The sulfur residue and Life is Beautiful

At graduation tonight one of our keynote speakers was Dirk Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Department of Interior, so I'm pretty close to a full cabinet secretary and could almost smell the sulfur residue on him from W, as Hugo Chavez would say. The guy seemed pretty nice. He gave a good speech, smiled, showed some humor, and I couldn't even bring myself to even gently boo a Bush cabinet secretary, so I must be going soft -- kidding. I told him he's a lot sunnier than Cheney. Graduation was a success. Another year in the books.

I'm off for almost two months. I'm diving on Friday in one of the wonders of the world in Palau. I have been lounging at the Mandi Spa, dove Lau Lau yesterday and The Grotto the day prior. Life is good right now. I ate at Kuri- ya on Middle Road, a Ruth Tighe inspired choice, but not her recommendation. The place is great -- very authentic. I was only in Japan once, but that place is exactly what I remember Osaka restaurants looking like. The only gripe there is that my food took a small eternity to arrive. Nearby Shelly's Pizza has gotten significantly better since they opened. I bought a pie there in week one, and frankly, I was disappointed, but they've worked the kinks out of the system, and the pie there now makes me feel like I'm back in Jersey.

I watched the next to last Sopranos episode last night and it was Coppola like in its brilliance. The New York media goes crazy over this show, and sometimes they are right. The famous Pine Barrens episode rises to the occasion. The last one did as well. I always liked it, and I've naturally seen them all, but overall, I not as ebullient in my praise as others. The last episode measured up, though, as did the Lost finale, which was fantastic.

There are a few downsides. The ant situation on the home front is nuts lately. I don't know what it is that drives them inside with such eagerness at certain times, but this is one of those times. Also, the power is getting whackier than ever. I have a clock that pushes ahead almost one hour per week with the weird power situation. It is getting worse. I have a tv I bought new that seems to be fading from the lousy power as well, but overall life is good right now.

The bitching about Lost

First, here is the news on Lost, abridged from the NY Daily News.

ABC has renewed the show for 48 episodes to be spread over several years, ending
during the 2009-10 season. The show will air uninterrupted in 16-episode
seasons. "Lost," which has suffered some ratings erosion this season, has come
under fire for weak story lines and episodes that seemed to lead nowhere. In
recent weeks, the content has rebounded, according to some critics. For the
season, "Lost" is averaging 15.1 million viewers, down from 15.4 for all of last
season.

I don't watch many shows. I watch The Sopranos, Real Time with Bill Maher, the Daily Show, The Office sometimes, and that is about it. I watched CSI for a while, but long ago had enough of that. I loved the West Wing, liked Six Feet Under and was sorry they both ended.

Lost is one of the few shows that I really like and would never miss. I've read the bitching about Lost, and I don't get it. The Others are about the best bunch of villains out there. This is the best season ever as far as I'm concerned, at least on par with season one and much better than season two. Yes, the long hiatus in the middle of this year was a mistake, but it seems they are rectifying that problem. I think dragging it out over three years is probably a mistake, but oh well. What I object to is the talk that the show isn't any good anymore. I would say it is by far the best show on tv. The main characters are interesting. They've wiped out some of the boring ones. And the bad guys are fascinating. This show is free, compelling, and better than 95 percent of the crap that makes it to Wallace Theaters.