My new theory on LOST

I don’t read the spoilers online or go looking for upcoming information about shows because I know it would ruin it for me.

I’m the only person I know that didn’t know Arnold was a good guy in T2. That’s why it was so great. I hate it when that feeling is ruined.

But sometimes some things just come to me. I recently saw the promos for the new episodes of LOST.

If you can remember, all of the LOST episodes were suppose to be from 2004, except for one. That one episode was from the future, but what future.

This got me thinking last night that the new season will show the characters not from 2004 but from 2008 (or what’s considered to be now).

This means that some of the characters got off of the island for 3 years and now plan to go back. It also means that those who stayed will have 3 years of back-story on the island.

This is an awesome concept. It makes me wonder if the future episode was from 2007 and they are back on the island now or if it’s from now and they want to get beck on the island.

This will also explain why Walt is so tall and older. It could mean that Sun’s baby is 2 years old and Claire’s baby is 3 years old.

I’m seriously looking forward to the new season.

Pushing Daisies or Plagiarizing Groundhogs

My wife caught this one while we were watching the most recent episode of Pushing Daisies (Corpsicle).

If you forward into the episode, the scene after the commercial break starts out with a Winter scene of a street.

When Karen saw this she said “That’s the same street from Groundhog Day”. Upon further investigation it wasn’t just the street, it was the exact scene from Groundhog Day. There is someone shoveling snow on the left side of the street and someone walking down the sidewalk on the right side of the street. The Pushing Daisies scene has the walker just past the yellow house while the Groundhog Day scene has the walker at the end of the block farther away.

At 28 minutes 10 seconds (without commercials) the image below was captured from the 2007 Pushing Daisies episode Corpsicle.
The clip doesn’t have any relevance to the show except for the snow.

At 1 hour 36 minutes and 05 Seconds the image below was captured from the 1993 movie Groundhog Day.
This clip is in front of the actual Bed and Breakfast used in the Movie.

I wonder how many other people noticed? Pushing Daisies Forum Post.

Pushing Daisies, my theories on Ned’s dog Digby

Here are few links to bring yourself up to date on Pushing Daisies if you’re not already familiar with the show. IMDB Wikipedia ABC

Digby is Ned’s dog and the first living thing Ned ever brought back to life. Ned at the age of 9 years, 27 weeks, 6 days and 3 minutes old learned that touching something dead once equals life, touch it again and it’s back to being dead.

Ned was fortunate to have learned this before touching Digby a second time. Therefore Digby is alive and well in Ned’s adult life now 19 years, 34 weeks, 1 day, 59 minutes later. He just can’t touch him.

The plot of the show is based around Ned’s love for someone he made alive again. That someone is Chuck and they can never touch. Or can they?

Theory #1
My first theory is that at the end of season one Digby and Ned will touch accidentally but Digby will not die (Season One Cliffhanger). The end of season one will put Ned and Digby at over 20 years from the first touch. This will lead Ned to wonder how long after he touches something can he touch it again and it not return to being dead. Wanting to know how long before he and Chuck can touch again he will probably setup an experiment with many dead insects, choosing those with the longest life span. Using predetermined times to touch the insects again, after an hour, a day, a week and a year bringing us all the way to the end of the second season (Season Two Cliffhanger).

Is 20 years the magic number? Will it be 20 years before Ned and Chuck can touch?

Theory #2
My second theory is based on Digby being a Golden Retriever. The average lifespan of a Golden Retriever is 13 years. Digby was 3 years, 2 weeks, 6 days, 5 hours and 9 minutes old when he died so today he would be over 22 years old. That leads us to the conclusion that Ned’s first touch of life alters the natural life span of whatever he touched. This could lead Ned into another experiment. Only this time Ned gathers some insects with very short lifespans. After touching them and bringing them back to life he waits to see how much longer they live past their natural lifespan.

The Apple Sticker Game

Have you ever had your kid in the car and they get bored. You know their bored because they said “Daddy I’m bored”.

A few months ago I came up with a game to entertain my daughter when she gets bored. Or you can start a game if they’re whining or annoying you.

It’s called The Apple Sticker Game.

All they have to do is find a automobile with an Apple sticker on it.

The Rules:
1. You must be in an automobile with the engine running. Stickers can’t be pointed out when engine is not running. If stickers are called out from outside the automobile or when the engine is off those stickers become void and can not be used in the game. Automobiles with stickers do not need to be moving or with their engine running. Any automobile with an Apple sticker is in play.
2. Can’t be an Apple sticker that’s been used in any other game. You know, my car, neighbors cars and such.
3. They have to be able to prove it. You know, point it out and such, honor system can be used if on highway.
4. Multiple stickers on a car are multiple opportunities. If an automobile has 3 stickers, one kid can win three dollars if they call them all.
5. If a parent notices an Apple sticker on a automobile and points it out, that automobile becomes void and can not be used in the game. I’ve never used this rule but I might if I lived in Cupertino.
6. This is The Apple Sticker Game, no other Apple logos are valid such as store signs, billboards or Apple stickers not on an automobile.

The Rewards:
1. Find an Apple sticker on an automobile and win a dollar.
2. Find an old multi-colored apple sticker on an automobile and win five dollars.
3. Find an Apple sticker placed on the inside of the car and therefore looks backwards from your point of view and win five dollars.

Prison Break Season 3 pulls a John Doe?

In some of my previous articles I explain the similarities between an old show and a new show. In this article I explain the possibility that a new show is creating a plot twist that puts it on par with an old show.

You see, season 1 of Prison Break dealt with the escape. Season 2 dealt with the money, the truth and the run. At the end of Season 2 Lincoln is given a full pardon after the truth came out and the brothers have the money. So that wraps the show right? It’s over, they escaped, Lincoln is a free man and they have a ton of money to live happily ever after, right? Wrong.

Prison Break season 3 will take the show in a whole new direction. There were plenty of clues to the new direction.

Season 2, Episode 14 was named John Doe. A funny pun since Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) played the lead character on John Doe.

Another slight but significant clue is the secret agency the General works for. If you watched John Doe, then you know of the Phoenix Organization.

The Phoenix Organization had a character (Trenchcoat) that didn’t speak even though he could. Prison Break season 2 introduced a character (The General) that doesn’t speak even though he can.

The General works for a secret organization much like The Phoenix Organization that positions people in scenarios to see the resulting outcome.

I believe that Prison Break season 3 will also be more like LOST in the fact that every episode will be half what’s happening now and half what happened in the past. Every episode will have flashback elements. Why, you ask? Because we are going to find out that the General has been pulling strings since before Lincoln was targeted.

Much like LOST uses flashbacks to show us previous characters that have since died, Prison Break season 3 will flashback to the prison allowing dead characters to reprise their rolls as we find out the General’s involvement in character placement.

You may have noticed that T-Bag was directed to go to Panama, as well as the scene where Bullock got shot. T-Bag was a pawn to get the brothers to Panama. Who was pulling the strings? I believe it’s the General.

In the penultimate scene of the season finale, it became obvious that the only brother that is wanted or needed is Michael Scofield.

My biggest prediction is that the General targeted Michael Scofield from the very beginning. He may have chosen Michael because he verges on savant and knew his capability and his drive to break his brother out of prison. But for him to try as hard as he did, his brother, Lincoln Burrows, would have to be innocent. Does that mean that the General was part of the setup to frame Lincoln? Yes, I believe it does. But, I also believe that those people are unaware they are part of a much larger conspiracy.

I think season 3 will reveal the General’s involvement in many of the previous season’s scenarios that lead the brothers to where they are now.

Why? What purpose would the General have to drive Scofield to get put in prison then break out? It could simply be to find the strengths and weaknesses of the prison or the man. We may also find out that Michael Scofield is not an isolated case. There may be many other people being driven unknowingly by the General to accomplish similar tasks

The O.C., they cancel it now that it’s getting good.

I’ve always been a fan of The O.C. (the new Beverly Hills 90210), but the show has gotten better now that they killed off Marissa. Her melodrama was hard to watch at times. Taylor has a quirkiness and is genuinely funny. Ché’s character is kinda annoying but he’s better than Oliver, OMG I hated Oliver.

The show dwindled because of Marissa and Volchok (it was an unentertaining story line), and then they started the new season out about Marrisa’s murder and Volchok.

The show is immensely better with Taylor as a lead actor. Of course last nights episode of Kirsten being pregnant was a Jump the shark moment.

The O.C. on IMDb

Cosmo Model and Talent, from my point of view.

This article is my opinion and mine alone, however, after reading the 50+ comments you will see that my opinion is not unique and matches that of many people.

Scroll to the bottom of this article for the most recent updates.

12/28/2006 A couple months ago I received an email from someone wanting to know my experience with Cosmo Model & Talent. I gave an honest answer that got me thinking about my own experience with Cosmo. The same person emailed me a few weeks later to let me know they decided not to join after meeting with Tammy, they did not say why.

Below is my honest and factual opinion of Cosmo Model & Talent. It’s from my own experiences.

I think we fell into that easy target category because I own my own business and my daughter is home-schooled. Cosmo convinces you that home-schooled kids will have better availability for appointments because their schedules aren’t dictated by the school system.

My first impressions of Cosmo Model & Talent. The first thing I noticed was that they are in a small section of a business building. The hallway to Cosmo had an unpleasant odor on more than one occasion. I was surprised that hey didn’t have their own dressing rooms, they use the office buildings restrooms. Overall I was very unimpressed. The second thing I noticed was they didn’t have computers for communication like email and such. They had a computer or two for printing invoices but no over-all cohesive computer system or network. Mike, the photographer, had an old Mac and a new Mac but their office had no high speed internet. Mike had a laser printer which most comps were printed on at the time. When you were given something to sign it looked like it was a copy of a copy of a copy. Their office was run like they were back in the early 80’s. I didn’t hold their lack of technology against them because I was not familiar with the modeling world and what they considered acceptable.

Their website was bad. Click this link to see what it looked like through most of 2006. I mocked up a new website for them in 2005 and showed it to the owner, Dona Downing, but she said when she was ready she was going to spent 20K and do it right. That’s not the direction the site took but it looks much better. Only a couple months ago did they change the site. Click this link to see the new sites progress. Then they change their URL from models to model breaking my previously listed link.

This is a chronological order of events through the our Cosmo experience.
7/30/2005 My daughter tried to get into an American Girl show in the summer of 2005. She didn’t meet some specific height and clothing criteria but Cosmo was waiting outside for anyone who might be interested in modeling. The American Girl show and Cosmo are not related.

8/1/2005 We stopped and got some information. It all seemed harmless and Allyson was interested. Most little girls are. Anyway, we went and met with Tammy Moore who signs up new models for Cosmo. No promises were made about any real work. It was more like we were given the impression that work was a given and it would’nt be long after her classes that she would have her first gig.

8/2/2005 Tammy asked if I was interested. Of course I laughed, but she said they always need men. After letting that sink in for a day I went back and talked with her more. It seemed like since they needed men as she suggested that work would be easier for me to get than Allyson. I decided it was obviously an easy way to earn some extra income so I did it.

Most of the classes were taught by former employees or Cosmo models and some classes are taught by the same person who answers the phone. The employees themselves were very nice and professional at all times.

We paid for Allyson’s classes up front and her comp cards later, children are expected to update their comp cards every year. I paid for part of mine and was told the remaining balance would be deducted from the jobs I would get. After a couple months of no calls I received a payment plan from Cosmo for the remainder of my balance. I called and asked why it was sent to me when I hadn’t even received any jobs yet. Tammy’s response was that they never guaranteed I could get a job soon and that the balance was due. I was obligated to pay the balance because I signed the papers of my own free will. So I paid it.

7/6/2006 Now the wait for a phone call. One year after Allyson signed up she was asked to come in for a preliminary interview. She didn’t get it. I have never been called. I’ve listed the expenses of being associated with Cosmo. It does not take into account all the other expenses like fashion magazines, time out of our schedule, makeup, new clothes for photo shoots, etc.

The photography of the models is great, however the printed comp cards are completely generic. They are printed on a color laser printer not photographic paper, but maybe that’s what all model agencies do, I don’t know. The comp cards price seemed high for what you were getting, but as I say “It costs what it costs”.

From my current point of view (1.5 years after signing with Cosmo) not one penny I spent with Cosmo was worth it. Because they didn’t provide services that we paid for.

I don’t feel that I’m being impatient. I actually felt like I waited some time after my patients ran out before posting this article.

Does Cosmo actually have models getting jobs? Yes, they do, but I would speculate it’s small percent of the total applicants they sign. That means you’re probably not getting a call, ever. Consider yourself lucky (I suppose) is you ever heard from Cosmo again.

Do I feel foolish for getting ripped off by Cosmo, Yes. I think everyone feels foolish when they get ripped off and then they don’t want to admit it because it’s embarrassing. I’m willing to forego my own embarrassment if this information helps others.

List of expenses to Cosmo for Allyson.
$500 8/1/05, modeling classes
$40, 9/12/05, modeling portfolio
$125, 10/28/05, half of the photo shoot payment
$125, 1/20/06, balance of the photo shoot payment
$60, 1/20/06, 25 comp cards and 1 8×10
$850 TOTAL

List of expenses to Cosmo for Rob.
$275 8/2/05, partial payment for modeling classes
$60 11/3/05, 25 comp cards and 1 laser print
$100 1/20/06, payment 1 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 2/14/06, payment 2 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 3/23/06, payment 3 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 4/20/06, payment 4 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 5/23/06, payment 5 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$835 TOTAL

$1685 TOTAL PAID to Cosmo for Allyson and Rob

You can contact Cosmo Model & Talent at:
808 Lyndon Lane, Suite 211
Louisville, KY 40222
502-425-8000

COMPLAINT PROGRESS:
2/7/2007 Today I’m emailing this information to Cosmo per the suggestions of the Better Business Bureau.

2/23/2007 Today I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, my complaint number is 4758922.
I never received a response from Dona or Tammy, both were sent an email about my pending complaint.

My complaint has been received (2/23/2007) and is being handled by my local BBB.
The Better Business Bureau, Inc. (Louisville, KY)
844 S. 4th Street
Louisville , KY 40203-2186
Phone: (502)583-6546
Fax: (502)589-9940
Email: info@ky-in.bbb.org
Web: http://www.ky-in.bbb.org

3/2/2007 I received a call this morning (10 AM) from Craig at Cosmo. I immediately assumed he was calling about my complaint. He said there was a trade show looking to do a spoof on Deal or no Deal. He wanted to know if I was interested in playing the part of the host. I replied “I’m sorry, I’m not available”. He mentioned it was $350 per day, I repeated that I wasn’t available. Seeing as this is the one and only call from Cosmo I’ve ever received for work and the fact that it came after I filed a complaint, you can see why I turned it down. And you can’t deny the ironic timing of this job offer.

3/3/2007 I received a call from Dona Downing today (1 PM) about my complaint. She wanted to make sure that I understood today (3/3/2007) was the first time she was aware that I had a complaint with Cosmo. She received a letter from the BBB but never received my previous email. She wanted me to be aware that Craig had no knowledge of my complaint when he called me about the job offer the day before. From her point of view she felt as though she need to defend herself. Some of the things she mentioned on the phone about this article I have removed because they were irrelevant to my overall experience. She mentioned repeatedly that they are not some scam company and that she’s been doing her job for 30 years. She pointed out that her company has booked “Millions (with and S)” of dollars worth of jobs throughout their history. She pointed out somethings that I would have never known, again I can only give my point of view.

She mentioned that if this article hurts her business she would take legal action. I would expect no less, I would do the same.

She said she didn’t think refunding my money would make me happy, actually it would. Like I said earlier they can’t make everyone happy and I’m one of those people. But receiving a full refund would actually make me feel good that I wasn’t out any money on this whole experience. Dona also pointed out that I wasn’t charged the full price in the first place, so apparently I received a discount. My wife and I decided months ago to no longer proceed with modeling for myself or my daughter, so that’s not an option.

Dona, I want to thank you for the phone call and I appreciate your professionalism about my complaint. I genuinely felt as though you were hurt by some of the things in this article. And others you knew were lacking in information. The only thing I tried to impress upon you was that this was my actual experience with Cosmo. Running my own company I can understand that you must feel disappointed with my experience as your client. I would never want one of my clients to be disappointed with my service. And if they ever were I would fix it. And if they posted an article about it that would bother me too.

Dona, I apologize for some of the irrelevant items that I had in this article. Being a computer person I tend to over detail things (partly because I have such a good memory) and my point can be lost. I can’t change my overall experience with your company but I can make sure this article only represents my experience sans emotion and excessive detail. You will be receiving an email about my changes to this article.

3/3/2007 After speaking with Dona Downing today I felt is was my responsibility to review my entire post and make sure that I have in no way fabricated anything or speculated. If this post previously had my own speculation then I removed it. A few other things were removed because I decided they were irrelevant even thought they were not made up. That’s not what this post was suppose to be about. It’s simply suppose to represent my experience, nothing more.

3/14/2007 The BBB has yet to receive a response from Cosmo.

3/26/2007 I received a response from BBB today. Apparently Cosmo responded with the same info I’ve already posted about above. They made no offer to reimburse me. I’m continuing my complaint.

There seems to be some confusion about my complaint. So let be very clear, it has nothing to do with the computers that Cosmo has or their website, those were merely observations.
My complaint is only about the nearly $1700 I spent for services that they did not provide.
As for two jobs Cosmo claims I turned down.
1. The first was not formally offered to me, when I stopped in to get something for Allyson, Craig said that he included my Comp Card for a commercial where I would have to dress up like a fairy. He then said to me “But I didn’t think you take it because of you other business” I replied “You are correct”. That was the end of that conversation.
2. The Second job Craig called me for is the listed above, after I had already filed my complaint with the BBB.

4/2/2007 I received a response today from the BBB indicating they regret thier efforts were not been successful in resolving the matter to my satisfaction.
I’m seriously confused by this because they didn’t really do anything yet they’re closing the case.

4/2/2007 I sent an email to the BBB indicating that I don’t understand how the case could be closed. I received no response.

4/10/2007 I sent another email to the BBB indicating that I don’t understand how the case could be closed. I received no response.

4/30/2007 I sent another email to a different person at the BBB and they replied the case had been closed and there was nothing more the Bureau could do to resolve this complaint. From my point of view this is all the BBB did. I filed a complaint, they sent the complaint to the business, the business issued a bogus response, the BBB closed the case.

It’s no wonder Dona made fun of the fact that I filed a complaint with the BBB. And she called it a silly club that costs her about $500 a year. It’s no wonder she gave the response that she did, she must think the BBB is a joke. I don’t know if she has settled in the past but I’m guessing she hasn’t.

If this is how most of the BBB cases are handled I can’t say that I would recommend people even bother with using the BBB. I guess since this is my first use of the BBB I expected more. It’s not their fault, my expectations were too high. I figured Cosmo would put more value into a bad or unresolved case. I figured wrong.

7/15/2007 I’ve been completely ignored by Cosmo and was never offered a refund of any kind. My best recommendation to anyone looking for modeling info for themselves or their kids is to look past Cosmo. I wouldn’t be in business If I ever had a disappointed client and treated them the way Cosmo has treated me.

2008/01/28 Today I’m filing a new complaint with the Better Business Bureau (ID 5992301). In my original conversation with Dona Downing (3/3/2007) she informed me that my daughter’s comp photo would be removed from their website. As of today (nearly 11 months later) her picture remains listed. I’m requesting my daughter’s picture be removed and a full refund ($1685) for services they never provided.

I think the fact that they never removed my daughter’s photo (even after my first complaint), goes a long way to show that I was told by Cosmo what I needed to hear to either get my money or shut me up, then they never followed through with the services or the removal. The image below was taken today (2008/01/28) to show that Cosmo has not made good on anything they’ve said so far. My daughter is the main image holding the sun glasses.

They finally took down her picture but only after the BBB contacted them again. The BBB was again unable to satisfy my request for a refund.

2008/05/25 After receiving a few comments on my article I decided to add back some previous details that I removed.