Another kind of salad dressing

Here's 83-year-old Cloris Leachman in the new PETA ad.

PETA ads usually feature young actors in the (tasteful) buff, but instead here's the old spitfire, looking grand in a dress made of lettuce.

Leachman says she's been a vegetarian for over 50 years, and it's one of the secrets of her good health.

I believe it.

Tragedy

Natasha Richardson's death at 45 on Wednesday, the result of a fluke accident during a skiing lesson on Monday, was a shocking end to a life full of... well, life.

The daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, the sister of actress Joely Richardson and the wife of actor Liam Neeson, Natasha was no stranger to the life of an actor.

Known for roles in films like The Parent Trap, Nell and Evening, in which she co-starred with her mother, Natasha was perhaps best remembered for her stage performances, including her Tony-winning turn in Cabaret in 1998.

While her spouse was filming a movie in Toronto this month, Natasha was tucked away with the couple's two sons at a Montreal ski resort. During a routine beginner's ski lesson on Monday, she fell, and seemed to be fine. Resort employees said she didn't seem to hit her head on anybody or anything. But about an hour later, after she had been totally cognizant, she developed headaches and deteriorated quickly.

Her family flew her to New York, apparently to say goodbye, and was forced to take her off life support this afternoon.

It would seem the lesson to learn from this tragedy - should there be one - is to always wear a helmet while skiing, no matter if you're a beginner or an experienced pro. The scary thing is, she wasn't riding off-trail like Sonny Bono. She wasn't carelessly gliding through trees on a steep slope. She was simply taking a beginner's lesson with her family.

How easily it seems life can slip through the fingers.

LOST: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham and Lafleur

The climactic scene in 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,' in which Ben strangles Locke, shot atop the Ben-Locke canon and may just grace the cover of their Greatest Hits. Shocking, dark and poignant, it is why LOST still thrills.

The rest of the episode? Personally, I found most of Locke's pleading to the Oceanic 6 rather unconvincing. "We have to go back"? That's all you've got, John? It probably didn't help that he was greeted with responses ranging from tepid (Sayid, Mr. Habitat for Humanity) to downright cruel (Kate).

The parts that worked were the most unexpected: Widmore explaining his side, Abbadon getting offed rather abruptly and the news that Locke's former love, Helen, was apparently dead from a brain aneurysm. I think she's either a) not dead, or b) dead and killed by Widmore, et al.

Tidbits:

-Does this seem to tie up loose ends with Walt? That was rather anti-climactic.

-Lapidus apparently took off in one of the boats with "some woman." Could it be anyone but Sun? And who wants to bet that they're the ones shooting at Sawyer and Juliet during those flashes?
-When Locke belly flops into the Tunisian desert in 2007, cameras are eyeing him. These didn't seem to be there when Ben landed in the same spot in 2005.

As for 'Lafleur': how groovy to see Sawyer in such masterful mode. He, Juliet and the gang seemed to get permanently stuck in 1974 at the height of Dharma's heyday, thanks to Locke turning the frozen donkey wheel. We see bits and pieces of their lives between 1974 and 1977, by which time Sawyer is the head of Dharma security and Juliet, who still delivers the occasional baby in her spare time, is his romantic companion.

I was surprised how believable I found their romance. They've been flirting all season, but when it finally came to be, it seemed to make sense. Meanwhile, they save Amy, a pregnant Dharma-ite, from certain death by shooting two thugs who had put a potato sack over hear head. This doesn't sit well with the guy in charge, Horace Goodspeed, last seen in Season Three. It seems he's concerned that it broke a truce with the "hostiles."

Sure enough, Richard Alpert walks into camp with the swagger of an opposing head cheerleader. He doesn't recognize Sawyer, now going by the name Jim Lafleur, who unloads information only someone in his position could know (hint: Jughead).

The revelation that Jin encounters Jack, Kate and Hurley in 1977 shouldn't be surprising, considering that we witnessed it two episodes ago, yet it packed a wallop. The look on Sawyer's – sorry, Jim Lafleur's – face was perfectly conflicted.

Tidbits:

-We got another glimpse of the four-toed statue. Except this time, the statue was complete with a body (back facing us) suggesting the Losties were passing through an ancient civilization.

-It would be shocking if Amy's baby is not someone we know.
-What happened to Daniel through all this? Is he down constructing the Orchid? Did he follow the little girl Charlotte and scare her Bogeyman style? He doesn't seem to be part of Juliet and Sawyer's life 1974-77. At least that we can see.

-What the hell happened to Bernard and Rose? I'm sure they're not dead.

-Are Locke and all the Ajira passengers in another time? It would seem so.

-Wouldn't Juliet know to look out for Ben in the 70s? I'm surprised she hasn't spotted him.

-Best line of the night: Sawyer referring to Richard as "Mr. Eyeliner."

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham: B+ Lafleur: A-