Zack's LOST Blog

Monologue 5: LOST Season Five Finale

2009-04-29T18:27:00.004-05:00

WARNING TO LOST FANS: This video contains some (in my opinion) mild spoilers about the two-part season five finale of LOST airing on May 13th. I mention the episode's title and discuss some information from the episode's press release (including guest stars).

Here is the link to the full set of promotional pictures.

Here is the link to the official press release from ABC.

And, as promised, here is the complete list of guest stars for this episode:
Guest starring are L. Scott Caldwell as Rose, Sam Anderson as Bernard, John Terry as Christian Shephard, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang, Patrick Fischler as Phil, Eric Lange as Radzinsky, Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana, Brad William Henke as Bram, Jon Gries as Roger Linus, Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking, Andrea Gabriel as Noor “Nadia” Abed Jaseem, Kevin Chapman as Mitch, Mark Pellegrino as man #1, Titus Welliver as man #2, Emily Rae Argenti as young Kate, Tanner Maguire as young Tom, George Gerdes as Mr. Springer, Agnes Kwak as Aunt Soo, Amy Stewart as mother, Rylee Fansler as young Juliet, Savannah Lathem as young Rachel, William Makozak as Captain Bird, Daniel James Kunkel as anesthesiologist, Sonya Masinovsky as Russian nurse, Keegan Boos as young Sawyer, Colby French as Uncle Doug, John Pete as prison clerk, Michael Trisler as father, Sally Davis as woman and Adam Bazzi as cab driver.

Again, thanks to DarkUFO!

Monologue 4: Flip Ultra HD

2009-04-29T18:18:00.003-05:00

If I wasn't broke as a joke, I'd buy one of these! It is the new Flip Ultra HD, and it's very cool! Here is the link to Gary Gannon's unboxing of the camera: GAX Online.

Cribs with Lizz Weidenbach

2009-04-28T17:33:00.006-05:00

This is the Cribs video project I made with Lizz Weidenbach for MCOM 225. I had never seen a single episode of Cribs before I began this project. Every step of this project went very smoothly, especially the filming. It was great working with Lizz. She performed each take perfectly the first time, every time. It was also cool to learn that she is a LOST fan too!

The video is nearly 10 minutes long, but it did not seem like it even took that long to film! The toughest part was finding the time to film that worked for both of us, but once we did, it was smooth sailing from there!

All music used in this video is from FreePlayMusic.com

Monologue 3: Hulu App

2009-04-27T16:32:00.004-05:00

Here is the article from Gizmodo.com that I talk about in this video. And since I made this video, I've heard that LOST and other ABC shows may be coming to Hulu soon, so that's good news!

Final Practical for MCOM 225 - LOST 100th Episode Celebration (with Cake!)

2009-04-27T11:14:00.005-05:00

I made this video for my MCOM 225 final in honor of the 100th episode of LOST, "The Variable," airing this Wednesday.

A huge LOST themed cake was made by Ace of Cakes for an episode on the Food Network airing May 9th.

Check out these links for more pictures of the cast and crew enjoying the cake!
Pictures from DarkUFO
Pictures from Jorge Garcia's (Hurley) blog

The music used in this video is my favorite track from the LOST soundtrack, "Life and Death" by Michael Giacchino. The sound used in the transitions is the flashback sound from LOST.

A Hairless Chimpanzee? or Gollum from the LotR?

2009-04-20T11:04:00.007-05:00

Sorry to my 6 very loyal followers about the lack of LOST posts recently, but so far on this week-long LOST hiatus I have found a couple of very interesting things, including this!:

Yes, that's a hairless chimpanzee!

I found this first on Digg.com, which linked to the image on Flickr. I don't know anything more about this outside of the fact that it was uploaded by RedEyedRex, who had this to say about the image: "This chimpanzee has his home at the Mysore Zoo. The chimp has lost all his fur/hair, which makes him look almost human. Freaky..."
Freaky indeed, but also awesome, unless the baldness is caused by some kind of harmful disease or mistreatment, then not awesome.

And thanks to users on Digg.com, here are some more pictures of hairless chimps:
Ashes, The Hairless Chimp
Oh, and this:
Haha!

Braille E-Book Concept is Amazing

2009-04-20T10:12:00.006-05:00

I found this article titled "Braille E-Reader Concept Raises Dots with E-Ink" on Gizmodo, which linked me to this article at YankoDesign.com.

Apparently a braille e-book, similar in size and design to Amazon's Kindle and Kindle 2, is currently in development. The potential this product has is astounding. Visually impaired people will now have access to portable books, a luxury that has long been denied, due the fact that translating a book to braille often doubles its thickness.

According to the article on Gizmodo, the braille e-book "uses an electroactive polymer to raise the braille dots when a charge is passed through certain areas of the screen."

The designers on this project are Seon-Keun Park, Byung-Min Woo, Sun-Hye Woo and Jin-Sun Park.

Considering that this is such an innovative and interesting technology, I was surprised and disappointed that neither article contained very much information. I look forward to more information on this in the future.

Fallout Movie on the Horizon?

2009-04-20T05:01:00.004-05:00

Ok, so it's 5 a.m. and I haven't been able to get to sleep yet, so I figured it's as good a time as any to blog!

I used to play a lot of video games, that is, until this semester at SDSU took over my life! By far my favorite game of last year was Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360. It is a game truly unparalleled in its scope. I was sucked into Fallout's rich story and immense environment set in a post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C from the very beginning. I loved the feel and presentation of the game, which I can best compare to the nostalgic qualities of the 1950s Cold War era.

So imagine my excitement when I logged onto IGN.com to discover an article about a possible, upcoming Fallout movie! Yes, according to IGN writer Martin Robinson, Bethesda Softworks, the company that made Fallout 3, recently filed "a trademark for the brand covering both a television series and film."

The company's filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office site lays claim to use of the "Fallout" name for "entertainment services in the nature of an on-going television program," as well as "motion picture films about a post-nuclear apocalyptic world."

So this claim might just be an attempt by the company to prevent others from profiting from the "Fallout" name... but I agree with IGN and anticipate a Fallout TV show and/or movie!

... but then again, Mad Max kinda already was like a Fallout movie... oh well, bring it on!

LOST FRIEND HOAX?

2009-04-20T01:40:00.004-05:00

Back on April 10th, I posted this story about Matthew Perry's supposed upcoming role in the season five finale of LOST. Well, it looks like the whole thing was a hoax perpetuated by a devious LOST fan over at IMDB.com.

Back on April 10th, Perry's IMDB profile looked like this:

But today:

So it looks like it was all just a false-alarm... or was it? I guess we'll know for sure when the two-hour season finale of LOST airs on Wednesday, May 13th.

LOST Fan Hacks Wikipedia, Alters Film History (Briefly)

2009-04-20T01:25:00.006-05:00

The Wikipedia page for The Empire Strikes Back has since been changed back, but apparently a LOST fan updated the site briefly the other night after the episode "Some Like It Hoth" aired. In the episode, Hurley was supposedly writing the script for the film. For a short time, the site recognized this by saying, "The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Hugo Reyes." Haha, Check it out:

Click Image to Enlarge

Thanks to Mel and DarkUFO for sharing this!

Hurley's EMPIRE Script Found!

2009-04-20T01:10:00.004-05:00

Ok, in this season's 13th episode, "Some Like It Hoth," Hurley was supposedly writing Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back... back in 1977. Well, it turns out that somebody out there on the internet (supposedly) got a hold of Hurley's version of the script. Given the numerous references to LOST, however, it is clear that this is just a fan creation, but it's a fun (albeit kinda lame) read for LOST fans nevertheless. I found this article on Zap2It via DarkUFO. Check it out:

In the wake of last week's episode, "Lost" fans didn't want to know what lay in the shadow of the statue, or why Miles could hear dead people, or why the Dharma Initiative built the Swan in secret. Nope: they wanted to know more about Hurley's "improved" script for "The Empire Strikes Back." And luckily for you, I got an exclusive hold of said script. It took a bit of doing, but I like to go the extra mile for my readers. So sit back and enjoy Hurley's take on a cinematic masterpiece.

Bad times for the Rebellion, dude. After the Death Star went all bloop, The Empire got mad. Real mad. "Chase the Rebels to the ends of the Universe" mad.

The rebels, with the help of Luke Skywalker, are hiding out on Hoth. It’s colder than a frozen donkey wheel cave there. Obsessed with finding young Skywalker, Darth Vader has sent loads of spy robot thingies to find Luke for reasons yet unknown.

Exterior--Hoth. A little spy robot thingy zips through the atmosphere and crashes into the snowy planet below. That's when Chewbacca shows up and blasts it away with his crossbow laser. He shakes his furry fist in the sky in triumph.

Chewbacca: Raaar.

Han Solo: Nice work, fuzzball. Now let’s go pay off that debt to Jabba. The Hutster’s gotta be pretty peeved about that $3.2 million we owe him. Hey, anyone seen Luke? I wanna tell him that the Force will always be with him, and stuff.

Luke: Sorry, I’m a bit busy feeling the blood flow into my brain here in this monster’s cave.

Obi-Wan: Luke. Luuuuuke. You totally have to go see Yoda, Luke. You need to learn how to become a Jedi so your father will love you again.

Luke: What I totally need? A jacket. And my father is dead! Dead! That’s what you told me. Don’t you remember?

Obi-Wan: Whatever happened, happened.

C-3P0: Sirs, welcome back! Wait, what happened to you? Looks like you have a ton of Arzt on you.

Leia’s way excited to see Luke, and tries to kiss him, but fortunately she trips over a stray cable and falls to the ground. Whew. That was close.

Leia: Han, no time to leave now. The Empire’s bearing down on us. I count four AT-AT Walkers approaching.

Han: Looks like eight.

Chewbacca: Raaar.

Han: Fifteen? No way.

Wide shot of a totally cool ice battle. The AT-AT Walkers bear down on the small Rebel fighters, who employ ninjas strapped to the wings for extra fire power. Ninjas with bazookas. Just when all ninja hope looks lost, a buncha ice dragons come out of nowhere and save the day. Awesome.

Luke: Well, thought we were goners there for a bit. Now I have to go to the Erin Go Braugh system or something to learn about the Force.

R2-D2: Beep beep bloop beep.

Luke: Degobah, right. Was kinda woozy when Dead Ben said it and all. Ugh, this planet is nasty. Like a Mr. Cluck’s after prom night.

As the X-Wing cruises along the galazxy, they hear a low hum and see a bright flash of light. Before Luke knows it, his plane is going down faster than Starla after she dumped me for Johnny.

Yoda: To learn about the Force, you are here.

Luke: In direct sentences, I wish you speak. C’mon, little guy, I’m looking for a Yoda guy. Seen him?

Yoda: Yoda not far. Patience.

Luke: Whatever. I have an Apollo bar and a Hot Pocket, want one while we look?

Yoda: An Apollo bar? Heh! A Hot Pocket? Heh. A Jedi craves not these things.

Luke: What’s that cave over there? Smells awful.

Yoda: An incredible smell, you have discovered.

Luke: Lemmee guess, I go in there and face the Dark Side. What exactly is in there?

Yoda: Only what you take with you.

Luke: So, the entire collection of “Y: The Last Man”? Awesome, dude.

Luke enters the cave. His breath is visible. He hears ominous sounds all around him. Finally, in the clearing, he sees it: a carburetor. Through the low moan of the wind, he can hear “Viva Las Vegas” playing. Luke runs away in terror.

Yoda: Much to learn, you have. Many hugs as a child, you never received.

Meanwhile, the Millenium Falcon pulls into Cloud City to avoid Vader pursuing them. It’s made up of really big, futuristic awl things floating in the air. And the guy who runs it? Totally awesome.

Leia: “Totally awesome?”

Han: Totally. Lando’s the best. Plus? He hates the Empire.

Leia: Then why is Darth Vader right behind him?

Han: Son of a…

Lando: Sorry, old buddy. I need to keep this city running. It’s all I got. Plus: they had your names on some sort of list.

Back in Degobah, Luke has a nightmare involving his friends in Cloud City. He packs up some Lunchables for the trip, and hops in his X-Wing.

Yoda: Luke! Luke! Complete your training, you must.

Obi: He’s our last hope.

Yoda: Actually, there’s another.

Luke: Whoa. Wait. Another? And you’re just telling me this now? I would so not have done one-armed handstands while lifting boxes with my mind AND doing that day’s Sudoku if I’d know there was another.

Yoda: It’s your sister, Leia.

Luke: Ew, gross! We almost totally made out a few days ago! Why wasn’t the Force disturbed by that near makeout? Because I’m currently disturbed as hell.

Back in Cloud City, everyone’s inside this scary but super cool chamber. Han’s standing in the middle, about to be frozen alive by the machine inside.

Leia: I love you.

Han: Damn right you do.

C3P0: Wow, that Han is one bad...

Chewbacca: Raaar.

C3P0: Just talkin' 'bout Han. Can ya dig it?

A cloud of smoke appears, and out of it slowly rises Han’s body. He’s now encased in carbonite, although as a last act of defiance he threw up metal hands as a final "screw you" to the Empire.

Darth: Boba, Mr. Solo is now helpless thanks to his exposure inside the carbonite chamber. You can take his frozen body to Tattooine.

Boba: You know, I’m thinking I’ll just use Fed-Ex. I hear they have these pits, but they aren’t really “pits” so much as Sarlacci, and I just don’t want to end up being slowly digested over the course of a thousand years. Just not my style.

Lando: Quick, Vader’s gone. Now’s the time to unveil my secret weapon to save Han.

Leia: What’s that?

Lando: Her!

Smash cut to Corvette, from only of the most awesome hour of television ever, Exposé.

Corvette: RAZZLE DAZZLE!

Corvette and Boba Fett engage in a 20-minute fight to the death. Eventually they stop fighting, settle down, and have three kids of their own. And those kids all fight crime. With the Hoth ninjas.

Darth: Ah, right on schedule. Young Skywalker approaches. I hope he doesn’t think I’m just back for his money.

Luke: Yes, I think you’re back for all my moisture farm money. Exactly. Moron.

Darth: Luke, there’s something you need to know about your father. He’s, um, well, he’s me.

Luke: No, that’s impossible! That’s…wait, actually, that kinda makes sense.

Darth: Really?

Luke: Well, I just found out I had a sister I never knew about, so I guess my capacity for shock is diminished.

Darth: Wow, The Emperor foresaw you taking this way worse.

Luke: Well, I’m still pretty steamed about you leaving me as a kid. And making me live on a planet where the coolest thing to do on a Saturday is go to Toshi Station for some power converters.

Darth: Well, that’s why I’ve been following you all around the galaxy. I want to be your father again.

Luke: Then why all the continual attempts to kill me? Seems like a lame way to insert yourself back into my life.

Darth: Well, the shifter broke.

Luke: What?

Darth: The shifter broke. Life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things. I'm good at fixing things... always was.

Luke: You’re totally having a flashback, aren’t you?

Darth: Look, let’s go back to Tatooine, you and me. Together. We’ll take the Death Star. We’ll fix it up good, you and me. All it needs is…

Luke: …a carburetor?

Darth: Well, that and a few million man hours of work. You did wreck it pretty good, son.

Luke: Only because I was afraid you’d hurt me.

Darth: I said I was sorry for leaving you as a child.

Luke: No, I mean literally hurt me. You were shooting at my X-Wing.

Darth: This is all in the past. Hey, I’ll make you a deal. You help me fix it up, I’ll let you pick the first target for the newly completed Death Star.

Luke: Won’t the Emperor mind?

Darth: He usually hangs out in a throne room that features a ginormous opening into a bottomless pit. I think we can get rid of him fairly easily.

Luke: Oh, Dad!

Darth: Oh, Son!

Three Dog Night’s “Shambala” plays as we go into montage mode, with Darth and Luke happily rebuilding the Death Star together. Watch Darth laugh as Luke gets oil squirted into his eye! Watch R2-D2 give sass to the Death Star’s mainframe interface! Watch the proud look in Darth’s mask as Luke picks the target for the Death Star’s reconstructed firepower: the forest moon of Endor. Because let's face it: Ewoks suck, dude.

Nixon's Moonlanding Disaster Speech

2009-04-20T01:03:00.004-05:00

I found this very interesting article on Watergate.info via Digg.com about the speech that President Richard Nixon would have given if the astronauts of Apollo 11 had died on the moon back in 1969. Here is the full speech with a short introduction:

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. The following speech, revealed in 1999, was prepared by Nixon's then speechwriter, William Safire, to be used in the event of a disaster that would maroon the astronauts on the moon:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

Creepy.

"Some Like It Hoth" Thoughts and Theories, Part Two

2009-04-17T23:50:00.006-05:00

I loved "Some Like It Hoth," but many critics and fans disagree. For example, IGN rated the episode 6.7 out of 10 (they rated last week's episode "Dead is Dead" 9.4 out of 10). The episode may not have furthered the story very much, but it did fill in some gaps in the backstory of Miles (we find out why he asked Ben for $3.2 million, for example) and provided many hilarious moments.

My favorite funny moment occurred when Miles discovers that Hurley is writing "The Empire Strikes Back." Yes, that's right! Here's exactly how Hurley rationalizes this: "It's 1977, right? So Stars Wars just came out. And pretty soon, George Lucas is gonna be looking for a sequel. I've seen Empire, like, 200 times, so I figured I'd make life easier and send him the script... with a couple improvements."
Haha, so it turns out that Hurley may have written "Empire"?! Wow, this show is crazy!

Hurley wrote "The Empire Strikes Back"?!

Also, according to Jorge Garcia (Hurley), this episode had his favorite line of the entire show, which was: "The Ewoks sucked, dude." Jorge had previously informed The LOST podcast with Jack and Jay that this was the episode in which he delivered his favorite line. Jay confirmed that this line was the one Jorge said was his favorite.

But the "Some Like It Hoth" wasn't all about hilarious Hurley antics. In fact, Miles had a touching scene at the end of the ep. He stands outside of his father's house, watching him read a polar bear book to his younger, 3-month-old self. The scene sounds crazy, but Ken Leung's superb acting pulled it off beautifully. Dr. Chang then receives a phone call, leaves his house, and sees Miles. He says "Miles? I need you," to which Miles replies in a childlike manner "You do?" I thought this interaction was funny, but at the same time, it felt very genuine.

MIles watches his father read a book to his 3-month-old self.

There is not a new episode next week. Instead, ABC is airing a recap episode of sorts titled "Lost: The Story of the Oceanic 6." Here is the ABC press release for this recap episode:
WHAT TRANSPIRED FOR BOTH THE OCEANIC 6 AND THE REMAINING ISLAND SURVIVORS DURING THE THREE YEARS AFTER THE ISLAND WAS MOVED WILL BE EXPLORED, IN THE NEW SPECIAL, "LOST: THE STORY OF THE OCEANIC 6," WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 ON ABC.

ABC once again invites new and avid "Lost" viewers to take another look at one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed shows. "Lost: The Story of the Oceanic 6" will explore the series in a way that will bring new viewers up to date -- but which current viewers will also find illuminating - in discovering what happened to the Oceanic 6 and the remaining island survivors during the three years after Ben moved the island. The special airs WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Claire's son Aaron - otherwise known as the Oceanic 6 - were rescued and tried to pick up the pieces of the lives they knew before the crash and to perpetuate the lie concocted to hide the truth about what really happened. But Jack and Ben had to convince all of them to return to the island in order to save those left behind. Although they eventually did go back - sans Aaron -- what could possibly have been the motivating factors for each, and exactly how - and when -- did they return? As for those left behind on the island, violent shifts through time were wreaking havoc on their lives. Discover how Locke's leaving the island under the guise of Jeremy Bentham may have helped end the time rifts, and what led to his eventual death in the outside world.

Dan is the man with the answers.

The next new episode of LOST will be episode 5x14 "The Variable" airing on Wednesday, April 29th at 9/8c on ABC. Fans are hyping-up this episode for a number of reasons: 1. It is the 100th episode of LOST 2. It is a Faraday-centric episode 3. It is supposedly a direct follow-up to what is arguably the best episode of LOST ever: "The Constant" 4. And finally, check out this short synopsis: THE TIME OF RECKONING BEGINS AS DANIEL FARADAY COMES CLEAN REGARDING WHAT HE KNOWS ABOUT THE ISLAND... that means answers!

DISNEY has LAZY ANIMATORS!?

2009-04-17T23:41:00.004-05:00

Wow, check out this video from TodaysBigThing.com, which compares Disney films to one another and basically shows that Disney made one movie and then traced their original templates to make more movies!

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Again, wow, this video is amazing! But at least Disney has produced one original, great thing: LOST! Thanks to Jeff Cannata from "The Totally Rad Show" for posting a link to this video on Twitter!

Monologue 2: The Hobbit

2009-04-17T23:17:00.002-05:00

In this monologue video, I discuss the new information on "The Hobbit" found in this article from EmpireOnline.com.

"Some Like it Hoth" Thoughts and Theories, Part One

2009-04-17T20:38:00.006-05:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I kind of over-reacted about last week's episode. I watched it again and the CGI wasn't that bad and it did not feel as rushed as it did the first time I watched it. That being said, this week's episode, "Some Like it Hoth" more than made up for any disappointment I may have felt about last week's ep.

"Some Like it Hoth" is the first fully-centric episode for Miles (he had a small flashback scene in last season's second episode "Confirmed Dead"). The greatest part of this episode was the odd-couple pairing of Hurley and Miles.

Miles (image created by Ign.com)

Jamming in the DHARMA van, listening to Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together," Hurley and Miles share some memorable lines, such as when they talk about how they can both communicate with the dead and Hurley tells Miles that, "You're just jealous my powers are better than yours."

Or, when refering to Dr. Chang, Hurley says, "Dude, that guy's a total douche." and Miles responds with, "That douche is my dad." Yeah, that was a big reveal in this episode, that Dr. Chang and MIles are in fact father and son, even though many fans already suspected this.

Father and Son

Miles' flashback scenes were not very memorable, with the exception of one. After he is approached by Naomi to be a part of Widmore's freighter team, Miles is captured by Bram (who will later become an island survivor of Ajira 316). Bram asks him the question that Illana asked Frank in last week's episode: "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Miles, of course, has no idea what this means... and neither do I! But I do have a theory that Illana and Bram are part of the newly-reinstated DHARMA Initiative.

It was great to see the early stages of construction on the Swan station in this episode. The only thing that bothered me about this scene, however, was when the Swan worker moved the hatch lid, it reacted like a piece of flimsy fiberglass. In season two, the hatch lid was so heavy that it took two people to move it. It's not that big of a deal, it just bugged me.

The Swan Station, Pre-Incident

I'll have more to say about this episode in my next post!

"Some Like it Hoth" Sneak Peek and Press Release

2009-04-15T13:19:00.002-05:00

Tonight's episode is Miles-centric and titled "Some Like it Hoth." I have no idea what the title could mean in the context of LOST, but it is a fun play on words combining the title of the 1959 Marilyn Monroe film "Some Like it Hot" with the name of the icy planet Hoth from "Star Wars Episode IV: The Empire Strikes Back."

Thanks to DarkUFO for this clip of an interview with Jorge Garcia from last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live. At the end of the clip there is a short sneak peek for tonight's episode, beginning at 7:11 into the video.

I posted a few weeks back the press release for tonight's episode that had been leaked and acquired by DarkUFO, but ABC has since released the following official press release:

BEN IS TAKEN FROM THE INFIRMARY -- WHICH RAISES SUSPICIONS ABOUT A POSSIBLE SECURITY BREACH, AND MILES IS FORCED TO WORK WITH HURLEY TO DELIVERING AN IMPORTANT PACKAGE TO A TOP DHARMA OFFICIAL, ON ABC'S "LOST"

"Some Like It Hoth" - Suspicions about a possible breach intensify after Ben is taken from the infirmary, and a reluctant Miles is forced to work with Hurley when he's asked to deliver an important package to a top Dharma official, on "Lost," WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet and Terry O'Quinn as Locke.

Guest starring are Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang, Marsha Thomason as Naomi Dorrit, Doug Hutchison as Horace Goodspeed, Patrick Fischler as Phil, Jon Gries as Roger Linus, Eric Lange as Radzinsky, Leslie Ishii as Lara, Brad William Henke as Bram, Dean Norris as Howard Gray, Tim DeZarn as Trevor, Lance Ho as young Miles and Linda Rose Herman as Evelyn.

"Some Like It Hoth" was written by Melinda Hsu Taylor & Greggory Nations and directed by Jack Bender.

- Thanks again to DarkUFO for this content!

PediSedate - Making Drugs Fun For Kids!

2009-04-15T12:58:00.004-05:00

I first found out about this crazy product in an article on Gizmodo.com.

Then I did some investigating and found the official site for PediSedate.
Apparently, PediSedate is a "a medical device consisting of a colorful, toy-like headset that connects to a game component such as the Nintendo Game Boy system." But the headset isn't used for playing a game, but rather for doctors or dentists to knockout kids with nitrous oxide. The headset pumps gas into kids via a "snorkel," sedating them through a process that makes for "a less stressful experience for all involved." Yes, kids are now being deceived through the wondrous joy of video games!

Heck, I could use this think just to get to sleep at night!

I mean it's actually not a bad idea... but it still seems to me like something that began development in 1940s Nazi Germany.

Woody Harrelson Attacks Zombie Photographer

2009-04-11T18:42:00.003-05:00

When I saw this story on CNN this morning, titled "Woody Harrelson claims he mistook photographer for zombie," I thought it was some kind of joke! Apparently, Harrelson fought with a photographer at an airport in New York on Wednesday night.

"I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland,' in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character," Harrelson said in a statement issued Friday by his publicist.

"With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie," he said.

Haha, good for him! After all, when it comes to zombies, you can never be too careful!

Here is a link to the video on TMZ.com: http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=fad183da-3f7e-43c2-b570-412a660afd82

Jeez, if that TMZombie said "assault" or "Woody" one more time, I was going to track him down and punch him too!

"Dead is Dead" Thoughts and Theories... kind of

2009-04-10T16:28:00.005-05:00

First things first, this isn't going to be like my previous episode recaps. I'm just going to be honest for a minute: LOST is pissing me off this season! Every story line is being rushed and the show has been getting very sloppy, especially when it comes to continuity errors and the writer's apparent ignorance of previously established facts. This week's episode, "Dead is Dead," featured another reason why I'm disappointed with the show lately: very bad CGI. The Smoke Monster has been done very well in the past but this week's CG Smokie was terrible, cheesy, and embarrassing to watch.

Ben inside of the shitty CG smoke monster.

Some of the scenes in this episode were good, but again, they all felt very, very rushed. I miss the pace of seasons one, two, and three. Most people disagree with me, feeling that this newer, faster pace has made the show better than ever. In fact, critics are praising the show more now than ever before. For example, IGN gave this episode a 9.4 out of 10 and, as I posted last week, LOST recently won a Peabody Award. I really don't know what the heck they are all smoking.

Maybe I am just being too hard on the show. I still believe that LOST is the best drama TV has to offer these days, but I just felt like venting a bit of recent frustration through this blog post!

For more information on "Dead is Dead," including a full episode synopsis, transcript, and a VERY LONG LIST OF CONTINUITY ERRORS, visit this article on Lostpedia.

A FRIEND gets LOST?!?

2009-04-10T16:08:00.004-05:00

Wow, this is crazy. A couple of weeks back, I read an article about how big of a LOST fan former Friends star Matthew Perry was. The article quoted him as saying, "I want to be on that show so bad, but people would be like, 'What's Chandler doing on the island?' So it isn't going to happen. But I am truly addicted to the show. I even follow the story lines online."

Then today, I saw this article.
Perry is credited on IMDB as "George Hobbes" in the the season five finale, "The Incident" parts 1 and 2, airing May 13th. Could this be more insane?

Officially, ABC is denying that there's any truth to this rumor. Perry's personal publicity team has always said the information is false.

Only time will tell, but I swear to God if Jacob or the Four-Toed Statue turn out to be Chandler Bing, I'm giving up on LOST for good!

Do you Twitter?

2009-04-10T02:26:00.003-05:00

When I signed up for a Twitter account last year, I had no idea what I was doing or what exactly Twitter was. One of my friends had recommended it to me, but back then, it was not all the rage that it is now.

Nowadays, everyone and their dog is Twittering (or is it "Tweeting"? Sorry, I am not really down with the lingo yet!). I rarely update, by I often hop onto Twitter to see what other folks are up to.

LOST fans are also realizing the usefulness of Twitter. Here is a list (with short descriptions) of LOST-related Twitter-folk that I am following:

http://twitter.com/jayandjack
- Jay and Jack of the LOST Podcast

http://twitter.com/DarkUFO
- LOST spoilers and news

http://twitter.com/hawaii
- Ryan Ozawa of the Transmission LOST Podcast

http://twitter.com/Lost_Initiative
- The Official UK LOST Vodcast

And I guess if you would like to follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zackvos

Mini Movie - SDSU Watchmen

2009-04-08T02:07:00.016-05:00

This is the mini-movie Watchmen parody I made with Chris Daugaard and Kyle Halgerson for MCOM 225. If you have not read the Watchmen graphic novel or seen the movie, then this short film probably won't make a lick of sense. Heck, it might not make sense even if you have read or seen the original! That being said, however, this project sure was fun to make. Everyone involved chipped in ideas and did a great job.

With this project, we tried to parody the style and dialogue of Watchmen within our own SDSU-centric story. Many of the original story's scenes and quotes worked perfectly for this film. I thought that all of the actors did a great job, especially with such short notice.

The toughest part of the editing process was trying to balance the audio levels and find music that would work in each scene. I wish I would have had more time this week to smooth out a couple more of the little issues that bugged me, but I think that it all turned out pretty good in the end. I just want to thank everyone involved for their help and for a job well done!

"Whatever Happened, Happened" Thoughts and Theories

2009-04-02T23:28:00.005-05:00

I do not have a lot to say about this week's episode of That 70's Show, er, um LOST, I mean. Critics and fans are raving about it, but I thought that it was the season's weakest episode yet. Granted this week has been a hectic mess of stress for me, so I may not have been in the right frame of mind at the time I watched the episode. That being said, I watched the episode again and, although I liked it better, my opinion did not change much.

This Kate-centric episode highly redeemed her character. We found out that Kate didn't come back to the island to sleep around with Sawyer again (as last week's episode hinted at), but rather to find Claire so that Aaron can be reunited with his mother.

Evangeline Lilly's performance this week was excellent, even Emmy-worthy, in my opinion.

The episode's best scenes were the interactions between Hurley and Miles. As Hurley wondered if he would start to disappear like in Back to the Future and Miles called him an idiot, they were, in effect, speaking for the fans and our wild time-travel theories.

The last 1977 scene of the episode amazed most fans, but felt like a cop-out to me. Kate and Sawyer turned over a near-death young Ben to Richard Alpert, who said that what he is going to do to help save his life will cause Ben to lose his memory, along with his innocence. I sure hope that the writers can convince me that there is a good reason behind this, other than convenience that is.

Richard is last seen taking Ben into the temple. From the looks of it, we will not have to wait long to find out what happens in the temple because from the promo for next week's episode, it looks to be a Ben-centric episode.

The episode ended with a great scene of present-day Ben waking up to see the man he murdered, alive and well, sitting next to his bed.

"Welcome back to the land of the living" John Lock says to a shocked Ben Linus.

For more information on this episode, including a full synopsis and transcript, visit its Lostpedia page here.

Next week's episode is titled "Dead is Dead." Check it out Wednesday at 9/8c on ABC.

LOST wins Peabody Award

2009-04-02T23:19:00.002-05:00

This year's Peabody Award Winners were announced this Wednesday, and LOST was one of them.

Here's what they had to say about LOST:
"Breezily mixing metaphysics, quantum physics, romance and cliffhanger action, the genre-bending series about a group of air-crash survivors on a mysterious island has rewritten the rules of television fiction."

The Peabody Awards are annual, international awards that recognize the most outstanding achievements in electronic media, including radio, television, and cable. This year's ceremony will be held on May 18th at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

For a complete list of winners, visit this link.

LOST April Fool's Day Jokes

2009-04-01T17:31:00.003-05:00

This was the April Fool's Day joke on Lostpedia: M. Night Shymalan to direct LOST finale.

"In a shockingly quiet press release yesterday, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, revealed that the director of the series finale would be none other than acclaimed director M. Night Shymalan. The content of the finale still remains a secret, but Lindelof and Cuse stated that they wished to "get a hold" on the most important episode of next year, to make sure that everything goes "without a hitch."

Shyamalan, director of such films as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Lady in the Water says that he is more than up for the challenge, and will begin working with the producers as soon as his newest film, The Last Airbender, completes production. It is also rumoured that Shymalan's newfound experience with 3D (after working on Airbender) will be involved.

Shyamalan, an avid ''Lost'' fan, said that he was already working with Damon and Carlton on an early draft of the episode.

I have mixed feelings about this. We could end up with something Sixth Sense-ish, or something like Lady in the Water. Only time will tell, and hopefully it mainly remains in Darlton's hands."

Thank God it's a joke, because that would be the worst thing ever!

There was also this image released, supposedly by Reuters claiming that LOST had been cancelled, but it was actually released by www.LostFanz.com

LOST coming to YouTube?

2009-04-01T02:02:00.006-05:00

I often get lost on youtube, watching videos of talking cats or dramatic prairie dogs, but soon I may actually be able to get LOST on youtube. Yes!

The Walt Disney Company and Google are close to one programming deal for video portal YouTube, and are in discussions about another—also involving YouTube—that would preclude a deal with Hulu, paidContent has learned.

Disney and YouTube are in the final stages of negotiations to put clips from ESPN, ABC and other Disney assets on YouTube, according to sources familiar with the situation. The two companies would share revenue, with Disney controlling the ad inventory; YouTube and Google could get some inventory to sell. As important, YouTube would refer back to ESPN.com, ABC.com and the other Disney sites. Disney declined comment; a YouTube spokesman said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.

In addition, the two are discussing a full-episode deal—a multi-year pay-for-play deal that would put ABC and some other Disney programming on YouTube instead of NBC Universal-News Corp joint venture Hulu.

Source: PaidContent.org via SL-Lost.com

"Whatever Happened, Happened" Sneak Peeks

2009-04-01T01:35:00.003-05:00

ABC has released three sneak peeks for this week's episode "Whatever Happened, Happened."
Thanks to DarkUFO for the embed codes for these videos.

** Update ** The embedded videos are being cropped to fit in the blog column, so I am posting links to the sneak peeks on youtube:
Sneak Peek #1
Sneak Peek #2
Sneak Peek #3

Juliet tries to save Young Ben's life.

Hurley and Miles discuss Back to the Future and possible time travel paradoxes.

Jack refuses Sawyer's plea to help save Young Ben's life.

The Future of LOST and ABC

2009-03-27T23:49:00.003-05:00

I found this article from Variety via DarkUFO, and I have to say that I like some the ambitious ideas that the author proposes.

"The clock is ticking for "Lost" -- and ABC.

As they prep their pilots for next season, Alphabet execs know they've got one last shot at benefiting from "Lost's" still-strong -- and rabidly loyal -- audience.

Per the network and ABC Studios' agreement with "Lost" exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the island-hopping/time-shifting/ smoke-monstering series is due to flash into history at the end of next season.

When that deal was made in 2007, the finale was still three years off. But now that the day of reckoning has come, the Alphabet will need to take full advantage of next season's send-off.

ABC hasn't had much luck so far airing new shows behind "Lost," despite several ambitious attempts. "Invasion," "The Nine," "Traveler" and (most recently) "Life on Mars" all had their followers -- but none were able to hold on to their "Lost" lead-in, despite sharing some similar traits.

This April, ABC is trying something a little different on Wednesdays behind "Lost": the quirky police procedural "The Unusuals."

As for next season, the Alphabet has several hourlongs in the works that could potentially benefit from a "Lost" pairing: the remake of "V" and the adaptation of Robert J. Sawyer's sci-fi novel "Flash Forward," for example.

Meanwhile, now that "Lost's" days are numbered, will an anxious ABC want to wait until January before it can start hyping -- and taking advantage of -- the show's final 17 hours?

It probably wouldn't matter if "Lost" had already faded into ratings oblivion. But "Lost," while not as white-hot as it once was, is still a top-10 ratings powerhouse for ABC.

That's why if they're smart, Alphabet execs will already be plotting ways to keep "Lost" alive in the fall -- and keep fans from waiting eight agonizing months for the story to continue.

Absent original episodes, which don't come until January, the net won't garner the same kind of ratings that the show does in firstrun. But at least ABC can capitalize on the hype surrounding the series' final season -- and perhaps even recruit a few late-blooming or former viewers along the way.

Whatever the network decides to do, it would have to be enough of an event and so unique that it justifies utilizing an hour of primetime.

The most obvious idea? Putting a team of editors to work and recutting the first five seasons into an abridged, chronological version of "Lost."

Such a move would likely attract fans of the show, who are eager to see how the pieces of the puzzle all fit together in one cohesive, linear fashion. And this would also give first-time viewers, or ones who abandoned the show years ago, an entry point into enjoying the final season come spring.

An alternate idea? Edit each major character's back story into hourlong segs.

A less ambitious route would be to cherry pick pivotal episodes from the first few seasons and air them in order, although it's doubtful those episodes would post much of a rating (even if the net added in its "pop-up" info).

And if a full slate of episodes in the fall is out of the question, at the very least ABC needs to run a special or two -- including a townhall meeting featuring Lindelof and Cuse.

That's right, if it's good enough for "Survivor" or "The Bachelor," "Lost" also might benefit from an episode that featured the answers to questions from fans.Net could cut a few specials using the content that was produced for other sources -- webisodes, mobisodes, etc. -- but has never been broadcast. Cutting room floor footage, bloopers ... all of that could be potential low-cost (since it already exists) Friday or Saturday night fare.

As for the series finale in May 2010, here's hoping ABC plans a live, in-studio after show, in which Lindelof and Cuse explain what just happened. Hopefully the duo aren't planning to emulate David Chase, who disappeared for several months following "The Sopranos" finale.

After that, there will surely be some "Lost" fans mourning the loss of the show -- and wishing they could travel back in time and do it all over again. Hopefully ABC execs won't be feeling the same thing."

- A chronological version of LOST is something that I'd love to see, but I don't know how well it would work. Also, an extended Q & A with Dalton is something that I think needs to happen at some point! As Hurley says, "I want some friggin' answers!"

Ask LOST

2009-03-27T20:46:00.004-05:00

Everyone is looking for answers to LOST, so here's your chance to ask your burning questions. ABC is giving fans the opportunity to submit theirs question about the show. If selected, your question will be answered in an upcoming podcast or an Ask Lost online video!

I decided to do this; here is my question:

"In the season three episode "Greatest Hits" Desmond tells Charile that he has had another one of his flashes, one in which Claire and Aaron get into a helicopter and leave the Island, but that in order for this to happen, Charlie must drown after "flicking a switch next to a yellow light" in a hatch. Was Desmond lying to Charlie? Or was he perhaps misinterpreting his flash, seeing only glimpses of a woman holding Aaron on a helicopter, assuming it was Claire? This has been bugging me! In a related question, will anyone ever discover the "DS" ring Charlie left in the crib for Aaron? Thanks!"

You can ask your own question by following this link.

"He's Our You" Thoughts and Theories

2009-03-27T20:08:00.011-05:00

"He's Our You" was a mess of a great episode. Well, "mess" may not be the best word, but this episode was certainly all over the place, from Tikrit, Iraq to Moscow, Russia to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to Los Angeles, California, and finally to everyone's favorite island of mystery and suspense.

Sayid: Natural Born Killer

We were shown a brief history of Sayid's life as a killer, beginning with a flashback scene in Iraq. This scene of young Sayid and his brother "echoed" a scene of a young Mr. Eko and his brother in season two's "The 23rd Psalm." In both flashbacks, our main characters killed so that their brothers would not have to. Is this a hint that Sayid will later share Eko's fate and be killed by the smoke monster? I sure hope not!

In the next scene, young Ben gives Sayid the book "A Separate Reality." The book, which deals in part with mind-altering drugs, is a clear reference to a scene later in the episode, but I interpret it a bit differently. I think that the title itself suggests that the actions of our Losties in the past is creating a separate reality, or in others words, an alternate universe or timeline. That being said, I think this that this interpretation is simply a red herring because, afterall, "what happened, happened," right?

In Sayid's Moscow flashback, we see him pursue and execute the final Widmore associate on Ben's list. I thought that the victim's attempt to bribe Sayid was odd, considering that Sayid was there to kill him and could just take the money anyway after killing him. Afterwards, Sayid walks under a sign reading "Олдхэм Фармасьютикалс" in Russian, which translates to Oldham Pharmaceuticals (this will make sense in a later scene). Ben then informs Sayid that his work is done, that there is no one left to kill. Ben tells Sayid to "go live your life," but Sayid seems lost. Without Nadia, killing is the only life he knows.

Back on the island, Sawyer attempts to help Sayid, but Sayid is stubborn as usual. Sawyer asks Sayid how he is doing and Sayid responds with: "A twelve-year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich. How do you think I’m doing?" Haha, poor, confused Sayid!

Sayid refuses to cooperate with the Dharma folk, so he is taken to Oldham, who appears to be a crazy hippie pharmacist who uses a truth serum to get information from his "patients." Also, Oldham is apparently a torturer as Sawyer tells Sayid that "he's our you."

The truth serum causes Sayid to go a bit wacky and reveal how he got to the island (both times), as well as what he knows about three of the Dharma stations: the Flame, the Pearl, and the Swan. This causes Radzinsky to freak out and label Sayid as a spy, especially since the Swan hadn't even been built yet. Sayid's confession that he is from the future, however, destroys his story's credibility.

While working for Build Our World in Santo Domingo, Sayid is visited by Ben, who informs Sayid that John Locke is dead. "I think he may have been murdered," says Ben. Hmm, I wonder why you would think that?! Haha! Anyway, Ben informs Sayid that a man has been outside the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute watching Hurley for a week. Sayid asks Ben why he would just assume that he'll kill this man. Ben reasons that Sayid is capabilty of doing things most other men are not, and how killing is in Sayid's nature. Sayid basically says that he is wrong and that he does not like killing, but as the end of the episode shows, Ben was right and had his reasons for believing this.

Back on the island, the Dharma folk vote unanimously to kill Sayid. Sawyer makes one last attempt to save him, but Sayid seems to accept his fate, reasoning that he now knows why he is here. Soon thereafter, a fiery distraction allows young Ben to spring Sayid from his cell.

Flaming Dharma Van

While escaping, Sayid and Ben meet Jin in the jungle. Jin is knocked unconscious by Sayid when he attempts to radio Sawyer. Sayid bends down for Jin's gun and quietly says "You were right about me. I am a killer." After a moment of reflection, he looks up and shoots Ben in the chest. WHAT!?!? Sayid must think that he can change the future and this must be what he was talking about when he said he knew why he was here. The episode ends as Sayid runs from the scene.

So what does this mean for the timeline? Did this always happened? Was Sayid always meant to shoot Ben? This is what I believe: Sayid did not mess up the timeline because this is what was always destined to happen. Ben is not dead. He will recover and this will be one of the defining moments that transform him from a sweet, innocent, sandwich-making kid in 1977 to the cold-hearted, manipulative murder we all know and love.

Sayid: Bad-ass, time-traveling assassin or cold-hearted child killer?

For more information on this episode, including a full synopsis and transcript, visit the Lostpedia page for "He's Our You." Something worth checking out on this page is the Bloopers/Continuity Errors section. There has seemed be a major increase in the occurrence of continuity errors this season and Lostpedia does a good job of pointing them out.

Next week's episode, "Whatever Happened, Happened," is a Kate-centric episode. Check it out Wednesday, April 1st on ABC at 9/8c!

Monologue 1: "He's Our You" Initial Reaction Video

2009-03-26T00:51:00.005-05:00

Hey folks! This is my first video monologue post for MCOM 225 Intro to Digital Production. It features just a couple of my initial thoughts on tonight's episode "He's Our You."

Thanks to getlostpodcastmedia.com and DarkUFO for the screencaps used in this video.

Check back soon for a full recap of my thoughts and theories for this episode!

Who Needs Music When You Have Podcasts?

2009-03-24T10:44:00.009-05:00

While I'm on the subject of podcasts, I thought that I would talk about the ones that I listen to on a daily/weekly basis. I'll also give the links to the podcast on both iTunes and their websites if you are interested in checking them out.

I listen to podcast more than I do music, and my favorite podcast out there is the The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack. They do episodes twice a week (on Wednesday nights after LOST and on Monday mornings). Their banter back and forth and their crackpot theories make it a great show that I anticipate every week.

Jay and Jack on iTunes
www.jayandjack.com

Filmspotting is a podcast done by Chicago film critics Matty Robinson and Adam Kempenaar. Each Friday, Adam and Matty usually review one or two new movies and discuss their film-related top 5 lists. I tend to agree with their reviews and opinions of movies, and their film discussions make for an entertaining show.

Filmspotting on iTunes
www.filmspotting.net

Two of the best video podcasts out there are The Totally Rad Show and Diggnation. The Totally Rad Show features entertaining reviews of movies, video games, TV shows, and sometimes comic books from three guys - Alex Albrecht, Dan Trachtenberg, and Jeff Cannata. Diggnation features discussion of the top entertainment/technology related stories on the website Digg.com, hosted by Alex Albrecht and Digg.com-founder Kevin Rose.

The Totally Rad Show on iTunes (Small Quicktime Version)
www.totallyradshow.com

Diggnation on iTunes (Small Quicktime Version)
www.diggnation.com

A podcast that I just recently began listening to, but enjoy very much is the Adam Carolla podcast. The podcast is explicit, but Adam's social commentary is hilarious, and each day he has one of his celebrity friends co-host the show with him.

The Adam Carolla Podcast on iTunes
www.adamcarolla.com

That's all for now! I listen to many more podcasts, so I may discuss more in a future post.

Jay and Jack Exceed Goal!

2009-03-24T10:22:00.005-05:00

I hadn't planned on it, but I ended up staying up and watching the entire 25-hour Jay and Jack podcast for Autism Speaks this past weekend! It was just too entertaining to miss a minute! Jay and Jack set the goal of raising $10,000 for the charity this year (having raised about $5,000 the previous year). This year, the podcast managed to exceed its goal, raising $12,380 in 25 hours!

Jack (left) and Jay (right) celebrated with a cake made in the shape of the Autism Speaks logo.

Jack and Jay are a step-father/son duo that I have listened to for many years, and it's great what they do for this worthy cause. I was glad to to donate and be a part of it. My favorite guests on the podcast were NFL referee Ed Hochuli (who is a huge LOST fan) and Jorge Garcia (who plays Hurley on LOST). Ed's stories and insights into the NFL were hilarious and entertaining, and he was a major driving force behind the donations, urging viewers to donate many times throughout the 25 hours. Jorge, once again showing how generous he is to his fans, talked with Jay and Jack for over 4 hours, providing many insights about LOST and his life.

Jay and Jack with Jorge

The podcast was a great experience, and I can't wait for next year!

Jay and Jack's 25-hour Podcast

2009-03-22T03:04:00.003-05:00

It's 3 a.m. and Jay and Jack's 25-hour Podcast for Autism Speaks is going into its tenth hour! Jay and Jack just finished their discussion of their top ten songs of all time with Jen and Ryan from another LOST podcast, The Transmission. Here are there lists:

Jay and Jack's 25 Hour Podcast - Top 10 Songs

Jack:
10. Smokin' by Boston
9. Panama by Van Halen
8. Right Now by Van Halen
7. Surfin' USA by Beach Boys
6. Feeling That Way by Journey
5. American Idiot by Green Day
4. American Pie by Don MacLean
3. Suspicious Minds by Elvis
2. Help by The Beatles
1. More than a Feeling by Boston

Jay:
10. Sleepwalk by Santo & Johnny
9. La Cremosa from Requiem in D Minor by Mozart
8. Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone
7. What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
6. Miranda That Ghost Aint Holy Anymore by Mars Volta
5. Take 5 by the Dave Brubeck Group
4. Grace by Jeff Buckley
3. Pyramid Song by Radiohead
2. A Day in the Life by The Beatles
1. Since I've Been Lovin' You by Led Zeppelin

Ryan:
10. Dans Macabre, Op. 40 by Camille Saint-Sanes
9. Stop Whispering by Radiohead
8. Linger by The Cranberries
7. Big Time Sensuality
6. Ana Ng by They Might Be Giants
5. "Break Your Heart" by Barenaked Ladies
4. Kuulei Awapuhi by Hapa
3. Paperback Writer by The Beatles
2. What I Got by Sublime
1. When The Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin

Jen:
10. Fire by the Jimmy Hendrix Experience
9. About You by Cecilio & Kapono
8. Love Rain Over Me by The Who from Who's Next
7. Angel of Harlem by U2
6. At Last by Etta James
5. Tangerine by Led Zeppelin
4. Little Red Corvette by Prince
3. Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
2. Here Comes by the Sun by The Beatles
1. Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns N' Roses

Jay and Jack's 25-hour podcasts for Autism Speaks

2009-03-21T11:00:00.003-05:00

I listen to a ton of LOST podcasts (and podcasts in general) and by far the best, most entertaining one is The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack. Each year these guys do a 25-hour podcast to benefit the charity Autism Speaks. This year the podcast will be broadcast live from Ustream.tv beginning at 4 pm on March 21. There will be many guests including Jorge Garcia (aka Hurley from Lost).

Check it out for some guaranteed good times, and don't worry non-Lost fans, not all of the 25 hours are not about Lost! It all benefits a great cause and all of the money donated goes directly to Autism Speaks. For more information click this link to the Ustream page, or visit www.jayandjack.com

"Namaste" Thoughts and Theories

2009-03-20T09:46:00.008-05:00

I hate to say it, but I thought this episode was "meh" by LOST's standards. I can't really pinpoint why I didn't enjoy this episode as much as I enjoy most, but regardless it was still a great hour of television. In this post, I'll recap some of the better moments of the episode.

When Juliet finds out from Amy that she plans to name her baby "Ethan," her reaction is priceless. Ethan, the "other" who terrorized the Losties in season one by kidnapping Claire and Charlie, has been seen on the show more often after his death than before and looks like he may be more important to the overall LOST story than it originally seemed. This also explains why Ethan considered it "an honor" to meet Juliet in season three, since she was the woman who delivered him as a baby. There is just one problem that I have with this whole thing: if Ethan was born in 1977, then he would be 27 when we see him in season one, taking place in 2004. William Mapother, the guy who plays Ethan (who also happens to be Tom Cruise's cousin) is 44 years old!

Does this dude look like he is 27?

But I guess this could all be explained by Juliet's remark to Jack in season four: "It's very stressful being an Other, Jack." Haha, the stress of being an "other" must have aged Ethan rapidly!

It was great to see Jack, Kate, and Hurley become a part of the Dharma Initiative in this episode. Recruitment day seems like such a happy time for the Dharma Initiative, which is odd for this show. Everything is usually doom and gloom, mystery and suspense, so it was good to see something good happening on the island.

The best part of the Dharma Recruitment Day was the scene between Jack and Pierre Chang. Jack is given a Dharma jumpsuit with the title "Work Man" stitched onto the chest.

JACK: "Work man." What does--what does that mean?

DR. CHANG: Based on your aptitude test, you'll be doing janitorial work.

Jack, a successful spinal surgeon, just chuckles at his janitorial assignment. I'm sure that Sawyer had a hand in the selection of Jack's title!

A big reveal in this episode was Radzinsky. We first heard about Radzinsky back in season two from Kelvin Inman's explanation to Desmond. Radzinsky was Inman's partner in the Swan station. Kelvin explained to Desmond that, while he was asleep, Radzinsky committed suicide by putting a shotgun in his mouth and firing it, causing a blood stain on the ceiling.

We see Radzinsky for the first time in this episode, working in the Flame station, building a model of the Swan station.

The biggest thing that happened it this episode was the capture of Sayid. Jin and Radzinsky discover Sayid wandering in the jungle. Because Radzinsky is with him, Jin is forced pretend that he does not know Sayid as they bring him in as a "hostile."

In a strange reversal of situations, Sayid is locked up and visited at the end of the episode by ... BIG REVEAL! ... a young Ben! Ironically, in season two, older Ben was locked up and subsequently visited by (and tortured by) Sayid.

After this reveal, the episode ends. So what does this mean for Sayid? Will he try to do something in the past to Ben? In the promo for the next episode, Sayid says "I now know why I am here," and he is seen firing a gun. Does this mean that he is going to shoot younger Ben? Will Sayid really shoot a child? Considering what Ben does to Sayid later in his life, I wouldn't doubt it. We'll find out next week.

Late Season Five Press Releases Leaked Early - Part Two

2009-03-20T09:35:00.001-05:00

Episode 5.14 – “The Variable”

THE TIME OF RECKONING BEGINS AS DANIEL FARADAY COMES CLEAN REGARDING WHAT HE KNOWS ABOUT THE ISLAND

On the 100th episode milestone for the series, the time of reckoning has begun when Daniel Faraday comes clean regarding what he knows about the island.

Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by Paul Edwards

Cast
Naveen Andrews as Sayid
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond
Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday
Michael Emerson as Ben
Matthew Fox as Jack
Jorge Garcia as Hurley
Josh Holloway as Sawyer
Yunjin Kim as Sun
Ken Leung as Miles
Evangeline Lilly as Kate
Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet
Terry O’Quinn as Locke

Guest Cast
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
Sonya Walger as Penelope “Penny” Widmore
Alan Dale as Charles Widmore
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Eric Lange as Radzinsky
Sarah Farooqui as Theresa
Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking
Wendy Pearson as E.R. doctor
Todd Coolidge as paramedic
Peggy Anne Siegmund as caretaker
Jennifer Sojot as E.R. nurse
Spencer Allyn as young Daniel Faraday
Michael Dempsey as foreman
Maya Henssens as young girl
Ariston Green as workman
Marvin DeFreitas as young Charlie
Brad Berryhill as anxious guy

Episode 5.14 – “Follow the Leader”

JACK AND KATE FAIL TO AGREE ON THE BEST DIRECTION TO TAKE TO SAVE THEIR FELLOW ISLAND SURVIVORS, AND SAWYER AND JULIET COME UNDER SCRUTINY FROM THE DHARMA INITIATIVE

Jack and Kate find themselves at odds over the direction to take to save their fellow island survivors, Locke further solidifies his stance as leader of "The Others," and Sawyer and Juliet come under scrutiny from the Dharma Initiative.

Written by Paul Zbyszewski & Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directed by Stephen Williams

Cast
Naveen Andrews as Sayid
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond
Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday
Michael Emerson as Ben
Matthew Fox as Jack
Jorge Garcia as Hurley
Josh Holloway as Sawyer
Yunjin Kim as Sun
Ken Leung as Miles
Evangeline Lilly as Kate
Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet
Terry O’Quinn as Locke

Guest Cast
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Doug Hutchison as Horace Goodspeed
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Eric Lange as Radzinsky
David S. Lee as younger Charles Widmore
Alice Evans as younger Eloise Hawking
Leslie Ishii as Lara
Sebastian Siegel as Erik
Kevin Chapman as Mitch
Elisabeth Blake as Vanessa
William Makozak as Captain Bird
Victoria Goring as mother
Maya Henssens as young girl

Late Season Five Press Releases Leaked Early - Part One

2009-03-20T09:28:00.004-05:00

My buddy Andy Page of DarkUFO and SpoilerTV has acquired some interesting, spoilery press releases for the later episodes of LOST this season:

Episode 5.12 – “Dead is Dead”

BEN ATTEMPTS TO SUMMON THE SMOKE MONSTER IN ORDER TO BE JUDGED FOR SINS OF THE PAST

To atone for sins of the past, Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged.

Written by Brian K. Vaughan & Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directed by Stephen Williams

Cast
Naveen Andrews as Sayid
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond
Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday
Michael Emerson as Ben
Matthew Fox as Jack
Jorge Garcia as Hurley
Josh Holloway as Sawyer
Yunjin Kim as Sun
Ken Leung as Miles
Evangeline Lilly as Kate
Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet
Terry O’Quinn as Locke

Guest Cast
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert
Tania Raymonde as Alex
Sonya Walger as Penelope “Penny” Widmore
Alan Dale as Charles Widmore
Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus
Sterling Beaumon as young Ben
Zuleikha Robinson as Llana
Said Taghmaoui as Caesar
Melissa Farman as young Danielle Rousseau
Brad William Henke as Bram
Matt Hoffman as Jed

Episode 5.13 – “Some Like It Hoth”

BEN IS TAKEN FROM THE INFIRMARY -- WHICH RAISES SUSPICIONS ABOUT A POSSIBLE SECURITY BREACH, AND MILES IS FORCED TO WORK WITH HURLEY TO DELIVERING AN IMPORTANT PACKAGE TO A TOP DHARMA OFFICIAL

Suspicions about a possible breach intensify after Ben is taken from the infirmary, and a reluctant Miles is forced to work with Hurley when he's asked to deliver an important package to a top Dharma official.

Written by Melinda Hsu Taylor & Greggory Nations
Directed by Jack Bender

Cast
Naveen Andrews as Sayid
Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond
Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday
Michael Emerson as Ben
Matthew Fox as Jack
Jorge Garcia as Hurley
Josh Holloway as Sawyer
Yunjin Kim as Sun
Ken Leung as Miles
Evangeline Lilly as Kate
Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet
Terry O’Quinn as Locke

Guest Cast
Francois Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang
Marsha Thomason as Naomi Dorrit
Doug Hutchinson as Horace Goodspeed
Patrick Fischler as Phil
Jon Gries as Roger Linus
Eric Lange as Radzinsky
Leslie Ishii as Lara
Brad William Henke as Bram
Dean Norris as Howard Gray
Tim DeZam as Trevor
Lance Ho as young Miles
Linda Rose Herman as Evelyn

Free Geronimo Jackson Song on iTunes

2009-03-20T08:56:00.003-05:00

You can now download a Geronimo Jackson track called "Dharma Lady" from iTunes for free by following this link.

The band Geronimo Jackson has been referenced many times in LOST. A full list of the references can be found here at the Geronimo Jackson Lostpedia page. Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse seemed to suggest that the band was real. "They're a band not a lot of people have heard about. They just released one very obscure album in the mid to late '70s".

The ABC TV Store website recently released a line of Geronimo Jackson themed merchandise. In the description for one of the items, the following summary is given on the history of the band:

Keith Strutter formed the rock band Geronimo Jackson in the mid 60s in Detroit. Gathering a solid reputation for their sold-out string of performances in local burlesque clubs, the band packed up their gear and made way to the Excelsior District of San Francisco. From there they released their first album “Magna Carta,” receiving much acclaim and star status to locals in the industry. Reported to be making their long awaited follow-up album, the band retired to Woodstock in 1972, never to be seen or heard again.

The song is an alternate version of "Excelsior Lady" by a current band called "The Donkeys." It has been theorized by fans that the band would be playing as "Geronimo Jackson" in LOST since this is the same song playing in Jin's DHARMA van in the episode "316" right before he finds Jack, Kate and Hurley by the waterfall lagoon.

Wild Card 1-Minute Video

2009-03-16T15:37:00.002-05:00

Here is the video Steve Hurd and I created for today's 1-minute video assignment. The most difficult part of the video was coming up with the idea! It seemed that I could not get the creative part of my brain to work this morning, so I suggested to Steve that we go outside (since it was the nicest day we've had for a long time!), to see if anything we saw would inspire us. I saw some litter on the ground, and we came up with the idea of creating a mini-PSA about litter control.

Steve and I filmed all the litter we could find outside of Yeager Hall and around the library. Since the snow has recently melted, it did not take long for us to find all of the shots of litter that we needed as B-roll. With the time it took to film and edit, I feel good about the way this video turned out. Using Final Cut again after spring break was a good way to re-familiarize myself with all of its features for tomorrow's exam.

All of the litter seen in this video was picked up and thrown away!

The music in this video is "Highway Five" from freeplaymusic.com

"LaFleur" Thoughts and Theories, Part Two

2009-03-07T22:09:00.005-06:00

"LaFleur" is the first Sawyer-centric episode since early Season 3's "Every Man for Himself."

The episode takes place entirely on the island with flashbacks from Sawyer and co.'s time in 1977 with the DHARMA Intiative, back to 1974 shortly after the time flashes stopped. The cutting between events from 1974 and 1977 was handled flawlessly and did a good job of explaining exactly how we got to where we are now/then. Little touches like the improvement of Jin's English did good job of establishing that three years had passed.

It's been a while since we've had an opportunity to see Sawyer's con artist skills put to the test, but he definitely delivered this week. Under the alias of "Jim LaFleur," Sawyer was able to convince Horace with his lie of how his group ended up on the island. Hearing him place little specifics like the Black Rock to sell the lie was a neat touch and shows that Sawyer is a master of his game. Could "LaFleur," the French word for "flower," be a reference to the Orchid station, or possibly Rousseau's French expedition team?

James Ford aka Sawyer aka Jim LaFleur

Besides the appearance of the full four-toed statue, my favorite parts of "LaFleur" were the frequent juxtapositions and ironies in the episode. Here are a few examples:

1. In 1974, when Sawyer wakes up from the sonic fence incident, Horace asks him "How's your head?" and Sawyer replies, "It hurts." In 1977, when Horace wakes up from his drinking binge, Sawyer asks him "How's your head?" and Horace replies, "It hurts."

2. Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Miles, and Daniel have been living a lie for three years, just as the Oceanic 6 have off of the island.

3. Sawyer, the career criminal, is now head of security. In "The Long Con," Sawyer referred to himself as the "New Sheriff in Town". As Chief of Security LaFleur Sawyer is "the new Sheriff in town." He even has a sheriff star in the logo on his DHARMA suit.

4. Juliet delivered the son of Horace, the person that brought Ben Linus to the Island whom was the person that brought Juliet to the Island to deliver babies.

And speaking of Horace's son, he's the one person we now know has been born *and* conceived on the island. We're specifically told that all other DHARMA kids were born off-island. So with the birth of this child, as Sawyer smartly points out, whatever happens to prevent childbirth on the island hasn't happened yet. I think that something is most likely the mysterious "Incident." So then who is the son of Horace? We probably won't find that out for a while (but I believe it is Ethan). But consider this: was he supposed to be born at all? If Juliet hadn't been there, would he have died otherwise? Was having Juliet travel back to DHARMA time necessary for the birth of this kid? And if so, did Ben Linus knowingly recruit her to the island in the 1990's for this sole purpose... the whole 'solving the fertility problem' thing being something he knew she couldn't fix anyway? If so, I think we just saw something really important.

In the final scene of the episode, Sawyer receives a phone call from Jin and heads out in his DHARMA jeep. Jin pulls up in his DHARMA van and Hurley, Jack, and Kate hop out. Sawyer's reaction to seeing his friend for the first time in three years was perfect and was a great way to end this great episode. The next episode, "Namaste" does not air until March 18.

For more information on "LaFleur," including a complete synopsis and transcript, visit LostPedia.com's entry for the episode.

"LaFleur" Thoughts and Theories, Part One

2009-03-07T17:48:00.010-06:00

Like a broken record, I feel like I repeat this each week, but Wednesday's episode was my favorite so far this season!

Early on in this episode, we got a scene that gave us a glimpse at something that has the entire LOST fan community buzzing: the full four-toed statue!

The four-toed statue seen in the season two finale in 2004 (above) and the full statue seen at some undefined time in the past (below).

Popular fan opinion on the internet believes the statue to be that of the Egyptian god Anubis. Over the course of time, Anubis "became considered more the gatekeeper and ruler of the underworld, the "Guardian of the veil" (of "death"). Consequently, he was said to protect souls as they journeyed there, and thus be the patron of lost souls."

Thanks to Eric and Jeremy Headington at GetLostPodcast.com for this picture comparing pictures of Anubis to what we saw on the show.

The statue is holding an ankh (the symbol for eternal life), which was also the symbol of Paul's necklace revealed later in the episode. The symbol made me think of the seemingly ageless Richard Alpert, who I will discuss more in a minute.

There are a couple of other plausible statue theories out their now as well:

Horace (Goodspeed), featured prominently in this episode is similar to Horus, the name of the Egyptian sky god. The "Eye of Horus" became an important Egyptian symbol of power. Many episodes of LOST begin with a close-up shot of a character's eye.

Another theory (one with which I strongly agree) is that the statue is of Taweret:

Taweret: See the crown-thing? And the ears pointing back? And the stance, one leg in front of the other? And the FOUR TOES?

Taweret is the Egyptian goddess of fertility. She's also the protector of pregnancy and childbirth. This theory makes the most sense, considering the island's history of pregnancy problems and the first successful on-island conception and birth seen in this episode.

Nevertheless, the statue is clearly Egyptian in nature. After all this, mixed with the Sphinx that Hurley was painting last week and all the hieroglyphics we've seen on the show and the big picture slowly starts to become clearer.

Hieroglyphics in the hatch. At Comic Con 2006, producer Damon Lindelof translated the countdown timer sequence to mean "underworld," hinting at the Anubis connection.

Now back to Richard Alpert. A fan-based joke revolving around Richard Alpert and "guyliner" is referenced in this episode by Sawyer when he calls him the "buddy out there with the eyeliner." This line is a reference to the naturally dark eyelashes of actor Nestor Carbonell.

But like every thing on LOST, I have decided to over-analysis this line! Ancient Egyptians were known for darkening their eyelashes with eyeliner made from kohl. Could this seemingly throw-away line actually be a clue that the ageless Richard Alpert is actually an ancient Egyptian god?? Could Richard Alpert (initials R.A.) be the Egyptian sun god RA?? Sounds crazy, I know, but with this show, anything's possible!

"Guyliner": Just of fun joke or a clever clue!?!?!

So far, I've only covered the first couple of minutes of the episode. Stay tuned for my next post for more of my thoughts and theories on "LaFleur."

First Person Story

2009-03-05T22:31:00.006-06:00

I don't like seeing myself on camera and I hate hearing my own voice, so I was not looking forward to this project at first, but I found myself having fun once I went back and started looking at old photographs of my family and I to use for this video!

I tried to get most of my photographs that I could to fit the 720 x 480, 4:3 standard. This took some guessing-and-testing with cropping, but I thought most of the pictures turned out fine.

There seems to be a glitch in the audio when I am talking about my cat Otis. I say "he sleeps funny," but the word "funny" seems to be glitched and difficult to hear. The project file audio sounds fine, so it seems that the glitch occurred when the video was exported. I exported the video twice but had the same problem. Other than that, I am happy with the audio levels overall in combination with the music.

The music used in this video is "Highway Five" from FreePlayMusic.com.

Amazon Kindle on iPhone and iPod Touch

2009-03-04T12:53:00.006-06:00

When the Kindle from Amazon first came out, I really wanted one, even though I realized how unnecessary (and expensive!) it was. Then, when the Kindle 2 came out with an improved display, longer battery life, more storage, and many more improvements, I really, really wanted one. I had to remind myself that it wasn't worth spending $359.00 on this new toy.

But still, I liked the idea of being able to get (almost) any book at any time on a device that I can carry around with me. So imagine my excitement when I hopped onto Gizmodo.com this morning to see that Kindle was now an application available for the iPhone (and iPod Touch)! The best of all, it's FREE! Well, the download for the application is free, but the books still cost money (about $9.99 for a new release book).

"The free program brings several of the Kindle's functions to the iPod and iPhone's much smaller, non-E-Ink screen, including the same electronic books, magazines and newspapers that Kindle owners can buy, and the ability to change text size, add bookmarks, note and highlight stuff." - from this Gizmodo article.

I have an iPod touch, so this application might come in handy!

"LaFleur" Sneak Peeks

2009-03-04T12:23:00.003-06:00

ABC has released two sneak peeks and a press release for Wednesday's episode "LaFleur."

Sneak Peek #1

Sneak Peek #2

Sneak peek #1 is great. It is fun to see Sawyer and Juliet working together as a team. I wonder who the woman in the hood is. Could it be someone that we already know?

The second sneak peek, however, is painful to watch. Jeremy Davies is usually a great actor (in movies such as Saving Private Ryan and Resuce Dawn), but I don't think that this is some of his best work. Still, the scene is important because it establishes that whenever they are now is when they are stuck (which is clearly back in the height of the Dharma Initiative of the late 1970s, early 1980s).

Here is the synopsis for "LaFleur," according to the ABC press release for the episode: "Sawyer perpetuates a lie with some of the other island survivors in order to protect themselves from mistakes of the past."

"Mistakes of the past"? With LOST, "the past" is all relative, so who know what this means! Will we see Jin reunite Kate, Jack, and Hurley ("the other island survivors"?) with Sawyer in this episode? I hope so, because it has been too long since most of the charcters have been together in the same place... and time.

Also according to the ABC press release, guest starring for this episode are "Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Doug Hutchison as Horace Goodspeed, Reiko Aylesworth as Amy, Christopher Jaymes as doctor, Kevin Rankin as Jerry, Patrick Fischler as Phil, Molly McGivern as Rosie, Carla Buscaglia as Heather and John Skinner as Other #1."

Could the woman in the hood in sneak peek #1 be Amy, Rosie, or Heather? Possibly, but only time with tell! Tune into "LaFleur" Wednesday night at 8 pm.

Watchmen Novel Review, Movie Preview, and LOST connections

2009-03-01T15:56:00.007-06:00

I just finished reading Watchmen. It's the first comic book/graphic novel that I have ever read, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it! A friend recommended it to me a couple months ago, but I gave it little thought until recently. With movie coming out soon (March 6th), I decide to order the novel from Amazon.com and check it out for myself.

New to comic books, I struggled to get through the first few pages, but I soon found myself sucked into the storyline and taken on an exciting ride. The first night I read until I was shocked to see that it was 4 in the morning! I finished the novel the next night, up until 3 am. I just could not put the book down. I had never read anything like this before.

Watchmen tells the story of an alternate 1985, in which Richard Nixon is still president. The world is at the brink of a nuclear war at the height of the Cold War. Five superheroes, all but one ordinary human beings, and all of them harboring complex emotional ties and relationships with each other and the world around them, are brought back together after the death of a sixth reveals a disturbing conspiracy which has implications for the whole world.

It is difficult to see how a story as complex as Watchmen could be translated effectively to the big screen, but I trust that director Zack Synder (also the director of 300) has done his very best not to disappoint the fans. The movie opens this Friday.

For more information on the novel:
Watchmen novel on Wikipedia

For more information on the film:
Official Watchmen film site
Watchmen film on IMDB.com
Watchmen film on Wikipedia

LOST connections:
The back cover of the novel features quotes of praise from critics. It was cool to see that LOST co-creator Damon Lindelof called Watchmen "the greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced." I searched for Watchmen on Lostpedia.com and found an interesting list of connections that the two stories share. The complete list can be found here.

"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" Thoughts and Theories

2009-02-27T14:10:00.008-06:00

LOST fans were treated to another great episode on Wednesday! "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" began with Caesar, one of Ajira 316 passengers, searching an office on the Hydra island a couple of miles from the main island. He finds an old LIFE magazine from 1954 with a hydrogen bomb explosion on the cover (hinting back to the Jughead hydrogen bomb from episode 3?). Caesar also discovers a sawed-off shotgun and some documents and maps of Faraday's that look aged.

Faraday's Documents at the Hydra station

This seems to be further evidence that the left-behind-Losties including Faraday were stuck in the past when Locke turned the "frozen donkey wheel." Another 316 passenger named Ilana comes in and says that a man wearing a suit was found and nobody recognizes him from the plane. It's JOHN LOCKE! What the? Locke was resurrected? This show gets crazier every week! As long as the writers explain this in a reasonably realistic way, I'm more than happy to known that we won't be having a Locke-less LOST.

Locke Lives!

For the rest of the episode, we see what happened to Locke after he turned the Orchid's frozen donkey wheel. He wakes up in the Tunisian desert just like Ben did after he turned the wheel. Locke is picked up by Widmore's men and taken to a hospital to doctor his compound-fractured leg. Locke is woken up after his surgery by a man not so familiar to him, Charles Widmore. Widmore says that he met Locke when he was 17-years-old, but that Locke doesn't look any older to him. To Locke, they only met four days ago!

Widmore and Locke meet again... after 4 days for Locke, but 53 years for Widmore

Widmore gives Locke a fake passport with the new identity of Jeremy Bentham, along with an envelope full of cash, the folder filled with information on the locations of the Oceanic 6, and a chauffeur, Matthew Abbadon. Abbadon takes Locke to visit the Oceanic 6 and Walt in an attempt to get them to come back to the island.

WAAAAALLLLTTTTT!!!!

It was good to see Walt again, but I'm afraid that this was the writer's way of closing his story. I sure hope not, however, because there are many unanswered questions left regarding his abilities and his involvement in the show's overall storyline.

Don't get me wrong, this was my favorite episode so far this season, but if I had one big complaint about this episode, it's that Locke's next interactions with the O6 felt rushed, poorly fleshed-out, and high on continuity errors. For example, Kate, Jack, and Walt all later refer to Locke as Jeremy Bentham, but Locke never refers to himself as Bentham in his conversations with them. I did like Locke's conversation with Jack, however. Jack questions, ''Have you ever stopped to consider that these delusions that you're 'special' aren't real? That you're a lonely old man who crashed on an Island?" Locke responds with, "Your father says 'Hello'... Christian." Jack is visibly shaken, but not convinced.

In the next scene, Locke prepares to hang himself. Ben bursts in the door at the last second and stops him. As he helps Locke down, Ben tells Locke he has too much work to do to die. Locke states that he knows what he must do next - he must contact a woman who lives in Los Angeles named Eloise Hawking. At the mention of her name, Ben is visibly startled. Locke asks if Ben knows the woman, and Ben quietly confirms their acquaintance. Suddenly, Ben strangles Locke to death. He then stages Locke's body to appear that he hanged himself.

Ben begging Locke not to kill himself... right before he kills him.

The episode ends back on the Hydra island. Caesar takes Locke to see the people who were injured in the 316 crash, and guess who we see sleeping on a cot: Ben! Caesar asks, "You know him?" Locke responds, "Yeah. He's the man who killed me." Cut to LOST.

Ben rests, dreaming up his next evil plan

Great episode!

We got a couple of key answers from this episode:

We now know that Ben tricked Widmore into turning the "frozen donkey wheel" after Widmore spent 30 years as a leader and protector of the island.

It seems that super-pilot Frank Lapidus managed to land/crash Flight 316 relatively safely and apparently intact on the Hydra island, a couple of miles from the main island. Was it landed on the runaway Sawyer and Kate were forced to build early in season 3? I couldn't tell by the shots of the plane in this episode, but I believe that to be the case.

But as with every episode of LOST, we got more questions then answers:

A question I had at the end of the episode was whether or not seeing the 316ers meant that they were the people who attacked Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Faraday, and Charlotte on their way to The Orchid. One major hint was that the boats on the beach were the exact same as the ones they used, meaning that at in some point in the future, the 316ers will be coming to the Island!

Another question was how come Ben and Locke (and presumably Sun, Sayid, and Lapidus) haven't time skipped? We can assume they haven't because Caesar asks Locke why some of the passengers simply disappeared ("big curly haired dude was gone"). Maybe Ben hasn't travelled because he's supposed to be with The Others who haven't been time skipping - the same explanation could be applied to Locke who is, as far as we know, the current leader of the Others.

More information on this episode, including a full episode synopsis, transcript, trivia, and bloopers, can be found here at Lostpedia.com.

Next week's episode, "LaFleur," airs on Wednesday night at 8 pm. A promo for the episode can be seen here. Who is the chick in the hood?! I can't wait to find out!

Re-post of Interview with B-Roll - Josh VanOverbeke: Guitar Hero

2009-02-27T12:26:00.005-06:00

I originally posted this video last Friday, but I am re-posting it because it kind of got buried by my subsequent posts.

This is my edit of the Inteview with B-Roll project. Kyle Halgerson and Josh Chilson were my group members for this project.

I want to thank Josh VanOverbeke for agreeing to be interviewed for this project and for his great ideas. He and I had a great time and shared many laughs while filming this video. Josh is a good friend of mine and really is the best Guitar Hero player I've ever seen, as well as one of the top players in the world. He is very humble, however, and his "character" in this video is just a personality parody.

I made the two fun pictures that pop up in the video using Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0. I am not very good at Photoshop, but I had fun making them.

I shot over 15 minutes of footage for this project, so I may be including some fun "deleted scenes" in a future blog post!

The music used in this video is "Out Of My Way" from freeplaymusic.com.

YES! Arrested Development Movie in 2010!

2009-02-25T13:25:00.004-06:00

Arrested Development is a comedy that ran on Fox for three seasons from 2003 to 2006. It is my opinion, and an opinion shared by millions of fans, that Arrested Development is the best series ever to be canceled. The series finale hinted at the possibility of a movie continuation of the story, and fans have been clamoring for one ever since.

Early last year, rumors of a movie gained some credibility when stars Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, and Will Arnett confirmed that they had spoken to the show's creator Mitchell Hurwitz and were in the planning stages for the film. Since then the entire cast has expressed their interest in reprising their roles, with one major exception: Michael Cera.

According to Wikipedia's Arrested Development entry, in a National Post article from August 29, 2008, Michael Cera was quoted as saying he hasn't heard anything about an Arrested Development movie and is not interested in making one, remarking, "I don't think I would want to see a movie of the series if I was a fan, anyway." "And I don't really see a need for it if you can get the three seasons on DVD."

A few weeks later in a SpoutBlog interview Cera elaborated, "We’re not in production and I haven’t read a script. I know Jason (Bateman) wants to, and I don’t know if Mitch (Hurwitz) wants to. But, I would only want to be a part of it if it was going to be good. Because, it's good to end on a high note, I think, and go out with a bang and leave the winning war. That’s just my instinct. I don’t think it would be worth doing unless it was going to live up to the expectation that might come with it."

Many fans were disappointed with Cera's apparent lack of enthusiasm with the film project. But now for the good news!: E! Online is reporting that Cera is now onboard for the project! What changed? Did pressure from the fans get to him? Was more money offered? Whatever the case, it is great to hear that everyone is now set to get this film made! Shooting is scheduled to start by the end of the year, with the film set to hit theaters sometime in 2010.

Crazy 16943 TV Concept

2009-02-25T12:57:00.003-06:00

Are you ever annoyed by black bars on the sides of your TV when watching a 4:3 (or full-frame) DVD on a widescreen TV or when watching a widescreen 16:9 DVD on a 4:3 screen? Personally, it has never bothered me, but if it bothers you, a new "16943" may be just the solution you're looking for.

Studio FRST is the company designing the TV, but I found no word on a planned release date.

I found this story in an article on Gizmodo.com, which states that:
"This concept is obviously completely impractical due to the non-rectangular nature of the glass it would require, but you've got to admire the cleverness of the whole thing. If you're watching 16:9 video, it fills the entire screen horizontally, only leaving the little bottom nub black. 4:3 video fills the entire thing vertically, leaving the hanger on the side black."

Personally, I'd rather have two black bars occasionally rather than one constant black bar. It's a crazy concept, but I always enjoy discovering new technologies that venture to think outside the box, quite literally in this case.

Netflix Streaming: Watch Great Movies and Great TV Shows Instantly

2009-02-24T17:07:00.003-06:00

Other than LOST, my favorite TV show would have to be The Office on NBC. I've seen every episode of this hilarious show more times than I can count! Best of all, every episode of The Office, seasons 1 - 4, can be viewed instantly on a computer or an Xbox 360 through the Netflix Watch Instantly feature.

Netflix Streaming is something that I use every day through my Xbox 360. With thousands of movies and hundreds of TV shows, I think that it is a great alternative to cable, especially for college students. I subscribe to the $8.99 monthly plan, which allows for unlimited streaming, as well as 1 DVD at a time unlimited through the mail.

According to an article I found on money.cnn.com, Netflix is considering offering a streaming-only service. I would be all for this plan, but according to this article, customers would be "spending $9.99 a month for an Internet streaming-only service." That doesn't seem to make much sense to me, considering that I am now paying $8.99 a month for unlimited steaming PLUS DVDs!

Nevertheless, whatever Netflix decides to do, the streaming service is a great innovation in the way we are able to watch movies and TV shows.

I have 488 movies and TV shows in my Watch Instantly Queue right now because I just add anything that looks interesting!

Some movies available to stream now that I would recommend include: Man on Wire, The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters, The Illusionist, A Christmas Story, Superbad, Primer, Confessions of a Superhero, The Lookout, That Thing You Do, Cool Hand Luke, The Professional, Reign Over Me, Best in Show, Ratatouille, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, The Boondock Saints, The Pixar Story, The Orphanage, No Country for Old Men, The Fugitive, King of California, Back to the Future 1,2,3, Ghostbusters, Scarface, Grindhouse, Spaceballs, The Mask of Zorro, The Time Machine, An Evening with Kevin Smith 1 and 2, Frequency, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, and Casablanca.

Some of the great TV shows available include: The Office (US and UK versions), 30 Rock, Mythbusters, Heroes, CSI, Law and Order, The Twilight Zone, and Friday Night Lights.

Commentary Re-post with Basic Audio

2009-02-24T15:59:00.002-06:00

This is my Australian Wildfire Commentary done with Josh Chilson re-posted with basic audio added. The song that I added is fittingly titled "Untameable Fire" from www.freeplaymusic.com. I had more trouble adjusting audio for this clip than I had anticipated, which is the reason why this is being posted on Tuesday, rather than Monday.

Fading the music was not a problem and my audio never approached 0 dB, but getting the audio to fall within the -6 to -12 dB range was difficult. I still feel that the dialogue volume is not high enough, but I think that I have learned from this and now have a better understanding of how to deal with these audio issues in my future videos. Thanks for reading!

"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" Sneak Peeks and Promos

2009-02-24T09:30:00.006-06:00

ABC has released three sneak for this Wednesday's highly-anticipated episode, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham."

Sneak Peek 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwCAfwEUEOw&feature=channel_page

Sneak Peek 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7t7dm9l03A

Sneak Peek 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERTnf-DW8CA&feature=channel_page

Thanks to DarkUfo for a translation of the Arabic in Sneak Peek 2:
"This is the guy. Go, lift him up. Don't let him move. Take him to the right. Throw him in the car. Be careful. Close the Door."

Based on the title and these sneak peeks, episode seven of season five will be a John Locke (aka Jeremy Bentham)-centric episode. I have always loved Locke's episodes, beginning with the amazing fourth episode of season one, "Walkabout." The ending of that episode is classic LOST, and one of the best scenes in television history.

According to the press release for "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" viewable here, the episode was directed by fan-favorite Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (affectionately known as "Darlton" by the fans). Therefore, Wednesday's episode is season five's most highly anticipated episode thus far. Tune in at 8 pm and enjoy!

70-Year Old Man Shoots TV, Arrested over DTV Transition

2009-02-20T13:01:00.004-06:00

40% of the nation's stations transitioned to DTV on the original transition date of February 17th anyway, despite Congress delaying it until June 12th. The DTV transition has frustrated many people across the nation, but an elderly Missouri man took his frustration to the extreme.

Walter Hoover apparently shot his television on Wednesday when he couldn't get his digital converter box to work. Hoover was taken into police custody and charged with unlawful use of a firearm.

Hoover's wife told police that her husband had been drinking before the incident occurred.

I like this quote from the Gizmodo.com article:
"Surprised? You shouldn't be. Violence like this was inevitable. All it takes is mixing one part old man with one part technology, one part handgun and two parts alcohol. Then shake vigorously with an absence of Wheel of Fortune." - haha!

Not Hoover or his wife, but nevertheless a fun picture that made me think of this story!

I first found this story on Gizmodo.com, which linked me to these articles on Kare11 and KSDK.

Atlantis Discovered by Google Earth?!

2009-02-20T12:00:00.006-06:00

Is Google covering up the discovery of the lost sunken city of Atlantis? Apparently, a British aeronautical engineer was using the new Google Earth 5.0 software to scan the ocean 600 miles off the coast of Africa, west of the Canary Islands when he discovered what appears to be a street grid pattern.

Atlantis?

I first found this story published by Caroline McCarthy from Cnet News via Digg.com. Google is officially denying the rumors that Atlantis has been discovered, but are they just trying to hide something?

With Google's recent announcement that they will begin extensively mapping the ocean floor, maybe we will get more detailed images of this "grid" soon.

The exact coordinates for this location (which can be seen here on Google Maps) is 31 15'15.53N, 24 15'30.53W.

This is very random, but McCarthy ends her article with fun LOST reference:
"In other news, that pendulum map on last week's Lost was totally awesome."

"316" Thoughts and Theories

2009-02-20T09:25:00.008-06:00

Back in season three's final, "Through the Looking Glass," Jack exclaimed, "We have to go back!" and in this week's episode, we saw him do just that.

"316" begins with a shot for shot"eye-opening" sequence that parallels the series' pilot episode:

Jack's eye from the opening shot of the pilot.

Jack's eye from the opening shot of "316."

After the opening scene, we are taken back "36 hours earlier." Eloise Hawking takes Jack, Sun, Ben, and Desmond to The Lamp Post (a reference to the lamp post marking the passage between Narnia and the real world in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis). She explains how The Lamp Post, the first Dharma station we have seen off the island, is how the Dharma Initiative first found the island. She also confirms that the reason the survivors of Oceanic 815 were never rescued is because the island is always moving.

Hawking explains to Jack that there is a narrow window in which she knows the island will be located, but in order to get back there, Ajira flight 316 from L.A. to Guam must be taken. She also gives Jack the suicide note written by John Locke, which we find out later in the episode simply says "Jack, I wish you had believed me. JL."

LOST has always had the occasional religious reference, but this episode's references were more overt. The episode's title, in fact, refers to the John 3:16 verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John Locke's suicide note stated that he wished Jack had "believed." Also, in the church, Ben tells Jack about Saint Thomas the Apostle from The Gospel of John, who is remembered for his doubt concerning the resurrection of Jesus. Is this perhaps forshadowing the resurrection of John Locke once he is returned to the island? This episode really set up John as a Christ-like figure. Ben leaves the church, telling Jack that he "made a promise to an old friend... just a loose end that needs tying up." Is this referring to the promise he made to kill Penelope Widmore, Charles Widmore's daughter and Desmond's wife? I hate to say it that is so, since her and Desmond are now so happy and have a son, but the next scene in which we see Ben all bruised and bloody suggests that this is probably the case.

Ben makes a call to Jack, mysteriously beaten to a pulp.

Jack, Sun, and Ben make it on board Ajira 316, but so do Kate, Hurley, and Sayid. Is it fate that brought them all back to together on the same flight again? Even Jack questions that, "You don't think this means something? That somehow... we're all back together?" In this episode, Jack seems to have become a believer, from a man of science to a man of faith.

Ajira Flight 316

The connections get even crazier when a clean-shaven Frank Lapidus is revealed to be the flight's pilot. When he exits the cockpit to speak with Jack, Frank sees the rest of the Losties on board and remarks, "We're not going to Guam, are we?" - The best line of the episode!

Lapidus without the Kenny Rogers beard.

The "fasten seatbelts" sign turns on and turbulence increases. The plane is absorbed into a flash of white light and the sound of a time travel flash. The episode then picks up back where it began. Jack runs out of the jungle, rescues Hurley from drowning and finds Kate. The sound of a vehicle with its radio blaring approaches them. A man gets out of a Dharma van and points his gun at the trio. "Dude," remarks a shocked Hurley, "Jin?" Jin in Dharma fatigues lowers his gun as a priceless grin spreads across his face. Cut to LOST.

Dharma Jin

What a great episode! So does this mean that the time flashes stopped when Locke turned the Orchid wheel and that Jin, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Faraday (and now apparently at least Kate, Hurley, and Jack and presumably Ben, Sun, and Sayid) are now stuck in the late 70s, in the prime of the Dharma Initiative?! Did Ben kill Penny? And where the heck is Aaron? So many questions!

Here is a link to Lostpedia.com's entry on "316."

There are now only 27 more episodes left in the amazing series that is LOST!

Next Wednesday's episode is titled "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham."

250 DVDs on a Quarter-Sized Device?

2009-02-20T09:15:00.002-06:00

I found this article on NBCbayarea.com via Digg.com.

Scientists at UC Berkeley and University of Massachusetts Amherst may have found a way to greatly increase the storage capabilities of electronic devices.

According to John Boitnott's article, Cal officials called the technique "innovative and easily implemented."

"The density achievable with the technology we've developed could potentially enable the contents of 250 DVDs to fit onto the surface the size of a quarter," said co-lead investigator and UC Berkeley assistant professor Ting Xu.

Achieving this technology requires crystals to be heated to between 2.372 and 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours! In doing so, the scientists were able to create defect-free arrays of nanoscopic elements with feature sizes as small as 3 nanometers, translating into densities of 10 terabits per square inch.

I don't even think that I own 250 DVDs, but this technology sounds amazing! An entire TV series could be saved onto something the size of a dime! But this technology will go far beyond DVDs and will factor into the way we store information on all types of electronic devices. I think that there will probably be, however, many more years of research before we see this technology become a part of our lives.

A joint patent on this technology has been filed by UC Berkeley and University of Massachusetts Amherst. The article also states that the U.S Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation helped support the research on this project.

A bit more about Digg.com:

Digg is a site that I visit about everyday. What's great about it is that everything featured on the site, whether it be news, images, or videos, is submitted by the site's users. The number of people "digging" what they like determines whether or not it will make it to the site's front page. Most of the material featured on the site is technology or media related.

Interview with B-Roll - Josh VanOverbeke: Guitar Hero

2009-02-20T01:00:00.005-06:00

This is my edit of the Inteview with B-Roll project. Kyle Halgerson and Josh Chilson were my group members for this project.

I made the two fun pictures that pop up in the video using Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0. I am not very good at Photoshop, but I had fun making them.

I shot over 15 minutes of footage for this project, so I may be including some fun "deleted scenes" in a future blog post.

The music used in this video is "Out Of My Way" from freeplaymusic.com.

"316" Sneak Peeks

2009-02-17T12:06:00.005-06:00

ABC has released two sneak peeks for episode 6 "316" airing this Wednesday at 8 pm.

Sneak Peek #1: Jack and Zombie Kate

Sneak Peek #2: The Lamp Post

The first sneak peek has a creepy quality to it. Kate has clearly done something with Aaron that has made her cry. Did she kill him? Did she give him to Claire's mother? And why does she kiss Jack so passionately? That's not exactly a romantic moment!

The second sneak peek features a lot of suspenseful walking! It is great scene, however, because it reveals the first Dharma station that we have seen off the island. The Lamp Post will clearly show our Losties how to get back to the island.

More information, transcripts, and screencaps from these scenes can be found on DarkUFO's website here and here.

Digital Delay? Not For All.

2009-02-17T11:23:00.004-06:00

I jolted awake this morning at 7 am to the sound of my cell phone blaring in my ear. My mom was calling me in a panic. Today, ABC's local affiliate, KSFY, transitioned to their digital signal. KSFY is one of the only two TV channels we receive at home (we have never had cable TV!), so she was understandably concerned.

I walked her through how to set up the conversion box and navigate through the on-screen menus. This was difficult over the phone, and she is not very good with technology (sorry mom!) so it took awhile! I was confused and wondered why the transition had taken place. I thought that President Obama and Congress had pushed back the transition date from February 17th to June 12th, so hopped onto gizmodo.com and consumerist.com to investigate. Apparently, 641 stations nationwide are transitioning to digital today anyway, but mostly in small, rural markets.

Some urban areas are also transitioning, however. From the AP, via consumerist.com, "The most populous markets where many or all major-network stations are cutting analog include San Diego and Santa Barbara, Calif.; Providence, R.I.; La Crosse and Madison, Wis.; Rockford, Ill.; Sioux City, Iowa; Waco, Texas; Macon, Ga.; Scranton, Pa.; and Burlington, Vt."

More information can be found at these links from Gizmodo and Consumerist.

IBM Takes The Red Pill

2009-02-12T23:15:00.004-06:00

Ever wanted the ability to dodge bullets like Neo in The Matrix, but pesky science got in the way? Well, IBM has some good news for you!

According to an article on Gizmodo.com, "believe it or not, IBM has filed for a patent on tech that heightens our reflexes so that we could, theoretically, dodge bullets like Neo in The Matrix. This "Bionic Body Armor" would continuously scan the area for incoming projectiles. If one is detected, the system would deliver a shock to the muscles causing a swift, reflexive action away from the bullet."

"The present invention relates generally to the protection of an individual against a projectile propelled from a firearm. More particularly, the present invention relates to a body armor system and its method of use that is capable of detecting a projectile propelled from a firearm, computing the trajectory of the projectile, and moving the individual out of the path of the projectile to avoid being hit."

How cool is that?! Sure the possibility of torn muscles and extreme whiplash seems very real, but still, how cool is that?! Very little specific details are now available, but I can't wait until more information on this is released!

Click here for a link to the U.S. patent for the "Bionic body armor."

Numbers Transmission Voice: Hurley?

2009-02-12T22:51:00.003-06:00

In this week's episode "This Place is Death" we heard the loop of a voice repeating the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 over and over again picked up by the French science team on the island back in 1988. While watching the episode, I thought that the voice sounded a bit familiar, so I went back, watched it again, recorded the audio of the transmission, and made this little video to demonstrate why I believe that it is Hurley's voice repeating the numbers:

My theory is that once Hurley gets back to the island with the rest of the Oceanic Six, he will eventually record the numbers at the radio tower in the past. The rest will play out as normal: The numbers will be overheard by Leonard and Sam Toomey when they were in the Navy. Hurley will then get the numbers from Leonard in the mental hospital and use them to win the lottery. Thus, Hurley is the cause of his own time loop, similar to the Locke-Richard-Compass loop. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it!

Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman, Kind of

2009-02-12T21:41:00.004-06:00

Joaquin Phoenix, star of Walk the Line and two-time Academy Award nominee, announced a few months back that he was retiring from acting to focus on his music career. Last night, Phoenix was on David Letterman to promote one of his final films, Two Lovers, that was made a few years ago, but is only now being released.

Phoenix was unresponsive for part of the interview, while giving one word answers for other questions. The audience's nervous laughter obviously anger's Phoenix at times, and some of Dave's responses are classic, including ending the interview with, "Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight." - HAHA!

Was it a joke? Was he on drugs? Whatever the reason, it was awkward to say the least, but don't have to take my word for it, check out highlights (or lowlights?) of the interview here.

"This Place is Death" Thoughts and Theories

2009-02-12T15:14:00.008-06:00

So much happened in this episode that it is hard to wrap my mind around it all, but I guess that is the case with every episode of LOST! This episode just seemed to fly by very quickly!

The episode began with Sun speaking to her daughter, Ji Yeon, who we get to see for the first time (she's adorable!). Sun mentions that she has a new friend for Ji Yeon in America as the camera pans over to Aaron in the back seat. I think that this is hinting at something in the future of the show, and I have a crazy theory that I am going to throw out there now: Ji Yeon and Aaron are the skeletons ("Adam and Eve") found in the caves by Jack and Kate in season one!

Back on the island, Jin and the French crew get attacked by Smokie, which latches on to Montand and pulls him along the ground towards a vent in the ground, much like it did to Locke in the final episode of season one. Jin and the rest of the crew grab on to Montand, but Smokie yanks him down, and we finally get to see how Montand lost his arm!

Jin then flashes ahead a couple of months through time. Montand's severed arm ages, and Jin finds two bodies of the French crew on the beach. He also witnesses the standoff between Danielle and Robert that she would later describe to our Losties sixteen years later.

The reunion of Sawyer and Jin in the next scene was fantastic because it was good to see these characters happy once again, at least for a moment. The flashes through time become more severe for the Losties as they approach the Orchid station, and even Sawyer begins to be affected, evident by his bloody nose. Charlotte becomes unresponsive and unable to walk and then appears to time traveling through her mind, much like Desmond and George did in season four's episode "The Constant." As the rest of the Losties continue to Orchid, Faraday and Charlotte share what may have been the episode's most eerie scene:

Charlotte: "I've been here before... I grew up here, on the island... and then I moved away with my mom, just my mom, and I never saw my dad again. And then when I got back to England, I would ask my mom about this place, but she would say that it wasn't real and that I'd made it up. That's why I became an anthropologist, to find this island again. It's what I've been searching for my whole life."

Faraday: "Charlotte, why are you telling me this?"

Charlotte: "Because I remember something now. When I was little, living here, there was this man, a crazy man, he really scared me, and he told me that I had to leave the island and never, ever come back. He told me that if I came back, I would die."

Faraday: "Charlotte, I don't understand..."

Charlotte: "Daniel, I think that man was you!"

Shortly after this scene, Charlotte dies. I think that the first scene we saw this season, the one of Faraday in the past on the island, was of him attempting to save Charlotte's life, even though the past apparently cannot be changed. This would explain why Charlotte remembered him speaking to her when she was a little girl.

At the Orchid, Jin gives Locke his wedding ring, telling him to give it to Sun once he is off the island as proof that he is dead. He does this so that Sun and Ji Yeon will not come back to the island he believes is dangerous. As Locke is climbing down into the Orchid's well, a time flash occurs and causes him to fall. He breaks his leg, and the bone punctures the skin. This was another graphic scene in an already graphic episode (Montand's severed arm, Robert shot in the head, and now this!).

Back off the island, Ben gives Sun Jin's ring to prove that he is alive (which gave us the above screenshot, reminisent of a shot from The Lord of the Rings). Desmond shows up and asks Jack, Sun, and Ben what they are doing there. It was cool to see him and Ben speak to one another for the first time. Ben seemed to be surprised to find out that Eloise Hawking is Faraday's mother, which is odd because he is usually aware of every little detail.

I will discuss other parts of this episode further in my next post.

"This Place is Death" Sneak Peeks

2009-02-10T17:17:00.004-06:00

ABC has released two sneak peeks to the press for this week's episode "This Place is Death."

Sneak Peek #1: Sun vs. Ben

Sneak Peek #2: Jin vs. Smokie

I have a theory on the second sneak peak:

At the end of the scene, all of the Frenchies are in contact with Jin as they are trying to save Montand. I think that a flash will occur and because they are in contact with Jin, the Frenchies will also travel through time, similar to what happens to the outrigger when it is contact with Locke, Sawyer, and the others.

I bet that think this will be what causes the sickness to "infect" the crew. They will probably start to get nosebleeds like the others and appear to be sick and crazy. There is just one big flaw with this theory: I still don't know how Danielle avoids the symptoms.

Thanks to Doc Arzt's Lost Blog at www.docarzt.com and campetin on youtube for links to the sneak peeks.

Sawyer's Top Nicknames from TV Guide

2009-02-09T21:54:00.007-06:00

TV Guide has published a fun article featuring the best nicknames dished out by our favorite castaway con-man, Sawyer. My favorite is "Mr. Clean" for Locke. Check it out:

Lost is back, and with it an exciting new season of Sawyer nicknames. The former con man kicked things off right, dropping a few gems in the first two hours of the season: "Dr. Wizard" for Faraday, "Ginger" for Charlotte, "Frogurt" for Neil and even "The Ghost of Christmas Future" for himself. As we eagerly await Ol' Scruffy's next instant classic, here's a look our favorites to date.

11. "Freckles"
For: Kate
Explanation: This one gets a nod simply because of the sheer volume of its usage. Plus, this pet name is endearing, which we can't say for most of the others.
Honorable Mentions: "Sassafrass," "Shortcake"

10. "Genghis"
For: Miles Straume
Explanation: Sawyer doesn't shy away from the easy references, and ethnicity is usually his first line of attack. Case in point: this reference to Mongolian ruler Genghis Khan. Sawyer's also referred to Miles as "Bruce Lee from the Freighter" and "Donger," a play off of Sixteen Candles' Long Duk Dong.

9. "Kenny Rogers"
For: Frank Lapidus, the Freighter Folk's chopper pilot
Explanation: A simple look-alike gag, but it had us rolling.
Honorable Mention: Shaggy

8. "Jackass"
For: Jack
Explanation: Get it? His name is Jack, and Sawyer's calling him an ass. The clever devil.
Honorable Mentions: "Cool Hand", "Dr. Do-Right," "Dr. Giggles," "Amarillo Slim"

7. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
For: Jin and Sun Kwon
Explanation: While again ethnically based, this nickname is also indicative of Sawyer's extensive knowledge of high and low culture. He frequently references Star Wars and classic literature. In this case, we think he was just hoping for subtitles to Jin and Sun's conversation.
Honorable Mentions: "Papa-San" (Jin); "Tokyo Rose" (Sun)

6. "Rambina"
For: Ana Lucia
Explanation: Tough as nails, she was one of the few women on the island to match Sawyer's surliness. Her fearless, cavalier approach earned her the name.
Honorable Mentions: "Hot Lips," "Ana LuLu," "Cupcake"

5. "Skeletor"
For: Roger Linus's skeleton
Explanation: Okay, totally obvious. But Sawyer was drunk. On who-knows-how-old Dharma Initiative beer. Still, funny.

4. "Mr. Clean"
For: Locke
Explanation: We're big fans of this one, and wouldn't you know it, executive producer Damon Lindelof says it's his overall favorite. "It felt particularly witty, considering Sawyer had used up most of his 'bald' jokes at that point," Lindelof said. "He proved ever-resourceful."
Honorable Mentions: "Cue Ball," "Brutus," "Colonel Kurtz"

3. "Captain Bunny Killer"
For: Ben
Explanation: One of Sawyer's most literal nicknames: Only days earlier, Ben had "killed" a rabbit to scare Sawyer into submission.
Honorable Mentions: "Yoda," "Gizmo," "Bug-eyed Bastard"

2. "Stay Puft"
For: Hurley
Explanation: Hugo has been on the receiving end of Sawyer's quick wit more than any other survivor, and once revoked Sawyer's nicknaming privileges by beating him at ping pong. Unfortunately for Hurley, Sawyer falls back on physical appearances even more often than ethnicity.
Honorable Mentions: "Three Men and a Baby" (with Charlie and Aaron, counting Hurley twice), "Deep Dish," "Jabba," "Snuffy," "Jumbotron," "International House of Pancakes"

1. "Captain Falafel"
For: Sayid
Explanation: Just as Hurley is the main recipient of fat jokes, Sayid gets the most racist comments. The once-and-future assassin did torture Sawyer only a few days after they met, but still, not cool. Of course, Sayid seems to take a sticks-and-stones attitude to the whole thing.
Honorable Mentions: "Red Beret," "Al Jazeera," "Captain A-rab"

Source: TV Guide

Video Blog 2: Commentary

2009-02-09T11:51:00.003-06:00

This is my second video blog for MCOM Intro to Digital Production 225. It is brief commentary on the recent Australian wildfires. My partner for this assignment was Josh Chilson. It was fun to work with him on this project because he had many great ideas, including the topic itself. I was surprised at how quickly we were able to write the "script" and get it filmed.

I had a great time filming the scenes and coming up with fun ideas, such as filming near fire related objects. The editing took a bit longer to complete than I had anticipated, but now I feel that I have a much better understanding of how to add transitions, titles, and lower-third text IDs.

Entertainment Weekly LOST Cover, Article, and Videos

2009-02-06T14:10:00.006-06:00

Entertainment Weekly writer and fellow LOST fan Jeff Jensen has written a great and extensive 6-page article on the show that can be found here and in the magazine's February 13th issue.

Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly

In the article, Jensen dicusses the risks LOST is taking by introducing sci-fi elements into its storylines. He also explains how the show's producers believe these risks will ultimately pay off and reward long-time fans of the series with the answers that they have been eagerly anticipating.

Three videos of the magazine's photoshoot were also released. They are fun and reveal how Fox and Lilly feel about the show. Check them out at the links below:

Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly on nearing the end of "LOST"

Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly on Sci-Fi in "LOST"

Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly on Jack & Kate vs. Sawyer & Kate

"The Little Prince" Thoughts and Theories

2009-02-06T12:32:00.008-06:00

Wednesday's episode of LOST, "The Little Prince" was very good. The first half of the episode was slow, but the rest of the show more than made up for it.

The characters on the island are flashed to November 1, 2004. They see the hatch light on the night that Boone died, and Sawyer witnesses Kate helping Claire give birth to Aaron. These scenes were cool for long time fans of the show, and emotionally important to Sawyer's character, but they didn't really seem to further the story.

They then flash to sometime in 2005 or beyond, which is the future for them. The survivor's camp is back, but it is deserted, and two canoes are located on the beach. A water bottle for Ajira Airlines is found in one of them. Is this the airline that the Oceanic 6 use to get back to the island?

Sawyer, Locke, Juliet, Dan, Miles, and Charlotte take one of the canoes and, while heading around the island to the Orchid station, are attacked by pursuers in the other canoe. We do not see who these people are, but we do see that Juliet shoots one of them. So who are these people? Are they the Oceanic 6, and if so, why are they shooting at the time travelers and who did Juliet shoot? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, off the island, Kate faces the possiblity of loosing Aaron. Most of the Oceanic 6 and Ben, with the exception of Hurley, are reunited by the end of the episode. Throughout the episode, Sun and her gun seem dead set on confronting Ben. I have a theory on this: in a scene that we will see in a future episode, off-island Locke tells Sun that Ben is the reason why the freighter exploded, apparently killing Jin. That is why she is so set on killing Ben.

And speaking of Jin, he is not dead! The episode's big ending reveal featured a young 1988 Danielle Rousseau and her French science expedition team finding Jin adrift in the ocean and landing on the island. Poor Jin must be so confused! He doesn't speak French, barely speaks English, and now he appears to be in the past! It looks like fans will finally get Rousseau's long awaited backstory in next week's episode!

And something else I noticed:

- "Canton Rainer," the name on the side of Ben's van, is an anagram for "reincarnation." -- I think this is probably forshadowing what will happen to Locke once his body is returned to the island, much in the same way that the body of Jack's dad was apparently reincarnated, or at the very least, resurrected.

A promo for next week's episode "This Place is Death" can be found here.

"The Little Prince" Sneak Peeks

2009-02-04T18:20:00.001-06:00

ABC has released four sneak peeks for Wednesday night's episode, "The Little Prince."

Below are links to these videos, thanks to alexd38 on youtube:

Sneak Peek 1

Sneak Peek 2

Sneak Peek 3

Sneak Peek 4

I also found this video from Entertainment Weekly, recapping last week's episode and previewing "The Little Prince." It's a fun little video. I like the opening with Matthew Fox and Evangelline Lilly where we get to hear how she feels about the show's increasing sci-fi elements. At first, I felt the same way about sci-fi in LOST, but it is being handled so well so far that it is really hard to complain!

Christian Goes Bale-istic

2009-02-02T22:30:00.004-06:00

Back in July, Christian Bale lost his cool with Director of Photography Shane Hurlbut on the set of Terminator Salvation. Earlier today, audio from that incident emerged on web... and it is very explicit!

I first heard this story from a friend on twitter, who then gave me this link to TMZ.com. Here is a direct link to the audio: WARNING once again that this audio contains very explicit content!

Ok, this is kind of nerdy, but I am going to do it anyway! I am going to tie this story to LOST, in two ways. First, Christian Bale co-starred with Jeremy Davies in the 2006 film Rescue Dawn. Jeremy Davies plays Daniel Faraday on LOST, who in last week's episode shared a scene with Richard Alpert, played by Nestor Carbonell. Nestor Carbonell played the mayor of Gotham City in last year's The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale.

Nestor Carbonell (left) as Richard Alpert and Jeremy Davies (right) as Daniel Faraday
From LOST Season 5, Episode 3 "Jughead"

Video Blog 1: Word Jumble

2009-02-02T10:46:00.003-06:00

This is my first video blog for MCOM 225: Introduction to Digital Production! The sentence formed from the word jumble is: "President Brittany Spears eats stinky lasagna and runs in monkey underpants." I've used Final Cut in the past, but I learned about a couple new and valuable tips:

I did not know about the various ways of scrubbing through video, and I thought that the "J-K-L" method worked the best for me today. Learning the terms for various elements within Final Cut today helped me better understand the connections between them. I learned that the Browser, containing the folders (know as bins) is connected to the Bin Viewer right next to it. Also, I learned that the Timeline is connected to the Canvas Viewer, the section in which elements of the Timeline can be viewed.

I did not realize that changing the audio type from stereo to mono could reduce the file size by nearly half of its size. This is a tip that will come in handy on future videos.

The Science Behind The Show

2009-01-30T16:38:00.004-06:00

Each week after an episode of LOST airs, Popular Mechanics publishes an article on its website decoding the various sciences and technologies featured in the episode.

This week's article focuses on the scientific facts behind the episode's "Jughead" hydrogen bomb.

The article reveals a historical basis for the episode's events:

"A series of thermonuclear weapon tests that took place on the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific in the 1950s was called "Operation Castle." The first attempt at a dry-fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device, an operation called "Castle Bravo," was successfully detonated on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Because of Castle Bravo's early success, a second type of nuclear weapon, a cryogenic hydrogen bomb, was not tested. That group included a cryogenic h-bomb nicknamed, that's right, "Jughead." "

Nuclear bomb expert Ivan Oelrich, vice president for the strategic security program at the Federation of American Scientists, also elaborates on Faraday's suggestion for handling the bomb:

"As Faraday suggested, burying the disabled bomb underground in a lead or cement housing would contain any radiation the bomb might be emitting now or in the future. Eventually, however, the plutonium could leak into the ground water, and since it will be dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years and concrete might last hundreds, burying the bomb would not be a permanent solution."

The complete Popular Mechanics article can be found here.

5.03 "Jughead" Thoughts and Theories

2009-01-30T16:32:00.002-06:00

LOST is a show unprecedented in its writer's and producer's decision to end the show at the end of its sixth season in May 2010. Since this end-date was announced, the show's storylines have tightened up, and Wednesday's episode, "Jughead," clearly showed how the pieces of the complex LOST puzzle are finally coming together.

The episode focused on Desmond's quest to find Daniel Faraday's mother, who is the key to stopping the island's erratic flashes through time. We also got revealing glimpses of what is happening to those left on the island, which has been sent back to 1954. We learn that "Jones" captured by Sawyer, Juliet, and Locke last week is in fact a young Charles Widmore. We also meet a young British woman on the 1954-island named Ellie. She comments on the fact that Daniel keeps staring at her, and he says that she looks familiar. I believe we have seen her in the show before, only slightly older (compare pictures below).

Ellie: 1954

Eloise Hawking: 2007

I think that it is safe to say that Ellie is in fact Eloise Hawking and Daniel's mother. From episode 5.02, we learn that Ms. Hawking is in Los Angeles helping Ben get the Oceanic 6 back to the island. From this week's episode, we also learn that Faraday's mother is also in LA.

Next week's episode, titled "The Little Prince," will hopefully shed some more light on this question. With only 31 hours of the show left, fans of the series are in for a bittersweet and exciting ride!

Favorites LOST Scenes, Part Two

2009-01-28T14:59:00.004-06:00

7. System Failure
- Intense and emotional, this scene from the final episode of season two shows what happens when the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 do not push the button in the hatch every 108 minutes. I love the part of this scene with Desmond and Penny, right before he turns the failsafe key. The ending of this scene was also one of the first clearly sci-fi elements of the series.

8. Close Your Eyes, Freckles
- Again, this is a scene (from season three, episode six "I Do") that I rarely see on any lists of top scenes from LOST, but I think it is great because of its acting, editing, and level of intensity.

9. James Confronts the Real Sawyer
- In this scene (from season three, episode nineteen "The Brig"), James (aka Sawyer) confronts the man that ruined his life. Oh yeah, and he just happens to be Locke's father. This scene marked a huge transformation in his character and proved to be a satisfying ending to his backstory.

10. Charlie’s Sacrifice
- Charlie was my favorite character in the series, and I was sad to see him go in this scene from season three's final episode "Through the Looking Glass."

11. We Have To Go Back!
- This scene, also from "Through the Looking Glass," is one of the most shocking TV season finales of all time. For three seasons, LOST's audience was given the backstories of the characters through flashbacks in each episode. For this entire episode, the audience was led to believe that they were once again getting another Jack flashback, but this final scene revealed that it was actually a flashforward and that at least Jack and Kate somehow get off the island!

12. Desmond Calls Penny
- Thought by many LOST fans as the greatest scene from the greatest episode of the television ever made, this scene from season four episode five, "The Constant" brought a great deal of emotion weight to an episode that is largely known for its heavy dose of sci-fi elements. The editing, particularly the intercutting of the phone conversation, is amazing, and the acting and music bring this scene to level higher than that typically found on network television.

Tonight, season five, episode three "Jughead" airs at 9/8c on ABC. I hope to post some of my thoughts on this episode in my next post. See you then!

Favorite LOST Scenes, Part One

2009-01-27T08:48:00.007-06:00

These scenes are in order they appeared in the show (click to the links to view the scenes on youtube):

1. I Shot A Bear!

- This scene from the pilot episode of the series. A couple of lines from this scene make me laugh everytime I watch it. The irony of the scene, besides the polar bear in the jungle, is that the group decides to give the gun to Kate, the person who is actually the fugitive that the U.S. marshal was taking back to the states.

2. Distress Signal

- This scene takes place shortly after the polar bear scene and is the final scene of the pilot episode. The acting, editing, and suspense in this scene hooked me and made me want to watch more.

3. Walkabout
- This scene is from the fourth episode of season one, "Walkabout." The episode is a Locke-centric episode that features one of the most memorable ane emotional scenes from the series. The music in this scene gets to me everytime. This scene reveals why Locke believes that the island is a place where miracles happen.

4. Sawyer met Jack’s Dad
- I have viewed many other top LOST scene lists from fans, and they never have this scene (from season one, episode 23, "Exodus") on them, but I think that it is great. Jack is about to leave to get dynamite from deep in the jungle, and Sawyer is about to leave the island on a raft in search of help. It is presumably the last time the two rivals will see each other, and Sawyer decides to share an encounter he had in the past. Sawyer met Jack's dad in Australia before he died. Jack went to Sydney to get his father's body, and he and Sawyer, strangers at the time, were flying back to the states on the same plane. The acting in this scene is great.

5. Exodus Ending
- This scene, also from the episode titled "Exodus," is the very last scene of season one. Looking back at the characters originally getting to the plane is a poignant moment for fans of the series. The final moment of the scene, after the castaways use dynamite to blow open a hatch they found in the ground, left fans of the series, including me, in suspense for five long months before season two premiered as to what was down in that hatch.

6. I'm Sorry
- This scene from the season two episode, "Two for the Road" shocked fans of the series. Micheal's decision to kill in order to get his son back changed many fans' opinions of him.

More scenes coming soon in my next post!

First LOST Blog

2009-01-26T11:44:00.004-06:00

Hi, my name is Zack Vos, and this is my first blog post! This blog will focus for the most part on the TV show LOST on ABC, but will also feature the occassional review or discussion on films, video games, or gadgets.

LOST has been my favorite TV show since it premiered on September 22nd, 2004. It is serialized drama that recently began its fifth season last Wednesday, January 21st. It is about the survivors of a plane crash stranded on a mysterious tropical island.

What makes LOST great is not only the show itself, but also the fan response and interaction that it inspires. LOST's addictive storylines and mysteries encourage fans to constantly discuss, speculate, and theorize about the show and on what is happening. Due to the heavily serialized nature of the show, many viewers that tune in for the occassional episode every now and then are often confused by the show's complex storylines. LOST is a show that is best viewed from its beginning. If you are interested in checking out the show, every episode from the entire series can be view for free here on ABC.com.

My next post will feature video links to some of my favor scenes from the series. More information on the show can be found at the following links:

LOST's wikipedia page

LOSTpedia.com