"It's not an Island..."

"It's a place where miracles can happen." - John Locke, 5/30/1956 - 4/4/2007... ?

Last night, between the hours of 9 and 11 pm, my television was a place where miracles happened. As I predicted, season 4's finale would not be quite as jaw dropping as season 3's because of a number of things that "needed" to happen, but that didn't stop Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse from providing us with 2 hours of captivating television. And unlike last season's finale, for once it can be said that the show actually seems to be headed somewhere. Lost draws a lot of comparisons to The X-Files for its supernatural themes and inverse proportion between questions presented and questions answered. Unlike The X-Files, it seems like we the viewers will catch up with that dangling banana that the producers have been holding out in front of us since the beginning. When we do, I'm not sure the final explanation will be nearly as good as the one Locke provided tonight, though.

I, like many others I'm sure, was shocked by the final reveal that Locke was Jeremy Bentham. Over the last 2 seasons, Desmond has become my favorite Lost character. Since he was the only major character that escaped the island and was not confirmed alive in the future, I dreaded that it would be him in the coffin. I was so convinced it would be him that it made the Locke reveal all the more shocking. I failed to consider that someone else might escape the island. The reveal hit pretty hard too. Locke was Lost's first truly great character. Terry O'Quinn has done magnificent work on the show, and unlike say, James Spader, is completely deserving of his Emmy. If that's the last we've seen of Locke, O'Quinn's already done enough to ensure the character will go down in TV history as one of the all time greats.

Some other quick thoughts:

• Now that Malcolm David Kelley's growth spurt seems to be done, maybe it's time for Walt to rejoin the cast. After all, Locke had been visiting him, and Ben said "everyone" had to go back to the island.
• Speaking of "everyone" having to go back, when are we the viewers going to learn to not believe a word that comes out of Ben's mouth? I think Claire's warning to Kate will prove to be significant.
  
• Michael got his redemption. In a recent TV Guide interview Harold Perrineau was less than pleased with how his character was brought back only to be killed. I thought the send off for Michael was fitting, but it did seem a little reminiscent of what 24 did to Tony in Season 5.
• Desmond got his happy ending... or did he? Ben's still out to get Penelope. Henry Ian Cusick and Michael Emerson are complete joys to watch, but Desmond and Ben haven't interacted much on the show. Here's to hoping we'll see some of that in season 5.
• There seemed to be some serious lusting between Juliet and Faraday going on last night. If any of that was going on in prior episodes, I certainly missed it. It strikes me as an odd pairing, but it's one we may never see, given that Faraday wasn't on the island when it "moved".
• Speaking of the island moving, Jack, the Man of Science, doesn't believe what his eyes are telling him. Last night we saw Jack at some all time lows, and for once it seems Lindelof and Cuse have staunchly sided with the "Faith" side of the debate. But Jack hasn't had his last say, and this debate isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
• Lost seemingly killed off 3 series premiere characters last night, and it really seems like Claire is dead. I think we haven't seen the last of at least 1 of these characters in living, breathing form (but I doubt Michael's one of them). The producers really can't afford to kill off many more major characters. Who's really left on the island that Jack would have to go back for?

Finally, I'll leave you with two quotes from last night that I think foreshadow what will happen next season.

"Jack, I said all of you. We're gonna have to bring him too." - Ben Linus
"It's not an Island. It's a place where miracles can happen." - John Locke

Quick Pre-Lost Finale Thoughts

Unlike last year, I've managed to stay spoiler free prior to this year's season finale. Last season's finale featured a game changing shocker, though, which this season's is unlikely top. In fact, there are a number of things that need to or are likely to happen that I could see occupying the final frames of Lost's mostly excellent fourth season.

1) A big explosion on the freighter. This could work well on a number of levels. Lost alway features top notch production values, so this would certainly be a sight to see and hear with the proper home setup. Also, this could provide a strong cliffhanger ending. There are a few main characters on the freighter that are not part of the Oceanic 6 (Jin, Michael, Desmond... anyone else?). I'm predicting an ambiguous ending where the lives of at least one of these characters hangs in the balance. I think either Jin or Michael (or perhaps both) will attempt to sacrifice themselves to save others. I'm still not entirely convinced Jin is dead in the future, although Sun's comments to her father announcing her buyout of his company and blaming him for Jin's death have started to sway me that maybe he actually is. It would also make for good drama if the reason Michael coudn't die was because he was supposed to redeem himself for the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby by sacrificing himself to save others. Since Jin and Michael are friends, maybe they will go out together. I think Desmond is too important to the plot to kill off. He'll end up in the last place on earth he wants to be: back on the island.

2) Jin's fate revealed. If I'm wrong about Jin going down on the freighter, I could still see the ending involving him, as the revelation that he may be dead was one of season 4's biggest shockers. Maybe he'll die another way, or maybe he'll survive and the final frames will be occupied by a heartbreaking goodbye between him and Sun.

3) Ben and Locke move the island. I think it's a foregone conclusion that this is happening. This is the most likely thing to be on screen before season 4 fades to black. What this exactly entails, and what the consequences are, could be the difference between a predictable finale and a tremendous one.

The last episode teased a number of other possible revelations in the finale. It seems the Others (remember them?) are doing just fine without Ben, now being led by the immortal freak Richard Alpert. I haven't heard anything about the finale's flashback/forward. How wild would an Alpert centric episode be? Also let's not forget about the craziness going on with Claire maybe being dead and Christian apparently being alive. I'm not exactly sure what to say about that. I'm as stupefied as everyone else.

That ended up being a little longer than I planned. Anyways, enjoy the finale everyone, and check back tomorrow for some post finale thoughts, and to see how close my predictions were.

Buyer Beware: Paper Laptops

A***e's MacBook Air is the holy grail of mobile computing: a paper-thin laptop; how novel! Well, today, I unknowingly purchased a paper laptop.

Towards the end of the workday, I was tasked by a superior with purchasing a laptop for a new hire. I suggested we get one from W*****t, because they have "always low prices". I showed him an $800 D**l Inspirion on W*****t.com. The specs were more than adequate, so he handed over his corporate credit card and sent me on my way.

I rushed over to our local W*****t, 2.7 miles away from our small 5-story office building of which we occupy one suite on the fourth floor. I was in good spirits, as such a trip is more of an adventure rather than work. I made my way to the laptop section of the electronics department, and saw several D**l boxes locked underneath several empty display cases. I waited several minutes until finding an associate to open up the cage, so I could actually see the specs on the computers. I weeded through and picked the one closest to what we had seen online. I was a little bothered by the fact that the handle on the box was missing, but the box seemed to still be sealed, so I thought no more of it. With a swoop of the electronic pen at the register, I was on my way.

I arrived back at the office proud of my achievement, carrying in the new addition as a trophy. Eager to unpack this new baby, I used scissors to slice open the "check contents if unsealed" seal. I took out the box containing the manuals and discs, and set that aside. I took out the box that housed the laptop and opened it up. Inside the box, placed between the two pieces of styrofoam meant to protect the laptop was a bundle of several hundred sheets of printer paper. I sat for a few moments, in disbelief. This was one of the most surreal moments of my existence.

I brought this disappointment to my superior and he laughed. We realized we would both have to go back for this one. So, to the batmobile, we made the journey back to the place of purchase. We brought our paper laptop back to the service desk. He did the talking, "so, we bought this laptop half an hour ago. But, the unusual thing is that when we opened it up there was no laptop, just paper inside." A stoner kid returning a defective Millenium Falcon controller overheard, "Dude, did you just say you bought a laptop and it wasn't inside? Wild! Never heard that one before." And with that, he stumbled away.

We were left to face the music. The electronics dept manager came down and did some typing on the computer and talked on the phone for awhile. He then left us, saying he had to go get something. We waited for half an hour with nothing happening. The employing handling returns assured us that the manager would be shortly. Eventually, she did show up, in style. She arrived in the company of another employee, who said nothing, and only observed.

In a interrogation-lite, we were told to tell the story again. It felt more like she was my 1st grade teacher asking me to tell the truth about what happened at recess. "I took the laptop back to my office, cut open the seal, opened up the box, and it was just paper." Sternly she pressed, "You opened it up and it was just like this?" "Yes," I responded as earnestly as I could. She stared at my eyes for what seemed like 30 seconds. After which she gave her decision, "I have no way of knowing this is how you bought the laptop. No offense to you, but I can not know." I agreed with her totally. She continued, "I'm going to let you get a new laptop, we shouldn't but we are." My supervisor asked if we can open it this time. Smiling, the manager agreed that from now on laptops are to be opened every time.

Relieved, we took a walk back to the laptops. Picked out one that was a bit better, because we had gotten the last of the other kind. I noticed the handle was missing, too. We both expected another paper laptop. They opened it up at the service desk and let us inspect it. It seemed fine. So, we made our purchase finally.

On the return trip to the office my co-worker joked, "So, what'd you do with the real laptop?"
We enjoyed a hearty chuckle, but at what cost? Somewhere, there is an underground syndicate of fiends buying laptops from W*****t and replacing them with paper before re-sealing and returning them.

Back at the office, everything seemed to be in order with the second non-paper laptop, but being in its presence chills me to the bone. Was it just a coincidence that this second box had no handle as well, or had the laptop thieves already done something to this one. Hopefully, there is no GPS transponder guiding the thieves to our office's location, but only time will tell.

Top 10 Videogames

Every so often I'll post a top 10 list of my favorite whatever's on my mind. Today it's videogames. My general rule with these is to only include 1 title per franchise. I used only 3 criteria to compile this list: fun factor (guaged by how much time I spent with the game, and my rough estimate of how much "fun" I had playing it), influence (did the game revolutionize or evolve games in some important way?), and durability (Does the game stand the test of time? Games with great controls, clean graphics, and a smooth framerate tend to succeed in this area). And a disclaimer: It's too soon to know if and where GTAIV falls on this list, which is why it's absent. Without further ado, my top 10 videogames of all time.

10. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)

Complex level design, tough and creative boss fights, and a lengthy adventure that (unlike later Rare efforts) isn't too overextended by tedious fetch quests.

9. MVP Baseball 2005 (XBOX)

Still the pinnacle of virtual baseball. I hate Take Two for killing it, but EA brought it on themselves when they made a deal with the devil (the NFL). The Batter's Eye addresses the inherent depth perception problem that all baseball games struggle with better than any game before or after it.

8. Mass Effect (XBOX 360)

First time I felt like I was playing a next gen game rather than an HD Xbox game. Games were starting to feel a little tired, but a writer's strike and BioWare brought me back in.

7. Halo 2 (XBOX)

The 10 year evolution of the console FPS culminated in this. And unlike Goldeneye, this hasn't shown it's age (yet).

6. Super Mario 64 (N64)

Mario had to be somewhere on this list, it was only a question of which game and where. SM64 is one of the most influential games of all time, and still the best of the 3d Marios.

5. Shenmue (Dreamcast)

There was a lot of talk about GTAIV providing the feeling of a "lived in" world. Shenmue did it first, and is still unmatched in this regard.

4. The Sims 2 (PC)

Virtual comfort soup. This is the game the keeps on giving. Every time I think I'm done with this game, there's another expansion that pulls me back in. Seriously, I've probably put in over 400 hours. Nearly unlimited replay value.

3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (XBOX)

Star Wars + d20 system = wet dream for any nerd that grew up in the 70's or 80's.

2. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)

Tough to pick a favorite Zelda, but it usually comes down to this or OoT for me. I'm the type of Zelda player that enjoys towns and sidequests more than dungeons, and MM is best for that.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)

The Metal Gear franchise, more than most classic franchises, has stayed very close to its roots. This is great for gamers looking for an old school experience in a next gen package. Subsistence's camera was a long time coming; Snake Eater was beginning to show the franchise's age.

Honorable Mentions: Goldeneye, Sim City 2000, Chrono Trigger

UPDATE: I'm pleased to announce the addition of guest contributors. Expect a post from our good friend Izzy in the near future.

WELCOME TO THUNDERDOME!!!

Hey all, if you're reading this then chances are you know who I am. If not, and you made a wrong turn somewhere looking for goat on goat action, I'm Crazy. I developed that nickname in college basically because there wasnt really anything I wouldn't say or do, which made me look slightly psychotic at times. I'm gonna be co-blogging here with my hetero-lifemate Big on all the things we like to keep track of (sports, music, politics, tv, etc).
Before I get into the main part of this post, I gotta disagree with Big on his Joba view. I concur, starting pitching is essential to win, but in a regular season as long as baseball is, an offense like the Yankees have could carry them into the wild card even without a killer ace. The playoffs, however, are won and lost in the bullpen. In this era of starters going no more than 7 innings, without a reliable 8th and 9th inning guy, you're opening yourself up to a myriad of late inning collapses. Ask the rockies, who've gone through 3 closers this year. Or the Braves of the mid to late 90s, who i watched every year lose games to scrubs because Mike Remlinger couldnt get a late inning out. The goal is to shorten the game as much as possible. When Mariano retires, you had his heir apparent waiting like they had in 1996. Now they're making a huge gamble and all they might end up with is another Jeff Weaver.
The real meat of this post is a little something I'm gonna do now and again where I just go through whats going on in the world and through a bit of the ol' two cents in. Here we go

• Why is everyone so interested if Lindsey Lohan's a lesbian? So what if she's trying to set the record for the person whose given the clap to the most people? If she is, she's gotta diversify her portfolio.
• When Heroes comes back in September, they're going to be having a three hour premiere night. How am I supposed to make it through 3 hours when I can barely make it through 1 of Milo's "I'm channeling Keanu" looks
• Ashley Simpson got married.... NEXT
• Usher's about to release his next album, with lines describing how he's gonna deliver "it" like FedEx, his wife and child must be proud
• Ellen Degeneres is tying the knot to Portia De Rossi, and she wants all these politicans at her wedding... Hey Ellen, save it for the show while you can dance and I can dance with you.

I'm out... later biatches

Quick Intro / Yankee Thoughts

Quick Intro: I'm Big. I'll be writing this blog with Crazy. We're both Mikes, hence the name of the blog. This blog will be about our various areas of interests, which often intersect. They include movies, TV, sports, videogames, comics... I know, pretty generic. We share a fascination with pop culture that goes a little bit further and in a little bit of a different (read: geeky) direction than the typical person. Think non-emo Seth Cohen. Without further ado...

I thought I'd kick this blog off with a Kevin Millar quote, which would have been somwhat ironic since I'm a diehard Yankee fan. Can't find it. But the gist of it was, Millar was asked during the Yankee pre-game show the other night (since YES needs to fill up a full hour before games with whatever they can get their hands on) what he thought about the Yankees transitioning Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation, and specifically how they would fill the void in the 8th inning. His response to the latter question was rather smart for a baseball player: Who cares?

As if the specialization of bullpens wasn't bad enough, it's now gotten so bad that the "Set-up Man" gets a designated spot on the Depth Chart along with the "Closer". With this increased specialization, baseball people have forgotten a number of important truths. 1) Relief pitchers are usually in the bullpen for a reason: they're not good enough to start. 2) On average, the last 6 outs of a game are no tougher than the first 21. 3) No matter how great a relief pitcher is, he can never be as important to a winning team as a good (or even average) healthy starter.

I read Money Ball and am a frequent reader of ESPN's Rob Neyer. I'm aware of some SABR metrics such as VORP, WARP, PERA, etc., but no expert on them. I have been completely sold on the merits of statistical analysis in baseball, and try to understand some of these newer stats as best I can. I have come to understand that many traditional statistics, such as batting average and RBI, are often not very good and sometimes even downright deceptive measures of a player's worth. Some of the traditional stats are still pretty good, and there's one very simple one that the New York beat writers and radio hosts (I'm talking to you Chris Russo and Mike Francesa) can't seem to wrap their heads around. And that's Innings Pitched.

The more innings a player plays for a team, the more good or harm he can do. Common sense, right? This is why pitchers almost never win MVP's. They can win 20 games and post ERA's in the low 2's, but that doesn't change the fact that they only participate in 1/5 of their team's games. Relief pitchers contribute an even smaller fraction to their team's success (or failure). Joba Chamberlain has been a starter his whole life until being called up to the bigs. He's got 4 pitches, including a 95+ mph heater and a devasting slider. He's dominated at the major league level. The Yankees should be trying to maximize his playing time (without jeopardizing his health, of course) not minimize it. Because the bottom line is, that means more wins. As for who pitches the 8th inning, Kevin Millar had it right. Who cares? It's one inning. The Yankees will no longer get the same quality pitching in the 8th, and might frustratingly blow a few more late leads. But it's only 1 inning out of 9. Those losses will be more than made up for by the wins that Joba will bring as a starter.