LOST – Watch From The Beginning – The Squeequel

It’s getting to be that time again, the ending of LOST is approaching, and I can already tell there is gonna be some poor addicted fans that will be shivering with withdrawal over the lack of new episodes.  The only proven treatment for these poor souls is a bit of the hair of the dog.  Yes, I’m talking rewatch, I’m taking… We’re gonna have to watch that again!

So drawing on my vast experience as the crazy leader of Twitter’s #WFTB craze, I’ve signed up for the madness again.  But, also with the experience as leader of the crazy #WFTB on Twitter, I’m gonna need some help.  So if you’re interested in helping plan, lead, watch, what not, sign up in the comments below.

Here’s a list of things we’ll need to plan.

• Schedule – no new season so we can stretch this out as long as there is interest.  One episode a week sounds good to me.
• Times – since LOST watching is a world wide fad, we can have re-watches scheduled at different times so people in the UK don’t have to get up at 3AM to re-watch.  A couple of different times a week sounds good to me.
• Leaders – someone needs to promote and lead a time slot.  I can’t commit to being a regular leader (contractual obligations as father and head of the household I live in that have just about fired me for twitter addiction, after thrice weekly WFTB sessions over the summer, fall and autumn then this whole lostblog thang), so this is where I’ll need some help.
• Promotion – we have this handy blog here, and a few people with a few thousand followers to help spread the word.
• Good Attitude – LOST is fun, so be bright and shiny.

More things to follow, but here is the gauge… Are you gonna be like Locke, or like Jack.  This is for sure, the island isn’t through with us yet!

LOST Official Vidcast: 6.03 What Kate Does

Pre-hashing.  Sorta like Prevenge, but not.  Which by the way, also read the Doc Jensen preview, no spoilers, just re-watched reminders – LOST: ‘Kate’ Expectations + Totally LOST

There you go, you’re LOSTday refreshed post.  Namaste

Book Review: The Gospel According to Lost

[caption id="attachment_4230" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="The Gospel According To LOST by Chris Seay"][/caption]

If you are looking for a book that explains how the TV show LOST will end, The Gospel According to LOST by Pastor Chris Seay is NOT for you. However, if you are interested in pursuing dynamics from the hit show that are tie-ins to Christianity and how the characters of LOST remind us of our own need to pursue a relationship with God, this book is right up your alley.

Chris Seay is a church planter, pastor, and president of Ecclesia Bible Society and he is a LOSTaholic. Picking this book up was an intriguing proposition for me as I, too, am a pastor and, yes, a LOSTaholic. The Gospel According to LOST (from now on referred to as GAtL) doesn’t focus on plots or theories, but rather on characters and how those characters connect with all of us in a real and tangible way.

This book uses character sketches to weave in the struggles the castaways face and how we, the readers, are entrenched in the same struggles. Whether it is the tension between faith and reason with Jack Shephard and John Locke, or the haunting of a past that will not leave us alone, like Sayid Jarrah, we connect. Or maybe it’s the compassionate con-man we have all come to love, Sawyer, that we resonate with. Perhaps the example of true love that we all experience with Desmond and Penny that encapsulates us. Pastor Seay does a masterful job of driving home personal application as he unfolds various characters from the show.

But ultimately GAtL is not about LOST. It’s about you and it’s about me. Seay writes, “Unlikely as it seems, it is possible that this epic television series may be filled with stories that inspire us to love both God and one another, wisdom that will lead us toward a vibrant relationship with God, and insights into a life of true faith.” I know that many in the church probably criticize Pastor Seay on a statement like that (I know this because I have been criticized on social networks already just by alluding to it!), however, it is a mistake for Christians to believe that God cannot use a media outlet to declare truth. Now don’t mistake what I am saying, I believe the Bible to be the only infallible source (you can discuss that with me here) but I also believe in what Francis Schaeffer called “true truth.” What he meant is this: if something is true…it is true. If LOST presents truth, that truth is true because it is true. Make sense?

GAtL has a clear strength: it’s focus on the characters. Listen to what Pastor Seay has to say about Sayid:

We all have this inherent ability to hurt one another. It is distinctly human and absolutely tragic. When I imagine being stranded on an island and attacked by hostile forces my instincts tell me that I want Sayid on my team. But is my own survival worth allowing someone else to be tortured…Sayid battles is capacity for evil throughout the entire series; he has seen what lies inside himself, and he is tormented by it.

The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” You and I both know that nobody is perfect and Pastor Seay observes that we feel this when we watch Sayid. Sayid has the potential for great evil, as do all of us, but Seay’s answer is really the gem of the whole book:

Maybe if we trade in our gun for a hammer and set off to build a school for some orphans, we can save ourselves. But this cannot be. We cannot save ourselves. We are, through the Cross, that destroyer of social paradigms, …reconciled…and this is the beauty of the gospel. We can’t earn grace; God gives it to us. No one is beyond redemption. Not even Sayid.

I recommend GAtL highly both as a pastor and a LOST fan. Is Pastor Seay approaching LOST and life with preconceived ideas about God and the world? Absolutely he is, but so do I and so do you (be honest about it). I hope you will pick up a copy of this book. It’s one thing to answer all of the questions that LOST asks, it’s another altogether to answer the questions that life throws at us. This book may start you on your journey.

In defense of Stranger in a Strange Land

I’ve already leaped to the defense of Exposé. Now I’m taking on the Spock’s Beard (per @justinkeyes) episode of LOST and giving a bit of apology for giving it a little rewatch.

So let it not be said that I’m not afraid of taking risks.

First, regarding Stranger in a Strange Land let’s just jump through all the Bai Ling scenes and any reference to Thailand.  I’m on board with having @mjgoldman dump those in the editing bin when mastering the LOST complete series Bluray set.

But the activities on Hydra Island, might bear a bit of re-watching as we revisit the Temple Others in episodes to come.  First, it’s the only episode were we see Cindy and Zach and Emma, so it bears re-watching (again with the skipping part) just to see how they’ve changed (or not changed) since 2004.  Also we have the others Sheriff putting Juliet on trial or shooting Danny and allowing Kate and Sawyer escape with Karl.   While the Jack-Juliet bus has left, the revelation of her tramp stamp mark/brand might come back into play as we learn more about the Temple Others.

Beyond those little vignettes I’m unsure if The Island scenes bear any re-watching unless you want to revisit Kate and Sawyer angst, or Krazy Karl spouting off, “God loves you like He loved Jacob.”

New Theories Blog by Mulderism

I am very happy to report that the warm and wonderful woman that so many of us know as @Mulderism on Twitter, Djuna Rykiel, has started up a new LOST theories blog called “lostrithm.” If you know Djuna at all you know that she is extremely thoughtful and deep, and you’ll see the same in her blog.  When asked about it Djuna replies:

Still tweaking, still updating. As I mention on the blog, the past theories will be linked to specific livejournal entries to honour the time stamp. The newest entries will deal with fleshed out theories. Promise no spoilers. It's always light-hearted speculation.

lostrithm is definitely worth a look, so go check it out!  Congratulations and thanks, Djuna!

Jorge Garcia’s blogging experiment – Geronimo Jack’s Beard

I listened to this last week, and I must claim overwhelming real life to have not posted a blog about it.  Jorge Garcia and his trusty sidekick (Sidekick22) Beth , are podcasting LOST episodes.  They’re spoiler-free (but not necessarily insider information free according to @DonaldJr) because, they’re recording the podcast’s when they first get the script for the episodes.  It’s great to listen to Jorge and Beth kibbutz about what going on and listen to how they’re just as confused as we are about the episode LA_X.

Give it a listen here:

Or head over to Geronimo Jack’s Beard (@gjacksbeard) to grab it from his site, or subscribe iTunes.

TMBG theory of LOST: Ode to Particle Man?

Thanks to a pre-coffee discussion with @badm0mbot on Twitter, my mind in a serious caffeine deficit jumped to this conclusion: LOST is based on They Might Be Giants lyrics!

First proof: Particle Man (lyrics)

A story of four different “men” (or is it mans?).  Particle Man seems to be not fixed in time or space, “Is he a dot, or is he a speck? when he’s underwater does he get wet?”  I think that’s pointing to Desmond, but I could be persuaded that it’s Daniel given that he went underwater in a submarine and didn’t get wet.

Triangle man seems to hate everybody.  So I’m thinking Triangle Man is Smokey/MiB.  He picks fights with Particle Man and later with Person Man (Is he depressed, is he a mess? Does he feel totally worthless?).  Person Man also lives in a garbage can.  So Person Man is obviously John Locke (Triangle Man fights Person Man, Triangle wins).

Above all these Mans is Universe Man (he’s got a watch with a minute hand, millennium hand and an eon hand,) who is obviously Jacob.

What you doubt me?  This is so obvious, but I’ll spell it out for the remedial class.  TMBG lyrics totally explain Stranger in a Strange Land.  Achara (Bai Ling) is obviously Ana Ng … and bonus lyrics from Ana Ng:

They don’t need me here and I know you’re there
Where the world goes by like the humid air
And it sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks until it goes away
And the truth is we don’t know anything.

Face it, TMBG lyrics explain EVERYTHING.  You’re welcome.

Update: The Spine was released in 2004, with an EP titled The Spine Surfs Alone.  Jack = spinal surgeon. Hawaii? Surfing capital of the world. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

check out the lyrics to:

• Experimental Film: "I already know the ending, it's the part that makes your face implode, I don't know what makes your face implode but that's the way the movie ends." <-- again written in 2004.


• Fun Assassin: "Fun assassin, killing fun for kicks-  Stab me in the front, tell me that I'm jinxed - Fun assassin, take off your disguise - Look me in the eye and lie"


• Canada Haunts Me: Ethan said he was from Canada!


• Now is Strange: "No, no, it's not before anymore - It's gone - Weird - Now is strange" <-- sideways flashes!


• Au Contraire: That's French kids. I should stop here, my theory has been proven, but I must continue!


• Damn Good Times: "When my friend got amnesia - She can't remember the show she saw - Like the one with the guy with amnesia - Who got off of the island on a helicopter"


• I Can't Hide from my Mind, Prevenge, Thunderbird, Bastard Wants to Hit Me.

If I continued, I'd probably start explaining spoilers, so I think this case is closed!

(Oh and I want Damon and J.J.'s iPod playlist from 2004!)

LOST Temple – Echoes of the Garden of Eden & Lucifer

Pre-reading Assigments:

• Wikipedia: Lucifer, War in Heaven, Garden of Eden


• The Lucifer Question (h/t @Neocount)

Extra Credit: Reversi/Othello

If you’ve been following my Twitter feed, this topic is one that has been brewing in the back of my mind since Thursday morning, and haven’t had any real-world time to process the post.  So my thoughts really sprang from the Ben and Locke(MiB/Smokie) conversation in LA X:

BEN: I seriously doubt that Jacob was ever confused.

LOCKE: I'm not talking about Jacob. I'm talking about John Locke. Do you wanna know what he was thinking while you, choked the life outta him Benjamin? What the last thought that ran through his head was? "I don't understand". Isn't that just the saddest thing you ever heard? But it's fitting in a way, because when John first came to the island, he was a very sad man. A victim, shouting at the world for being told what he couldn't do, even though they were right. He was weak, and pathetic, and irreparably broken. But, despite all that, there was something admirable about him. He was the only one of them that didn't wanna leave. The only one, who realized how pitiful the life he'd left behind actually was.

BEN: What do you want?

LOCKE: Well that's the great irony here Ben because, I want the one thing that John Locke didn't. I want to go home.

The play in that scene of Locke (for lack of a better term, I’ll go with the familiar) moving from stark light to dark shadow was interesting. The attire of Dark Locke with Ben compared to the 2004 still crippled Locke in white plaid, leads me to believe that were not done with the flipping between Dark and Light when it comes to the image of John Locke.  But that “I want to go home!” line was so emphatic, we all are wondering what is home.

LOSTalypse from LA X

Apocalypse, contrary to popular miss-interpretation is not a horrible end of the world, but come from the Greek word Apokálypsis which means “lifting of the veil” or “revelation.”  So in a shoutout to this deeper meaning of Apocalypse, I’m calling my weekly theorifications LOSTalypse, in which I theorize one week and debunk myself the next.  If anything this will help me with my ego problem.

Read on, but be wary, spoilers for those who haven’t watched LA X.

Again, with the Questions!

It’s like people think their important or something. I’m already on record about my feelings of answers and questions and questions about answers.  But still they persist.

Dost not thy internets heedeth my voice?

Seriously, good write up in Jezebel about the LOST unaswered questions, and they keep it at an entirely reasonable and justifiable 42 (instead of that crazy 100 number someone else decided upon.

Previously on Lost, Locke was resurrected from the dead, Jack was detonating a nuclear bomb, and everyone—the Survivors, the Others, the Hostiles, the audience—wanted to find answers. Here's our ultimate primer to tonight's season premiere.

Read the rest…

10 FAITH Reasons We Love LOST

As I type this we are less than fourteen hours away from season six. Fans are foaming at the mouth (some of us literally) to sink our teeth into the final season of TV’s greatest show. LOST fans are special. I must admit that this is the first time in my life that I have ever had a connection with fans of a show that is this strong (actually I’ve never even had any kind of connection before).

Unlike many LOSTies that I know, I am NOT a television fan. I don’t watch Fringe, or House, or 24, or Dollhouse, or…well…you name it. Honestly, I find that watching television, for the most part, can be a huge time waster in a world where real life is going on. And that brings me to my point. LOST somehow touches real life. We see characters struggling on the road to redemption and we are hopeful ourselves. We believe that our own struggles just may be worth it.

Gizmodo: LOST case mod, perfectly suited for your hatch

What’s great about being a LOST fan, is that it’s perfectly appropriate to geek out with technology while professing your LOVE of the Greatest Show EVAHH!™.

This impressive Lost case mod incorporates a few disparate elements of everyone's favorite time-jumping mystery island. You've got the whole jungle thing going on and a Dharma Initiative-flavored octagonal shape. Oh, and it can take down airplanes flying overhead.

…

The only problem? You have to use this Lost computer every 108 minutes or the world ends.

[Gizmodo] [Flickr Gallery]

Slate: LOST Season 6 Preview: Who’s Going to Win

Written by someone who taught a college course on LOST.  Not a LOST University course, but a real honest to goodness LOST course: “The Future is Lost: Economic, Social, and Technological Impact of a Cult (and Cultural) Phenomenon”.  Here’s an excerpt:

So yes, I'm anticipating this season and all the crackpot answers it will bring. And at the risk of sounding like I belong at Santa Rosa's right next to Hurley, I think they can actually pull this thing off. Last week I rewatched the Season 5 finale for the first time since it aired, and remembered that they haven't screwed up a season finale yet. It's far harder to avoid botching a final season, of course, but I think these guys have already shown that they know how to end things.

Read the rest here.

What LOST Questions Would You Like To Have Answered?

One of the things that is becoming increasingly clear to me about LOST is this: there is NO way in Dharmaville that EVERY single mystery will be revealed and every question answered. That’s got me and others thinking: what questions do I HAVE to have answered for me to be satisfied with the climax of the greatest television show in history? Well, I don't believe that there are questions that will ruin the series if left unanswered, so, I’m going to give you five questions that I'd like to see answered, then I’m going to ask you to do the same. Dude, seriously, you better comment or I’m going to have Jon send Smokey after you! The name of the game at LOSTblog is fan interaction…so let’s interact already! We should at least have 20 comments by the end of the day…I’m just sayin’.

They fight

It’s part of the Man in Black’s list of complaints:

They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt.  It always ends the same.

Lostpedia has a list of minor confrontations.  But I’m wondering how many of those end up like this one.

That’s the first memorable fight I remember where one person has the other person pinned and goes absolutely batty with the face punches.  There are many of this same time of genre, one person a top the other, one hand on throat, punching them in the face.

The last one we get is this one.

Sawyer whaling on Jack like there is no tomorrow (and perhaps, tomorrow will have a totally different meaning in 6 days) until Juliet comes and breaks them up.

What are some of the fights of this nature that you remember?

Us Versus the Volcano

okay, so it's not LOST related, and relax the incident didn't cause a volanic eruption causing Atlantis to fall into the sea. (Hmm.. maybe should've used a SPOILER ALERT thingy... ;) )

This is a blog that is about LOST fans, so let's celebrate a little and recognize that our very own Catherine Ryan Howard won the Adventure Category in the 2009 WanderWomen Write Contest at the blog Wanderlust and Lipstick for her article Us Vs the Volcano. Here is a tease:

The Challenge
Which was why when I agreed to embark on a nine-week trek through five Central American countries with my adventure-junkie best friend – Sheelagh – I was as shocked as anyone. But honestly, how bad could it really be?

Go read the whole thing.

And check back on Monday at Cath's blog for more exciting news she's teasing us about.

LOST The Connections-Character Ships.

 

Jate, Skate, Jacket, Suliet, Darlotte, PB &J, Jun, R&B, Pesmond, Hibby.

Starter Kit from Verizion booklet in People Magazine.

LOST: All the Right Moves – by Alicia

When we kicked off the site re-boot, I asked Alicia (@AliGraysAnatomy) if she’d like to make a LOST video dedicated to the fans.  Boy, did she come through.

This is for You All Everybody

lost; ALL THE RIGHT MOVES [Season 5] *new*

The 100 questions Lost better answer or we’ll be p*ssed

By Kathie Huddleston- @ SCI FI WIRE
12:01 PM ON 01/22/10

 

The Powers That Be over at Lost have been saying that the sixth and final season will answer our questions—most of them, anyway—while it changes the game for our favorite mysterious island survivors. Well, we've compiled a list of things they'd better answer. Or else.

To recap: Jack's theory that setting off the bomb would reset everything and keep the plane from crashing in the first place is as good as any theory we've heard about the island or the survivors since the show started.

According to the producers, actors who played dead characters are returning. Juliet hit that bomb and the screen went white. Could resetting things in 1977 reset Jacob's death?

Continued… http://scifiwire.com/2010/01/the-100-questions-lost-be.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Finale for LOST WFTB

Last night was the last re-watch for the twitter group WFTB.  What fun we had!

We’ve been re-watching one episode every Monday, Wednesday, Friday since the Monday after the season 5 finale of LOST aired.  So it was a bit of a deja-vu to re-watch The Incident together with many of the same names that began the re-watch journey with me along with people that joined in along the way.

I’d promised that I’d let go of the LOST_WFTB nickname after the final re-watch, so I took advantage of a lull in tweeting (truth be told, I’d tweeted too much, and was put in the Twitter slammer for a while to dry out, ah memories of hatch re-watching during the summer), and changed my twitter account to @LOST_BOSS.

B – Boring
O – Ordinary
S – Suspicious
S – Superhuman

I think that’s what it means…

Anyway, I also reclaimed @LOST_WFTB but marked it private and won’t be using it.

I’m attaching a zip file of all the twitter recaps from all the re-watched that David Cole (@batchout) has collected during the campaign.  Not every episode was captured, we all kind got weary in the middle of season 4.  But still if you want to download and peruse, please do.  Every twitter account are wonderful people, worthy following, whether your an annoying LOST fan or not.

Thanks for everything and all your support through the re-watch.

We’re planning a #Lost_DVR something something, but need to find the right day so as to not spoil overseas watchers.  Or we’ll have it on a different platform that people can opt-in easier (or opt out to avoid spoiling)

Keep following this blog and my account for more details.

LOST-WFTB-Caps

LOST-Incident-Tweetcap-S5E16