UConn James

Then again, my fellow Husky Darius Butler would still be on the board....

Also a concern with any DT is the heavy rotation Jauron uses. For a pick this high, I'd want a guy who's out there every down. Maybe that's just me.

I hope it's more influence than Linda Bogdan.* (* Ralph's daughter, now the 'Chief OL scout" about whom Bill Polian allegedly used the C-word, which allegedly led to his firing... And when Polian uses language like that, you've done something to deserve it. The meddlesome apple didn't fall too far from the meddlesome tree.)

Yep. Not for nothing that some here call him, "Dick Levy."

Vis-a-vis the reason for the clip show, what's the status of Idol? How many shows do they have left before they crown the next one? (Just what this country needs. Another person who doesn't have a real job. In about six years, the whole US will be singing to each other as our whole economy.) The execs may be timing it so the LOST finale won't be in direct competition with AI. I could very well be off base here and there's 12 people left and it'll run 'til June. Dunno. I've never watched it. Interesting to see it all shown chronologically rather than jumping around b/w the stories. Highlighted for me even more the question of how Hurley got out of jail and how he knew to get on Ajira 316. This seems to be the last big piece of the puzzle of how the O6 got back together. Tonight, the narration did say that it was Widmore who staged the 815 wreckage. Well, drop my pants and paint me with ketchup. I wasn't so sure the question had been answered. And since the accusation came out of Ben's lips.... Guess I was wrong. So, Widmore paid someone to stage the wreckage and then paid for the freighter folk (left completely in the dark) to find the wreckage. Guess I just didn't get the need for double-secret-Delta-Force-mega-uber secrecy. A'ight. But there is something that I'm more convinced of than ever, tho... My theory that Jack is Jacob. It just makes perfect sense to me. The full-circleness of Belief with Jack as the 'Man of Science' being the one who's likely going to be working with/through Locke --- the ultimate mindf--k twist to maybe the show's biggest running theme. The fact that Jack can't "let things go" (Jacob has held on pretty tight to saving the island, yes?... through death, even). Christian's close involvement and being "in a position to speak for" Jacob. Jack being a "great man" / One who "walks among us, but is not one of us." Jack --- the name itself --- being a derivative of the Jacob root name. Ben telling Jack in the hotel that "...You're never coming back" and saying this with what I now think is a certainty b/c of something Ben knows, not just general supposition that 'when you leave, you can't come back' rules that have been broken.... BTW --- anyone know who the narrator was? Sounded a little like the main character on the "Better Off Ted" show....

IIRC, McNally played up the Duke Robinson pick. Basically told the D&C that he could take sh-- and turn it into gold. Either he did give input, or the FO that year told him he was going to drink the Kool-Aid be supportive in the press of yet another draft where the biggest need was put off until Day 2. No matter which it is, this does not inspire confidence in the man. If he had any input into the selection of Mike 'Big kitty' Williams, how... why... would you want him touching the OL situation again? True, for Peters' case, JMac did seem to turn sh-- into gold. And, then, similar to that book "The Black Pearl", the impossibly lucky find shortly turned into a curse involving the greed of many. Also, I would venture to say that the job of scouting/talent evaluation and coaching are two different mistresses.

Difference being that yours is a case of an employer spending his own money. Govt --- and WNY more than most, it seems --- is great at spending other people's money for perks. Have a late meeting? Pack a fuggin' lunch! Millions of people do it every day. But, let's all feel sorry for Ralph Hernandez, who has diabetes. From the pictures on Google, looks like it's the fat-slob diabetes, which exercise and dieting helps alleviate. But, wouldn't want to take the egg rolls out of his mouth. Does this go on a ballot? No. Then they might not be provided free food on the taxpayers' dime. You look at WNY and it's like, what exactly are getting for your tax money? "Leaders" who drive out businesses that want to bring actual jobs to the region, bridges that will never be built, and population flight from those smart/able enough to escape. This is a microcosm of what's wrong with govt --- the attitude that they're entitled to perks, nice salaries for little actual work, and a minimum 3 percent raise every year. You know, I'm of the belief that we're going to see maybe 3, or maybe 4 more presidential elections. And then the sh--'s gonna hit the fan one way or the other --- either bankruptcy, attack from without, or revolution (this will hopefully be nonviolent) from within from people who've finally had enough and take Jefferson's words in the Declaration to heart. And then we need to set up a system where representation is set up by a selective-service-type lottery with no person who votes on spending bills ever serving more than 2 years and where reps get a reasonable flat rate of compensation that is determined by voters, not the politicians themselves. Yes, people are starting to wake up and grab their pitchforks.

Maybe the answer to that lies in the questions that Miles asked of his mum... "How did I get to be this way?" We don't know this, but since he was born on the island, it would seem that his 'gift' is somewhat similar to the smoke monster's, tho Miles says he "feels" the messages rather than sees/downloads them. Perhaps Miles was taken by the Others and given 'tests' similar to what they did with Walt. That's just conjecture. There's still a large gap for Miles.

2. Are we sure that the pregnancy problem didn't exist prior to Ben's takeover? E.g. the charges of how Widmore left the island in order to have children. Eloise Hawking evidently left the island and had Faraday. The last on-island conception and birth that we know of is Ethan in '77. Juliet described the problem being like the woman's body treats the fetus as an infection (?); we've heard from Rousseau, Kelvin and Desmond about a virus, but could it not be an antivirus? Remember in the secretly-filmed Swedish(?) tape, the DI scientist described a drug development that would reduce the pregnancy rate by exactly 30 percent.... and perhaps something went wrong. 3. Don't know for sure. But they are definitely post-2004, b/c the runway that Sawyer and Kate were forced to help clear in S3 is where the Ajira plane landed. And things looked pretty dilapidated even from the 2004 state. 4. Just to be clear, I don't think by far that they are the "leftovers." The DI has likely been alive and well even since the Purge, tho they couldn't get back to the island b/c it had been moved (by a polar bear? Possibly by the polar bear that Charlotte found in the Tunisia exit?). Also bear in mind that the food/supply drops had still been going on since the Purge at the Swan station --- how did that get there? No one saw any planes, etc. yet the crates had parachutes. DI is still out there (and now, suspected, back on the island) much like the Others have a network of people off-island. In fact, from Ilana's involvement, it looks like Ben was sending Sayid to kill DI off-island people (e.g. "The Economist" which is kind of similar to how the DI jumpsuits describe people, no? Horace's reads "Mathematician"), not Widmore loyalists.

Also, why would Naomi/Widmore's group need Miles to tell them what Felix (the dead body in the restaurant) was doing at the time of his death? If Widmore had staged the crash, why would they need to know that Felix had 'photos, pictures of empty graves, and a purchase order for an old airplane.' re: the staging of the crash? Even if it were just a test of Miles' ability, Felix was part of Widmore's group, and Naomi already knows.... Still, why would Widmore need a fact-finding dossier about something he did? Or, supposing Felix was working for Ben, why would Ben be gathering damning info together on something he did? All signs point to Ben. More like, Felix had gathered this information for Widmore, an outside Other killed him and left the body. The Others took the info to Ben. Ben put them in his safe. Ben shows them to Locke to persuade him to let him free when they're waiting at the Barracks and convince Locke that the Freighties are bad and want to kill everyone, not just Ben.

Yeah, NBC could finally keep their promise to him from when he originally signed on to be Al's color analyst. Then Madden jumped too, and Collinsworth was stuck in the studio. NBC has hired/assigned/gets commentary from Olbermann, Dan Patrick, Bettis, Tiki Barber, Peter King, Bob Costas, and the Iraqi Information Minister. All for an hour of recaps/news/notes and a halftime. Way too crowded. I could see them wanting to give Bettis or Barber a shot, too, tho.

Actually, as someone wrote upthread, Juliet is in the know from her Other days, but she hasn't specifically spoken about it. The other Lostaways/Freighties who were in the 1954 time-flash should be clued in. Locke definitely knows --- he saw Richard in what was established as '54 and met him in 2004 (Richard gave him the folder on his father and subtly suggested he wanted regime change). The childhood visits to Locke or his memory of them don't matter now concerning this topic, the cat's out of the bag for him. Faraday, Miles and Charlotte all saw Richard in the tent in '54. I don't believe any of them met him in 2004. But Miles has seen not-a-day-older Richard in '74 when he came to the Barracks to discuss the breaking of the truce. We don't know if Faraday knows or has been informed. Sawyer was in '54 but I'm not sure he saw Richard, however he saw their manner of dress so he could probably guess the decade, and again, he saw Richard in '74, (and I believe he knows about the compass) and considering how Sawyer does put things together pretty fast, vouchsafe that he knows Richard doesn't age. There's nothing that says Halliwax is still kicking it in 2004 or 2007, but there's little to say that he isn't. If you believe Miles' mother, it seems he dies not terribly long after this '77 jaunt, maybe in the early-to-mid-80s(?). I wouldn't call Miles' mother a reliable source, tho. We know he at least survives "the incident" (which is the title of the season finale coming up) and the initiation of the DI's security procedures, of course, b/c he references it in the orientation films. They are in the beginning stages of construction of the Swan and the Orchid and he was seen in a film experiencing the duplicate rabbit situation in an operational Orchid. Like I wrote, I think Halliwax may have a vague feeling about grown-up Miles, considering his knowledge of the island. The DI is doing stuff at the Orchid/Donkey Wheel for a good reason. And even if they only know it has broadly to do with the subject of Time, Halliwax should have some suspicion --- if not in '77, then surely as the Orchid experiments start --- that security-dude Miles is an older version of his baby son. And that may be why Halliwax dismisses them off the island, even tho he loves them... b/c it has to happen. There are conflicting reports on who staged the 815 deep-sea crash. Ben says it was Widmore (So, b/c Ben said so, right there, there's a 95 percent chance that there's no way in hell(!) it was Widmore). Widmore, no doubt thinks (don't remember if it's been said) that it was Ben trying to throw off anyone's trail from the island. But, really, what would be the benefit to Widmore staging the 815 crash? I see none other than to quell interest, and Ben benefits far more from this than Widmore. Who needs to be duped? Any search and rescue attempt by the Coast Guard/Navy would be given up fairly shortly, people back in the real world would put it out of mind that it's lost at sea and will never be found.... The only people I see that Widmore would really have is to dupe is the Others, who don't need duping. I am almost certain it was Ben. I only saw once. Faraday was among scientists arriving from Ann Arbor? So, he somehow quietly left the island, went to the U. of Michigan and insinuated himself there for the past 3 years?

Mack.

"The government" that you speak of being pissed is one state rep. If NYS wanted anything to change in WNY re: how they continuously usher out any company that wants to do such dastardly things as bring well-paying jobs and a little economic revival to the area, it could be done. Instead, the NYS govt is anti-business and would rather keep people dependent on govt jobs and govt services. Wouldn't want anybody with too much income --- they might want to spend it on their own needs, get uppity, and question why they need to give so much back to the state. Unemployment all but assures a certain electoral outcome. Anybody not of like mind left (and continue to leave) WNY for places such as those where the company is looking to build in the near future, the Carolinas, Texas, etc. The stupidity, arrogance and incompetence would almost be amusing if it weren't so sad. WNY is like the once-strong man, now a hobo and literally starving to death, refusing ham and bread b/c he's waiting for an invitation to the Waldorf-Astoria. The political agenda doesn't want improvement in WNY, nor are they keen on more than marginal change in NYS as a whole.

As I said, in 'bringing the funny,' Miles is a very weak substitute for Charlie. Hurley was on a comedic island --- it was like watching Bob Newhart w/o a set-up situation/person. And at this point, we don't want a chuckle nearly as much as we want, to quote S1 Hurley, "some friggin' answers!" Last night was largely a filler ep whose main reveal was guessed a long time ago by all and sundry. You know, I thought we were behind these at this point. Disappointing. But, don't despair too much. We're working toward the end of the season that was to explain "why the O6 needed to come back." Looking at the Neilsens, tho, these last several featuring the O6 in the '70s and getting heavy in time-travel stuff (and the show being head-to-head with Idoltry) have been downright dismal, even when including the number of those who DVR. It's decreased from the previously reliable at-least-13M viewers to 8.5M for "Dead is Dead." Ouch. You can only hope that it lights a fire under some butts. There are 4 eps left in the season and I don't doubt things will start to pick up pace. Especially since the final scene last night was with a newly-minted Faraday, now looking determined and with a purpose rather than a timid stuck-in-the-head scientist type. Have some faith. Nobody but nobody does season finales like LOST.

Not much in the way of reveals tonight. Miles is Halliwax's son, which should have surprised no one who's been paying any kind of attention. Yet another bad dad / father issues story.... Miles was separated from his father when very young (according to his mother, dying of cancer(?) ~15 years after leaving the island's protection). Miles can talk to dead people... we know this... except he can only hear them, he can only do this with a physical body, and the body can only 'tell' him what happened up until the point they died. Football-dad serves as the proxy 'You need to say things while you're alive' and Miles is fighting against this himself for his own father. They tried to inject Hurley for some comedic value. I think this largely fell flat. Only part mildly amusing was Hurley rewriting "SW:TESB" and planning on sending it to George Lucas so he can edit out the crap scenes. And hey, I actually liked the Ewoks! 1) Why might Halliwax not begin to suspect or even ask himself... what are the odds that another Asian dude on Lostaway island (which has time-traveling capacities that he knows of) is named Miles? Didn't ring any bells for him? But then again, maybe it did and he's just leaving the situation be. 2) We saw Ilana's-group guy tried to get Miles to play for their team before the freighter left. If they're not with Widmore, and Ben shot one of them, it's closing the odds down to they are DI (see above post). Interesting also about the body Naomi brought Miles to; he had photos and records of dug-up bodies... yet we still don't know who had the 815 wreck staged. Tho the tone of it suggests it was Ben. 3) The re-appearance of Daniel Faraday. Was it that he was getting off the sub after being somewhere for some time? 4) The building of the hatch... The dead body inadvertently discovered the electromagnetic field, which pulled a filling through his brain. Yipes. 5) Things are starting to unravel for Sawyer. So much for his "plan" crappola. Looked to be the start of a change in leadership tonight, as Sawyer offered a weak thank you to Jack for covering Kate's story... As Mr. Man With a Plan is being shown for being the same kind of reactionary idiot that he called Jack, don't look for Jack to keep erasing chalkboards. Something else is sticking in my craw re: Jack, tho. In the hotel room with Ben after getting Locke's body (how long ago does that seem now?), Ben told Jack that if there was anything he wanted in this life, to bring it b/c he was never coming back. And let's be clear here --- Ben didn't say that Jack "probably" or "might not be" coming back, he said "never." Ben knows things. He knows Jack is going to be staying on the island. As I theorized upthread, I think Jack = Jacob. And the more I fit things together in my mind, the more this makes sense to me. That's about all I've got. No ep next week; it's a refresher course on S5 to-date, which I most surely will be watching. I'm disappointed that ABC is not showing the repeats anymore. My grandmother passed away last night, so I will be leaving for WNY sometime tomorrow. (I'd rather avoid making this a condolence thread. This is not intended as a LAMP. Tho sad, this something that has not been unexpected. Besides, she was a tough old Dutchie and rarely went in for that kind of thing anyway.)

Not saying that this possible new group of DI have been to the island before, or that they've necessarily been in the DI for long, or that Ben would know them from Adam or vice versa. As with Widmore's freighter group, the theory would go that they recently found the island's location and are going there. As when Radzinsky said, "I'm calling Ann Arbor"... there is much more to the DI than those killed in the Purge on the island. Not surprising that she wouldn't blink at "Ben" b/c the DI doesn't know exactly what happened, but whatever the case, that it wasn't good. For 15 years, they've presumably not had any contact from their island-DI group, so you'd think they would figure that something happened re: the Hostiles/Others. They didn't put combo-lock armories in the hatches for nothing. And Ilana, et al. didn't have a big-ass gun locker on the Ajira plane for nothing. They also managed to get it on the plane --- Ajira = Indian airline... Dharma is a Hindu concept....

Well, yes, obviously. Not quite sure what you're saying. Ilana and this crew are in 2007, tho, and taking back the island from the Others 15 years after the Purge. Presumably, the Ben-less Others are still hiding out somewhere. Is it possible they're still in the Temple? (And is that what's "in the shadow of the statue?) Dunno where Bernard & Rose are. Since all the Lostaways we saw went through the timeflash, you could conclude that R&B timeflashed as well and are hiding it out in '77, to become "Adam&Eve" in the caves, as many hold to (Lindelof and Cuse have been asked about this and said only, "Be careful not to rule anyone out." The assumption that they timeflashed to '74-'77 could very well be incorrect, tho. In the same manner as only the O6 timeflashed on the plane, suppose R&B could have been left behind in 2004. Also, Sawyer's security group did scour the (DI-controlled part, at least) island for 3 years and didn't find anyone. Yeah, I think a lot of people wouldn't be OK with Vincent dying. Jack Bender (the show's principle director) is a confessed dog person. I believe it was his call to put in Vincent swimming after the raft/Walt in S1, to give the dog-people audience that moment. I'm not ashamed to say I always well up in that scene. It was a great touch.

Preview copy: LOST 5.13 - "Some Like It Hoth" [sic] - (Miles-centric) - Ben is taken from the infirmary which raises suspicions about a possible security breach. Also in the episode, a reluctant Miles is forced to work with Hurley when he's asked to deliver an important package to a top Dharma official. The U.K. preview is a little more liberal, and a couple of notes of my own... Yellow-fonted: "After young Ben is reported missing from the infirmary, suspicion mounts among the Dharma Initiative that there are traitors in their midst and Sawyer's lies about the castaways look set to come undone." Naomi makes a return appearance (since this is a Miles ep, most likely, it will be their 'conversation' after she was knifed by Locke). Pierre Chang, too, is listed in the credits (possible there will be a reveal that will surprise exactly no one that Miles is Dr. Halliwax's son from the season-opening scene). Jeremy Davies (Faraday) is also back after a several-ep absence, in steps leading up to why he was at the Orchid construction site. Link I think the group with Ilana et al. are Dharma coming to reclaim the island, and it doesn't look like there's much to hold them back c. 2007.

Watch that "nationally televised" part.... It is conceivably so, but not practically.

It's something that you're concerned about this... most people these days are quick to burn bridges at any difference (real or perceived). As such, I'd probably leave a small card in the door with what stuck suggested, '.... I respect that you have an opinion that differs from my own. I regret the elevated tone of the conversation and my abrupt departure. I look forward to our dinners together and hope that last night does not impact their continuation' etc. Maybe attach it to a bottle of vino or something as a token. And then, in the future, steer clear of the subject. Understand if you don't want to post specifics... what was the argument about, broadly?

RIP, Mahhhk.

Whatever the reason, it doesn't seem to be something that he's concerned with. Much as Ben has been shown to struggle for, grasp onto, and now seems bereft (as punishment) of control, Richard is focused on what the Others are on the island to do. It's easy to question, 'If Richard is so task-oriented...' but don't mistake his goals. Being a leader and being a person who is driven to get results are often not the same thing. In my experience with office-life, these traits are rarely, if ever, combined in one person/entity. Indeed, many people view them as mutually exclusive. ----- Just something I've been thinking about Ben.... His ability to snatch guns away is uncanny. Took the revolver from Locke and shot him with it. Took one from (Who was it? Karl?) and shot (at) Naomi. Took the shotgun from Caesar and shot him with it. Any others? Now, this all goes into Ben's natural malevolence / being a sneaky-bastard.... but is there anything more into how he can do this? And generally how he can manage to do so many things? Like Eloise Hawking says, and Faraday's experimentations proved, the island is always moving in time.... e.g. 30 minutes behind the payload rocket, doctor's body washed up before it happened on the ship.... Is there some way Ben knows how to move through / utilize these (micro) time-changes?

That one's only been around since St. Francis.

I've heard this before with the addendum, "but if you do... !@#$ up BIG!" As to the thread topic, the best I've received and, in turn, given was, "Put her in your rearview mirror and make her get smaller."