The "Lost" Finale: An End To A Fabulous Season

Though last night's "Lost" season finale didn't eject me out of my chair like last year's did, it was still a very good ending to what has been a spectacular season for the show.

Stop now if you haven't seen the show because there are***spoilers***a plenty coming up.

This isn't a recap---I know, I know, I owe you guys, counting last night's two episodes, five hours worth of recaps.  They're like my own Sword of Damocles, but if it takes another lifetime, I will get them done.  This is just a short post with some thoughts.

But back to last night, it was an episode that answered several questions, tied together several plot threads and gave Keamy the end he deserved, even though it meant the end of some of the Losties.

We had to know, after seeing all those explosives on the Mystery Freighter that it would eventually blow up, but who knew the fate of the Mystery Freighter would be so closely tied to the fate of Keamy?  Michael finally got his wish to cross over to the Great Beyond, but unfortunately Jin went with him.  Or did he?  Is it be possible he jumped into the water and swam far enough away not to get blown into a million pieces?  I hope so.

And if they don't nominate Yunjin Kim for an Emmy this year, I'm gonna be really pissed.  What an incredible job she's done this season.  Matthew Fox and Josh Holloway as well.

My friend and I had a bet about who was in the coffin and I won.  Even though they faked me out at the beginning of the episode with that "Jeremy Bentham" pseudonym.  Mr. Locke, I presume?

Ben got his vengeance against Keamy, but as soon as I start to hate him a little less, in answer to Locke's fear that Keamy's death was going to kill the Losties on the Mystery Freighter, Ben says, "So?"

So??? 

Bastard!

Other Finale Observations: 

• I loved that Ben moved the island using a frozen Wonder Wheel.
• I loved that we got a continuation of the scene between Kate and Jack at the airport in last season's finale.
• I loved how heroic Sawyer has been all season long and especially last night, trying to save everyone on the helicopter by jumping out.
• I loved that we got to see Walt, even if he does look about eighteen years old.  That's okay, we suspend so much other reality for this show, we can do that for Walt.
• I loved that Juliet's still stuck on the island.  Couldn't happen to a better person.
• I loved that the Fearless Foursome, minus Frank, are stuck there as well.  Hee.  Good times.
• I loved that the Losties on the island think the Oceanic Six are dead...blown up with the Mystery Freighter.  It's a great plot point.
• I loved that Sun is going to join up with Widmore to go after Ben---I'm pretty sure that's who else she blames for Jin's death.
• And I really, really loved that Desmond and Penny are finally together---for now.

Recaps are pending.

Photo courtesy and copyright ABC

Megan's Emily Gould Post Quoted On Slate

I feel like I'm having an "Emily Gould" moment.  That's because my post about Gould was quoted by Michael Weiss of Slate in his daily blog roundup.

I've hit the big time!

It's my own New York Times Magazine cover story, it's my own Gawker writing job, it's my own claim to blogging and internet and who knows what other kind of fame.

Aw, the power.

Thank you Michael Weiss for giving me this moment in the glare of the internet sun.  If I can ever return the favor, please let me know.

The Season of "The Ringers" On Reality TV

David Cook ruined this post.  Last week, just as I was predicting David Archuleta to win "American Idol," I had a post half written in my head about the season of "The Ringers" on reality TV. 

Think about it:  "Project Runway's" winner, Christian Siriano; "America's Next Top Model" winner, Whitney Thompson; "Dancing with the Stars" winner: Kristi Yamaguchi; and the final piece of the puzzle would have been the crowning of David Archuleta.

And maybe ringer is the wrong word.  What I really mean is, in each case it seems the contestant the producers and judges wanted to win, won.  "America's Next Top Model" wanted a plus-sized winner, they got one.  "Project Runway" wanted a hip, young winner with attitude, they got one.  "Dancing with the Stars" wanted a woman to win, they got one.

Not that any of these contestants weren't worthy, they were.  It's  just that it gets the conspiracy theorists out there buzzing when so many winners are winners that you know the producers were hoping for.

Kimmie at "It's All About" had this to say while the competition was still underway:

But ... I think Kristi Yamaguchi is a ringer, and I'll tell you why. She's got the lines and graceful movements that this competition thrives on. She's got the flexibility and work ethic that is required to win. She already knows the exact ... exact ... way to curtsy on ice, er, stage. Yep, she's a ringer. And I like it.

And she was very happy when Kristi won.

But that aside, the only producer/judge darling that didn't win was David Archuleta.  If he had won, wouldn't that have been one of the signs of the Apocalypse?   What do you think?

Emily Gould: A Blogger More Than Exposed

This week the New York Times Magazine published an article by Emily Gould, a blogger who started her blogging career with her own personal blog and eventually ended up writing for Gawker, a very popular site that promises "media gossip and pop culture round the clock."

In the article, Gould talks about her lifelong tendency to "overshare" and how her original blog, Emily Magazine was an expression of that compulsion to overshare.

Her oversharing went into overdrive when she hit the big time, getting a job as a writer at Gawker.  She was to be responsible for twelve of the forty posts the blog published daily and suddenly she felt like she had achieved her destiny.

Ten TV Shows And Movies That Taught Me Something About War

I'm lucky. I've never had to serve in a war or known someone close who's died in one. Even though I learned the facts and figures of war in school, the impact of war I learned from television and the movies. In honor of Memorial Day, this post is about what I've learned about war.

Michelle Obama and The Daily Kos Controversy

As a follow up to yesterday's post "With Friends Like The Daily Kos, Michelle Obama Doesn't Need Enemies,"  I wanted to point out that Kim Pearson of BlogHer wrote an excellent post about the topic.  In it she quotes several scholars regarding the depiction of black women in American history and she also included the following:

It doesn't help that this image hit the blogosphere not long after a Roswell, Georgia magazine published a cover showing Sen. Obama in a rifle's cross-hairs.

This image flips and merges two of the most emblematic images in our tragic racial history: the black (usually) male victim suffering unjustly at the hands of white racists, and the fragile woman (historically white) being violated by brutish (black, and often imaginary) men.

It's a post worth reading.  And by the way, I still haven't heard anything from the Daily Kos.  I doubt I will

With Friends Like The Daily Kos, Michelle Obama Doesn't Need Enemies

The picture to the right was posted on the Daily Kos a liberal, political blog last Monday as part of an article called "The New Improved Southern Strategy."

In it, the writer One Citizen wrote in defense of Michelle Obama:

Right wing blogs and emails are suddenly all ablaze with half-truths and lies about Michelle Obama.  One interesting rumor circulating is that she's disingenuous for having claimed to have been brought up in a one-room tenement when she wasn't.  The fact is that she's never claimed it either.  The closest claim she's ever made is that she's from a working class-neighborhood.

I can't link to the actual post because it was removed after what I'm assuming were protests about the accompanying picture.  I read about this post at the blog What About Our Daughters. They linked to a screen shot of the post and that's where I got the quote.

This is what WAOD had to say about the picture:

I get the point they were trying to make, Michelle Obama is being criticized by the GOP for numerous things, but really what was going to your mind when you imagined Michelle Obama being tortured by the Klan?

I whole heartedly agree.  It's offensive, disgusting and makes me sick.  When I originally saw the picture I got a grapefruit sized knot in the pit of my stomach, but deep down I wasn't surprised.  How sad is that?  It appears anything goes these days and I'm just a prude when it comes to trying to be sensitive to others' feelings.  After all, this is "edgy" and  isn't edgy what everyone's shooting for these days? 

It doesn't matter that the Daily Kos was defending Michelle Obama.  The picture negates that.  And seriously, if you're the editor of a blog, don't you have to ask yourself, when does the representation of an offense become part of the offense itself?

How is it that someone decided this was something acceptable to post?  Could it be because whoever decided to post it isn't a black woman, and possibly doesn't know or care about any black women?  Is it possible they thought the message was so important that the controversy was worth it?  Or did they crassly decide the controversy would stir up more hits and that was all that counted?

If anyone from the Daily Kos reads this, I'd sincerely like to know.  If the post was removed because the folks at the Daily Kos came to their senses, I'd like to know that too.

Just removing the post with no explanation isn't enough.  How about an apology to all the black women out there who felt like I did?  Sick, but not surprised.

I plan on sending the Daily Kos a link to this post and I'll let you know when or if I hear from them.

"Sex and the City" The Movie? No Thanks

I seem to be the only woman I know who's not going to strut my stilettos over to see the new "Sex and the City" movie the minute it opens next week. The buzz, the hype, and the noise over this movie is so over the top, it's like an orgasmic orgy. Not that there shouldn't be more movies like this about ordinary women and their lives, because I think there should be, but Hollywood, could you come up with something original, please?

I'm not interested in seeing these women again. With all due respect to Sarah Jessica Parker, I was never a huge fan of the TV show since the characters annoyed me more often than they entertained me, and the only thing I liked less than the women were the men. Mr. Big? Really! How is he someone's great catch? Aidan was the only guy I could stomach and what happened to him? Carrie crushed him under her high heeled foot, like one of her many cigarettes.

What was also annoying when the show was on was every New York City woman announcing which "Sex and the City" character she was. "I'm just like Carrie," or "I'm just like Miranda," or "I'm just like Charlotte." And a few even proudly admitted to being just like serial bed hopper Samantha. As if every woman in New York could be distilled down to one of those four characters.

Pul-leeeze!

I've got news for you, I'm proud to say I'm not like any of 'em.

I don't wear stilettos that cost as much as a mortgage payment on my house, I don't bed hop with anything that has a "y" chromosome, and I don't wear goofball outfits from overpriced boutiques downtown. That being said, go see the movie if you feel you must, but for me, "not tonight, honey, I have a headache."

Cross Posted From Video Runway

"America's Next Top Model" Winner: Whitney Thompson, A Juicy Booty

Last week Whitney Thompson became the first plus-sized model to win "America's Next Top Model."  Or as one of her makeup artists said before the final  runway competition, she was the "first juicy booty to make it on to the  runway."   

Of course the phrase "plus-sized model" is a relative term.  Whitney says she's a size 10 and though in the modeling world, that's considered big enough to call for a forklift, in the real world that's considered, dare I say it...pretty normal.

ANTM is one of my personal guilty pleasures.  All that strutting and pouting in high heels and expensive weaves gives me the giggles.  The show also taught me a shocking lesson:  models really have to know stuff.  They aren't just breadstick thin hangers with no brains.  They're highly trained professionals, skilled in a all kinds of important techniques.    Like actors, they need to know their facial structure.  Like dancers, they need to know movement.  Like prisoners, they need to know how  to live off bread and water.

Two weeks ago Tyra demonstrated the difference between a plain facial expression and the same expression except this time with her eyes smiling.  The difference was simply a matter of how she squinted her eyes, but I tried to do it and I nearly dislocated my eye socket.

It's lots of makeup and hairstyles and pretty pictures.  And as long as you don't take the whole enterprise too seriously, it's harmless fun.

"Idol" Chit Chat: David Cook Is "American Idol" 2008

Even David Cook didn't look like he believed he heard right as Ryan Seacrest called out his name as the winner of "American Idol" 2008.

Like last night for the "Dancing with the Stars" finale, I popped in a out of the two hour show and for the most part, it looked very entertaining. 

After catching up on Grey's Anatomy in advance of tomorrow's season finale, I checked in on Idol as the winner was announced and then watched select portions of the show on the DVR.

There was Bryan Adams, George Michael, Donna Summer, ZZ Top singing with David Cook, Seal singing with Syesha, and Gladys Knight from "The Flip Wilson Show" circa 1969, singing with Pips Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr. and Ben Stiller.

There was "The Love Guru," aka Mike Myers as Guru Pitka plugging his new movie.  His advice to David Cook to shave was right on the mark.  Guru Pitka even made a live appearance on the "Idol" stage.  "Mariska Hargitay," was his universal greeting.  His words for the judges:  "Randy, you are my dog.  Paula, I love you.  Simon, I love you even more."  And I nearly lost it when he called Ryan, "Mr. Seafoam."

Show Low Points:

*Last year's winner, Jordin Sparks' performance.  She sounded like a teenage Janet Jackson and that's not a compliment.

*That guy singing with the marching band.  Don't know who he was.  Don't care.

*Syesha not being able to keep up vocally with Seal.

*Kristy Lee Cook.  When will I have another chance to take a shot at her?

Show High Points: 

*Jimmy Kimmel's monologue.  Some of his best lines:

"I valet parked outside.  How much should I tip Sanjaya?"

"Paula sees the positive in performances no one else sees.  In fact if you watched a few weeks ago you know sometimes she sees actual performances that no one else sees."

"Once again Simon you have not been very nice to the contestants.  This year, I have to wonder what your parents, Rosemary and Satan Cowell think when they see their little boy saying such awful things to people."

*Gladys Knight singing with her phony Pips.  Even though it was a goof, it was great hearing one of Gladys' classic performances of one of her classic songs.

*The George Michael medley.  It was actually better than George's performance, but part of that had to do with the fact that his classic songs were better than that new song he sang.

*Seeing Chikezie back on stage.  He's really very entertaining and I missed him.

*Paula Abdul having a grand old time dancing and partying in that snappy red dress she was sporting. 

*Randy looking like a tailored candy cane.

*ZZ Top and David Cook singing "Sharp Dressed Man."

*The Idol band rockin' through the whole show.  Every week they've done a fabulous job.

*Simon apologizing for "verging on disrespectful" to David Cook last night.

*David Cook crying so much he couldn't speak after being announced the winner.

*David Cook's brother saying into the camera proudly, "That's my brother," while David sang the winning song, "Time Of My Life."

Finally a message for David Cook, you weren't one of my favorites, and I do wish you would shave, but no one can say you didn't earn the title, so congratulations and good luck to you, dude.

See y'all in January.

Photo courtesy and copyright Fox Television

"Idol" Chit Chat: David Squared

David Archuleta and David Cook did battle last night for the title of "American Idol."

The first song choices were picked by record mogul Clive Davis.  For David Cook he chose "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and for David Archuleta he chose, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me."

Cook sang well enough, but as always, he didn't make me feel anything.  It's like listening to background music in a restaurant, as soon as he starts singing, I start thinking about something else I could be doing.

Archuleta did a better job with his song, but the choice of the song did half the work for him.  And he almost looked like an adult in that little corduroy jacket of his.

Afterward, I thought Randy was going to have a coronary during his "molten hot" critique.

The second song was chosen by the Davids from the top ten favorite songs entered in the song writing competition. 

David Cook chose a rocker-esque song about dreaming big, called "Dream Big," and David Archuleta chose a ballad about being in "this moment," called "In This Moment." 

Yo, Idol producers?  In future I'd like to ban songs with the words, "this moment" in them.  Enough already.

"Desperate Housewives" Snap Recap: "Free" (5/18/08)

This episode takes place the day after the end of the previous episode, "The Gun Song."

Kat goes to the police station to report Adam's kidnapping by Psycho Daddy. It makes her flashback to another time when she reported Psycho Daddy after he beat her up.  A policewoman gave her the advice to take Dylan and run because his cop friends would never put Psycho Daddy away.  They played golf together after all.

Flash forward to Kat in present day, and Detective Pete, who also plays golf with Psycho Daddy, won't take Kat seriously either.

Kat goes home and interrupts Bree during the wives' weekly poker game, telling her she can't help cater Bob and Lee's commitment ceremony, because she's leaving town.  Bree immediately enlists the unwilling help of the wives to take up the slack.

Kat goes home to pack, figuring she and Dylan are going to have to go on the run once again.  Dylan doesn't want to go and insists on knowing what's going on.  Kat tells her the truth, which we don't hear, and  a distressed Dylan runs out of the house.

Gaby and Carlos get a call from Drug Dealer Ellie.  It seems she left behind a teddy bear that has 118 grand in it though she doesn't tell Gaby that.  However Gaby finds the money all on her own and tells Ellie she didn't find the bear at all.

"Dancing with the Stars" The Results Live Blog

It's Tuesday night and 10:51pm and they still haven't announced the "Dancing with the Stars" winner.  They're down to Jason Taylor and Kristi Yamaguchi so somewhere in the last interminable two hours they dumped Cristian. Hopefully he can now go get his ripped up arm fixed.

I've been popping in and out of the show all evening because I simply can't stomach a full two hours.  I spent part of the time watching the finals of "American Idol,"---David's going to win.  Heh, I crack myself up---part of the time watching election returns on CNN,---Go Hillary! Go Obama!  And part of the time watching the end of "Rear Window" on Turner Movie Classics.  If you've never seen it, you must.

They're still in commercial break and it's 10:54pm.  Oh wait, here we go. There's the disco ball.  Bergeron's talking:  Kristi and Mark are the highest ever scorers with the judges.  Jason and Edyta have blown away the audiences.  The new champions are..............Kristi and Mark!

Who didn't see that coming?

Tom Bergeron:  "You did it, you broke the curse!"

Kristi is thanking the fans and everyone who made it all a "dream experience."  Mark is thanking "everyone that makes it happen."

Jason's really cute and saying how "Kristi very much deserved it."

Bergeron gives them the ugly disco ball and it's official.   Here come the other contestants and they put Kristi on Jason and Cristian's shoulders. Should Cristian be doing that? 

There's all kinds of celebrating:  fireworks, confetti, dancing in the streets.

That's enough.  They'll be back in September with more interminable results shows.

Have a good night.

Cross Posted From Video Runway

"Desperate Housewives" Snap Recap: "The Gun Song" (5/18/08)

Welcome to the first half of the "Desperate Housewives" two hour season finale.  We were promised pathos and we got it.  We were promised gay marriage and we got it.  We were promised a baby named Maynard and we got that too.

Mary Alice begins this episode by telling us about names:

Lynette in French means "pretty one;" Katherine is from Greek meaning "purity;" Gabrielle is Hebrew for "God is my strength;" and Bree is an Irish name that means "power."

With all due respect to Mary Alice I'd like to propose that Lynette in French really means, "obnoxious shrew of a wife who cuts off her husband's balls every chance she gets;"  Katherine in Greek really means, "secretive woman on the run from Psycho Daddy;" Gabrielle is Hebrew for, "short, shallow, gold digger; and Bree is Irish for, "iron fisted, domestic diva with a killer muffin recipe."

Names are relevant this week because Mike and Susan are trying to find one for Baby Boy Delfino.  They run through several before settling on...Connor.   So is Marc Cherry a secret fan of "Angel" or something? If they flash forward, does that mean Connor's going to be 35 next time we see him.  (Only "Angel" fans will get that one, for the rest of you, forgive me.)

Anyway, no sooner do they choose Connor, then Mike's grandfather dies and Mike wants to name the baby after him.  His name?  Maynard.

Susan is just about as thrilled about that as you'd expect, so in classic Susan fashion, she spends the episode trying to change the name back to Connor on the birth certificate. When Mike finds out she hates the name, he explains to her all the wonderful things his Grandfather Maynard did like ending racism in the United States, finding a cure for AIDS and keeping his family on the straight and narrow.  After Mike's heartfelt speech, Susan agrees to the name Maynard.

Mike, you know I love you, but even after all the great things Maynard did for the world, no way would that kid be named Maynard.

Barack Obama Answers Questions For BlogHer

BlogHer just posted this interview with Senator Barack Obama.  In it he answers several policy questions submitted by the BlogHer community.  Topics covered include the war in Iraq, health care and the environment.

You can read the post and comments associated with the interview here.