Toss Up: Lost vs Veronica Mars week 7

Wow, for the first time in a month, Lost didn’t suck massively. Granted this week’s episode had its boring spots but it did have the most surprising plot twist since it turned out that Locke was in a wheel chair. So with Lost actually putting up a fight, I am bringing back the official Toss Up debate to decide the better episode between Lost and Veronica Mars:

Tied up dude with a dead girlfriend
Lost - Sayid gets tied up fearing revenge
Veronica Mars – Logan gets tied up to determine if revenge is in order
Winner – Veronica Mars

Hispanic who’s losing their leadership
Lost – Ana Lucia fears she will lose her posse because she accidentally shot someone
Veronica Mars – Weevil fears that he’s losing control of his gang after he finds out one of them is selling drugs and possibly working with the Fighting Fitzpatrick’s
Winner – Veronica Mars

Plot Twist
Lost – Ana Lucia lost a child when shot by a thug
Veronica Mars – The underground radio show was being recorded at Vice Principal Clemmon’s house.
Winner - Lost

Unanswered Question
Lost – How does a fugitive on the run become a better golfer than a doctor?
Veronica Mars – How did the gay dude buy the mp3 player on the school’s dime?
Winner – Lost

Intense Moment
Lost - Sayid goes after Ana Lucia with a gun
Veronica Mars – Veronica almost gets a Lucky Charms tattoo from an angry Leprechaun
Winner – Veronica Mars

Reunited
Lost – Ana Lucia & Jack, Rose & Bernard, Sun & Jin, Kate & Sawyer
Veronica Mars – Veronica & Mac join back up for their Bond and Q relationship, Duncan & Meg (by dreams at least)
Winner - Lost

Unconscious hot blonde
Lost – Shannon’s dead
Veronica Mars – Coma Meg appears to Duncan twice
Winner – Veronica Mars (At least Meg may be back)

Guilt
Lost – Shaft carries Sawyer back to camp possible out of guilt of killing people
Veronica Mars – Duncan dreams about Meg possible out of guilt of dumping her that may have led to her current coma
Winner - Lost

MIA
Lost – Claire seemed to be missing for the big reunion, but then again she really hasn’t been seen much this season anyways
Veronica Mars – No Dick or Beaver, the new black chick, and Wallace barely warrants a mention
Winner – Veronica Mars

Déjà vu All Over Again
Lost – Jack gets his “Wait a minute, I know you look” when Shaft brings up Ana Lucia much like he did with Desmond
Veronica Mars – Duncan gets a message via a dream from another unconscious hot blonde
Winner – Veronica Mars

(Series Toss-Up) Daddy/Mommy Issues
Lost – Ana Lucia, Jack, Locke, Kate, Shannon, Jin, Walt, Sun, Claire (it’s odd that all the characters have problems with the parent of the same sex; I sense a pattern)
Veronica Mars – Logan, Duncan, Lilly, Mac, Meg and Grace, Wallace
Winner - Lost


So there you have it, Lost put up a fight this week, but Veronica Mars reigns supreme yet again with a dominant 6-1 lead. Going into greater detail into Lost, I thought it was interesting that for the first flashback for the taillies was, I believe, the first time that someone’s first flashback didn’t deal primarily with why they were in Australia and how they had come to end up on the doomed flight. Instead we go back a couple years into Ana Lucia’s back story, circa 2001 by my calculations. For the whole episode we are led to believe that she killed another officer in a case of friendly fire because she’s trigger happy, but instead it turned out that she was the one that shot that lead to the death of her unborn child. This then leads Ana Lucia to create trust issues and a shoot them before they can shoot you philosophy that led to Shannon’s demise.

But on the negative side, Lost once again slips into the same devise where we see a scene again from a third time tying it with the amount of times we saw Jack confront Desmond for the first time. And for those keeping track at home, that would be the fourth time we saw Jack’s “wait a minute, I know you” face when Shaft brought up Ana Lucia.

Speaking of Shaft, he looks to be the most interesting person new to the cast. It should be really interesting to see what happened in his back story to get him where he is today. He seems to be ridden with guilt for killing the two Others that tried to capture him to the point that he has done everything in his power to get Sawyer to the doctor. But one thing that has really bothered me is how he has a “Leave no man behind” philosophy where he helps Jim find Michael, helping Sawyer when some people wanted to leave him behind, yet him, and the rest of his group seem nonchalant about the chick that disappeared last week. I don’t even believe she was even mentioned this week. The taillies seem to care more about these people they just meet than someone that has been with them for forty eight days.

This week’s Veronica Mars started off interestingly enough with a dream sequence hinting at what Duncan really thinks about the girls he’s dated. Meg was in all white, backlit with a bright light, looking almost angelic while Veronica interrupts the vision in a black mesh top with a black bra underneath and a mini skit, mocking coma girl and literally slaps Duncan back into the real world. The dream could have been caused by two things, what transpired at the end of last episode at Meg’s house, even though that incident was never actually mentioned this episode keeping with this season tradition of not mentioning the surprising ending of the week before. The other possibility would be guilt over what he possibly did with Kendall last week. Whatever it was, it compelled Duncan to open the letter he took from Meg’s room last week that was from some dude named Chris Talley, a guy I don’t believe that we, the audience, have been introduced to. And what Chris wrote seemed to shock Duncan, but if the other show enders have shown us, we won’t learn what was on the note for a couple weeks.

Elsewhere in Neptune, the Jets and the Sharks are coming closer to a big rumble, oops, I mean PCH’ers and Fighting Fitzpatrick’s, sorry I always get the feuding Mics and Spics confused. And I wonder if that makes Veronica Maria (I just met a girl named Maria). But anyways. Actually it looks like their might be some collusion between the two as Weevil tries to get to the bottom of it after learning that the witness in the Felix murder case was in cahoots with the Fitzpatrick’s and there may also be some drug running inside his crew. Leading him to wonder if it really was Logan who killer Logan.

Then there was the case of the week with the Mars clan trying to figure out who was harassing the parents of one of the kids who died. Granted this was the most boring of the running storylines this episode but it did lead to Clemmon’s opening up the door with his robe open and Veronica making up the story of Mac having a crush on Butters Vincent which had be on the floor laughing. But the gay lover conclusions just had some conspicuous gaps to make the storyline entertaining as a whole.

Next week we get another Kate episode and the previews hint that we may actually find out why exactly she is on the run and why her dieing mother wouldn’t forgiver her. I’m leaning to she killed her stepfather. But it is Lost so don’t expect to get the whole story. Meanwhile on Veronica Mars we get somewhat of a Buffy reunion with both Willow and Cordelia appearing on the same episode, but since this isn’t Smallville, don’t expect any in-jokes like the did with Spike and the reunion of the real Bo and Luke Duke. As much as I want to learn what exactly Kate did, I have to give the edge to Veronica Mars next week based on the previews.

And for those of you Lost fanatics, be sure to check out the audio commentary for the previous episode on the official Lost podcast which you can sync up with the episode that you can buy threw iTunes, see link on the sidebar to get there.

Holiday Schedule 2005

First I’d like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone or for those outside the U.S. like to call it, Thursday. Just a heads up with the holidays upon us, here’s a look at the schedule the blog will be taking the next couple weeks. There is a link on the sidebar for future reference. Feel free to dive into the archives on days that I will be taking off and on day that are not listed, they will be filled by the regular reviews and such you have come to find at the 9^th Green (card subject to change):

November 24-25 – off for Thanksgiving
November 26 – Lost vs. Veronica Mars week 7
December 1 – Induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame
December 2 – Loss vs. Veronica Mars week 8
December 5 - Big in '05 Recap
December 7 – Grammy Nominations & Predictions
December 15 – Lyrics Quiz: Best of 2005
December 19 – Best Free Songs of 2005
December 23 – Worst Albums of 2005
December 24-25 – off for Christmas
December 26 – Worst Songs of 2005
December 27 – Best Albums of 2005
December 28 – Best Videos of 2005
December 29 – Best Mash-ups of 2005
December 30 – Top 100 Songs of 2005
December 31/Januray 1 – off for New Years
January 2 – Induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame

Record People Are Shady VI: Don't Mess with Texas

A couple days ago I mentioned how it was reported that Sony was putting in spyware embedded into their CD that would be transferred to anyone who put it into their computer’s CD drive (see Record People Are Shady V). I mentioned that that a layer should write up a class action lawsuit and apparently the Attorney General of Texas Greg Abbott was reading because of a new Texas law forbidding hidden tracking tools like the ones found on Sony’s CD’s. Says Abbott:

“Consumers who purchased a Sony CD thought they were buying music. Instead, they received spyware that can damage a computer, subject it to viruses and expose the consumer to possible identity crime.”

Now Sony claims to recall the affected CD’s last Friday but according to the Houston Chronicle they could still find the CD’s in question in local record stores. But that still doesn’t account for the 2 million CD’s that have already been sold. Abbott is seeking $100,000 for each infraction and if that includes all 4.9 million CD’s that were made, that would be (where’s my handy calculator) $490,000,000,000. God bless Texas. And if Ohio, or any other state for that matter, law makers need some quick cash, start up your lawsuits now.

Texas isn’t the only people getting in on the action, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit-free speech advocate, has joined in with a class-action suit. The EFF claims that the CD’s,

“degrades the performance of the (computer), opens new security vulnerabilities, and installs updates through an Internet connection to Sony BMG's servers. The software transmits data about users to [the software's maker] SunnComm through an Internet connection whenever purchasers listen to CDs, allowing the company to track listening habits — even though the [user agreement] states that the software will not be used to collect personal information and SunnComm's Web site says 'no information is ever collected about you or your computer”

And this lawsuit also includes not just the previously mentioned spyware but also includes CD’s with the anti-piracy software, MediaMax, which disallows the ability to rip your songs onto your iPod and most notable on the Dave Matthews Band’s Stand Up (and started my Record People Are Shady rants) and affects 20 million other CD’s.

To add insult to injury, their was a Newsweek article out this week decrying everything surrounding the Song debacle and essentially called the record people morons, “Punishing paying customers by giving them broken product is… insanity.”


Speaking of insanity, I happened to catch bits and pieces of the American Music Awards during the commercials of My Name Is Earl. Going into it I had no desire to watch the show because typically no one shows up to the AMA's (MIA this year were winners Green Day, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Eminem, 50 Cent, and 2/3rds of Destiny’s Child) and there are no good performances because of the Grammys long standing rule that anyone who performs at the AMA’s won’t be asked to do so on the Grammys. At this point the AMA’s need to pack it up, back thirty years ago they may have been relevant being number two behind the Grammys but not they have slipped behind the Video Music Awards, Billboard Awards, Teen Choice Awards, Kids Choice Awards, and are barely above VH1’s Big in (insert year) Awards in terms of relevance.

I did seem to catch the worst of the worst with Lindsay Lohan’s performance of her new song that made Ashlee Simpson’s performance at the Orange Bowl last year sound like Pavarotti. Then inexplicably, she started to go into Stevie Nicks' Edge of Seventeen which was only listenable because Lohan was drowned out by her backing choir. But at least he went red again and is starting to get her breasts back. Maybe Lohan should have went the Hilary Duff root and just lip-sync. At least I think she was lip-syncing because I was unaware that someone was able to layer their voice live. The Grammy Awards can’t come soon enough. At least they have a ban on lip-syncing and piss-poor singing.

Am I the One Who Plays the Quiet Songs?

John Mayer exploded on the scene a couple years ago with acoustic driven pop songs like No Such Thing, which catapulted him to James Taylor of the 21st Century status and landing him in every co-ed’s music collection. Each song on Room for Squares was a well crafted pop song but if you caught him in concerts or at the very least head his live album Any Given Thursday, he yearned for a little more than your garden variety TRL acts with more bluesy versions of songs and Dave Matthew Band type jams. That transition continued with the more experimental Heavier Things that had a few straight up blues songs on it. Mayer recently completed his transformation into a blues artist when he dumped his touring band and repackaged himself as the John Mayer Trio with Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass with the group channeled the power trios of the past such as Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The live album, Try!, starts off with How Did You Think I Was? with a riff so raw all the car companies are probably clambering as you read this to put it in their commercials even if it sound like a Lenny Kravitz rip-off, to be specific, Always on the Run. The lyrics sound as if they were a retort to anyone who questioned Mayer’s credibility, “Am I the one who plays the quiet songs? Is he the one who turns the ladies on?” But even with the power trio, Mayer can’t seem to get away from his lovelorn lyrics that populate his previous albums like on Good Love Is on the Way. And Mayer goes a little too far when he intros Out of Mind by joking the home of the blues is in Connecticut. You can even hear his band roll their eyes when he says this.

No concert is complete without a cover song or two. On Try! the trio runs through the Hendrix gem Wait Till Tomorrow. But the musicians truly gel for a funky version Ray Charles’ I Got a Woman. If you listen closely you can even hear Mayer emulate Kanye West’s Gold Digger, which samples the Charles classic, with his guitar. But when Mayer starts to sing, he ends up like sounding like he’s imitating Jamie Foxx imitating Ray Charles. The song was supposed to close out the show, but anyone who has ever been to a concert, there’s going to be an encore where people cheer for one or no. So after the prerequisite wait, Mayer and crew comes out and go through bluesier versions of song off of his last album, Daughters and Something’s Missing, the later slips back to his teen idol self with the call and response with the “checks” at the end of the song.

Song to Download – Who Do You Think I Was?

Try! gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Spoiled

One thing that has really bugging me lately is the advent of the spoiler, or worse the people who think it is common knowledge. The most recent example of this was with Shannon’s death on Lost. It was widely reported for months that a female cast member was going to die early in the second season of the show. Then people on message board would talk freely about it without giving a proper warning that they should so even those of us who didn’t want to be spoiled were anyways. And even though I was able to avoid exactly who was going to die since I was already told it was a female, that ruled out all but three people on the show and since there was no way they would kill off Kate, it then became a toss up between Shannon and Claire.

Then for the few who were able to avoid the spoilers entirely, the show itself let everyone that someone would die in the previews the episode before. And this is another problem that has arisen lately, with the previews giving away too much in the previews and it’s not just Lost, almost every other show does this these days. Is it really that hard to promote an episode without giving away major plot points? Yeah a lot of people turned in to find out who died but how many people stopped after that episode because all the drama has been sucked out of the show because you know pretty much everything that will happen. As soon as Shannon went into the jungle I knew that Ana Lucia was going to shoot her not know who she was. Yeah, I won’t be one of those who will just watching (just yet) but I do feel as embarrassed to watch Lost much like the reality shows on VH1.

But really the people who are to blame are the people that just have to know. And to them I have to ask “Why?” It’s obvious to me show are not as good if you know what’s a going to happen so why don’t you just wait like the rest of us? The easy answer is in our culture to always be first even if it’s the first to know what happens. But I ask to those who do enjoy the spoilers please keep it to yourselves or at the very least create you own top-secret spoiler message boards so as not to annoy those of us that want find things out as we watch our shows. And Lost isn’t the only show that will be ruined for me this season as I’ve run across a couple more deaths spoilers on other show that I watch that will likely ruin that show like it has brought down this season of Lost, but since I am compassionate, I won’t spoil it like the punks that did it to me.

With that all said within the next couple days I will be posting a review on the last Star Wars movie that will have a few spoilers throughout it. The difference between this and the Lost spoilers is that there has been plenty of time for everyone to see the movie. And Episode III is odd in that if you have already seen Episodes I, II, IV, V, and VI, you pretty know everything that’s going to happen anyways. So be sure to look out for that and if you haven’t seen the move, I still will put a spoiler warning at the beginning of the post as not to ruin it for you.

This Blog Is Not Meant to Disrespect any Woman

A couple days ago I mentioned the song from members of the Miami University football team also known as the Seventh Floor Crew and one of my readers was nice enough to send along the song that caused all the uproar among the blowhards across the country. And after listening to it the song isn’t as bad as they mad it out to be, it’s actually worse. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The song is very reminiscent of such old school N.W.A. classics as She Swallowed It and Just Don’t Bite It in that it is so over the top it becomes entertaining.

Oddly enough with all the reports of the multiple use of adjectives that typically put down woman, the song starts off with the disclaimer, “This song in its entirety is not meant to disrespect any woman, it its entirely.” Keep in mind that the line was spoken by a dude in college. Then the next line, which is also the chorus, goes “If your (gardening tool) only know that she was getting (expletive deleted) on the seventh floor. If that (expletive deleted) only knew she was getting moneyed by the whole damn crew.” The chorus itself is sung like Aaliyah’s If Your Girl Only Knew.

The song boils down to a nine minute ode to group sex but apparently the sex-ed classes down in Miami are working well because there are multiple references to condoms. At least one department down in Miami is doing their part to uphold higher learning standards unlike their English department. The standout rapper in the Wu-Tang size troupe is G-Reg (at least I think that’s what he called himself, these kids need to learn how to pronunciate, hopefully they have taken a Speech class since recording the song) who utters the best line, “C’mon fellas let’s get weird, stick your (expletive deleted) up in her ear.” That could possibly be the funniest rap lyric I have heard in a longtime. And again, if you find any of this offensive, you may want to avoid every boy’s dorm across the country on every university because this type of language is all you are going to hear.