Heroes - Trust and Blood

Heroes has gotten much darker and edgier for Volume IV. I'm liking it...

Volume I had Sylar and Linderman as the baddies. Volume II was Adam Monroe. Volume III Arthur Petrelli and Volume IV has Nathan taking up Daddy's mantle as the new badass in town.

Oh, and Sylar's still a baddie as well--but with his new-found Daddy issues and a neophyte taken under his wing, it's hard to hate him anymore. It's like a buddy road trip now with the two of them off to find Sylar's dad, but eventually Sylar the mentor will probably slice newbie Luke's head open and steal his microwaving melting power in the next episode or so. (Luke: "You should see what happens around pacemakers!)

Zachary Quinto was pitch perfect in last night's episode. I love the way he delivered this line in response to Agent Simmons (later melted by microwave boy--R.I.P.) taunt: "You gonna torture me in front of them?" Sylar: "No...I'm gonna torture them--in front of you."

After the plane crash in rural Arkansas--which all the kidnapped Heroes survived--government military agents attempt to round up the prisoners. They scatter trying to escape. The M&M team (Matt and Mohinder) is reunited--along with Hiro. Peter and Claire take off, only to be stopped by Noah. Claire bats her big doe eyes at Daddy, who relents and lets Peter go.

Matt goes into a trance and Mohinder and Hiro follow him to a trailer where he breaks in to steal some drawing paper and colored pens.

'Cuz people who have t-shirts that read "Rednecks Make Better Lovers" hanging on a clothes line always have art materials laying around their trailers.

Matt's drawing of the future shows Daphne getting shot, so he heads back to the crash site much to Mohinder's dismay.

The speedster and accelerator (Daphne and Ando) show up at the crash site after Ando traces Hiro's GPS there. Daphne manages to rescue Claire, but the reunion with Matt and company is short-lived when Danko and the goon squad show up and start shooting. Matt manages to use his mind control so that the shooter turns his gun on his own men, but not before Daphne bites the dust--just like in his vision.

Claire is captured by Danko--who is about to put a bullet in the back of her head when he's stopped by Nathan. Danko threatens Nathan who tells him, "We're all replaceable. Some more than others." Noah takes Claire and sends her back home to Costa Verde, but promises to do what he can for the others.

Nathan receives a call from Tracy who wants to negotiate with him. "You don't have anything I want," Nathan coolly tells her. "I have Peter." Tracy counters.

But the meet-up is a set-up with the goon squad prepared to take shots while Peter holds a gun to Nathan's head. Peter absorbs Nathan's flying ability and jets at the last second. (Peter still has the ability to absorb other abilities, but he can only hang on to one at a time.) Nathan tells Noah he knows that he had a clear shot of Peter and thanks him.

Casualties:

Agent Simmons (eh, we didn't like him much anyway...)
A bunch of military goon redshirts
Tracy (captured)
Daphne (killed)

The remaining Heroes: Matt, Mohinder, Ando, Hiro and Peter (No females? Really? What's up with THAT?!!!) regroup in order to plan their next move.

Desperate Housewives - Mama Spent Money When She Had None

As the Prince song goes, "Money changes everything." And money--and the lack thereof--was the issue du jour for last night's episode of Desperate Housewives.

With Bree firmly ensconced in the "Haves" category--along with the newly re-employed Carlos Solis along with Gaby faced off against the "Have nots": Lynette and Tom struggling to stay afloat and Mike and Susan unable to send M.J. to private school.

It was hard to muster up any sympathy for Susan and the private school tuition issue. As a product of the public school system, it's not the worst fate to befall a human being. And one can't imagine the public school district to which Wisteria Lane belongs being disadvantaged. Stealing the pearls that Mike gave Katherine as a gift to hock for M.J.'s tuition? That's ditzy even by Susan Mayer standards. And when said pearls turned out to be $129 fakes, Katherine dealt with the information with humor and grace.

Best line: Lee oohing over the pearls Mike gave Katherine and saying, "He's a keeper. Oh that's right--you didn't keep him, did you?"

Gaby's biggest dilemma is fitting into the dress she wore when Carlos proposed to her for their anniversary. Despite her assertion that she's "one good colonic from being the old me," the dress is still too tight. She cajoles Edie into giving up the secret she told McCluskey of how she lost 5 lbs. in one day. "I got drunk on bourbon and threw up over her lawn!"

But Edie's secret weapon is a hardcore boot camp--so elite you need a referral to get in. She refuses to help Gaby get in until Gaby taunts her. The boot camp is led by an intense Israeli drill sergeant who makes Gaby sign a contract. When Gaby gets nauseous doing crunches, he tells her "You retch on your own time!"

Gaby tries to quit and he tells her, "You can't quit. It's in the contract!" and "When you don't come to boot camp, boot camp comes to you!"

Gaby walks away from her fellow campers only to be chased down by Edie who gives her a piece of her mind.

You go, Edie!

Gaby gives in and rejoins the group and loses some of the attitude and in addition to enough pounds to fit into her dress.

Bob struggles with the knowledge that Dave ratted out Porter. He tells Lee who insists they must tell the Scavos. "No, it'll just get ugly," Bob tells him. "I'm okay with that!" Lee replies. Bob tells Lee that Dave scares him.

He IS pretty creepy...

Seeing Dave sucking up to Tom later, Lee spills the bean about Dave's part in Porter's arrest. Tom shows up at Dave's home and punches him in the face.

You go, Tom!

Dave promises to make things up to Tom and Lynette and Tom tells him, "Lynette doesn't know anything about this. If she did, you'd be dead."

Later Edie asks Dave about his first wife and what was different about the marriages. "Our marriage is more real," Dave tells her. But before Edie can bask in the glow of those words, he continues, "With her it was like a fairy tale. I thought it would last forever...Ours is more real because I know it won't last forever..."

Note to guys everywhere: Honesty is not always the best policy.

But the real money issues were between bitter and jealous Lynette and oblivously unctuous Bree. Tom has to sell his beloved classic Mustang due to the Scavo's financial difficulties--or as Lynette puts it, "Sadly, we can no longer afford Tom's midlife crisis..."

She oozes resentment when she sees Bree's brand new Lexus which comes complete with a refrigerator and self-parking. When Bree realizes Lynette's financial straits, she offers her $20,000. Lynette doesn't want to accept the money for fear that they won't be able to pay it back and it will affect her friendship with Bree.

Then Bree offers it as a gift--no strings attached. Lynette refuses again--but then comes up with the bright idea of making Bree a 15% partner in the restaurant. Bree graciously accepts and to thank her, Lynette plans a party in her honor at the restaurant. In order to boost restaurant attendance, Bree decides instead of a party she'll have her book signing there.

But when Bree finds out that Tom and Lynette are planning on serving pizzas made with one of her recipes, the control freak freaks out. Especially when she sees Lynette using processed parmesan instead of fresh. When Lynette isn't looking, she pitches the pizzas and makes new ones.

Lynette finds the pitched pizzas and calls Bree on it telling her she can't go around changing things without checking with her first. "Well, I can change 15% and I chose the parmesan!" Bree says lightly. This pisses Lynette off even more and she storms off, accidentally backing into Bree's Lexus as she's leaving.

Later she tries to give Bree a check for the damage, but Bree rips it up after she leaves.

So we had Susan being whiny and Lynette being bitchy and Gaby being self-centered. I didn't think Bree was as awful as Lynette was painting her, Edie was her usual feisty self and the lady who came off best in last night's episode was definitely Katherine Mayfair.

Too bad Dave will probably kill her soon...

Zack and Miri Make a Porno on DVD 2/3/09

I saw this in the theater last November, and it's already out on DVD! For those of you who missed it, you can not only catch the Kevin Smith comedy featuring some of the usual suspects, Jay Mewes and Jeff Anderson, plus Apatow alums Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in the title roles, but a slew of extras on the two-disc special edition.

Indeed, the deleted scenes and outtakes from the movie add up to longer than the actual film! The extras include a de rigueur "Making of" featurette, 43 deleted scenes, webisodes, the panel interview at ComicCon, outtakes, ad-libs and bloopers and Seth vs. Justin: The Battle for Improvisational Supremacy
(Long wins hands down!).

At one point, Rogen and Smith do a spoof with Rogen suggesting Smith let the cameras roll Apatow-style to pick up improvisational genius and Smith insisting that he likes to stick close to the script and that Rogen should be more like Ben Affleck.

Yeah, right.

If you're a Kevin Smith fan, you should see it. If you're a Seth Rogen fan, you should see it. Or if you've got a soft spot for the moppy haired Mac guy, definitely see it. Justin Long, who claims to have taken the role of the gay porn star Brandon St. Randy just to deliver the line "Shut your mouth or I'm gonna fuck it," is by far the most hysterical thing in the movie. Even Smith declared at ComicCon that Long saved the movie.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is available on DVD--just in time for Valentine's Day! 'Cuz nothing says "I love you" like watching a raunchy romantic comedy together.

25 Things that Irk Me

Mariama tagged me again via Facebook challenging me to reveal 25 Random things about me.

Hmmm...

Thanks to Mariama, I've already posted Ten Things About Me and later Elisabeth challenged me to post another Six Facts.

Most recently I was tagged again and posted yet another Seven Facts about myself.

That's 23--not counting the 50 Things that Make Me Happy.

I think these lists are getting a bit out of hand.

I'm not the only one: Slate is trying to find out who started this crazy meme (Really Slate? There's nothing more pressing to research?) and
even Dan Zak of the Washington Post got caught up in the game.

Since I'm running out of random factoids about moi, I decided to post a list of things that irk me. There is no limit to the things that piss me off! (And no, Random Lists isn't one of them...)

1. hypocrites
2. slamming doors
3. slow people (as in walking, not thinking)
4. people who endanger my physical well-being by not yielding the right-of-way while I'm crossing the street and WAVE at me while doing it
5. SUV drivers who park in compact spaces
6. It's instead of its
7. cheap people
8. child-safety caps
9. dust
10. That irritating bitch who is the voice of the phone trees for Verizon and Blue Cross
11. thoughtless people
12. Meredith Grey
13. Cliques
14. valet parking
15. Sit 'n Sleep commercials
16. not having enough time to read
17. wind
18. selfish people
19. people who honk in traffic jams
20. people who honk instead of getting off their ass and going to the door and knocking
21. people who honk instead of using their cellphone to announce they've arrived
22. leaf blowers
23. car alarms
24. mean people
25. the fact I'm easily irked

Ugly Betty and The Office - Kissed Off and The Lecture Circuit

Oh thank god--Betty finally really that Jesse is an insipid, self-absorbed bore. Who writes really awful lyrics. Of course I had this figured out immediately. Val Emmich is no Gio. Or Henry Grubstick for that matter.

Last night's episode was written by David Grubstick by the way. No, he's not related to Henry (Henry is FICTIONAL, people!)--but his surname was the inspiration for Henry's.

I thought it was cool to see Lauren Vélez aka Lt. Laguerta of Dexter playing the role of Ignacio's nurse Elena. Heck, if she run Miami homicide, you know she can keep Ignacio in line. Of course, they butted heads in the beginning but by the end of episode Ignacio took her comments about his heart to heart.

Matters of the heart figured prominently in the show with things heating up for the love quadrangle. Although Connor's relationship with Wilhelmina is going strong, he is obsessed with finding out who the mystery man holding Molly's hand but cropped out of the Page Six photo is.

He even drags Daniel along on a stakeout of Molly's building. While he's staking out Molly, Wilhelmina and Marc are following him. Daniel convinces Connor to give up his obsession so as not to jeopardize his relationship with Wilhelmina. But Willie has already put two and two together when she spies Molly walking back to her apartment. She gives Connor an ultimatum.

Connor also puts two and two together when he sees the t-shirt Molly gave Daniel that reads "Rich Jerk" (He hates pennies!) and later sees the note with the flowers sent to Molly that's signed "RJ." He slugs Daniel in the boxing ring and stomps off.

With that out of his system, his relatonship with Daniel is back on an even keel and he makes up with Willie. So everything is well

Betty's heart is conflicted with giving up her romantic NYC fantasy in which she cast Jesse in a leading man role. Amanda encourages her to get some closure with Jesse and when he finds out she's moving back home, he invites her for a farewell drink. An evening of drinking and talking ends up with a kiss that leaves Betty confused.

Amanda tries to help Betty decipher Jesse's intentions. She decides that the issue calls for a male point of view. "Okay, I couldn't find a male point of view, but I did find Marc," she announces. Marc asks if maybe Jesse was licking guacamole off of Betty's face. Betty tells him she wasn't eating. "Not eating? This story is getting more and more preposterous!" Marc exclaims. After a weird re-enaction by Amanda and Marc, the conclusion is that Jesse is into Betty. Or that he was drunk off his ass.

Daniel agrees with the latter assumption. "Guys are dogs," he tells Betty. "Maybe he's not like you. Maybe he's a nice guy!" Betty counters. She decides the only way to find out is to confront Jesse. Before knocking on his apartment door, she cautions herself, "Stay cool. No drool..." but her knock on Jesse's door goes unanswered.

When she tries calling him on his cellphone he doesn't answer. Daniel gives her his usual brotherly advice and Betty sets off to tell the "gutless pathetic weasel" off. Jesse admits he's a tool and asks Betty out on a date--threatening to sing lame lyrics unless she accepts. Thankfully (for us) she accepts.

Amanda helps Betty get ready for her date advising her, "Don’t order anything over $15 or you’ll be forced to do anything Jesse says. It used to be more but we are in a recession." Betty's dream date with Jesse quickly turns into a nightmare when Jesse drones on and on and on about himself.

The good news is that Betty gets the closure she needs to move back home. Marc takes over her lease and so the besties become roommate. I'll miss Betty and Amanda, but the combo of Marc and Amanda has way more possibilities for humor. "I'm changing everything!" Marc announces as he makes his entrance. "It's Extreme Makeover: Homo Edition!"

ABC's doing a mini-makeover of its own slotting Samantha Who? and new sitcom In the Motherhood in Ugly Betty's timeslot.

I think I'll be catching up with My Name is Earl until Betty returns.

Part one of The Lecture Circuit kicked off last night with Michael and Pam on the road giving seminars on successful sales techniques. "And we're off like a herd of turtles!" says Michael.

First stop is Utica which makes Pam nervous since it's the branch that Jim's ex Karen manages. When they arrive, they find a very pregnant Karen. Michael immediately asks if the baby is Jim's. But it turns out Karen is happily married and is happy to hear that Jim and Pam are engaged.

Michael's presentation consists of insulting mnemonic techniques and a chainsaw. Karen offers to distill his presentation and send it to her employees via e-mail. "E-mail's not scary," Michael scoffs.

Back at the office, Dwight and Jim deal with their first snafu as the new co-heads of the party planning committee: they forgot Kelly's birthday. They attempt to rectify the situation, but Jim objects to Dwight's decorations of barely inflated brown and gray balloons (I didn't even know balloons came in those colors!). "They match the carpet," Dwight says defensively. He tells Jim that his feelings are hurt. "Fortunately my feelings regenerate at twice the speed of a normal man's." Dwight insists.

Andy decides the best way to deal with his broken heart is to pursue Stanley's latest client. Stanley offers Julia to Andy in return for two of his clients. Andy panicks and asks for advice from Oscar and Creed. Creed tells him, "This is how I got Squeaky Fromme..." advising Andy to kiss her.

Julia is put off by Andy's advances. "We lost the account," the Nard-dog says.

Michael inspired by Pam's closure with Karen, wishes for closure of his own with Holly. And so Pam and Michael head off for Nashua.

Does this mean we get to see Amy Ryan next week? Fingers crossed!

LOST - The Little Prince

For all of us who guessed Jin survived the freighter explosion, last night's episode of LOST provided vindication. What it didn't explain, however, is why Sun blames Ben Linus for Jin's death? She couldn't possibly know what happened in the Orchid with Keamy. If anything, she should be seeking revenge against Widmore, who sent the boat loaded with mercenaries.

The show started with a flashback to the Oceanic Six on Penny's boat and showed us how Kate came to claim Aaron as her own. As depicted by the writers, it was purely selfless. After the loss of Charlie, Boone and Sawyer, Kate couldn't bear to lose Aaron, too. "Sawyer's not dead," Jack tells her. "No, but he's gone," replies Kate.

Jack tells her that he needs to convince the others to lie and asks her if she's with him. "I have always been with you, " she answers.

Flashing forward to the present day, Kate leaves Aaron with Sun as she goes off to talk to the lawyer who sought the blood samples. While she's gone, Sun receives a delivery that contains photos of Ben and Jack and a box of chocolates--with a gun. Now that's a nice Valentine's Day gift!

At the lawyer's, Kate offers to give the blood sample in exchange for being able to speak with the client who hired him. The lawyer says that he doubts his client will agree and that they want to "handle the custody exchange quietly."

At the hospital, Jack is still treating Sayid. He receives a phone call from Hurley who is checking on Sayid's condition from L.A. County lock-up. "Tell Sayid I did exactly what he said," Hurley says to Jack. While Jack is out of the examining room, an orderly enters to give Sayid his meds. But ninja spy Sayid is too quick for the hitman. Sayid's like James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne all rolled into one (Ever notice how many super spies have the initials J.B.?).

When Ben and Jack enter the room, they find Sayid going through the tranquilized "orderly's" pockets. He finds a piece of paper with the address 42 Panorama Crest on it. Jack recognizes it as Kate's and calls her to make sure she's okay. He convinces her to let him meet her.

Ben tells him to bring her and Aaron to Long Beach Marina, slip 23 (Is that one of the numbers? Yup, it is...). "We're running out of time," he informs Jack. I wonder where we are in the seventy hour countdown...He and Sayid go to rescue Hurley, while Jack (per usual) chases after Kate.

When Jack finds Kate, she admits to him that "Somebody wants Aaron." The two follow the lawyer to a hotel and the door opens to reveal Claire's mother. After the lawyer leaves, Jack tells Kate to let him talk to Mrs. Littleton. "I can fix this, Kate. I can fix it," he says. Ah, the old familiar "fixing" refrain of St. Jack.

But Claire's mom isn't after Aaron. She doesn't even know he exists. Was anyone surprised that the lawyer worked for Ben, puppetmaster supreme? Kate wasn't--she figured it out as soon as she saw him at the Marina. Meanwhile, Sun is waiting in her car along with Aaron--and a loaded gun.

On the island, as George promised, there were nosebleeds galore. First Charlotte, then Miles and finally Juliet. According to Daniel, the flashes throw off the body's internal clock--like a really bad case of jet lag. He theorizes that duration of exposure is why those who experience it are affected. "I've never been here before two week ago!" scoffs Miles. "Are you sure about that?" asks Daniel.

Hmm...could Miles be the baby we saw in episode one with Dr. Pierre Chang aka Marvin Candle aka Mark Wickmund aka Edgar Halliwax?

At one point, our island sextet flashes back to the night Boone died and Claire gave birth. Nice touch showing us how Kate helped Claire deliver Aaron to reinforce that it was right she raise Aaron off the island.

They make their way back to the beach to retrieve the Zodiac so that they can go back to the Orchid. When they reach the camp, they find the Zodiac missing but a really long canoe-type boat. So they start rowing to the other side of the island.

Sawyer tells Juliet about seeing Kate and Claire during the last flash. "Time travel's a bitch," he says. Right at that moment, they come under attack by gunfire by a group pursuing them in another boat. As they frantically row to escape, there's another flash.

"Thank you, Lord!" cries Sawyer only to retract his gratitude when the new flash lands the group in the midst of a monsoon. "I take that back!" Sawyer yells. When they reach the beach, Charlotte discovers some wreckage. As soon as the question, "Does anyone speak French?" was posed, I knew we would see the return of Rosseau.

Indeed, the shipwrecked expedition was traveling to the island when they came across a man floating in the water. They pull him aboard their raft and start questioning him when they reach land. One of the group, a young pregnant woman, asks Jin's name and tells him hers: Danielle Rosseau.

I'm happy to see Rosseau back and get more insight into her story. Although I'm disappointed that we probably won't be seeing Mira Furlan, but instead the young Rosseau who is being played by Melissa Farman.

Hmm...ever noticed how a lot of actresses playing shipwrecked French scientists have the initials M.F.?

To delve deeper into the mysteries of LOST, check out the recap at Lostpedia, scan the screencaps at Dark UFO and have your mind blown by the theories posed in Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses on washingtonpost.com.

Have a Heart-Smart Valentine's Day!

Roses die and chocolate--well, chocolate can last a bit too long. On the hips that is...

But a nice piece of jewelry can make the perfect Valentine's Day gift. And if you purchase one of the select items from Wendy Culpepper, 15% of the sale will be donated to the American Heart Association.

I like the delicate Daisy Sterling Silver necklace with garnet (my birthstone!) bead shown at the left.

It's a Valentine's present that does double-duty: warming the heart of the recipient and helping to fight heart disease.

LOST: Who can be THE LITTLE PRINCE ?

Here's the latest missive from George to whet your appetite for tonight's episode:

"Hello LOSTies,

How did you enjoy "Jughead". From Desmond and Penny having their first child (Charlie Hume) to Desmond finding Theresa Spenser in a state of time travel (similar to George Minkowski, the communications officer on the freighter). Theresa's sister Abagail would drop another nuclear bomb on us by telling the tale. Daniel tested time on Theresa, causing her to enter this state. Daniel's benefactor, Charles Widmore, is paying for the medical bills to keep her alive in her time-induced coma.

But Widmore would re-surface again both in the future (making sure Penny is okay and giving Desmond, Faraday's mothers address in Los Angeles -- making it impossible not to think of Eloise Hawking) AND in the past an as OTHER! Yes, Widmore was an OTHER on the island...but so was his other friend, Ellie...WAITTTTTT...Ellie? Eloise?? Could Daniel's mom be an OTHER too????? let's compare:



















Let's go to our "Leap Tracker"
1) 1954
2) An unknown time when the camp was not there. This is where Charlotte collapses in Daniel's arms from the nosebleed.

Some other things to remember:
- Richard doesn't take John seriously until he mentions Jacob, though Richard never confirms or denies Jacob's existence.
- John tells Richard to visit him in 2 years when he is born (which he does!)
- Richard tells John the leader is chosen from a young age (hence Richard's test in 1960)
- The others speak Vulgar Latin, a form of Latin that has almost been dead since the 9th century!
- Confirmed the US military came to the island for testing (hence the US military knife Ana-Lucia found in the Arrow probably came from the crew the others killed).
- Funny how the Others killed both the US soldiers and eventually DHARMA...but our LOSTies have killed the majority of their people :)

Okay...on to tonight....

"The Little Prince" will focus around Kate and Aaron and Kate's efforts to protect Aaron from the lawyers who want the DNA test (one of them being the dad from "My So-Called Life"). If you like guns, you will like tonight. If you like time travel and time-space continuum, you will like tonight. If you like weird connections to past events on the show that can provide some answers to the unexplained, you will like tonight. And one of last season's cliffhanger questions will be resolved TONIGHT!! So grab your ring fingers, grab your whole arm, get ready to get down with the sickness and enter the dark territory, good golly grandmommy, go back and see "Do No Harm" from season 1, get ready to journey into another DHARMA station, and have a tissue for the nosebleeds that will come your way tonight...."

I'm "Fabulous"

At least I am according to Marty who gifted me with not just one, but TWO blog awards.

It's almost as good as getting an Oscar!

Okay, not quite--but I'm tickled pink that someone even reads my blog, much less thinks it's worthy of an award.

Heroes - A Clear and Present Danger

After watching three episodes of season five of LOST, Heroes seemed quaintly pedestrian. While the comic book (er, "graphic novel") series can't compete with LOST's dense mythology, it certainly kicked things up a notch with last night's episode.

Nathan has joined forces with Noah to round up all those with abilities. This begs the question: If Nathan is so concerned with people with abilities running around, why isn't he turning himself in?

Instead, he targets (ex?) girlfriend Tracy, who is rounded up by his goon squad at the beginning of the show.

This volume of Heroes apparently takes place several years after the last one ended. Claire is all grown up and choosing colleges. We know she is grown up because she is wearing an obscene amount of makeup. Claire balks at the plans for a "normal" life chosen for her by Nathan, Noah and Angela. She is sure that Sylar is still out there.

She's right.

Thank god the most interesting character on the show survived the fire at Pinehearst. Did we have any doubts about that?

Sylar is in search of his dad and he locates Martin Gray in a dusty old watch repair shop. He asks him, "How does a boy without a father grow up to be a man?" (And all this time we thought Sylar had Mommy issues...) Martin tells him, "You were given to me." Sylar resists the urge to use his laser finger and slice open Martin's head and heads off to find the man who gave him to Martin Gray.

The Sylar donor turns out to be Martin's brother, Samson Gray, taxidermist. Inside the creepy home, he finds all sorts of stuffed animals (not the teddy bear kind), a picture of a young Sylar and snow globes. He also finds Nathan's goons, who unsuccessfully try to subdue him with a taser.

The rest of the Heroes are dispersed around New York City. Peter is working as an EMT. Suresh is driving a taxi. Matt and Daphne are trying to live a normal life as a security guard and messenger. And Hiro has bought an abandoned fire station to serve as a lair for him and supercharged Ando.

Hiro has been reading way too many comic books (er, I mean "graphic novels").

He presents Ando with a spandex uniform, motorcycle and injects him with a tracking chip. Ando takes off on the Ando-cycle and Hiro tracks him to a strip club. "You should be using your powers for good, not to pick up girls!" Hiro admonishes Ando. "The Ando-cycle is a chick magnet," Ando replies.

Claire overhears Nathan scheming with Angela and calls Peter to warn him. She then heads to warn Matt. Matt is busy talking to his turtle. The tribal guy shows up and tells him that he's been chosen to be a prophet and reveal the future.

After killing off Isaac Mendez and the tribal guy, the writers need someone who can paint the future and apparently they given the job to Matt Parkman. If I were Greg Grunberg, I'd be a little worried given the lack of job security that painting prophet has historically had on Heroes.

Claire arrives to warn Matt, but the goons arrive immediately after. With the capture of Matt and Claire, the Nathan and Noah's goon squad have rounded up five of the Heroes including Mohinder (still possessing his super strength), Tracy and Hiro (who remains powerless). And with a Judas-like hug, Nathan betrays Peter to Noah and his taser.

So that brings the total of captives to six and Nathan has them drugged and cuffed and marched onto a plane bound for who knows where. He releases Claire and sends her back home--but she escapes and hitches a ride on the plane where she works to release the other Heroes.

Peter apparently still has the power to absorb other abilities. Touching Mohinder's hand gives him the strength to break from his shackles. While Peter fends off the goon squad, Claire goes to the cockpit where she discovers Noah along with the pilot. Peter absorbs Tracy's deep-freeze abilities and accidentally puts a hole in the side of the plane. As the plane crash lands, Peter struggles to keep from being pulled outside by the centrifugal force.

Kudos to the camerawork and editing of that last scene. It was pretty trippy.

Scorpion Venom?

This commercial for Pepsi Max cracked me up. Although it's billed as "the first diet cola for men," I am now jonesing to try it.

Pepper spray indeed...

The Office - Stress Relief

It's a tough act following the Superbowl--especially a game as exciting as the one between the world champion Steelers (I love saying that...) and the Cardinals. But last night's episode of The Office managed to exceed expectations. Despite being an hour long, the episode was pretty much "chuffa-free."

It also reinforced why I love Steve Carell so much. Sure, he's hysterical as the bumbling Michael Scott--but he's equally fantastic conveying a range of emotions beyond being the slapstick fool.

Dwight causes chaos in the office when he stages an all too realistic fire drill. Oscar tries escaping via an air duct, Michael throws a chair at a window, Kevin throws a chair at the vending machine. Stanley, overcome by excitement, has a heart attack.

The resulting fallout lands Michael and Dwight at corporate, called on the carpet. Dwight defends his actions saying a lot of things don't seem like good ideas at the time--electricity, shampoo... Michael suggests that Dwight be stripped of his title of Safety Officer and be forced to donate a portion of his salary to a cause he doesn't like--such as PETA.

On the ride home, Dwight gloats over getting off so easily and tells Michael he's planning a bomb scare but Michael vetoes that idea. He takes over as Safety Officer because he doesn't want people coming to work afraid that they may die. "That's what a hospital is for," Michael opines.

His first act as Safety Officer: CPR training class. Michael is less than enthused about the instructor, but--as he put it: "You can't the practice dummy unless the instructor comes with it." The poor instructor is baffled when the office segues into a performance of Stayin' Alive from Saturday Night Fever, but such things are normal for the office.

Michael insists that Stanley practice CPR on the dummy since they can't always be there to coddle his heart back into action should it go berserk again. "What are you going to do if you're by yourself when your heart stops?" he asks Stanley.

Michael tries to demonstrate proper CPR method, but the dummy--which is just a torso--gives him pause. "If we come across someone with no arms or legs, do we bother resuscitating them?" he queries the instructor. After being told by the instructor that his delay caused the dummy's death, Michael asks the group what should be done next. "Bury it," Phyllis volunteers but is overridden by Dwight who says the correct answer is to check for a donor card. "We only have minutes to harvest."

Dwight--armed with a knife as usual--cuts off the dummy's face and uses as a mask ala Hannibal Lector. This lands him and Michael back at corporate where Michael explains that this is what we have training for. "Now, Dwight knows not to cut off the face of a real person."

Yeah--I'm sort of doubting that...

With two strikes, Dwight's punishment is to deliver an apology to the office and have the rest of the employees sign it. "I state my regret," he says stiffly. Phyllis objects to the lack of remorse telling him he almost killed Stanley. "Like I filled him with butter and sugar for fifty years and told him not to exercise," scoffs Dwight but no-one will sign his letter.

Michael's next act is to conduct meditation and relaxation exercises, but when Stanley's biofeedback meter goes off every time he approaches, Kevin offers, "Michael, I think YOU'RE what's stressing everyone out."

Michael solution to that is "Honesty, laughter and comedy" in the form of a roast. Oscar says, "I consider myself a good person, but I'm gonna try to make him cry." Michael looks forward to the roast saying, "I hope YouTube comes down to tape this."

Dwight has the roaster "sign in" before the roast, but Phyllis objects when she sees that it's his apology letter his collecting signatures for.

Angela--who claims, "I don't normally enjoy making people laugh"--jumps up to be the first roaster. Meredith tells Michael he's the reason that she drinks, Oscar delivers his roast in Spanish (way to make Michael cry, Oscar...), Pam pings Michael's gulliability claiming that he's supporting 29 Nigerian princesses, Jim pokes fun at Michael's malapropisms like "Spider face." Dwight defends Michael, but after being called an idiot goes off on a rant about how Michael has no family, friends or land.

Michael waves Toby away saying "Friends only." But the best roasting was Andy's song "What I Hate About You" sung to the tune of The Romantics "What I Like About You." With lines like "You're dumber than applesauce" (rhyming with "jerkiest boss") and "Stanley tried to die just to get away," Andy earns big applause for his efforts.

Michael, however, is overcome with the outpouring of animosity and ends up walking out. He goes to a playground and tries to feed the birds whole slices of white bread and texts Pam saying he's taking a "personnel day."

Back at the office, Andy, Jim and Pam watch an illegally downloaded movie featuring Jessica Alba, Jack Black and Cloris Leachman (Were you wondering how the writers would fit the special guest stars in?). The completely ridiculous romance has Andy thinking Jim and Pam are movie geniuses when, in fact, they're not discussing the movie, but the situation between Pam's parents. Says Jim, "50% of marriages end in divorce. So, it was either her parents or mine."

Pam urges Jim to talk to her Dad to help him to work things out with her Mom. Jim reluctantly does so, but the result is that her Dad decides to rent an apartment. Turns out, that Jim talked about how he felt about Pam and how he knew from the start she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and Pam's Dad realized he never felt that way about her Mom.

Such a lovely bittersweet moment!

Dwight manages to trick Phyllis into signing his letter by pretending to have a package delivered to her and having her sign for it. Michael reappears to deliver some zingers to the staff which causes Stanley to laugh hysterically (Leslie David Baker has a great, infectious laugh!) and all is well again in The Office.

Way to Go, Steelers!

Six Superbowl championships--whoohoo!

I know there are at least three other Steelers fans out there who are celebrating tonight...

Green By Nature

These days, "Green" is the new black. It seems like just about everyone is jumping on the natural, organic and eco-friendly bandwagon. You can add Green by Nature to the list, but the all natural bath and body care line has a number things that makes it stand out from the rest.



First, what's NOT included in any of their products:



Parabens
Sulfates
DEA
Petroleum
Propylene glycol
Saccharine
Dioxin
Phthalates

Second, what IS in each product:

Grapefruit seed extract
Shea butter
Pistachio oil
Aloe leaf extract
Rosehip oil
Beeswax

Not only are these ingredients great for your skin, they are bio-renewable so they're good for the environment!

Finally, Green by Nature is 95-99% natural with packaging made with 100% recyclable materials and is a member of 1% For the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donates 1% of their by annual sales to environmental causes. Those are some pretty impressive numbers! Plus Green by Nature doesn't do animal testing.

You can find Green by Nature products at Target.

Movies I'm Just Not That Into

January is traditionally Death Valley as far as movie releases goes. Witness the success of Paul Blart: Mall Cop and you know just what I mean. Hopefully, we won't have to wait until summer blockbuster season before a decent movie hits the theaters, but I've already compiled a list of upcoming releases I have no desire seeing:

1. He's Just Not That Into You - Despite the star-studded cast featuring the moppy-haired Mac guy, no good can come of adapting a snarky, misogynistic "self-help" book. Unless this gets rave reviews (and I highly doubt it), I'm just not that into He's Just Not That Into You.

2. The Pink Panther II - 'Cuz the previous Steve Martin version was such a huge success...

3. Push - Pass.

4. Fired Up - The posters for this emphasize the "F" and the "U." My thoughts exactly!

5. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail - Given the fact that Perry's entire career seems to revolve around his penchant for travestitism, I'm guessing Madea gets out of jail in time for the next installment of this tired franchise.

And movies I AM looking forward to:

1. Sunshine Cleaning - This movie shares more than part of its name with another indie sleeper hit, Little Miss Sunshine, it shares producers and star Alan Arkin. I loved LMS and Amy Adams has been uniformly great in everything I've seen her do--plus there's Emily Blunt to boot!

2. Duplicity - Tony Gilroy wrote and directed one of the smartest movies of 2007 (Michael Clayton) and this time around he has Julia Roberts and Clive Owens recreating the chemistry they had in Closer--albeit with more sizzle and sass. I'm hoping it's as much fun as the trailer makes it look.

3. Fast & Furious - After two sucky sequels--and some sagging careers, the franchise reboots with the original cast (Gotta love the tagline: "New model. Original parts."). I thought the first one was a helluva fun ride. Here's hoping the manage to recapture that magic...

The Latest iTunes Playlist

Ever since receiving a $15 iTunes gift card from my brother and his girlfriend for Christmas, I've been making a list of tunes I want to download. This is what I've got so far:

1. I Feel Good - George Michael: It's not a cover of the famous James Brown song, but a slinky, smokin' jazz tune that caught my ear while watching Eli Stone.

2. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon: My yoga instructor Jessa has this one in rotation for class. It makes holding those poses a little bit easier...

3. She Don't Use Jelly - Flaming Lips: I heard this silly song while driving around with my sister and brother-in-law a couple of weeks ago. It cracked me up.

4. Paper Planes - MIA: This trippy tune featured heavily in the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. Love it!

5. Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John: It's the whistling at the beginning of this song that sucks me in.

6. Love Remains - Gavin Rossdale: This is one of those songs that feels like an old friend from the very first time you hear it.

7. Schizophrenic Psycho - Puddle of Mudd: This quirky tune has been on my wishlist for quite a while now.

8. Ball of Confusion - Love and Rockets: Long live the 80s!

9. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division: I didn't know much about this precursor to New Order until seeing the film Control, but their most well-known song is both melancholy and catchy.

10. All the Money or the Simple Life - The Dandy Warhols: How in the world could I pass up music by a band named "The Dandy Warhols"?

That still leaves five tunes to go. Any suggestions?

LOST - Jughead

Well George promised us an exciting episode and he was right. All the Desmond lovers out must have really enjoyed the fact that the off island activities centered solely around our favorite Scot. And Des and Pen had themselves a baby boy--named Charlie.

Awwww!

Although Penny's not thrilled, Desmond goes to Oxford to find Faraday's mother. Not only is he not able to locate Daniel's mum, but no-one at Oxford seems to know who Daniel is--or was. But Desmond finds the infamous laboratory where Daniel conducted his time travel experiments. A maintenance worker interrupts his search but confirms that Faraday was at Oxford but that it's not surprising Oxford officials won't acknowledge the fact "After what he done to that poor girl."

The "poor girl" in question was Theresa Spencer (I think!). According to her sister Abigail's explanation, "poor Theresa" seems to be suffering from hallucinations or dementia. Or perhaps she was a volunteer for one of Daniel's time travel experiments as her "visions" have her returning to when she was five and talking with her dead father.

Des finds out that Faraday's research was funded by none other than Charles Widmore. So he goes to Widmore's office to confront him and find out where Faraday's mother is. Widmore tells him that she's in Los Angeles (Aha! So I guess she probably IS Mrs. Hawking! But why doesn't Daniel have a British accent?), but after he delivers his message, he and Penny need to go back into hiding.

Back on the boat., Des tells Pen that Faraday's mother is dead--but Penny immediately knows he is lying. She knows he will never forget, so she agrees that the three of them will go to Los Angeles to find Daniel's mother.

On the island, Charlotte, Daniel, Miles and a couple more "redshirts" reach the creek--but Sawyer, Juliet and the rest of the survivors (Hopefully Bernard, Rose and Vincent survived the flaming arrows okay...) are not there. The redshirt almost immediately trip a landmine and get blown to smithereens and Mile, Charlotte and Daniel are surrounded by uniformed Brits pointing guns. The blonde one named Ellie asks "Who's in charge here?" and Miles points to Daniel.

Nice way to CYA, Miles!

Turning to Daniel Ellie says, "You just couldn't stay away, could you?"

At first I thought maybe their paths had crossed when Daniel time-travelled back to the DHARMA era, but it appears that Ellie and her group think that Daniel and company are part of the US Military.

The men captured by Sawyer, Juliet and Locke aren't very cooperative and it pisses Sawyer off. Sniping at Locke he asks, "Where the hell have you been?" Locke replies that the more accurate question should be "WHEN the hell have I been?" The two captives start speaking to each other in a foreign language. Juliet immediately recognizes it and begins speaking to them in it. She tells Sawyer they're speaking Latin and he wants to know how the hell they know Latin. "Same reason I do. Because they're Others."

Apparently Latin is "Others 101" according to Juliet. Hmm--wouldn't it have been funny if it were PIG Latin?

One of the captives tells them that the rest of their people are either captured or dead because when Sawyer yelled for everyone to head to the creek, they sent a party out in advance to waylay them. "Well maybe I should have said it in my secret language!" says Sawyer sarcastically.

Juliet speaks to the men in Latin to get them to reveal the location of the Others camp. One captive kills the other and breaks away and escapes. Sawyer angrily asks Locke why he didn't shoot him. "Because he's one of my people," Locke replies.

Meanwhile, the freighter trio is marched towards the Others camp. As they are walking, Miles tells Daniel that they just walked over a fresh grave containing four U.S. soliders dead less than a month. One died of radiation poisoning. The three are taken to the ageless Richard Alpert who tells them, "I assume you came back for your bomb."

Daniel offers to defuse the bomb, but Alpert is dubious of his motives. Daniel tells him he's not going to detonate the bomb "because I'm in love with the woman sitting next to me and I would never do anything to hurt her."

The Other who escaped from Locke and company arrives back at the camp. Alpert chastises him because he's led them to their location. The Other scoffs that their leader is a "sodding old man." "You think he can track me? You think he knows the island better than I do?"

Yes, grasshopper. John Locke, knife-thrower extraordinaire can track you. And he knows the island better than anyone--except maybe Alpert. In fact, Sawyer, Juliet and Locke are on their way to the Others camp. Locke asks Juliet how old Richard Alpert is. "Old." Juliet replies. Interesting...Juliet knows about Richard's agelessness.

Ellie takes Daniel at gunpoint to the bomb--a huge hydrogen bomb named "Jughead" hanging from a scaffold. It's leaking something--which causes Daniel to dismount the scaffolding and move away from it with Ellie. He tells her it needs to be patched with lead or concrete and then carefully taken down and buried. Ellie is dubious that this is an appropriate solution, but Daniel assures her it works because in fifty years the island is still there.

Sawyer and Juliet show up and disarm Ellie who asks Daniel if they are from the future too. "You told her?" says Sawyer incredulously.

Meanwhile, Locke approaches the Others camp yelling for Richard Alpert. With a rifle pointed at Locke's head, Richard appears. Locke tells him "Jacob sent me," and Richard orders the gunman to lower the rifle. When he argues with him, Richard tells him "I said put the gun down, Widmore!" Locke asks if he is Charles Widmore and when that fact is confirmed, he grins knowingly and says "Nice to meet ya."

So Widmore was on the island before. Well, we pretty much figure that out. He was also an Other--but did he ever become the Others leader? How/why did he get off the island?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Locke shows Alpert the compass and asks him how to get off the island, but before he gets an answer another flash occurs and the Others are gone, leaving just Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Daniel and Charlotte--who starts having a massive nosebleed as the episode ends.

If that's not enough LOST for you, check out the recap on Lostpedia, the screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses at washingtonpost.com.

LOST: Where are the JUGHEADS?

It's amazing how this series brings people together. From bloggers like me and my buddy Rae who watch it and then dissect and discuss it online, to the myriad of sites dedicated to trying to unraveling its many mysteries, LOST has created scores of obsessed fans.

Like me. And George, who I met last night at a Happy Hour mixer. George sends out a weekly missive to fans of LOST and I was lucky enough to be added to his mailing list. So in anticipation of tonight's episode, I share George's latest musings on our favorite show:

"Hello LOSTies,

"God help us all". And with that LOST kicked off Season 5. Both Pierre and Ms. Hawking repeated that phrase when it came to the time-traveling properties. And Dan has now spelled out the rules of time travel, as well. Can't change the past, can't change the future. When Ms. Hawking met with Desmond back in season 3, she actually told him the same thing...you can't change things that are supposed to happen.

Ben has now got his plan in place and has 70 hours to get the O6+Locke back on the island. Ms. Hawking's pendulum makes it seem that she knows exactly when the island is going to "leap" into their time period.

Speaking of leaping, we lept 3 times:
1) Between 2002-2004 before the crash, when Yemi's drug plane crashes on to the island. This is where Daniel speaks to Desmond, causing Desmond's "memory"
2) After 815 crashed where Richard takes Ethan's bullet out of Locke and gives Locke the compass he gave him when he was little.
3) Before 815 crashed when the "firethrowers" killed several LOSTies, including Neil.

So here's your O6 tracker:
Jack - Already working with Ben to get the O6 together.
Kate - Hiding out in LA
Aaron - With Kate
Sun - At a hotel in LA cozying up to Kate & Aaron
Sayid - At the hospital with Jack.
Hurley - Being arrested by the police to avoid Ben's invitation to go back.
Locke - In a van being kept at Jill's butcher shop.

Now on tonight, the search of Daniel's mother begins as this season's Desmond episode is upon us. Desmond's episodes have been this series best including "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant". This episode will rank up there...get ready for JUGHEAD.

There is more than the mom search happening to! This episode moves quickly between Desmond and the island. And so many twist and turns, I might have to do a special edition of the newsletter tomorrow to explain everything (the last time I did that was Season 2 when I emailed everyone the picture of the DHARMA map).

I won't give up too much but make sure you have your drool cups because one mother (or father) of a revelation will be coming tonight! Ille te lego hac volo verto vos bene irrisorie.

You will know what "Jughead" means in this episode...and no Archie doesn't appear out of nowhere...and Charlotte's condition is studied a bit more.

Man, you couldn't just stay away, could you?? Between your LOST coma of your thoughts of Charles Widmore vs. Ben Linus and your moments of love still being able to blossom on the island...i think you will love tonight's episode.

See you in another life, brotha...maybe even another time..."

The Calendar says Winter, but it's Spring at Smashbox

Los Angeles readers might be shivering in their Uggs as they're reading this (In SoCal, anything below 70 is cold and anything below 50 is freezing!), but Spring has already sprung at Smashbox Studio. So head over to Fred Segal in Santa Monica tomorrow evening and check out Dean and Davis Factor's Spring Muse collection.


Here are the details:


Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, The Office and 30 Rock are all RE-RUNS this Thursday night--so check out Studio at Fred Segal instead!

I don't like cereal THAT much...

I've often said you can find almost anything on Craigslist. I wonder if this cereal fetishist (as opposed to a "serial fetishist"...) found his snap, crackle and popping soul mate:

"I am looking for a kindred spirit that enjoys, sex, baths, and cereal. So why not try them all at the same time? Now, be warned… I have some very specific stipulations for this fantasy of mine:

1) The cereal must have less than 2 grams of protein per serving. That’s right, the pure sugar stuff kids eat to get roofed like junkies on speed. These can include:

Fruity Pebbles
Count Chocula
Cookie Crisp
Cocoa Pebbles
Cocoa Puffs
Golden Crisps
Honey Smacks
Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch
Cap’n Crunch
Apple Jacks
Froot Loops
Corn Pops

If you have other suggestions I am more than happy to entertain them.

2) It must be 2% milk, having sex in a bathtub full of cereal is no time for moderation. Plus, I need to get my daily dose of Vitamins A and D.

3) You must be comfortable in the doggie style position. I don’t see any other way to avoid shrinkage and still let you enjoy your cereal before it becomes too mushy.

4) If you insist of photography/videography I will need to insist that I wear a Mexican wrestling mask a la Nacho Libre.

5) I plan on making this a safe encounter to please feel free to bring your own utensils.

After we are finished if you feel like you need something to make you regular again, I should have some Grape-Nuts that you can nibble on. If you are serious, send me a photo, I need to make sure you can fit into the tub."

It's the Year of the Ox

Today marks Chinese New Year and the year of the Ox. I was born during an "Ox" year--so I'm hoping 2009 will be an auspicious year for me.

Other notable Oxen include Barack Obama, George Clooney, Paul Newman, Jim Carrey, Princess Diana and Jorge Garcia aka "Hurley" from LOST.

Awesome, dude!

Some notorious Oxen include Nixon, Napoleon, Saddam Hussein and Hitler.

Oh well--ya gotta take the good with the bad, eh?

Pride and Glory on DVD 1/27

Pride and Glory takes a cue from Training Day in its exploration of police corruption vs. integrity. Edward Norton portrays good cop Ray Tierney while Colin Farrell plays his brother-in-law and corrupt cop Jimmy Egan. Farrell gets the New York accent right, but despite the shared billing with Norton, his role is fairly negligible.

It's really Norton's film all the way. There are some great supporting performances: Jon Voight does a credible job as the patriarch cop, Noah Emmerich offers a solid turn as Ray's older brother and John Ortiz is memorable as a troubled cop working with Jimmy. But Edward Norton carries the film much like his character carries the weight of the world on his shoulders as his investigation into the deaths of four police officers leads him to discover a trail of corruption that ends up in his own backyard.

Director Gavin O'Connor, a cop's son, co-wrote the script with Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces) and really wanted to make a movie that cops would watch and feel it was authentic. From the cinematography to the extras, the film does convey a believable, gritty reality. The world of family and loyalty and tradition juxtaposed against criminals, deception and betrayal makes for a compelling story. Unfortunately, the script is weighed down by cliched dialogue and scenes that fall flat.

The actors, however, rise above the material and O'Connor creates a world with cops who are scarier than the criminals they are supposed to protect us from. Too bad he offers no real solution or even a statement on this situation where, in a post-Rodney King world, civilians have a mistrust and even fear of those whose job is to serve and protect. Although the film opened with a football game between a team of cops vs. fireman, O'Connor has little to say on the dichotomy between the way the two types of public servants are perceived in our society. If anything, he just adds to the current perception.

If you're a fan of Ed Norton's work or just like a police thriller, Pride and Glory offers some moments of drama and tension. Pride and Glory is available on DVD Tuesday, January 27th and includes the feature film, making of documentary and bonus digital copy.

...and the Envelope, please!

I did pretty well with my guesses:

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Sean Penn
Best Actress - (old guard) Meryl Streep
Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger getting the posthumous nod
Supporting Actress - Kate Winslet (I guessed this one wrong!)
Ensemble Cast - I was happy to get this one wrong--whoohoo Slumdog Millionaire!
Best Actor/Actress in a Mini-series - Missed both these predictions with Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti winning for their performances in John Adams.
TV Drama Series Actor - Hugh Laurie as I predicted...
TV Drama Series Actress - I got this one wrong. Did Sally Fields do her "You like me, you really like me?" routine?
Male Actor in a Comedy Series - Yup, Alec Baldwin.
Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Tina Fey as I predicted...
Best Drama Series Ensemble - Mad Men
Best Comedy Series Ensemble - 30 Rock

Well, I was eight for thirteen. It will be interesting to see if the SAG nods pan out at the Oscars with Streep winning Best Actress, Penn Best Actor, Winslet Best Supporting Actress and Ledger Best Supporting Actor.

Kind of takes the suspense out of it, huh?

15th Annual SAG Awards

Awards season is in full swing what with the recent Golden Globes and tonight's SAG Awards. The thing about all these awards shows is that the biggest of them all--the Oscars--become anti-climatic once we pretty much know who's getting best writer, director, actor, actress. Other than Best Picture, the element of surprise is pretty much missing from the Academy Awards.

Unless you're biting your nails wondering who is going to win "Best Sound Editing."

Here are the nominees and my picks for the SAG Awards:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
RICHARD JENKINS / Walter Vale - "THE VISITOR" (Overture Films)
FRANK LANGELLA / Richard Nixon - "FROST/NIXON" (Universal Pictures)
SEAN PENN / Harvey Milk - "MILK" (Focus Features)
BRAD PITT / Benjamin Button - "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Paramount Pictures)
MICKEY ROURKE / Randy - "THE WRESTLER" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

This is a strong field--with the exception of Brad Pitt's cipher-like CGI-enhanced portrayal of a man aging backwards. I really loved Richard Jenkins' understated performance and Frank Langella was amazing as Richard Nizon, but I think what with the Prop 8 brouhaha Sean Penn's gonna walk away with this one.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
ANNE HATHAWAY / Kym - "RACHEL GETTING MARRIED" (Sony Pictures Classics)
ANGELINA JOLIE / Christine Collins - "CHANGELING" (Universal Pictures)
MELISSA LEO / Ray Eddy - "FROZEN RIVER" (Sony Pictures Classics)
MERYL STREEP / Sister Aloysius Beauvier - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
KATE WINSLET / April Wheeler - "REVOLUTIONARY ROAD" (Paramount Vantage)

Kate Winslet cleaned up at the Golden Globes but that doesn't necessarily mean anything to the U.S. actors union. I'm thinking it will either go to the old guard (Meryl Streep) or the upstart (Anne Hathaway).

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
JOSH BROLIN / Dan White - "MILK" (Focus Features)
ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. / Kirk Lazarus - "TROPIC THUNDER" (Paramount Pictures)
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN / Father Brendan Flynn - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
HEATH LEDGER / Joker - "THE DARK KNIGHT" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
DEV PATEL / Older Jamal - "SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

I'd put my money on Milk, but I think Heath Ledger will get the posthumous recognition for his mesmerizing Joker.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
AMY ADAMS / Sister James - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
PENÉLOPE CRUZ / Maria Elena - "VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA" (The Weinstein Company)
VIOLA DAVIS / Mrs. Miller - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
TARAJI P. HENSON / Queenie - "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Paramount Pictures)
KATE WINSLET / Hanna Schmitz - "THE READER" (The Weinstein Company)

Again, a really strong field! I'm thinking it will be either Viola Davis or Penelope Cruz.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (Paramount Pictures)
DOUBT (Miramax)
FROST/NIXON (Universal Pictures)
MILK (Focus Features)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

I'm betting on Milk.

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

RALPH FIENNES / Bernard Lafferty - "BERNARD AND DORIS" (HBO)
PAUL GIAMATTI / John Adams - "JOHN ADAMS" (HBO)
KEVIN SPACEY / Ron Klain - "RECOUNT" (HBO)
KIEFER SUTHERLAND / Jack Bauer - "24: REDEMPTION" (FOX)
TOM WILKINSON / Benjamin Franklin - "JOHN ADAMS" (HBO)

Please let it go to Tom Wilkinson!

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

LAURA DERN / Katherine Harris - "RECOUNT" (HBO)
LAURA LINNEY / Abigail Adams - "JOHN ADAMS" (HBO)
SHIRLEY MacLAINE / Coco Chanel - "COCO CHANEL" (Lifetime)
PHYLICIA RASHAD / Lena Younger - "A RAISIN IN THE SUN" (ABC)
SUSAN SARANDON / Doris Duke - "BERNARD AND DORIS" (HBO)

Laura Dern was magnificent as Katherine Harris. She's got my vote!

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

MICHAEL C. HALL / Dexter Morgan - "DEXTER" (Showtime)
JON HAMM / Don Draper - "MAD MEN" (AMC)
HUGH LAURIE / Gregory House - "HOUSE" (FOX)
WILLIAM SHATNER / Denny Crane - "BOSTON LEGAL" (ABC)
JAMES SPADER / Alan Shore - "BOSTON LEGAL" (ABC)

It'll probably go to Hugh Laurie, but I so want Michael C. Hall to win it!

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

SALLY FIELD / Nora Walker - "BROTHERS & SISTERS" (ABC)
MARISKA HARGITAY / Det. Olivia Benson - "LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT" (NBC)
HOLLY HUNTER / Grace Hanadarko - "SAVING GRACE" (TNT)
ELISABETH MOSS / Peggy Olson - "MAD MEN" (AMC)
KYRA SEDGWICK / Dep. Chief Brenda Johnson - "THE CLOSER" (TNT)

I thinking it's a Mad Men year, so Elisabeth Moss.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy - "30 ROCK" (NBC)
STEVE CARELL / Michael Scott - "THE OFFICE" (NBC)
DAVID DUCHOVNY / Hank Moody - "CALIFORNICATION" (Showtime)
JEREMY PIVEN / Ari Gold - "ENTOURAGE" (HBO)
TONY SHALHOUB / Adrian Monk - "MONK" (USA)

I love Steve Carell and hope he wins, but I think it will go to Alec Baldwin.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

CHRISTINA APPLEGATE / Samantha Newly - "SAMANTHA WHO?" (ABC)
AMERICA FERRERA / Betty Suarez - "UGLY BETTY" (ABC)
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon - "30 ROCK" (NBC)
MARY-LOUISE PARKER / Nancy Botwin - "WEEDS" (Showtime)
TRACEY ULLMAN / Various Characters - "TRACEY ULLMAN’S STATE OF THE UNION" (Showtime)

Hmm--will Christina Applegate pull in the sympathy vote for her recent double masectomy or is Tina Fey just gonna steamroll right through like she did with the Emmys?

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
THE CLOSER (TNT)
DEXTER (Showtime)
HOUSE (Fox)
MAD MEN (AMC)

It'll probably go to Mad Men, but I'd love to see Dexter get the win!

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

30 ROCK (NBC)
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
THE OFFICE (NBC)
WEEDS (Showtime)

I think 30 Rock will walk away with the trophy, but my pick would be The Office.

Who do you think deserves to win? Who do you think will win?

Out of Africa

Out of Africa is not just a multi-Academy Award winning film, it's also the name of a shea butter based product line created by Victor Lulla. The products feature high percentages of unrefined, pure shea butter and no chemical, additives, sulfates and parabens.

One of the products I tried was the Tea Tree Shea Butter hand wash. Between putting in and taking out my contact lenses, testing my blood sugar, etc., I wash my hands a lot. The Out of Africa hand wash cleans without drying out my hands--and the tea tree oil acts as a natural anti-bacterial. You can also get the hand wash infused with Lemon or Lavendar essential oils--but for hand washing germophobes everywhere, the tea tree is a great alternative to those chemical filled anti-bacterial soaps.

I also got to test drive the Shea Butter Body Oil in Lavender. In addition to pure, unrefined shea butter, the body oil contains avocado and olive oil. It's a great moisturizer when applied to damp skin after a shower. It left my skin moisturized but not at all greasy! I also like rubbing a bit into my palms and using it to smooth down flyaway hair. The lavender is a nice calming and soothing scent--but the oils also come in grapefruit, verbena and as well as an unscented version.

The Out of Africa product line also features body butters, bar soaps and body washes. And 3% of all sales are contributed to School for Children Unite--a groundbreaking project helping to provide education to children in West Africa. In addition, the products are handmade bu women's co-operatives in Benin--which creates jobs and economic stability in one of the poorest nations in Africa.

So you've got a good cause that's also good for your skin. Out of Africa--coming soon to bathroom near you!