SpongeBob vs. The Big One

I mentioned previously about my bemusement as to the SpongeBob phenomenon. Colleen set me straight as to his appeal for kids.

I witnessed that appeal first hand after giving 2 1/2 year old Jack a SpongeBob DVD for Christmas. Crystal set him up to watch it on his DVD player and for over an hour, Jack was completely engrossed. Transfixed. Mesmerized.

Such is the power of the sponge...

On March 3rd, Nickelodeon released the latest installment of the waterlogged franchise about the square pants wearing hero that lives in a pineapple under the sea: SpongeBob vs. The Big One. Featuring a vocal cameo by Johnny Depp (as yet another "Jack"--Jack Kahuna Laguna, surfing guru that is...) in the title episode in which SpongeBob and friends stranded on an island (No sign of Kate, Sawyer or the Smoke Monster on this remote isle...) and need to learn how to surf in order to get back home.

The DVD includes an additional six episodes of the animated show, plus Plankton's Sinister Commentary and the Ridin' the Hook music video as extras. The runtime is approximately 1.5 hours, which means you can catch up on chores, bills (even take a nice long bath!) while your rugrat (or "rugrats") are captivated by Bob, Squidward, Patrick and Sandy.

Do we even care how or why SpongeBob manages to exert his spellbinding force? It reminds me of the time I tried to explain a fax machine to my grandmother. After telling her that it transmitting images via phone lines, she asked "How does it do that?"

"It's magic, Grandma..." I replied.

That's my only explanation for Bob L'Eponge, too.

Erik DiNardo at Dakota Lounge, 3/15

Hey y'all! My co-worker Erik DiNardo is going to be playing at the Dakota Lounge (formerly Temple Bar) in Santa Monica. I'm fortunate enough to hang with him most weekdays (He's wicked funny!), but if you live in the Los Angeles area you can catch his act next Sunday.

Here are the details:

Date: Sunday, March 15th
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Dakota Lounge
1026 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

For those of you not fortunate enough to live in the area, here's a video of Erik playing the title song from his debut album, Turning Me Loose:

Ugly Betty and The Office - Sugar Daddy and Blood Drive

Was anyone surprised that the always-forgetting-his-wallet Matt was the anonymous donor of the $1ok the Suarez's needed to buy their house?

Me neither.

After Ignacio loses the Kitchen Rumble, a cashier's check for the down payment to avoid eviction mysteriously appears. Betty is sure that Daniel is behind it, but he is too busy trying to save Meade Publishing. While on a date with Matt, who finally remembered his wallet, Betty notices the signature on the credit card bill matches the one on the cashier's check.

Matt admits, "My family is sort of really wealthy." "Did you just say billions?" responds a confused Betty. Matt insists Betty take the money. "We throw money like this at charity all the time!" he insists.

Wrong answer.

The Kitchen Rumble guy shows up admitting that the contest was actually fixed--but that he's offered Ignacio a job in his restaurant AND purchased the recipe which should have won for $10k.

So the Suarez family is not homeless and Betty accepts Matt's apology. "I will never try to buy your house again," he promises. He also admits that he's kinda into her.

Sweet!

Although Willie and Daniel try to show their economizing by taking the bus to the Congressional Hearings for the print media bail-out, they slip up later. At a strategy lunch, Daniel tries to sympathize with Willie over Connor, but she's not having any of it. When she asks about Molly, Daniel puts her off but she manages extract the news that Molly is dying of cancer. "Well, now you've made me feel awkward," Willie tells him. They order a bottle of wine to commiserate, but a photographer captures the moment of their indulgence and their bailout request is denied.

But Daniel decides to man up and liquidate his assets to keep the company afloat. Willie, inspired by his commitment, says she'll contribute as well. Betty tells him he's really brave, but he tells her he feels like a coward for letting Molly go. Betty encourages him to go after her, which he does, and the two are tearfully reunited.

Awww!

Marc meets a cute single Dad and uses Willie's baby to make a love connection. "What do you do with a baby?" he asks Amanda. "I don't know. Lie to it. Pretend that it's yours. Never tell it that it was adopted," replies the still bitter Amanda. Marc manages to get Christina to loan him William under the reasoning that Willie wants him to bond with her baby.

"No piercings. No tattoos!" Christina warns him and she hands over the infant. But Marc's date shows up without baby, so he pawns William off on an off guard Amanda who turns him back over to the capable Christina. Christina muses about the difference about being William's birth mother and his REAL mother, and Amanda realizes that her adopted parents were still her PARENTS.

Marc's date didn't go quite as planned. "He just talked about his stupid baby the whole time," he sulks. "Sorry I left you stranded with the Willi-mini," he tells Amanda.

Best line of the night.

Reunited: the Suarez family with their house, Betty and Matt, Daniel and Molly, Amanda and her parents.

All in all a good episode.

I wonder why the "Valentine's" themed episode of The Office wasn't shown three weeks ago. No matter--it was still quite funny.

The opening had Pam dealing with a phone vendor trying to sell a new system that would eliminate 95% of her job. "But I'd like to see a machine that puts out candy for everyone!" she asserts.

"A vending machine," she deflates realizing.

Jim steps in and pretends to be Michael to deal with the vendor, but at that moment Michael comes out of his office and calls him "Jimbo." Jim can't use Michael's name without alerting the salesman to the fact that Michael is indeed in the office--so he just goes, "Heeeyyyyy!!!" Which leads Michael to respond with, "Heeeeyyyy!" and Dwight, not to be left out, to chime in with "Heeeyyy!!!" and the salesman deciding to beat a hasty retreat.

But as I mentioned, it's Valentine's Day and the best most of the office has to look forward to is the annual blood drive. Kelly thinks she's received a Valentine from a secret admirer and reads the card: "Roses are red, Violets are blue, it's time for your dental cleaning and maybe a check-up, too!" Kevin is still mourning the exit of his fiancee.

Michael, still smarting over Holly, puts Pam's flower arrangement from Jim on the floor. "These people need to be protected from having love shoved in their faces!" he declares. When Pam and Jim refuse to cooperate, he decides "Then we are going to have our own private Valentine's party!"

At the bloodmobile, Dwight claims "I've trained my major blood vessels to retract into my body." Michael is squeamish about donating, but manages some flirtatious banter with a fellow donor. "I feel like a juice box!" he jokes. "Hawaiian blood punch...Type O-cean Spray." This amuses the woman next to him who tells him he's cute. But before he can make his move, Michael passes out and when he regains consciousness, the woman is gone.

At the Valentine's party, Michael encourages his staff to talk about their worst relationship story. He tells Dwight, "There has to be a way to get all these lonely people together..." "A net?" suggests Dwight.

But Micheal has a better idea: a mixer for the entire building. "I'm going to shoot my sparrow at unsuspecting victims!" Michael declares. Of course he has the ulterior motive of meeting up with the cute blood donor again. "You met a woman giving blood? That is so romantic!" gushes Kelly. "I think our blood bags touched," Michael confides.

But the cute blood donor doesn't show up. Dwight tries to sell his romantic prospect paper, but when she extricates herself he tells her, "Thanks for wasting my time tonight!" "You don't deserve her," sighs Michael. Kevin has better luck with his "match" after he confesses to her, "I get nervous talking to pretty girls," which earns him her e-mail address.

Michael decides that even though his Cinderella didn't show up to the party, the fact that he was ready to move on from Holly was progress enough.

LOST - LaFleur

We didn't have to wait too long to find out who (or what) LaFleur was...turns out it was none other than James Ford aka Sawyer. When Locke realigned the donkey wheel, it strands Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, Miles and Daniel in 1974--the time of the Dharma Initiative.

Charlotte didn't make the time jump with the rest--but she showed up as a little girl when the group made it to the Dharma compound.

Before being stranded in 1974, the flash that interrupted Locke's descent into the well took them back before the well was even dug. Way before, as the group gapes at the infamous four-toed statue (Actually, we didn't get to see the toes in this episode, but the parts of the giant statue that were missing in the present...)

Once the flashes stop, so do their headaches and nosebleeds. Sawyer makes a command decision to return to the beach. "What, you didn't get enough flaming arrows shot at you?" exclaims Miles. But Juliet backs Sawyer up and the gang heads back towards their camp--not knowing exactly "when" they are.

As they make their way through the jungle, they hear gunshots. They track down the source to two "hostiles" who have killed a Dharma worker and have a woman with a bag over her head. Miles turns to Daniel for confirmation that they can't interfere, but Daniel replies, "Doesn't matter what we do. Whatever happened, happened." Sawyer tells them to drop their guns but when one opens fire, Juliet takes him down.

Yeah, she has Sawyer's back.

The other man turns on Sawyer, but Sawyer kills him. The rescued damsel insists that they have to bury the bodies and bring the Dharma worker--her husband Paul--back with them.

Sawyer tells the others to let him do the talking saying, "I'm a professional. I used to lie for a living." He tells Amy that they shipwrecked on the island. They walk back to the compound, but Juliet calls out and warns Daniel to stop before he gets to the sonic fence. They tell Amy to turn it off and after she does Sawyer tells her to go first. She breaches the fence line without any problem (because she was wearing earplugs), but when the rest attempt to follow her the sonic waves make them lose consciousness.

Inside the Dharma compound, Horace Goodspeed (the familiar face from Cabin Fever) questions Sawyer, who tells him that they were traveling on a salvage vessel in search of a shipwreck called the Black Rock when they were shipwrecked on the island.

Horace explains to Sawyer that they have a submarine that will take them to Tahiti. "You're not Dharma material," he tells Sawyer.

Obviously that's not the case, because the five end up being assimilated into the Dharma Initiative: Daniel working in the Orchid, Sawyer, Jin and Mile doing security and Juliet working as a mechanic. They are allowed to stay after leader of the Hostiles, Richard Alpert, shows up and plunges a burning torch into the ground. Horace goes out to speak to him and Alpert accuses him of breaking their truce.

Sawyer intervenes saying, "Your buddy with the eyeliner--let me talk with him." (Michael Emerson who plays Benjamin Linus claims Nestor Carbonell's eyes aren't lined, but rather are a result of a rare genetic beauty...) He approaches Alpert and refers to him by name--and asks him about Jughead and meeting Locke in 1954. He also admits to killing the men in self-defense.

Alpert agrees to honor the truce in return for the location of where his men's bodies are buried--and in exchange for Paul's body. Amy reluctantly allows the trade, but removes an ankh (Egyptian symbol of life) necklace from Paul's neck.

Juliet tells Sawyer she wants to leave the island on the submarine whether it's 1974 or not. But Sawyer convinces her to stay and the two are shacking up together in Dharma-ville. Three years later, Amy is married to Horace and goes into premature labor with his baby. Apparently the submarine takes Dharma women back to the mainland to give birth, so it's up to Juliet to deliver Amy's baby. She is afraid of what will happen, but Sawyer convinces her saying "Well, maybe whatever made that happen hasn't happened yet."

Juliet delivers the baby safely and Sawyer gives the news to Horace, who has recovered from his drunken spree of the night before. Horace tells Sawyer that he got into a fight with Amy after discovering Paul's ankh necklace hidden away in her sock drawer. He asks Sawyer if three years are enough to get over someone. Sawyer, recalling Kate and his current relationship with Juliet, says yes.

But when Jin calls him the next morning to tell him that he's found Jack, Hurley and Kate, Sawyer rushes from spooning in bed with Juliet to being reunited with Kate.

Yet another LOST triangle...

I caught a bit of the enhanced version of The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham and three things stood out: 1. It was mentioned that Locke's suicide attempt paralleled Jack's attempt to jump off the bridge, 2. Ben definitely shifted gears in a big way after hearing Eloise Hawking's name and 3. the flashes that made the Oceanic Six disappear from Flight 316 were the unpredictable results Hawking warned off if all didn't return to the island.

We have to wait almost two weeks for the next installment--which features a young Benjamin Linus! Until then, check out the recaps and more at Lostpedia, screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses at washingtonpost.com.

LOST: What or who is LA FLEUR?

Last week George's e-mail got trapped in my spam folder for some reason. Maybe because he's up to over 1,600 names on his e-mail list. There's a lot of us obsessed LOST fans out there, that's for sure!

But I've corrected the e-mail glitch and this week's update was received without any problems:

"Hello LOSTies,

"That's the man who killed me" - John Locke to Caesar

And what a way to die, John Locke...dying that same way your father did..being choked. But the biggest twist was who did it. Ben Linus is a bad, bad man. I'm rooting for Charles from this point on LOL! Let's take a look at Locke's journey. First he lands in Tunisia, where the land is now controlled by Charles Widmore. After being rescued, Charles gives John the services of Matthew and cash to go get all his former plane mates back on another flight to get back to the island. First up, Sayid in the Dominican Republic. Second, Walt in New York (they were on the corner of 67th and 8th (where ABC studios is located...for you NYers it's Columbus Ave)). Third, Hurley at the Santa Rosa. Fourth, Kate and Aaron. Next, he stopped by Helen's grave and Matthew is killed by Ben. In his rush, crashes the car, and wakes up in Jack's care.

Jack and Locke duke it out with Locke telling Jack about Christian and Jack telling Locke he isn't special. Back at the Westerfield hotel, Locke writes his suicide note, but before he kills himself, Ben talks him down. After being double shocked with the revelations of Jin being alive and Locke's knowledge of Eloise Hawking, Ben strangles Locke, killing him. After cleaning up the mess, Ben grabs Jin's ring and books it out of the room.

And then we go to Hydra Island, where Frank has successfully landed the plane on the jungle. Unfortunately, Frank and a "woman" ditch the 315ers in the night on one of the outrigger canoes on the beach. Caesar and Ilana seem to be the defacto leaders (a la Jack and Kate) and Locke maintains his "weird" status, especially after confessing to Caesar and Ilana that he was dead on the plane. Caesar hid a gun he found after he found a file that contained one of Danielle's maps, a page from Daniel's notebook, and the map Daniel had for his journey to the Tempest station (the one him and Charlotte had to turn off the nerve gas in). Daniel's map now had hieroglyphics on it stating "northward travel". Ben is also revealed to be one of the injured from 315. Caesar told Locke about the crash including the fact Hurley disappeared before the crash.

So tonight...."La Fleur" - means "The Flower".

Tonight you'll find out what happened to the LOSTies after the last flash when Locke went down the well. When did the end up? What adventures will they seek this time? As long as Juliet has got Sawyer's back, right? On general rule to remember is that whatever happened, happened.

You will also see the introduction of two new characters, Amy and Phil. Amy is played by One Life To Live and 24 alum Reiko Aylesworth. Phil is played by Mad Men's own Patrick Fischler (who plays Jimmy Barrett on that show). You will also see an appearance tonight from Kevin Rankin (who played Herc on NBC's Friday Night Lights).

With Jin wearing a DHARMA suit when he finds Jack, Kate, and Hurley...they likelihood that something DHARMA related might be in the cards. Look for a familiar face (ie go back to season 4's "Cabin Fever") to grace the screen, as well a picnic that goes horribly wrong.

There will be some twists (watch that picnic scene), there will be turns (Jin's DHARMA job is revealed on his uniform), and one big WTH scene (this will come courtesy of Amy's medical condition). There's a lot of story to tell tonight.

Set your DVRs to record 2 extra minutes and please note that LOST will not air next week, but will pick up on March 18th."

Who do we think the familiar face will be? Claire? Christian? Jacob?

The Downside of Social Networking

A while back I posted about the the dark side of the internet. I was presented with a real life example today:

A friend of a co-worker was dating a girl. She told him she'd call him back Saturday night, but never did. She called him on Sunday apologizing and explaining that she had gone to bed early that night. Later, he noticed a new photo of her out partying in a bar posted to her Facebook profile. In the background of the photo, he could see that the Georgetown-Villanova game was playing on TV.

The game was on Saturday.

Busted!

The internet makes it a lot harder to tell a lie. Even a little white one...

Seth Godin notes this fact as he relates the story of a friend searching for a housekeeper on Craigslist. Googling three of the candidates she found a binge drinker, shoplifter and a personal blog entry bemoaning the fact that she was applying for menial jobs that were beneath her.

Needless to say, none of those candidates got the job.

Fortunately for me, I have too little time to post incriminating photos of myself on Facebook. Perhaps I should take advantage of Mark Morford's Geekamania. His tongue-in-cheek offer claims:

"We design, set up and maintain as many hip social networking pages as you want, spinning off the information you provided but also totally rearranging it and making it up at will, all to make you sound exactly as cute/clever/sexy/boring/lonely/unstable (you choose) as you've always dreamed. You don't have to do a thing!"

Hmm--I wonder if Geekamania would blog for me...

Heroes - Exposed

Okay now--Rebel is not: Matt, Peter, Nathan, Claire, Alex or Eric Doyle. Rebel is also probably not Angela, Danko, Tracy, Luke or Sylar. So who does that leave? Did I not speculate that Noah Bennet was acting as a double-agent?

Wait and see: I bet I'm right!

There were three stories intertwined on last night's episode of Heroes: Claire and Fish Boy, Matt and Peter vs. Building 26 and Sylar and Luke's buddy road trip coming to an abrupt end.

After spending the last couple of days hiding out in Claire's closet, Fish Boy aka Alex is discovered by Sandra and Mr. Muggles. (It's been a while since we've seen the mangy little mutt...) Claire lies and tells Sandra that Alex is her new boyfriend and he's hiding in the closet because they were having sex. Alex vehemently denies it.

Aafter being angry with Claire for lying to her, Sandra becomes an ally in aiding Alex's escape. She tells Claire about the van parked outside their home. "They're watching us. They're watching you." She uses Lyle's driver's license to construct a fake I.D. for Alex--a skill she acquired when she was a teenager and a fan of Def Leppard's bass player Rick Savage.

Claire's mom was a headbanger. How funny is that?

Alex thanks Claire for helping him. "Well, we're an endangered species," she replies. He tries to make a move on her, but she demurs--a bit gunshy due to the current situation with Sandra and Noah. (What ever happened with West, huh?)

The agents staking out the house decide to do a search and Sandra hides Alex in the crawlspace behind the grate. After the agents leave empty-handed, Sandra plots a diversion with her and Lyle peeling out in the SUV while Claire and Fish Boy make a break for it out back.

While the agents try and track them down, Claire and Alex hide submerged in a swimming pool. In the episode's "Awwww!" moment, Alex kisses Claire to enable her to breathe underwater. Later, Sandra asks Claire if she'll miss having a cute boy in her closet. She plans an evening of sappy movies, but when Claire goes to retrieve the popcorn from the microwave she finds it empty.

Because it's being scarfed down by puppetmaster Eric Doyle. Doyle shows her a text message from Rebel telling him that "Claire will save you." "I need your help, Barbie," he says.

At Building 26, Danko steps it up a notch by setting his sights on Peter Petrelli. "Shoot to kill" is the new order, much to Nathan's dismay. He appeals to Bennet, but Noah keeps up the facade by claiming to want vengeance on Peter and Matt for kidnapping him.

Matt is doing his psychic trance painting--the same image over and over of bombs strapped to his body and Washington, D.C. blowing up. Matt is determined to rescue Daphne and while he and Peter are trying to come up with a plan, their computer flashes on with a message from Rebel giving them the location of Building 26 and warning them to make a run for it.

The goon squad shows up, but just misses them. The duo show up at Building 26 and Peter absorbs Matt's power so they can both use mind control to make their way through the building. When Danko detects them on the video monitor, Bennet warns him "I wouldn't go out there if I were you." Danko replies, "You're not me," but is stopped by two of his own men holding guns on him.

I'm beginning to think the brain mojo thingy might be the best power of all...

Peter and Matt ascertain via the computer system that Daphne has been transferred to a medical facility, but Rebel provides them with file footage showing the heroes being shackled and imprisoned in violation of their civil rights. They download the footage onto a flashdrive in order to use it to negotiate for Daphne's freedom.

Peter manages to escape, but Matt is captured. So Peter calls Nathan to arrange a trade: the footage for Matt and Daphne--or else he'll release it to the media. Nathan agrees to his terms, but when he asks Danko if Matt and Daphne are ready for transport, Danko replies "No, Senator--they're not. We're not making a deal." Nathan tells him he needs to comply with his orders but Danko responds, "I'm following orders. Just not yours."

A lot of bravado from the albino midget...

Nathan tells Bennet--in what was either a warning or a plea--"Noah, just remember Peter can hear your thoughts." So when the meeting goes down, Bennet tries to communicate to Peter that it's a set-up. But Peter hesitates and is shot by Danko. Somehow he manages to fly off.

How exactly did he do that? He can only use one power at a time and the last power he had was Parkman's...

A little family reunion between Nathan, Angela and Peter with arm in a sling takes place with Nathan offering to take care of Peter if he gives hmself up. Peter hugs his brother, absorbs his power and flies off.

He also releases the video footage to the media--but Danko has a trick up his sleeve to counter the negative public reaction. He drugs Matt and sets him loose on the D.C. Mall with bombs strapped to his body. Just like in Parkman's trance paintings...

Sylar and Luke continue driving to their destination. Luke whines not understanding why Sylar needs to make this journey: "You're the most powerful dude on the planet!" he tells Sylar. Sylar pulls to a halt before an abandoned truck stop called "Big Jim's Franks and Fries." As he and Luke explore the empty building, Sylar flashes back to 1980 with Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" providing a musical backdrop.

Not only did Sylar's Dad sell and abandon him, he sliced open his mother's skull. Little Sylar was pretty old when this happened--how is it he never remembered until now?

Sylar becomes angry with Luke when he realizes his father is a monster (like father, like son--eh?) telling him, "You made him sound like Mr. Freaking Rogers!" He starts to pin Luke for the inevitable skull slicing and Luke whines some more: "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because you're here and I need to express my feelings," Sylar answers.

But Sylar releases Luke and tells him to go home to his Mommy. "You're not going to kill me?" Luke says incredulously. "Seems a little on the nose," Sylar says archly.

And off he goes to even the score with Daddy Dearest...

Korres

I've been intrigued by this natural skincare line from Greece ever since I stumbled upon it at my local Sephora. I recently had the chance to test drive several of the products and while I may not have achieved "Greek goddess" status, I can definitely see improvement in the tone and texture of my skin.

Most of the products I tested were from the Anti-Ageing and Firming line, which is based around the ingredients olive and rye. Olive oil is rich in anti-oxidants and polyphenols and soothes and nourishes the skin with deep hydration. Rye oil boosts the natural defense of skin cells.

In addition to being enriched with active plant extracts, the line is:

Dermatologically Tested
Mineral Oil Free
Silicone Free
Propylene Glycol Free
Ethanolamine Free

The eye cream is 93.1% natural and, in addition to the olive and rye oils, contains avocado oil, shea butter and macadamia nut oil. The rich cream sinks in and provides deep hydration without being greasy or sticky. The fine lines were softened as the cream gently plumped up the delicate skin around my eyes.


The night and day creams are luxurious and thick and rich. Both have given my skin a porcelain luster. Although I'm not a fan of the pungent scent of the essential oils, they haven't irritated my skin and the results from using the creams are nothing short of amazing!


Finally, I checked out one of Korres' Star Products: the Yoghurt Mask. Formulated using edible yogurt, the mask is soothing and cooling to both dry and oily skin. The mask contains 10% full fat yogurt, watercress extract, natural vitamin E and olive oil concentrate. If the thought of that sour yogurt smell puts you off: never fear! The Yoghurt Mask has a delicate, powdery scent to it.

With its roots in homeopathic medicine, Korres blends science and innovation with nature in the most environmentally friendly and skin-compatible ways possible.

25 Writers Who Have Influenced Me

Megan took the "25 Random Things About Me" meme and kicked it up a notch by creating a list of 25 writers who inspire her.

Inspired by her post, I decided to work up a list of my own. Mine includes novelists, lyricists, columnists, screen and TV writers:


1. Charles Dickens
2. John Irving
3. Joseph Campbell
3. Barbara Kingsolver
4. Amy Tan
5. Dave Barry
6. Michael Chabon
7. Neal Stephenson
8. Zadie Smith
9. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
10. All the writer of The Office
11. Richard Bach
12. Lewis Carroll
13. William Goldman
14. Carolyn Hax (Technically she's an advice columnist, but I love her "cut through the bullshit" style...)
15. Judith Martin (I love Miss Manners. Such a distinctive voice!)
16. Ken Levine and David Isaacs
17. Larry Gelbart
18. The Coen Brothers
19. Elvis Costello (Lyrics count as writing, don't they?)
20. Bruce Cockburn (see above)
21. Roddy Frame (etc.)
22. Jeff Lindsay
23. C. S. Lewis
24. Toni Morrison
25. Anonymous (Hey--that guy's written lots of great @#$%!!!)


Who are some of your favorites?

Spring Cleaning

March came in like a lamb in Los Angeles. Really warm and sunny. Just the perfect day to go down to the beach!

I was planning on checking out a movie, but I suddenly got a strange urge to deep clean my bathroom.

It's a sad state of affairs in the film world when there's so little to tempt me that I'd rather stay home and clean!

Although after a day of scrubbing and inhaling Clorox, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is looking like a viable option. Or even The Jonas Brothers in 3-D.

I'm kidding. But I hope the movie drought ends soon...

Cruising Through the Keywords

In January, the top ten searches that landed at my blog were:

1. gap rewards
2. stella screenwriter blog
3. well above average
4. ihop socialism
5. trail of the screaming forehead dvd
6. gap rewards points
7. hollie nell blog
8. biotherm celluli laser
9. gap reward points
10. eddie steeples shirtless

Sorry Mark Cuban and Tom Bergeron--the Crabman kicked your asses! (Actually variations of "Tom Bergeron shirtless" got five hits and "Mark Cuban shirtless" had three...Hi Elisabeth!)

Speaking of which: two hits came from "Eddie Steeples workout." Seriously people, have you seen the Crabman in his tank top? Does that body look like something buffed and toned at a gym?

Then we had questions:

Who is the actress that plays Bradley's wife Maria on Desperate Housewives?

That would be the uniquely named "Ion Overman."

Who was the actress in the convenience store in LOST "The Lie"?

Another unusal name: Chantal Boom'la.

Actress for Ellie in LOST "Jughead"?

Hello? IMBD people! The young Eloise Hawking was played by Alexandra Krosney.

Naked actresses in The Tudors?

That would be pretty much all of them...

What is the song in the iPod commercial that plays at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas?

A brief trip to YouTube confirms that it was "Mi Swing Es Tropical" by Nickodemus & Quantic featuring Tempo.

What happened to the dead cat on Desperate Housewives?

Toby did not die! You shouldn't say things like that--it angries him up...

What can i do if my blood sugar reading is 529?

First, step away from the pasta! Insulin is what keeps blood sugar under control. If you're resistant, reduce or eliminate high carb food (especially white starchy foods like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes) from your diet and increase activity like walking, yoga or even a good house cleaning session brings my glucose levels down!

Is Daryl Hall an alcoholic?

Don't know.

Is Kevin Rahm straight?

Don't care.

We had people looking for "jack sayid desmond fan fiction," which was positively quaint compared to those looking for:

ballbusting pornos download
nude dudes cleaning
nudedudes.blogspot.com
nudedudescleaning
nudedudescleaning.com
sex ugly grannys
ugly granny sex
slutty dental hygienist
smooth nude naked people
topless hygienist
www.indianpornactors

Not sure what's going on in the northwest, but I got the following searches ending up at my blog:

snooty cliques in butte, mt
trafford facebook butte mt

Someone was looking for "former fatties turned hotties," which is the complete opposite of my post about when hotties turn into fatties--and it got me wondering: other than Ricki Lake, Jerry O'Connell and Seth Rogen, can we think of anyone?

The person searching on "George Bailey is an INFJ" made me smile. I like to think the protagonist of It's a Wonderful Life is a fellow Capricorn--stoic and dutiful. That he might share my Myers-Briggs type would be very cool indeed!

And then the usual weird stuff:

hooked on speedman
moving thyroid crunching
remove your own tattoo sandpaper
strange shit stars mugshots gore house of horror fucked up

Defiance screen average today?

Box Office Mojo, my friend. Approximately $5k per screen on its opening weekend dropping to a mere $854 for last weekend.

The average pay of a soundtrack movie composer?

I'm pretty sure John Williams makes bank, but indie movie composer Will Oldham (Wendy and Lucy) probably not quite so much...

And finally:

length of the average kiss
list of above average movies to rent
list of average stuff
above average + normal track
above average looking men
above average quotes
above average stella
aboveaverage
average
average earth
average gap clothing employee pay
average heroes
average hotties
average nude
average pay for first time screenplay
average price paid for a feature screenplay
average sale price for screenplays
average screenplay sale price

Capped off by the searcher who knows what's what with: "we don't do average."

You said it, baby!

Ugly Betty - Things Falls Apart

Well, the episode title wasn't kidding: will there even be a Meade Publishing anymore?

Ignacio falls apart when Elena leaves to go to California for a few days. "Finally I think I understand country music," he mopes.

Hilda is distressed over money issues and Betty is dealing with the fact that Henry has a new girlfriend and is trying to Friend her on Facebook.

But the real disaster comes courtesy of Daniel's best buddy and Meade CFO. Connor managed to siphon dry all the Meade accounts, funneling the money into his own personal account before he jets off to parts unknown. Didn't he look sexy being all paternal with Willie's baby at the beginning of the episode? Hard to believe he turned out to be such a cad.

He tells Willie he has something bad to confess to her. "Does someone need a spanking?" Wilhelmina purrs. When he reveals he's been embezzling from Meade to exact vengeance on Daniel, she is devastated. He wants to take her and the baby away from everything.

Betty notices the accounting irregularities when she's reviewing the budgets for a YETI project. But Connor stalls her from exposing him by transferring $100k into her personal bank account and making it appear that she and Daniel are behind the embezzlement. He even threatens her family.

Betty runs to Daniel, who is holed up in the Amsterdam Hotel nursing a cold, to break the bad news. Meanwhile Willie confides in Marc about whether she should choose the love of her life or her career. While Claire and Daniel examine the extent of the damage, a crestfallen Marc returns to Mode. Betty approaches him and asks him for any info he has on Willie's whereabouts.

Daniel and Claire race to the airport to waylay Willie--but she's already arranged for the police to apprehend Connor. Unfortunately, Connor guessed that Wilhelmina would choose her career over him and took an earlier flight. She tells Betty that they're both career girls sacrificing personal lives for the job.

Of course that inspires Betty to get over her Henry hurting and accept his friend request--and accept the invitation of Matt the MBA with the half Law degree. I agree with Amanda--he is cutish. Of course knowing the fickle Betty, he won't last too long...

If the Meade Empire falling apart weren't bad enough, Daniel's future with Molly is destroyed when she decides to end their relationship due to the fact that she was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. "I beat it before, but it's back and it's worse," she tells the distraught Daniel.

See what I said about no happy ever after for long on soap operas?

Memos to Morons - part nine

TO: The Idiot Standing by the Stoplight Waiting to Cross the Street

RE: The Walk Button

See the yellow button right above your fat ass as you lean against the stoplight pole while chatting on your cell phone? You need to push that to get the walk signal. Not pushing it means when the light turns green, we'll still have the red hand instead of the white walk man.

As long as you're right THERE next to it, push the damn thing. That's what they're there for!

LOST - The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

So...do we want to lay odds on who the real bad guy is? Widmore says it's Ben, Ben says it's Widmore. Sayid says Ben's a baddie, Hurley claims Matthew Abbadon, one of Widmore's minions, is evil.

I'm pretty sure they're both nasty pieces of work.

Poor Locke, caught in a power struggle between the two!

Looks like the Marshall Ilana and condolence guy Caesar are going to the integral characters in upcoming episodes. Walt told Locke he dreamt about him on the island wearing a suit with people around him. "They wanted to hurt you, John," he warns.

That's exactly how last night's episode opened: Ilana approaches Caesar who is rummaging through a Dharma station. He thrusts something into a bag, but when Ilana asks him about it, he lies. Hmm...wonder who Caesar's aligned with? Ben or Widmore?

Ilana takes him to see Locke. No-one remembers him being on the plane. This is because he was in a coffin in the cargo hold. Ilana asks Locke if he remembers why he is so dressed up--or anything for that matter. "I remember dying," Locke replies.

(Interesting aside about the boats: Ilana tells Locke that Lapidus and some woman took one of them. That would mean that it was Lapidus and that said woman who were shooting at Sawyer, Juliet and (mind-trip!) Locke when they were heading to the Orchid. But who was the woman? The flight attendant? I could understand if it were Ilana the Marshall seeking the missing Sayid...)

Then we get the familiar flashback: Locke turning the donkey wheel, Christian telling him to say hello to his son, Locke waking up flat on his back in the desert.

Yup, Tunisia. Location of wayward polar bears, anthropological explorers and lying Linuses. Apparently Tunisia is "the exit." At least that's how Charles Widmore explains it to Locke. Widmore remembers meeting Locke over 50 years ago when he was 17. He's pretty tripped out that the length of time between their meeting has been only 4 days for John.

As most of us suspected, Widmore was the former leader of the Others and Ben exiled him. He tells Locke that he (John) is special and needs to get back to the island. "There's a war coming, John--and if you're not back there when that happens, the wrong side will win."

It was Widmore who created the Jeremy Bentham identity for Locke. Apparently Widmore shares the LOST writers penchant for using philosopher names. He gives Locke files on the Oceanic Six, the name of Eloise Hawking and sets him up with Matthew Abbadon as his driver/escort.

The first stop is Sayid who is working in Santo Domingo for Habitat for Humanity. Was the carpentry work symbolically significant--or just a way to demonstrate Sayid's attempt to atone for the two years he spent working for Ben? Maybe a bit of both...

Sayid's a no-go so Locke moves on. He tells Abbadon to find Helen Norwood for him. But before tracking down more of the O6, he stops off to say hi to Walt. "Boy's gotten big," Abbadon says. Yup, tall "non-ghost" Walt. Funny that Locke lies about Michael when Walt asks about his father. Later Hurley will repeat the same lie when Walt comes to visit him.

Speaking of Hurley, Santa Rosa is the next stop on Locke's list. Hurley is completely unsurprised to see Locke in a wheelchair. Having been visited by Charlie and Mr. Eko (and later, Ana Lucia), Hurley assumes Locke is yet another ghost. Locke tells him that he's not dead and Hurley asks a nurse, "Excuse me, am I talking to a dude in a wheelchair right now?" When she confirms that Locke is indeed real, Hurley freaks out.

He really loses it when he spies Abbadon, who visited him when he first came back to Santa Rosa, waiting by the car. Locke tries to persuade him that Abbadon is okay, but Hurley demands to go back into the hospital. And to be fair, Abbadon IS kind of menacing looking.

Abbadon is more than a little dismayed at Locke's lack of progress in convinving the O6 to return. "You may want to step up your game," he tell John. Locke asks him what exactly is it he does for Mr. Widmore. Abbadon reminds him that he was the orderly in the hospital who convinced him to go on the walkabout which led him to be on Oceanic 815 when it crashed on the island. "I help people get to where they need to get to, John. That's what I do for Mr. Widmore."

Locke has no luck convincing Kate, either. She asks him if he's ever been in love, theorizing that Locke is so obsessed with the island because he didn't love anybody. Locke told her he was in love once. "What happened?" Kate asks. "I was angry. I was obsessed," John replies. "And look how far you've come..." Kate muses ironically.

Locke presses Abbadon to find Helen and Abbadon takes him to a cemetery in Santa Monica. Poor Katey Sagal. Her character died of a brain aneurysm so no more appearances on LOST! (Katey delivered one of my all-time favorite lines on LOST when she told Locke she had a thing for bald guys and a peeved Locke replies that he's not bald. "I can wait," Helen demurely answers.)

As they are leaving the cemetery, someone shoots Abbadon. Locke jumps into the driver's seat and races off, ending up in a major car accident which sends him to the hospital. When he regains consciousness, he finds Jack sitting at his bedside.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asks Locke, the old antagonism between the two rearing its ugly head. Locke babbles about destiny and going back to the island. Reaching his limit, Jack lashes out saying, "Maybe you're just a lonely old man who crashed on an island." "Your father says Hello," Locke responds.

He tells Jack that a man named Christian was the one who told him to move the island and that he needed to bring the O6 back. This completely unhinged Jack who storms out.

This puts Locke at the end of his end--literally. He writes a suicide note and prepares to hang himself. Right before he's about to step off, there's a knock on the door and Ben's voice calling his name. Locke asks how he found him. "I have a man watching Sayid. I'm watching all of them. I'm keeping them safe," Ben explains.

Locke accuses Ben of killing Abbadon and Ben admits, "Yes. Yes, I did." He reminds Locke that he was keeping Widmore away from the island so that John could lead. "John, you have no idea how important you are," he pleads. He tells Locke that what he said to Jack affected him--that he booked a ticket to Sydney. He gets down on his knees and beseeches, "You can't die--you've got too much work to do!" (Which was reminiscent of Tall Ghost Walt's command when Locke lay bleeding in the mass Dharma grave...)

The whole bit with Locke on the table with the rope around his neck and Ben kneeling before him definitely had a heavy-handed crucifixion motif to it. Much more so than the previous motif of John attempting to round up his "followers." But Ben eventually talks Locke down. At the mention of Sun, Locke tells Ben that he promised Jin he wouldn't bring her back. Ben seems surprised to find out that Jin's alive, but soothes Locke telling him "A promise is a promise." He also seems surprised to hear about Eloise Hawking when Locke tells him that she's the one that will help them return to the island.

After hearing this news, Ben strangles Locke. So it wasn't the spider venom after all! Was Ben just waiting to get the info about Eloise from Locke? Or did he need Locke out of the way so he could get Sun back to the island? Or was he killing his rival so he could regain his leadership status? Or was he just following protocol as Richard Alpert instructed that John was going to have to die in order to bring the others (Not to be confused with the "Others"...) back to the island.

He wipes down Locke's place and arranges his body so that it looks like a suicide and takes Jin's ring. As he leaves he says, "I'll miss you, John. I really will."

Back on the island, Caesar tells Locke that he's dealing with a mystery. That several people on the plane just disappeared while the plane was crashing. Locke asks if everyone else is accounted for other than those who disappeared. "Except for the people who got hurt," Caesar responds and takes Locke to where the injured are being housed. Locke stops in front of one of the injured. "You know him?" Caesar asks. "Yeah," Locke responds, "He's the one who killed me."

Ooohhh--I think Ben's gonna have some 'splaining to do when he regains consciousness!

Catch up with the recaps at Lostpedia, screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses at washingtonpost.com.

Juxtaposition

1. An act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast.

This word immediately sprang to mind when viewing the following headlines right next to each other under the Health heading on the front page of washingtonpost.com:

Mother Lets Obese Teenager Get Stomach Surgery

Parents Try New Treatment for Anorexic Teen

Wow. That just about sums it up, doesn't it?

Heroes - Cold Wars

Last night's episode of Heroes should have been titled "The Man in the Horned-Rimmed Glasses." Like season's one "Company Man," it was all about Noah Bennet.

With the large and diverse cast of characters, Heroes can often be unwieldy. By concentrating mainly on Bennet, the show was able to maintain a more focused point of view.

After drugging his drink, Matt, Mohinder and Peter kidnap Bennet and tie him to a chair while Matt performs his patented "Mind Mojo Thingy" on him.

Matt is able to extract memories from Noah: being "let go" by Angela with severance, pension and a watch, bored doing crossword puzzles at home, visited by Nathan who tells him about his plan to round up people with abilities and "contain them."

Noah takes Nathan to his super secret storage locker which contains files and equipment representing the last twenty years of his life. Nathan's response: "We're the government. We have loads of weapons and...stuff."

After Matt extracts this memory, he sends Peter to the storage unit. But the unit is under surveillance and Danko sends a local goon squad in to capture Peter. Nathan warns Danko he wants Peter unharmed. "Fasers on stun," snarks Danko. Peter flies out evading his would-be captors.

Matt continues to probe Bennet's mind and finds out about Danko, the hunter, whose philosophy differs from Bennet's one of us, one of them. Danko's philosophy is more like "Us vs. Them." Matt also accesses the fact that Bennet contacted Mohinder to warn him about the government program.

This causes M&M to come to blows while Noah manages to escape. While they frantically try to track down their missing hostage, Noah jacks a car. But before he can get away, Peter arrives and lands on the hood.

Matt tells Peter about Danko. Peter is surprised that Noah wasn't the one pulling all the strings. "Turns out he's still middle-management." He sends Peter to Danko's place. Which considering how well the visit to the storage unit went is a stellar idea...

When Danko comes home, Peter is there waiting for him. Of course, instead of just shooting him, there has to be a whole discussion between the two which allows Nathan to arrive in time to stop him. "How the hell did you get here so fast?" an astounded Danko asks Nathan.

Hmm--apparently the hunter is clueless about "Flying Man"...

Peter shoots Danko in the arm and flies off to warn Matt and Mohinder that the goon squad is on the way. Back at the hotel room, Matt is about to shoot Bennet, but Bennet stops him with the news Daphne is alive. Mohinder sacrifices himself to the goon squad so that Matt can verify that Bennet is telling the truth.

Okay, Daphne had half a dozen bullets pumped into her chest, but she survived. Sort of like Matt surviving when he was shot in chest at the end of season one--or Sylar surviving being impaled by Hiro. Convenient albeit implausible...

The goon squad storms the hotel room and Matt surrenders, but as he's being escorted into custody Peter swoops in and flies off with him. Meanwhile back at Building 26, Mohinder is tied to a chair and Nathan threatens him and the rest of the heroes with death if they don't cooperate.

The episode ends with Bennet and Danko "bonding." But after Danko leaves, Bennet meets up with Angela again. Angela warns him that he will need to keep up appearances. Bennet replies, "I've always been comfortable with morally gray."

So it appears that Bennet is a double agent, working with Angela against Nathan. Do we think he might be "Rebel" as well?

The Best Part of the Oscars

Okay, so I did watch a bit of the show. Thankfully it ended at 8 pm here on the west coast. I pity you east coast diehards that stayed up until the bitter end. How cool that Slumdog won Best Picture? Sean Penn's speech was great--even as it strayed into the political and Kate Winslet was much more comprehensible than she was at the Golden Globes.

A lot of people are raving about Hugh Jackman's opening number. It was cute, but definitely took a page from Billy Crystal's humorous numbers of the past.

My favorite Oscar moment was this advertisement for the Jimmy Kimmel Show. I've always had a soft spot for Jimmy, but how funny is Tom Cruise?

Oscar Ho-hum

Everyone is all abuzz about the impending Academy Awards which will happen mere hours from now. The Washington Post has no less than a dozen stories dedicated to the event including from Ann Hornaday on what makes a performance "Oscar-worthy", Monica Hesse musing on Gender's Role in the Best Acting categories, Dan Zak's plea to the victor's to keep acceptance speeches short and sweet and finally Celebritologist Liz Kelly's Oscar Bingo to help make the interminably long show a bit more bearable.

Me, I'm already bored with the whole thing. Except for Brad Pitt's Best Actor nomination, the inclusion of Forrest Gump rip-off The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in the Best Picture category and any other picture other than WALL*E vying for Best Animated Feature, all the nominees are deserving of the honor.

Danny Boyle's already received his award from the DGA, so he's a shoo-in for Best Director. Sean Penn and Heath Ledger already won SAG awards, so it would seem that the Best Actor and Supporting Actor awards are a given. The only toss-up will be Best Actress between Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet who both won the SAG version. This also leaves the Best Supporting Actress field open.

Among other forgone conclusions: some idiot on the red carpet will ask a celebrity a completely inane question, some starlet will wear some hideous haute couture, someone will cry, someone will drone on and on and on and the show will last for 900 hours.

There's an Everybody Loves Raymond re-run on tonight. Maybe I'll watch that...

pūr~lisse

The combination of exotic Chinese ingredients and advanced French skincare technology comes together in a great new line called pūr~lisse. The name is a blend of the French words for "pure" and "smooth" while the line blends Blue Lotus and White Tea, two powerful anti-oxidants with anti-aging benefits, into a unique, patent-pending Lotus Lupine complex.

The Blue Lotus and White Tea are joined by three other key ingredients: Lupine Peptides which stimulate cellular activity leaving skin better oxygenated and revitalized, high-quality Soy Protein which offers superior anti-irritant properties, increasing the skin’s ability to produce Collagen and Elastin, and a blend of French marine plants and extracts which protects skin from environmental damage, helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and provides skin firmness.

What's NOT in pūr~lisse:

Parabens
Petrochemicals
Propylene glycol
Chemical dyes
Fragrance

pūr~lisse is also cruelty-free and comes in smart, functional packaging.

I got a chance to test-drive pur~delicate, the gentle soy milk cleanser and makeup remover and pur~moist, the hydra-balance moisturizer. Both are gentle, soothing and extremely effective. The cleanser completely removes all traces of makeup and leaves my soft and smooth. The moisturizer not only hydrated my skin, but soothed and calmed it as well.

So if you're interested in natural, pure, effective products that PRESERVE youth, PROTECT beauty and PREVENT skin aging, check out pūr~lisse!

Ugly Betty - There's No Place Like Mode

It was the annual Fashion Week episode on Ugly Betty last night and against that backdrop, we had the rivalry between Elena and Hilda, Fashion Girl and Sports Guy, Molly makeovers, Willie regaining relevance and the birth of the new Meade heir.

Hilda's joy at the end of Elena's nursing service is short-lived when it becomes apparent that she and Ignacio are continuing their romance and taking it to a new level. When they two lovebirds appear at breakfast with Elena wearing Ignacio's ratty old robe, Hilda throws a hissy-fit and Justin steps in. "You're better than that robe. I'm going to get you one of mine."

The conflict comes to an end when Justin gives Elena his ticket to the Mode fashion show which forces Elena into close contact with her nemesis. The two end up bonding over a shared love of spandex and stirrup pants.

The bonding continues with Betty and her new Y.E.T.I. partner. Although Betty had engineered pairing up with someone from the New York Review, Jodi switches things up and Betty--aka "Fashion Girl"--ends up with Matt, the "Sports Guy."

Betty's attempt to do something more meaningful at Mode lands her the opportunity to write the press release for fashion designer Heinrich. When she queries Amanda about him, Amanda replies, "Never heard of him. He must suck." So she and Matt go to check out his studio where they find Heinrich sprawled on the floor.

Greeting Betty he declares, "We will make love. Not today, but someday." Heinrich's designs are adorned with shards of glass and spikes ala Edward Scissorhands. Betty is at a loss as to what to write for the press release, so she and Christina goof around with phrases such as "Prepare to bleed!" But when the joke press release ends up being reported by Suzuki St. Pierre, Betty is sure she will be fired.

But Daniel is miffed about the length of his cuffs--whether they should be peeking or peering from his sleeves. He loved the press release and so did Heinrich. So he puts Betty in charge of producing Heinrich's show. Overwhelmed by the responsibility, Betty ends up being short with Matt who calls her shallow as he walks out.

Betty rushes after him to apologize and offers to allow him to show her his world. In a locker room with naked basketball players, Matt explains to Betty that he wasn't a natural in the sports world. He found his way in by making it personal.

This inspires Betty to research Heinrich and she finds out he grew up behind the Iron Curtain and that his father died trying to escape from behind the Berlin Wall. She uses the motif of the Berlin in Heinrich's show which so impresses the fashion designer that he gifts her with one of his spiky crowns. Betty realizes that fashion is art and thanks Matt for helping her. She promises that she'll have more time to help him learn about fashion now that the show is over. Matt tells her he wasn't really interested in learning about fashion, he was more interested in learning about her.

Okay, Daniel Eric Gold isn't quite as hot as Freddy Rodriguez, but he makes a much better love interest for Betty than Jesse. (For those who are counting: this will be boyfriend number four in two and a half seasons...)

Other than obsessing over his cuffs, Daniel is dealing with bad reviews. Not for Mode or himself, but panning Molly. So he takes it upon himself to get her a makeover. Personally, I liked the before Molly much more than the over-coiffed and cosmetically enhanced after version. Molly seems happy about the results, but ends up skipping out on the rest of the shows and avoiding Daniel.

Daniel asks Betty for advice. "Did you do something stupid?" she asks him. He tells her no--and tells her about the makeover. "You did something stupid," Betty confirms. Daniel calls Molly to apologize and tells her that he likes her just the way she is and loves her. But Molly's issues may not have anything to do with the makeover or the "roof leak" in her apartment--but may have everything to do with the news she received at the doctor's office.

Didn't I say something last week about soap operas where everyone is happy? Looks like the other shoe is about to drop.

Lastly, Wilhelmina was dealing with the unwanted side effects of having a personal life: falling off the radar in the fashion industry. Connor reassures her she'll claw her way back to the top--or at least the front row.

But when Christina goes into labor (which, incidentally, was overdue as by my calculation Christina has been pregnant for over a year now...) and collapses on the runway, Willie seizes her opportunity to grab the spotlight. With Marc cuing the hydraulic lift and the confetti spewing land mine, Wilhelmina raises her baby boy up just like in The Lion King.

Thankfully, Vanessa Williams did not break into Circle of Life...