Star Wars 30th Anniversary Celebrations!

Action Girl's Millenium Faclon 2
Originally uploaded by Binky

Both of our girls celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars (A New Hope) on Sunday. Action Girl (age 6) hung in through the whole thing and enjoyed it. Super Girl (age 3) watched more than half. They had been looking forward to seeing it for days. It was really special and brought back of lot of memories. Here are some thoughts:

1) The movie stands up as a bit of bold movie-making.
2) The dialogue for the first half of the movie is really "hokey" - matches the acting.
3) The toughest character in the whole thing is Leia. Every time they are in a fight with her and she has a blaster, she shoots a storm trooper with her first shot EVERY TIME. Han, Luke, and Co. blast away and seldom hit anything.

I have a memory of the summer of 1977. My best friend Michael has just seen Star Wars with his family and tells me some of the plot while we're on my swing set.

We had a great time! Happy birthday, old friend...

B.

Its hard to be a Spammer

I have had several jobs that I have found to be quite challenging, my
present job included. I think its important to be challenged as a way
to ensure that you're growing and changing.

HOWEVER, I am very, very glad I don't (yet?) face the challenges
inherent in being a spammer. I received the following spam e-mail
today:
__________________________
>>> "Constance Auker" <***********.hu> 4/28/2007 5:38 PM >>>
Hello my friend!

I am ready to kill myself and eat my dog, if medicine prices here (<A
href=") are bad.
Look, the site and call me 1-800 if its wrong..
My dog and I are still alive :)
__________________________

Can you imagine what kind of pressure "Constance" from Hungary must be
under if she is:
1) calling random strangers her friend,
2) prepared to kill herself if she isn't offering the cheapest
knock-off drugs of questionable manufacture on the Internet,
3) prepared to eat her dog if she isn't offering the cheapest
knock-off drugs of questionable manufacture on the Internet, and
4) willing to somehow accomplish 1) and 2) in that order.

Impressive.

B.

 Well, that does it- I now have a plan “B”, somewhere to go, a back-up if you will-

Earth-like planet discovered outside solar system

ANNE MCILROY

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

April 24, 2007 at 5:53 PM EDT

A team of European astronomers has found a planet outside our solar system that is the most Earth-like ever discovered. Those who spotted it say it could be covered in water, a necessary ingredient for life.

The planet, detected using a telescope in Chile, has a mass about five times that of the Earth. It is 14 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the sun. But that star — Gliese 581 — is what is known as a red dwarf, and is smaller, colder and 50 times fainter than our sun.

This means the planet appears to lie in what astronomers call the Goldilocks zone — not too hot, not too cold for life that depends on water, rather than ice…

Read more here

G’night folks.  Now that we all have somewhere else to go when we’re done destroying this planet, the last one leaving can shut off the lights.

B.

Lost: "D.O.C." April 25-07 ["Date of Conception"]

The first thing I did this morning was e-mail some fellow lost fans with this simple question: Does Sun know that Jae is dead?
If she does, then the flavor of that whole debate might have changed. In all likelihood, I don't think she does know. I really, really liked the two scenes with Jin's father and Sun. Very touching and balanced/nuanced...

Juliette: So this is how Juliette will redeem herself. She may still die, but her redemption will lie in helping the baby Kwon be born. Every main character of that whole show is making up for their wrongs- as Juliette is becoming a "fusie" she too now needs to make amends. Mikhail is alive? Dude, he had blood coming out his ears... Hmmm...

So, the parachute woman dropped the bigger bombshell that Jin being the father. If you haven't seen it yet, STOP READING. I taped last night and will lend it to you...

 

 

"No survivors" from Flight 815?" Uh oh....

Here comes the renewal of the "they're in purgatory" theories. So, either the plane crashed and killed them all or there was some kind of cover-up. I want to clearly side with the cover-up. It's huge and very expensive, but still a cover-up. By the way, apparently her name is "Naomi." In the Old Testament, Naomi was trying to convince people to return (from exile) to the land of Judah. Hmmm....
Q.: Should Hurley, and co. tell the other survivors what she said about everyone dying in the crash?

B.

 

Lost: "Catch 22" April 18-07

Not much time for an update this week as I'm on an abbreviated lunch here at work, but here goes:

 

1)  "Catch 22" was fantastic in my opinion.  The whole moral dilemma faced by Desmond of sacrificing Charlie to try to rescue the person who he though would be Penny was great.

 

2)  Good Desmond back story, but there's still so much missing...  Like, why did he join the army?  What is he court-martialled?  Does he meet Sayid in Iraq?  (I would imagine that would too tempting a possibility for the writers to pass on...)

 

3)  Charlie is going to die soon.

 

4)  The Kate/Jack/Sawyer fault lines are building for the season finale.  The writers have put so much into that triangle that they can't afford to totally back off on it.

 

5)  Jin is capable of killing Charlie and possibly Sawyer but I don't think he will.  Eventually, he will find out about Charlie's staged attack on Sun, but he wouldn't kill Sawyer.  Might make life difficult for him, but not kill him...

 

6)  Tonight's episode sound's great.  Its called "D.O.C." ("Date of Conception" and promises to answer the question of paternity for Sun's baby.  I'm going to predict that the baby is Jae's (the guy that suicided) but that she never tells Jin.  After tonight, there are 3 more episodes, followed by the two-hour season finale.  The finale is supposed be "Jack-centric."

 

Happy watching!

 

B.

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Hey! Get Back in Here!!

Image016.jpg
Originally uploaded by Binky

She did eventually come back in, but not before she was ready. Last night she was quite interested in listening to the coyotes howl, but didn't get out to go "play" with them.

We explained that they were "bad puppies" but I'm honestly not sure if we got through to her.

B.

It Must Be Spring If...

Image008.jpg
Originally uploaded by Binky

Oh no...
B.

Snow Drift Against Our Back Door, Easter Sunday 2007

Snow Drift Against Our Back Door, Easter Sunday 2007
Originally uploaded by Binky

Mitsu, helping hunt for Easter Eggs

Mitsu, helping hunt for Easter Eggs
Originally uploaded by Binky

Rock Climbing Wall - March Break 2007

Rock Climbing Wall - March Break 2007
Originally uploaded by Binky

One may be ahead, but they're definitely climbing together.

B.

Internet, Sminternet...

Our family has been granted a wonderful and prestigious honor.  Although the selection process for this great blessing remains a mystery to us, we are steadfast in our knowledge that we have in fact been selected.  Some things you're that picked for involve a letter or phone call, maybe a visit.  Other, deeper, truly profound and elemental selections are such that you can just feel them in the marrow of your bones.  This is truly one of the later.

 

WE HAVE BEEN PICKED AS ONE OF THE LAST FAMILIES ON THE PLANET TO ONLY HAVE ACCESS TO DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS.  I am not pleased, impressed, or happy. 

 

I bought a wireless modem for Rogers Portable Internet last night and have been unable to get a signal worth using.  This was basically our last hope.  And, I might add, if it worked in our home probably a pretty decent service.  Neither local telephone or cable companies will admit to any plans to bring service to our area and I had another wireless company out to our house last year- they also could get no signal.  Action Girl (age 6) now regularly asks when we will have high speed internet.  She cannot play with her Webkinz at home (that ought to tug on a few hear strings).

 

Th only available options are very expensive services with hundreds of dollars of installation fees and multi-year commitments at rates we can't afford for sub-standard service.

 

The fact that we are now able to get electricity, cable TV, and postal delivery may have been misleading...

 

B.

 

 

/HTML>

Lost: "One of Us" April 11, 2007

First a plug for my main source of Lost thought and reflection:  Its Jay and Jack's Lost Podcast.  You can find it at

http://jayandjack.com or subscribe through iTunes.  If you have bandwidth restrictions like me, iTunes is a better option because you can download it a little at a time and even subscribe to the "Classic MP3" format which is a smaller file than the standard "AAC" format in iTunes (which does, admittedly, include cool extras like weblinks and pictures which will play on a colour iPod).

 

What a fun episode.  I actually was beginning to think that Juliette was maybe not a liar...  almost.  Now we know better than to trust an "other."  Here's what else I'm thinking:

 

1)  The tension over Juliette's presence in the "Fusies" camp will likely be sustained for the rest of the season.

 

2)  I'm going to agree with Podcast Jack (see above) that Jack will end up killing Juliette.  I was thinking about it before I heard him say it in his podcast, but its nice to know that I'm not alone.  There is another possibility that in the end she will betray and redeem herself to the Fusies just as they are finding out she remains an other.

 

3)  The basic purpose of the others and probably the Dharma Initiative before them has to do with the unique properties of the island.  Is the Dharma Initiative really "dead"?  Mikhail sort of implied that, but lets remember that before the hatch imploded, they were able to trigger the parachute drop of food.  That pretty clearly shows that in the outside world, Dharma is still active and has resources.  One direction to go with this is the idea that the others, lets call them the "Un-Seattle Sub People" took over the imitative either willingly or not.  Ben is in his early 40s- so the others have been there that long...?  Or are his roots in Dharma?

 

4)  Whatever the island is able to do, its reasonable to think that some people have known about the island and its mysterious properties for some time.  Presumably, there was at some point a huge statue attached to the four-toed foot.  If its hundreds (or more) years old, that implies an ancient settlement of great power.  Atlantis anyone?

 

5)  Sun and Jin's baby:  going to be a big part of the plot, probably for the rest of the series!

 

B.

 

Statement of Confidentiality
This message (including attachments) may contain confidential or privileged information intended for a specific individual or organization. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorized to use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this email, and should promptly delete this email from your entire computer system.

Déclaration de confidentialité
Le présent message (y compris les annexes) peut contenir des renseignements confidentiels ayant pour objet une personne ou un organisme particulier. Si vous avez reçu la présente communication par erreur, veuillez en informer l'expéditeur immédiatement. Si vous n'êtes pas le destinataire prévu, vous n'avez pas le droit d'utiliser, divulguer, distribuer, copier ou imprimer ce courriel ou encore de vous en servir, et vous devriez l'effacer complètement de votre système informatique.

She's Not Heavy, She's Super Girl.

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Originally uploaded by Binky

(Easter Monday) Action Girl (6) pulling Super Girl (3). Hey, what else are you going to do with all that snow?

B.

Playin' with Super Girl (Easter Sunday)

DSC01399
Originally uploaded by Binky

Technically, we were playing with the Barbies at the time... I simply thought that Skinny the Lion and Little Smedley the Giraffe could also drive the Barbie Jeep. Apparently, I was right!

This was after we took every My Little Pony and other horse toy in the house and made a 20 horse-long parade in the living room. Guess you had to be there...

How did you spend your Easter Sunday?

B.

Easter Sunday 2007

DSC01390 edited
Originally uploaded by Binky

Wow... Why does Spring hate us?

We stayed in for the whole day. I still think we got more than 25 cm of snow, maybe 30. Check out the height of the drift between the shed and the playhouse.

B.

Lost: "No One Left Behind" April 4, 2007

Isn't "No one left behind" a military term?  I wonder if there's any significance to that fact?

 

Whether there is or isn't, this was another strong episode, with a great deal of Kate back story.  What are we to make of Kate?  I felt both less and more sympathetic for Kate.  When she confronts her mother the implied message was that Kate had dealt with her step-father's abuse of her in a way that wasn't totally justifiable.  She had just reacted.  This may be some risk-taking on the part of the writers, who assume that we already really identify and like Kate and that therefore they can risk our sympathy for her.  I got a kick out of the Hurley-Sawyer "con" that made Sawyer make nice with the other survivors... A little "Christmas Carol-y" but fun.

 

The tie-in to Sawyer's back story was well-done, but a little predictable, though.  Where are they going with Locke?  Locke has, in effect, become a free agent.  He has left behind the survivors.  The long-predicted split with Jack has been two years coming but there's no denying that it has happened.  Jack's new ties to Juliette aside, he still sees himself as a member of the beach community.  Locke, not so much..

 

There are six episodes left in this season (I think).  Here are my predictions for the issues themes that will be in those episodes:

1)  Juliette:  will she be accepted (at all) by the "fusies" on the beach- Sawyer and Sayid won't.

2)  Where have the "others" + Locke gone?  I can imagine that  we will learn some more about them and the island.

3)  At the same time, Ben's leadership tenure will come back, perhaps through Jacob.

4)  Kate WILL choose Jack over Sawyer.

5)  There will be something happen that we had no inkling was coming.

6)  Penny Whitmore (Desmond's ex) will be back in some way.

 

Any other thoughts, anyone?

 

B.

 

 

 

Spring Yet?

Spring Yet? DSC01309
Originally uploaded by Binky

We've just had 30 cm of snow... I am not amused.

Who has stolen spring and where do they live?

B.

Woooo Hooooo! Spring!

"Sure" Sign of Spring: Soccer registration for Action Girl is this Saturday! Unfortunately Super Girl (age 3) has to wait another year, though.

Yaaay. Now only 10 weeks of waiting before the season starts!

B.

Recent Girl Quotes

"Penguins are all different...  Just like people"

Super Girl (age 3) while watching Happy Feet on March Break

 

"I'm worried that the Easter Bunny won't know about my new room."

Action Girl (Age 6) last night