Super Awesome

"This kid had lost his dad in the crowd, and freaked out until he saw the Flash and Wonder Woman. He went up to the Flash to ask for help, because he knows him.”

Hey, kid, forget the Flash - ask for a hug from the Amazonian.

Lost is Over...

Do I feel like I wasted 120 plus hours watching a television show, you bet. Am I disappoint? Yes I am. And if you're not part of this crowd, I'm really sorry. And yes, I'm going to accidentally toss out a couple [SPOILERS] for this show and some others if you haven't seen them. So, quit reading if you have a problem with it, or have it back ordered on Netflix, or haven't bothered until the hype machine was on full volume for the end of Lost.

Ahem. Let me begin.

Science fiction television writers, I understand that using religion in your work is compelling and new, and can even bring in new audiences. Perhaps you'll get a few thousand of the folks who bought the 'Left Behind' series of books about the Rapture? What a nice demographic.

Perhaps, as storytellers, you find the religious aspect of your shows -- and I'm not speaking specifically to characters with strong faith, but instead on your entire narrative arch of the plot ending in a religious tone or in the case of Lost, and the Battlestar Galactica, the religious crescendo. Maybe you're reacting to the world where ancient mysticism and regular church going isn't compatible with iPads and frozen chicken dinners? The mysterious world of witches and magic are bottled and packaged as Disney characters for toddlers, and we're out of touch with our ancient mythology. You see an opportunity to tap into these simple stories, and have found compelling ways to repackage them and sell advertising.

I mean, look how well it worked for Star Wars, Twin Peaks and X-Files? Star Wars is nothing more than a princess, a pirate, a wizard and a farm boy going up against the evil man in black, right? Good and evil. Man With A Thousand Faces! Too bad Joseph Campbell wasn't around to help Lucas write a compelling first three prequels, right?

Twin Peaks had the black and white lodges - pretty basic stuff there too, really. And X-files had the mysterious mythology that they would drag out and kick around in-between monster-of-the-week episodes, that dealt with urban legends and ancient mysticism... and UFO's are grouped in there too for good measure.

So Lost and Battlestar come after these highlights in science fiction, and exploit the mysticism storyline as well. It was just a bit TOO much and TOO blatant for yours truly.

Let me make one request. You keep religion out of my sci-fi, and I'll keep my science out of religion? Deal?

I won't ask how the velocity of David's sling could have possibly taken down Goliath - as there's no way it could have caused enough head trauma. I won't ask how Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt - was that figurative or literal? And what was the street value of that pillar of salt in antiquity? How about Jesus turning water into wine - was that an Ocean's 11, or Jesus's 13 kind of caper involving a hilarious Vaudevillian double switch? I'll just let those things slide as long as we never see a religious ending to shows with time-travel or space ships.

Not that I hated the ending last night - as they would have had to have plotted it out in advance. Battlestar, though, really was pulled out and thrown on the wall to see if it would stick. The first couple seasons were awesome, and the Jewish robots going after the heathen Zodiac worshiping people was great. There were analogies to the Iraq war, 9/11, religion - great stuff and mirroring our world and telling a morality tale = which I'll be the first to say is what makes great science fiction. But they should be left ambiguously, not literal.

But, that said, the best shows to tackle morality tales were the Twilight Zone and the original Star Trek. Automan, Manimal, and Man from Atlantis? Not so much.

And while answering questions, and finishing hanging story nuggets - the ending quietly ties up those threads by saying, did that one little red herring really have anything to do with how it ended, no - now quit obsessing, Nerd Fan. Okay, well, I don't have a choice -- but were you, as writers, being lazy or were you tossing around red herrings in case your ending didn't work? I don't care that you didn't explain what the Island was or what the glowing thing was, but then you kind of did... but my point was to KEEP it vague and not tell us the Force is midichlorians.

And you did do that, but not with the characters.

How would I have ended it? Glad you didn't ask -- but I'll tell you anyway. The alternate pocket universe gives the characters a choice. Go to the island and help Jacob -- or stay here in this world. The two shall converge and those of you who are dead, keep on keepin' on. Remember your choices and lives on the island, and live good lives. The show rebooted six times. There's no reason why these people couldn't have just rebooted again too. Those of you who want to stay and help out, that's your choice (the choice the man-in-black and Jacob never were given) and that's cool too.

Then it really is about fate vs choice -- which was a major theme throughout the show.

So Lost disappointed me. There was a very heavy religious 'Defending Your Life' ending to the entire program. How much was real? The island was, but the pocket alternate universe, not as much. Does it matter? Is it worth watching? Probably. Will I have fond memories of the show. Kind of, but I'm still going to always think that the ending was a cop-out.

Oceanic Airlines Safety Information Card

Oceanic Airlines Safety Information Card Shirt from ThinkGeek.

Fiction Trumps Reality

News about a real plane crash doesn't get as much coverage as a fake plane crash...

It's not news, it's CNN.

As tired as I am news sites putting useless crap on their front page, I also am aware that they are aware of EXACTLY what people are clicking on, and tailor it to match to sell advertising.

We are the problem, not them.

Lost Screen Time Pie Chart

How about the 120 some odd hours I've spent watching this show? Do you have a pie chart for that?

Big Drama and Surprises on Illinois: Over By Dere

With the season finale of Illinois: Over By Dere just a few episodes away, there sure have been a slew of revelations, surprises and new adventures making this the best show on television!

Blagojevich attorneys want to subpoena Obama!

The old character who left the show for the spin-off of Illinois: Over By Dere for his own program, The Left Wing, the President is now the key to proving former governor’s innocence, lawyers suggest in court filing!

Just weeks before the start of his federal corruption trial, ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought Thursday to tie his credibility to that of long departed lead character President Barack Obama by asking that the leader of the free world be compelled to testify for the defense.

The court filing by the ex-governor's attorneys attempted to protect sensitive details by blacking out references to sealed investigative records. But it became an instant Internet sensation thanks to a computer glitch that enabled people to view the entire document — a mix of new allegations and old details that combined to create fresh intrigue over charges Blagojevich sought to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama when he was elected in 2008.

Stringing together tidbits from closely held FBI interviews and secretly taped phone conversations, Blagojevich's lawyers suggested there is more to the story of the Senate pick than either federal prosecutors or the White House have acknowledged. And they argued that only Blagojevich and Obama know the details that could prove the former governor's innocence.

Quoting from a sealed prosecution memo, the defense team aired a previously undisclosed allegation that convicted influence peddler and main story stooge Antoin "Tony" Rezko told investigators he tried to buy Obama's favor with illegal campaign contributions. Rezko, a top fundraiser for Obama and Blagojevich, is cooperating in the case against the former governor.

The defense filing seeks to have the president rebut Rezko's claims and in the process discredit him.

Obama has repeatedly said Rezko has never asked him to do anything improper and he has never done so. White House spokesman Bill Burton said Thursday: "We aren't going to comment on an ongoing criminal investigation."

Never camera-shy despite his legal peril, Blagojevich has frequently suggested to the media that he might seek testimony from Obama and top White House aides from Chicago! It'll be a cross over to rival Law and Order!

And, after Sun was reunited with Jin (finally) she was able to speak English again. Most likely because Jin was her constant in both the alternate and island timelines. It should be noted that the timelines are running parallel, with a four year gap.

Meanwhile, the defense filing represents a ratcheting up of the pretrial chess game just a day after U.S. District Judge James Zagel admonished Blagojevich to quit grandstanding and said he would not allow the defense to play all 500 hours of government wiretaps for jurors. Zagel summoned lawyers in the case to an unscheduled closed-door meeting after the full content of the defense filing hit the Internet.

Since Blagojevich's arrest in December 2008, Obama has insisted that he and top aides were never part of any deals for the Senate seat and were unaware that Blagojevich may have been scheming to use his appointment power to enrich himself.

There is nothing in the filing to indicate otherwise. But the cherry-picked nature of how the defense document was assembled and the suggestive nature of the allegations invited immediate claims from Obama critics that the filing raised doubts about the president's veracity. Looks like he's going to be coming back to the show that made him famous?

Blagojevich's attorneys said Rezko has informed federal authorities that he "engaged in election law violations by personally contributing a large sum of cash to the campaign of a public official" and used a lobbyist to offer to hold a fundraiser for the official in exchange for "favorable" action. The attorneys indicated the timing of these alleged actions was around 1999 when Obama was launching an eventually unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush. Or, for those of you new to the show - he was bought off.

"The defense has a good faith belief that this public official is Barack Obama," the filing declared, while also noting that Obama has denied any knowledge of or participation in such actions.

Sources have said Rezko has not been prepped by prosecutors to testify in the case, and that the government has not made a decision on calling him. The defense filing makes it clear that the Blagojevich camp is confident Rezko will take the stand as "one of the government's main witnesses."

Prosecutors have accused Blagojevich of working with Rezko and other associates to run the state as a criminal racket even before the ex-governor was sworn into office in 2003. In addition to the charges involving the Senate seat, Blagojevich has been accused of trading official actions for kickbacks that would benefit his campaign fund, his friends, his wife and himself, even going so far as to allegedly shake down a children's hospital. Which, fans will always remember as one of his greatest moments on the show... even better than his impeachment.

It is the charges swirling around the Senate pick that have led the defense team to attempt to draw Obama into the case. In December 2008, shortly after Blagojevich's arrest but prior to the presidential inauguration, Obama said he had "never spoken to the governor on this subject. I'm confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat."

But Blagojevich's defense team contends that Obama's public statements contradict those of other potential prosecution witnesses, including Valerie Jarrett, a White House official who briefly was considered the favored Senate replacement for her longtime friend Obama.

Oooops!

The filing cites FBI interviews with labor officials, including one who said he spoke to Obama on the eve of his Nov. 4, 2008, election and said the soon-to-be-president believed that Jarrett "would be a good senator for the people of Illinois." The union official said he told Obama he would convey that message to Blagojevich.

Obama ordered an internal investigation after the Blagojevich arrest, and Jarrett told the lawyer leading that probe that she met with Tom Balanoff, head of the powerful Service Employees International Union in Illinois, three days after the election. She said Balanoff told her he had spoken to Blagojevich about picking her as senator.

In the same conversation, Jarrett said, Balanoff also told her Blagojevich had raised the possibility of his being named as secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama Cabinet, a possibility that Balanoff and Jarrett agreed would never happen.

The filing alleges that the day after the election, a supporter of Obama suggested to Jarrett she reach out to then-Illinois first lady Patti Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy, according to an interview Jarrett had with the FBI shortly after the former governor's arrest.

The Obama supporter, who is not identified in the filing, allegedly mentioned "fundraising" (hehee) help for Blagojevich in exchange for naming Jarrett to the Senate vacancy during a phone call to Blagojevich's home that was secretly recorded by government agents the day before the election.

Jarrett withdrew her name from consideration eight days after the election, and prosecutors contend that Blagojevich then went on to entertain an array of other possible Senate contenders he could name in return for financial gain. My guess is that Jarrett 'discovered' the wire tap once her benefactor did. And that man is the man with the submarine - Widmore.

One week before Blagojevich's arrest, Obama and the Illinois governor attended a national meeting of governors in Philadelphia. The filing notes that the two spoke there and that two top aides to Blagojevich later discussed that conversation in a wiretapped phone call. But there's no indication in the filing that the Senate vacancy was discussed by Obama and Blagojevich when they met.

The other major intersection between Obama and Blagojevich involves Rezko, who in 2008 was convicted of corruption for his role in rigging regulatory decisions in the Blagojevich administration.

At one point during that trial, Rezko complained that federal authorities were pressuring him to tell them "wrong" things about Blagojevich and Obama. "I have never been a party to any wrongdoing that involved the governor or the senator," Rezko wrote to a judge.

The defense contends that Rezko has told the government that in 1999, when Obama was an Illinois state senator, the two had "certain conversations about gaming legislation and administration" which Obama has publicly denied having. That was the year that the legislature passed a major expansion of casino gambling, and Rezko reportedly was angling for casino-related business.

Obama voted against the legislation and spoke against it during debates.

In its filing, the defense said it realized that asking a sitting president to testify would be difficult because of his demanding schedule and security concerns. To make it easier, Blagojevich's lawyers offered to question Obama on videotape and play the deposition in court.

To comply with a judicial order to protect sensitive information, Blagojevich's lawyers had blacked out references to confidential evidence handed over by the prosecution.... but then there was a computer glitch that allowed everyone to see it.

Oooops!

Fire up that pop corn, this show just went from great to legendary!

By Jeff Coen, Rick Pearson and Bob Secter, Tribune reporters John Chase, David Heinzmann, Stacy St. Clair and Serena Maria Daniels contributed to this report.

Illinois: Season Premiere

Tied to Blago, Rezko, and The Mob. Looks like Illinois Democrats have found themselves a new Senator.

In the season opener of Illinois Over By Dere on ABC last night, two timelines emerged after the 'incident.' On one path, the Democrats pretended that nothing had ever happened. They went about their merry way and landed in O'Hare airport, like they were 'supposed' to. Quinn was the party's choice for Gov, but Todd Stroger was found flailing around in the airplane toilet... choking on what was either a small bag of heroin or his own arrogance. Unfortunately, he might be back in future episodes. Other characters, thought dead were back - like Boone, Claire and Toni Preckwinkle. We started off last night's episode by seeing that Desmond was on the plane, and the Island was under water. That's probably significant. Maybe the underwater thing represents the 80 million dollars of unfunded pension liabilities that no one wants to talk about?

Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn declared himself the winner, even though Comptroller Dan Hynes had not conceded defeat. Hynes trailed by fewer than 6,000 votes as results trickled in. That ought to be a good second episode.

In the alternate timeline, the one we're more familiar with, Mark Kirk won the Republican spot to run for Obama's old Senate seat, and it seems that after the trip to the temple to find out that the Others are actually the Black Rock pirates, the entire gang will be headed to a unity breakfast. With the Smokemonster loose, and their governor nominee still in doubt, it's a dangerous time for these guys. State Sens. Bill Brady of Bloomington and Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale were within 1,500 votes of each other with 99 percent of the unofficial vote counted this morning, and there was a lot of explaining to do. Each had 20 percent of the tally in a six-way contest.

The possibility of lengthy and expensive recounts looms, along with a very evil Smokey which will put pressure on elections officials who aren't even done counting the ballots and certifying the election results. The black circle of protection might help, but questions and danger loom. It wasn't enough to protect Dennis Hastert's son who was killed in his contest.

Another note was that Judy Barr Topenka emerged from the rubble.

It will be interesting when the two timelines converge and fight over fate, vs free will (watch the video). As you can see below, the fight has already started... and it seems that the Democrat's choice for Senate will have quite a fight on his hands - which is bound to upset President Obama.



Meanwhile, Da Mayor's ethics's aide has resigned after he bungled a sexual harassment claim... I can't believe that this job even existed. While Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers quietly pleaded guilty in federal court to bribery and tax charges, bringing to 29 the number of aldermen — his father included — to be convicted over the last four decades.

The felony conviction capped a stunning fall for Carothers, who admitted his guilt in exchange for a 28-month prison term. Carothers, in a bid for a lighter sentence, wore a wire for a year. That's going to make some characters awfully nervous for the rest of this season.

The question we should all be asking is, When does it end? Or more specifically, what's going to be done to stop it?

Stay tuned.

Sunday Comics: Losers

No, not for you. Not yours, Madrid. (I think I know that dude who's smiling)

Wha? First round?!

This is the darkest day in American history. No, serious.

Fantastic Viral Ad

Mysteries of The Universe - The Dharma Initiative

Now THIS is how you make a viral ad! Applause, applause!