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In the days of yore, vinyl LPs were quite big. Their immense size means you had to have something decent on the front, and this gave lieu to album cover art. Some of it is brilliant (Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell) and some of it is shockingly bad (Meat Loaf - Midnight At The Lost And Found). But I'm a stickler for it - especially as my iPod Touch likes to display album artwork quite a lot. So I'm one of those who hunts down covers and - when none exist (or can't be found) - I even make my own. Sad? Very. Pedantic? Muchly. Better than the default picture of a musical note? You bet your ass.
The iTunes App Store for iPod Touches and iPhones has a plethora of drawing applications. Some of them are complicated and pack an array of dazzling features that enable you to recreate the Mona Lisa to shocking accuracy. I, however, am a fan of the humble Scribble app [warning: link opens iTunes]. It's a glorious little bit of coding. It's got three brush sizes, a dozen colours and only a couple of other simple, basic features. It is best suited to bright doodles. No fuss, no mess. Of course, you can create complex pieces with it - but only if you're really good.
Using this back-to-primary-school approach to drawing, I drew some famous pieces of album artwork - and badgered some of my friends into doing the same. Here, for your perusal, are what we've come up with. Writing is a big problem, there's only a few colours at our disposal, and we couldn't draw and simultaneously look at a reference source. So be warned, it's not pretty (masochists can click pictures to enlarge).
I chose possibly the simplest album cover I could think of - The Beatles' White Album. My version mimics the original LP, not the CD cover, by having a squiggle representing the unique number printed on the LPs. To be honest, this is such a simple cover that it's hard not to get it wrong. In that sense, it's the most accurate of all these recreations - and quite possibly the best.
If you want to see the world's most famous LP sleeve ever recreated in this unique way, plus three other covers, then check out the full post at The Three Rs' musical sibling, R3cord.
According to Kotaku, Super Mario Kart is the most influential game in history, as decided by the Guinness Book of World Records. At first, I considered agreeing with this decision. I had spent many years of my youth owning my friends and family at the racer on the SNES, and back then it played a considerable part in my life, helping to not only build gaming skills, but social ones too.
Then I thought more about it and realised that the judges must have been either drunk or high when deciding that Super Mario Kart was the most long-lasting console gaming legacy around. Surely Super Mario World, or Super Mario, should have come further up the chart than their successor? This seems to be a reoccurring theme on the list itself, and I'd love to see your thoughts:
1. Super Mario Kart
2. Tetris
3. Grand Theft Auto
4. Super Mario World
5. Zelda Ocarina of Time
6. Halo
7. Resident Evil IV
8. Final Fantasy XII
9. Street Fighter II
10. GoldenEye
11. Super Mario 64
12. Tomb Raider
13. Metal Gear Solid
14. Call of Duty 4
15. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
16. GTA San Andreas
17. Super Mario Bros
18. Zelda: A Link to the Past
19. Gran Turismo
20. Final Fantasy VII
21. Pro Evolution Soccer 4
22. The Orange Box
23. Lego Star Wars Complete Saga
24. Tekken 2
25. Wii Sports
26. Pokemon Red/Blue
27. Guitar Hero
28. Project Gotham Racing 4
29. Super Mario Galaxy
30. Resident Evil
31. Ico
32. Chrono Trigger
33. Gunstar Heroes
34. Soul Calibur
35. Advance Wars
36. Ridge Racer
37. Super Metroid
38. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
39. GTA Vice City
40. BioShock
41. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
42. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
43. God of War
44. Sega Rally Championship
45. Starfox 64
46. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
47. WarioWare Inc
48. Saturn Bomberman
49. Crash Bandicoot
50. Outrun 2
Orange Box is more 'influential' than Wii Sports. I'd say this was wrong, considering the amount of shovelware that the latter has inspired. The Orange Box is renown for its greatness and originality, but not a lot of people play it compared to the masses that buy the shit Wii game creators churn out, especially considering this is a list focused specifically on console releases.
No Pac Man. Not only has the franchise basically been released in some form or another on every major console since its inception (Ms. Pac Man springs to mind) but it also helped an entire generation of millions of arcade-dwellers get into videogaming. Thousands of people still opt to play the many free, Flash variations of this classic on the Internet, despite having bigger and more modern titles at their fingertips. People keep returning to Pac Man, but apparently it doesn't make the list.
Final Fantasy XII as the eighth most influential game of all time? If anything, it is the end result of a long list of influential games that came before it. However, I only know one person who has ever completed XII and enjoyed it (I got about halfway through before getting bored). We all have our favourite Final Fantasy (mine is either 8 or 10, personally) but only as a refined collective they are able to stand out in gaming's history. They could have least gone along with the popular vote and slammed 7 in pretty high.
Listing Grand Theft Auto "as a series" and then putting Vice City later on makes zero sense. Yes, the transition from top-down view to third person was pretty big, but then why isn't III present? Vice City was a stunning game, but was it really that influential?
Star Fox 64. I really loved Lylat Wars, but aside from some great voice acting and force-feedback, does it really need to be there? The same applies for about 35 other games on that list, but I've only picked SF out because its actually good.
Let's see your thoughts. Does anyone buy the gaming edition of World Records?
Sorry for the lack of images this time. Although I'm sure you're all sick of my blogs being full of broken pictures anyway, heh.
London Fashion Week started last Friday with a mind blowing show from up and coming designer Paul Costelloe and the rest of the week is going to be no different. Ethical fashion is taking front seat at this years fashion week, with designers using ethical and organic materials in their ranges.
Saturday saw Jenny Packham open the show with a starry backdrop and sharp lettering for her name. Her collection saw jewel tones, flowing gowns and retro glamour that has cemented her place within the young actors elite with fans such as Keira Knightley. John Rocha's show oozed sophisticated glamour with rich blacks and striking hats. Vivienne Westwood ended the night with her usual mix of simple items clashed with bold patterns and different textures. She said her collection was inspired by the uniforms at her Granddaughters school.
Yesterday, Jaeger London demonstrated it's classic British look with leather, creams and back gloves. Sienna Miller's Twenty8Twelve collection gave us it's flowing pastels and kooky designs that we're used to along with a twist of bright designs and cartoon emblems. Tartan also gave a key look within this collection.
Today, Paul Smith and the flamboyant Julien MacDonald give us their take on 2009 and the rest of the week serves up Peter Pilloto, Fashion East and House of Holland with Agyness Deyn as it's muse.
With a record breaking Fashion Week, 2009 is London's year!
I'm not big on comic books, to be honest. But I was pointed in the direction of Necessary Monsters and dutifully decided to take a look - what's the worst that could happen? I reasoned it surely could not plumb the depths reached by the drivel poured forth by the worst of Twitter, or the vlogging masses on YouTube - stuff I'd all willingly subjected myself to beforehand. For not the first time, I reasoned correctly.
In fact, unlike much of the content you can stumble across while surfing the web (excluding The Three Rs, of course!), Necessary Monsters is actually - gulp - good. "Spy-horror thrills" sounds like an awful B-movie cliché involving the men in black and Dracula living in suburbia, to my mind. No longer. Necessary Monsters presents a story of...well, I won't ruin it. But there's intrigue, there's an "agent" pulled out of retirement and...there's a chainsaw-wielding man who has a chicken for a head.
That's a man, with the head of a chicken, killing a Japanese gangster with a chainsaw. Redefining badass.
Yes, well, it's not to everyone's tastes. I don't really approve of some of the more fantastical elements - character Chicken Neck being one of them - and as such, the story doesn't gel so much for me as it might for you if you can suspend your disbelief for long enough to enjoy it. However, what I do approve of is NM's noir styling. The website sets itself up to be a bit film noir, with its stark black and white contrast (with a dash of blood red thrown into the mix). Film noir works well with spies and that works to great effect here. Its minimalistic art has a unique charm to it and it looks frankly gorgeous, without being too showy.
However, you can't help feeling that this story and its brilliant artwork is betrayed by its medium. The web. It's perfect for comics like Cyanide & Happiness, but it's not for a proper comic book story that would be better in print, resting in your hands as your eyes gaze over wonders such as chickens with chainsaws. Clicking through each page is a bit of a chore and hampers the reading experience - especially if your Internet connection were to cut out. True, its current form allows for a free price to view it, and a potentially unlimited lifespan (with its updates twice-weekly, Mondays and Wednesdays). But isn't it better to have a good run of panels, an epic, tooth-gnawing cliffhanger and then some suspense while the next issue is being prepared? That's the essence of comics. Maybe I sound a bit old-fashioned in trying to preserve the ways of old, but I honestly think it's a better way.
That said, it's arguable that NM wouldn't get through to a publisher. It's a bit quirky (can I mention the chicken-man again?) and probably not mainstream material. So perhaps the Internet is the saviour of the odd comic book that would otherwise have a limited print run and be found only on eBay and in geeks' back rooms. That's not a criticism - it's an indication of Necessary Monsters' style. It's polished and professional, and it's a damn good read - but it's hampered by its inaccessibility. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone - but I would recommend it.
thor [at] thethreers.co.uk for any complaints or praise or anything else
As a 'mild' Take That fan (i'm sure you can understand the sarcasm in this sentence), i was pleased to see this week that they were consolidating their status as the biggest band in the UK, by making a performance that made me hold my breath in complete awe.
The most expensive and most striking show of the night was completed with an 'alien' theme, with the boys being lowered to the floor on a spaceship. All of them, in keeping with their out of this world theme, wore thick rimmed glasses with a combover, complete with black tight tops with flesh coloured patches in the middle. They performed 'Greatest Day' from their number one album 'The Circus' which is much better than Britney's Circus, let's face it.
Yesterday, i was watching for the twentieth time '20 greatest comebacks' on Sky and Lo and Behold, the boys were number one. In a non-biased way, they actually are the greatest band ever to have a comeback. Using the fanbase that had never left them, they forged their way back into the charts with a surefire hit 'Patience' which cemented their place as Kings of Pop.
Boyzone, New Kids on The Block and now Blue have tried and failed to gain the amazing success that they once had, whereas, once again, Gary Barlow's skills as an accomplished songwriter propelled them back to form.
That's why, my dear readers, that i am more than ever excited to see them in concert this June, (Which i will be reviewing for you of course!)
Comet Lulin will streak by the earth within 38 million miles – 160 times farther than the moon -and is expected to be visible to the naked eye. It was only discovered a year ago, the green comet gained its color by poisonous gas cyanogen and diatomic carbon gases in its atmosphere. This would be the first visit of the comet to Earth's inner atmosphere and will enable the team from the University of Leicester to gain valuable insights into the comet.
The team is using NASA's Swift satellite to monitor Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth. The spacecraft has recorded simultaneous ultraviolet and X-ray images of a comet. “Swift is the ideal spacecraft with which to observe this comet”, said Jenny Carter, a scientist working with Dr Andrew Read at the University of Leicester, UK. “We alerted the Swift team that the comet might be visible” said Dr Read “and they quickly responded to take images using both the X-ray (XRT) and Ultraviolet/Optical Telescopes (UVOT) on-board.”
Dr Julian Osborne, leader of the Swift project at Leicester, said 'The wonderful ease of scheduling of Swift and its joint UV and X-ray capability make Swift the observatory of choice for observations like these.'
Carter added: “It is important to carry out these observations as they give us clues about the origin of comets and the solar system".
As the University of Leicester has played a major role in developing Swift's X-Ray Telescope and is an important centre for the study of high-energy emission from objects within our Solar System, it is an ideal place for this study to be carried out.
A clump of frozen gases mixed with dust forms a comet. Those "dirty snowballs" discards dust and gas whenever they venture near the Sun. Comet Lulin, which is formally known as C/2007 N3, was discovered last year by astronomers at Taiwan's Lulin Observatory.
On Jan. 28, Swift trained its Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope and X-Ray Telescope on Comet Lulin. "The comet is quite active," said team member Dennis Bodewits, a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. "The UVOT data show that Lulin was shedding nearly 800 gallons of water each second." That's enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in less than 15 minutes.
Swift can't see water directly. However, the ultraviolet light from the sun will break apart the water molecules into hydrogen hydroxyl (OH) molecules in a fast speed. Swift's UVOT detects the hydroxyl molecules, and its images of Lulin reveal a hydroxyl cloud spanning nearly 250,000 miles, or slightly greater than the distance between Earth and the moon.
The UVOT includes a prism-like device called a grism, which separates incoming light by wavelength. The grism's range includes wavelengths where the hydroxyl molecule is most active. "This gives us a unique view into the types and quantities of gas a comet produces" Bodewits explains.
In the images in Swift, the comet's tail is extended towards the right side. Solar radiation pushes icy grains away from the comet. As the grains gradually evaporate, they create a thin tail of hydroxyl molecules.
Farther from the comet, even the hydroxyl molecule succumbs to solar ultraviolet radiation. It breaks into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen atoms. "The solar wind -- a fast-moving stream of particles from the sun -- interacts with the comet's broader cloud of atoms. This causes the solar wind to light up with X-rays, and that's what Swift's XRT sees," said Stefan Immler, also at Goddard.
This interaction, called charge exchange, results in X-rays from most comets when they pass within about three times Earth's distance from the sun. Because Lulin is so active and is losing a lot of gas, its X-ray emitting region extends in a large cloud far sunward of the comet.
Geronimo Villanueva completes the team working on the comet data at Goddard.
“We are looking forward to future observations of Comet Lulin, when we hope to get better X-ray data to help us determine its makeup,” notes Carter. “They will allow us to build up a more complete 3-D picture of the comet during its flight through the solar system.”
Any of you lot remember? The Three Rs now has a Twitter account! Meaning you can now follow all the posts from the Three Rs over there and be provided with a suitable link to all our texty goodness over here!
So head on over to our Twitter Account and feel privileged that you found the Three Rs! Also if you would like to reach our Twitter at any point in the future the link is and will always be available in the "Links" section of the sidebar.
Just on 19th February, the researchers shown that the remaining and threatened rainforests that are left in the world are absorbing 4.8 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year. This includes a previously unknown carbon sink in Africa, mopping up 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 each year. Published in Nature, the 40 year study of African tropical forests–one third of the world's total tropical forest–shows that for at least the last few decades each hectare of intact African forest has trapped an extra 0.6 tonnes of carbon per year.
Then, the scientists analysed the new African data findings with South America and Asia findings to calculate the total drop in the tropical forests. We are receiving a free subsidy from nature," says Dr Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds, and the lead author of the paper. "Tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18% of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change."
The reason why the trees are getting bigger and mopping up carbon is unclear. A leading suspect is the extra CO2 in the atmosphere itself, which may be acting like a fertiliser. However, Dr Lewis warns, "Whatever the cause, we cannot rely on this sink forever. Even if we preserve all remaining tropical forest, these trees will not continue getting bigger indefinitely."
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had reported that the blobal human activities emits 32 billion tonnes of CO2 each year, but only 15 billion tonnes actually stays in the atmosphere adding to climate change. The new research shows exactly where some of the 'missing' 17 billion tonnes per year is going.
"It's well known that about half of the 'missing' carbon is being dissolved in to the oceans, and that the other half is going somewhere on land in vegetation and soils, but we were not sure precisely where. According to our study about half the total carbon 'land sink' is in tropical forest trees," explains Dr Lewis.
The study and report was released at a time when protecting rainforests were being spread widely and were gaining support. and is likely to be a key theme of the upcoming negotiations to limit carbon emissions in Copenhagen later this year.
Co-author on the study, Dr Lee White, Gabon's Chief Climate Change Scientist said, "To get an idea of the value of the sink, the removal of nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests, based on realistic prices for a tonne of carbon, should be valued at around £13 billion per year. This is a compelling argument for conserving tropical forests."
"Predominantly rich polluting countries should be transferring substantial resources to countries with tropical forests to reduce deforestation rates and promote alternative development pathways," says Dr Lewis.
There are also broader implications for rainforest biodiversity, as the ecology of tropical forests changes. Further study is needed on how the interactions of the millions of species that live in the tropics are being affected by the increasing size of rainforest trees.
The following Section is for Episode 6. (Provided by Lostpedia.)
Off Island 2008
In Los Angeles, Eloise Hawking takes Jack, Sun, Ben, and Desmond into the basement of the church. There she opens a blast door, revealing a room containing a map, a Foucault pendulum, and various computers. She announces that this is a DHARMA Initiative station called The Lamp Post.
Eloise explains that The Lamp Post was created years ago by the DHARMA Initiative as a way to find the Island. They knew that it existed but not where it was. Then, one day, one of the men realized that the Island was moving and worked out a series of formulas in order to predict where the Island would appear in the future. Using those calculations she has predicted where the Island will be in thirty six hours. As she was explaining this, Jack observes the room noticing the calculations on the chalkboard and a large photograph taken of the island by the navy dated 02/23/1956. After hearing Eloise's talk, Desmond realizes that Jack intends to return to the Island and angrily berates Jack and Eloise before storming off. Desmond said they are being used and he is finished with the island. Eloise told him he wasn't finished before he storms off. Eloise handed Jack a binder that contains lists of flights from different airlines and their coordinates ("openings"). Eloise then informs Jack that Ajira Airways Flight 316 to Guam will be heading over the coordinates where the Island will be and that all of his friends must be on it.
In another room of the church, which appeared to be Eloise's office, she gives Jack an envelope containing Locke’s suicide note. Jack was the only one who was asked to see her. She explains that Jack must recreate the crash of 815 as closely as possible. Locke will act as a proxy for Christian Shepard and that Jack needs to give Locke something belonging to his father. Jack is skeptical, Eloise tells him “That’s why it’s called a leap of faith, Jack” and he leaves Eloise’s office.
In the main hall of the church, Jack sees Ben sitting in a forward pew, right from the center aisle. The camera angle shows Ben’s head framed by an arched stained glass window above some doors in the background, with a blue statue to Ben’s left, and a pink one to his right. Ben, wearing all black with hands together up to his nose as one would if praying, has his eyes open. Jack approaches, sits to the left of the aisle. Jack asks where Sun is, Ben says she left. Jack asks about Locke and his coffin, Ben says “I have a friend looking after it.” Ben rises and says “I’ll pick it up on my way to the airport” and walks to the votive candles, and lights one. They ask each other about Eloise, neither answer. Ben looks at the painting positioned above the candles by Caravaggio: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas. Ben tells Jack about Thomas the Apostle, noting Thomas’ bravery was not his claim to fame, but his doubt was. Jack asks if Thomas was ever convinced and Ben says, “We’re all convinced sooner or later, Jack.” Ben walks toward the doors and Jack asks where he’s going to which Ben states, “Oh, I made a promise to an old friend of mine--just a loose end that needs tying up”. Jack turns and looks again at the Caravaggio.
Later, while sitting in a bar with a seemingly untouched drink in front of him, Jack receives a phone call from an assisted living facility. There, an official tells Jack that the resident in question attempted to run away and that if it happens again they will have to transfer him to another facility. In a common room, Jack greets an elderly man named Ray. Ray, who is revealed to be Jack’s grandfather, had attempted to run away from his retirement home, going so far as to pack a suitcase. As Jack helps his grandfather unpack he notices a pair of black dress shoes. Ray admits that they are Christian’s and gives them to Jack.
Jack returns home and pours himself a drink (but does not drink it), then hears a suspicious noise. Going into his bedroom he finds Kate lying on his bed in tears. She asks if he is still planning on returning to the Island and then offers to return with him. When Jack asks why she changed her mind and where Aaron is she tells him to never ask her that question again. Kate then kisses Jack passionately.
The next morning, Jack prepares coffee and orange juice for Kate. She notices Christian's shoes, and Jack explains why he had put white tennis shoes on his father’s body back in Sydney. Kate leaves, telling Jack that she will meet him at the airport. After she leaves Jack receives a phone call from a drenched and bloodied Ben, who is calling from a pay phone at what appears to be Long Beach Marina. He claims that he has been “sidetracked” and that Jack should retrieve Locke’s body from Simon’s Butcher Shop. Jack travels to the butcher shop where he is let in by Jill. In the freezer, Jack opens Locke’s coffin and replaces Locke’s shoes with his father’s. He then places Locke’s suicide note in Locke’s jacket, claiming that he’s “heard everything you have to say” and closes the casket.
At the airport, Jack makes arrangements with the gate attendant for transporting Locke’s body. While doing so, he sees Kate arrive, apparently trying to look discrete in sunglasses and with her head down. As he heads towards the gate a man offers his condolences. He then runs into Sun, who says that if there is the slightest chance of Jin being alive she needs to return to the Island. As they head to the gate they see Sayid, apparently handcuffed, and being accompanied by a woman, apparently a federal marshall. At the gate, Hurley, who is carrying a guitar case, informs the Ajira employee that he has purchased all the remaining available seats on the flight.
As the flight is about to close their doors, Ben comes running up at the last minute with his boarding pass. Hurley becomes agitated at Ben’s presence because he was told Ben "is not supposed to come" but Jack assures him that Ben is necessary. As Ben takes his seat, one of the flight attendants tells Jack that security had found something of his in the cargo hold and hands him Locke’s suicide note.
Once the plane reached 30,000 feet, the captain turns off the "fasten seat belts" sign. Jack moves up a few rows and sits with Kate. He remarks how crazy all this is and how it's weird that they are all together again. Kate says "We're on the same plane, it doesn't mean we are together." The captain makes an announcement welcoming them to Ajira Airlines and informing them that he is Captain Frank J. Lapidus. Jack asks the flight attendant to tell Frank about his presence. A clean-shaven Frank comes out and happily greets Jack saying he "picked up this gig about 8 months ago.", but then he sees Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Ben and Kate. Upon seeing them he asks “We’re not going to Guam, are we?”
It is now night, and on the plane Ben is reading Ulysses. Jack asks him how he can read, and Ben sarcastically answers "my mother taught me. " Ben then "gives him some privacy" so he can read in peace the letter. Jack then opens and reads Locke’s suicide note, which simply states: “Jack, I wish you had believed me. JL.” Ben is then seen walking swiftly to the front of the plane and shortly afterwards, the plane encounters turbulence. As everyone buckles up, the turbulence increases and eventually the plane is engulfed in a flash of white light reminiscent of the flashes that accompany the abrupt changes in time on the Island.
On Island - Unknown Time.
Jack’s eye opens as he awakens in a bamboo grove, dressed in a suit. He looks around in amazement then notices he's holding a torn piece of paper on which the words “I wish” are legible. Jack hears Hurley crying for help and runs through the jungle, along a stream, and to the top of a waterfall, where he sees Hurley flailing in the pool below, struggling to hold on to a guitar case. Jack dives into the water and helps Hurley out of the deep part of the water. They notice Kate lying unconscious on the side of the pool, and hurry over where Jack awakens her and informs her that they’ve successfully returned to the Island. None of them remember actually crashing and none have seen any other survivors, or wreckage of the plane. Jack suggests that they split up and search for survivors but before they can do anything they hear music. Looking at the jungle by the pool they see a new looking DHARMA van pull up. A man in a DHARMA jumper gets out and points a carbine at the three survivors. They then recognize him and the man lowers his carbine; it is an astonished Jin.
Rant
First of all... Woo! The return happens... The return of Frank Lapidus! He looks so different without the beard. I say grow it back!
I'm happy Desmond didn't go with our beloved re-castaways back to the island. But going back seemed so horribly forced. You have to recreate the circumstances of Flight 815? Wasn't Locke on that flight? So why did he need to be Christian... seems too odd. And why not just get Walt, I'm sure he would want to go back.
From there you can also ask... where's Aaron? They seem to have played it that Ben lied about coming out with the truth. Got me. I liked the idea Ben had turned over a new leaf. Oh well...
Review
4.4/5 - Other than a couple of dud narrative lines, another great episode.
Randomness
I called this twist so long ago. And I was laughed off. Look who's laughing now!
The contents found within the expandable post is at ABC (American) pace. So beware those following at Sky1, RTL1 etc pace.
Cast your minds back to the summer of 2007. Do you remember the Michael Davis film Shoot 'Em Up? Well you should because this post is all about how Shoot 'Em Up is the great action satire of all time. If you haven't seen the film be warned that this post will of course contain spoilers, so beware.
First let's start with the name, "Shoot 'Em Up." It's not an elegantly crafted title, nor is it a meaningful one. Would Michael Davis sign up to a serious, action film with such a bland title as Shoot 'Em Up? Well, of course he would. He has a career in comedy, seems like an odd jump to go from comedy to action. How many action films do you know that have a well created title? Van Damme's Wake of Death? Don't make me laugh. The only way for Shoot 'Em Up to work as a title is too make it a satire of the action genre, which as you know should know, has people shooting each other up?
Let's delve deeper. Let's look at the main character portrayed by Clive Owen. His name is Smith. He enjoys carrots and wants nothing more than to be left alone and drift from place to place. Come on! It's like it was read of the back of a Steven Segal movie! (Except for the lack of Smith being an ex-war veteran of some sort.) Smith is one of the most common names in the world, it's ordinary. But giving action movie lead characters common names is common place! Ben Archer, John Sands, James Dial etc. So to give the main character such a bland name is a perfect set up of action films, perfect for a satire you could say.
Carrots are an odd thing for a serious character to have. Often action films have their main character smoke. As we all know smoking in films is cool. Just look at Constantine! He lights up while being told he's got enough tar in his lungs to cover the Highway 65. But what is a cigarette? It's just a tobacco filled stick you put in your mouth. Why not make it slightly healthier... make it a carrot. Throughout the film, the carrot is used to optimise coolness. In the opening scenes the way the carrot enters shot and how he is hold it is very similar to a cigarette. Why do this? Too show how rubbish the iconography of action films are!
Now let's take a look at Smith's rock. The women by his side. The hypothetical ball and chain. Monica Bellucci plays Donna, European temptress with a body to match. Hands up who's seen a film with a Continental female lead, with a slight foreign accent in an action movie? That's because it's a convention, the James Bond franchise have made a fortune out of the idea. And the master of slight foreign accents with a continental vibes don;t come much stronger than Monica Bellucci. Known best for her role as Persehphone from the Matrix sequels, here she is shown to be control of her man, the Merovingian, from behind. (But I guess that's what anyone would do seeing as he is the trafficker of information!)
Have you ever seen the Clive Owen film, Children of Men? It's a great film, surprising to say the least, as the trailer did make it seem all self righteous and such. The plot of Children of Men was that Clive Owen's character had to protect a child from various opposing forces as it was the first baby to be born in umpteen years. This is very similar to the story of Shoot 'Em Up but in this case children are being bred for bone marrow and Clive Owen's character has to protect a child from various opposing forces. seems odd that Clive Owen would accept a part in two films that a so similar in plot. For the sake of argument I will categorically say that Children of Men was an action film. Could Shoot 'Em Up be satirising Children of Men specifically? Maybe.
But does that make Shoot 'Em Up such a well made satire? I haven't provided solid points above but that was on purpose. Shoot 'Em Up doesn't draw attention to it's self claiming to be the next big action film, neither does it scream comedy. It just soliders on quietly allowing people to find their own interpretation. Is it a stinging political jib at the desensitisation of the general public? Is it a well crafted action genre satire? Or maybe... just maybe... is it just an action film?
Those of you reading this right now have probably not had a good valentines day, I mean, why else would you stuck at home reading The Three Rs? That's not necessarily a bad thing though...
No matter how you're spending your Valentines Day The Three Rs would like to wish you a good one.
The penguins' survival is being challenged by wide variability in conditions and food availability, said Dee Boersma, a University of Washington biology professor and a leading authority on Magellanic penguins.
One example would be that if one parent incubates the egg, the other parent have to go off and find food for the other parent. But these days, Boersma said, penguins often must swim 25 miles farther to find food than they did just a decade ago."That distance might not sound like much, but they also have to swim another 25 miles back, and they are swimming that extra 50 miles while their mates are back at the breeding grounds, sitting on a nest and starving," she said.
Recently, Boersma has published some documents regarding research of the serious challenges and problems those Magellanic penguins face in a colony at Punta Tombo, Argentina, that she has studied for more than 25 years. She discusses her research Thursday (Feb. 12) during a news briefing and Friday during a symposium at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago.
The Punta Tombo colony has declined more than 20 percent in the last 22 years, leaving just 200,000 breeding pairs, Boersma said.
There are several reasons for declination, including oil pollution, over-harvesting of fish by humans. The variation of climate also poses as a big problem. Taking a longer trip for food in a breeding season lessens the chances of a penguin pair reproducing successfully. When younger penguins move to colonies that are closer to food that year, they might be further away from the food the other year. Increased ocean variability means penguins often return to their breeding grounds later and are in poorer condition to breed.
Also, the nests have a higher chance to be flooded by rain now. Five times in the last 25 years, Boersma said, the Punta Tombo reserve has recorded about 2.5 inches of rain between Oct. 15 and Dec. 16, which threatens the survival of eggs and small chicks.
"That turns their little nests into swimming pools," she said.
In addition, there have been increasing instances of El Niño-like events that alter ocean currents, forcing penguins to travel farther for the fish on which they feed. Increasingly, Boersma has found that penguins she tagged at Punta Tombo years ago are turning up in colonies as much as 250 miles farther north. Birds migrating in search of food are forming the new colonies, but often they end up on land that is not part of a government preserve like Punta Tombo is.
The problems don't just confront Magellanic penguins, said Boersma, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Penguin Project. Of 17 penguin species, 12 are experiencing rapid population declines. The least concern is for the emperor, king, Adélie, little blue and chinstrap penguins, she said. All the rest are nearly threatened, threatened or endangered.
She noted that the success of Argentine fishing fleets is a good signal for how the Magellanic penguins will fare in a given winter as they store nutrition to prepare for the breeding season. There is a small anchovy fishery in the winter, and penguins also favour anchovies. But when the boats don't do well catching anchovies in the winter, that is bad news for penguins in the following breeding season.
"They do well when the fishermen are catching anchovies. If the fishermen are not successful, the penguins start to falter," Boersma said. "If the fishery expands and then collapses, as most do, the penguins will be in trouble.
"Penguins are having trouble with food on their wintering grounds and if that happens they're not going to come back to their breeding grounds," she said. "If we continue to fish down the food chain and take smaller and smaller fish like anchovies, there won't be anything left for penguins and other wildlife that depend on these small fish for food."
Of the world's 17 species of penguins 12 are rapidly declining Boersma added.
The following Section is for Episode 5. (Provided by Lostpedia.)
On Island (Flash 1 - 18 November 1988)
Jin, confused, asks Danielle her name again and where she came from. Jin then asks Danielle when she sailed from Tahiti and she responds 15 November 1988. He and the Science Expedition argue about what to do. Jin wants to go and find his camp, while Robert and the others want to find the radio tower which is the source of the transmission. Eventually the Frenchmen convince Jin to accompany them to the radio tower, since he doesn't know the way from the beach to his camp.
Danielle stops to rest as they trek into the jungle, and flirts with Robert about the sex and name of her baby. When Robert offers her water, they notice that Nadine, who had been carrying their canteen, is missing. They call out for her, with Danielle taking charge and quickly forming search parties.
They hear a noise, which Jin identifies as the Monster. A few moments later, a tree is torn up and Nadine's dead body lands near them. Jin yells at the group to run as the smoke monster makes its way through the trees. The monster catches Montand and drags him through the jungle to a cerberus vent near some old ruins.
The group chases him and manages to grab his arm just before the monster can pull him down the hole. As they struggle with the monster, a tentacle of smoke wraps itself around Montand's arm, slicing it off. Horrified, the group discards the severed arm. They then hear Montand calling from the hole, saying that he has been wounded and needs help. The members of the science expedition decide to enter the hole, despite Jin's warning not to. Lacombe, Brennan, and Robert enter the hole, but Jin manages to convince Danielle to remain behind for the sake of her baby. As they wait, Jin experiences a time flash.
On Island (Flash 2 - Late 1988 or early 1989)
Finding himself a short time later, Jin sees Montand's decayed arm on the ground next to ruins covered with hieroglyphs. Trumping through the jungle, he sees a pillar of smoke. Returning to the beach, he finds a makeshift camp, including the (still playing) music box which Robert had given Danielle. Nearby he finds the dead bodies of Lacombe and Brennan. They appeared to have been shot in the chest. Moving closer, he hears voices in an argument. Approaching, he sees Danielle and Robert. Both are armed with rifles.
Danielle is accusing Robert of not being her husband, asserting that he has become infected by the monster. Robert tries to reassure her that he still loves her and has not changed. He insists that the smoke monster is not a "monster" but merely a security system for the temple that they discovered. Robert asks her to put down her gun. When she lowers her weapon Robert raises his and attempts to fire, but Danielle had already removed the firing pin and the gun fails to fire. Horrified, Danielle shoots Robert. When Jin cries out in alarm she turns towards him, recognizing him from his disappearance. Insisting that he too is infected, she begins firing at him. Jin rushes into the jungle to hide and experiences another time flash.
On Island (Unknown Time Periods (Rapid Series of Time Flashes)
Before Jin can react, he hears a gun being cocked and someone ordering him to turn around. Turning around he discovers that it is Sawyer, accompanied by Daniel, Charlotte, Miles, Locke, and Juliet. Sawyer and Jin happily embrace each other, but Jin is dismayed when he doesn't see Sun and asks about her. With Charlotte's help translating Korean, they communicate the situation to him. They resume traveling towards the Orchid Station. On the way Charlotte collapses and begins to speak incoherently, partly in Korean. She experiences several mental time slips and warns Jin not to bring "her back", either referring to his wife or his daughter, because "this place is death". Dan asks for help carrying Charlotte to the Orchid, but Locke refuses, asserting that she will only slow them down. Despite Charlotte's insistence that Dan leave her, he refuses to do so. Sawyer asks Locke what he wants to do if the Orchid Station isn't around anymore. Charlotte tells them they have to "look for the well - you'll find it at the well". Accordingly the rest of the group leaves them and continues on to the Orchid.
The group arrives at the Orchid. Since they had speculated that the station might not even be there when they arrived, they are pleased to find it not only existing but in much the same condition as they expected it to be. However, right after they arrive they experience another time flash and the Orchid disappears. Remembering Charlotte's advice, or possibly seeing something, Locke heads through the jungle directly to a stone well with a rope leading into it. Locke attempts to climb down the rope, but Jin stops him, threatening to cut the rope unless Locke promises to not bring Sun back. Jin tells Locke to tell Sun that he has died to prevent her from returning to the island. Locke is to tell Sun that he buried Jin's body after it washed up on shore. When Locke is unsure how he will convince her of this, Jin gives Locke his wedding ring. After promising not to try to bring Sun, Locke says goodbye to them all and Sawyer helps him down the well. As Locke is descending the shaft, there is a light at the bottom of the well and a time flash, and he falls. Sawyer discovers the rope he is holding leads to solid dirt. The well is gone.
Meanwhile, Daniel tries to comfort Charlotte. Still suffering the effects of time flashes she tells Dan that she grew up on the Island and she mentions the Dharma Initiative. She left with her mother who tried to convince her that she had made up the Island. Despite this, Charlotte continued to search for the Island all her life because she had never seen her father again since she left. She also confides in Dan that she remembers a "crazy" man from her childhood who scared her. This man had told her that she must never come back to the Island or she would die. She tells Dan that she now realizes that he is that man. Moments later, she dies.
Locke has fallen into a cavern below the well and has suffered a severe compound fracture of his shin. Christian Shephard appears and scolds Locke for having Ben turn the wheel, when Christian told Locke to. He instructs Locke to fix the Wheel, which in this time is not frozen, saying it's off its axis, and tells him that dying is part of sacrifice. Locke struggles into the donkey wheel room, where the wheel is emitting flashes of green light and appears to be stuck. Locke turns the wheel as Christian says to say "hi" to his son. Locke asks who his son is as the room is engulfed by light.
Off Island 2008
Sun talks on the phone with Ji-Yeon who is back in Korea, she tells her that she misses her and that she met a new friend back in America: Aaron. After she finishes her conversation, she pulls out her gun and goes to threaten Ben. Ben tells Sun that Jin is alive, and he can prove it. Sun yells at Ben that she has spent the last 3 years believing Jin was dead. Kate takes Aaron back, putting him in her car.
Ben explains that someone in Los Angeles has proof, he’ll take her and show her the truth, which is the same person that will show them how to get back to the Island.
Kate begins to argue with Jack, accusing him of pretending to care about Aaron and her just to get them to go back. Jack says he was never pretending, but Kate leaves with Aaron in her car. Sayid isn't bothering with it either, and leaves as well. Ben, Sun, and Jack remain, and Sun tells Ben to take her to where he can find proof.
Ben drives the Canton-Rainier van to the church where Eloise Hawking is known to reside. Jack apologizes to Sun for leaving Jin behind, and that he should have waited for him. Sun asks why he’s telling her this now, if it’s because he wants to stop her from killing Ben. Jack says after what he just did to Kate “if you don’t do it Sun, I will.” Ben pulls the car over and yells at them telling them he's trying to protect them. They arrive at a church, and Ben pulls out Jin’s wedding ring to give to Sun, saying he was sorry he had to hold it until now, he says it was given to him by Locke. Jack brings up that Ben said Locke never went to see him, and Ben says no, he went to see Locke. Ben tells Jack and Sun that they need to help all those left on the island, and says the woman in the church can help them get back, and that time is running out. Sun looks at the ring in her hand, and agrees.
As they disembark from the vehicle Desmond appears and asks what they are doing there. He says "Are you looking for Faraday's mother, too?" A stunned Ben doesn't answer him and enters the church. The rest follow shortly and they find Eloise lighting votive candles. She asks Ben why only 4 of them are here. He replies, "That is the best I could do on short notice". Mrs. Hawking replies "Well, let's get started" and smiles.
Rant
Have any of you ever seen the episode of Futurama called "Time Keeps on Slipping"? Well it was very similar. Except in instead of members of the Globetrotter Planet fighting a spawn of super humans, it had our castaways encountering the Orchid (Briefly) but still getting down to the Donkey Wheel Room. I guessed that Ben turning the wheel instead of Locke was going to be significant. I should have placed a bet.
Off island Sun has it revealed that Jin is alive, I wonder what that'll mean for her teaming up with Widmore. Cut off all ties? Doubt it, this is Widmore we are on about. He's quite an enemy to have.
Sawyer's nosebleeding? That's not good at all! We don't want Sawyer dead, not even in a "He was Really Heroic Like Charlie" kind of way. I wish death upon any one who suggest it should happen!
Who built the well? Seems like an odd thing to build.
Review
4.8/5 - Keep this up and it'll be a perfect season!
Randomness
Desmond? Where's Penny and Co?
The contents found within the expandable post is at ABC (American) pace. So beware those following at Sky1, RTL1 etc pace.
Well, congratulations you miserable bastards. Not one of the Three Rs audience emailed me in response to last week's post, How Wrong Can You Be?, in which I gave you rubbish reviews of great films and invited, with warmth and kindness, every single one of you to just offer a guess as to which films were being reviewed. If you couldn't even be bothered to email, I even suggested you take a few clicks and put it in a post comment. Not particularly hard, not requiring much effort. Clearly I overestimated you simpletons, with your apathy by the bucketload.
If any of you have the mental capacity to care about the answers (which I doubt, so I'll just humour myself), here they are:
Alien
The Dark Knight
Memento
Donnie Darko
Life of Brian
Jurassic Park
Die Hard
12 Monkeys
And the winner is...oh, wait, there isn't one because nobody bothered. Well done! I mean, you could've googled the phrases and cheated your way to the top! But even that requires a modicum of thought and care, something you lot clearly lack.
Now, musique concrète, what the hell's the point? It's a poncey French art term, so you just know it's going to something avant garde and frankly, rubbish. Well. It is. It's music (well, it's supposed to be), but, as Wikipedia notes, it lacks "elements traditionally thought of as 'musical' (melody, harmony, rhythm, metre and so on)". Yeah, right. It's just not music, is it?
If my lamp lacks the elements traditionally thought of as lampish (a switch, a bulb, a twisty neck), then it's not a lamp. It's a modern art sculpture, probably. I could win the Turner Prize. But my point still stands. My lamp concrète is not a lamp, is it? Just like the Beatles' track "Revolution 1" is music, "Revolution 9" is musique concrète. And 1 is infinitely more listenable than 9 is. In the words of George Harrison, it's not avant garde, it's "avant garde a clue".
Calm down, grannies and Daily Mail reporters - I asterisked it just for you. However, if you're easily offended by either a)the F-word; or b)people moaning about their life, then this post is not for you. At any rate, it's probably not safe for work.
Now we've got that bit out of the way, let me tell you about FML, or FMyLife.com. Its slogan is "My life sucks but I don't give a fuck", though this doesn't actually seem to be the case. On this quirky, back-alley website, people post about bad events in their life and each post is appended with "FML" at the end, meaning "fuck my life!". So it looks like they do care, and give a fuck each time.
“Today, my mom decided to tell me about her new boyfriend. I know him. I've slept with him. FML”
Happily, if your life sucks, you've got two choices: post it on FML, or log on to FML and rejoice in others' misery - there is always a heart-warmingly awful story that dwarfs your misery. It's a glorious happiness-boost for any pathologically miserable git.
If you want to post your own depressing (to you)/hilarious (to others) tale - maybe you're not artsy enough for PostSecret? - then you don't even have to sign up. Open to abuse as systems like this might be, I think it's a great concept - especially for a site like FML, where you might only use it a handful of times. The anonymity it grants (you enter a nickname, but nothing is going to bind you to it thereafter) is helpful to spilling your angsty beans, and it's incredibly simple to do. You can, however, become a member and take the advantages that go with it (personalisation, saving your favourites, and so forth).
Each posting is vetted before appearing on the site, in a bid to not include fictional tales. Sometimes, though, tales seem improbable and way too funny to be true - but it's great that they're on there. Imagine if you'd posted a wholly embarrassing secret, only for it to be deemed to hilarious to happen in reality. That would be even worse!
“Today, I found FML for the first time in class, and literally laughed out loud in the middle of the lecture in front of 200 classmates. Today's lecture? The cruelties of slavery. FML”
In a Twitter-y move (can we please rename FML to Twatter?), each post is limited to 300 characters (yeah, it's more than double Twitter's limit, but so what?). This provides your anecdotes with a necessity to be interesting, quick and not padded out with detail. Just plain, raw personal torment. Reading it, like reading a person's Twitter tweets, is a one of those rare glimpses into other humans' lives, into our psyche - what does say about us that we're happy to read about others' misery?
Another of FML's features, which is frankly disturbing, is the ability to vote on each posting - whether users agree with you, or whether you deserved it. It's quite harsh, but the interactive element can add a further interesting dimension into human psychology, and how it manifests itself anonymously on the Internet. Or, it might just be the cool, "Web 2.0" thing to do.
“Today, I have been reading FML for 12 hours. FML”
I love this website, I really do. It's funny, sad and relieving simultaneously. Bookmark it, read it and - when the time comes - contribute.
For the first time in the decade, suicide rates have increased in US, according to a report published in October by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. But what is the reason that leads a normal person to suicidal? Three new studies suggest that the neurological changes in a brain of a suicide victim differ markedly from those in other brains and that these changes develop over the course of a lifetime.
The most common reason of suicide is depression, which affects two thirds of the people who commit suicide. In Canada October, researchers have found out that the depressed who commit suicide have an abnormal distribution of receptors for the chemical GABA, one of the most abundant neurotransmitters in the brain. GABA’s role is to inhibit neuron activity. “If you think about the gas pedal and brakes on a car, GABA is the brakes,” explains co-author Michael Poulter, a neuroscientist at the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario.
Poulter and his colleagues discovered that one of the thousands of types of receptors for GABA is inadequately represented in the frontopolar cortex of people with major depressive disorder who have committed suicide as compared with nondepressed people who died of other causes.The frontopolar cortex is involved in higher-order thinking, when a person have to make decisions. The scientists do not yet know how this abnormality leads to the type of major depression that makes someone suicidal, but “anything that disturbs that system would be predicted to have some sort of important outcome,” Poulter says.
Interestingly, this GABA receptor problem is not the result of abnormal or mutated genes. Rather the change is epigenetic, meaning some environmental influence affected how often the relevant genes were expressed—that is, made into proteins. In the frontopolar cortex of the brains of those who commit suicides the gene for the GABA-A receptor often had a molecule called a methyl group attached to it, the team found. When a methyl group is attached to a gene, it keeps that gene hidden from cells’ protein-building machinery—in this case, preventing the cells from manufacturing GABA-A receptors.
The addition of this methyl tag, called methylation, occurs more extensively in rodents that are handled by humans than in rodents that are not. Not much is known about what causes methylation in the human brain, but another recent study that popped up suggested that it could related to any sort of abuse in the childhood. In May researchers at McGill University reported that the gene responsible for creating cells’ protein-building machinery is more frequently methylated in the hippocampus—the brain region responsible for short-term memory and spatial navigation—of depressed suicide victims who suffered child abuse than in the brains of nonsuicide victims who were not abused.
And again, the researchers are sitll unaware yet how problems with protein-building machinery lead to depression and suicide.But “it makes sense that if you have some limited capacity for protein synthesis, you gradually are depriving yourself of building critical synapses,” or connections between neurons, which could be important for staying happy, says co-author Moshe Szyf, a pharmacologist at McGill. “Our hypothesis is that there are social events early in life that kind of epigenetically program the brain,” he says. He and his colleagues are now comparing the brains of suicide victims who were abused with those of suicide victims who were not abused to see if their methylation patterns differ.
Even in the womb, epigenetic influences can change the developing brain in ways that increase the risk of eventual suicide. In February 2008 a study revealed that baby boys who are born either rather short or with low birth weight have a higher risk to commit violent suicide as adults than longer and heavier babies are, without consideration of their height and weight as adults. Similarly, baby boys born pre¬maturely are four times more likely to attempt violent suicide than those born at full term.
The researchers, publishing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggest that the chemical serotonin, which is involved in fetal brain growth, may play a role. A stressful or deprived womb environment may interfere with the development of the fetus and its serotonin system; other studies have shown that the brains of people who exhibit suicidal behaviors have reduced serotonin activity.
Ultimately, findings revealed that the brains of suicides differ from other brains in multiple ways - in other words, “we’re really dealing with some sort of biological imbalance,” Poulter says. “It’s not an attitude problem.” And because epigenetic changes typically occur rather early in a person's life, it may one day be possible to identify young people at risk for suicide by studying their methylation patterns and then to treat them with drugs that regulate this mechanism, Szyf notes.
Most of us are aware that our cars, our coal-generated electric power and even our cement factories adversely affect the environment. Until recently, however, the foods we eat had gotten a pass in the discussion. However, according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2006, our diets, specifically the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and the like to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry. (Greenhouse gases trap solar energy, thereby warming the earth's surface. Because gases vary in greenhouse potency, every greenhouse gas is usually expressed as an amount of CO2 with the same global-warming potential.)
The report by FAO found out that every year, the current productions levels of meat contributes to the percentage of 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of "CO2-equivalent" greenhouse gases the world produces. The results turns out that if you produced half a pound of hamburger for a person's lunch a patty of meat the size of two decks of cards releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearlof hambuy 10 miles.
Frankly speaking, every food that we put into our mouths, no matter vegetables or fruits, incurs hidden environmental costs: transportation, refrigeration and fuel for farming, as well as methane emissions from plants and animals, all lead to a buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Take asparagus: in a report prepared for the city of Seattle, Daniel J. Morgan of the University of Washington and his co-workers found that growing just half a pound of the vegetable in Peru emits greenhouse gases equivalent to 1.2 ounces of CO2 as a result of applying insecticide and fertilizer, pumping water and running heavy, gas-guzzling farm equipment. To refrigerate and transport the vegetable to an American dinner table generates another two ounces of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases, for a total CO2 equivalent of 3.2 ounces.
Yet, there's nothing that can be compared to beef. In 1999 Susan Subak, an ecological economist then at the University of East Anglia in England, found that, depending on the production method, cows emit between 2.5 and 4.7 ounces of methane for each pound of beef they produce. Because methane has roughly 23 times the global-warming potential of CO2, those emissions are the equivalent of releasing between 3.6 and 6.8 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere for each pound of beef produced.
Lost time again folks. A real corker of an ending on this week's episode, The Little Prince. I won't hold you now longer, hit the jump to find find out what happened.
The following Section is for Episode 4. (Provided by Lostpedia.)
On Island (Flash 1 - November 1st 2004)
Sawyer, Locke, Juliet, Miles, Charlotte, and Daniel are at the Mesa. Dan manages to revive Charlotte and Locke suggests that they travel to the Orchid in order to try and stop the time flashes. In order to save time he suggests heading to the beach camp and using the zodiac. After dark, while traveling through the jungle, they see a beam of light emanating from the ground. Recognizing it as the light he saw the night Boone died, emanating from the Hatch, Locke takes them by a more circuitous route. A short while later they hear a woman's cries. Going to investigate, Sawyer sees Kate assisting Claire as she gave birth to Aaron. Overwhelmed by the experience, he is unable to get the courage to confront Kate in the past and before too long he shifts through time once more.
On Island (Flash 2 - 2005ish)
Finding themselves in daylight once more, the group makes their way to the beach. They find that the camp exists once more, but seems disheveled, with a number of the structures in disrepair and all the supplies either stolen or consumed. With no one nor the zodiac in sight, the group wonders where everyone has gone. Noticing a pair of wooden outrigger canoes they speculate that the other survivors may have fled from attackers. Inside one of the canoes Sawyer finds a water bottle with a label for Ajira Airways which Juliet recognizes as an international airline based in India. Since the zodiac is gone, they take one of the outriggers and begin paddling towards the Orchid. After a short while they notice that unknown people are pursuing them in the other outrigger. As the other canoe gains on them the people in it begin to shoot at them. Juliet returns fire with a rifle, apparently hitting one of the pursuers. Before the pursuers can get any closer there is another time flash, and the group finds themselves in a terrible storm.
On Island (Flash 3 - 1988)
The survivors successfully come to shore, noticing debris from a ship.
Meanwhile a group of people are in an emergency raft weathering a storm. In the distance they see a man floating on a piece of debris. They paddle over to the man and pull him into the raft, revealing him to be Jin. By morning they have reached the beach, where they offer Jin water. The team all appear to be French and are attempting to locate the source of the numbers transmission, wondering if the Island is inhabited. A very young, sweet, and pregnant women introduces herself to Jin, her name is Danielle Rousseau.
Off Island (2005)
A few days after being rescued, Kate and Jack share a private moment on the Searcher. Their discussion revolves around what to do with Aaron. Kate expresses that she wants to take care of him because, after losing so many people on the Island, she cannot bear to see any misfortune befall upon Aaron. Jack explains that he is going to try to convince everyone else to lie about the Island the next day, but needs Kate to go along with it. He asks if Kate will back him up, to which she explains that she has always been with Jack all along.
Off Island 2008
After borrowing a black suit from Sun, Kate leaves Aaron with her at the hotel. As soon as Kate leaves, Sun receives a package from an unknown source. The package consists of a surveillance report, a box of chocolates with a hidden gun inside, and photos of Jack and Ben in front of the Hoffs-Drawlar funeral home.
Kate meets with Dan Norton at his law office, volunteering she will provide her blood and Aaron's if Dan will tell her who his client is. He says that she is in no position to bargain and that she will lose custody.
Meanwhile, Jack is reviving Sayid at the hospital. Sayid wants to leave, but Jack says he's been unconscious for 42 hours with a strong dose of horse tranquilizers. The Chief of Clinical Services on the medical staff calls Jack out of the room and berates him, reminding him that he's been suspended for substance abuse and the hospital is responsible.
An nurse comes to give Sayid medication, but Sayid recognizes this as an ambush and moves from the hospital bed just as the nurse attempts to shoot him with a dart gun. After disabling the gunman and choking him, he demands to know who sent him. The man gestures to an address in his pocket. Sayid then shoots him twice with the dart gun.
Jack's phone rings - Hurley, who is at the county jail in an orange jumpsuit, is very happy. Jack says Sayid is okay. Hurley says to tell Sayid he followed his advice.
Ben arrives. As they return to Sayid, Sayid glares at Ben and they get the piece of paper from the attacker's pocket. It has Kate's address. Jack calls Kate and persuades her to tell him where she is. He goes to meet her.
Kate and Jack follow Dan Norton from his offices to a motel near LAX. Concluding that Norton's mysterious client must be there, they watch as he goes to a room. When the door opens they see Carole Littleton inside. Concluding that Ms Littleton intends to gain custody of Aaron, Kate attempts to flee, but Jack convinces her to allow him to talk to Ms Littleton. When he does so he discovers that Littleton has no knowledge of Aaron's existence, let alone his parentage, and was in town to settle a lawsuit against Oceanic Airlines. Upon learning this, Jack and Kate go to rendezvous with Ben, unbeknownst to Kate that the lawyer is actually Linus'.
Ben and Sayid meet Dan Norton in the police garage where Dan informs Ben that the charges will be dropped against Hurley and that he should be out by the next morning. When Sayid asks who Dan is, Ben says he is his lawyer.
Jack, Kate, Ben and Sayid meet up, but when Kate sees Ben she looks very disturbed. Jack then tells her Ben's with him and that Ben's here to help them and everyone they left behind. Kate then accuses Ben of trying to take Aaron, Jack dismisses it, but Ben quickly says Kate's right and apologizes to Jack. Kate then asks Ben why he doesn't just leave her and her son alone, Ben responds to that with 'Because he's not your son, Kate'. It is then revealed Sun is observing them from a car with Aaron sleeping in the back and her surveillance photos in the passenger seat. She then gets her gun and steps out.
Rant Well that episode took a while to set off... but when it did, it soared.
So Miles is definitely going to be changing his second name to Chang soon. The whole nosebleed affair really proved that, just as the writers wanted. And it seems kind of ironic that Miles would 'tease' Charlotte about leaving (in the Season 4 finale) when he's just as bad! Juliet's nosebleed is obvious, no theory needed. Now if Sawyer got a nosebleed...
The whole Carole thing was pointless. I know it was added to try throw us off the sent but Lost has created it's self too sceptical fans to believe it was her! Was Ben lying about hiring the lawyer? Maybe, or he's actually telling the truth for once. No, that's not like Ben. Even if he is, I think he better look out behind him, here's comes Sun...
Jin... alive? Seems a bit of a cop out but hey, it should make for an awkward reunion with Sun. She's gone all gun-ho about his death and his not even dead, ah.
Speaking of Jin, Danielle is back! I can see it now. Jin causes the sickness somehow and Sawyer and co walk in on him. They go to approach him, but a flash happens. However Jin's still there... Sounds like a good scene! Sort of.
Review 4.2/5 - The second half saved the first.
Randomness When I asked where Claire was, I didn't mean returning in stock footage.
The contents found within the expandable post is at ABC (American) pace. So beware those following at Sky1, RTL1 etc pace.
Salutations young warriors. Unleashed11 here ready for another post full of answers. After several days of meditation, I got to the conclusion that there are some questions that haunt our head.
So, to your pleasure, Unleashed11 decided to do a "Why do ..." section!
I will answer to inevitable puzzles that roam in the human mind. Today, "Why do we sneeze?".
We all know that unpleasant sensation...tingling... "OMG ATCHOO!". It's something we can't avoid. And then, the pleasure behind that sneeze... Oh My God! So Good! Want to know why? Let's answer it then. Sneezing, is one of our bodies ways to expel harmful substances. The nose is like an air purifier. Putting it simply... it purifes the air we breathe. In the air we breathe, there are bacteria and other kind of particles. When these bacteria (or virus) start multiplying inside our nose (or when we have a allergic reaction / or a cloud of dust hits your face), the nerve endings in our nose get irritated and it acts like a cannon, blasting the bad stuff out of our tunnels.
A sneeze is formed by the spasm of the chest and of the pharynx that connects the esophagus and the nasal cavity. When the nerve endings in the lining of the nose detect the irritating substances, they send impulses to the part of the brain that controls involuntary actions. The brain then sends signals to the chest muscles to squeeze the lungs. The pharynx also shuts to prevent the air being squeezed out of the lungs into the mouth. And so, with a loud blast, the air is expelled through the nose in the form of a sneeze.
Some people sneeze when they are exposed to bright sunlight. This is a reaction to the ultraviolet rays of the sunlight irritating the nose lining.
Last but not least, when you sneeze, cover the shot so that the persons next to you don't get hit by the attacking bacteria ^^.
Stephen King has criticised Twilight author Stephenie Meyer, claiming that she "can't write worth a darn".
Speaking to USA Weekend, the best-selling author compared Meyer's vampire series with J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter franchise.
"Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."
However, King admitted that he understood why Meyer's books had been so successful with her young audience.
"It's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual," he said.
"A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."
The next instalment in the Twilight film series, New Moon, is scheduled for release in November.
So I've been quite "into" literature recently, and i've two poems on hand. One is non-patriotic, and the other one is a rather patriotic poem.
Non-patriotic poems:
War Games
Rank on rank, the grey-green uniforms stand, Stiff and straight, waiting for commands. Rank on rank, from the sunrise, they march, Their rhythmic footsteps fade into the dusk.
Docile with the might of readiness, Facile in the following of commands, They stand, crumple, falter, Revealing the stained, the ragged, the torn; Ones that will rise no more, Lying instead.....dead and useless fragments, Soon consigned to memory; Burned in unmarked trashcans.
Survivors stand.....rank on rank, Starched and staunch, waiting for commands; Patiently waiting.....rank on rank, To start their march into oblivion,
Seeking the warrior's promised land..... Which, undoubtedly, they'll find.
Written the Fall of 1972 by James R. Hoye
The poem depicts a scene of ungratefulness of one country towards its soldiers. From the repetition of the words “rank on rank” emphasizes that the low rank soldiers are being “trampled” upon by the higher ranks like generals and commanders. They are similar to puppets on strings and tools that can be sacrificed without hesitation. Thus the phrase “useless fragments” when they are “dead” in the second stanza. They are also monotonous, lifeless puppets that simply march “from the sunrise” and their “rhythmic footsteps fade into the dusk” emphasizes that the soldiers have to march the whole day non-stop; being controlled like puppets. Even though they are tired and they are already “ragged” and “torn”, they cannot rest. When they die, their deaths and efforts are not appreciated. Their bodies are cremated without proper burial, as it is stated in second stanza; “burned in unmarked trashcans”. The phrase “soon consigned to memory” emphasizes that they don’t have a physical identity and can only be remembered in memories, whereas memories will fade away someday. From the third stanza, it shows that the survivors of the war are still organized like an army, as described by the phrase “starch and staunch, waiting for commands”. They will still be forgotten by the country because they are “patiently waiting””to start their march into oblivion” from the third stanza. Thus, in overall, the soldiers are not respected, unappreciated, used and being looked down upon by the its own country that they are fighting for. They are simply sacrifices to the country.
Patriotic:
The Fallen Subaltern
By Herbert Asquith
THE STARSHELLS float above, the bayonets glisten; We bear our fallen friend without a sound; Below the waiting legions lie and listen To us, who march upon their burial-ground.
Wound in the flag of England, here we lay him; The guns will flash and thunder o’er the grave; What other winding sheet should now array him, What other music should salute the brave?
As goes the Sun-god in his chariot glorious, When all his golden banners are unfurled, So goes the soldier, fallen but victorious, And leaves behind a twilight in the world.
And those who come this way, in days hereafter, Will know that here a boy for England fell, Who looked at danger with the eyes of laughter, And on the charge his days were ended well.
One last salute; the bayonets clash and glisten; With arms reversed we go without a sound: One more has joined the men who lie and listen To us, who march upon their burial-ground.
The poem depicts an army that is fighting for its own country in pride and love for its country. They are proud when they fight for their country with their weapons as their “bayonets glisten”. The soldiers are like friends with one another, and they accept the deaths of one silently, respecting him when he falls. The phrase “burial-ground” actually means that the dead soldier is respected because he has a physical body and identity of him for memorial and remembrance. From the second stanza, we can see that the dead soldier died while fighting for England. It shoes that the country cherishes and is honoured to have a soldier dying for the country while fighting in the war. The whole country is aware of one death of one soldier, and from the last phrase “what other music should salute the brave?” is a rhetorical question that actually means that no music is enough to salute the brave soldier. From the third stanza, it actually says that the soldiers are worshipped in high glory , perhaps even to the extent of god-like. That would be because the Sun is a symbol of brightness and life, and during the funeral of the soldier, the sun leaves twilight is darkness and gloom, so even the forces of nature are mourning for his death. From the phrase “fallen but victorious”, it gives a very strong message that even though the soldier had failed in winning the war with the other soldiers and had lost his life, he is one victorious soldier because he had fought. In the fourth stanza, it shows that the whole country will be aware of the glory death of one soldier, because he was extremely brave and had fought hard and well in the last few days of his life. The repletion of the lines in the first and last stanza emphasizes again on the respect that the people have for the soldiers.
Comparison between the two poems?
From the two above analysis of the poems “War Games” and “The Fallen Subaltern”, we can see that the content and diction of the two poems are contradicting to each other. Many words and phrases in the poem ‘War Games” are harsh, tired and melancholy, examples are ‘dead and useless fragments’, ‘the stained, the ragged, the torn;’ ‘Burned in unmarked trashcans’ and many more. However, the phrases in the poem “The Fallen Subaltern” are very victorious and patriotic; examples are like “fallen but victorious”, “chariot glorious”, “bayonets clash and glisten” and many others. Those phrases used in each poem are very contradicting, because one is speaking about how terrible the soldiers are being treated in the war, while the other wrote about how glorious it is for a soldier to die for his country. Comparing the both poems, the soldiers that are in “War Games” are treated like puppets that are being controlled by the country or the government, and they have no will of their own. They were simply forced to fight by their country, and their lives are monotonous when they fight, because they were simply fighting and dying all the while. Their efforts, lives and deaths were unappreciated by the country, and they were simply sacrifices. They are of no importance to their country, as they are low ranks soldiers. After the war, the survivors and the dead would simply be forgotten. However, in the poem “The Fallen Subaltern”, the soldiers are regarded and respected in high glory, because their efforts and lives are recognized by their country that they are fighting for. The soldiers are proud when they fight for their country, and that all the people respect their deaths.
How about your views? What are your opinions on war?
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