The Beginning of the End

Seventy-five percent of the time, today would be March first. Seeing as how we have a leap year at this time, it's still February. How about if the next year we add the day to June so we make a warm month a day longer instead of a cold one. Wouldn't that be better and would it make that big of a difference? But I digress. The reason for this blog is to announce the unofficial beginning of this years March Madness. Not talking about college basketball here folks. I have a very different field of 64 in mind. In the past I have done (not on my blog but in real life, not that my blog isn't real life, just not published here on my blog, I mean but you get the idea) a field of 64 for Elton John songs, Pearl Jam songs, female actresses, and other topics. This year I have decided to have an all out battle of epic proportions. I present to you the biggest and baddest field of 64 ever:

Any questions?

Have you ever pondered the age old question; "Who would win in a fight between ________ and _______ ?" Well, for the next month this blog will try and answer some of those questions. I have chosen some of the most elite superheroes in the DC comics universe to square off in no holds barred battle to see just who is the best of the best.

All of these heroes and more wait to do battle in my version of "March Madness"

Now before you go bitching and saying I'm not being fair to Marvel or any other comic publishers, keep in mind I'm not a big Marvel fan and never have been. Always been a DC fan boy. So if you don't like it, do something about it and make up your own field of 64. Also, it was not easy to cut the field down to just 64. In the Dc Universe there are literally hundreds of heroes past, present, and future heroes that I could have chosen. I feel that I have chosen some of the obvious and some of the not so obvious. If one of your favorites didn't make it in, again tough, deal with it, and see the suggestion I made earlier in the paragraph. This here is my blog after all. Tee He!

Got a problem with that?

All the action starts in less then 24 hours! Right here during the entire month of March!

Some of the fights scheduled for tomorrow include number one seeds versus number 16 seeds. As well as some number eights versus number nines. Get ready 'cause it's gonna get ugly!

Some of the fights have already begun. Not looking good for Booster Gold!

The Answers

"We must ever maintain the principle that the people of this continent alone have the right to decide their own destiny." -James Knox Polk
I was remiss in observing President's Day, so as a way to make up for my blunder, I introduce you to one of the forgotten Presidents.

Manifest destiny. Many of us remember that catchy phrase from school history lessons, even though at the time we may not have quite totally understood what it really meant. It's the concept of manifest destiny, though, which is taught in school (if at all), rather than which President championed it as a principle of freedom. As a result, President James K. Polk remains one of those six Presidents crowded into the period between 1840 and 1860 which tend to become a hazy blur, rather than attaining the place of greater prominence he actually deserves. In fact, a leading historian called Polk "the one bright spot in the dull void between Jackson and Lincoln." Despite this, Polk, who "came out of nowhere" to become President in 1844 and accomplished all he set out to do during his administration, managed to return to obscurity and remain there.

Polk's expansionist agenda led to disputes with Mexico over Southwest regions and the failure to resolve those disputes resulted in the Mexican War in 1846. When the United States proved to be victorious in 1848, the peace treaty added over a million square miles in the Southwest and Far West, including California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state. Under Polk, "manifest destiny" - the idea that acquiring western lands was proper and necessary in order to secure the noble purposes of the United States - resulted in the country now stretching from sea to sea, thereby locking out the possibility of foreign intervention in those areas which had become increasingly under the influence of the maturing United States. It also provided opportunities of unparalleled freedom for Americans to move West and still be under the protection of the United States government.

Polk remained focused on the ideals of "manifest destiny", as opposed to merely acquiring land for its own sake, and rejected suggestions that the U.S. seize parts of Canada up to Alaska or the entire nation of Mexico. Polk properly reasoned that those acquisitions simply weren't needed to serve the legitimate purpose of securing the nation and its noble purposes from foreign intervention. President Polk worked extremely hard during his term and at the end of it, suffering from exhaustion, decided to return to private life even though he remained popular and probably could have won a second term. He also felt he had achieved what he had set out to do, and simply didn't need to return to the office. At the age of only 53, he died at his Nashville home a mere three months after leaving office.

It's hard to imagine the United States without the vast expanses of the Southwest and Far West - particularly the State of California. The taming of these areas became an important part of the country's folklore and national identity. Yet all this might not have been, had President James Knox Polk not pursued his principles with such vigor. Therefore, it's strange indeed that there is so little national remembrance of this man and the critical role his presidency played.

Survivor Guide

As was the case many times through history, a demand sometimes is made by the masses. I have received some emails about my pictures I posted on the blog from our recent vacation in Disney. It appears some of you (Russell, I'm lookin' at you beeyotch) have requested some photos of me and my princess to be included in the pictorial history of the vacation. It didn't take as long for my defences to fall. In fact quicker than Amy Winehouse will be back in rehab (I said no no no) the wish had been granted. Here now are some personal pics from the vacation.

This is a pic of my lady love at the end of "Drinking Around The World" day in Epcot. Yeah, she's feeling no pain!

Here I am at the end of the same day. Notice that I have short sleeves along with a pair of shorts on (that you can't see but they are on the lower half of me). The temp at this point is around 45 degrees and the windchill is somewhere in the high 30's. Refer back to the previous picture for the sweatshirt I was offered, but refused to accept.

Two days later we have breakfast with Pooh at the Crystal Palace. This is one of my favorite pictures from the vacation. Don't they look sooooo cute together?

Here I am with Tigger the same morning. Notice the primo sweatshirt I was now sporting. Yeah, I was kissing up to Tigger to get a good picture op. Guess what? It worked. Told you I wanted the perfect sweatshirt.

Who doesn't love Eeyore? One of the waitresses in the restaurant was nice enough to take our picture together, for a change.

There's your damn personal snapshots. Now get off my back. Oh, and I hope you all like the new blog colors. Now stow it!

Past, Present, and Future

Lost is not kind to lovers, especially on Valentine's Day. For the second straight year, our beloved crypto-drama has aired an episode on February 14. And for the second straight year, Cupid was kicked in the nuts. Last year, in the trippy time-travel tale ''Flashes Before Your Eyes,'' Desmond toggled back to his breakup with Penelope, just to break up with her all over again. Last night, in ''The Economist,'' Flash-Forward Sayid fell for a woman he shouldn't have, and ultimately broke her heart — with two bullets to the chest. (To be fair, the femme fatale shot him first.) These things happen when you play secret-agent assassin for Germany's most morally ambiguous veterinarian — Benjamin Linus. In his off-Island future as a member of the Oceanic 6, the former Iraqi torturer smokes European fat cats for über-Other Ben, who in his off-Island future has a croaky, low phone voice (All the better to delay the last-scene reveal of my true identity, my dear!), runs a pet hospital in Berlin, and manages a global conspiracy on the side. The Man With 1000 Passports has a whole list of bad people he wants dead, ''people [who] don't deserve our sympathies,'' as he told Sayid. Note to Ben's customers: Pay that doggy-grooming bill on time!



The episode's title, ''The Economist,'' was a reference to the job allegedly held by Sayid's current target, a powerful mystery man whose name went conspicuously unmentioned. It also suggested a key for reading the story. This was an episode about ''bosses'' and ''senior management'' and the minions who toil for them; about trade negotiations and merger proposals; about recession fears and hostile-takeover threats. It was a snapshot look at the information economy that shapes everything on Lost, one where secrets and inside information are valuable currencies, with hostages and guns running close behind. It was also an episode about the internal corruption that occurs when romantic idealists are forced to become cutthroat businessmen. (Literally.) Who's The Boss? Or where's the boss? That's what Locke was asking as he led his tribe to where Jacob's cabin should have been, only to discover that his house of sprits had disappeared from its circle of ash/salt/kitty litter. Abandoned by his Island god, Locke looked, yes, lost, and banged-up Ben was quick to jump all over that: ''He's looking for someone to tell him what to do next,'' the devilish Other told Locke's disgruntled flock. With Hurley showing signs of instigating a shareholder rebellion over the Charlotte-hostage issue, CEO Locke squelched the dissidence and shored up his office by playing the fear card, brow-beating Hurley with some tough talk about the cost of compromise. Did Flash-Forward Hurley's regret over choosing Locke over Jack begin here?The Negotiating Committee, meanwhile, in Happy Helicopter Valley, the Jack Pack negotiated the terms of rescue with freighters Daniel Faraday (twitchy physicist), Frank Lapidus (bushy-faced pilot), and Miles Straum (angry young ghost whisperer), who, of course, may not be there to rescue them at all. The shifty trio made it clear they weren't flying anywhere without Charlotte, so Sayid stepped up and said he'd hike to the Dharma barracks and negotiate her release. Jack wanted to come, but given how the good doctor tried to shoot Locke in the face the last time they squared off, Sayid thought he should stay behind. Control Freak Jack got a proxy at the table, however, by sending Kate with Sayid and Miles. He felt her presence would give Sayid more leverage, as Locke wouldn't dare attempt any underhanded knife-in-back stuff, not with Sawyer there to play bodyguard. Yeah, you could say it was a contrived way to set up the possibility of more sex scenes between the old Hydra humpers. Still, it felt like classic emotional Jack. You could tell Kate wasn't thrilled with Jack treating her like a pawn on a chessboard, and my hunch is that what we really saw in the moment was the beginning of her dawning realization that as much as she may dig Jack's cheese, he's got a lot more getting over himself to do before they can have a flash-forward future together, much less swap valentines and spit.

Arriving at the Dharma barracks — or, more recently, New Otherton — Sayid, Miles, and Kate found Hurley tied up in the closet, allegedly left behind by Locke. It was a trap, one that exploited Sayid's soft spot for his friends and loved ones, a fatal flaw that makes both him and Hurley the most easily manipulated of the castaways. I thought Sayid should have seen through this ruse, and his failure to do so continued a dubious tradition of super-soldier Sayid not living up to his Republican Guard pedigree. Maybe I'm selling him short. Sayid was probably content to let Locke play and win his little mousetrap games, just as long as he sealed the deal he had come to make. I think he knew he would: His package was much too appealing. He offered Locke a hostage swap — Miles for Charlotte — plus himself. Sayid had come around to Locke's belief that the freighter people are nothing but bad news. His master plan, he told Locke, was to infiltrate the freighter and gather intel — corporate espionage. Locke was sold.

Meanwhile, as upper management haggled in the billiard room, Kate and Sawyer caucused in Ben's bedroom. The shaggy rogue explained that he has no intention of leaving the Island because there was nothing but a prison sentence waiting for him back in the real world, and since Kate was looking at the same fate, hey, why not stay with him? Kate was dubious: ''How long, Sawyer? How long do you think we can play house?'' Saywer was bold: ''Why don't we find out?'' I was impressed with the former con man's risky emotional frankness. I was also intrigued by the fact that this scene took place in Ben's bedroom, with all those tribal masks all over the place. Hmmmm. Sawyer's you-complete-me pitch may have swayed Kate, because she didn't return to Happy Helicopter Valley with Sayid and Charlotte. The ''I blew it'' look that passed across Jack's face when Sayid told him the news was pretty priceless.

Sayid discovers Ben's secret stash of passports, foreign currency, and suits. Clearly, Ben does a lot of traveling for work. (Remember, the Others do have that off-Island company, Mittelos Biosciences; presumably, Ben is the boss.) Long ago, I wondered if the Others had an airstrip on the Island, so I wouldn't be surprised to discover Ben has a corporate jet, too — plus a hangar full of old Oceanic airplane parts. You know, leftovers from the false evidence that the Others planted in the Sunda Trench. (Just a theory.) Now, if you're going to go all crazy on me and claim that the multiple passports and husky-voiced Flash-Forward Ben are evidence that there multiple Bens in the world thanks to alternate universe/wormhole theory, I'm in! (FYI: The name on the Ben passport Sayid examined looked to be Dean Moriarty — a character from Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Moriarty is also the name of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis. Just so you know.)

Another scene I bet you'll be going nutty over was the one where Daniel Faraday did his rocket experiment, which concluded with his admittedly ''beyond weird'' discovery of an apparent 31-minute time differential between freighter reality and Island reality, where time seems to pass more slowly. What does this mean? I don't know — but I immediately went to barnesandnoble.com and purchased Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time so you guys can borrow it, read it, and then summarize it for me while I eat grapes and watch Big Brother. Seriously, I'm crunching theories, but it takes time for me to do quantum physics. It takes me mere seconds, however, to do some cheap biblical analysis! Did you see the numbers on Daniel's clocks? One said 3:16, while the other said 2:45. As it happens, Daniel 2:45 is the culmination of the story in which exiled Daniel earned an exalted place in King Nebuchadnezzar's court by interpreting a dream concerning the future of Babylon and how ''the fourth kingdom will be a divided kingdom.'' Hey — that sounds like the fourth season of Lost! Meanwhile, Daniel 3:16 is part of the famous story of how Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown in the fiery furnace but were saved by God. How might that apply to Lost? Well, thematically, the story deals with three men who refused to abandon their spiritual beliefs and bow down before a false idol — a story that stands in stark contrast to Sayid's flash-forward arc.

In the opening scenes of ''The Economist,'' we were given two quick, quiet moments that re-established two very important things about Sayid. First, we saw him praying. Sayid, if you recall, is a spiritual man, a Muslim. Second, we saw him tenderly shut dead Naomi's eyes and examine her bracelet, inscribed with ''N., I'll be with you always, R.C. (or G not sure of the font)'' Sayid, recall, is a romantic (see: Nadia; Shannon), and I bet that his desire that Naomi be sent home for a proper burial appealed to his religious convictions and sentimentality. Yet in his flash-forward future, Sayid ain't exactly living according to those ideals. In fact, like James Bond, his license-to-kill existence makes a mockery of the sanctity of life and love. Sayid remains sufficiently decent in the future that when it was finally time to move against the Economist, he came clean with Elsa, as he had genuinely fallen for her. But then she pulled a Casino Royale on him: It turned out she was an undercover lover, too, seducing him in hopes of smoking out Ben's identity. Elsa was Sayid's mirror twin, and to make sure we got it, Sayid smashed a mirror reflection of his Lady From Shanghai doppelgänger before popping some caps into her.After Sayid stumbled into Ben's safe house/vet office for some first aid, his boss mocked him for his weakness. Then Ben dropped this intriguing tidbit: ''Need I remind you what happened the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun.'' Sayid's response was even more mysterious: ''You used that girl to recruit me into killing for you.'' But Ben the master manipulator hit him where it hurts the most: the bottom line. ''Do you want to protect your friends or not?'' Sayid looked like a man over a barrel. What did he say about Ben earlier in the episode? ''The day I start trusting him is the day I sell my soul.'' Welcome to Hell, Sayid. Now get that game face on — there's work to be done.

Survival Guide

More pictures from our trip to Disney.

The geyser by the pool at the Wilderness Lodge. Actually more "faithfull" than Old Faithfull in that Fire Rock Geyser (the name of the geyser at Widerness Lodge) erupts every hour on the hour.

No, this is not one of the ferry boat drivers, its the remains of one of the unlucky pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

See, I told you some Lost stuff was coming up. This is on the menu board at the ABC commisary at Disney Studios (formerly MGM).

You heard of the saying "X marks the spot", well, for the Pirates and Princess Party it really did. This was one of the landmarks we had to look for to find the treasure spots scatterred throughout the Magic Kingdom. Arrr there be treasure there Matey.

Another shot of the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. So awe inspiring that I actually teared up a bit.

A Tale of Survival

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve been around. Seems the place isn’t any worse for wear, thankfully. Little more dusty than I remember and who decided on these colors? Geez, I gotta change that soon, but onto another topic. What a vacation! I can’t tell you how awesome of a time we had at Disney World. Can’t believe it took almost 40 years for me to get there. Won’t be another 40 until I get back, that’s for sure! The weather was awesome except for one night and the following morning. In the mid 70’s most days and the 50’s most nights. The one exception being the day it was only 60-ish for a high temp and it got down to 39 the night before and it was raining and very windy. The wind chill that night was 31. Of course I was in shorts and a Hawaiian type shirt (you just know I was gonna wear one of those down there eventually), which didn‘t help matters. Needless to say I froze my cheekies off. Even though my lovely Princess offered me her sweatshirt which I, of course, refused. What kind of Prince Valium would I have been if I had taken her up on her offer? Well, a warmer one for one thing but regardless, it was my own fault. I had many opportunities to get a sweatshirt for myself but didn’t because I wanted to get the perfect sweatshirt and that day I just didn’t see it. I did, however, find it the next day, so waiting it out paid off even if I was a little frost bitten.

The totem pole in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge the legend states that you have to touch the bears nose for good luck

The parks were a lot less crowded than I thought they were going to be. The longest wait we experienced was about a 35 minute wait for Star Tours which is a Star Wars ride. It was well worth the wait. Cannot believe how detailed they are in all the parks as well as the resorts. Our resort, the Wilderness Lodge was perfect! Designed like a lodge from the 50’s in Yellowstone, it was a secluded and scenic paradise. I can’t say enough about all the parks, the resorts, and the people that work there. Sure there were some things we were disappointed with, if I thought otherwise I would say I was fooling myself. Some of the food was less than I had expected (although they give you plenty of it no matter where you eat), MGM wasn’t as fun as I had anticipated. Also we had the opportunity to walk through the Grand Floridian Resort and proceeded to make a hasty retreat. Wholly crap was I out of place. How can I put it, ah, perfect, here try this; picture Larry the cable guy dines at the Ritz Carlton. Yeah, just like that.

The Pirates of the Cribbean ride at night during the Pirates and Princess Party. Notice the cool lights and the fog. Great atmosphere!

The hot tub at the resort was awesome, we managed to enjoy that two of the nights we were there. What a great way to relax after hoofing it all over Orlando for fifteen hours every day. No Splash Mountain, that was closed but we didn’t really miss it. The day in Animal Kingdom was too cool for Kali River Rapids so we didn’t go on that either. It’s a water ride where you get soaked, enough said. After seven days and seven nights, we still didn’t see everything, but that’s okay, we gotta leave something to do for next time. Next time you may ask is going to be October, for Halloween. Yeah, two Disney trips in one year. Only difference is we are planning to drive down this time. The plane rides were pretty harrowing and we want to skip those this time. Not saying we won’t ever fly again, just not next time.

I was a little skeptical about the trip in the beginning. I hoped we weren’t wasting a lot of money. Yes, you spend a lot of money going to Disney and we spent more than we needed to, but we wanted to do it right the first time. Which we did, we also learned how we can do it a whole lot cheaper next time. Comparing our two trips (yeah we’ve already been looking into prices and packages) the one in October will end up costing us about half of what it cost us to go in January. Same park tickets, same hotel, same amount of nights. Half the cost. We just have to watch how we schedule the meal plans and we will be able to spend a lot less on souvenirs as well.

Tink on top of the treasure chest in the P & P parade

The Pirate and Princess party was beyond belief. After the sun went down and the lights came on, they quickly empty the park and let those with special tickets and nifty little purple wrist bands back into the park for four hours of Pirate and Princess wonderment. This is also something I thought was going to be more “kiddie” oriented and we wouldn’t enjoy it as much. Wrong again. You go in the park and there are different lights throughout the park. We had been in the Magic Kingdom at night before, but for the Pirate and Princess Party, they use different lights, as well as put on a different night time parade and a totally different fireworks display than the usual Wishes performance. Wishes is great, the Pirate and Princess show is that much better. Also did I mention smoke machines? Lots of them making the park a foggy wonderland and a little bit on the creepy side. The parade? All I can say is 40 foot pirate ship and the only time you see Tinkerbelle in the park (except for her nightly Wishes fly across the sky above the park) and not just walking down the street, she’s on top of the Pirates treasure chest! We went on a treasure hunt and got our gems and jewels (think Mardi Gras beads and you get the idea, and you don’t want to know what we had to do to get some of those beads!). We also got a tutorial on how to be a good pirate from Captain Jack Sparrow himself. Not Johnny Depp, but a damn good impersonation none the less.

Captain Jack Sparrow shows us all how to be good pirates

Let’s see, some of the other highlights were drinking around the world at World Showcase in Epcot! Good times. Biggest surprise that day? I like Sake. Second biggest surprise? My Princess is a very loud drunk! Yes, that was the most inebriated I have ever seen her. Another nice surprise was we both like hard cider (Strongbow and Woodpecker respectfully) as well as Moosehead beer. Who woulda thunk it? Eleven alcoholic beverages and nine hours later we were ready to call it a day. Not as hard to do as we had expected actually, in fact that was the first night we took a dip in the hot tub. It was also the night of the bitterly cold winds. Wonder how cold I would have been if I didn’t have alcohol in me? Animal Kingdom, a park I really didn’t have a lot of hope for, turned out being a better park in our opinion than MGM (or Disney Studios, whatever you want to call it), which I said was mildly disappointing. It looks like a big confusing city, enough said. Or maybe not, I got lost twice walking around that park with the park map open and in front of me. Even with all that said, MGM is still a must see for us when we go back in October.

Fireworks display for the P & P Party. All I can say is WOW!

We did just about every show, every ride, and every attraction we put on our “must see” list, some of the rides twice (like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean) like I said Splash Mountain was closed as well as Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball thingy in Epcot) so we hope to catch those in October. We also hope to be able to spend some time in Downtown Disney next time. Downtown Disney is more adult oriented with night clubs and restaurants geared towards the mature crowd (he he, yeah mature, who me?). So until October, you’re stuck with me back here. Speaking of which, some good Lost stuff coming soon.