How to Make it...to school on time.

Okay, I just realized I have to catch a bus in half-an-hour (to get to school hence the title) so lets make this a quick one.

=]

First of all, hello and welcome.

Today, I am going to talk about How to Make it in America(HMA) and I will come back to talk about Lost later, maybe this weekend.

Now, if you are lacking HBO, i'm sure you can catch HMA online.

Illegally, if you must.

...You didn't hear that from me.

This show just premiered last Sunday and stars:

Bryan Greenberg(Ben), Victor Rasuk(Cam), Lake Bell(Rachel), Eddie Kaye Thomas(David),  Luis Guzman(Rene) and 

Shannyn Sossamon(Gingy).

Ben has recently withdrawn from the street life, and is trying to quit smoking. He has just broken up with his girlfriend Rachel, but cannot seem to get over her. In fact, when he runs into her at his friend Gingy's art expo he can't take his eyes off of her. Later that night he stumble to her apartment, where she is there with a man, and makes....an ass of himself. 

Cam is his best friend, a hustler just trying to make it. When his cousin Rene gets out of jail, Cam is pressed to pay him back the money he was loaned to get Ben started with a (failed) skateboard hustle. This is all unbeknownst to Ben who is just trying to pick up the pieces of his life working at a a clothing store(I think its Urban Outfitters). Here he meets an old school friend (I guess) named David. David used to be the smart mouth Jewish kid (he still is) but has recently gotten rich in business. Cam creates a hustle to get the money back, by selling leather jackets from an illegal carrier. Even after persuading Ben to help him the two still come up short. 

Pressed for time Ben turns to David from the clothing store. He tries to sell him a black and white photo from Gingy's expo but it doesn't go over. Still, it seems David has always had a soft spot for Ben, because he offers to help him pay back his loan--if they can help him get friendly with the bouncer of a local club. They take the money and payback Cam's cousin.

Then Ben does the unthinkable: Let us borrow 3,000.

Cam: WHAT?!

After just paying him back, Ben remembers the jean material from the illegal carrier and dreams up another hustle.

I guess he's back in the game.

For a half-hour comedy, it actually wasn't all that funny.

But the critic reviews of later episodes kind of make me hopeful.

Besides, it was only the first episode and the characters are still being developed.

Watch it if you can and judge for yourself! 

Vampire Diaries Fool Me Once: The Run Down

If you watched the Vampire Diaries on thursday, your probably thinking 

"Where the f&*k is Katherine."

Trust me, I know.

Shall I start from the beginning?

If you read my previous Vampire Diaries blog post you know everything (important) about the last episode.

So lets start where I left off.

Elena was kidnapped and taken to a hotel room to be guarded by Anna's boy toy....whatshisname. 

Bonnie is in the bath tub taking a nap(she was kidnapped too).

Fast forward to Stefan going mad with rage, breaking the two of them out of the room, and telling the boy toy if he doesn't disappear he's dead. 

He did all this of course, without the help of Damon who is still extremely angry at both Elena and Stefan for being tricked.

Again, see the previous blog post.  

Still, Stefan apologizes and tells him what happened to Katherine was completely his fault.

The apology was accepted followed by a painfully drawn out "I hope Elena dies."

Now, we just know thats untrue.

Fast forward again.

Anna is pissed with her boy toy (his name is Ben btw...I just googled it) and realizes even though they don't have the leverage they need to get into the tomb, Damon will find a way anyhow.

Elena, with Bonnie, her Grandmother, and Stefan, realizes that they need to just open the tomb and get Katherine out. That way Damon will leave and this whole ordeal will be over with. And that way, they can burn the rest of the vampires alive. Or dead. Whatever.

Granny agrees to help, and the games begin.

Now this is where it gets pretty....strange.

Elena goes to find Damon who doesn't look surprised to see her, even though he had high hopes for her untimely demise. Yea, right.

She tells him that she and the rest of the gang really intend on helping him free Katherine. 

Understandably, he is skeptical.

She takes off her vervain necklace(the one that keeps him from compelling her) and tells him to ask her of her true motives.

Damon, ever so sexily, puts the necklace back on her(see picture below) and tells her not to make him regret trusting her. Again.

Meanwhile, there is a party going on in the woods...like 100 feet from where they are getting ready to unleash all of these vampires, where Jeremy and Anna begin to get cozy.

Anna tells him she is moving away and the two get extremely close to prepare for a kiss when her boy toy hits him over the head, rendering him unconscious.

"You didn't have to hit him that hard" she said. "Yes. I did." Jealous, much?

Flash forward, to where Bonnie and her Grandmother open the tomb.

Stefan goes back above ground to get the gasoline for the burning alive segment. I mean dead...Whatever.

Using the opportunity as it was presented, Damon holds Elena "hostage" and brings her inside the tomb with him. 

Just to ensure that he will be able to come up, seeing as the witches don't really have any reason to trust/protect him anyhow.

Elena, a little to understanding about this, goes inside willingly. 

"I get it" she says.

Above ground, Stefan battles with Anna's boy toy having to choose between stopping Anna from entering the tomb or saving Elena's little brother(Jeremy).

Here, he burns Ben alive(or dead, whatever) with a...flamethrower and runs back inside.

Anna is permitted to enter the tomb by the witches, because Bonnie's grandmother never lifted the seal to let Vampire's exit the tomb in the first place.

Inside, Damon slips away from Elena, who is then caught by Anna.

Anna informs her that she always wanted to revive her mother by giving her Gilbert blood-initially deciding on Jeremy. But Elena was right there, making it oh so convenient . 

She proceeds to revive her mother with blood from Elena's wrist.

Outside the tomb, Stefan hears Elena's scream and enters, knowing he will not be able to come out.

He saves her, but cannot follow her outside the tomb as previously stated.

Bonnie begs her Grandmother to help her free Stefan, while Elena curiously worries about Damon.

Hm...

Stefan agrees to find Damon so he wont be locked inside.

Bonnie and her Grandmother lift the spell, but it takes a lot out of them.

Damon, with a bag of blood to revive Katherine, realizes she isn't there and goes bad.

He throws the bag against the wall and goes....crazy would be a good word.

Stefan cannot calm him down, so Elena has to.

She runs inside, trying to find the Salvatore brothers before the tomb seal closes. 

Damon sees her, and agrees to come along.

He, Stefan, Elena, Pearl, and Anna make it out just in the nick of time.

Oh, joy.

 Elena then gives Damon a really long hug.

"Im so sorry." she says as Stefan looks on at the two of them in sorrow and....is that suspicion i detect?

Afterward, Elena nurses Jeremy back to health and asks him if he remembers what happened.

He says no, but the moment she leaves to Bonnie's house, he goes on the internet and searches Vampires in the real world. 

Damon finds Anna and begins to choke Pearl asking "Why do you get a happy ending?"

Anna pleads for her mother's life and Pearl tells Damon the truth.

Katherine offered eternal life to one of the guards and he let her go.

Anna tells Damon that she had last seen Katherine in Chicago, some odd years ago.

Katherine never came looking for Damon because she didn't care.

Damon goes away and mopes to Leona Lewis' "Run".

At Bonnie's, her grandmother lays down after feeling drained from the spell and seemingly dies.

Then, cut back to the tomb where a mysterious slow moving vampire picks up the blood that Damon threw and revives himself.

He then exits the tomb, ever so slowly.

Seal or no seal?

I am honestly concerned with Damon and Elena's progressing relationship.

This isn't looking good for Stefan. 

But they do look exceptionally cute together.

Vampire Diaries continues March 25th.

Ugh, what will I do with my Thursdays?

Homework?!

Well, there is still The Office and The Olympics(if your into that sort of thing).

Speaking of The Office, Pam goes into labor next week!

Im excited!

Wanna hear the mopey music?

Leona Lewis- Run 

Snow Day

I know what I promised, and I am here to deliver. 

How much do you love snow days?

Its like skipping a class....but without the usual 'missed work' consequence.

Because the work is missed....collectively. 

Thats amazing.

=]

Lets talk about (sigh)....Heroes.

I watched Heroes since season 1.

SEASON 1!!!!

Which means any bashing I do, or swooning for that matter, is rightfully earned. 

I worked for it.

So...this season...was pretty.....sad.

I mean, I try not to look at Heroes blogs because they make me upset at how judgmental they are.

But honestly, in most ways they are correct.

Heroes never really recovered after the writers strike.

I became so engrossed in the lives of the characters I was willing to look past the implausible nature of many of the themes to say: "Sylar is hot" or "Peter, Nathan, and their mother really need to mend their relationship"

I still think Sylar is hot (Zachary Quinto makes me smile) but the rest of the show just isn't working for me.

And as for the rest of the world, the ratings give their answer.

A new season is not promised, and that may not be a terrible thing.

On to the actual last episode: 

There was a massive build up all season for a tremendous let down.

As my friend says, it pretty much went like this 

"Claire: Samuel is bad.

Crowd: No he is not. You don't understand us.

Claire: Yea, he killed his brother!

Crowd: Wow...that sucks.

Claire: You have to get far away.

Crowd: Ok...thanks. See ya."

Thats how they defeated Samuel.

A fickle crowd, swayed by the charm of the sexually ambiguous Claire left Samuel making him powerless.

Then Claire goes to the top of the Ferris Wheel defying her father in his dying wish(he didn't actually die. Thank God because he was the only one that didn't get on my nerves so much this season), in front of the story hungry media dogs, and jumps off. 

Claire: Thats attempt number....I guess I lost count. 

My brother's text: She should have died.

Atleast Sylar and Peter are still good looking. 

And Hiro and Ando are still....well...Hiro and Ando.

I can't bear to say much more about them.

So I wont.

Lets just say I really miss the old Heroes.

LOST.

Soooo...

I wont synthesize the episodes (LAX 1 and 2 or What Kate Does) because we all know Lost is just to complicated for this.

I will just bring up key points and my theories.

Its so difficult to have to go back in my mind and remember everything about an episode of Lost because there are so many questions posed, and now answers given, that everything kind of blends. 

First lets talk about what Juliet said: It worked.

Which can mean several things. I will offer two theories.

1)There is an alternative universe than the one on the island as a result of the detonation of the bomb.

Or

2)The detonation of the bomb reversed the plane crash and what they are experiencing on the island isn't really happening.

I know the second theory seems kind of dry, its a work in progress but what made me think of it was something Jack said in LAX 2.

He asked Locke what happened to him and told him he was a spinal surgeon.

Locke said surgery wouldn't help him, and told him his condition was irreversible.

"Nothing's irreversible" Jack said. 

Then there was a 2 second pause where I knw that that line would be specific to the entire episode, if not the entire season. And it got me to thinking: What if it really is ALL reversible. 

So obviously I posted that huge Lost: Last Supper picture for a reason.

Usually, I think mock- Last Supper pictures are a little sacrilegious but I think Lost plays a lot on themes of the Christian religion, for example sacrifice.

With that in mind, lets talk about Sayid.

I wont go into details but Sayid was dead and woke up at the end of LAX 2 saying: What happened?

And the roars of a thousand Lost fans could be heard around the world: You can say that again.

In What Kate Does, Sayid is tortured, diagnosed, by the same people who seemingly saved his life. The leader, who's name escapes me I'm sorry, told Jack he had to give Sayid a pill to stop the infection growing within him.

He told Jack it would be a chance to redeem himself.

Jack, not trusting the man or himself, swallows the pill.

The man gives him the Heimlich maneuver and confesses that the pill was actually poison.

He said there was a darkness growing in Sayid and when the infection was complete nothing of his person would be left. Just like Claire.

Hmmmm.....

I read an interesting blog after the season opener which says that Sayid is standing in the same place Judas stood in the Last Supper pictures.

Locke is sitting where Jesus sat.

They believed Jacob, who is currently dead but seen by Hurley, is taking over Sayid's body.

Since we know Locke is actually the man in black, then we know can assume if Sayid becomes Jacob then we have a good guy and a bad guy.

But who is good and who is bad.

Because the smoke monster was supposed to be protecting the island, and since the man in black is actually the smoke monster what does that mean?

Since we saw flashbacks of Jacob being featured in an important moment in each of the Oceanic 6 lives, excluding Aaron, we can assume he brought them there.

What does that mean?

We can infer that since the man in black(Locke) is positioned where Jesus is sitting and Jacob(for now, Sayid) is standing where Judas stood that this story may play out the way it had in The Bible.

A lot of questions to be answered...

One of the more simpler ones that I was interested in finding out is what is Richard's position on the island.

Who is he and who was he.

Locke: "Good to see you out of those chains" he said to Richard.

Was he a slave?

What is the fate of Sayid?

What is the actual state of the island and the Flight 815 passengers?

Lost creators are claiming to answer a lot of questions this season, or atleast not posing new ones, but I am still very confused.

I love this show.

Catch you next week

and enjoy your snow day.

  

This week...was awesome.

Before I start...I'm not going to talk about Lost.

So, read on.

Before you start jumping to conclusions...I did enjoy the episode and I do have a lot I want to say about it.

I just want to let my theories linger in my head until the next episode and then I will compile my thoughts about both episodes (from this week and next week) into one post.

Probably including a reaction to the Heroes season finale.

Vampire Diaries 

(The following contains spoilers)

I really loved Damon in this episode, maybe it was Ian Somehadler- who is 31 btw...go figure.

Everything about him was just as cynical, dark, clever, and evil but we got some flashbacks which really gave insight into his behavior.

No, I'm not a psychology major but behavior is interesting to me.

Damon and Stefan were both courting Katherine, aware of one another, in this flashback.

Both had already known she was a vampire as well.

Their father as well as the other people of the town sought out these 'demons of the night' aka vampires and recruited Damon and Stefan for their dirty work.

Stefan wanted to reason with their father and tell them about Katherine to make a case for her humanity, if you will.

Damon, knowing exactly what would happen if their father ever found out about Katherine, pleaded with Stefan not to tell. He abided, but later broke his promise.

He went on to question his father about the moral perspective behind their rounding up and killing of the vampires, never mentioning Katherine's name. 

His father, catching the gist of the argument, fed Stefan vervain to poison Katherine when she went to suck his....blood. Get your minds out of the gutter people. That scene was pretty sexual though so you are forgiven. =]

Katherine was taken by the people of the town and Damon began on his path for vengeance. 

Meanwhile, 

Anna is revealed to be the daughter of a vampire woman named Pearl who was working with Katherine. She was captured trying to escape with her family. Emily then tells Anna not to worry, because she knows how she can protect them. Hence, why Anna wants to get into the tomb so badly. Screw Katherine, my mom is in there!

Back in the present,

Damon, Elena, and Stefan- the threesome- were coming closer to figuring out how to get into the tomb. Secretly though, Elena and Stefan are working apart from Damon to try and break this case...and Damon smells something fishy.

Damon questions Elena about his ability to trust Stefan-without trying to glamour her...I mean compel this isn't True Blood- and she tells him "Of course you can." but painfully as if she actually cares. 

"You have to give trust to get it" She says. Try taking your own advice.

Damon sees Anna and she tells him he needs to get their father's notebook in order to open the tomb.

Stefan realizes this a little earlier so he and Elena take to his father's grave.

Because he said his greatest secrets would die with him.

Damon arrives just in time to see he has been betrayed and doesn't feel bad in working alone. Claiming the only person he can trust is himself.

"But you, you had me fooled" he said to Elena, and she looked absolutely heartbroken. 

He then feeds her his blood and claims he will kill her so that he and Stefan will share a vampire girlfriend once again, unless he gets the book. With Stefan's attachment to Elena its obvious how this turned out. 

While lounging around the house Stefan goes to get Elena something for her headache and hears the news that Anna stopped by for a visit. 

He goes back upstairs to see Elena missing.

My favorite part of the episode is when Stefan and Elena were lying in bed and Damon came in unannounced.

"If I see something I haven't seen before I'll throw a dollar at it"

Damon Salavatore is my character of the week. 

=]