Hey, I haven't made a post in April. Let's do a LOST live blog.
7:56 - Uh, oh. The President is speaking. This may be an abbreviated LOST tonight.
7:59 - Okay, he must've looked at his watch and thought, "Oh, shit. LOST is almost on. I gotta go."
8:00 - I would've loved this show unconditionally if the Obama press conference had been part of the show.
8:03 - Love Jack's period sideburns.
8:04 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - If I had any doubts about "Star Trek" totally sucking, that commercial put them to rest. It's going to TURBO-suck.
8:06 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Forgot to mention the attendance to night: Me and a squeeky-toy-loving Bron-Bron.
8:07 - Destiny? The kid is a piano genius and doesn't know the meaning of "destiny"?
8:10 - JEREMY DAVIES!!!
8:11 - See, that's a callback to my comment about that moment in the season premiere.
8:12 - "I'm from the future (and suggest you invest in Apple)."
8:14 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - I did a quick scan earlier this week. There are only seven movies I'll probably see on their first day this summer. Seriously, out of 16 weekends I found 7 films worth seeing. And I was being generous.
8:16 - Miles also has 1997 hair.
8:19 - It's Sean Connery's journal from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
8:22 - When the guy who can speak to dead people calls you crazy, you know you're chiquita bananas.
8:23 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Evening Dog Time!
8:27 - Faraday doesn't seem like the most stable of individuals. He's kinda flaky.
8:29 - Cost matters not to Charles Widmore, fool!
8:32 - Bron disappeared upstairs and it's really quiet. Chances I walk upstairs and find she's pooped - 2:1
8:34 - Gah-ross! She's his girlfriend in the future. Now he's talking to the eight-year-old her. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!
8:37 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - What's the likelihood you'll get cell phone service in the middle of the woods? Honestly, if I'm some place where I can use my iPhone and I need a compass just leave me.
8:42 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - No dog pile upstairs. I did find a turkey sandwich and a Surly though.
8:45 - Just a flesh wound.
8:47 - Shot by a PHYSICIST?!?! Not a PHYSICIST!!!!
8:49 - Finally some explanation.
8:52 - Okay, I'm on board. I'll do it if it means shit is going to happen.
8:54 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Bron likes to bark when she needs something. It can mean she needs to use the bathroom or it can mean she wants attention. She's the only high-maintenance female I need really.
8:55 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - OMFHGSWINEFLU!!!!1!1!!! Film at 11.
8:58 - Widmore and Faraday's mom? I guess they were sittin' in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
8:59 - You shot me, you dick.
9:00 - Thanks, mom. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
LOST Live Blog
Guess who is home this Wednesday night in time for LOST? Let's do this.
7:59 - An attendance tonight: Dan, myself and a sleeping Bron-Bron.
8:00 - Jack wakes up on the island. I think I've seen this one before.
8:02 - The part they didn't show you is when Hurley let Leonardo DiCaprio sink just a moment beforehand.
8:03 - Can I just say I like flash-forwards better than I like flashbacks? It's like seeing something on the horizon and getting to walk to it.
8:05 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - I have a small bone of contention. So out of all of the people Ben was trying to recruit to come back to the island, he went to Jack, Sayid and Hurley. Then the only person who actually went with Ben was Jack while Sun is in this weird showdown and Desmond Hume more or less just showed up. How was Ben the leader of The Others for so long? I mean, wouldn't it be necessary to win people over to your side at least once?
8:09 - "Is he telling the truth?" One of those things that if you need to ask...
8:10 - "Okay, guys there are all of these 'pockets' and one of them is a tropical island." "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say we should try to find the one which is a tropical island."
8:12 - See what I mean about having something to work towards?
8:13 - Err, Desmond. I think it's been obvious for a while that Ben is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
8:14 - Or land in Guam.
8:15 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Is anyone else really fired up for "Watchmen"? It's getting so close they're running the short commercials now.
8:18 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - By George, Dennis Leary will sell Smallz a truck with a step if they have to mail it to him.
8:19 - Have we established whether Locke's legs work yet?
8:20 - A very good summation about watching the rest of this show.
8:24 - Okay, who's that guy?
8:22 - Ben: Dropping some knowledge on Jack.
8:25 - Oddly enough her name WAS Freckles.
8:28 - Kiss 'er. Kiss 'er.
8:29 - YES!
8:30 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Doctor or God? Wasn't there an Alec Baldwin movie about that?
8:33 - Ah, yes. The venerable Coffee of Shame.
8:35 - You know when you think the bully from your school was the BAAAADDDEST dude around and then you see him get beat up? Yeah.
8:37 - I mean, it's obvious Locke's legs don't work now when he's dead.
8:38 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - So I got a new phone today. It has a QWERTY board and everything. If you think I sent a lot of text messages before... Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!
8:41 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Would you actually hold a friend to a "... I'll marry a goat." I mean, there needs to be an acceptable substitute like a slug in the arm. But to make him actually marry a goat?
8:44 - Hurley! Buying up the plane like Daddy Warbucks. Anyone remember that part in "Annie"? Anyone?
8:46 - "What will happen to the other people?" "Who cares?" Ben!
8:49 - Doesn't Frank LaPetis sound like the type of name you'd write down on the attendance sheet when there was substitute?
8:51 - And how exactly does a surgeon get to know an airline pilot very well? Doesn't that seem unlikely?
8:52 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Having Dan here pays off. Frank is apparently the helicopter pilot. Again, I ask...
8:54 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - How nice is it to see Nathan Fillion getting cast in other stuff? I mean, even meaningless mid-season replacements.
8:55 - Do you think the LOST writers just sit around and think up one-liners for Ben to zing Jack with?
8:56 - Well, now that you put it that way...
8:59 - Ah, yes. It's not where you are, it's when.
7:59 - An attendance tonight: Dan, myself and a sleeping Bron-Bron.
8:00 - Jack wakes up on the island. I think I've seen this one before.
8:02 - The part they didn't show you is when Hurley let Leonardo DiCaprio sink just a moment beforehand.
8:03 - Can I just say I like flash-forwards better than I like flashbacks? It's like seeing something on the horizon and getting to walk to it.
8:05 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - I have a small bone of contention. So out of all of the people Ben was trying to recruit to come back to the island, he went to Jack, Sayid and Hurley. Then the only person who actually went with Ben was Jack while Sun is in this weird showdown and Desmond Hume more or less just showed up. How was Ben the leader of The Others for so long? I mean, wouldn't it be necessary to win people over to your side at least once?
8:09 - "Is he telling the truth?" One of those things that if you need to ask...
8:10 - "Okay, guys there are all of these 'pockets' and one of them is a tropical island." "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say we should try to find the one which is a tropical island."
8:12 - See what I mean about having something to work towards?
8:13 - Err, Desmond. I think it's been obvious for a while that Ben is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
8:14 - Or land in Guam.
8:15 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Is anyone else really fired up for "Watchmen"? It's getting so close they're running the short commercials now.
8:18 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - By George, Dennis Leary will sell Smallz a truck with a step if they have to mail it to him.
8:19 - Have we established whether Locke's legs work yet?
8:20 - A very good summation about watching the rest of this show.
8:24 - Okay, who's that guy?
8:22 - Ben: Dropping some knowledge on Jack.
8:25 - Oddly enough her name WAS Freckles.
8:28 - Kiss 'er. Kiss 'er.
8:29 - YES!
8:30 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Doctor or God? Wasn't there an Alec Baldwin movie about that?
8:33 - Ah, yes. The venerable Coffee of Shame.
8:35 - You know when you think the bully from your school was the BAAAADDDEST dude around and then you see him get beat up? Yeah.
8:37 - I mean, it's obvious Locke's legs don't work now when he's dead.
8:38 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - So I got a new phone today. It has a QWERTY board and everything. If you think I sent a lot of text messages before... Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!
8:41 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Would you actually hold a friend to a "... I'll marry a goat." I mean, there needs to be an acceptable substitute like a slug in the arm. But to make him actually marry a goat?
8:44 - Hurley! Buying up the plane like Daddy Warbucks. Anyone remember that part in "Annie"? Anyone?
8:46 - "What will happen to the other people?" "Who cares?" Ben!
8:49 - Doesn't Frank LaPetis sound like the type of name you'd write down on the attendance sheet when there was substitute?
8:51 - And how exactly does a surgeon get to know an airline pilot very well? Doesn't that seem unlikely?
8:52 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Having Dan here pays off. Frank is apparently the helicopter pilot. Again, I ask...
8:54 - COMMERCIAL BREAK - How nice is it to see Nathan Fillion getting cast in other stuff? I mean, even meaningless mid-season replacements.
8:55 - Do you think the LOST writers just sit around and think up one-liners for Ben to zing Jack with?
8:56 - Well, now that you put it that way...
8:59 - Ah, yes. It's not where you are, it's when.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
LOST Live Blog
I didn't watch LOST from the beginning. I tried to catch up a couple of times but each time obfuscation frustrated me. But I am giving the the series another chance since it's ending and one of my favorite comic book writers, Brian K Vaughn (Y: The Last Man, Runaways), is the headwriter. He's very good at bringing his stories to a conclusion so I'm getting on for the rest of the ride. In celebration, I'm going to do a live blog of the season premiere of LOST tonight. Tune in back here as I update this post with my thoughts.
8:00 pm - Okay, I'm "caught up" on the show thanks to that primer show that was just on. Up next is the real deal. Who else is ready?
8:02 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:05 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:06 pm - Jeremy Davies!
8:10 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:11 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, it's a joke. I kinda get what's going on. So far it's a lot of hinting at time travel which is the other reason I'm giving LOST another chance. I love time travel movies and stories. If this is going in that direction and will cross into true sci-fi, I'll see it through.
8:15 pm - Spoiler Alert - Tom Cruise's cousin is in this one.
8:16 pm - "Why did you jump off that boat?" "So I'd have another chance to take off my shirt."
8:18 pm - One complaint I have about this show is when the characters stop and have a conversation purely for plot exposition. If it's important, show it to me and I'll figure it out. LOST has a smart audience.
8:21 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - So what I've heard is this first half hour is supposed to be mind-blowing. As of yet I've been a little disappointed. It seems to be a lot of reveals but not a lot of revelations.
8:23 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - One of the most disorienting things about living in Chicago the last two years is when I came home and I didn't recognize any of the local newscasters. I don't know who any of the KSTP people are save for Dave Dahl. He's like a beacon in the darkness.
8:27 pm - So, if this show is going in a time-travel direction, is there any chance Hiro Nakamura shows up?
8:30 pm - OWWWWWWWW-IE!
8:33 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Is anyone else weirded out by Dakota Fanning? Not anything specific. Just y'know in general.
8:35 pm - Gosh, I really love Jeremy Davies. He's one of those guys who should've had a much better career. I mean, he was in "Saving Private Ryan."
8:38 pm - Here's another complaint. Why can't the show just have characters show up without having their face obscured?
8:41 pm - Is that the triceratops poo from "Jurassic Park"?
8:42 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - One of the things I'm doing during the commercial breaks is making plays on Lexulous (nee Scrabulous). I mention it because there's a really interesting article about Scrabble and its online versions in this week's New Yorker. It's not online but you should check it out, especially if you're a fan of the game.
8:48 pm - Minute forty-eight and Sawyer is still shirtless.
8:49 pm - Ah, yes. The "blood out of the nose" trick. Is it cliche or archetype? You decide.
8:53 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Uhhhhh, nothing to say here. As you were.
8:59 pm - This is what I was hoping for. Let the characters talk amongst themselves and the audience will pick it up.
9:01 pm - Michelle Rodriguez!
9:04 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, wtf is with the pig in the mall? It's memorable but still I don't know if it makes me want to buy their product. I do have to admit they put a pretty good button on it to remind you what the product is and therefore it's actually a good effort.
9:07 pm - And Sawyer finds a shirt.
9:10 pm - I think I see a very successful "Weekend at Sayid's" franchise spin-off with potential.
9:15 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, so Sayid was calling Locke "Bentham". And anyone who appreciates the very wierd knows Jeremy Bentham asked in his will to be preserved and placed on display at either Oxford or Cambridge. Now Ben is a little dodgy about whether "Bentham" is really dead. Hmmmmm...
9:18 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - I was completely off-base. It's University College London.
9:22 pm - "It's like 'The Godfather.' They smother you with pillows and make it look like an accident."
9:24 pm - Mmmmm, mangoes. I love mangoes and could eat the shet out of one right now.
9:25 pm - Ah, the "headache" trick. Is it cliche or archetype? I'd like to see someone just once move through time and come out on the other side with a lot of ear wax.
9:26 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, so I'm doing well in one of the two games I'm playing against my ex-roommate Brian and just getting slaughtered in the other. I'm really good at getting at least 20 points each turn and Brian is really good at getting at least 20 points each turn AND bingo at least once a game.
9:33 pm - "Everything is going to make sense. I promise." It better.
9:35 pm - "You mean 'Take care of her?' take-care-of-her?"
9:38 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Is it okay I find those Comcast Triple Play commercials annoying but like the Of Montreal song at the end? I know Kevin Barnes gets a lot of crap for licensing his songs out for commercials. But they are good songs.
9:43 pm - Yes! More characters talking between themselves. I'm not feeling as frustrated by all of this.
9:45 pm - Thank God for mothers. What kind of mother wouldn't believe her son in that situation? If I told my mom everything Hurley just said, she'd believe me even if she was the only person who believed me. Yay Hurley's mom!
9:48 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - There are a few movies coming up which I should be superbly pumped to see. I'm pretty sure "Watchmen" is going to be good. I'm waiting to see about "Terminator: Salvation." But what to think about this new "Friday the 13th" movie? I mean, I saw the recent "Halloween" movie and it didn't set a good precedent.
9:52 pm - "Hoooooooooot Pockets"
9:55 pm - Bigger badass: Locke or Chuck Norris? I think it's a toss-up.
9:57 pm - What the ...? Who is that lady?
9:58 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:00 pm - Okay, I'm "caught up" on the show thanks to that primer show that was just on. Up next is the real deal. Who else is ready?
8:02 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:05 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:06 pm - Jeremy Davies!
8:10 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
8:11 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, it's a joke. I kinda get what's going on. So far it's a lot of hinting at time travel which is the other reason I'm giving LOST another chance. I love time travel movies and stories. If this is going in that direction and will cross into true sci-fi, I'll see it through.
8:15 pm - Spoiler Alert - Tom Cruise's cousin is in this one.
8:16 pm - "Why did you jump off that boat?" "So I'd have another chance to take off my shirt."
8:18 pm - One complaint I have about this show is when the characters stop and have a conversation purely for plot exposition. If it's important, show it to me and I'll figure it out. LOST has a smart audience.
8:21 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - So what I've heard is this first half hour is supposed to be mind-blowing. As of yet I've been a little disappointed. It seems to be a lot of reveals but not a lot of revelations.
8:23 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - One of the most disorienting things about living in Chicago the last two years is when I came home and I didn't recognize any of the local newscasters. I don't know who any of the KSTP people are save for Dave Dahl. He's like a beacon in the darkness.
8:27 pm - So, if this show is going in a time-travel direction, is there any chance Hiro Nakamura shows up?
8:30 pm - OWWWWWWWW-IE!
8:33 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Is anyone else weirded out by Dakota Fanning? Not anything specific. Just y'know in general.
8:35 pm - Gosh, I really love Jeremy Davies. He's one of those guys who should've had a much better career. I mean, he was in "Saving Private Ryan."
8:38 pm - Here's another complaint. Why can't the show just have characters show up without having their face obscured?
8:41 pm - Is that the triceratops poo from "Jurassic Park"?
8:42 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - One of the things I'm doing during the commercial breaks is making plays on Lexulous (nee Scrabulous). I mention it because there's a really interesting article about Scrabble and its online versions in this week's New Yorker. It's not online but you should check it out, especially if you're a fan of the game.
8:48 pm - Minute forty-eight and Sawyer is still shirtless.
8:49 pm - Ah, yes. The "blood out of the nose" trick. Is it cliche or archetype? You decide.
8:53 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Uhhhhh, nothing to say here. As you were.
8:59 pm - This is what I was hoping for. Let the characters talk amongst themselves and the audience will pick it up.
9:01 pm - Michelle Rodriguez!
9:04 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, wtf is with the pig in the mall? It's memorable but still I don't know if it makes me want to buy their product. I do have to admit they put a pretty good button on it to remind you what the product is and therefore it's actually a good effort.
9:07 pm - And Sawyer finds a shirt.
9:10 pm - I think I see a very successful "Weekend at Sayid's" franchise spin-off with potential.
9:15 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, so Sayid was calling Locke "Bentham". And anyone who appreciates the very wierd knows Jeremy Bentham asked in his will to be preserved and placed on display at either Oxford or Cambridge. Now Ben is a little dodgy about whether "Bentham" is really dead. Hmmmmm...
9:18 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - I was completely off-base. It's University College London.
9:22 pm - "It's like 'The Godfather.' They smother you with pillows and make it look like an accident."
9:24 pm - Mmmmm, mangoes. I love mangoes and could eat the shet out of one right now.
9:25 pm - Ah, the "headache" trick. Is it cliche or archetype? I'd like to see someone just once move through time and come out on the other side with a lot of ear wax.
9:26 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Okay, so I'm doing well in one of the two games I'm playing against my ex-roommate Brian and just getting slaughtered in the other. I'm really good at getting at least 20 points each turn and Brian is really good at getting at least 20 points each turn AND bingo at least once a game.
9:33 pm - "Everything is going to make sense. I promise." It better.
9:35 pm - "You mean 'Take care of her?' take-care-of-her?"
9:38 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - Is it okay I find those Comcast Triple Play commercials annoying but like the Of Montreal song at the end? I know Kevin Barnes gets a lot of crap for licensing his songs out for commercials. But they are good songs.
9:43 pm - Yes! More characters talking between themselves. I'm not feeling as frustrated by all of this.
9:45 pm - Thank God for mothers. What kind of mother wouldn't believe her son in that situation? If I told my mom everything Hurley just said, she'd believe me even if she was the only person who believed me. Yay Hurley's mom!
9:48 pm - COMMERCIAL BREAK - There are a few movies coming up which I should be superbly pumped to see. I'm pretty sure "Watchmen" is going to be good. I'm waiting to see about "Terminator: Salvation." But what to think about this new "Friday the 13th" movie? I mean, I saw the recent "Halloween" movie and it didn't set a good precedent.
9:52 pm - "Hoooooooooot Pockets"
9:55 pm - Bigger badass: Locke or Chuck Norris? I think it's a toss-up.
9:57 pm - What the ...? Who is that lady?
9:58 pm - I have no idea what's going on.
Monday, June 2, 2008
People I Know In The Know - "Lost" with Meg and Gerry
There's a new feature I'd like to try now that I'm re-trying the blog thing and it's to interview my friends. Not about themselves but about topics I know they think about and are the people I talk with about these topics. It's called "People I Know In The Know."
Gerry Diaz is actually making his second appearance on FWOSB after his appearance as counterpoint in the Obama-Iraq post from the beginning of April. When I'm not poaching our personal communiques for content, he can be found at his own blog Ghostwriter.
Meg Bridge is a graduate student at The New College in San Francisco. Or at least she was until they lost their accreditation. She blogs at 15% Prettier in between beating me handily at games of online Scrabble.
Both of them are devoted fans of "Lost" and I've invited them to talk with me about the show. (Ed. Note - Apologies to my brother Dan who is also a tremendous fan but was at a movie screening this night.)
MIKE: Alright, here's the deal guys. I'm going to ask you three basic questions about Lost since you guys are the foremost Lost fans I know.
Meg: Rawk.
MIKE: And anything is in play. Go ahead and spoil anything.
Meg: 'kie
MIKE: If I wanted to be unspoiled, I would've watched it the first time around. So go ahead and talk about everything. I'm going to put this up on my blog so do say anything you wouldn't say in a room full of people listening to you. But I don't think we'll go into anything like that. Are you two ready?
Meg: Ready.
Gerry: oops..yeah..paying attention now
MIKE: As you both know, I just started watching "Lost" on DVD and am about three discs into the first season. Why should I keep watching?
Gerry: Sawyer, Locke and Ben.
Meg: Hmm. Personally, I think if you're not enjoying the show now you're going to completely despise season two
MIKE: I'm enjoying it so far.
Meg: However, have you gotten to the episode where they hung Charlie yet?
MIKE: Yes, I've gotten to that episode
Meg: Good, 'cause that's the episode that got me hooked on the show.
MIKE: Care to elaborate, Gerry?
Gerry: Ben doesn't even come into the picture until season 2. But he's worth the wait.
Meg: Yeah, but it's not until season four where he starts to really shine, and damn did he blow everybody out of the water in season three.
Gerry: At least give it until the episode "Lockdown."
Meg: I'd stay in the series just to see what they do to Locke and Jack. Both are given the same kind of obstacles thrown into their paths, but they come out completely different. Jack regresses while Locke grows.
MIKE: Why do you think Jack regresses?
Meg: I think it's a choice the writers made to create a foil for Locke. They needed two strong conflicting characters who were basically two sides of the same coin.
MIKE: Something which I didn't like about the Harry Potter series was when people told me to "stick with it until the third book." Is the payoff really worth it?
Meg: I think so for season four, which is fantastic. But I also am a believer than you can completely ignore seasons and books in a series if you just don't like them. Sure, it may be cheating, but it works.
Gerry: LOST wasn't paced well the first two seasons. Had the first two season been done the way season four was done, it wouldn't labor under needless filler. If the episode is about Nikki and Paulo...skip it dude.
MIKE: I heard the producers killed them because people hated them
Gerry: On a show known to bringing in new characters...Nikki and Paulo's entrance was not handled well...and the characters never got a chance.
MIKE: So here's my second question. If you knew then what you know now, what would you liked to have known at the beginning of the series?
Meg: Nothing. With the exception of the horrible pacing in season two and the start of season three, I think they have been doing a great job with the story line.
Gerry: Nothing. I liked how they toyed around with us for so long. I liked that you actually had to argue with people that the show was even sci-fi. Not knowing what it was, put you right there on the island with a bunch of survivors who didn't know anything about what was happening to them.
MIKE: Not even anything like that you can ignore Nikki and Paulo episodes or that there are survivors in the tail section?
Gerry: I actually kind of enjoyed hating their guts for their 6 episode run, or however long it was.
Meg: To know anything right off the bat would ruin it, really. Piecing together the clues is half the fun. Even when it turned out that the "monster" that Locke saw at the beginning was this crappy CGI smoke monster. (Lame!) It set out what good shows set out to do - create a community of people coming together to speculate.
Gerry: I loved the tailies reveal. That episode where you see the plane crash...and slowly realize you are watching the tailies version blew me away. And then when Jin, Michael and Sawyer get captured. And you think you are meeting the others. That was great.
MIKE: How different would the show have been if we'd simply started with the tail section? Would you have liked the show with out the suspense? Or is the slow reveal better?
Gerry: It would be a darker show. Tailies had it much harder.
Meg: I like the slow reveal. It's why I restrain myself from reading the last chapter of a book. And what's fun is that the series HAS a set ending. So we still get to keep guessing. We get to piece together what we know and also take wild stabs in the dark.
MIKE: I agree and that's something that has brought me to the series. If you're writing without the end in mind, you're going to back into something you don't like.
Gerry: The build up is what made it. Watching a "survivor" show and then slowly being dipped into a show with creepy bad guys and crazy science stations was what made the show. The show wouldn't have worked if they just started going wherever. All they do is play on us guessing wrong.
MIKE: So starting the show, for example, by showing all of the characters and then slowly re-introducing them like showing all of the pieces and then piecing together the puzzle wouldn't have been as effective?
Gerry: Not at all.
Meg: It could have - you never know. If they had executed it correctly, it may have worked. But the way they have been introducing the flashbacks/forwards is a much more effective way for us, as viewers, to be an interactive part of the show. I mean, if they gave everything to us all at once, it would be kind of mindless, wouldn't it? I do want to point out that Lost is not the first show to have a start and end point - Babylon Five did it - it was signed on for a five year contract and it fulfilled that.
Gerry: And again...I don't think we would have identified with the survivors.
MIKE: That's not really what I mean. I mean, like showing us Ben and the Other's perspective of the crash and start the show from there.
Gerry: You couldn't. You'd have to explain why Ben is there and who the Others are. No mystery (unless you count the mystery of who crashed...but they are not special...they are us.) The show has to be from the losties perspective.
Meg: I think by giving us the focus on the survivors first gave us a sense of who we SHOULD follow and brings us to the idea of "reliable narrator." Because our reactions to the Others first is that of distrust because the survivors distrust them. If we knew what the Others wanted right away, would it be as fun?
Gerry: The others make better boogie men. Something to fear in the shadows. You couldn't get that from a bunch of plane crash victims.
MIKE: Better than a big monster or wild animals?
Gerry: Well LOST has a big monster and wild animals too!
Meg: Of course, because they are human.
MIKE: But humans can be killed. It's Human Vs. Human instead of Human Vs. The Supernatural.
Gerry: And let's remember that everything that happened was manipulated. Locke was "meant" to get to the island.
Meg: Everybody was "meant" to get to the island. Well, those who survived, that is.
Gerry: Right...but it has only been explicitly stated with Locke.
Meg: Side Note- Claire? Totally dead. Are we in agreement?
Gerry: Was she ever alive?
Meg: hahahha. Seriously, it's why the ghost seeing guy kept asking if she needed help.
Gerry: I'm not entirely sure anyone can die on the island. Patchy always comes back. The 15-year-old crackers are nice and fresh.
MIKE: Michael can be dead because he was on the freighter.
Meg: So was Jin.
Gerry: Michael can't be dead.
Meg: Jin is totally dead. I think Claire is dead. She came back to speak to Kate.
Gerry: They can't be dead yet. Sun has to reveal that the baby is Michael's before they can die.
Meg: I think some people live because the island needs them to be alive.
MIKE: How so?
Meg: Well, Locke got SHOT and lived because the island needs him.
Gerry: And the Oceanic 6 can't die.
Meg: The island let Ben get sick because he was becoming out of balance with the island.
Gerry: I'm interested in the other Island. I think Ben had to go there for the operation. It wouldn't have worked on the island. And why were they building crap over there?
MIKE: This is actually a good point for my third question. It's May 2010. The sixth season finishes and the series is over. What are you hoping for?
Meg: Oh lord, right now I can't even tell you. Obviously, I want a conclusion. I want to know who the others are, how they got there, why they were so "hostile" to the Dharma initiative. I want to know what the island is. I want Kate to die a horrible painful death and for Sawyer to live happily ever after. I want Sun to kick some major ass.
Gerry: I want the Scooby Doo ending.
MIKE: The Scooby Doo ending? Locke pulls his mask off and it's Ben?
Meg: Ben and Whitmor are the same person.
Gerry: For a long time, I wanted the endless loop ending. The show ends with Jack getting in the time machine and poping out Act 1 Scene 1. Crash on the beach. Only this time he knows what he's supposed to do. Maybe he'll leave hints for himself. Like the number 3. (If any of you watched Star Trek: The Next Generation)
MIKE: Why do you want Kate to die, Meg?
Meg: Because she's horribly written. She's a classic Mary Sue. One moment she's all snuggly to Sawyer, who's a badass sure, but is also honest and genuine. Next she's all pissy because Juliette's over Jack and oh no, she just can't be having with that!
Gerry: Do you remember what a jerk Sawyer was in season 1? I liked him better then...but I totally respect the Han Solo character.
MIKE: I get Sawyer going Solo. I can see it happening. So, Meg, you wish Kate were a strong independent female instead of being defined by the men around her?
Meg: YES.
Gerry: Because no women ever are defined by the men around them. *cough* Did I say that outloud?
Meg: I think Juliette is a better example of a strong female. Kate is unbelievable. Juliette is.
Gerry: Because Juliette got treated like crap by her husband so she became Ben's pet...until something less bug-eyed came along?
Meg: At least she grew a spine.
Gerry: Juliette and Kate are playing the same game.
Meg: If they are, Juliette plays it better and more sympathetic. Kate's just annoying. Or are you defending Kate because, as you said (Ed. note - in a prior conversation), she's smoking hot? Hotter than Juliette therefore more interesting?
Gerry: Actually I'd probably be more attracted to Juliette. She's more my type. Only they never show her bathing in the ocean in her underwear.
Meg: I am just wondering if this is a qualifier in her state of character?
MIKE: The producers do seem to be sexing her up in the beginning of the show. I'm about nine episodes in and I've seen here in her underwear twice.
Gerry: I think Kate and Juliette are normal people. Motivated by...complex feelings for the opposite sex. Just like Jack and Sawyer and Ben. Et al. The show clearly plays up the fact that Kate is good looking. Just like they do with Sawyer.
Meg: I think Juliette is more complex than Kate - she chose to go to the island and was deceived. She knows first hand what Ben is capable of, a force Kate has never dealt with.
MIKE: One thing I have liked about the show is that it's not all just white dudes. There's a lot of diversity on the island.
Meg: Very true. They also have an interracial marriage.
Gerry: Yes, having a character like Sayid was a smart innovative move.
MIKE: It doesn't really feel like a typical American show.
Gerry: Well it was a trans-pacific flight. They would have got a bit of grief if it was filled with rich white people. And I think America is pretty diverse. So "American shows" should be diverse.
Meg: side note - Sayid's Fight scene last episode? Fucking awesome. Two well matched opponents, it was well done.
MIKE: Okay, I know I said three questions. But here's a closing thought question? Why do you think it took me so long to come around to "Lost"? You can be perfectly honest.
Meg: I think because you're a bit skeptical and you also don't like being told what you should enjoy. Hence your reaction to the Harry Potter books.
Gerry: Actually I think it was pretty easy to miss the show the first time around. After the first half of the first season I had someone make me watch it.
Meg: A lot of people came in late to Lost.
Gerry: Because the show is all mystery...it is hard to go out and grab people...cold turkey. You know what I mean.
Meg: I think it needed to prove itself to some people.
MIKE: Is this going to be a show people will "discover" in the future? Or will everyone be to busy playing PS6 and using space-drugs to care?
Meg: I think it'll go down the road of Twin Peaks. I hope it just goes out well. If anything, I would hope that it brings in more "set" series.
Gerry: I think once the curtain is pulled away...the show might not work anymore. If the ending of the series is "iconic" like the ending of the Bob Newhart show or something where everyone knows what the ending is, even if they didn't watch the show, few people will go through the trouble.
MIKE: So the through-line of the plot will actually hurt it because it's not episodic?
Gerry: I think LOST, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes have done wonders for having a plot before hand and having a show with a limited number of seasons. More of the BBC model (with the exception of Doctor Who).
Meg: So what if the show doesn't go down in history? If it help changes the course of TV from that of the normal never ending series to that of something set, I would love it. I think The X-Files would have done so much better if they had done that.
Gerry: Exactly.
Meg: See also - Babylon Five
Gerry: I never figured out why I started to hate the X-files after loving it. And that is the exact reason.
Meg: Because they let it stagger on and on like a wounded animal because people loved it so much instead of just humanly putting it out of its misery?
MIKE: It's because Mulder was going to start working with The Smoking Man and then it all came to nothing.
Gerry: Right.
Meg: And that's why season 2 and half of season three sucked so bad.
Gerry: A show like that needs to have 2-4 seasons and that is it. Tell the story you have.
Meg: I think a five year story is good
Gerry: I liked parts of season 2. But the season 3 six-episode run...yeah...grrrr.
MIKE: It's a trend in comics right now too. 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Walking Dead...
Meg: Sandman and Transmetropolitian too.
MIKE: Okay, I think this was good. Thanks to you both.
Gerry Diaz is actually making his second appearance on FWOSB after his appearance as counterpoint in the Obama-Iraq post from the beginning of April. When I'm not poaching our personal communiques for content, he can be found at his own blog Ghostwriter.
Meg Bridge is a graduate student at The New College in San Francisco. Or at least she was until they lost their accreditation. She blogs at 15% Prettier in between beating me handily at games of online Scrabble.
Both of them are devoted fans of "Lost" and I've invited them to talk with me about the show. (Ed. Note - Apologies to my brother Dan who is also a tremendous fan but was at a movie screening this night.)
MIKE: Alright, here's the deal guys. I'm going to ask you three basic questions about Lost since you guys are the foremost Lost fans I know.
Meg: Rawk.
MIKE: And anything is in play. Go ahead and spoil anything.
Meg: 'kie
MIKE: If I wanted to be unspoiled, I would've watched it the first time around. So go ahead and talk about everything. I'm going to put this up on my blog so do say anything you wouldn't say in a room full of people listening to you. But I don't think we'll go into anything like that. Are you two ready?
Meg: Ready.
Gerry: oops..yeah..paying attention now
MIKE: As you both know, I just started watching "Lost" on DVD and am about three discs into the first season. Why should I keep watching?
Gerry: Sawyer, Locke and Ben.
Meg: Hmm. Personally, I think if you're not enjoying the show now you're going to completely despise season two
MIKE: I'm enjoying it so far.
Meg: However, have you gotten to the episode where they hung Charlie yet?
MIKE: Yes, I've gotten to that episode
Meg: Good, 'cause that's the episode that got me hooked on the show.
MIKE: Care to elaborate, Gerry?
Gerry: Ben doesn't even come into the picture until season 2. But he's worth the wait.
Meg: Yeah, but it's not until season four where he starts to really shine, and damn did he blow everybody out of the water in season three.
Gerry: At least give it until the episode "Lockdown."
Meg: I'd stay in the series just to see what they do to Locke and Jack. Both are given the same kind of obstacles thrown into their paths, but they come out completely different. Jack regresses while Locke grows.
MIKE: Why do you think Jack regresses?
Meg: I think it's a choice the writers made to create a foil for Locke. They needed two strong conflicting characters who were basically two sides of the same coin.
MIKE: Something which I didn't like about the Harry Potter series was when people told me to "stick with it until the third book." Is the payoff really worth it?
Meg: I think so for season four, which is fantastic. But I also am a believer than you can completely ignore seasons and books in a series if you just don't like them. Sure, it may be cheating, but it works.
Gerry: LOST wasn't paced well the first two seasons. Had the first two season been done the way season four was done, it wouldn't labor under needless filler. If the episode is about Nikki and Paulo...skip it dude.
MIKE: I heard the producers killed them because people hated them
Gerry: On a show known to bringing in new characters...Nikki and Paulo's entrance was not handled well...and the characters never got a chance.
MIKE: So here's my second question. If you knew then what you know now, what would you liked to have known at the beginning of the series?
Meg: Nothing. With the exception of the horrible pacing in season two and the start of season three, I think they have been doing a great job with the story line.
Gerry: Nothing. I liked how they toyed around with us for so long. I liked that you actually had to argue with people that the show was even sci-fi. Not knowing what it was, put you right there on the island with a bunch of survivors who didn't know anything about what was happening to them.
MIKE: Not even anything like that you can ignore Nikki and Paulo episodes or that there are survivors in the tail section?
Gerry: I actually kind of enjoyed hating their guts for their 6 episode run, or however long it was.
Meg: To know anything right off the bat would ruin it, really. Piecing together the clues is half the fun. Even when it turned out that the "monster" that Locke saw at the beginning was this crappy CGI smoke monster. (Lame!) It set out what good shows set out to do - create a community of people coming together to speculate.
Gerry: I loved the tailies reveal. That episode where you see the plane crash...and slowly realize you are watching the tailies version blew me away. And then when Jin, Michael and Sawyer get captured. And you think you are meeting the others. That was great.
MIKE: How different would the show have been if we'd simply started with the tail section? Would you have liked the show with out the suspense? Or is the slow reveal better?
Gerry: It would be a darker show. Tailies had it much harder.
Meg: I like the slow reveal. It's why I restrain myself from reading the last chapter of a book. And what's fun is that the series HAS a set ending. So we still get to keep guessing. We get to piece together what we know and also take wild stabs in the dark.
MIKE: I agree and that's something that has brought me to the series. If you're writing without the end in mind, you're going to back into something you don't like.
Gerry: The build up is what made it. Watching a "survivor" show and then slowly being dipped into a show with creepy bad guys and crazy science stations was what made the show. The show wouldn't have worked if they just started going wherever. All they do is play on us guessing wrong.
MIKE: So starting the show, for example, by showing all of the characters and then slowly re-introducing them like showing all of the pieces and then piecing together the puzzle wouldn't have been as effective?
Gerry: Not at all.
Meg: It could have - you never know. If they had executed it correctly, it may have worked. But the way they have been introducing the flashbacks/forwards is a much more effective way for us, as viewers, to be an interactive part of the show. I mean, if they gave everything to us all at once, it would be kind of mindless, wouldn't it? I do want to point out that Lost is not the first show to have a start and end point - Babylon Five did it - it was signed on for a five year contract and it fulfilled that.
Gerry: And again...I don't think we would have identified with the survivors.
MIKE: That's not really what I mean. I mean, like showing us Ben and the Other's perspective of the crash and start the show from there.
Gerry: You couldn't. You'd have to explain why Ben is there and who the Others are. No mystery (unless you count the mystery of who crashed...but they are not special...they are us.) The show has to be from the losties perspective.
Meg: I think by giving us the focus on the survivors first gave us a sense of who we SHOULD follow and brings us to the idea of "reliable narrator." Because our reactions to the Others first is that of distrust because the survivors distrust them. If we knew what the Others wanted right away, would it be as fun?
Gerry: The others make better boogie men. Something to fear in the shadows. You couldn't get that from a bunch of plane crash victims.
MIKE: Better than a big monster or wild animals?
Gerry: Well LOST has a big monster and wild animals too!
Meg: Of course, because they are human.
MIKE: But humans can be killed. It's Human Vs. Human instead of Human Vs. The Supernatural.
Gerry: And let's remember that everything that happened was manipulated. Locke was "meant" to get to the island.
Meg: Everybody was "meant" to get to the island. Well, those who survived, that is.
Gerry: Right...but it has only been explicitly stated with Locke.
Meg: Side Note- Claire? Totally dead. Are we in agreement?
Gerry: Was she ever alive?
Meg: hahahha. Seriously, it's why the ghost seeing guy kept asking if she needed help.
Gerry: I'm not entirely sure anyone can die on the island. Patchy always comes back. The 15-year-old crackers are nice and fresh.
MIKE: Michael can be dead because he was on the freighter.
Meg: So was Jin.
Gerry: Michael can't be dead.
Meg: Jin is totally dead. I think Claire is dead. She came back to speak to Kate.
Gerry: They can't be dead yet. Sun has to reveal that the baby is Michael's before they can die.
Meg: I think some people live because the island needs them to be alive.
MIKE: How so?
Meg: Well, Locke got SHOT and lived because the island needs him.
Gerry: And the Oceanic 6 can't die.
Meg: The island let Ben get sick because he was becoming out of balance with the island.
Gerry: I'm interested in the other Island. I think Ben had to go there for the operation. It wouldn't have worked on the island. And why were they building crap over there?
MIKE: This is actually a good point for my third question. It's May 2010. The sixth season finishes and the series is over. What are you hoping for?
Meg: Oh lord, right now I can't even tell you. Obviously, I want a conclusion. I want to know who the others are, how they got there, why they were so "hostile" to the Dharma initiative. I want to know what the island is. I want Kate to die a horrible painful death and for Sawyer to live happily ever after. I want Sun to kick some major ass.
Gerry: I want the Scooby Doo ending.
MIKE: The Scooby Doo ending? Locke pulls his mask off and it's Ben?
Meg: Ben and Whitmor are the same person.
Gerry: For a long time, I wanted the endless loop ending. The show ends with Jack getting in the time machine and poping out Act 1 Scene 1. Crash on the beach. Only this time he knows what he's supposed to do. Maybe he'll leave hints for himself. Like the number 3. (If any of you watched Star Trek: The Next Generation)
MIKE: Why do you want Kate to die, Meg?
Meg: Because she's horribly written. She's a classic Mary Sue. One moment she's all snuggly to Sawyer, who's a badass sure, but is also honest and genuine. Next she's all pissy because Juliette's over Jack and oh no, she just can't be having with that!
Gerry: Do you remember what a jerk Sawyer was in season 1? I liked him better then...but I totally respect the Han Solo character.
MIKE: I get Sawyer going Solo. I can see it happening. So, Meg, you wish Kate were a strong independent female instead of being defined by the men around her?
Meg: YES.
Gerry: Because no women ever are defined by the men around them. *cough* Did I say that outloud?
Meg: I think Juliette is a better example of a strong female. Kate is unbelievable. Juliette is.
Gerry: Because Juliette got treated like crap by her husband so she became Ben's pet...until something less bug-eyed came along?
Meg: At least she grew a spine.
Gerry: Juliette and Kate are playing the same game.
Meg: If they are, Juliette plays it better and more sympathetic. Kate's just annoying. Or are you defending Kate because, as you said (Ed. note - in a prior conversation), she's smoking hot? Hotter than Juliette therefore more interesting?
Gerry: Actually I'd probably be more attracted to Juliette. She's more my type. Only they never show her bathing in the ocean in her underwear.
Meg: I am just wondering if this is a qualifier in her state of character?
MIKE: The producers do seem to be sexing her up in the beginning of the show. I'm about nine episodes in and I've seen here in her underwear twice.
Gerry: I think Kate and Juliette are normal people. Motivated by...complex feelings for the opposite sex. Just like Jack and Sawyer and Ben. Et al. The show clearly plays up the fact that Kate is good looking. Just like they do with Sawyer.
Meg: I think Juliette is more complex than Kate - she chose to go to the island and was deceived. She knows first hand what Ben is capable of, a force Kate has never dealt with.
MIKE: One thing I have liked about the show is that it's not all just white dudes. There's a lot of diversity on the island.
Meg: Very true. They also have an interracial marriage.
Gerry: Yes, having a character like Sayid was a smart innovative move.
MIKE: It doesn't really feel like a typical American show.
Gerry: Well it was a trans-pacific flight. They would have got a bit of grief if it was filled with rich white people. And I think America is pretty diverse. So "American shows" should be diverse.
Meg: side note - Sayid's Fight scene last episode? Fucking awesome. Two well matched opponents, it was well done.
MIKE: Okay, I know I said three questions. But here's a closing thought question? Why do you think it took me so long to come around to "Lost"? You can be perfectly honest.
Meg: I think because you're a bit skeptical and you also don't like being told what you should enjoy. Hence your reaction to the Harry Potter books.
Gerry: Actually I think it was pretty easy to miss the show the first time around. After the first half of the first season I had someone make me watch it.
Meg: A lot of people came in late to Lost.
Gerry: Because the show is all mystery...it is hard to go out and grab people...cold turkey. You know what I mean.
Meg: I think it needed to prove itself to some people.
MIKE: Is this going to be a show people will "discover" in the future? Or will everyone be to busy playing PS6 and using space-drugs to care?
Meg: I think it'll go down the road of Twin Peaks. I hope it just goes out well. If anything, I would hope that it brings in more "set" series.
Gerry: I think once the curtain is pulled away...the show might not work anymore. If the ending of the series is "iconic" like the ending of the Bob Newhart show or something where everyone knows what the ending is, even if they didn't watch the show, few people will go through the trouble.
MIKE: So the through-line of the plot will actually hurt it because it's not episodic?
Gerry: I think LOST, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes have done wonders for having a plot before hand and having a show with a limited number of seasons. More of the BBC model (with the exception of Doctor Who).
Meg: So what if the show doesn't go down in history? If it help changes the course of TV from that of the normal never ending series to that of something set, I would love it. I think The X-Files would have done so much better if they had done that.
Gerry: Exactly.
Meg: See also - Babylon Five
Gerry: I never figured out why I started to hate the X-files after loving it. And that is the exact reason.
Meg: Because they let it stagger on and on like a wounded animal because people loved it so much instead of just humanly putting it out of its misery?
MIKE: It's because Mulder was going to start working with The Smoking Man and then it all came to nothing.
Gerry: Right.
Meg: And that's why season 2 and half of season three sucked so bad.
Gerry: A show like that needs to have 2-4 seasons and that is it. Tell the story you have.
Meg: I think a five year story is good
Gerry: I liked parts of season 2. But the season 3 six-episode run...yeah...grrrr.
MIKE: It's a trend in comics right now too. 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Walking Dead...
Meg: Sandman and Transmetropolitian too.
MIKE: Okay, I think this was good. Thanks to you both.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Don't Hate the Player. Hate the Game.
I finally started watching "Lost" recently after an extended discussion with Gerry about the qualms I had about the show. This is exactly the sort of show which should've appealed to me right out of the gate and I should be square in the show's target demographic.
Yet at the time it first burst onto the scene I didn't get ABC very well on my rabbit ears nor can I really be bothered to sit down at a specific time on a specific night to catch a television program. By the time it made it to DVD, "Lost" was such a huge phenomenon that I was put off by it. Add in my perception of the show's writers favoring obfuscation over plot development and I let the "Lost" ship sail without me.
Which I'm perfectly okay with in the long run. I'm not the sort of person who shows up late to the scene and says, "Oh, wow. I didn't realize how good 'Lost' was and it really is." The moment where it was fully in the cultural eye as something new and fresh and exciting is over and, like I said, I let that moment pass with out involving myself in it. There are advantages like being able to look up answers to the show's questions and being able to knock out a block of episodes in a row.
But I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. It's a good show and one which engenders complete fandom. The producers of the show know this and play up the bulletin board material. It's certainly in their favor to do so because the buzz helps their ratings. Then the fans respond with more obsession and the cycle feeds itself again. All in all, "Lost" is shrouded in an excess of mystique which is unfortunate because it is legitimately good on its own merits.
Instead of banging on a tired drum about how "things are popular based on hype and promotion now" (now being the operative word as though it's something new), I'd like to list things that make me happy which are underrated and underappreciated and need more attention instead of tearing down something else which does get a lot of attention. In no order and indeterminite quantity...
Cultural Studies
When I transferred back from St. Norbert to the University of Minnesota, I took a class in my last full semester from the Cultural Studies and Comparative Literatures Department. I wrote my senior paper in that class when I ran into a problem professor in the English Department capstone class. I ruminated on how if I'd gone to the University first I probably would've been a CSCL major.
And I've taken that into my post-collegiate life. I don't need to have a teacher assigning me books to read them. In fact, that's the point of a liberal arts degree; to foster a diversity of interests (because it's not the money). So I a lot of time in bookstores perusing their cultural studies section.
There I make discoveries like Klosterman's "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" or the book I finished this weekend "American Nerd: The Story of My People" by Benjamin Nugent. The title is pretty explanatory of what the topic is but also of the slant.
This isn't like most cultural studies where a subject is examined from a distance. Nugent specifically weaves his own primary experience into the study and is thus able to cut into the "Why?" in much greater depth and detail. It also gives the narrative a definition and understanding a memoir usually doesn't have.
The Stretch of I-94 from Hudson, WI to St. Paul, MN
Driving from Minneapolis to just about any other major metropolitan area takes forever. The distance to Chicago or Milwaukee is about six hours and, unless you consider Duluth, Des Moines, LaCrosse or Eau Claire to be major cities, those are the closest metropolises to the Twin Cities. So if you're driving from the east on I-94 toward Minnesota, the last few hours though the farmland of West Wisconsin can seem interminable.
Then Hudson (on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin) rolls up and you are attached to a rocket. Quickly buildings, malls and cities grow along the side of the road as you burn through the half hour to St. Paul and then it's across the high-bridge over the Mississippi River and into the heart of Minneapolis. If you've been tired driving through the night from Chicago or points further, that last stretch is like a bolt of energy.
The Re-playability of Certain Videogames
When Mario Kart came out over 15 years ago, could you have predicted we'd still be playing it into our late 20s? I suppose the paradigm has changed as we've grown older (and because we've grown older) where you don't stop playing videogames after college. It also matters that videogames have become less about reflexes and knowing a complex order of buttons to mash (bastions of the young and otherwise unencumbered) and are now much more egalitarian and relating to the realworld. When you're playing Mario Kart now, you only have to rotate your hands right and left like you would an actual steering wheel. Still it's been 15 years and the franchise is still going strong because guys like me still want to play.
Cover Versions of Songs You Love
"Loooove... Love will tear us apart... againnn"
Cover Versions of Songs That Suck (But Are Awesome Themselves)
"Dooooon't Stop... BEE-LEEE-VVIIINNN"
Spending A Long Weekend Doing Nothing
Well, not nothing. After a spending Friday night and into early Saturday morning celebrating a friend and co-worker's birthday party, I drove up to Madison to see my friends here. Since then I've seen the new Indiana Jones movie (if something is magnetic, cover it with fabric and it won't be anymore), played "Race for the Galaxy", had some excellent pork chops, done yoga, went for a really long walk, played some of the aforementioned Mario Kart, had people over for dinner, went to the gym, finished reading the aforementioned "American Nerd" and typed on my blog. As Mary and I were walking over to the gym this morning, we were talking about how great it is to have just spent this weekend with no particular plans. "It's like you're actually on vacation," she said. Which is 100% true and exactly what you need to feel relaxed and not tired going back to work on Tuesday.
Yet at the time it first burst onto the scene I didn't get ABC very well on my rabbit ears nor can I really be bothered to sit down at a specific time on a specific night to catch a television program. By the time it made it to DVD, "Lost" was such a huge phenomenon that I was put off by it. Add in my perception of the show's writers favoring obfuscation over plot development and I let the "Lost" ship sail without me.
Which I'm perfectly okay with in the long run. I'm not the sort of person who shows up late to the scene and says, "Oh, wow. I didn't realize how good 'Lost' was and it really is." The moment where it was fully in the cultural eye as something new and fresh and exciting is over and, like I said, I let that moment pass with out involving myself in it. There are advantages like being able to look up answers to the show's questions and being able to knock out a block of episodes in a row.
But I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. It's a good show and one which engenders complete fandom. The producers of the show know this and play up the bulletin board material. It's certainly in their favor to do so because the buzz helps their ratings. Then the fans respond with more obsession and the cycle feeds itself again. All in all, "Lost" is shrouded in an excess of mystique which is unfortunate because it is legitimately good on its own merits.
Instead of banging on a tired drum about how "things are popular based on hype and promotion now" (now being the operative word as though it's something new), I'd like to list things that make me happy which are underrated and underappreciated and need more attention instead of tearing down something else which does get a lot of attention. In no order and indeterminite quantity...
Cultural Studies
When I transferred back from St. Norbert to the University of Minnesota, I took a class in my last full semester from the Cultural Studies and Comparative Literatures Department. I wrote my senior paper in that class when I ran into a problem professor in the English Department capstone class. I ruminated on how if I'd gone to the University first I probably would've been a CSCL major.
And I've taken that into my post-collegiate life. I don't need to have a teacher assigning me books to read them. In fact, that's the point of a liberal arts degree; to foster a diversity of interests (because it's not the money). So I a lot of time in bookstores perusing their cultural studies section.
There I make discoveries like Klosterman's "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" or the book I finished this weekend "American Nerd: The Story of My People" by Benjamin Nugent. The title is pretty explanatory of what the topic is but also of the slant.
This isn't like most cultural studies where a subject is examined from a distance. Nugent specifically weaves his own primary experience into the study and is thus able to cut into the "Why?" in much greater depth and detail. It also gives the narrative a definition and understanding a memoir usually doesn't have.
The Stretch of I-94 from Hudson, WI to St. Paul, MN
Driving from Minneapolis to just about any other major metropolitan area takes forever. The distance to Chicago or Milwaukee is about six hours and, unless you consider Duluth, Des Moines, LaCrosse or Eau Claire to be major cities, those are the closest metropolises to the Twin Cities. So if you're driving from the east on I-94 toward Minnesota, the last few hours though the farmland of West Wisconsin can seem interminable.
Then Hudson (on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin) rolls up and you are attached to a rocket. Quickly buildings, malls and cities grow along the side of the road as you burn through the half hour to St. Paul and then it's across the high-bridge over the Mississippi River and into the heart of Minneapolis. If you've been tired driving through the night from Chicago or points further, that last stretch is like a bolt of energy.
The Re-playability of Certain Videogames
When Mario Kart came out over 15 years ago, could you have predicted we'd still be playing it into our late 20s? I suppose the paradigm has changed as we've grown older (and because we've grown older) where you don't stop playing videogames after college. It also matters that videogames have become less about reflexes and knowing a complex order of buttons to mash (bastions of the young and otherwise unencumbered) and are now much more egalitarian and relating to the realworld. When you're playing Mario Kart now, you only have to rotate your hands right and left like you would an actual steering wheel. Still it's been 15 years and the franchise is still going strong because guys like me still want to play.
Cover Versions of Songs You Love
"Loooove... Love will tear us apart... againnn"
Cover Versions of Songs That Suck (But Are Awesome Themselves)
"Dooooon't Stop... BEE-LEEE-VVIIINNN"
Spending A Long Weekend Doing Nothing
Well, not nothing. After a spending Friday night and into early Saturday morning celebrating a friend and co-worker's birthday party, I drove up to Madison to see my friends here. Since then I've seen the new Indiana Jones movie (if something is magnetic, cover it with fabric and it won't be anymore), played "Race for the Galaxy", had some excellent pork chops, done yoga, went for a really long walk, played some of the aforementioned Mario Kart, had people over for dinner, went to the gym, finished reading the aforementioned "American Nerd" and typed on my blog. As Mary and I were walking over to the gym this morning, we were talking about how great it is to have just spent this weekend with no particular plans. "It's like you're actually on vacation," she said. Which is 100% true and exactly what you need to feel relaxed and not tired going back to work on Tuesday.
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