprentice. I doubt I'll be able to watch it as it airs each week due to other writing obligations. The show is on every Sunday night and, if I'm remembering right, it's going to be two-hour episodes every week for the season. It starts at 9 PM ET/PT.

I watched the premiere tonight and think the right person got fired. I never liked that person anyhow. So there. While I won't be watching the show on time each week, everyone is invited to discuss the happenings here. Spoilers don't bother me when I know the show has aired.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

The Amazing Race - "I'm Not Wearing That Girl's Leotard" Blog Post

Jackie's TV Blog, Amazing Race, TAR

Yes, it's time for ... The Amazing Race! Yay! I'll be writing a more thorough review for TV Squad a bit later tonight, but this is the place for the party! I'll update the post here with important events and all are welcome to join us in the comments area. For the third week in a row, we're starting on time here on the East Coast. Yikes!

Pit Stop Order
1. Mel and Mike -- my team in the blog pool -- also won trip to Costa Rica
2. Amanda and Kris
3. Kisha and Jen
4. Margie and Luke
5. Mark and Michael
6. Christie and Jodi
7. Jaime and Cara
8. Tammy and Victor
9. Brad and Victoria -- Philiminated

Aw, I really liked them. I didn't think I'd like Mike and Mel and wasn't really thrilled when I got them in the pool. I was sure Mel would be a problem, but I'm really enjoying them. I'm glad they got first place this week!

Celebrity Apprentice, Amazing Race, Survivor, Roofus the Cat and other stuff!

Let's talk us some TV ...

Of course, you all know that tonight is Amazing Race night! As usual, I'll have a post up and running at 8 PM ET so we can gather and cheer on our teams as the show airs here on the East Coast. Everyone is welcome to hang out and party in the comments area!

But then I get into dilemma time blogging-wise. After TAR airs, I have to write up a review of the episode for TV Squad. Thankfully Cold Case isn't on tonight due to a special movie on CBS. If it was, I'd be writing up the episode for CliqueClack TV. I want to watch The Sopranos at either 10 PM or 11 PM on A&E (the episode is aired twice in a row) as I'm trying to catch the last handful of episodes.

But, throw into the mix the new two-hour episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice and I'm really getting dizzy! Although I gave up on Trump's plain ol' The Apprentice with its lackluster and grasping-at-straws last season, I enjoyed the first season of The Celebrity Apprentice. Since there is no Cold Case tonight, I'll be watching the show albeit a bit distracted as I'll be writing up TAR for TVS as it airs.



Next week I'll have to change my plans. Since I record the shows I write up in case I need to go back to clarify something and my recording technique is a bit antique and I can only record one show at a time, it looks like I'll probably be catching the repeat of Celeb Apprentice when it airs on Saturday nights. Hopefully they'll keep the Saturday night slot running with it (8-10 PM ET/PT) throughout the season. I'll be a week behind, but it's not like my Saturday night TV watching schedule is full or anything. I'm pretty excited about the cast this season and I adore Joan Rivers -- she's made me laugh on and off my entire life it seems. To be honest, I'd rather watch this show than Cold Case, but I've committed myself to the CC reviews whenever there are new episodes.

On Survivor this week we saw Jerry get voted out. Sigh. He was someone I wanted to like -- he seemed to be stable and get along with folks. However, it's been shown time and time again that if you get ill, chances are you're a goner. Well, not literally, but off the show! EW.com has a video interview with ex-castaway Eliza and Jerry. Now, Eliza was never one of my favorites, but she has Coach nailed! Jerry was interviewed in more depth by Reality TV World. Yep, a stomach virus is not a good thing in Tocantins.

Onto some off topic and a certain roof cat ...

I haven't felt too well all this past week. Unlike Jerry, it's not a stomach virus. It's basically that right knee. (The left knee replacement knee is fine.) The cortisone shot only worked a few days and it's getting progressively worse. In this economic atmosphere, I definitely need to hang onto my job although I've heard rumors that they might be offering early retirement packages to some folks and I'm probably in the eligible group.

But I need the health insurance and, to keep on working, I need to gather up my FMLA leave time so my job is protected. That should be sometime late summer. I'm going to have to go back to my orthopedic surgeon. I've been taking tons o' ibuprofen but, if I have to, maybe he can give me something stronger. I didn't want to take any heavier duty pain meds as I don't want to have a tolerance during recovery from surgery. The left knee was handled with Vicodin ES, which is amongst the milder meds in comparison. We'll see. But I must be able to work and walk until late summer.

In Roofus the Cat news, one of the local bloggers from my town has also spotted Roofus thanks to this blog. She focuses on a lot of the city politics and things which aren't covered by the local papers (which she retired from a while back as a reporter). We share an interest in local photographs and in the town although I'm not politically active -- I still like to know what's going on!

Roofus wasn't on his usual balcony roof yesterday. But I spotted him four rooftops over (click to make the image larger in a separate window) --



Then there's the commute --


Strangers on a train

One man uses his laptop while another catches a few winks while yet another one (me) uses the commute to take a few candid shots. Oh, I also read the paper and eat a donut sometimes.


Even stranger on the train

Oh my gosh, what's that in back of Napping Dude? All I could see was a hood, a nose, and mountain man beard. Oh, and a hand. Very scary man. I didn't get a better shot as he might have been able to see through the hood. He was giant, he was really hairy. Eek.

Welp, we're expecting up to a foot of snow overnight into Monday. While I don't really want the snow with my knee the way it is, no one is asking for my approval. If I can get to work, there's a lot I want to get done that I haven't been able to do as budget cuts have not only cut my hours, but made me work other jobs and neglect a bit of my own work. Priorities, grr. If I can get in and it's quiet (which it should be), I could get tons of stuff done. But, if we don't open or travel is almost impossible, I can take a day off and use paid time to cover it. I guess I'll know in the morning.