July 30, 2008, the most exuberant movie I've seen in years

Okay, so I'm not only showing my age here, I'm also showing my bad taste in movies....
I was 17 during the summer of 1978. That was the summer my sisters and I saw Grease and Saturday Night Fever. We bought the soundtracks, but truthfully, I only watched Grease on TV a few times after that and have never watched SNF again. Or maybe it's just because I don't care for John Travolta?
However,
That was the summer my sisters and cousins and I saw Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I didn't read movie reviews at the time and didn't realize how much the critics despised the film. But we were blown away by it, and I kept seeing it at the theater. I played the LP over and over. It was our first introduction to the Beatles because we were all too young to remember them in their heyday. Everyone my age loved it. For those of you who say it was a flop--we saw it when it was first released in August, so why was it still playing at the theaters late that fall?
I loved the exuberance and bright colors and pop music of Sgt. Pepper's. No musical I'd seen on the screen made me feel that way again when, until this week, 30 years later, I saw Mamma Mia! Even my mother loved the movie.
It blew me away like Sgt. Pepper's did. The audience loved it. There were bright colors and an exuberant cast and cheery pop music and a happy ending. No wonder the critics hated it. Not to mention the fact that I suspect that most critics are men under the age of 30, and that's not the audience for this film. When we saw the movie on Sunday, there were at least 50 women in the theater and I saw only three men.
I also liked that it was a lighthearted musical. Musicals have always been one of my favorite music genre, and I loved watching the ones made in the 50s and 60s. But the recent musicals have all been sooooo depressing--Dreamgirls (which Mom walked out of), Rent (everyone dies at the end), etc. I think that's another reason Mamma Mia! was panned by the critics--it's just too happy for today's younger audiences who seem to enjoy wallowing in misery!
So, just ignore the critics. Go see Mamma Mia!
Mary

July 22, 2008, Oceanic Flight 815 manifest

I haven't watched Lost since the middle of the third season. I hated the direction(s) the story took and wasn't interested in all of the new people.
During the first season, I looked all over the Internet for a flight manifest, and couldn't find one. It's only been in the past year that these lists started to appear, and of course, none of them were what I wanted. I rewatched the first season on DVD, and took notes from both the episodes and the various websites that had some of the information I wanted, and this is what I came up with. If you can fill in any blanks, please tell me.
I'm not interested in the other 6 billion people that live on this supposedly deserted island. It was because of them that I lost (so to speak) interest.
Oceanic flight 815 manifest. There were 252 people that died in the crash and 48 who initially survived.

crew
Seth Norris (Greg Grunberg), captain. Died in the pilot soon after crash.
Cindy Chandler (Kimberly Joseph), flight attendant #1. Survived the crash and was captured by the Others.
Hunter (George Alan), flight attendant. Died in the crash.
JD (Jon Dixon), flight attendant #2. Died in crash
Michelle (Michelle Arthur), flight attendant #3. Died in the crash.
Co-pilot (uncredited). Died in the crash.

passengers
Leslie Arzt (Daniel Roebuck), high school chemistry teacher. Married three times. Killed in Exodus.
Katherine “Kate” Austen (Evangeline Lilly), professional con artist, bank robber, murderer. Married for a time to Kevin Callis (Nathan Fillion), a police officer. Stepfather, Sgt. Sam Austen (Lindsey Ginter), was in the U.S. Army Battalion in Washington State. Mother is Diane Jansen (Beth Broderick), who died of cancer, and biological father is Wayne, whom she murdered. Is a Gemini and originally from Iowa. Skye McCole Bartusiak played the young Kate.
Boone Carlyle (Ian Somerhalder), chief executive officer of a subsidiary of his mother’s wedding planning company in California. Age 22. Mother is Sabrina Carlyle. Died of injuries caused by a fall in Do No Harm.
Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez), police officer in California. Daughter of Captain Teresa Cortez (Rachel Ticotin). Shot to death by Michael in Two for the Road.
Millicent Louise D’Agostino (uncredited). From Teaneck, NJ. Died in the crash.
Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau), construction worker for eight years, an artist and later a deck hand on a freighter. Father of Walter Lloyd.
Chris Dobson (uncredited).
Steven Dobson (uncredited). Age 36. Died in the crash.
Nikki Fernandez (Kiele Sanchez), actress and jewel thief. Died in Expose’.
James “Frank Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway), professional con artist, murderer. Father shot his mother Mary and himself when James was 8 years old. Is farsighted. A Republican. From Tennessee.
Scott Jackson (Dustin Watchman), worked for Internet company in Santa Cruz. Short black hair. Friend of Steve’s before the crash. Died in Homecoming.
Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), former member of the Iraqi Republican Guard, which he quit seven years prior to the crash. Graduate of Cairo University. Girlfriend was named Nadia (Nor Jazin). 37 years old. Speaks both English and Iraqi (is that the name of the language?).
Steve Jenkins (Christian Bowman). Friend of Scott’s before the crash.
Jin Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim), fisherman, hotel waiter, hotel manager, hired killer. Sun’s husband. His father, who is unnamed, is played by John Shin. Born Nov. 27, 1974, so he is 30 at the time of the crash. From Korea.
Sun Paik Kwon (Yunjun Kim). Jin’s wife. Daughter of a man (Byron Chung) who owns a restaurant and hotel. Mother is played by June Kyoto Lu. From Korea. Speaks both Korean and English. Married to Jin for four years before the crash. Born March 20, 1980, so she is 24 at the time of the crash. Sophie Kim plays her younger version.
Aaron Littleton (uncredited), Claire’s newborn son. Father is named Thomas (Keir O’Donnell), who works at the Fish N Fry in Sydney. Born in episode Do No Harm.
Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin). Aaron’s mother. Native of Sydney, New South Wales. Daughter of Carole Littleton (Arlene Newman-Van Asperan or Susan Duerden), a librarian, and Dr. Christian Shepard (John Terry). Birthday is Oct. 27. Maternal aunt is named Lindsey (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick).
Walter Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley), Michael’s son. Age 10 at the time of the crash. Birthday is Aug. 24. Raised by his mother, Susan Lloyd (Tamara Taylor) and her husband, Brian Porter (David Starzyk). Captured by the Others in Exodus.
John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), regional collections supervisor for a box company, former commune resident and had also worked in a toy store. Was a Boy Scout. Had a foster sister named Jeannie. Biological parents (possibly) are Emily Annabeth Locke (Swoosie Kurtz) and Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe). Broke his back in a fall four years prior to the plane crash. From Tustin, CA. Born Nov. 15, 1946, so he is 48 at the time of the crash.
Edward Mars (Fredric Lehne), U.S. marshal who had looked for Kate for three years prior to her capture. Died soon after the crash.
Barbara Joanna Miller (uncredited), drowned on the sixth day after the crash. Died in White Rabbit.
Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson), a dentist. Rose’s husband.
Rose Henderson Nadler (L. Scott Caldwell). Bernard’s wife.
Emmanuel Rafael Ortiz (uncredited). Died in the crash.
Charlie Hieronymus Pace (Dominic Monaghan), bass guitarist for British rock group Driveshaft. Has a brother Liam (Neil Hopkins), also in the band, who lives in Sydney. His father is named Simon (John Henry Canavan). Liam’s wife is named Karen (Vanessa Branch) and their daughter is Megan (Sammi Davis). Charlie is Catholic and originally from Manchester. Died in The Beginning of the End. Young Charlie was played by Jeremy Shada.
Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia), won $156 million in a lottery a year before the crash. Owner of a box company in Tustin, CA. Mother is Carmen (Lillian Hurst), father is Carl (Cheech Marin), brother is Diego (Derrick Bulatao), sister-in-law is Lisa (uncredited), maternal grandfather is Tito (Archie Ahuna), who died of a heart attack. Had a girlfriend named Starla. Hurley is Catholic and originally from Santa Monica. Can speak English and Spanish. Caden Waidyatilleka plays the young Hurley.
Shannon Rutherford (Maggie Grace), dance student and con artist. Age 20. Has asthma and is bulimic. Father was named Adam Rutherford. Deceased mother’s name was Susan Rutherford. Can speak English and a little French. Shot to death by Ana-Lucia in Abandoned.
Dr. Jack Shepard (Matthew Fox), surgeon. Son of Dr. Christian Shepard (John Terry), also a surgeon, and Margo Shepard (Veronica Hamel). Divorced from Sarah (Julie Bowen), one of his former patients; they had married in Hawaii. John O’Hara played young Jack.
Jason Ward (uncredited). Died in the crash.
Judith Martha Wexler (uncredited). From Denton, TX. Died in the crash.
Harold Wollstein (uncredited). Died in the crash.

Miscellaneous
Craig (Chris Candella). Has slightly longer and thicker black hair; looks a lot of Steve/Scott.
Donald (uncredited). Died soon after the crash.
Doug (Sean Douglas Hoban). Died after three months on the island.
Eko (Adewal1e Akinnuoye-Agbaje), drug runner. Kolawolfe Obiley, Jr., played young Eko in The 23rd Psalm. Had a brother named Yemi, who became a priest (Olekan Obileye as a child, Adetokumboh M’Cormack as an adult). Killed in The Cost of Living.
Eli (uncredited). Captured by the Others.
Emma (Kiersten Havelock), Zack’s sister. Captured by the Others.
Gina (Wendy Braun), female of the couple next to Sun and Jin at the airport. Died in the crash.
Jeff (Robert Frederick), male of the couple next to Sun and Jin at the airport. Died in the crash.
Jerome (Jim Mazzarella).
Jim (uncredited). Captured by the Others.
Kristen (uncredited). Engaged to Steve. Died in the crash
Lance (uncredited). Little skinny guy with red hair
Libby (Cynthia Watros), a nurse. Shot to death by Michael in Two for the Road.
Nancy (uncredited). Captured by the Others. African-American woman with cornrows in her hair.
Neil (Sean Whalen), frozen yogurt producer.
Pam (uncredited). Died in the crash.
Paolo (Rodrigo Santoro), jewel thief. Died in Expose’.
Richard (Bryan Sato). Asian man seen in Born to Run and Exodus.
Steve (uncredited). Engaged to Kristen. Died in the crash. Not the same as Steve Jenkins.
Sullivan (Scott Paulin). Guy with glasses who got the rash in Solitary.
Tracey (uncredited). From Fresno. Sleeping with Steve.
Zack (Mickey Graue), Emma’s brother. Captured by the Others.
woman with blue striped sweater in Walkabout, House of the Rising Sun and numerous other episodes (Faith Fay). Possibly is Tracey.

july 19, 2008, epier additions

These are the items I added for sale on Saturday, July 19.
1998 Barbie Lands on the Moon outfit
http://www.epier.com/BiddingForm_edit.asp?1775620

1989 SuperStar Ken outfit
http://www.epier.com/BiddingForm_edit.asp?1775627

july 10, 2008, finally summer

For the past few years, summer has started very early in southern Ohio, with high temperatures and months-long droughts. This year is finally different, with an overabundance of rain and cooler, dryer temperatures, more California-like.
Last Saturday, July 5, was the day that finally felt like summer, three weeks after it officially began. It was warm but not hot (mid-80s), with little humidity and few clouds. I went to the pool for a little while and it was incredibly pleasant. To me, summer doesn't really begin until I hear the cicadas (not the ugly mutant alien 17-year cicadas, just the regular ones that you hear but never see). And I've only heard them once since then. I hope the weather stays like this, but I would like to hear the cicadas more.
Oh, and to those of you who hate Daylight Saving Time, try living on standard time when you have both poor night vision and seasonal affective disorder. I'd love to live in a place that had 17 or 18 hours of daylight all the time, and the sun didn't set until after 9 p.m. every night!

smaller food boxes

There have been news articles written in the past few months about how food companies are making smaller portion boxes to keep the prices of food the same as they've been in the past. In other words, a box of Cheerios is the same price, only the box is smaller. All of the articles have treated this subject negatively, as if General Mills et al were trying to cheat the buyer!
I think these smaller portions are wonderful! No one has ever mentioned the food buying practices of a single adult living alone, and these are great for me! No more having to cook larger portions and then having the option of eating the same thing four days in a row before it gets bad, or having to toss the uneaten portion. No more eating the same processed food for 10 days because that was what I bought and I feel bad about throwing it away. I can completely finish a smaller package of cereal or salty snacks or cookies without it getting stale or just pitching it.