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Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009: The Year in Review



*Editor's Note: January Marked the start of "Bring Me That Horizon" thanks to all those who have read for making this year a great start! I llok forward to brining more columns next year, and will do my best to stay on schedule!



When I think about the Year 2009, I could say a lot. But really, two words sum it up micely:

IT SUCKED.

Last year, the economy was begining to fail. John McCain lost the 2008 election to Barack Obama (sorry to go all politcal on you, but that was bad for me). I was hopeful that 2009 would be much better.

But I was wrong. In 2009, the economy got worse, with people losing jobs, people losing money, and businesses failing. It looked pretty bad.

We also lost so many people. I lost my grandmother to Pancreatic Cancer less then 2 months ago.

Not to mention Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, Ted Kendedy, Natasha Richardson, Patrick Swazye, Ed McMahon, and countless others.

We also witnessed the overhyped Swine Flu, or H1N1 Flu. Since it emerged, there have been about 4,000 deaths. Yes, only 4,000. You think the way the media hyped it, we lost 400 million due to Swine Flu. Of course, you should always be practicing healthy habits, and if anything, this "pandemic" will increase these habbits.

On the more positive side, new things have emerged. We have some great TV shows, like FlahsForward and V. We also saw the emersion of Twitter, Bing, Hulu, and the continued stregthening of Facebook.

I could go on and on, but why do that, when Yahoo can do it for me? They have a nice column about 2009 in review that you might want to check out. It goes deeper into what I have been saying and offers commentary on other Stuff. So, click here!

Immediately following New Years Day, come back and I'll say what will make 2010 a much better year. A New Year's Worth Celebrating!

Monday, December 28, 2009

GH Weekly Roundup: 2009 Edition



Seeing as how we have 1 more week of GH until the end of the year, my GH Weekly Roundup: 2009 Edition will go for another week so we can fit in all of this weeks action into the column.

We left off at the arival Of Dominic. When he first arrived, he held Michael, Morgan, and Carly at gunpoint in the woods. He also mentioned he was from Bensonhurst, which immediately made me suspect he was the infamous Dante we have been hearing about for so long, who was the lovechild of Sonny and Olivia.

Speaking of lovechild, it was revelaed that Ethan was actually Luke's child with Holly Sutton, who made a surprise appearance in Port Charles. Not long after hearing this, Luke disappeared. But little did we know where he was...

It was soon revealed that Dominic was actually an undercover cop who got a position in the Corinthos organization to bring down Crime Lord Sonny Corinthos, even though Sonny is actually Dante's dad. So this puts all of them into an odd position. Olivia is in the greatest pain, for she knows that Dante is Sonny's son and doesn't want to see anyone get hurt. As the investigation goes on, and on, and on, and-well, you get my point- things get even worse.

The big sumemr story invloved 2 murders- the mayor's mistress, and Claudia's baby. Both were ingeniously intertwined, making for a great summer thriller, though we could have used less teens...

Mayor Floydd was haing an affair when his wife found out. Enraged, she tried killed the mistress and got rid of the evidence. The mistress did not die, however. She was operated on by Matt, and died in surgery. Robin, with Patrick's aid, decided to investigate who tried to kill the mistress, and failed. At first, they suspected the mayor himself. When they acused him of the murder, Alexis had the mayor arrested, and Andrea swore revenge. Later, they suspected the culprit was Andrea Flodd, but didn't have enough proof to back it up. They spent the summer trying to prove her guilt.

Meanwhile, on one dark night, an emoptional Michael, Kristina, Carly, Claudia, and Alexis were all driving on Harbor View Road, near the mayor's house. There was an accident, and Claudia was driven off the road, where Carly came to her rescue. The accident caused her baby to die in the hospital. Michael believed it was him, and even confessed to the cops he was the cause of the accident. Jason got him out of jail, but Michael left the country with Kristina and went to Mexico to hide.

Andrea saw this as the perfect oppurtunity to get revenge on Alexis. She blamed Alexis for the accident, and Alexis lost her job and was facing murder criminal charges. In reality, Kristina caused the accident, and Alexis tried to protect her daughter by taking the wrap for the murder. Nikolas used his power to make the charges "go away".

Jason and Sam went to Mexico to bring them back, as the teens faced Jerry. What was Jerry planning to do? Well, we knoe Claudia was so grief-stricken that she wanted Jerry to go after them to "make them pay". But what was Jery going to do? We can only imagine, because Jerry got away after leaving Jason for dead. Luckily, Sam came to the rescue and nursed him back to health. He was feeling so much better that the two former lovers had sex. Finally, the Jasam reunion!

Jason and Sam rescued Michael and Kristina and brought them home. Meanwhile, Sonny and Claudia were growing closer, and Sonny's feelings for Olivia were put on hold. Morgan and Dominic were also becoming good freinds. At least they had a nice summer!

Speaking of nice summer, we were also introduced to Kareoke night at Jakes. This was used many times, and I can say that it has made some great and memorable episodes.

After the craziness of summer died down, we found out that Luke was kidnapped by Helena, who was then kidnapped by Valetine Cassidine. They formed an alliance and escaped together to the relative safety of Port Charles. But he was never heard of again...

Next week, we'll get into the season of sweeps, starting with The Carinval.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!



"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."



I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Have a Safe and Happy Holiday Season!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

GH Weekly Roundup: 2009 Edition


It's hard to imagine another year has flown by on GH. Considering the short week this week, and only a few more episodes this year, let's do some recapping of the entire year on GH. This special column will cover the next 2 weeks. Let's get started!

It seems like so long since we saw Nadine. As soon as Rebecca showed up, she just disappeared. Wherever she is, I hope she in enjoying her Million she got from her inheritance. What? You forgot about that until now? Well, it's understandable. It was one of those little things that are forgettable. A lot of stuff does happen within a year.

Speaking of Rebecca, she first came into GH during that snowstorm when that guy swollowed the biotoxin spheres. Remember that? It was a pretty cool sweeps. All our favorite characters were together. Some got sick. Some were ok. The hospital was quarintined, and then caught on fire. And we also saw the demise of Trevor.

We also had Robin's Postpartum Depression storyline. Remember that disaster? Thank God Robin got help for her PPD. And soon enough, she was back and caring for her family. Although, the baby is hardly seen.

Around this time, Kate started to drift from the storyboard, and her idiot cousin Olivia became predominate. I used to hate Kate, but as she is slowly coming back, I began to really like her, while Olivia is just a bitch.

Earlier this year, Jerry hid those DVDs confessing his part and Claudia's part in Michael's shooting. For a long time, Jason suspected Claudia of setting up the hit on Sonny. But Sonny didn't believe him. His marriage to Claudia was going well and he was back in power, especially with Anthony Zaccarah's trip to federal prison.

Claudia was so worried about getting caught that she planned to get herself pregnant "accidently" with Sonny's child. And she did. Sonny accepted it, and it was her ticket to living if the truth were to come out. That is, until Sonny found out Ric was sleeping with Claudia. Everything was solved when Ric finally left Port Charles, vowing he would return. After that, the baby was revealed to be Sonny's.

Also earlier this year, Jax and Carly's marriage was on the rocks. But they renewed their vows and Carly wound up pregnant, right when Claudia was pregnant.

Things were supposed to get better when Michael underwent treatment to wake him up. But when he finally emerged from his coma, things did not get better. The SORAS of Michael was less then stellar. Michael had become a selfish, spoiled, constantly aggressive brat. Alas, all the other children were also SORASed. Kristina's character was similar to Michael, except she did not have a backbone to stand up to her abusive boyfriend.

Luckily, Morgan and Molly's recast was great, and both characters are enjoyable to watch and bring a breath of fresh air to GH. While on that subject, we have Dominic/Dante. What a great addition.

Next week, I'll pick up with Dominic. Until then, I leave you with this question: what did you like/dislike about this year?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Final Thoughts on the Monk Finale

Within the course of a year, 3 of my favorite show will end. We've already witnessed the finale of Pushing Daisies, and most recently Monk. And come May, we'll say goodbye to the greatest show of all time... Lost.

The Monk finale was sad. The montage to Randy Newman's song made me tear up.

But the truth of Trudy's murder finally came out, giving the characters, especially Monk, closure they needed. Not to mention, us.

Monk may be cured, but probably still has a few phobias and a bit of OCD left.

All the characters are happy, and that's something I truly found enjoyable. Knowing that though the series may have ended, their lives will still continue, though we will not be able to see any more adventures of Mr. Monk and the gang.

It's been a great run. Monk has been an incredible show, and I will miss it.

A really don't know what else to say. Monk will still live on in repeats, and will always be enjoyable to watch. Not to mention DVDs and Blu-rays. But I feel I have said all I should. It's hard to write this article, knowing it's probably the last one I will write about Monk.

Thank you to everyone who worked on Monk for making it a fantastic show. I'll always hold a place in my heart for this show.

Thank you, Adrian Monk.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Mr. Monk And The End


Christmas time is upon us. That means I've been crazy decorating, shopping, and doing all sorts of stuff for school.

But really, when I sat down at my computer to write about the Final Episode of Monk, I didn't know what to say. It was touching, sad, uplifting, happy, and so much more. It was one helluva finale.

Within the first several minutes of the show, Trudy confessed everything in the video she made twelve years ago. When she was in law school, she had an affair with Judge Ethan Rickover (who was my suspect after Part 1) and wound up pregnant. The baby supposedly died. To keep this secret, the Judge had the midwife killed, whose murder Monk was investigating on the day Trudy died. And of course, he killed Trudy Monk to keep the secret from getting out.

Monk is furious and wants Rickover dead. He is about to die from the poision and doesn't have much time left. He tells Stottlemeyer to kill Rickover because he will not make it. The investigation continues, but Monk slips away from his deathbed to confron the Judge.

Meanwhile, Natalie came down with the same symptoms as Monk. The she realizes... it's because his wipes were poisioned! I thought that was an ingenious move, and never would have suspected the wipes being poisioned. Now that this is discovered, a rush is put on the antidote. As Stottlemeyer and Randy rush to the hospital to tell Monk the good news, he's not there. But they know where he is.

Monk confronts Rickover about the murder at gunpoint. He orders him to dig up the probable spot where the midwife's body is. When Randy, Natalie, and Stottlemeyer arrive, Rickover hits a skull. Rickover is done. But Monk has a coughing fit and sets down his gun. And Rickover snatches it up, tells Monk "Take care of her" and pulls the trigger.

A few days later, it is revealed that Monk is alive and healthy, and is sitting with Dr. Bell and chatting like old times. But he still ponders the meanings of his last words. But not for long.

Monk finds out that he was referring to Trudy's daughter, Molly Evans who is alive and well and was adopted. She bears a striking remeblance to Trudy and is a film critic. The two meet, and are happy to spend time with one another. Monk becomes slightly obsessed with Molly and plans to retire. Like Trudy, she convinces him that he has a gift and should use it. And he still continues to be a detective.

At this point, you can tell things are winding down. Randy reveals he got a job as Chief of Police in NJ where he is dating Sharona.

The final scene of the show, shown above, was happy and sad. Monk now sleeps in the middle of his bed. He also tells Natalie he's going to... the movies, which Natalie says is "so... normal". Though not stated, it looks like some of his disorders are resolved. But his OCD is still here, as noted by his constant checking to make sure the stove is off.

Montages show important scenes from all during the series. The final clips show the character the way they are today. Sharona and Randy are happy in NJ, and Stottlemeyer is happily married to TK and still working with Adrian.

And Adrian Monk and Natalie go to a crime scene with Stottlemeyer.

Friday, December 4, 2009

It's Showtime for Adrian Monk...

Eight years ago, a story about a quirky detective with many fears, phobias, and a liitle thing called OCD was brought into our households. This detective, Adrian Monk, was rather odd. And he was deeply affected by the death of his wife.

It's been thrilling, funny, entertaining, and has envoked more emotions within us then almost any other Cable TV show- ever. Monk has made a huge impact in all of our lives, and has reshaped TV forever.

Tony Shalhoub is an amazing actor, and anyone who watches the Emmys know that he has won numerous awards and has constantly been nominated. He has played this incredible character and made us love the big guy. It's my hope that we'll see him once again, and possibly go up against Lost's Matthew Fox (Jack) and Terry O'Quinn (Locke).

Tonight, it will be a bittersweet goodbye. We find out who killed Trudy, but we loose a great TV show.

In just a few hours, it's the beginning of the end...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Disneyland Resort Info And News

It's been ages since I did a Disneyland Resort column. But I'm back to bring you up to speed on the progress in Disneyland!

Now for those of you who may have forgoten, I changed my Disneyland Updates. The rumors and rebuttals are being scrapped in favor of actual news. I realized I don't want to be the type of person who "claims" to bring news, when really I am just speculating and spreading rumors.

First, the Park Hours for the entire month will be listed.
Second, any closures and/or refurbs will be noted.
Third, info about the general goings-on throughout the resort will be listed.
Fourth, pics! Due to my distance from Disneyland, I'll mostly have pics from internet freinds up.

With that out of the way, let's get started!

December Park Hours
Disneyland:
December 1-December 3: 10a-9p
December 4-6: 8a-2p
December 7 and 8: 8a-6p
December 9 and 10: 9a-11p
December 11-13: 8a-12p
December 14-16: 9a-11p
December 17-23: 8a-12a
December 24: 8a-9p
December 25-30: 8a-12a
December 31: 8a-2a
Disney's California Adventure
December 1-3: 10a-6p
December 4: 10a-10p
December 5-8: 10a-9p
December 9-10: 10a-7p
December 11: 10a-10p
December 12 and 13: 10a-9p
December 14-16: 10a-7p
December 17: 10a-9p
December 18-19: 10a-10p
December 20-23: 10a-9p
December 24: 10a-6p
December 25-30: 10a-10p
December 31: 10a-1a

Attraction Closures:
Disneyland:
The First 50 Magical Years- Closed for good, soon to be replaced by Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln (see below for more info!).
DCA:
Orange Stinger: Closed for good, soon to be replaced with Silly Symphony Swings, opening April 28, 2010.
*Rides are subject to close without warning and subject to change.*

Comings, Goings, and Tidbits from around the Resortc
Yesterday, I recieved word that Lilo and Stitch Character Meal at the PCH Grill in the Paradise Pier Hotel will end December 11 and be replaced by the "Surf's Up! Breakfast With Mickey & Friends" breakfast. A new and updated menu will also be in place.

Troubador Tavern has also opened, featuring Bratworsts, baked potatoes, and drinks. It is located in Fantasyland near the Fantasyland Theatre.

After much speculation, many of you will be excited to learn that Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln will be returning on December 17. The show will not only feature the latest advancements in Audio-Animatronics, but the lobby of the Opera House will be connected to the new Disney Gallery. The fan favorite "Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years" will still be playing in the lobby. I'll be back with a brand new update as soon as it opens!

Meanwhile, construction continues all around DCA. While Carsland and Little Mermaid are starting to see an expodential increase in construction, it's clear that World of Color is the prime attraction on Disney's plate right now. The bay is now completely full, and the vewing area is coming along nicely.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I do not have any recent pictures to share. However, expect many pictures on January 5, 2010 when my next DLR Update can be seen.

Until then, this is PirateGuy with the Disneyland News!

Monday, November 30, 2009

GH Weekly Roundup: Week of November 23



Last week was a short week on GH due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. We had the arrival of James Franco and a little insight into his personality and life. He still is a mysterious character, and will continue to unfold before our eyes during the next few months.

Since Franco will be around for quite some time, I'd like focus this post on the Thanksgiving special. I enjoyed every minute of it. We saw families get together, selfish teens acting selfless, and some touching movements.

We had several different Thanksgiving dinners going on. Jax and Jocelyn were going to have a quiet night at home while Carly was going to ditch them and go to Sonny's with Michael and Morgan. Surprisingly, Michael helped Morgan when Morgan objected to leaving Jax at home. It was quite funny to see Morgan scheming on getting his "parents" back together. Together, they broke each car so they would not start, and would have to spend Thanksgiving at home with Jax. It worked, and may have did even more. By the end of the night, Carly and Jax shared a kiss.

Diane also flew back into town. Some of you may know that she has landed a roll on ABC's primetime show "Cougar Town". But she's back on GH and will be playing both roles. And boy, how I've missed Diane's spunk, comedy, and her attitude. It was nice to see Milo and Spinelli conspiring to get them back together. And it was great to see Diane and Max finally make up and then share dinner with Milo. Great stuff!

Robin and the Davis girls were scheming to get Alexis and Mac together- and it's about time! They both need a significant other. Somehow, the topic of fathers was brought up, and as Kristina said "My dad is a mobster", and Molly said "My dad is a mob lawyer", I realized we don't know who Sam's father is. Perhaps this is something that will be explored in the future. I hope so!

Finally, we have the Quatermaines. Though they have diminished over the years, they still keep up the Pizza tradition. Last year, I remember they ditched that in favor of a "what-if" crappy show. I was glad it was back in it's glory this year! And when Edward sang "We Gather Together" it was touching.

It was a great, short week in Port Charles. Let's hope next week is as great!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

"Mr. Monk and the End" Part 1



While I was watching the Monk Series Finale, I was experiencing what many call "a mixed bag of emotions". I'll explain.

Confusion. When Trudy appeared to Monk and told him "it's almost time", I wasn't sure what that meant. Was she telling him he is going to die? Or was she referring to her muder finally being solved?or could it mean something else.

The episode began with a flashback to the day Trudy died. She was visibly nervous about something, and left a mysterious Christmas gift for him. Of course, we know Monk has never opened up that gift... until now.

Sadness. Monk went to investigate a murder at the place where he first heard of Trudy's death. We know that the murder is somehow linked to Trudy's, and the murderer was involved with both. I think I know who it is, but won't say who I think it is in case I may spoil it for you. And that was a little dissapointing.

The murderer has a score to settle with Monk, and orders his aquantiance to kill Monk. More sadness. Monk is poisoned, and unless an antidote can be found, Monk will die within a few days.

Laughter. Upon hearing the news that he will die, Monk is preoccupied with the fact that he will be vomiting before he dies, which upsets him. Add in the way he takes his pills, his regular antics, and Randy's... well, "Randyness" and you have one funny hour of TV.

Happiness. As Monk talks with Dr. Bell about his death, Monk realizes all the time he wasted after Trudy's death. It's something that I have been waiting for him to realize since I started watching the show.

Action. Everyone tries to help catch Monks "murderer" and evidence eventually leads them to a train station. Stotelmyer chases the killer, but alas, the killer is killed after being hit by a train. It looks like it's the end for Mr. Monk.

More sadness and confusion. As Monk realizes his death is approaching faster and faster, he visits Trudys grave, professes his love, then quickly leaves, saying he will "see her soon". The really sad part is when Monk finally opens Trudy's gift. He finds a vidoe inside. A video of Trudy saying that because he is watching this, chances are he is dead. She begins to tell him a secret.

And of course, we have to wait to see what that is. In honor of the Monk Finale, I will suspend all regularly scheduled posts and recap, comment, and savor the Monk finale. Stay tuned!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Lost: The Final Season

*Editor's Note: I hope you all had a GREAT Thanksgiving! Seeing as yesterday was a holiday, I think you can forgive my Lost column's absence. It's here today!



Destiny Found.

February 2, 2010.

Yes, Lost will be moved to Tuesday Nights. Is this a good move? A bad move?

I know one thing: I'll have to move my schedule.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!




We really have so much to be Thankful for.

I'd list what I'm thankful for, but what's the point? I'm more interested in knowing that all of you are in good health and are happy. At times the world may seem bleak, but remembering what you are thankful for will make you feel better. I garantee it.

So, from my the bottom of my heart, I wish all of you a Very Happy, Safe, and Healthy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the feast and company!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

V: "It's Only the Beginning"



So let's recap- recently, "The Visitors" a group of Alien lifeforms have visited the Earth. Their leader, Anna, cailms "We are at peace. Always." Slowly, people begin to except the Vs, as reporter Chad Decker interviews the Vs and reveal who they really are- kind people eager to help the humans.

On the flip side, not everyone is buying into this. There is a large protest resistance among the people of Earth. Soon, an alliance between FBI Agent Erica Evans, Catholic Priest Father John, and Morris Chestnut, who is revealed to be a V posing as a human.

But how do they know he's a V? Well, the Vs wear fake skin to appear "human". The Vs really have lizard like skin. If you cut them deep enough, you'll find it.

Morris is not a bad guy. He is one of the few Vs who rebell against Anna. We suspect that the Vs true intentions are not Universal Healthcare or Peace. They are associated with terrorists. They have manipulated human thinking. And they watch us. Their cameras are everywhere.

V is a show where you'll probably have to like sci-fi to watch. But V has many different layers. The sho tackles things that have bothered humans since the dawn of time. Are we alone? If there is other life out there, are they evil? Is a war of the worlds coming?

It's also been controversial. Some have shown parallels between the show and President Obama presedency. Is it an allegory? Who knows, I guess we'll find out.

V is becoming one of my favorite shows. It has the depth of Lost, but is totally sci-fi. This 4 month break will be hard, but I will definately be back in March. But the question is... when is the armada of Vs coming?

Come back during the next several weeks and I'll go more in depth about each episode.

Monday, November 23, 2009

GH Weekly Roundup: Week of November 16

*Editor's Note: With everything appearing to be calm and smooth, I'm gonna go ahead and resume columns. If any of you have heard that Lost will premiere on Feb. 2, 2010, please come back Wednesday to see where that leaves us. But for now...

November sweeps are dying down... or are they? James Franco has come to Port Charles, grabbing attention of soap fans and the media. Hell, and even the woman who played Naomi from Lost was on Friday's episode, making this Lost fan happy.

Form months now, we have wondered what the hell that room is and the mysterious guy who dwells there. Is he a stalker? A maniac? A murderer?

Nope... he's just some twisted artist. But why is he "obsessed" with Jason? This will be revealed soon enough...

For my weekly readers, you may note that I try to connect the dots on GH together so I'm not jumping from topic to topic. This week, I can't find myself doing that due to the very different things going on right now. On one hand we have secret relationships, love, and passion. On the other hand, we have a bunch of mob stuff.

As for the relationships, we have Liz who is back to her bitch ways. Lucky is trying so hard to start over, and she is just stinging him along for the ride and won't even bother telling him that she has feelings for his brother. Then again, Nikolas is also being bitchy and won't leave Liz alone. He's like a stalker (hey, I could've used that to tie the stories together!).

Nikolas also confessed to Rebecca he was using her. And I felt so terrible for her. She came clean to be honest with him, and all he wanted to do was use her for sex. Yes, that's exaclty it. Will she go back to Ethan? Or, will Ethan be to busy protecting Kristina from her bully of a boyfriend Kiefer?

As for the mob stuff, Johnny learned the truth about Dante/Dominic. And boy is he pissed at Olivia for keeping this a secret. But here's something I don't get. Dominic is not tyring to put Johnny in prison. Johnny has done nothing illegal that I can remember. Seeing as he probably wants revenge on Sonny, you think that he would strike a deal with Dante and agree to put Sonny in jail and avenge his sister's death, the legal way.

Johnny is easily one of my favorite characters. He is not the mobster like Jason or Sonny who enjoy the lifestyle. Sonny and Jason can make excuses all they want, but they love what they do. Johnny has tried to go off on his own, but his sister kept pulling him back into the mob. Maybe with her death, he can finally leave.

Lastly, I must say that I am beginning to like Kristina more and more. I feel bad for her and she seems to be emerging as a strong young teen, not the bratty, whiny one was over the summer. Meanwhile, Michael digs a bigger hole in the ground as a complete jackass and a monster. It was nice not to see him this week.

As we get more into Claudia's murder, I'll give more of my opinions about the whole thing. Untill then, I'd like to point out how awesome GH is right now. Best this year. Let's hope it continues!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

A Personal Note...



You may be wondering why I have been MIA for the last several weeks. If you have been reading my posts, you may have noticed that a family member of mine was in the hospital. Sadly, my grandma passed away on November 1, 2009.

On October 6, 2009 my grandma was diagnosed with Pacreatic Cancer. She was given one year to live. Over the course of the next few weeks, the date became expedentially smaller. She died on November 1. She was burried on November 6, 2009. That's exactly one month after she was diagnosed.

Pancreatic Cancer is truly a terrible disease. There is onyl a 3% survival rate. If anyone has ever had to deal with a family member's trial with the grim disease, you understand what it's like. Pain. Sadness. Emptiness.

Yet when they lose the battle, the pass into a world without pain and suffering. A world of happiness where they can be reunited with loved ones who have passed before them. And they can met our Savior, Jesus Christ.

My grandma will be missed. She has touched so many people and so many lives. The world has lost a truly great woman.

Ironically, November is National Pacreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Please join me is fighting this terrible disease. In a land where we spend so much money on Stem Cell Research, we need to spend more on finding ways to cure all types of cancer. So please, notify the government. Spread the word. Visit www.pancan.org for more info.

And never give up hope. This loss has only strengthened my faith. I pray for anyone who has ever lost someone to cancer. Throughout the world, you will find nothing but support.

And Grandma... Rest in Peace. I love you and please know you will be missed.

Thanks Guys,
PirateGuy

Monday, November 2, 2009

GH Weekly Roundup: Week of October 26

*Editor's Note: Last Firday's GH was so incredible that I feel compelled to share my thoughts on it. But later tonight, I will post a personal message.


Friday's GH was so incredible and easily the best episode of the year. The acting (most notably Sarah Brown and Maurice Benard) was top notch, the passion and fire was incredible, and the whole premesis of the show was excellent. So it's no surprise that I focusing most of my update on Firday's episode.

Last week was all about Sonny and Claudia. The saga started earlier in the week, when Sonny promised to throw Claudia a huge birthday party. At that time, they were bonding, and I would have bet money that they were falling in love.

Jason ruined this when he got proof that Claudia was involved in Michaels shooting. He told Sonny, and at first I wasn't sure if he believed Jason or not. But on Friday's episode, we found out how he really felt.

Sonny lashed out on Claudia for being a "lying whore", amongst other things. Okay, I'll give it to you that she is a liar, but a whore... a bigger one then Sonny? Then again, Sonny's a huge liar, too.

So let's compare what Sonny and Claudia have done.

Claudia put a hit on Sonny with a terrible hitman and said hitman shot a child. Claudia felt guilty from the moment it happened.

Sonny, on the other hand, brought this on himself. He locked Johnny up and didn't realese him, so Claudia had no other "choice" but to kill him (logic I never get). Sonny has also killed dozens of people for "business". Just because he has a good hitman, doesn't he isn't at fault.

I pray for the day Sonny and Jason are brought to justice. They did this to Carly: Sonny shot off his mouth without thinking, and Jason was so worried about getting revenge that he wasnt thinking either. And Sonny was about to kill Claudia in front of half of Port Charles, what was she supposed to do? Sit there and wait to die so Sonny could finally be brought to justice?

Part of me wished that happened. And when Sonny yelled at Claudia that he was glad the baby died, I lost it like Claudia. That was uncalled for, and drove Claudia off the edge. I whish she didn't take poor pregnant Carly. Ans what she said to her in the car was grippping me with fear. I can't wait for next week.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!!!


Well, it's that time of year again. Where adults hand out cany, kids go trick or treating, and houses are decked with orange lights, tombstones, and cobwebs.

No matter how fun the holiday may be, the evolution of Halloween is pretty cool. The Halloween we know is a combination of traditions from different places and just a smidge of commercialism. The anicient Celts believed that on Halloween Night, the two worlds (this world and the Underworld) were closer together and spirits could travel into this world. Good spirits, such as deceased family members were welcomed while bad spirits were warded off. So, they disguised themselves so only the good spirits would recognize them. During this time, there were bonfires and celebrations.

The term "Halloween" was derived from Hallowe’en, which was short for "All Hallows' Even". "Even" was short for evening. As you can see, the Celts really liked to shorten things. It was considered pagan, so Christians decided to move All Saints day to the day after Halloween to make it less pagan.

But how did Halloween turn in to the big event it did today? Well, the belief in withces, goblins, ghosts, and all these other things have been around for thousands of years. And it only makes sense to associate these supernatural beings with Halloween.

Today, Halloween is a day of having fun. For me, it marks the begining of the end of the year. It also marks the begining of the Holidays Season, with Thanksgiving and Christmas following weeks later.

So I wish everyone a Happy Halloween. Have fun!

Friday, October 30, 2009

FF: 1.6- Scary Monsters and Super Creeps


*Editor's Note: I hope my schedule will be better now. Also, I will try adding some images all my posts, making the page a bit more interesting. Enjoy!

Well, my prediction was right about Janis. After she was rushed to the hospital, she seemed to stablize, but there were some complications involving her uterus making the chances of her carrying a child slim at best. But, her vision showed her being pregnant. It appears we found a vision that won't come true. Which might be good news for Mark and Olivia. But we'll get back to that a little later.

An investigation is now underway as to who caused the attacks in LA and DC. n the mourge, a mysterious blue hand is uncovered in one of the Asian atackers. "Blue hand" was also one of the clues on Mark's board. And now Demeteri, the person who doesn't believe in the flashforwards, wants to follow it. In the flashforward, the Blue Hand was also related to Baltimore. Well, there's a Baltimore Street close by. Why not start there?

Oh, did I mention it was Halloween? I love when TV shows do Halloween episodes, it's always fun. So, they head there and find another body with a blue hand. His name was Rutherford, the same case Al would be investigating in his flashforward. Hmm....

During this time, Mark and Aaron take Charlie trick or treating and see that mysterious kangaroo again. He also sees several people in masks, masks similar to what the people were wearing in his flashforward. Turns out they were merely some kids doing some tricking on Halloween.

Meanwhile, Lloyd's son Dylan walked out of the hospital, got onto a bus, and went to Olivia's house after his father told him they were going to live together. He comes into the house past the babysitter saying "It's my house, too" because in his flashforward, Charlie was telling him it was his house, too. The babysitter notify's Mark, and he comes home. Lloyd also arrives to get his son, and realizes this was the house in his vision. Olivia also comes, and he realizes she was the woman in his vision.

Mark tells him to get lost and never come back. Mark also admits to Olivia that he was drinking in his vision, and their trust is broken further. Could these visions be causing the demise of their marriage?

Throughout the show, we meet Physicist Simon who is on a train to LA. He meets a woman, seduces her with a theory about the blackout, and has sex with her. Afterwards, he sits in a srtrange sex pose telling her he saw himself strangling a man in his flashforward. After he arrives in LA, he jumps out of the back seat of Lloyd's car, scaring Llyod (and my brother, lol) and says the have to talk. Lloyd responds "Our experiment killed 2o million people. What is there to talk about". So, they caused the blackout?!?!

Like I say in every episode, FlashForward keeps getting better and better.

I'd also like to take this time to inform you that I will begin doing V updates on Wednesday. Stay tuned...

Monday, October 26, 2009

Mr. Monk and Sharona

*Editor's note: Forgive me. With the Yankees winning the penant, I was to happy and excited to do my Monk and GH columns. Never fear, they will be up today!

Well, I knew it was going to happen. Sharona and Natalie battling it out. But the episode still did take several intersting twists. So, let's solve this week's mystery!

This week's murder actually involves Sharona. Her Uncle supposedly tripped on a golf course and died. Sharona was in town to collect the money from the country club and decided to stop by to see good 'ole "Adrian". This is where Natalie and Sharona meet for the first time. Things go well and they discuss Monk, making him uncomfortable.

But why did Sharona leave? She explains it: she seperated from her husband for good and returned to nursing. Her son, Benji, is also preapring to go to college. And now she can use the money she got from the country club to pay for it!

At the country clu, Monk looks at the pictures of the place where the accident occured. However, it doesn't add up to him and he further investigates the area where Sharona's uncle died. This is where we meet Perry Walsh, a pro golfer and his wife. We also meet Perry's caddie. Both Perry and his caddie saw the death, and assured Monk it was an accident. The caddie ran for help while Perry tried to do CPR. Sitll, it doesn't add up for Monk. He concludes that the uncle could not have been playing golf at the time of the incident. This worries Sharona because this means it was not the country club's fault, and they won't have to pay for it.

This also causes a rift between Natalie and Sharona's freindship. Natalie believes it's not right to ignore the murder for money. But Sharona needs the money to pay for Benjie's college. This seems pretty selfish of Sharona, I must say. I'll be going to college in 2 years and I would never choose money over justice. At least, I hope I wouldn't.

Upon further investigation, Monk finds out that Sharona's uncle has been hurt before and has settled out of court. When the arrive at his apartment, they see a lot of bills indicating Howie was broke. They also see evidence that the uncle was practicing falling, so Monk comes to the conclusion that he must have wanted to trip and fall and sue the place to get money.

Along the way, Natalie and Sharona clahs over the different styles they have. Sharona was far more mean and not as understanding as Natalie, where as Natalie is more catering towards Monk's needs. Granted, there was a time when this is what Monk needed, but not so much anymore.

The trio arrives at Perry's house and investigate. After putting some peices together, Monk solves the case. He goes into the closet to tell Sharona and Natalie what happened.

Here's what happened: Perry's wife was having an affair with Sharona's uncle and planned revenge. When the uncle came to him to help fake a lawsuit, he saw this as the perfect way to get back at him. On the day of the murder, the unlce faked the fall, and as the caddie went to get help, Perry slammed his head into the stairs and kileld him.

Unfortunately for Monk, Perry heard him and gets lawyered up. Stottlemeyer and everyone argues about the case, and Monk slipps away to go to Trudy's grave. During his absence, Natalie and Sharona make up and admit they were wrong. They decide to go after Perry with full force. Upon further investigation, they realize Perry had the cabbie's phone battery with his fingerprints on it and use this as evidence. Natalie and Sharona are able to get Perry and the caddie's phone while Monk watches.

Everything is fine right? Well, as they walk home, Sharona falls down the same stairs her uncle fell down and breaks her arm. Now she will be able to keep the money after all. In the final scene, she leaves but promises she will be back in a few weeks (for the finale, maybe?). She then kisses Randy and gets into the car. Wow.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

FF: 1.6- Gimme Some Truth

*Editor's Note: My grandma is in the hospital again. I just got back from visiting her. Please excuse my lateness. Because Fringe wasn't on Thursday, there will be no Fringe column this week or next week. (It won't be on next week due to the World Series- Go Yankees!!).

The show started off with a confusing bang. And it ended with a less confusing bang. In between, it was really, really good. So, let's recap!

There was a large meeting in Washington to discuss the Blackout. Our favorite FBI agents went under polygraph tests to make sure they were telling the truth about what they saw in their flashforwards. After this occurs, there is a press conference, and when asked, the President of the United States states he will not reveal his flashforward. Lucky for us, we see his vision. And someone is telling him something terrible has occured. So what could it be?

This week, a rivalry and a debt were introuduced to us involving FBI Agent Wedeck. Wedeck helped cover up an affair the President had, so he is indebted to Wedeck. Wedeck and Senator Joyce Clemente are not so tight. This is evident throughout the entire conference. She seems determined to stop the Mosiac, which we all know is collecting data from all around the world about things people saw in their flashforwards.

But she makes a good point. Right now all the FBI divison is doing is being led by a man who had a hazy vision. Is it truly reliable, especially from someone who was drinking? But then again, if these visions do come true, then this could be an important thing they're doing.

To solve the rivalry problem, Mr. President makes Clemente Vice President (of the US) so she won't bother Wedeck anymore.

Meanwhile, Janis, the now-revealed lesbian, looks for satelite imagery from around the time of the mass crow die-off in '91. They find a series of 100 foot tall pylons standing in the middle of nowhere. But where did they come from?

And now the explosion is revisted. After Mark, Demitri, Vreede, and Wedeck go to thier car, they are attacked. They manage to escape and kill some of the assasins. A few escape, unfortunately. Though they are not harmed, we can't say the same for Janis, who at this time, is attacked. She disarms one gunman, but the other gunman shot her in the stomache. Hmm, this seems ofly close to the uterus. How can she be pregnant in the future? Especially if she's a lesbian. That doesn't mean she gets pregnant by accident, ya know!

Around this time, Olivia recieves an annonymus text from someone saying "Mark was drinking in his flashforward"/ But who could it be from? Wedeck? They did have a large fight about the visions. Or was it someone else, someone who knows more?

FlashForward keeps getting better. At the same time, more questions are being aked. And none seemed to be answered...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk"

It's Mr. Monk's birthday, but he has no time to celebrate. He has to solve a murder. Plus, he doesn't like to celebrate his birthdays after a tragic episode in his childhood.

First, let's get to the murder: a matenance man is killed one night as he is is compacted by a garbage disposal. Ouch!

The day after, Natalie tries to bring Monk to a surprise 50th Birthday Party. He suspects the party, and tells her he doesn't celebrate birthdays. He later reveals to her why: one birthday, he invited all these people over for a party. They came, and so did Cowboy Hank, who entertained everyone. After he left, the kids left. They didn't even stay for cake. Though amusing, it's not a horrible story, and Natilie knows this. She decided to throw him a party anyway, one that he won't suspect.

But back to the case... Monk sees the lights off in the warehouse, and comes to the conclusion that someone must have turned the lights off. The only other person in the building at that time was Richard Meckler, who is an attorney selling the automatic vacuum cleaner made by Kurt Pressman. Monk is amazed by the contraption. During a reception, Meckler and a few others take a sip of Diet Coke. Then Meckler dies.

At each place they go during the investigation, Monk suspects he's at a surprise party, amuzingly looking for people in the oddest spots. It was also revealed at the morgue where Monk was looking under the sheets for people that Meckler was poisoned with a fast acting toxin. But who did it and why?

The do a renactment. But Meckler didn't eat any food. The only thing he could have been poisoned with was a drink, but he shared his drink with others. The plot thickens...

Later, Monk cleans the vacuum's filter when you weren't supposed to, and breaks it. He takes it to Pressman to fix, though when Natalie tells him he can't because he has to see Dr. Bell, he suspects that his party would be at Dr. Bells and Natalie gives up. Pressman says he can't until after his friend's funeral. On their way home, someone opens fire on the two of them, and they run into a Port-a-John for cover. The assasin hauls them to... Monk's surprise party!!! And Monk admits he was surprised!

Pressman is also at the party, but takes his drink and slips it away. Unfortunately for him, Monk is very observant and notices his ice cubes are different from everyone elses. He peices this together, and solves the case.

Here's what happened: Bradley Foster invented the vacuum cleaner and took his idea to Meckler. Meckler killed Foster and had Pressman pretend to be the inventor. But Pressman got greedy and killed Meckler so he could have all the money. When Pressman points out he drank from the same glass, Monk looks at his own drinks and realizes that his ice cubes are square but everyone else's are round. The poison was in the ice cubes, and Pressman drank from the glass before the ice cubes with the poison melted. Cowboy Hank arrives to lasso Pressman and the police take the killer away.

After the incident, Cowboy Hank puts on a show, and no one leaves. He admit's it's a great birthday, and tells her not to do it again. Oh, and that TK Stollemeyer likes- her first name is Trudy.

A great funny episode this week, I quite enjoyed it. Next week's also loooks interesting. Sharona is back! Though I prefer Natalie, it'll be interesting to see what conspires.

The Fringe Files: 2.5- "Dream Logic"

Case: Dream Logic- A man attacks his boss, believing him to be a demon-like creature.

History of Events: After a man attacks his boss thinking he his a demon, The Fringe Devision flies out to Seattle to investigate the srange occurance. After speaking with him, the man dies from such extreme exhaustion that his hair turns white. Walter decides to bring the body back to his lab with the help of another FBI agent while Olivia and Peter stay in Seattle. Back at the lab, he finds a microchip in the person's brain, and believes mind control was used. There's another death similar to what happened to the man, and Olivia finds the exact same findings. The chips lead the FBI to a doctor who was performing sleep studies on people with sleeping disorders. This chip, however, came with a sideffect. It made people dream while they were awake, and people had horrible nightmares, resulting in death. Walter performs a similar experiment on the FBI agent, but with a contraption that goes over the head instead of a microchip tin the brain. It turns out that the nice doctor is actually a dream addict with two personalities. He is the one causing these things to happen. He makes a plan to capture his alternate persona

Non-case Related Events: Walter and Peter have now moved into a bigger apartment. Olvia is still upset over losing Charlie. She tells a story to that bowling guy Sam about her first case. She wanted to run, but Charlie came over and said "You're gonna be fine". Throughout the entire episode, she was collecting busniess cards from everyone she met. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that the names on the cars was an anagram for "You're gonna be fine". Was it Charlie talking from beyond the grave? Finally, the last scene of the show was Peter having a nightmare about Walter when he was a kid. Could this be about his kidnapping from the alternate universe? Well, this much is certain: there was a poster in the room about a Challenger Space Shuttle mission that never occured.

IMO: I do love the monster mysteries on Fringe, but as the show progressed, I found out it wasn't about monsters at all. But I still enjoyed it. The new revelations about the Alternate Universe are always fun to get. And the whole business cards thing was cool and wierd at the same time.

Next Week's Case: Earthling

Saturday, October 17, 2009

FF: 1.4- Black Swan

*Editor's Note: Remember the promise I made to keep the posts on time? You can thank the PSAT for making me deviate from the plan. Expect FlashForward today, with Fringe either today or tomorrow. Then we'll take a look at Monk's latest case on Sun.


Yet another really great episode. And yet another surprise twist at the end.

Remember that terrorist suspect we met in the pilot? Well, she was back, and was finally being interrogated by Demetri for what she may or may not have done. Though she said she didn't have anything to do with the Blackout, she gave info on a restaurant. They go to the restaurant and the cook runs out of the place. But, it's revealed that he was a drug seller, and not involved with the blackout.

After the little wild goose chase, Mark decided to take a crack at interrogating the suspect. She doesn't give him any info, only a metaphor about Swans. This must be important; the episode's title was called "Black Swan".

In the hospital, Olivia and Bryce (the docotor who was going to commit suicide on the day of the Blackout) dealt with a patient who was feeling sick. But he wasn't worried about the surgery. He wasn't even worried on the day of the Blackout when he was in the bus crash. He told the doctors that in his flashforward he saw himself partying as a black man. Say what?

It turns out he had Addison's disease, which is a hormonal imbalance which is making calming hormones instead of adrenaline. It will also cause hims pigmintation darker. Bryce finds this out, and urges Olivia not to operate because he will die on the table. She doesn't listen because she doesn't want the flashforward to be true. But it turns out it will be true, and it saves the patient's life.

Speaking of flashforwards, this week we find out that Charlie's babysitter saw herslef being drowned. Mysterious, very mysterious. We also saw that Lloyd heard Olivia in his flashforward, and was in the same exact situation as Olivia's flashforward.

Back to the FBI, Mark wants one of his fellow agents to hack into the CIA database to search for info on the Somali Blackout back in 1991. This sounds illegal, no?

A surprise appearance by your favorite dead rockstar and mine made the final scene of the show. That's right, Dominic Monaghan was on as Simon. And he looks like a bad guy who caused the blackouts, with the help of Lloyd. Maybe next week more of our questions will be answered.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Lost Season 6: Titles and Speculation

*Editor's Note: Possible Spoilers ahead about the final season of Lost. Read at your own risk!!

This information has been out for awhile. But today, I thought I'd dedicate my Lost column to the Titles and centricities of Lost: The Final Season, as well as some of my personal speculations. WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead. If you don't want to know the titles and centricities of the Final Season of Lost, do not read!

6.1: LA X, Part 1 (Everyone)
6.2: LA X, Part 2 (Everyone)
6.3: What Kate Does (Kate)
6.4: The Substitue (Locke, or Flocke)

If you have noticed, this season's lineup of episodes is the same as Season 1. We have a 2 part season premiere (like the Pilot, except the two episodes will be shown on the same night!). This premiere will be devoted to everyone, allthough it's not clear what the he'll the episode will be about. Don't expect info on the episodes until January.

As stated above, the third episode of the season will be about Kate. Apparently, Kate will do something. But what? If the timeline was changed (I still doubt this occurred) then she probably does something bad.

As for episode 4... I am really looking forward to this one. Since Locke has actually been dead for half of Season 5, I suspect that this episode will be about Flocke. For those who may not know, "Flocke" is Jacob's nemesis in the form of Locke. I am waiting in aguish for this episode in particular.

So, with all the "ads" about there being a reset, is there? I don't have the correct answer for you. What I can offer is my personal speculation. In each season, Lost has used a different method to tell a story. In Season 1, there were flashbacks that were mainly used to introduce the charatcers, give us some background info on each of them, and explain why they were in Sydeny and traveling to LA. In Season 2, the smae thing happend for the Tailies. But we also got info on how each of the characters were connected to each other and extensive backround on all characters. His continued into Season 3, where we also met The Others and got backround on them, as well as our first FlashForward. Flashforwards continued during Season 4. Season 5 used time flashes and time traveling to give us info we wanted.

Where am I going with this? I think Lost Season 6 will explore the possibility of what would have happened if Oceanic Flight 815 did not crash. Everyone's life would have sucked, and they probably would have all gotten back to the Island... Because it's their destiny.

And destiny, John is a fickle bitch.

Monday, October 12, 2009

General Hospital Weekly Roundup: Week of October 12

Port Charles sure was happenin' last week. What should we start with first?

We'll begin with Claudia. She has easily become one of my favorite characters. It pains me to see people blaming her for Michael's shooting. Not only does she feel guilty for ordering a hit on Sonny that went awry, but she didn't even pull the trigger. That idiot Ian Devlin did. Why can't anyone see that? Well, besides Sonny and Spinelli. The worst is over. Just be glad the babyish Michael is back.

Jason and Sam are looking for info on Ian Devlin for the umpteenth time to see if Claudia was involved any way with the shooting. And just as they were ransacking the PCPD data room, who should walk in? Sam's ex, Lucky. Akward...

Claudia also knows Holivia's (my nickname for Olivia if you forgot) dirty little secret. She knows that Olivia's son Dante is Dominic. She broke up with Johnny for safety, and what did he do... go to Claudia and threaten to kill her. Did I miss something, because I'm fairly certain Claudia did not break them up.

But anyway, Johnny said that Holivia was the best thing that ever happened to him. Ummm... HELO? What the hell happened to LuLu. The poor girl must feel terrible her ex loves a whore much older then him. But I digress...

Now, for the big story... The Cassidine Adventure. Luke is in Greece and is helping Helena because some super evil Cassadine is about to make a grand enterance. EGAD! This is getting me very excited for sweeps!

I'm looking forward to next week!

"Mr. Monk Goes to Group Therapy"

When Mr. Monk's insurance would not cover anymore therapy sessions, I think everyone gasped. No therapy? Is this the end of our hero?

Never fear, Dr. Bell has group therapy! Of course, Monk is uncomfortable around other people. And what makes it worse: Harold is in the group. Once again, we'll see the comic compition between the detective and his nemesis.

But Monk is also thrust into a murder investigation. People in the therapy gruop keep getting killed. One by one, they're killed off into it's only Harlod and Monk left. So naturally, they're next.

I was able to figure out the murder this time. It's only happened about 5 times before, so this is a rare occasion. From the moment I saw the guy who stopped the group therapy, I knew it was him. But, unlike Monk, I didn't notice the clues he left to show it was him.

But Harold believes the murderer is Monk. Or, that's who he wants the murderer to be. And all the reasons he gives are good. Monk has investigated so many murders, he would know not to leave a clue. He also wanted his own therapy session, so it would make sense that he would try to kill everyone in the group off.

Even when the real murderer kidnaps the duo, Harold thinks its Monk. Pretty funny, this episode was one of the funniest ever. The two are in the trunk, and feeling very claustrophobic. But then the realize that the trunk is protecting them from all the nasty stuff outside. It saves them.

The murderer then takes them to Dr. Bells house where he confesses to Dr. Bell. The show ends with Harold and Monk being friends and interrupting the murder to tell how they got over their cluastrophobia.

The Fringe Files: 2.4- "Momentum Defered"

*Editor's Note: Lots of treats today! First we have The Fringe Files, then a Monk recap, and then your GH Weekly Update. The family member is now out of the hospital, so expect all columns to occur on time!

Case: Momentum Defered- Frozen human heads are being robbed, and people are being killed during these robberies.

History of Events: Shapeshifters keep stealing the frozen human heads. At the scene of the crime, where they find one of the shapeshifters dead. It turns out the shapeshifter's blood is pure mercury and is needed for said shapeshifter to survive. They also dicover the shapeshifter they thought was dead was actually alive. Walter then contacts the woman he experimented on with LSD and agrees to help. In the lab, she is once again given LSD and sees the shapeshifters. Olivia then remebers her travels back to the alternate Universe and sees William Bell. He then gives the Olivia a symbol in which they will be able to notify who their leader is. Later on, Olivia is attacked by Charlie, and Olivia realizes that Charlie is the shapeshifter. She kills him. In the final scene, we see a head of one of the shapeshifters reattaching itself to the body.

Non-case related Events: Walter gives Olivia a delicious flatworms milkshake to jog her memory. And it works. She remembers her conversation, and thats how she finds out information about the shapeshifters. Dr. Bell then tells her that "The Storm" is coming, which Nina Sharp explains to her is Bell's idea that the 2 Universes will collide, and only 1 will remain.

IMO: This was another great episode. It revealed alot, which is always nice. I'm so used to waiting years for answers to questions (Yes, I'm looking at you, Lost!) and on Fringe questions are answered fairly quickly. I am sad about the loss of Charlie. I really liked him. Not the shapeshifter Charlie, the real one. But we saw the other shapeshifter come back to life, so will the Charlie shapeshifter come back to life? Only time will tell.

Next Week's Case: Dream Logic

Sunday, October 11, 2009

FF: 1.3- "137 Sekunden"

*Editor's Note: Due to the hospitalization of a family memember, I missed the FlashForward, Fringe, and Monk columns. Today, the FlashForward and Fringe Columns will be today, and Monk will be tomorrow with General Hospital.

When everyone saw the title, I think everyone had the same question: What the hell is a "Sekunden"? And why are there 137 of them? That question was answered fairly quickly.

"Sekunden" is German for "seconds". And everyone knows that the blackout lasted 2 minutes and 17 seconds, or 137 seconds. A former Nazi, Rudolf Geyer who was in prison said he knew why the blackouts occured and why it lasted 137 sekunden. And he wanted to see Mark. And this man was in Mark's vision. It obviosuly must mean something, right?

When Mark goes to Germany to meet him, Geyer says he will only give out his information if he is safely returned to the US and given a pardon. First, he gives info about the 137 seconds. In Hebrew, each letter represents a number. He spells out Kabbalah, which is a Hebrew tradition in which everything has a hidden meaning. And what do the numbers add up to? 137. He them promises to reveal his second set of info after he is garunteed release. But he knows he will be freed. Why? Because he saw this in his vision.

After confirming this, Geyer is released and tells them something mysterious: after the blackout, all the crows outside his window were dead. And he was freed because he told them about the crows. Geyer also admits that he has no idea why the blackout lasted 137 seconds. This guy played them and Mark knows it.

Meanwhile, Demetri is nervous after that mysterious call he recieved telling him that he will be murdered on March 15, 2010. And whoever made that call travled their tracks- the call is untraceable. He doesn't have a heart to tell his fiance, Zoey,who was finally able to return from Seatle. But she has news for him: she saw them getting married in her vision, and he was there. To comfort her, he tells her he saw the same thing, even though he didn't. So what does this mean?

Mark's friend Aarron also may have seen his daughter alive. But on further investigation, it's proved that she is really dead. What?

Finally, research is done on the death of the crows. Apparently, crows died all over the world. The FBI agents then look for patterns of crow deaths. In the Ganwar region of Somalia, all crows died on the same day in October of 1991. The inhabitants of the region claim to have suffered a mass loss of consciousness. We see this occur, and a young boy sees this huge tower. What is it?

It seems like we keep being bombarded with questions. FlashForward keeps getting better each week!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Lost Theory No. 4- What's Up with That Plane?

*Editor's Note: The following column is just a theory. The views, events, and situations that I mention are not necessarily true. They are just ideas I have based on what I have seen in the various Seasons of Lost. Please do not take these as rumors or spoilers. But if they do turn out to be true, that would be kinda cool!

It's a week from comic con, ya know. This is exciting! In just a week, we might, MIGHT get a great piece of Lost info! And if anything is reported, you know I'll post it here! In the meantime, let's get into my newest Theory.

Well, we all know Locke has a connection to the Island. His legs were miraculously healed when he crashed on the Island with fellow Flight 815 survivors. And since, then he was able to walk with no trouble.

But there was one time on the Island when Locke was not able to walk. Upon discovering the drug smuggling plane carryinjg those Virgin Mary Statues wich Mr. Eko's brother died on years before, Locke's legs started to fail him. He could not walk. But why?

We know that the plane fell and Boone crashed. So, ok, using the Destiny theme that is found on the show, perhaps it wasn't Locke's destiny to die there so his legs stopped working in order to ensure he wouldn't attempt to get up there.

However, 3 years later (ok, actually, years before that happened), as the Losties were skipping through time, Locke witnessed that very plane crash on the Island. He went to investigate and tried to climb up it, but was shot in the leg by Ethan and could not finish the climb.

So that's twice when Locke could not get up to the top of that ledge. Why? What's up there that he's not supposed to see? Could it be Jacob? Esau? Something else?

Quite honestly, I have no idea. However, there is some reason Locke can't go up there. And I really want to know why.

Monday, October 5, 2009

General Hospital Weekly Roundup: Week of September 28

What a week in Port Charles!

Let's start with the highlight of the week: Maxie and Spinelli's almost wedding. Spinelli overheard Maxie saying she was not ready to get married, so that must have woken up the voice inside of him that was telling he was not ready for marriage. I mean, he has oh so many people around him modeling for perfect marriages. Anyway, Spinelli pulled out, and everyone was happy. Nevermind the cost. Nevermind the wasted time. It was still a fun evening.

Kareoke was a blast. Morgan and Christina stole the entire show and it was great to see a buzzed Alexis and a hormonal Carly dancing around and actaully liking each other. I was shocked.

But then the highlight of the night was Mac. He was so happy his precious daughter was not getting married, he was drinking drink after drink after drink. And yes, he got drunk. He was up there singing Macho Man with Patrick, then Coleman took his dancers who he apparently has hidden under the bar for emergencies, and danced with them on top of the bar. My favorite quote of the night was from Alexis: "You define macho". lol!!!

Kate has also made a glorius return to Port Charles. I even think she was on everyday last week, but don't hold me to that. In any case, she got drunk and was sucking face with... Coleman! I can't wait to see the look on Sonny's face when he hears the news.

Speaking of Sonny, I wonder what ever happened to his love for Kate. I do love Sonny and Claudia together, but why on Earth was he chasing after Olivia all summer? Kate is not only classier and better looking (no offense to the actress who plays Olivia!) but I always felt that connection between Kate and Sunny that wasn't there with Sonny and Olivia.

But then again, that connection is Dante, err, Dominic. And it's about to be let known to the world. Claudia has put two and two together and has finallly realized that Dominic is actaully Dante who is Olivia's son who is Sonny's son who is actually an undercover cop trying to bring Sonny down. Whew, that was hard to write.

What will she do with this info? I'm guessing blackmail. But we know the truth will always come out. It always does.

We also have scene Helena and she is captive along with Luke. And she is dying. This is going to be a great sotryline, I can feel it. A real Spencer Adventure.

I think GH is back to it's former glory. Let's hope it remains this good or gets even better.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Fringe Files: 2.3- "Fracture"

Case: Fracture- A bomb detonates killing and injuring people, but there is no trace of any explosives.

History Of Events: The police officer is given a briefcase and soon begins to crystalize, then finnaly explodes. The Fringe Divison is soon put on the case, and Walter soon discovers that the Policeman was the bomb- he somehow exploded. As the investigation continues, the story moves to Iraq, where "Project Tinman" occurred, but was supposed to have been stopped. The experiment was continued, and was taken over to be used for evil by peoplewho wanted to eliminate the Observers, those beings who are interemensional and are in the backrounds of each episode. Another woman was being used to do the same thing in a hotel, but the guy was caught and the woman was saved. The man was interrogated, and that's how we found out about the plot to take out agents of the Observer.

Non-case related Events: Olivia is still seeing Sam, the bowling man. Her memory is still, for the most part, lost. Will she ever be able to remember? Peter is fed up with only having one bedroom in his apartment, so he wants to find another one. Walter is very picky about it, and most times stubborn. He reveals to Astrid that he likes where he lives now, and that's why he doesn't like any other apartment they look at. He likes his current home.

IMO: The case was good, but not as good as last weeks. For some reason, I really enjoy the monster cases, maybe that's why. Still, Fringe did not disapoint. But the whole Sam thing is kinda weird. And he bowls. Did they get this inspiration from Sam the Butcher on The Brady Bunch? Something to ponder...

Next Week's Case: "Momentum Deferred"

Friday, October 2, 2009

FF 1.2: "White To Play"

Last night's episode was at a much better pace. It was just as interesting, mysterious, and awesome as last week's episode. I love this show!

Some of the intersting aspects about this show revolve around what each person saw in their Flashforward. Olivia met Dylan's dad, (played by none other then Commodore Norrington!!!) Loyd. Mark also was wearing the bracelet Charlie gave him. The same bracelet as in his flashforward. Is Mark encouraging the future to happen? So many questions.

We also have Demetri, who did not have a flashforward. During an investigation in an old wearhouse, he finds asherrif who also did not have a flashforward. Everything is ok, until the sherrif dies in a wierd explosion in the factory caused by some unknown person for an unknown reason. Could this mean that she didn't have a vision because she would die, and Demetri's theory is correct?

Also coming to light is info about Suspect Zero, the man (we're assuming it is a man) who was seen walking around while the rest of the world's population blacked out. Or was he the only one? In a series of incredible and harrowing revealations, we find out that the nice cupcake lady, DiDi Gibbons, who Mark saw on his large bulletin board in his flashforward, placed a phone call to Suspect Zero 30 seconds into the blackout.

In the final scene of the show, Mark was talking to Olivia about the flashforwards. As he does this, we see Charlie's bracelet burning in the flames. Could this mean that people can change their future? Are the flashforwards a gift? Are they set in stone? Can they be changed? After this scene, Mark talks to Charlie about her flashforward. We already know she probably saw Dylan in her flashforward, but she also gave a stern warning: "D. Gibbons is a bad man".

So many questions.

Monday, September 28, 2009

General Hospital Weekly Roundup: The Ups and Downs of Port Charles This Summer

Well, it's returned in all it's glory! MY GH Weekly Roundups are here once again! And what a summer it's been in Port Charles. I remember the last thing I was going to write about on here before my summer break was Karoke Night. And since then, GH has had some incredible ups, and some bad downs. For this week, I'll recap all my favorites and non-favorites and next week the GH Weekly Roundups will be back in full force!

For example, the murder storyline that took precedence this summer was amazing and enjoyable to watch. More recently, the carnival was fun and kept me glued to the TV. Molly, Morgan, and Dominic are stellar additions to the cast. I love watching these people, they are great characters.

Bad things this summer included the "on the run" storyline. A year ago, LuLu and Johnny were on the run, and I really liked that storyline. But this one was boring to watch and unimaginitive. I did like where the storyline went, but Michael and Kristina on the run for so long was terrible. Maybe it's because I still can't stand the teens. Michael and Kristina are whiny, self absorbed brats who think they're old enoguh to take care of themselves. And Keifer. I can't stand that SOB. He's the worst. Let's stop talking about him before my blood pressure spikes.

I also started to despise Olvia, nay- Holivia. Over the summer she has become a slut who cares more about Sonny/Johnny then she does about here own son, if you remember how she acted in the hospital. When Kate talked to her, I began to love Kate again. She is a strong and inteligent woman, so I have no idea why she was replaced with Holivia. Writers, please, please bring Kate back and send Holivia to Bensonhurst where that trash belongs!

And now we are n the midst of Spinelli and Maxie's wedding. I love these two together, and want Mac to see that Spinelli can take care of Maxie. But why can't he just leave Jason alone? Why do they have to live with Jason? Now that Jason is with Sam, (hell yeah!) Spinelli can leave and start a life with Maximesta (we he still call her that IF they get married?) and leave the mob for good. Spinelli is working as a PI with Sam, that's a terrific job. There's no need to work and live with Jason anymore.

And now for Sonny and Claudia- I love these two together. They are perfect for each other. Maybe that's one reason I hate Holivia- she was trying to break up Sonny and Claudia. Yes, she was. Don't argue with me. Holivia i drawn to Sonny, and no matter what you say, she is jealous of Sonny and Claudia.

When Claudia lost the baby, I was so sad for her. And now that they are trying for another one... it makes me happy. Unfortuantely, Claudia's days in Port Charles are numbered.

And that makes me sad.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Fringe Files- 2.2: Night of Desirable Objects

*Editor's Note: With the start of the new season of Fringe and the start of my new Fringe Column, I thought I'd do something unique. Here, we have the Fringe Files. In the column, you'll find out what the case was about, how it was solved, and other important events that happened in the show.



Case: Night of Desirable Objects- People in Pennsylvania keep disapearing and cannot be found.

History of Events: A scientist's wife had lupis and could not carry a child to term. Instead if giving up hope, the scientist injects scorpian and mole DNA to help the child survive. They both presumably died. 17, Years later when people start disappearing around the home of the scientist, Olivia, Peter, and Walter investigate and are lead to open the caskets of the scientist's dead wife and baby. That's when they discover the wife had lupis, and therefore could not carry the baby to term. The baby however, appears to have borrowed out of the coffin. It is then suspected that do to the DNA, the child is alive and living underground around the scientist's home. The "superbaby" feasts on the people who disappeared, and then drags Olivia down there, with Peter following them. A tunnel collapes, killing the superbaby. The scientist commited suicide before this happened.

Non-case related Events: Walter tried to simulate Olivia's accident with frogs, and is convinced she visited another universe. Olivia seems to gain super hearing and can hear almost mute noises loudly, like flies walking and flying. Nina Sharp then gives Olivia info on how to reach a man, Sam Wiess, who can helo her. He works at a bowling alley. Meanwhile, the man who shapeshifted into Charlie can communicate with some unknown person in an alternate universe via a typewriter.

Next Week's Case: Fracture- An explosion without a bomb.

Friday, September 25, 2009

FlashForward 1.1- "No More Good Days"

Well, a lot happened in the first episode of FlashForward. And that was my only problem.

It was too fastpaced. I think that they should have spent more time on the disater and the aftermath of it. Things were moving very quickly, going from one thing to another. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was a little slower.

But it was still great. I really loved the show, and the previews for the rest of the season looked fantastic!

So, let's do a little recapping. The show started out with the disaster happening, then quickly went back to the beginning of everyone's day. Then we saw the disaster happen again, and the aftermath.

Everyone saw something different that would happen at 10:00PM (CA time)on April 12, 2010. But is this going to happen? Can they change it? An more importantly, why did this happen? And who the heck is that guy who didn't blackout.

I think over the next few weeks the show will get better. It'll be intersting to see the characters interact and find out all the stuff about what happened.

And by next week, I'll also figure out a way to sound off (This is PirateGuy 815 with the Disneyland News, or Top 3 Questions I want Answered {for Lost}).

Until next week, readers.

PS- Did anyone see that Oceanic Billboard in the background? So cool, I'll post it here:

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Why Thursday Nights Will Rock

For a long time, Thursdya nights have been filled with shows like Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and other shows I don't watch. So, Thursdays have kinda sucked.

That is, until this year.

Last week marked the first of my shows to return: Fringe. (Well, technically second since I watch Jay Leno each night).

Fringe has really come a long way since last year. While I have loved every minute of it, they did drop that whole Scott Calvin (was that his name? I can't remember) storyline as well as the tank thing they had going. I do love the new direction they are taking, especially the alternate universe thing. I great show, truly something different on TV.

And that's what I like. I don't see the necessity with having 4 different NCIS, 15 different Law and Orders, and 1,256 CSIs. Not to mention all the other murder shows out there. But when there's a murder show out there that really is different from the rest (Pushing Daisies or Monk, for example) I will watch them and be interested in them.

But back to Thursday Nights: we also have SNL Weeked Update: Thursday. Weekend Update has always been my favorite part of SNL (rivalries include Celebrity Jeopardy, Vincent Price Specials, and political sketches). And devoting a half hour show to this is awesome in my book. It just competes with what seems to be the most promising show of the fall.

For those of you who guessed FlashForward, you win the prize! This looks to be like a truly promising show. It's been hyped and plugged for such a long time, it's oen of those things I think everyone will be watching to see what it's like (kinda like The premieres of Jay Leno and Lost). And if they get addicted in the process, so be it.

So I invite you to go watch these shows. You won't be sorry! Then come back here and will discuss them right here on Bring Me That Horizon. For FlashForward, come back on Fridays. For Fringe, come on Saturdays. And for Monk (I know, it's not on Thursday nights) come back on Sundays. You won't be sorry.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Disneyland: One Man's Dream- The Future of the Disneyland Resort

For the past month (actually, it's been longer then a month) we have been on one amazing adventure. Disneyland: One Man;s Dream took a lot longer then I expected it to, but we're finally at the last post: The Future of the Disneyland Resort.

Well, all the DCA Expansion can be considered part of the future of DLR. We also have stuff like Star Tours 2.0. Of course, Lincoln will be returning to the Opera House and The Disney Gallery will be opening up right next door. That much is certain.

You can also expect a large Tomorrowland retheme to be done within the next decade. In a year or two, expect for Honey I Shrunk the Audience to leave Tomorrowland for good, to be replaced by a new show or possibly even a ride.

The Disneyland Hotel project will be completed in 2012. After that, the Paradise Pier Hotel should be set to go under a giant overhall, and there are rumors of DVCs to be added to the hotel.

Disney plans to open up 2 hotels in GardenWalk, one for families, and the other to be more high end. I also would not be surprised if GardenWalk is owned by Disney in a few years- espeically with something else at DLR afoot.

The former Strawberry Fields that are rumored to be (well, it's more then rumors) the site of the Third Gate at Disneyland will become a parking lot. This may have some of you worried, but fear not- this contract only lasts 6-10 years. And consider the following timeline. All phases of DCA Construction are finally done in 2016. So, that could be the magic year Disney starts to build the Third Gate. They could wait until 2020 to build it, too. It's a nice chunk of time to be careful with right there.

That's all I have for you. I'd like to thank you everyone who read all these posts about the history of Disneyland. I love all history, and Disneyland's rich history is no exception. I hope you learned something, found these posts helpful and interesting, and had some fun (even half the fun I did). Regular posts will return tomorrow.

Remember, Disneyland is always changing. What you like/dislike may be gone or be brought back on your next trip there. And let's use Walt's infamous quote right here: "Disneyland will never be complete, so long as there's imagination left in the world".

It's nice to debate things, but like Walt Disney said, "I hope we never lose sight of one thing- that it was all started by a mouse". This statement is actually false.

It all started with One Man's Dream.

Disneyland: One Man's Dream- The Official Expansion of DCA


Before we went through all the new attractions that were removed and/or added to Disneyland's struggling sister park. Now that new management was introduced to Disneyland, it was time for Disneyland to get the sister park it always deserved. One that was richly themed and has the layers Disneyland had. One that was a full day park. One that was not tacky or ugly, but was beautiful.

On October 17, 2007, something momentous occured. The Walt Disney Company announced a $1.1 Billion Expansion to DCA. It would be done in sections over the course of a few years, with final construction ending in 2012 before a second phase would begin. Though these new additions were coming, let's take a look at 2 new attractions that were not included in the budget, but helped set the tone for the retheme.

Toy Story Midway Mania is one of the most technoloically sophisticated rides WDI has ever come up with. In it, you ride through the 3D world of Toy Story playing classic Midway games with a few twists in them. Rig tosses, pie throws, dart throws, and more are found in this ride. It is a lot of fun and quite addicting. The ride holds a lot of people per hour, so the line moves quickly. Even so, it's not uncommon to wait over 45 minutes for the ride.

Outside the attraction, Mr. Potatohead serves as the Boardwalk Barker who entices people to visit the ride. He is one of the most technolically advanced Audio-Animatronics created.

While this is all nice, it's really the outside of the attraction that sets the mood for the new Paradise Pier. Paradise Pier will now be have a Victorian theme and feature rides themed to classic Disney shorts. The Sun Wheel is now Mickey's Fun Wheel and the Games of the Boardwalks are now themed to classic shorts. In the not-so-distant future, the Pier Shops will also get Victorian theming, as well as the new Garden Grill that will replace Pizza Omm Mow Mow and Burger Invasion. The Orange Stinger will be replaced Silly Symphony Swings and Mullholland Madness will be replaced by Goofy's Sky School. (More info will be found in Future Updates).










World of Color also was approved before the massive expansion. The show will celebrate the music and magic of Disney's Animated movies, ranging from classics all the way up until today. Currently, the fountains are under construction and so is the viewing area that will accomadate about 9000 people. While this continues, the Paradise Bay is recieving extensive beautification, with more rock work, lighthouses, and ornaments. (More info will be found in future updates).


A brand new attraction will also replace Golden Dreams. The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Adventure will take guests into Ariel's Undersea Adventures (lol) and showcase all the songs from the movie. It is being compared to Haunted Mansion and will feature the Omnimover system. It's set to open in 2011. The ride will be set in a lavish Victorian-esque Aqaurium. (More info will be found in future updates).


As we move away from the peir, we head into the next big thing to open: Buena Street. Buena Vista Street will replace Sunshine Plaza and will be themed to 1920s LA, just as Walt Disney Would have seen it when he stepped of the train. The shops will be rethemed and the Redcars will be added, as well as streets, curbs, and sidewalks. Also to be added is Carthay Circle Theater which will be one of the park icons. (More info will be found in future updates).







We also have Carsland. I did an extensive report on Carsland months agom but I'll do a short rehash here. Carsland will celebrate California's love affair with ars and celebrate not only Route 66, but CA's desert landscapes. The land is themed around Radiator Springs, the town from Cars and will feature 3 new rides. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree will be an "outdoor" swinging darkride, meaning it will be lavishly themed like a darkride but be outdoors. Luigi's Roamin Tires will be the 1960s Flying Saucers of Tomorrowland with better technology making for a better ride and less matinence problems. The highlight of this land will be Radiator Springs Racers, which will not only take people on a tour of the town, but will feature 2 Cars racing against each other. It's going to be one hell of a ride. (More info will be found in future updates).



The Grizzly Peak Area will also get some additions, like animals to Grizzly River Run and possibly a Mine-Train type train ride that goes around the area. Soarin' wll also be rethemed from a desert area to a mountain area. (More info will be found in future updates).

Hollywood Pictures Backlot will also recieve real facades and not the fake ones it has now. It will also be themed to 1930 Hollywood, and recieve the name "Hollywoodland" as homage to what Hollywood was first named. (More info to come in future updates).


In just a few years, Disney's California Adventure will become the second gate Disneyland always deserved. Better late then never, right? And what better way to see this then at the Bluesky Cellar? Every few months, new artwork and models will be added into the cellar where CMs will be happy to answer questions about the projects. Expect the next change out to occur after World of Color opens and to be focised more on The Little Mermaid and the attractions around there.