Ok, this one goes out to all your watchers of Lost.  (Actually, it’s these two because I have a question and an observation…and technically, these are my wife’s question and observation, so maybe I should just quit while I’m behind.  But anyway…)

SPOILER ALERT: If you’ve not watched last night’s episode, don’t read!

Ok, in last night’s episode, the remaining island gang (i.e. Locke, Sawyer and the others who are not part of the Oceanic 6) were reunited with the once-thought-to-be-dead Jin.

Well, included among current set of island dwellers is the fairly recently added Charlotte, who revealed last night that she actually grew up on the Island.  She suddenly remembered, in the midst of other goings on, that there was once a scary man that came to the island and told her to leave and that if she ever got off the island, to never come back or else she would die.  She confessed this memory to her shipmate, Daniel Faraday, and then proceeded to tell him that the man who told her this was none other than Daniel himself.

So, the question is this: Since she “just remembered” this experience, do you think that memory had just resurfaced because it actually didn’t exist before?  Do you think that “just remembered” means that she actually just had that experience in some tangential version of the past–a past to which Daniel Faraday, knowing that she was going to die (which she did shortly after this revelation), traveled to warn her after watching her die in his arms?

Secondly, the observation.

Also happening in last’s night’s episode (carried over from the previous episode), the once-thought-to-be Jin was found to be alive.  He was discovered adrift on some flotsam by a group of French sailers in a raft, which turned out to be Danielle Rousseau and her crew…but back when they first landed on the island rather than when we first met her in season 1.

Here’s the problem: if Danielle (and co.) ended up rescuing Jin, wouldn’t she have remembered him when she encountered him those sixteen years later when he ended up on the island after the plane crash?

I welcome all commentary.

Most. Disturbing. Ever.

(shudders)

What you can’t see (thanks to the amazing “no-rez” technology of my phone’s camera) in the picture below taken in the men’s room at Barnes & Noble, is that the seemingly blank green area under the “must wash hands” sign is actually the braille version of, I assume, the same sign.

Three curiosities come to mind:

1. For some reason, it seems a bit cruel to have blind employees at a bookstore.
2. How exactly are blind employees to know that they should rub their fingers along the wall above the paper towel dispenser in order to note the hand-washing policy?
3. What if they already washed their hands before they read the sign? Should they do it again? (I certainly hope so.)

As a more effective alternative, I might suggest that they print the policy in Braille right on the toilet paper. That way, it’s guaranteed to be noticed (at least by those in the number 2 category) and as a bonus it would double as quilting, which the people at Northern have convinced me is a crucial element of any toilet paper .

My 2 year old son is a Thomas the Tank Engine nut, which is as much a joy as you can possibly imagine, getting to watch episodes of Thomas over and over again until I could perform them flawlessly on streetcorners for the delight of passersby.  Well for Christmas I gave him the DVD of the Thomas feature film, entitled The Great Discovery.  The movie is all well and good, narrated by Pierce Brosnan, which is a nice little change from Alec Baldwin and George Carlin, and apparently Ringo Starr, though I’ve never seen any of the episodes he voiced as yet, but give it time. 

At the end of the movie, the usual theme song plays, which I’ve heard already a million times.  It’s fairly annoying with the choir of British kids singing, but otherwise typical stuff and relatively harmless.  To give yourself some context, you should listen to at least the first line or two of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw522GIskVc.

The real treat, though, is the new version of the theme song, which plays right after the original version on the DVD.  Got that pencil handy?  Good.  You’ll need it to rupture your eardrums in a second, and probably to jam up your nose in an hour or so for the purpose of self-lobotomization when this gets stuck in your head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETSz0g9KP-Q.

It’s been a long holiday break from the blogosphere, but among my resolutions for the new year, I’ve determined to become a more committed blogger, feeding what I’m sure is a ravenous readership out there waiting to hear every word that proceeds from the Minds here at the Word.  Sure, I could resolve to lose weight or to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, but I find that lost weight only seeks to be found again later, and on principle I refuse to associate myself with any mountain whose name begins with the syllables “Kill A Man.” 

So instead I’m resolved to waste even more time with my butt glued to my computer chair, living in a fantasy digital world, and since I can’t pwn newbs at work, I SHALL BLOG!!!  You may proceed henceforth to call me Monseigneur Jellybooty…NO NO!  Captain Monseigneur Jellybooty! 

Okay, okay, so I’ll probably just blog the same amount as usual, but I felt like I ought to pay some homage to 2009 as it begins, even if it is just lip service.

And for those of you who actually are part of the already loyal Word readership, here’s a little gem to start your year off on the right foot:
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Burglar_scared_off_by_man_dressed_as_Thor&in_article_id=457205&in_page_id=2

Thanks to Atticusser for the link.

I just went over to the Pioneer Purevision Las Vegas Bowl website to confirm the date of the game, and this image showed up in the little slideshow on the site, and I thought, “Wow.  Could those two guys look any more goofy and uncomfortable in the company of a couple of scantily clad Vegas showgirls?”  (Not to be confused with vegan showgirls, which I almost typed by accident.  Also, The Vegan Showgirls WBAGNFARB.)

Bronco (right) looks like he’s wired his jaw shut, and the Arizona coach (left) is clearly saying, “Hooooochie mama!”

For those of you who’ve already seen this, I don’t apologize for posting it. It’s only on the blog. You’re supposed to be doing something productive or somebody. It’s like an alarm clock! Woo WOOOOO!

(p.s. Bubb Rubb and the Whistle Tips WBAGNFARB.)

I would like to report that yesterday I filled the tank of my Isuzu Rodeo, which has been costing me upwards of $60 a tank for months, for a whopping $26.25.  I paid $1.58/gal at Costco.

I would like to believe it’s just a small bit of good news amid all the economic doomsday talk and dreary market conditions, but I’m finding that difficult to swallow.  Somebody’s trying to pull a fast one, and to whoever it is, I’m saying, “HEY!  I’M ON TO YOU!”

Also, please don’t make the gas prices go up again.

The more they stay the same, I guess.

Here we are, in the 21st century, at the height of the technology revolution, where invention and innovation are as much a part of the every day as high tea once was in times gone by.

With so many advances in computer graphics, video, animation and 3D modeling, this is what we’re doing with our enlightenment.

I guess this qualifies as “green” technology?

Call it Poor Man’s Steadicam.