4/29/2009

Lost Update - Eclipse


Lost Update - Season V - 04/29/2009

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
Beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.


Daniel Faraday is about to reset time and everything that happened to the castaways, is about to be erased. The song lyrics above are from Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, the song is Eclipse. The problem however, is not that he gets shot by his mother 30 years in the past, and his mother doesn't know who he is, until after she shoots him, but what he said earlier, and what he said to Jack and Kate tonight.

In a previous episode, Faraday stated, whatever happened, happened. You cannot change the past. Tonight, however, he tells Jack and Kate that the past cannot be changed, except for the variables. And they, meaning, the castaways, are the variables. They have free will, they have the ability to make a different choice, to change the past. Alas, Faraday's scenario doesn't end well, and this plays right into my Lost theory.

Just what is the Grassy Knoll Institutes Lost theory….
Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

So Faraday tells Doctor Chang that he is from the future and that he must evacuate the island immediately. He also tells him that Miles is his son. He then tells Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Jack, and the gang about the island catastrophe and that he must go to the hostiles camp and meet his mother to reset the time line. He did this to change the course of events, to add a new variable. To course correct so to speak. But I knew this wouldn't work even before Kate typed in the 141717 code on the perimeter fence.

Why? How does the Grassy Knoll Institute know this? I anticipated your next question didn't I? It wasn't anything that Daniel said tonight, or before, but what Desmond had done in the past. Remember when Desmond had his flash and saw Charlie dying? Remember how he tried to prevent Charlie from dying? But what happened in the end? You betcha! Charlie ended up dead. Whatever happened, happened. No matter what you do, you cannot change the past to affect the future.

Remember a few updates ago I mentioned the Time Travel paradox. (Suppose you had the means to travel back in time. While you were visiting the past, you murdered your grandfather before he sired your father preventing you from being conceived and born. But if you were never born, then how could you go back in time to kill your grandfather?) This is why Desmond, Ben, Widmore, Eloise, and Daniel, no matter what they do, or how many times they attempt, they cannot change the course of events in the past to affect the future.

With this being said, here's a Lost series finale spoiler boys and girls. Time Travel is not part of the end Game.

This leaves us only one other scenario. Virtual Reality. Seriously, stay with me here for a minute or two. As the series unfolded over these five seasons, we have come to realize that all the passengers on the plane, and all the hostiles, also known as "The others," have all crossed paths in the past. Don't you find this to be more than just a coincidence? Seriously, hundreds of people, on an island that is invisible, that has properties to move through time, heal terminally ill people, prevent people from aging, allow people to time travel, and allow dead people to interact with the living, plus many more bizarre events, with all of them crossing paths in the past.

Let's concede for the sake of argument that the castaways are time traveling. At that point, you have to admit, that would be a ground breaking scientific achievement since it is deemed impossible. Now add that the island also cures the sick. And not just standard fare illness, but miraculous cures. Just look at John Locke, he is able to walk. Add in all the supernatural events in the previous paragraph and ask yourself, in what scenario can all this be possible? Not just one event, like time travel, but everything involved?

The only scenario that satisfies all those variables is virtual reality. My Lost theory. Some may think I'm a lunatic on the grass, but I know There is no dark side of the moon. Really. Matter of fact, its all dark.

Until Next Week, Get Lost.




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/26/2009

Idora Park - 25 Years Ago Today

Twenty Five years ago today, Idora Park, the Youngstown iconic amusement park burned to the ground ending it's glorious history. Park employee's working on The Lost River sparked a fire from welding equipment that quickly engulfed several major attractions and rides including the famed roller coaster, The Wild Cat and a good portion of the midway burned until the fire was brought under control.

Today I think of those greasy Idora french fries, from the french fry shack, served up in the white cone shaped paper container, grease forming on the bottom, shaking some salt from the dented beat up salt shakers on the counter, and eating them as fast as you can because the Wild Cat line is moving.

Rest In Peace Idora park, April 26th, 1984



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/24/2009

Philadelphia Hard Rock Cafe - Twisted Mac Chicken

philly-hard-rock
Philly Hard Rock Cafe
Running the "Rocky" steps works up a powerful appetite. Luckily the Philadelphia Hard Rock Cafe was right around the corner. And I was hungry. It was crowded but we got a seat. The waitress took our drink order and few minutes later our dinner order. I ordered Twisted Mac Chicken and cheese.
Twisted Mac And Cheese
It took about 20 minutes for our entree's to reach the table. This is not what  thought I was ordering. It was chicken, and there were some twizzly noodles with melted cheese at the bottom of the plate. Anyway, as I said, I was hungry.

You are looking at $18 dollars of food. Yes, 18 bucks. The chicken was well cooked, hot, tender, and tasted good. The macaroni and cheese was also hot and adequate. The bread however, well, you could pound nails with it.

The service was adequate, it was busy, the waiter did his job, but nothing exceptional. A refill on the water and soda would have been nice.



The walls and tables were lined with pictures of rock legends giving the restaurant a nice feel. I snapped some pictures of the Beatles, the greatest rock band in the history of rock.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3 out of 5 shots and recommends the Philadelphia Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. for dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL


Responses to “Philadelphia Hard Rock Cafe”


  1. PeterW.A. said

    The hard Rock is k not known for its food but the atmosphere surrounding it. As long as its edible the Hard Rock considers it a win win.

  2. G Clock M said

    That looks horrible. And you gave it kudos and recommend people to go and eat there. No way.

    • LOTGK said

      Looks are sometimes deceiving. I’ll agree on the bread, it was pretty bad. The atmosphere was cool, good music, adequate service on a busy evening, the food OK.

  3. Contessa Confessa said

    you know, this is probably one of the first blue plate specials that hasn’t made my mouth water… (i’m blaming it on the bread!).

  4. Bitzky said

    I’d totally eat it but for around 12 bucks (converted to Swedish price levels, of course).

    • LOTGK said

      Yea, don’t get me wrong, the chicken was good, the mac and cheese OK, but the presentation, all thrown together in a bowl with stale bread, well, it lost some points for that.

4/23/2009

Lost Update - The Good Samaritan


Lost Update - Season V - 04/22/2009

Tonight on Lost, ABC aired a recap following the Oceanic Six escape from the island and eventual return back. Instead of rehashing the rehash, I am staying on point and will analyze yet another social psychology experiment that is being implemented on the Lost Castaways. Tonight's topic is The Good Samaritan.

Everyone knows the parable of the Good Samaritan right? You could take the time and look it up in your bible, in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, verse 25-37. For those not wanting to look it up, here it is in the short version.

A man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They robbed him of his clothes, possessions, and beat leaving him for dead. As the man lay in the street all crumpled up, a man of the cloth walked by and saw the man but he passed him on the other side. A short time later, another man of the cloth saw the man in need but walked right by him as well. Finally, a Samaritan was walking down the road and saw the man, and he stopped to attend the man. He cleaned and bandaged his wounds, and then lifted the man upon his cart and took him to an Inn. The next day, he paid the innkeeper two silver coins to look after the mans needs and informed the innkeeper that he would return the next day and would reimburse him for any expenses incurred.

The Good Samaritan experiment has been studied many times over by professors across the world. And sometimes, in the case of the Lost Islanders, off the world as well.

We will start with Jack and Ben. Remember a few years back when Jack was forced to operate on Ben to save his life? After he agreed and had Ben open on the operating table, he stopped and demanded that Kate and Sawyer be set free before he would complete the operation and save Ben. Now jump to the present season, just a couple of episodes ago. Young Ben Linus was shot by Sayid and left for dead in the road.

Juliet, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and gang sought out Jack to help young Ben. Jack flat out refused sealing Ben's fate to die. Remember, Jack was always the good guy, helping the castaways from the get go. Now he goes against his oath as a doctor to heal the sick.

In steps Sawyer. He finally has his life in order. He has become head of security for Dharma, has a nice house, life, and a hot blond doctor in Juliet to do the nasty with. Life is good. But Sawyer does not step around the man lying in the road. (Young Ben Linus) Instead, he risks everything to save him and formulates a plan to deliver Ben to the "Others" (The Innkeeper) to look after and care for him. Sawyer is the Good Samaritan.

Wait a minute? What does the Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan have to do with ABC's Lost and my theory of what is really happening on the island? What, you don't know what the Grassy Knoll Institute Lost theory is. For you first timers, in a nutshell...

Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

Think about it gang. The castaways are put into incredible situations each and every week. Their very lives hang in the balance with each decision they make, or choose not to make. Dead people are walking around the island handing out advice as if they were a dispenser of knowledge from the great beyond. The island vanishes and appears in different places and also at different times. The castaways are traveling through time, some faster than others, some get lost, some get found.

But the one constant of the show, from the pilot episode to last week's airing, is that each castaway has a choice to make. A life altering choice. That choice is what the experiment is all about. If given different scenario's, what choice would you make? Would you choose to help the group, or choose to help yourself. Think of the characters on the show, and how many of them have made an about face on their choices.

Until next week, Get Lost!




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/21/2009

Jesus Saves - Then Rocks The House

Jesus Image Appears
Jesus Image Appears
Grassy Knoll Institute Reporting from Maine:
Guitar maker believes the image of Jesus is on the neck of one of his newly made guitars. The image is seemingly burned into the wood grain of the guitar and depicts a full bodied image including arms, legs, and the head of Jesus.

Upon further study, the image does appear to be that of a man, but the clothing is that of an astronaut, a spacesuit very much resembling NASA's Apollo moon Astronauts. This revelation sparked a rebuttal from another religious organization claiming it to be their prophet.

The Raelians, (A religious cult that believes an alien species through DNA intervention created the human race) interprets this guitar figure as a sign that Elohim, (Raelian equivalent to Jesus) is preparing to return to Earth to battle non believers.

The Grassy Knoll Institute asks why now? Why did Jesus, or Elohim appear on a guitar neck in Maine today? What is the significance? The Christian holy day Easter was last week and the Raelian holy day of Cylonian was March 20th, (Series Finale For Battlestar Galatica) has also passed.

It has been noted that a clandestine government agency has been mobilized and ascending upon the great state of Maine. We will assuredly follow their movements in the upcoming days.

In other news, Strangely enough, David Bowie is coming April 24th to New Gloucester, Maine for a rock festival and revival of his top selling 1970's album, A Space Oddity.

Wam Bam Thank You Mam!




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/19/2009

Battle With Satan

As a child, I had several recurring nightmares. One of them involved me coming face to face with the Devil. (Satan, Lucifer, Fallen Angel, Prince Of Darkness, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles) For years, I would have this same two dreams almost nightly.

The dream would always start the same way. I would be sleeping in bed, the lights are out, my other two brothers sleeping across the room. Suddenly, I would be awoken by a strange noise. In the dream, I would open my eyes and scan the dark room and not see anything except a faint red glowing in the corner by the window. I would let my eyes adjust to the darkness and then pull the covers off and get out of bed to investigate.

As I approached the window, I could smell brimstone. (Not sure how I knew what brimstone smelled like, but I did nonetheless) The red glowing became more intense. I glanced back at my two brothers and they were asleep. At that moment I knew something bad was going to happen, (My spider senses were tingling) (This was the late 1960's folks, Spiderman was popular back then) but for some reason, I kept going.

A few more feet and instantly a tall figure came into immediate focus. It was the classic depiction of the Devil himself. All in red, with horns coming out of his head, yellow glowing eyes, a goatee, animal hoofs for legs, a menacing face, sharp fangs for teeth, and a red cape. I was frozen, not in fear, but on what to do. I wouldn't have to wait long.

The Devil lunged at me, grabbed me in his arms and announced in a loud theatrical roar, "I have you now, and I'm taking you to hell with me!" A moment later, my brothers Jack and George were holding me and yelling at me to wake up. I had climbed up into the window and was apparently ready to jump out. George yanked me down and a minute or so later my senses came back to me and I knew where I was.

Mom and Dad came hustling up the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. Jack said I was gonna jump out the window. I really didn't want to tell Dad that the Devil was after me and wanted to take me to hell. A few minutes of questions and it was "Everyone back in bed" time.

For the next few years, this nightmare would replay three to four times a week. My parents, fearing that I would hurt myself, (Jump out the window) re-arranged the beds making mine farthest away from the window and Jack and George's in front of the window. (I would have to climb over George's bed to get to the window.
)
My sleepwalking and nightmare days had begun. It would last into my early teen years. Not just this particular nightmare, but a set of two that seemed to rotate like a bad movie of the week series. Columbo and McCloud. (I'm getting to that in a second)

I did notice something strange about this nightmare. After about a month of the exact same dream, somehow I understood that I was dreaming, and I knew what was going to happen next. I knew that I would see the Devil and that he would grab me and try to take me to hell. For quite some time, I played out this scenario in my sleep until one night, things changed.

Again, a noise woke me up and I saw the red glowing light. I got out of bed and walked over to the window. Again I saw the Devil but right before he grabbed me, I ducked and he missed. I then turned and ran. Out of the room and down the hallway. Then down the steps, across the landing, and down the rest of the steps with the Devil in hot pursuit. I made it to the front door and headed for open space, the playground behind my house.

Looking back, the Devil was in hot pursuit. Apparently having hoofs feet was an extreme advantage for him. A moment later, I spied my advantage. The jungle gym. The Devil was so big he wouldn't be able to fit inside but i could jump right in and keep the Devil at bay. I turned on the jets and made my way to the jungle gym.

The Devil was very close to me now, only a few feet away. He was just ready to grab me when I dove through the bars of the jungle gym. I made it! Safety! Or so I thought. As if by magic, the Devil squeezed himself inside the jungle gym. He came towards me and I began to run around the circle of the gym. Luckily there were four fireman's polls in the center that acted as a border against me and the fiery pits of Hell.

As stated earlier, the Devil was light on his hoofs, and he was gaining on me. He was so close I could feel his hot snotty breath on the back of my neck, the smell of his sweaty brimstone odor, and I could hear low guttural snarling.

I was getting tired at this time and every trip around the circle the Devil was gaining. It was inevitable, he was going to catch me. I didn't want to look back but like a bad movie, I had to. As I glanced back, The Devil was reached his arms out and grabbed me and shouted he was taking me to Hell.

And SNAP! I was awake. My brothers found me in the dining room running around the table. This new scenario would continue for months until one one night, I had had enough. While running from the devil once again, and knowing the results, I decided to stop. The dream started the same as always. Hearing a noise, seeing the glowing red light, seeing the Devil, ducking, running, him giving chase, the playground, the jungle gym, the running. But this time, instead of running in circles in the jungle gym, I stopped and turned around to face the Devil.

The Devil continued to run toward me snarling and growling but I stood my ground. A second later, right before he was going to grab me and take me to Hell, the Devil vanished into thin air. I had won. I faced my fear and I had won. I would have this nightmare only a few more times with the same results. Me winning the battle. The last time I had the nightmare, I stopped it right from the beginning. Instead of getting out of bed, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

Now I had to work on my other nightmares.




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/15/2009

Lost Update - And Miles To Go Before I Sleep


Lost Update - Season V - 04/15/2009

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.


The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


Last week I revealed two of the many experiments being conducted on the Lost Islanders. Ivan Pavlov and his salivating dogs to show how conditioning can be changed in an animal. Desmond pushing the button every 108 minutes was the subject. The second was Stanley Milgram’s study on Obedience To Authority. Ben Linus was right smack dab in the center of that experiment. Negative reinforcement to force obedience. The difference is that Desmond and Ben are not aware of any experiments, not aware that they are in a lab, and not aware that nothing they see, feel, or hear is real.

Tonight, I will enlighten you with yet another classic social psychology experiment being conducted on the castaways. I present to you Phillip Zimbardo's Stanford Prisoner's Experiment.

The Prison Experiment, conducted in 1971, was a critical social experiment to study how humans react and behave to being held captive. Zimbardo selected two groups of people deeming one group inmate guards, and the second group, prisoners. The guards were then told to lock up the prisoners and treat them as they would think prisoners should be treated. The prisoners were handcuffed and shackled together and led to their cells and locked in. In the beginning, attitudes didn't change, the guards were receptive to the requests of the prisoners for food, water, and bedding.

But as the experiment progressed, several of the guards became aggressive towards the inmates and went as far as torturing them. The experiment soon got out of control as the prisoners staged a rebellion and rioted against the guards causing both physical and mental harm to both the guards and prisoners. The warden, Phillip Zimbardo himself, had to end the experiment and bring order back to the two groups of of test subjects. The experiment was originally designed twofold. One, to study humans in captivity and how they adapt to being obedient and manipulated when presented a legitimate ideology and support staff. Two, how a group given absolute authority can overstep their boundaries.

My Lost theory sounds pretty good now doesn't it? The castaways of Oceanic Flight 815 are the prisoners while the "Others" play the part of the guards. At first, the "Others" stay away and leave the castaways alone and seem to live in a balanced environment. Until the prisoners find out what the "Others" are doing behind their backs. (Spying on them, stealing the children etc..)

The castaways assemble, and rebel against the "Others" in a violent showdown where many people are killed. The warden, (Ben Linus) has lost control of the situation, and must now put an end to the unchecked violence. This is exactly what transpired in Phillip Zimbardo's Stanford Prisoner's Experiment. Which brings us to my Lost theory.

Holy smoke monster Batman, we're just now getting around to what my Lost theory is. It's worth the wait.
Just what is the Grassy Knoll Institutes Lost theory…
Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

The poem opening this update is by Robert Frost titled, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. It describes the tumultuous relationship between Miles and his father, Doctor Chang. Read it again now, before we continue.

Horace brings Miles into the "Circle Of Trust." Not really much of a ceremony was it? Lafluer is not available and Horace needs somebody, Miles is there, and becomes part of the Inner Sanctum. (Now we all know why the compound community goes Helter Skelter.) Miles accepts, (Not even a secret handshake, secret password, not even a stinkin T-Shirt.) What Social Psychology study is going on here? (There will be a test on this tomorrow so speak up now)

I found something very odd in tonight's episode. While Miles and Hurley were riding in the VW van, the radio was playing It never Rains In California by Albert Hammond. Later on we heard the Captain and Tennille singing Love Will Keep Us Together. I am not here to judge the poor taste of music, but my question is, from what radio station is the music broadcast from? Yea, yea, yea, I know there is a tower on top of the mountain, but a radio station, highly unlikely.

Naomi tells Miles they need him for the island mission because there are a lot of dead people on the island they need information from. Hold the phone, stop the movie. Is Miles Bruce Willis, from the movie, I See Dead people? i don't buy it. Dead people on the island with information. Want my motto, dead men tell no tales.

If this were real life, and not a TV program, they would have a date with the mental ward. We, as rational people, would not accept that dead people were communicating with the living. (Jon Edwards has that racket cornered on the A&E channel)

The only plausible explanation is my theory. The virtual reality theory. No one is dead, or mostly dead. No one is in heaven. No one is time traveling back and forth and back again. The island isn't invisible nor does it move around in the ocean. Everything the castaways and the "Others" are experiencing is being controlled in a lab. A virtual reality lab. Each variable introduced is carefully inserted to create the desired effect to study how the herd, (Castaways) reacts.

Tidbits From tonight's Episode:

* Juliet to Kate: "Well, here we go!" After Ben's father finds he is missing.

*Miles is in the same time line as himself as a three month old child. You can throw that theory out folks.

* Naomi returns. And so does the hotness of the show. She is attempting to talk Miles into joining the freighter mission.

* Miles accepts for 1.6 million dollars.

* Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue? If you don't you are not ready to go on the mission.

* Faraday returns to the island. Questions for Faraday: How many times has he been on the island. And since he has been there before, why doesn't anyone recognize him? Don't give me that Superman disguise crap.

Until next week, get Lost!




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/11/2009

Five Guys Burgers - Cheeseburger And Fries

Five Guys Burgers And Fries
Five Guys Burgers And Fries
Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips used to stand where Five Guys is now. Arthur's was there for as long as I can remember. Just a little while ago, they closed their doors and Five Guys had the building torn down and erected a new one. Naturally, we had to try the new burger joint.
Five Guys Menu
Five Guys Menu
Parking was easy, as there were only a few cars in the lot. Once inside, of course the place was sparkly clean. It was a brand new building. There were several prominent banners touting how famous Five Guys Burgers were. (I have never heard of them before) Anyway, we bellied up to the counter and placed our orders. I asked for the cheeseburger, large french fries, and regular size diet Coke.
Five Guys Cheeseburger
Five Guys Cheeseburger
This is the $4.59 Five Guys cheeseburger. Yes, that's right. Four and a half bucks for this so called "Famous" Five Guys burger. To me, not so much. I will say it wasn't terrible, but after seeing all the accolades posted all over the store, this burger was highly disappointing.
Five Guys Fries In A Cup
Five Guys Fries In A Cup
This is the $3.79 order of large fries. (Cooked in pure, no cholesterol, tasty peanut oil) Seriously, almost four bucks for a pack of fries. The fries were good, but not $4 dollars good.
Fries At The Bottom Of The Bag
At the bottom of the sack, there were some greasy fries left. I found it very strange to receive my order in a take out bag when we ordered for dining in. They even gave us a tray.

Here's how the dining experience went. Placed order, given an orange tray. Sat down at our table, waited for our number to be called. 10 minutes later our number was called, our order was packed in a take out sack. We were handed two empty plastic cups, the server motioned to the Coke dispenser on the left, we filled our cups, took the sack to our table, separated our dinners. No napkins were on the table, looked for napkins, found none, looked for salt, ketchup, mustard, found none. Asked the server, we had to go back to the counter to ask, we ate our dinner, and left.

Let's tally the dinner tab. A $4.59 cheeseburger, a $3.79 order of fries, and a $1.59 regular size diet Coke. What you see here is $9.97 of food. Sadly, McDonalds has better tasting burgers and fries and a hell of a lot cheaper. MsDonald's offers you a double cheeseburger for 99 cents, a large order of fries for $1.79 and a regular diet Coke for 79 cents for a total of $3.57 of food.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2 out of 5 shots and DOES NOT recommends Five Guys for lunch or dinner.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL