We'll Always Have (Gifts From) Paris

Do I mind that my wife and mother-in-law vacationed in Paris without me this year? Not when they bring back goodies like these....

Lost in Hong Kong

I recently returned from a family vacation in Hong Kong and China. Having spent the last year immersed in LOST, it was a bit of a shock to the system to suddenly be without. Our Cathay Pacific flight offered a selection of season 6 episodes, and I did see a preview for a season 6 episode on TV while eating dim sum in Hong Kong, but other than that there was absolutely no official LOST to be had during the trip. With a bit of perseverance I was able to get my LOST fix, however, starting with...

...The Numbers. Our first week in Hong Kong we stayed in room 1521 of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. My wife's organization held a dinner one night and we ended up at table 23.

We took a side trip to Beijing. Here we are waiting at our gate, gate 16.

We stayed at the Beijng Regent hotel. (Highly recommended, by the way.) Naturally we were again on the 15th floor, this time in room 1515.

Our first dinner in Beijing was hot pot at a restaurant in a nearby mall. At table 23.

After eating Chinese food for a couple of weeks (including several huge multi-course meals with relatives), the kids and I tried a Pizza Hut in Beijing. We were seated at table 48.

Look familiar?

We saw workers building the Orchid station in Hong Kong.

And we found that counterfeit DHARMA confectionery products are very popular with Hong Kong residents.

My kids were ecstatic when they found the cable leading to the Looking Glass station.

Perhaps the first LOST spin-off? I should fact-check this with Daniel Dae Kim.

Speaking of Jin, we also found some of the oversized palm fronds that he drank from while time traveling in season 5.

We also found these signs strewn across Hong Kong's Cheung Chau island. I didn't have time otherwise I would have followed them to see if she and Jorge were hanging out there.

We spotted many banyan trees on our trip as well. Here are a few of them.

So, despite the three-week interruption of our re-watch, we still managed to get our LOST fix abroad.

UPDATE: I tweeted the "Jin's Island" pic to Daniel Dae Kim, and the "Bethany" pic to Ms. Shady and both seemed to enjoy them:

Keeping LOST alive

I was at the National Art Gallery here in Ottawa over the weekend with my family and we took in the "Pop Art" exhibit which is here for a few months. One of the "exhibits" is a room bathed in black light and a collection of colourful chalk with which one can draw on the walls.

Among other things my daughter an Oceanic airlines symbol (yellow) and my son drew an eye (red).

I, with my abysmally poor drawing ability, decided just to have a little fun with The Numbers. Hopefully another LOST fan will see these and smile.

Hatchy Birthday

My daughter had a birthday recently and look who showed up for cake that day!

Looks a bit like Kate is searching for a candle to light. I also enjoy the way Hurley seems to be wistfully (and hungrily?) staring at the icing.

Oh, I almost forgot -- Vincent was there too. Sideways Vincent, by the looks of him.


Here's a clearer shot of the cake.

All Things Must Pass

My Mom passed away earlier this month. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about two and a half years ago, and had surgery at that time to remove part of her pancreas. She was back on her feet soon after the operation and fortunately was able to lead a full and busy life since. I was amazed at the number of people she had talked to and visited within the two weeks prior to her passing. All noted that she was upbeat and appeared strong. She had started feeling a little worse than usual on a weekend, and entered the hospital the following Wednesday afternoon on her doctor's recommendation due to a bit of dehydration. By 9:30 that evening she had died. Despite her condition, everyone including her doctor and the hospital nurses was shocked at her sudden demise. I'm thankful that her pain was short-lived, but so sad that I wasn't able to say good bye.

Our last conversation revolved around my previous post, a television appearance by her two grand kids. She loved seeing the pictures , was happy and excited for them and sounded fine when I spoke to her. She also had a chance to speak with my son that day. She was such a wonderful Mother and Grandma.

Modeling on the Morning News

My kids had a fun experience this week -- they modeled clothes from Sears on one of our local television station's morning news programs.

Above: My 2 kids (left side) in the dressing room.

Above: On-camera for the formal wear segment.

Posing at one of the unoccupied interview stations in the studio.

Above: On-camera for the informal wear segment.

Group shot of the show's host (in pink) along with the two families participating.

I'm very proud of both kids, especially my son who is very nervous with strangers and in crowds. He did quite well in the spotlight!

Of course, I did have a secret agenda -- to get them familiar with the cameras as initial prep for their roles on the LOST reboot premiering circa 2025 on ABC!

LOST Season 6 Premiere

The season premiere of Lost's sixth and final season aired last night.

I broke out a few decorations to help celebrate.


I watched the show with my son and daughter, both Lost fans. My son was very excited that Lost was finally back on the air. My daughter was also happy, but fell asleep part way into the second hour.


For the first hour I wore my Locke Lives T-shirt that I won in a recent contest. Unfortunately my Dharma koozie, which I won the same week as the T-shirt, hadn't arrived in the mail yet so I wasn't able to enjoy Dharma beer during the show.


The second hour I switched to a Polar Beer T which I bought at teefury.com late last year. Carlton wore this T (well, not this one, but same design!) at the Gallery1988 gala in December.

I thought this was the best premiere since the pilot, so I'm really psyched for the balance of the season.

Uhura custom mod

My daughter received the Uhura Barbie for Christmas:


But she quickly noticed that the iconic Uhura earpiece wasn't included. No problem - within seconds she had come up with a custom mod courtesy of Hannah Montana:

Pride Island

My son is 10 years old. He is an avid reader, and seems to enjoy writing. Together we have been writing a short novel over the past 6 months or so titled “The Amazing Adventures of Fatman and The Blubster”. Generally he comes up with the characters and the plot while I do the typing and wordsmithing. He’ll also suggest certain words and phrases as we go. It’s fun to work on the story together. Yesterday he brought home some text that he had worked on by himself at school. When I read it I had one of those “welling up” moments. I was filled with happy pride. It is only a few sentences, and it has a few spelling & grammar mistakes, but I really think it shows promise. Apparently my son used the island on Lost as inspiration for some of the descriptions below.

Who knows what the future may bring? When I was about the same age, maybe a couple of years older, I wrote a couple of dozen short stories myself, but eventually drifted away from writing to other things. I look forward to seeing how this new budding author develops.

Additionally, my son is attending a young authors conference on Monday. His teacher offered him the opportunity based on his affinity for reading and writing. He’ll be meeting with Charles De Lint and Joan Fitzgerald McCurdy.

Here is the piece. His teacher graded it A+. Nice work, son.



The Island
by Dominic Perrin

The island was covered with huge bulky palm trees. Its coast line is extended and the sand is white. There are vultures circling the gigantic mountains that stretch above the trees. Tiny coconuts are making splashes of sand as they crash to the ground from the higher section of the slim trees. All around the island is turquoise waters reaching up the coast as seagulls dine on a feast of miniature fish. The sand feels silky and the tree bark feels rough, similar to the rocks. As the rain starts falling the sand starts to turn muddy and runs into the sea. It smells like rotting fish near the sea, and the jungle smells mucky and wet. It’s humid and the rain tastes reviving on their tongues. The coconut milk tastes horrible and bitter compared to the milk their used to. Sounds of the crashing rain and booming thunder, makes the island scary mixed with the darkness of night and the howling and yelping of strange animals in the jungle. As the waves hit the ocean is sounds like machines crashing and winds made it sound like people screaming. It was a truly horrifying island.