The Cosmopolitan Blog

In my job in marketing, i have to study the web traffic to our site. I’m sure at CNN they have an entire team working on analysis viewership rates… and i wonder if they’ll notice a drop in viewership today, seeing that the Lost season premiere is on. I mean, let’s face it, there’s been NOTHING on tv these days, no one sits at lunch at work the next day ooohing and aaahing over the latest developments of their favorite series… it’s very sad… well, for us… Cuz for politicians and networks like CNN, i’m thinking their viewership has never been higher, they’re by default, the best entertainment there is on TV, with political debates and all…

Hehehe… so, um, does that mean that there’s a spin doctor somewhere who orchestrated the writer’s strike so that everyone HAS to watch the politics? Hmmm…

The Lost Season 4 premiere is on TV tonight, and so, i’ve spent some time watching recaps online (no, not spoilers, recaps)! It’s interesting what you realize when you watch a summarized version of the show. For example, on youtube, there’s an 8-minute video that summarizes Seasons 1-3, it’s awesome for someone who has actually seen the show to remind you of certain events.

One thing that transpires is the dedication with which Ben has been trying, all this time to block the signal to the island. The 1st time the signal was released was during the crazy event when the hatch blew up after Desmond chose not to turn the key. So, for a few minutes, the island was visible to the outside world, and that’s why Season 2 ended with us seeing those scientists/researchers up North somewhere, and their board lights up pinpointing the location of the island.

The ext time is when Charlie releases the signal just before dying, and so now, it is possible for them to use Neomi’s phone. And when Ben sees that, he becomes terrified, like we’ve never seen him before. Let’s not forget, Ben was a child when his dad was working for the Dharma initiative, and somehow, i think, something he saw there made him want to eliminate everyone from the Dharma initiative (and they all ended up in that mass grave in which he threw Locke).

Seeing Ben by the tower, litterally begging Jack not to make that call, telling him that The Others are actually the good people (although, um, that was pushing it, we do remember what they did to the Losties, don’t we?). But think about it. Locke suddenly sees Walt standing over him in the grave, and Walt obviously lets him in on something really important, telling him there’s work to do, and hours later, he’s hunted his group down and is threatening them if they make that call.

And now we also see that, in the future, Jack is obviously regretting his decision to leave the island, and even left me with the impression that maybe not everyone got off? Confused. Anyway, my thoughts are that Ben is in the casket, and he died, and now Jack realizes that Ben was right all along and he should ahve listened to him. When the funeral director asked him “friend or family” and he said “Neither”, it can only mean that it was someone that he hated (otherwise, why else would he be so upset), but that someone, he felt compelled to go visit, someone who was maybe not liked by many people (no one showed up), someone who maybe doesn’t have any family (again, no one showing up)… um, hello? Can you say BEN?

anway, your thoughts on who is in the casket please. VOTE NOW on the poll on the right hand side of this blog.as

Well Lost is back tomorrow, finally, and seeing that everything else on tv is not even worth the effort of hitting the ON button on your remote control, i have really high hopes for this return. If for some reason, you haven’t started watching lost, or, like a few people i know, you’re one season behind because you’d rather watch the full season on DVD, well, then… tough luck… i’m gonna be discussing what’s going on, so if you don’t want to know, STOP READING NOW!

ok, well, i’d love to hear from you. What’s going on? Why is Jack so upset that they left the island? How quickly did you get that this was a flash forward and not a flashback? Who is in the coffin? Who is Neomi and who does she work for? Who did they get rescued by? Who is Jacob? What convinced Locke not to leave the island? Were you sad to see Charlie die? Where is Walt, how did he suddenly appear to Locke? And for the love of all that’s unholy, what is Ben’s problem??? He’s soooo creepy, with his little beady eyes…

I have to say, this story is reeeeally complicated, and i’m actually thankful for the refresher we saw today. Actually, i’m gonna put a poll up for Lost viewers… i want your opinions on who you think is in the coffin. If none of the options you want are in the poll, feel free to reply to this post.

Well, that’s it, i’m just excited and can’t wait for tomorrow, only thing is, i might just record it, because if it’s anything like today, there was a commercial break every 7 minutes!!! Cheers ABC! Can’t you just pay your writers and give them what they want, so that we can get quality tv back and you don’t feel you have to triple on the advertising you feed us?

i feel like a politician… i’ve been flip-flopping on a specific issue all evening

That’s just a fact, right? I mean, i’m sitting here, watching the US State of the Union speech, and both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are sitting there, watching. Obama is listening, and politely clapping (when it’s something like congratulating the troops, or something else just as “decent”), or simply listening with what seems to be an attentive ear.

But Hillary! Goodness! She has a frown that just didn’t budge throughout the 1 hour, and she was obviously stubbornly refusing to clap, just because this was not her party… It just seems to me like we’ve forgotten that we haven’t had a woman at the head of this country before. The fact is, women are moody, so if she becomes the US president, we should expect, just like we’ve seen so far, pouts, anger (at Obama, SC debate), crying… and occasionally turning to her husband to defend her against the “big bad world out there”, i can just imagine her telling him “honey, they were mean to me”…

Anyway, i’m saying this tongue in cheek, because, i’m all for a woman as the leader of the free world. I think she is capable of bringing a new dimension and perspective that was simply unknown before… But we should know, as well, that women are moody, and this will show, often, during her public appearances, should she become the president…

On another note, Ted Kennedy’s still got it, his speech endorsing Obama was rather unlifting… aaah, the kennedys…

This is really not helping the general US ego. They already think that the world revolves around them, and now, what sucks is that the world does actually revolve around the US. The way they talk about the elections (ok, granted, i’m in Canada, it’s hardly very far away) on TV, you’d think it was everyone’s elections. I haven’t met someone who doesn’t know about Hillary and Barack. The republican race may be less known across the planet however, since the candidates haven’t yet been raised to celebrity status. Speaking of celebrities, i just heard that Fred Thompson (actor from Law and Order, that’s how i know him, anyway), just announced that he was dropping out of the race.

Last time around (2004), it was already bad enough, everywhere we looked there was a debate between Kerry and Bush, but at least, i feel like we were spared the primaries. And sure, in 2000, well, we all know that Bush rigged the votes and Al Gore should have been president, so, again, that had our attention.

But the primaries? Really? Seriously? We have to get involved this early in the process? It’s not, you realize, until this time next year, that the next president is sworn in… I heard on CNN that, during the New Hampshire primary, one of the voters expressed the fact that he wouldn’t vote, because he’s already so over it, and it’s overkill, he doesn’t want to go out and vote, so a bit of a backlash there.

I supposed the good news is, the more we spend time talking about the future president, the less W. is getting facetime… Which might explain why he hasn’t been feeling the love recently, and decided to give every US citizen and $800 tax rebate in the form of a check in their mailbox… Can someone say blackmail? Hey, W! You got a reputation and historical legacy you’re trying to salvage?

The thing is, like it or not, you gotta care. Like it or not, the news of possible US recession just sent the markets reeling this past week. The few shares I follow have hit rock bottom, and one’s not even in the US and is in one of the most stable industries you can get!

So, then, I ask you this. The question that’s on everyone’s lips: are Americans more racist or sexist? Are they more ready to vote for a woman or a Black man? Shame Oprah didn’t join the race, but seeing she’s Black AND she’s a woman, I think THAT, somehow is still a decade away (in my estimate) from being acceptable in such a bigotted, conservative and puritan country.

Personally, i think they’re more ready for a woman, although Barack has my Canadian vote. But here’s the truth. I honestly don’t think they’re ready for either. That is, they WILL pick either the woman or the black man, and that person will be the party’s nominee. But when it comes down to voting for the leader of the free world, my opinion is, come November 08, the Americans will chicken out, and decide not to vote for the Democrat candidate, they won’t want the woman or the Black man, and, therefore, by default, the votes will go to the Republican nominee.

So here it is: I predict that the next president of the United States will be a Republican again.

Anyway, whether you’re glued to your TV set or whether you wish the US would disappear off the face of the planet for a while, let me know what you think. There’s a new poll up (see right hand side), i hope you vote, you can select up to 5 answers.

This is very sad, seeing a young life disappear before it gets a chance to fully grow. There was such promise in Heath Ledger’s career, you could tell this was an actor that would only get better as the years went by. I appreciate that he tried really hard to stay away from the typical teenage roles once he had gotten his foot in the door with “10 Things i Hate About You”.

He took risks and did really good in “Brokeback Mountain”, i found his performance really compelling, especially for a then-26-year-old. And just recently, he completed 2 movies i was really looking forward to seeing: one about Bob Dylan, and one where he plays The Joker. From what i understand on the stories of his death so far, it could be due to the lack of sleep over the past month caused by the stress of getting in the skin of his character as The Joker… that’s dedication pushed to the limit…

He leaves behind a little 2-year old girl (her mother is Michelle Williams who played in Brokeback Mountain, but who you might remember from her tragic role in Dawson’s Creek)… He was 28.

Anyway, this is very sad, very sad indeed.

Moral of the story: i need to learn to write shorter descriptions. I don’t think many people will read my entire posts, just like i find myself merely “skimming” my friends travel blogs, i guess it’s hard to relate to someone else’s experiences when they are not told to you vocally but simply presented in one full block of text.

I don’t really have much to report on London, since the few days i spent there were more about family then vacationing. A few observations though, as someone who left 7 years ago after having lived there 22 years. When i left, the labor government had just started making changes and nothing significant had yet happened. Now, 12 years into their “reign”, London is a very different city. Customer service actually exists now, things are automated and functioning, and the world no longer stops outside business hours. All consumer services such as banks and movie theaters now have automated answering machines (you know, the press 1 for this option, and press 2 for that option), yes surprisingly, it wasn’t universal until recently. But one of the drawbacks of this (and we’re obviously on phase 2 of automation in North America), is that they haven’t gotten the timing quite right. So messages and recordings are sooooo long, the bland British automated voice goes on and on and on and on… Take the Heathrow Express for example. Awesome concept, a train that comes every 15 minutes, and takes you into downtown London in 15 minutes. But, oh my goodness, the voice that speaks to you as the train approaches the platform… “Your Heathrow Express train is now approaching. Remember to wait until the train has come to a complete stop before boarding. Please watch out for the gap. Please keep your bags with you at all times. Once you enter the train, first take care of putting the large bags on the lower shelves, and small bags on top. Then only find yourself a seat”, she went on for so longer, i was wondering if she was going to give me instructions on how to go to the bathroom next.

Same thing for when i called to find out the movie times at the local theater. Before you can get to select your options, they have so much information to tell you about, who owns the theater, the fact that they’re an equal opportunity employer, general theater info, what cards you can pay with, security measures… Never realized British people liked to talk so much (i guess I’m really British then), wasn’t planning on this post being so long

Ok, final observation. When i lived here, i used to hate everything about London, i found it noisy, dirty and ugly. I used to think that they would never move on the a modern city. But today, strange thing happened on the way to the airport. Along the main motorway, there are those typical little British row houses, usually council houses (state-given housing), they look a little rundown, they all have the typical British style doily-looking white lacy curtains in the windows… I used to hate the look of them, simply because they represented something typically British. And today, we’re driving down, and i find myself looking at them nostalgically, finding them cute and quaint and worth preserving…

Funny how perspective changes things…

Quick observation that made me crack up. So I’m sitting on the plane from Spain to London, and the cabin crew lady is telling us that, shortly, someone will be passing by to sell duty free items. So she wants to highlight what are some of the items available, and she says “we have a wide range of perfumes available”, and she starts naming them, Estee Lauder, Givenchy… And then, the next set of names was nothing that i was expecting. I was expecting her to tell us she had perfumes from Gucci, Calvin Klein… But noooo, perfumes available on this flight are from J. Lo, Britney Spears, Sarah Jessica Parker, Victoria Beckham, David Beckham, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue… hehehe, just thought it was funny that now, you’re not a celebrity if you don’t have your own line of perfume.