Finale Preview

Before the season kicked off, I made several lists of mysteries I predicted we would or would not get answers to before the end of the show. For starters, let's look at how we're doing on mysteries from my pre-season poll:

1) Who are Jacob and the Nemesis?

Pretty much answered, although I'd still like to know whether they or Mother have any ties to Egyptian mythology (or whether all the Egyptian stuff was just a hobby of Jacob's).

2) What is the Monster?

Again, pretty much answered and we'll certainly find out what the exact nature of the Monster is tomorrow night, i.e. Is he Smokey's soul or something Jacob released by throwing his brother into the Source.

3-tie) What are the Whispers?

Answered. Restless souls trapped on the Island, incapable of moving on.

3-tie) What is the Island?

Basically answered. It's certainly a prison for Smokey now, but we still need to know exactly what The Source is and why Mother was protecting it before Jacob came along.

5) What's in the Temple?

Answered. Too bad it was kinda lame. I am still curious as to whether the pool in the Temple bubbles up from The Source. If so, it seems The Source was corrupted with Jacob's death. Has it been restored now that Jack has taken over?

6) Why is Aaron important?

In the wake of the previous episode, this something I'm even more curious about. Since the end of last season, I thought Aaron had to be raised by Claire and Claire alone so that he would remain "good" and be able to replace Jacob. However, Jacob said he chose all the candidates because they were "flawed like him." Furthermore, he was raised as an innocent and railroaded into becoming Jacob against his will and I can't see him doing the same thing to another young, blond-haired lad.

So was the whole Richard Malkin thing simply a ruse by Jacob to get Claire on the plane. Did Aaron have a destiny on the Island before Kate took him away. This is one of those big questions that hasn't been addressed. I really hope we get an answer to tomorrow.

7) Why do pregnant women die on the Island?

This will be addressed tomorrow. It's one of those things Darlton has been incredibly evasive on, so you know it ties into the nature of the Island itself.

8-tie) Who are Adam and Eve?

Answered. Even if (to me) the answer was incredibly disappointing.

8-tie) What's Libby's backstory?

Unfortunately I think this is one of those things that's going to fall by the wayside, unless her Alt timeline counterpart reveals something in the finale. And the sad thing is how little we really know about her - we don't know why she was in Australia, why she gave Desmond the boat, who her husband was or why she was in Santa Rosa. And even sadder is the reason we don't know all of this is likely because Cynthia Watros decided to get go get herself a DUI and was written out of the show. :P

10-tie) Who are Ilana and Bram?

Answered. Again they were both kinda lame, although Ilana did have one really good scene with Ben before she went boom.

10-tie) Does everyone on Flight 815 have a specific destiny?

Answered. The people who survived certainly did. It does seem that the majority of them were candidates, brought to the Island by Jacob. And you have to imagine he manipulated them to get them all on Flight 815. Much easier to have to bring just one plane to the Island then have them all arrive separately. :)

12) Did the Juliet really change history by detonating the bomb?

Kinda answered. She certainly created the Alt, but it remains to be seen how the two timelines are connected and how it's all going to be resolved.

So out of the twelve listed here, we have five that have been fully answered, four more that we've gotten partial answers on and one that we've got nothing but almost certainly will be addressed tomorrow. The only two from this list that might fall by the wayside are Aaron (boo) and Libby (oh well). That's really not too shabby.

But what about my two lists of Minor Mysteries (some of these do overlap)? How did I do on these?

Mysteries That Will Be Answered:

1) Claire and Aaron - Probably not
2) The Whispers - Answered
3) Walt's importance - Probably will
4) The Black Rock - Answered
5) The Supply Drops - Likely not

Mysteries That Will Not Be Answered:

1) Ben, Locke and The Swan - Probably not
2) Kelvin, Radzinsky and The Sickness - Probably not
3) Henry Gale - Likely not
4) The Capsule Dump - Likely not
5) The Elizabeth - Answered

Unless we revisit (and get to see) a bit of the aftermath of The Incident, I think most of the DHARMA minutiae are going to fall by the wayside as well. I definitely think we'll get a reason why they kidnapped Walt - Ben is going to say something along the lines of "we were trying to get him to manipulate the Island's energies for us" to wrap that up. We could conceivably get the same sort of answer about Aaron as well, but part of me thinks Walt is more likely.

Regardless though, I'm really not that concerned. As long as they wrap everything up in a well-written, non-cheesy manner that does right about the characters, I'll be really happy. Lost has been a wonderful, imaginative, completely original trip for the past six years and I'm really happy I've been along for the ride.

Don't forget that tonight at 8pm there's a pop-up version of The Pilot on ABC! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some wings to prepare. :)

Comments, Predictions And The Penultimate Link Dump...

Been quite a week. I haven't had a chance to watch "Across The Sea" again, but I have read a good deal of opinions online, most of which were at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of liking or disliking it. I still fall into the 'dislike' camp, but not because I wanted more to be revealed (as many of my friends and many of the commenters in this thread were), but because I thought what we were told was kind of cheesy.

This interview with Darlton has been making the rounds because the interviewer asked them about some of the specific complaints people had with the episode and they got a bit testy. On the one hand, they're absolutely right in that there's no way they can please everyone with the finale (and no reason to think they should have to either). On the other, I do think that many of the problems that I had with the episode were self-inflicted and correctable. If you think a cave with a golden light might look cheesy - don't show it. Either that or come up with something else. And I do agree that this episode probably would have gone over better had it been shown earlier in the season rather than now.

But they're also stuck between a rock and hard place here. I had really high expectations of "Across The Sea" because the show has been one of the best things on TV for the past six years and I was hoping the end run would meet that standard. So if you're going to reveal the centerpiece of the Island's mythology, come up with something better than a glowing cave (or at least make it look better than it did on screen). And I also realize that once the show ends, The Source (and "Across The Sea" in general) could look much better in retrospect.

The watering down of Smokey's evil also bothered me, but this is a personal preference thing. For me, the villains often make the show or the series and throughout Lost, Smokey was one of the most compelling reasons to watch. All this season has been constructed around him, building him into a villain with a single, solitary purpose - to escape the Island and destroy whoever got in his way - and I thought that was terrific. But now we understand why he wants to escape and, well, now I completely understand and kinda sympathize with him.

Yeah, he's certainly more bitter and evil in the present day than he was in "Across The Sea," but he isn't the product of his own arrogance like Dr. Doom, isn't pure evil like Randall Flagg or completely insane like the Joker. No, he's the product of a crazy, manipulative Mother and an impulsive, irrational brother who didn't think before he acted. It doesn't forgive everything he's done in the present, but it make us understand why he's the way he is. And the fact the supposed good Island god is partially responsible for creating him makes their whole conflict a lot less - *ahem* - black and white. And that just doesn't sit right with me, given everything we've seen this season, and seems to go against one of the major themes of the show. I like my evil to be EVIL, dammit! ;)

But anyway, this episode doesn't change the fact that I still love the show and am greatly looking forward to tonight and Sunday. What's everyone making for the finale? I think it's going to be wings of some sort for myself, but I can't decide whether I want slow-cooked Thai Peanut Wings or some breaded, fried Hot Wings. Mmmm... wings.
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The only other link I have to share other than the above Darlton interview (which you should read in full) is this letter from George Lucas to Darlton. I can't tell whether it was written in jest or not, but it is amusing nonetheless. :)

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Tonight's episode, "What They Died For," sounds rather expository to me. You gotta figure the entire endgame will be revealed tonight - i.e. Jack's gotta learn what Desmond's task is on the Island and (hopefully) what the role of the Alt is in all this. And you have to imagine they're going to be going to The Source at some point. Desmond's probably the only one who can find it...

Fearless Predictions

Considering there are only two episodes left, I might as well go all out...

1) I'm going to guess that not only is Desmond the only one who can find The Source, he's the only one who can enter it and survive. And perhaps if Desmond enters The Source he can reverse whatever damage Jacob caused by flushing his brother's body down the cave...

2) I'm going to guess one of the three remaining candidates will die this episode: Sawyer. And he does so in spectacularly heroic fashion to save everyone else. Unfortunately we'll probably get a teary goodbye scene with Kate beforehand.

3) Smokey will send Claire after the remaining candidates and she'll succeed in mortally wounding Kate before the candidates are rescued by... Ben!

4) Alt Jack will achieve awareness this episode and realize the person he really needs to make everything right is the creator of the Alt Universe - his wife, Juliet!

5) Someone will rhetorically ask "what did they die for" during the episode and Hurley will respond by quoting "Wrath of Khan."

I am 100% certain these things shall come to pass. Enjoy the (second-to-last) show everyone! Review up tomorrow morning! :)

Link Dump + Predictions

I have no clue what the title of tonight's episode, Across The Sea, means, nor do I have any idea whether it'll have some sort of centricity either. But my gut feeling from the title is that this may be an info dump on the origins of the Island, Smokey and Jacob in general. Anyone who's seen the "No Exit" episode of BSG will know what I mean. I'm not linking to that episode because it contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't seen the series yet and still wants to (and I highly, highly recommend it - in fact, this reminds me that I still have a BSG series review to do. Hmmm....)

Link Dump:

- Lostpedia is hosting a Q&A with Darlton, not about show mysteries or questions, but about general influences, writing stuff, etc. You can post your questions to them here and they'll try and answer as many as they can before the finale. Be warned: There are a lot of questions already.

- This is a funny Darlton video (featuring the Muppets), if you haven't seen it already.

- I picked up the EW Lost Finale issue and I was a bit underwhelmed. It's not bad, per se, just kinda thin, especially when compared with what they did for Seinfeld's departure. I still have that Seinfeld issue and it's simply one of the best magazines I've ever read. Complete series guide with capsules and ratings for every episode, lists upon lists of minutia, guest stars, Jerry's girlfriends, Newman appearances, a guide to Seinfeld around New York City, etc., etc...

Now I really didn't expect something quite so good for Lost, but I did hope it would be similarly comprehensive. And while there is some good stuff in it, it wasn't anything special. Oh well. Worth picking up if you're traveling and need something to browse.

Fearless Predictions:

1) The big reveal tonight will be a full explanation of "the rules" behind Smokey and Jacob's little contest and I predict we'll also find out just how the new Jacob is chosen and ascends his Island throne,

2) The big Alt reveal tonight will be exactly what Eloise knows about the Alt timeline and what her role in all of this really is.

3) The episode will end tonight with Desmond telling Jack and company about the existence of the Alt

4) The carnage will continue. My guess is Richard or Miles is going to buy it tonight at the hands of a really pissed off Smoke Monster.

5) A new, underground DHARMA station will be found, The Leaf, manned by two guys who've subsisted on nothing but Twinkies and Ding Dongs for the last fifteen years (that stuff never goes bad, right)?

I am 100% certain these things shall come to pass. Enjoy the show! Review up Wednesday! :)

Link Dump 4-17-10

- This might just be the most awesome thing ever:

TV Guide has reported that O'Quinn has written a "Bible" for a series that would reunite him and Emerson, and possibly even LOST creator J.J. Abrams. That project, still untitled, will center on O'Quinn and Emerson "as suburban hit men juggling family issues." Does that not sound like perfect TNT fodder? And does that not sound even more awesome with those LOST names attached? I'd watch it, no doubt about it.

“I really hope this works out because Michael would be in his prime in this. We’d play kind of awkward partners," O'Quinn divulged. This is pretty much the antithesis of their LOST characters, in that neither Ben or Locke are exactly awkward. This would make the series even more awesome to see yet another side of our beloved Ben and Locke.

“It’s very sweet of him,” says Michael. “I’m all in favor of it. Any reason to work with Terry again.”

Would I watch this? Hell yes.

- Neat article on Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays (played) Dogen. Sounds like a really nice guy.

- Some fun, silly stuff:





- Paula has a nice review of all the dead people that have been seen on the Island. And I totally agree that Dave is merely a figment of Hurley imagination. In fact, I kinda consider the entire episode a tongue-in-cheek mind game the writers were playing with the fans. After all, at that point we still didn't know whether there was even an outside world or not (that wouldn't be revealed until the Listening Station set up by Penny caught the Discharge), so we really didn't know whether to take Dave seriously or not.

Of course, if the entire show had been merely a figment of Hurley's imagination a lot of people would have been a wee bit ticked off. ;)

- In case you missed them from the comments two weeks ago, these guys have a very entertaining Lost Vlog.

- I'm currently watching the finale of Battlestar Galactica on DVD. I might post a short review of thoughts and likes and dislikes of the series as a whole once I'm done (but no comments here - I still have the last two parts to watch). But regardless of how it ends, I've really enjoyed the series. Fabulous cast, great writing (in general) and just a lot of fun. I think most people who enjoy Lost will probably like BSG and vice versa. Highly recommended. :)

Further Thoughts On "Happily" + Link Dump

I still haven't had a chance to rewatch "Happily Ever After," though I have read several other recaps and the Lostpedia transcript. While I still think the pocket universe holds pretty well (especially in that I really do think Smokey's manipulated the Alt in some way), I'm waffling on the Alt being flashbacks. While it's still possible, if everything we were seeing in the Alt was a flashback that ends up resulting in the time travelers getting back to the Island in 2007, it would take away a lot of the drama of the final six episodes. After all, we're now set up for some pretty exciting stuff in the Alt as Desmond sets out to contact all the Losties using the Flight 815 manifest. If the Alt is total flashback, then Desmond's quest loses all of its drama and suspense since we know he's going to be successful. But I'm still having trouble believing that the Alt is simply a parallel timeline from our present day one (and as Bigmouth points out there are a lot of inconsistencies with that scenario). So what are my biggest hangups with the Alt timeline theory:

1) Jack's physical evidence - His appendix scar and the cut on his neck in the plane. Both of these things the writers went out of their way to point out and both of them seem to suggest that Jack, at the very least, is the same physical Jack from our world that was somehow transported into this Alternate Universe. We haven't seen any evidence from any of the other Losties that this is the case, so it's possible that Jack is special in this regard. But regardless if this was a "simple" alternate timeline Jack these things certainly wouldn't have been pointed out.

2) The memories - Likewise the buried memories Daniel and Desmond have of our present day universe also suggest this isn't a simple AT. In a simple AT, none of these memories should exist at all.

3) Eloise - The Eloise of this Alt certainly seems to know exactly what's going on and may even be helping it along.

Taken all together, I just can't believe the Alt is a simple alternate timeline. But if it really is a pocket universe instead, when in time does that pocket universe exist and what effect does it have on the present day universe? It being in the past still makes the most sense, even if it does undercut the drama of the show. But here's another theory I'm been muddling:

Let's say the pocket universe was indeed created by Smokey when Juliet detonated the bomb and right now it exists in parallel with our present day universe. But the thing is, that universe is not set in stone. Let's say that Smokey's goal is to escape the Island and eliminate our present day timeline, replacing it with the pocket universe instead. But if all the Losties choose to do so, they can collapse the pocket universe on their own when they regain their memories. That's where Alt Desmond comes in. I think this idea is a bit more consistent with what we've seen so far and it keeps the suspense that flashbacks would lose.

Am I right? Probably not. But I feel a bit better about this theory, and isn't that what really matters? The answer is no. ;)

I also really liked this comment from American Hooch:

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet but, I'm going to predict that Desmond and Penny are Charles Widmore's father. Their son Charlie is actually Widmore before he time travels in some bizarre way. Goes with that Adam & Eve thing...

That's just brilliant. Granted, it would be ripping off the best episode of Futurama, but I like the idea a lot. And I do think that time travel will be a big factor into the ultimate resolution of the show.

Link Dump:

- If you've never played a game of Pokémon in your life, this will probably be lost on you, but trust me when I say that Pokémon + LOST = Hilarity. Nuzlocke Comics is based on a particular set of (difficult) rules for playing through a Pokémon game, but this guy also happens to be a big LOST fan as well.

Well worth reading and I think I'm going to do my own Nuzlocke Challenge at some point in the future.

- May 23rd, the finale night, will feature a five hour LOST extravaganza. Two hours of preview, the two hour show, then a one hour Jimmy Kimmel retrospective. Nice!

- Daniel Dae Kim calls the Lost finale "very satisfying."

- Emily Nussbaum's entertaining rant in New York Magazine set off a bit of a firestorm on some of the message boards. I love her reviews and I can understand some of her frustration, but I do take issue with this sentiment:

And yet, I'm bitter! Because all those great themes — about society, about human nature, about recovery after trauma — and all those great threads — the Others, Dharma, the childbirth mystery — feel to me simplified by the news that it's all an abstract experiment between super-frenemies in whether human beings are corruptible. To me, that's like folding an enormous, colorful, mysterious map into a tiny wad of chewing gum.

First of all, "Good vs. Evil" isn't the only theme on Lost. In fact, I think one can convincingly argue that "Fate vs. Free Will" is actually the more dominant theme. Locke believed he was destined for greatness to the point where he became nothing more than Smokey's puppet. I still think one of the best scenes from this season was from the season opener where Smokey tells Ben that John Locke's final thought was "I don't understand." Everybody has a choice. And I'm convinced there are going to be many hard choices before the season ends.

But even moreso, "Good vs. Evil" is a pretty darn powerful theme when 1) you have an excellent, competent villain who does horrific things and 2) the heroes are flawed and must overcome those flaws to triumph over the villain. Smokey is certainly one of the best TV villains I've ever seen and he's by far the best part of this season so far. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what our Losties are going to have to sacrifice in order to best him.

While I can certainly see how some people may not like the twists and turns the show has taken the last season or two, LOST has still consistently managed to adhere to these epic themes that have made it one of the best things on television.

Link Dump 3/10/2010

This is more of a random thought post than a true link dump, but eh, what can you do. :)

- I'm sure y'all have heard about the Lost Promo Contest ABC is running for the finale. I might try fiddling around with it if I have the time. Anyone tried ABC's editing tool yet?

- We'll probably get an answer to this once Jin gets a sideways flash, but Dark UFO noticed Keamy was wearing a watch when Sayid shot him. Was Jin supposed to be delivering it to Keamy himself?

- An interesting point from Doc Jensen:

THE BEN/WIDMORE CONFLICT OVER ALEX
Shortly after Rousseau had finished off the rest of her fellow French scientists and given birth to Baby Alex, Chief Executive Other Widmore ordered Ben to ''exterminate'' both of them from the Island. He coldly dismissed baby Alex as an ''it,'' as if she were an animal that would just be a drain on Island resources that needed to be devoted elsewhere. Yep: definitely sounds like a guy that ain't about ''taking care of the kids.'' So Ben balked. He couldn't bring himself to murder. Ben clearly had developed a different vision for how the Others should be managing the Island and living their lives. Widmore dismissed Ben's ''idealism'' as sentimental and self-serving — about him needing to feel needed. But he didn't stop Ben from taking on the project of raising Alex alone. Ben's victory inspired him to dream bigger. And when he uncovered the truth about Widmore's off-Island slick willying, he staged his coup and forced him into exile. He also moved the nomadic Others out of the wild and into Dharmaville. But Ben's dream of settling down and playing house — modifying Others culture in such a way to service and fulfill his own desires and needs — was surely antithetical to the Others' true purpose, and was most likely what earned the Others' their baby-making curse from the Island/Jacob. Richard Alpert said as much when he encouraged Locke to make a play for Ben's job. ''Ben has been wasting our time with novelties like fertility problems,'' Richard said. ''We're looking for someone to remind us that we're here for more important reasons.''

Emphasis mine. Really interesting idea behind the Island baby issues and kind of ironic that Ben spent so much time looking for answer to them when he might have been the cause all along. I also forgot to comment in my review on how weird it is how Ben refused to kill Alex because he didn't want to murder, but then turned around and Purged DHARMA just a few years later. Yeah, you can talk about the Island and the greater good there, but Ben's character (at least his on Island character) has always been murderous except in Alex's case.

- And one more thought on Ben and Richard - how much of Jacob's plan do you think they knew? Ilana seems to be the only one who knows about the candidates (I guess Dogen and Lennon did to before Sayid got to them), but Ben and Richard to me seem completely in the dark about all this. Doesn't that seem weird? Seems they'd have to know something about random people becoming the new Jacob, right?

- So we have nine episodes left before the big finale and the question is what centricity will they be? First off, of the "normal" main characters left we still haven't gotten episodes on Sawyer, Jin/Sun and Hurley, so you have to imagine each of them will get one, plus Desmond, who we've only seen a glimpse of this season (but I can't imagine him not getting an episode and the longer we go without seeing him, the more I think he's really, really important. That's four, and I imagine they'll all have Alt flashes (though Desmond's might be weird ala Flashes Before Your Eyes or The Constant).

But then we have Ilana and Richard, both of whom it would probably be more interesting to get a full flashback from rather than an Alt Flash, but let's say they both get an episode to themselves. That brings us to six. We could also conceivably get a Claire episode, though we did get quite a bit of her Alt story with Kate. Her Island story would probably be more interesting anyway though. Frank and Miles are also candidates (HA!) for episodes, as well as (I hope) Charles Widmore.

There's also the possibility that someone, like Jack and Locke, could get a second episode, but let's discount that for now given all our options. Here's my best guess (and I know I could probably look this up somewhere online, but no spoilers here, please):

6.08: Sawyer
6.09: Jin/Sun
6.10: Ilana
6.11: Claire
6.12: Frank
6.13: Charles Widmore
6.14: Hurley
6.15: Richard
6.16: Desmond

What then for the finale? How about Jacob and Smokey flashbacks where we learn 1) How Smokey orchestrated the loophole and 2) the history between these two on the Island. Now that would be cool. Guess we'll know in a little under three months! :)

Link Dump 2/23/2010

Lots of LOST stuff around the web right now, not surprising given it's the final season and all, but cool just the same considering the long drought we went through at the end of last year.

- This CNN article talks about science on screen and how LOST seems to get it "right," though I'm kinda dubious of that (granted, I can't comment on much physics-wise and this article also gives LOST some science-props). One of the things I have been disappointed by is that I believe a long time ago (first or second season - can't find a link here, anyone know where), the writers said something along the lines of "there will be nothing in the show that can't be explained by science or pseudoscience," with pseudoscience being more along the lines of science-fiction type devices (like the transporter on "Star Trek"). But with the revelation that Jacob and Smokey are some sort of deities, LOST has clearly entered into a metaphysical realm that it can't escape.

Clearly, this makes explaining everything on the show a lot easier. Jacob is now a huge deus ex machina, seemingly capable of doing just about anything (despite the fact there do seem to be rules imposing limits on what he can and can't do). I was kinda hoping for a more science-oriented end to the show, despite the fact I'm greatly enjoying the current narrative as it stands. Eh, what can you do?

- Lost is killing on the ratings so far, which is kinda cool. Very interested to see how the grand finale does on a Sunday night. :)

- Yeah, I think Sawyer is pulling a Long Con on Smokey.

- This list of the Top 25 Lost moments contains a lot of head scratchers. Kate telling Claire's mom why she's returning to the Island? Hurley's joy ride in the DHARMA van with Charlie? Ben confronting Charles in London? Richard giving Locke the test? Wha? Really? Some of these are okay scenes, but not when you think about what's been omitted:

1) Seeing inside the Hatch for the first time with "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" playing
2) Eloise telling a time-traveling Desmond to give her her "sodding ring" back
3) Shannon translating Danielle's message in the Pilot
4) Desmond turning the failsafe key
5) Ben coldly shooting Locke and leaving him in the DHARMA pit
6) Seeing the Barracks for the first time, with Flight 815 breaking up overhead
7) Seeing the Black Rock for the first time
8) Locke sees the Blast Door Map
9) Rose and Bernard reuniting on the Island
10) "We're gonna have to take the boy"

That's just off the top of my head. I might have to work on this list a bit. Ben's "got milk" is pretty good too, but I might replace it with Sayid confronting Ben at the end of Lockdown with Henry Gale's driver's licence.

- Everyone should be reading Bigmouth's episode recaps. I especially liked this point from this week:

The Man in Black implies that Jacob lived in the cave and wrote all those names. But if you believe that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, because it was clearly the Man in Black's pad and graffiti. The cave's complete isolation contrasted perfectly with Jacob's prominent home in the foot of a statue that presumably once greeted visitors to the Island. The location by the sea evoked the cave lairs of mythical sea monsters like Grendel in Beowulf and Scylla in The Odyssey. And the black and white stones on the scale brought to mind Claire's dream from Season 1 of Locke with one black and one white eye, a vision I believe was sent by the Man in Black.

Yeah, Jacob lived in the statue, right? Perhaps it was Smokey living in the cave, writing the names, trying to figure out who was going to become the next Jacob so he could kill him ahead of time. I also like the idea that Smokey = Randall Flagg. Not necessarily a god, just evil incarnate.

- This week's title, "Lighthouse," brings to mind the Lighthouse of Alexandria, ostensibly the most famous lighthouse ever built. So what does the title refer to? We've supposedly got a lot of Jack/Claire this episode, which is kinda cool. Is Jack the one beacon of hope left on the Island? Is the lighthouse referring to something on the Island itself, something which serves to warn ships away from danger? Can't wait for tonight! Review up tomorrow morning! :)

Link Dump 2/4/2010

Few more things of interest, some of which may be old hat to many of you:

* This Darlton chat on EW is interesting, talks about the alternate timeline a lot. Some highlights:

That said, are you saying definitively that detonating Jughead was the event that created this new timeline? Or is that a mystery which the season 6 story will reveal?

LINDELOF: It’s a mystery. A big one.
CUSE: We did have some concern that it might be confusing kind of going into the season. To clear that up a little bit: The archetypes of the characters are the same and that’s the most significant thing. Kate is still a fugitive. If you were to look at the Comic-Con video, for instance, that now comes into play. There was a different scenario in that story. She basically blew up an apprentice plumber as opposed to killing her biological father/stepfather. Those kind of differences exist, but who the characters fundamentally are is the same. If it becomes too confusing for you, you can just follow the flash sideways for what they are. It’s not as though there’s narrative that hangs on the fact that you need to know that this event was different in that world, in the flashback world versus the sideways world. That’s not critical for being able to process the narrative this season.

Is there a relationship between Island reality and sideways reality? Will they run parallel for the remainder of the season? Will they fuse together? Might one fade away?

LINDELOF: For us, the big risk that we’re taking in the final season of the show is basically this very question.

I wonder if some of the characters will have to choose between the timelines - after all, choice and free will are two of the central themes of the show. But what if you have two characters who have completely different outcomes in the two timelines, i.e. in one timeline one character is miserable or dead and in the other they're alive and happy, while it's vice versa for the other character? One of those two characters would have to make a sacrifice (presumably for the good of mankind) by the end of the show. That would be really cool to see. Sad, perhaps, but cool.

* Good ratings for the premiere! Nice to see the show get some of its mojo back!

* Cynthia Watros to also guest star on House as... well, a pretty important someone character-wise. Click the link to find out.

* Memphish has some other minor questions of her own.

* Back when I was in crazy baby mode, I know a couple people e-mailed me for a link exchange, but I can't seem to find the e-mails. If you want one, send me another request or just post in the comments.

Link Dump 1/6/2010

Happy New Year everyone! I've been busy with work, holidays and a new baby girl, but there's just too much Lost stuff floating around out there for me not to comment on! :)

* First off, just in case you haven't seen the terrific "Lost Supper" pics that have been floating around, you can find them here (along with the awesome one BSG did as well).

* New, very cool Darlton interview. Sequel or prequel? Eh - how about just getting Season 6 right first, OK? But this I like a lot:

The final season of ABC's "Lost" is going to be an emotionally intense journey that harks back to previous highlights of the series, with the ideological battle between Jack Shephard and John Locke taking center stage.

That is as it should be. This is interesting too:

We feel tonally it's most similar to the first season of the show. We're employing a different narrative device, which we feel is creating some emotional and heartfelt stories, and we want the audience to have a chance in the final season to remember the entire history of the show.

There are certain moments in films and TV that give you an emotional buzz, ones that stick in your memory, that you wish you could go back and watch again for the very first time. The ending of "The Usual Suspects" and "Shawshank Redemption" come to mind. Johnny Carson's farewell show and the ending of "Cheers" were also particularly emotional for me. I am really hoping that Season 6 gives me that same sort of buzz.

On the other hand, Season 6 could give us a "Dark Tower" sort of ending, an ending that won't please everyone and may even disappoint at the time, but really feels perfect in retrospect (I've talked about this one before, BTW).

* A Lost Attraction at Disney? Great idea! Sign the petition!

* "Lost in 8 minutes and 15 seconds" has been updated. Very cool!

Lost starts again on Groundhog Day! I do not think that was a coincidence! Woo hoo! :)

Link Dump, 09/11/2009

Few quick links I've been meaning to post:

* Part III of the Dharma Documentary is up over at ABC.com - I was a little disappointed in this one. The church is clearly where the Lamp Post Station was hidden, but aside from that it was kinda boring. Was hoping for something a bit meatier.

* Vote for Josh Holloway and Elizabeth Mitchell in EW's EWwy awards. Vote for BSG too if you don't have any other preferences. :)

* After the show finishes next season, ABC is going to auction off a lot of the show's major props!

Profiles in History, the world's largest Hollywood memorabilia auctioneer, will offer fans of the hit ABC television series, LOST a special preview of their Summer, 2010 auction, with a display of authentic props, costumes and set pieces including Kate's toy plane, Hurley's winning lottery ticket, Locke's hunting knife, Sawyer's letter and many other surprises!

Now that is cool! Granted, I'll probably be priced out of most of the stuff I want, but it certainly won't hurt to try. :)

Link Dump, 08/21/2009

Wow. Has it really been over a month since I posted? In that time, I managed to:

1) Submit my first grant proposal
2) Go on vacation (Cape Cod)
3) Have our kitchen refurbished
4) Clean up the mess from the kitchen refurbishing
5) Watch my Mets' season slide into the toilet

Now I head into the dreaded "shopping for baby" phase - yeah, Em and I are expecting our first, a girl. :)

But there still will be blogging time when I can spare it! There's been a bunch of LOST related stuff I've been meaning to post:

* First off, if you haven't seen the first two installments of this In Search Of inspired Dharma Initiative documentary ABC has produced, you're missing out. The acting is kinda cheesy, but the production values are spot on. I'm really looking forward to the next video.

* Secondly, there's been a lot of LOST Season 6 casting news, both for new and old characters. But the thing that excites me the most is the prospect of Mr. Eko returning. Granted it will probably be as either Smokey/Jacob's Nemesis or in a vision, but it would still be satisfying either way.

* Darlton says anything goes next season and everything that matters will be answered. Hmmm... we'll see. But what does everyone want to see answered? Well...

* Doc Jensen asked fans to list their Top 3 mysteries they want to see answered next season and compiled a list of the Top 15 listings. My Top 3 would be:

1) What is the Monster?
2) Who are Jacob and his Nemesis?
3) Was Fight 815 destined to crash on the Island?

#3 is kind of an umbrella question for the show itself - is science or faith more important? Do all these characters we care about have specific destinies or not? To me, answering this question satisfyingly is the key to ending the show well.

So what were Doc Jensen's Top 15 (along with whether I consider it a must or not).

15. What are the Whispers? (must)
14. What's Libby's backstory? (very much like, but not must)
13. What's the complete Dharma backstory? (must)
12. Where did The Others come from? (not must, but I think we have to get it)
11. Do all the castaways have a secret connection? (must, ties into my #3)
10. Who are Adam and Eve? (must, will be answered)
9. What's the significance of The Numbers? (already know)
8. Why are there Egyptian ruins on The Island? (see #12)
7. Where are stewardess Cindy and the kids? (eh, whatever)
6. What is the Island, anyway? (see #12, kinda ties to my #3)
5. What happened to Claire? (eh, don't we already know)
4. What was up with Walt? (sorta must, I really want to know WHY Ben wanted him)
3. What is The Monster? (only #3? really?)
2. Who is Jacob? (only #2? then what's #1?)

...and the #1 question fans asked was...

1. Why doesn't Richard Alpert age? (BWAH, HAH, HAH, HAH)

Seriously, I know it's simply a compilation of questions, but the fact that people are really fascinated with Richard more than anything made me laugh - I really thought there was no way the Monster wouldn't be #1. But I guess people love the eyeliner. :)

Posting will be a bit more frequent over the next couple weeks. Incidentally, I just started watching Battlestar Galactica over Netflix - pretty terrific so far. I think most people who like LOST would probably like BSG, for the terrific ensemble cast especially. Hope everyone's having a good summer!

That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French

In case you were curious about what Danielle and her crew were saying in French, Lostpedia has a full transcript and translation:

AUTOMATED VOICE OVER RADIO: 4... 8...

MONTAND: Robert... Regarde, le signal vient de l’ile. (look, the signal comes from the island)

ROBERT: Tu peux déterminer la source ? (can you find the source ?)

AUTOMATED VOICE OVER RADIO: 15... 16...

MONTAND: Bien sûr que oui. Regarde. (yes of course, look !)

ROBERT: Tu crois qu'l'île est habitée ? (do you think the island's inhabited ?)

(both speaking french)

ROUSSEAU: Ça va ? Comment tu te sens ? (how are you ? how are you feeling ?)

JIN: No understand.

ROUSSEAU: (French accent) You speak English?

JIN: (Panting) Little.

ROUSSEAU: Are you okay?

JIN: Yes.

ROUSSEAU: How did you get here?

JIN: Boat.

Robert surement : Qui est-ce? (who is he ?)

Montand : On s’en fout qui c'est. Qu’est ce qu’il fait ici ? (I don’t care who he is. What is he doing here ?)

ROUSSEAU: Il dit qu’il est venu en bateau. (he said he came by boat)

ROBERT: (French accent) What boat?

JIN: It's gone. Sink.

ROUSSEAU: It must've been caught in the same storm as ours.

MONTAND: Who are you? How long you in the water?

JIN: I don't know.

MONTAND: How do you not know how you wound up in the middle of the ocean, hein ?

ROUSSEAU: Montand ! Laisse-le, il est en état de choc. On a de l’eau à lui donner ? (leave him alone, he is shook up, do we have water for him ?)

Robert : Ouais. (yeah) (comes back with the water) Tiens. (Here)

ROUSSEAU: Merci, Robert. (thank you Robert)

JIN: (Exhales deeply) Thank you.

ROUSSEAU: What is your name?

JIN: Kwon Jin-su. Jin.

ROUSSEAU: Hello, Jin. I'm Danielle. Danielle Rousseau.

Nothing really shocking here, although I missed the Numbers recording during the broadcast. But the coolest bit of trivia from the episode is the following:

"Besixdouze" ("B612"), the apparent name of the expedition's lost boat (as per the wreckage on the beach), is a reference to the asteroid on which The Little Prince lives in the book.

Neat, eh? :)

Brown Paper Packages...

With the hiatus upon us, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite things on teh internets and I invite y'all to do the same. I figure it might give all some entertaining things to do since there's not going to be much LOST to write about in the next several months. These are five of my local pit stops on the internet. I have a lot of pit stops, so I tried to pick (non-Lost related) things all on different topics that might interest people - and I also tried to pick stuff that people might not know about.

1. Five Thirty Eight - If you're a politics and/or statistics junkie, this site is like caffeine-laced crack dissolved in Mountain Dew. While electoral prediction sites are abundant on the net, I was thrilled to discover that this one is run by Nate Silver, one of the grand gentlemen who runs my very favorite baseball site on the internet, Baseball Prospectus.

BP uses an incredible statistical model called PECOTA, created by Nate, to predict how a player will perform in a given season based on various parameters (age, past performance, injury history, plate discipline, etc...). Five Thirty Eight applies a similar method to the electoral college, predicting how well Obama and McCain will do in various states using a statistical model based on polls and various demographics. The model held up incredibly well throughout the primary season and now Nate will be gearing up the site for the general election. Can't recommend it enough if you follow politics.

Oh, and how hot is Nate right now? His site just got a write up in Newsweek.

2. Fark, Top Links - I've been a member of Fark for nearly five years now and a member of TotalFark for almost as long (and a Top 100 submitter there, thank you very much). While I don't spend as much time there as I used to (although TotalFark is still the best $5/month you'll ever spend and the TF Secret Santa is one of my favorite little joys of the season), I usually make it a daily stop to check out the Top Links page.

These are the best headlines/articles voted by the TF community. A link can make it either on headline or content alone. At the end of the year, the best annual headlines are voted on to choose both an overall winner and individual winners in several categories (Best Sports Headline, Best Punning Headline, etc...). TotalFarkers can read all the voted headlines (there's a longer list that appears if you're a member) and all the comment thread (Farkers can only read greenlit threads), but anyone can click on the actual associated stories on the left hand side.

Since these are the top voted stories, it's an easy way (kind of one-stop shopping) of browsing popular/entertaining stuff circulating around the web.

3. The Hot Sauce Blog - I'm a serious hot sauce junkie. I use it in place of ketchup (which I oddly can't stand) and my tolerance at this point is pretty much through the roof. One of my former roommates used to frequently wonder how in the world I could even taste anything since my taste buds should have been burned off long ago.

The Hot Sauce Blog takes their hot sauces seriously. They review anything and everything and I've gotten quite a few suggestions on different things to try from them. All their reviews are neatly organized in the sidebar - if you're looking for something new, just click and browse. Bar none, it's the best hot sauce resource on the internet.

4. Baseball Think Factory - This is my one-stop shopping for baseball headlines. The BTF is filled with incredibly intelligent fans (much moreso than i), journalists and columnists (including the fabulous Tim Marchman of the New York Sun and Howard Megdal of the New York Observer) all discussing the pertinent baseball stories of the day. The news headlines on the front page are generally some of the best baseball writing and news on the web. Big stories make it there, but also lesser known stories of interest, generally with a statistical bent.

5. Penny and Aggie - I love webcomics. Lots of webcomics.

Some of my favorites, in no particular order are:

Least I Can Do - Guy humor. Really, really, really funny guy humor.
Questionable Content - Drama and music. With robots.
Scary Go Round - The most bizarrely creative comic on the internet. Pure joy.
Zebra Girl - Beautiful art. Fun story. I wish Joe would update it regularly. *sigh*
Grim Tales/PPGD - Bleedman's art rocks and I love what he's done with familiar characters

But Penny and Aggie has the best current storyline right now and it's probably not as well known as some of the comics above. I wrote a previous review of P&A on StumbleUpon a while ago and said:

Think "Archie," but meaner and nastier - like real high school. Penny's the Veronica Lodge of the comic - rich, beautiful, even smart (although she hides it). She's also an alpha female - vindictive and cunning. Throw in a pinch of non-trashy Paris Hilton (if you can imagine that) and that's Penny.

Her nemesis is the strip's Betty Drake, Aggie - pretty, intelligent, and ambitious. The product of two hippies, she's an uber-liberal too; a political, vegetarian, peace-loving environmentalist who always speaks her mind. She hates everything Penny stands for: The popular Barbie Girl who's more style than substance. Aggie constantly taunts her, which causes Penny to retaliate, which prompts more taunts, lather, rinse, repeat, etc...

Ironically though, if the two of them actually sat down and talked, they'd find they're not as different as they'd like to believe.

I was blissfully ignorant in high school, so I was never really involved in any of the class warfare going on. Just kinda got along with everyone - played poker with the jocks, played video games with my friends - and I really didn't care about being popular, which seems to me to have been the key. But I imagine a lot of you can relate to the strip and the social dynamics of the age.

Right now, the comic's in the midst of it's most ambitious storyline yet, and I find myself looking forward to new strips more than any other I read. I can't recommend it enough. Check out all the archives online to get the full backstory. Fabulous art too.

So that's my five. Anyone have anything sites they want to share? Blog it, post in the comments and I'll provide a link. :)

Hiatus - *sigh* - Link Dump #1

Only four days into the hiatus. How you holding up? Any shakes, sweating? Find yourself compensating with the box of Ho-Hos you had hidden away for emergencies? My tonic is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the most wonderfully addictive games ever made. I put approximately 300+ hours on the previous Super Smash Bros. game for the Gamecube and this one, packed with even more stuff than it's predecessor and given added online capability, promises to blow that mark out of the water.

But if you're looking for a specific Lost fix, I have a few links I meant to post last week that fell by the wayside. First off, if you hadn't noticed the Darlton interview over at UGO that Lostpedia recently linked to, it's pretty interesting. Not only to they talk about the strike, going back to work and the season so far, but they talk about time travel a bit, including this line confirming something we pretty much already knew:

"I will say, though, that the first significant event in the show where we were thinking in the back of our minds that this is going to require a story telling element that isn't traditional narrative, is the discovery of Adam and Eve in the caves."

Now I have my own ideas on this that I posted over at the Lost Elders a while back, but it's nice to see them address it. Read the whole interview though, it's pretty good.

Second, Alan Sepinwall has another Darlton tidbit regarding the mysterious four-toed statue:

"That's actually a great story," Damon responds. "We did the four-toed statue on the show and basically we got a note back from the network, which was, 'This is too weird.' We're like, 'Do you watch the show? This is too weird?' And essentially they said, 'Could it be a six-toed statue?' If someone could explain why a six-toed statue is less weird than a four-toed statue, that's exactly what we will do."

Now I thought I read somewhere (maybe a podcast) that the statue was supposed to be a remnant of the previous island civilization that pre-dated DHARMA's arrival, something I to which I thought The Temple also belonged. This is why I think, despite the DHARMA symbol on the map to the Temple from last episode, it's still an original island structure that DHARMA took over upon arrival. And, even if they think it's weird, I do hope they try and tie the statue into the overall story and not just pretend it never existed.

Lastly, in the preview for "Meet Kevin Johnson" in EW, Damon says this:

''Yes, you'll find out a lot about Michael. But you'll ALSO learn why bearded Jack was unable to jump.

Oh snap! I should have connected those dots, but that's just awesome. Guess the Island knows the only way to prevent Jack from doing something is to put someone else in danger so his overactive hero complex kicks in!

So how powerful is the Island, really? It can certainly manipulate both people and objects and send powerfully real visions in the form of dead people. Is there anything it can't do? If I wanted a turkey sandwich on rye bread with lettuce AND mustard (no zombie turkey) could it make one appear, like right now? You have to think the standard genie wish caveats apply - can't kill anyone directly (although it can make someone get into a car crash apparently), make someone fall in love, etc. Is this a function of the Magic Box? Can Ben manipulate it or is it an independent entity?

Whatcha think? And what will you be occupying yourself with on Thursday? =)

One more thing: I have no idea how I missed this too: Lost Madness! I voted for Desmond in the finale though. Big tip o' the hat to M.M. =)

Lost Link Dump

Happy Monday! (If there is such a thing)

Few things I've been meaning to point out to everyone:

1) Looks like some of Evangeline Lilly's co-stars are getting tired of her behind-the-scenes antics.

"They like to come up with gruesome scenarios for her character's demise," says the tipster.

Sounds like a Fark photoshop contest to me. (speaking of which, don't miss this one - best I've seen in a long, long time).

2) Great article in the Boston Globe on Lost and time travel.

3) Memphish has a not-to-be-missed post up on similarities between Lost and Slaughterhouse 5.

4) The voting's not done yet, but so far TV.com readers have given "The Constant" a 9.8, making it their #1 ranked episode. These rankings tend to come down over time, but it's still likely to remain in the Top 10.

5) Ben Lundy has some LOST inspired silliness over at the Lost Elders (which I do hope to get a post or two up over there soon, should my schedule allow).

6) Cool LOST caricatures! I saw these awhile ago, but *ahem* lost the URL I had bookmarked. Anyhoo I StumbledUpon it again and now I have a new avatar! =)

I don't think I could be more excited for this Thursday! Woo hoo!

Update and Schedule

Click comic for biggie version.



Yeah, PhD Comics sometimes hits too close to home (No Miss, Em's not pregnant).

I'm so delirious from typing and making figures I thought I'd take a break and type some more. Gleefully, I'm typing here, which is eminently more enjoyable than working on a doctorate thesis.

The good news is that by early January I should have this monster science critter off my back forever and can get back to the important things in life like LOST and the new Super Smash Bros. game that comes out on February 10th. Oh yeah, there's that whole "planning a wedding" thing too but, as I said, I have priorities. (I keed, I keed. Please don't kill me.)

But anyway, here's my schedule for the next couple months (blog related stuff):

November 7th-20th - Vacation in Italy
November 21st-22nd - Sleep off jetlag
November 24th-December 24th - Finish/revise thesis. Finish minor experiments. Attempt to get a few hour sleep per night. (finish Episode Reviews)
December 25th - Open LOST Season 3 DVD
December 26th-Early January - Work/practice thesis talk (Third Policeman Review)
Early January - Thesis Defense. Celebrate. Buy Nintendo Wii
Late January - (Lost Season 4 Previews).
Early February - Joy! Joy! Joy!

Yes, I'm going to be gone the next couple weeks to recharge my batteries before the stretch run. But there will me much Lost related goodness once I return. Anyhoo, here's a few links, some Lost-related, some not, to tide you over while I'm gone.

* As y'all have no doubt heard, Daniel Dae Kim was arrested recently for DUI making him virtually guaranteed to be killed off next season. Well, not really, but it certainly does move Kim's odds up in my Death Pool predictions.

* The imminent WGA strike worries me, although it does seem that Lost has a bit of a safety net thanks to their late start on the season.

* For those of you going to see "Beowulf" in the theater, it seems a new trailer for J.J. Abrams upcoming monster flick will be aired beforehand (I posted the original trailer here.) According to that CHUD link, the movie may actually be named "Cloverfield" and looks to have monsters plural both big and small. Sounds like a post-thesis must-see to me.

* Bigmouth got a big shout-out from Doc Jensen over at EW! Sweeeeeeeet!

* If you like video games, Yahtzee Croshaw over at The Escapist offers some of the funniest reviews on the internet. My favorite: His review of Tomb Raider Anniversary.

Anyhoo, hope everyone's holding up through the hiatus. For some good LOST talk, I'm sure Mempish, Bigmouth, Cool Freeze, Capcom and everyone else in my sidebar can keep ya' entertained until I'm able to engage to y'all again.

Light! Light at the end of the tunnel, I see!

Link Dump: 08/03/07

I'm going to be away this weekend for my brother's bachelor party. Needless to say, I won't be in any condition on Monday to post a review, so the next Top 10 will be on August 13th. :)

* If you haven't seen it yet, Dark UFO has some leaked screencaps and a trailer for the forthcoming Lost video game. While it's pretty, I still wonder whether it will be as good as this fan-made video of The Swan using the Counter-Strike source code. Imagine if Valve ever put out a Lost game once the series is through? *drool*



* Looks like Ana-Lucia has garnered some gainful employment from the "King of the World" himself, James Cameron. She'll be starring as a marine in his new Sci-Fi epic, "Avatar." Why am I not surprised? BTW, is it just me, or is the caption under her picture a bit silly?

* Speaking of funny, this caused me to giggle uncontrollably.

Enjoy the weekend everyone! :)

Link Dump: 7/19/07

I hope everyone has enjoyed the reviews so far. I'll be away this weekend, so the start of my Top 5 reviews will be delayed a week and start a week on Monday, July 30th instead. A few links to tide you over.

* Looks like Lost was snubbed for the Best Drama Emmy yet again. I like "The Sopranos," but Lost had a much better overall year and a hugely better finale. Also snubbed: Elizabeth Mitchell for Best Supporting Actress. Grrrrrr... so very angry.

The good news, however, is that both Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn were nominated for Best Supporting Actor (kinda odd - isn't Terry a lead) and Damon and Carlton were nominated for writing "Through The Looking Glass." I honestly don't know if I could pick between Ben and Locke.


* Memphish is asking everyone to post their favorite lines from Lost. It's really hard to pick just one!

* Need summer beach reading? Check out the Lost Book Club!

* I've now entered most people's Lost Blogs into the Blogshares database (and I own many of them now as well). It's a terrifically fun Stock Market game using blogs as stocks. If you have a blog, you can play and claim some free shares from your own blog.

I'll have an extended post on this next week, but if you decide to join and play the game and you want all the shares from your blog, e-mail me and I'll gift them to you. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tag, You're It!

Hannah's tagged me in the latest blogging game, an entertaining enough diversion to be sure.

The Rules: "Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and adds links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples' sites. Leave a note in their comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do."

1. I'm a graduate student, working on diabetes and metabolism research, particularly low-carbohydrate diets and how they affect diabetic complications.

2. I should have defended my thesis by now (and will soon), but I just can't seem to stop working in the lab. In other words, science experiments are fun, science writing sucks mouse balls.

3. Right now, my plans are to graduate, work for one of my collaborators for a couple years, apply for a grant, and either start up a lab or sell my soul to industry. Mmmm... baked soul.

4. I grew up in upstate New York, went to undergrad in Boston (lived there eight years), doing my undergraduate in New York City (lived there six years), and currently live in Bronxville (north of the city) with my awesome psychologist significant other.

5. I'm an uber-geek, Nintendo junky, comic book maven, board game jerk, and useless trivia wizard. All exceptionally employable commodities.

6. I'm a huge New York Mets fan, as is all my family, and baseball junkie in general.

7. I'm the oldest of three brothers, both of whom are married, and I have two young nieces, one two and a half years old and one two days old. :)

8. Other sites I frequent on the net: Fark (I'm a Top 100 submitter there), Blogshares (addictive little game), GameFaqs (I will win one of their summer contests one of these years), StumbleUpon (my old blog that started my Lost reviews). I'll have an extended post on Blogshares sometime.

Okay. Time to tag. I don't necessarily expect everyone to participate, but it does give me a nice chance to plug my blogroll and some other blogs I happen to like.

Ben Lundy At Broadcast Depth
Movies, television, and a whole lotta Lost. There's a lot to love here. :)

Blog All Around
Lost fan Yessifer's blog. Check out her post on the writers' Emmy suggestions for the show - I happen to agree with her 100%

Blogging Zelda
Guy plays through every Zelda game from the beginning, blogging along way. Great idea, and really nifty execution

EYE M SICK
Bigmouth writes insightful, thought-provoking Lost theories. Check out his newest post on something near and dear to my heart: The Dark Tower

Hiding in Public
Ana's personal blog. Huge Lost fan who hangs out on Daniel's site...

ICEBOX
CF is another great Lost theorist Check out his latest post on The Temple

The Lost Diary
Daniel's non-TMZ Dairy site. He runs a Q&A every Monday and is currently reviewing the first season. His most recent review is for "The Moth"

LOST, Hearts and Minds
Juno Walker analyzes Lost from a philosophical perspective. Check out his recent post on Ben's motivatons

Lost Island Time
Very nice new Lost Blog

MLB Trade Rumors
For any baseball junkies out there. The trade deadline is fast approaching and this is one of the best places to get your daily scoop on all the buzz out there.

Totally Amazing Lost Blog of Awesomeness
Best... Lost Blog Name... ever

The Lost Nazi
Lauren's a frequent poster on Daniel's site and a huge Lost fan.

Ryan's Smashing Life
Bostonian music fan. Positively wonderful blog. If you happen to be on StumbleUpon (or a blog reader) be sure to subscribe to his feed.

Synchromystic Librarian
Think "Foucault's Pendulum" on acid. Lost symbolism is the key here. Neat stuff

*phew* - that's a lot of reading! Check 'em out! :)

BTW, the category here stands for "And Now For Something Completely Different," which just looks too ugly in the sidebar

Link Dump: 06/19/07

Every once in a while I'm going to do a post like this, featuring several LOST related links from around the net that I didn't have time to each post on their own. If you have anything LOST related (or otherwise) that you'd like me to link to, just send me an e-mail. :)

• Amanda Cuda, TV columnist for the Connecticut Post, will be filling her LOST-less summer looking at the music from the show associated with each of the characters, starting with Charlie in today's column. You can also read her TV blog, Turned On, on the CP website.

• Wanna know what it feels like to have to push the button? Well, now you can Enter The Hatch. Let's see if we can keep it going until the Season Four premiere.

• Via TV Squad, check out this fan-spliced You Tube video that tries to re-create the pre-crash events as they occur in the Barracks, in the Swan, and on the plane. There's also a link in the video sidebar to sightly longer version, but the short one is just fine. It doesn't really tell us anything new, but it is kinda neat to see.

• Looks like Evangeline Lilly has gone blond! And looks like she's ready to plant some pipe-weed for her hubby! Oh what has that hobbit done to her...

• Random favorite Lostpedia Link: Appearances of literary works