I wish I wrote this...or thought of this

From : http://datelinehollywood.com/archives/2006/01/03/lost-episode-to-feature-back-story-of-vincent-the-dog/

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‘LOST’ EPISODE TO FEATURE BACK STORY OF VINCENT THE DOG
Critics say producers stalling to reveal island mysteries

Hollywood – Fan websites of ABC’s “Lost” drama are abuzz with word that an upcoming episode will focus on Vincent the dog and will include flashbacks with a detailed back story. While enthusiastic fans are suddenly speculating that the dog may be the key to solving the central mysteries on the show, critics say the upcoming flashbacks for Vincent proves that the show’s producers are struggling with storylines and are stalling to give viewers answers.

Since the first episode, the producers have been using flashbacks to create richer characters, new mysteries and revelations. Each major character has had a flashback scene, partially explaining their pasts. Since “Lost” became such a ratings hit, the producers had to suddenly slow down the pace of the show and not reveal the mysteries with the originally intended timeframes.

“When they came up with the show, it was in the same vein of Fox’s ‘24’ with the answers being revealed at the end of the season,” said TV critic Chesley Martin of the Hartford Journal-Bulletin. “But now they’ve realized they can keep this show going for five years or more. What’s happening now is that they need to keep coming up with other storylines. They’re obviously grasping at straws, and that’s why you’ll be seeing these flashbacks for the dog.”

Fans on the website www.hurleysnumbers.net believe Vincent the dog may hold the answers to the crucial secrets of the island.

“I never thought about the dog. I just thought he was a dog who took a dump once and a while and did nothing else,” wrote Sayidrules23 on a thread. “But it’s starting to make sense now. The dog was there all along, and we didn’t realize his significance until now. What if this was all in Vincent’s imagination?”

According to the fan website www.OceanicAir.org, the upcoming episode will feature three flashbacks for Vincent, all of them will be in black and white as it is believed that dogs see life without color. One of the flashbacks will show Vincent having a brief affair with one of the wild boars on the island. The other flashback will show Vincent as a puppy living in the Arctic with a group of researchers.

“There’s a connection there because of those polar bears that have turned up on the island,” wrote Ekomatters1. “Look to the dog for the answers.”

There’s also speculation about the dog being mentioned in the “Orientation” film shown in an earlier episode this season.

“There were jarring jump cuts in that film,” wrote Ekomatters1. “The character Desmond spliced the broken movie back together after watching it too many times. Those missing pieces will become very important because they will talk about a dog, about the chosen one.”

While speculation runs rampant about Vincent the dog, Dateline Hollywood has obtained new information about the hatch on the show. According to an insider, the idea of the hatch wasn’t created until halfway through the season.

“The hatch was the idea of writer/supervising producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach,” revealed the insider. “Jorge Garcia (Hurley) was supposed to lose like 40 pounds during the filming of the show because of being on the island without proper food, but that guy just got bigger and bigger. So Javier came up with the idea of a hatch filled with food to explain Hurley’s weight in the second season. Then all of these other things developed from the hatch idea. It was brilliant.”

Hurley will also play a central role in one of the flashbacks of Vincent the dog. According to the insider, the flashback will relive a moment early on during the first season when the airline food runs out on the island and Hurley contemplates eating the dog. But as he prepares to catch Vincent, he discovers that the character Jin already has the dog over a barbecue pit. The dog manages to escape both hungry survivors.

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This absolutely made my day...mainly because I got depressed at My Death Space, a site that shows deceased people who have Myspace.com pages. The most famous may be Taylor Behl, the young Northern Virginia who was killed last year in Richmond. Her story made national headlines, and served as a cruel reminder to choose your friends in this world wisely. Also, the recent shooting in Seattle has added a couple of Myspace profiles to this slightly morbid, slightly touching site.

The one who registered with me - Dave Seeber, a 21 year old kid from Virginia who went to one of my old schools, Virginia Wesleyan College. Like me, he wrote for the Marlin Chronicle, the campus newspaper, and his bearded picture on his Myspace profile reminds me of another fellow VWCer, Pete Fitzgerald, a.k.a. Artiste. He was burly, bearded fellow who had his choice of football scholarships coming out of high school. He instead chose VWC, a small Division III with no football outside of intramurals. He wanted to draw, paint, sculpt and make art, not run two-a-days, lift weights for ten hours a week, and be considered a dumb jock. Dave's visage reminds me a lot of Artiste - same smile, same beard, same clothing style. As I always liked, and even admired Artiste, seeing the similarities of Dave Seeber made both happy at the good memory, and sad to learn he'd taken his own life. There's no doubt that Dave and I would have known each other at the small school, had I been a decade and change younger.

After reading through all the pages of deaths, seeing everything from suicide, car accidents and soldiers dying in Iraq, it is nice to see these recently-deceased still have a slice of themselves that remains exactly as they left it - playing a favorite tune, showing funny pictures and videos, their blogs whose words will be studied by the living remainder to search for clues in their loved one's passing.

Then, the comments - from friends both in person and via the internet. It's a shame most of them don't find out how much they're loved until after they're dead.

Still, to see these people still alive, most of them so young and filled with promise, bravado or depression, does serve as an effective memorial, and provide a snapshot of the living that a cold gravestone can not.

No Whammies, No Whammies, STOP!

This, for some reason, has just bummed me the hell out. Peter Tomarken was always one of my favorite game show hosts, and the show "Press Your Luck" holds up very well. He was never trendy, but always stylish. Fun, slightly naughty, but always a great host.

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from The Baltimore Sun

A former TV game show host and his wife were killed Monday morning when their small plane crashed into Santa Monica Bay shortly after takeoff on a volunteer flight for a medical charity, authorities said.

Divers called off a search for a third person late Monday after authorities concluded only two people were on board.

The bodies of Peter Tomarken, 63, host of the hit 1980s game show "Press Your Luck," and his wife, Kathleen Abigail Tomarken, 41, were identified by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

The plane was on its way to San Diego to ferry a medical patient to the UCLA Medical Center, said Doug Griffith, a spokesman for Angel Flight West, a nonprofit which provides free air transportation for needy patients.

Tomarken, the pilot, was a volunteer for the group. The FAA said the plane was registered to him.

The third person authorities initially believed was on board may have been the patient, said Coast Guard spokesman Tony Migliorini.

"We believe the third person was the person they were going to pick up," he said. "When they filed the flight plan, they said three persons were to be on board. That's why we had to presume they had three and did the search."

The plane apparently had engine trouble and was headed back to Santa Monica Airport, located about two miles inland, but went down in about 19 feet of water about a half-mile southwest of the Santa Monica pier, authorities said.

Luis Garr said he didn't hear the engine but heard the splash as the plane "kind of landed into the water."

"It's a big splash, a huge splash. ... Then it started going down," Garr said. "The wings were still floating so I was, `Get out! Get out!' because the door was still available to get out and nobody came out. So the plane kept going down, down, down."

Tomarken's death was first reported by "Entertainment Tonight."

"Press Your Luck" was known for contestants shouting the slogan "Big bucks! No whammies!"

Tomarken's agent, Fred Wostbrock, said his client's first game show was "Hit Man!," which ran 13 weeks on NBC, followed by the four-year hit "Press Your Luck" on CBS. He also was on "Bargain Hunters," "Wipe-Out" and "Paranoia."

"He was always a fun guy to be around, and he just loved the genre of game shows," Wostbrock said.

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I've come to wish you an unhappy birthday

I turned 33 yesterday. There was much rejoicing.

Why do we rejoice? Has anybody ever just gotten joiced right the first time?

Your Birthday - to the tune of The Love Boat:

You, your days flying by
Getting old. You're going to die.
Death, life's sole guarantee.
Gonna crock, it's true for you and me.

Your Birthday! You escaped from you mother's womb
Your Birthday! Another step towards the tomb
You can try to out run it,
but you'll fail, it's true.
and Life...it's slipping away
To a grave...and you'll turn to gooo!.
Yes Death!! It's Death! ! (hey-ah!)

Your birthday!
You escaped from your mother's womb;
Your birthday!
Another step towards to the tomb!
You can try to out run it,
but you'll fail, it's true.
and Life...it's sliping away
to a grave...where you'll turn to goo!
It's Death! It's Death! It's
Death!
Your Birthday! You're Birthday!