North by Northwest

My name is Claire...Goth Claire

GOOD MONDAY, LOSTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to apologize to the LFC....I have been getting into massive theory debates with other LOST enthusiasts on the web during the time I generally set aside to write the updates....I promise to get back on the scene with some good updates, starting with today...
I don't want to spoil Wednesday's episode but ABC is hyping a connection between two of the Losties on the island...Suffice it to say, I published the aforementioned connection in a LOST update, a long time ago...Think of when Christian Shepard, Jack's pop went to Australia with Ana Lucia....He went to a place in the middle of the night, demanding to see his daughter....I'll leave it at that....Draw your own conclusions but like I said before, this was previously discussed last season...For the new people in the LFC, I'll let you use your powers of deduction to finish the spoiler..All the information you need is in this update....Connect the dots...
This week's episode is "Par Avion" a Claire flashback....It's back to the beach as Claire discovers a possible way off the island....Look for Sayid and company to still be traveling North by Northwest with Patchy and Danielle....Some illuminating conversation between Patchy and Kate that I found fantastic!!!
Speaking of Patchy, aka Mikhail Bakunin....On his desk at the Flame station, there was a typewriter set up...There were some documents written in Russian that Locke picked up. A screen capture is below. This document details someone named Andre and his time in Afghanistan...In the red, it says "My name is also Andre"...Remember Patchy told a story of being in Afghanistan...is it likely that perhaps he is trying to pass off someone else's story as his own? Perhaps, he and Mrs. Klugh, aka Bea were at the Flame to try to get the satellite up and running. They concocted a story in the event that they were discovered? Possibly..look for more to come to light in this week's episode...

Special thanks to LFC member Dan Miller and his daughter Alina for the translation help!!! It's nice to have such great resources!!


That's it for today! Check back tomorrow and as always, this update will be archived on the WWW.....
Later,
EPdeLFC, JB

We need more cowbell

Writing updates is a challenge I greatly accept but I have to be honest..with a show like LOST I never know what kind of format to put it...I wish I could find one and stick with it...Is it chronological, using the commercials as a break in chapters? or is it flashbacks first? Or is it geographical, with beach stuff, The Flame Station stuff or other stuff? It can be quite daunting and confusing to you, the readers....
I guess I'll just go with my gut...which is a sizeable task, if you knew what my gut looked like..:)

The following is part Episode detail, part Theory and all Crazy...Based on what we saw last night I have new theories about Dharma, the Others and the Hostiles..Let's dive right in...
We need more cowbell....

Now we know where Jack's hamburger came from...Bessie was out grazing at the same time as Sayid, leading him to The Flame station and the mysterious "Patchy"...

If he is to be believed, his real name is Mikhail Bakunin(this was not pulled from my extensive understanding of Russian, but from the ABC website that lists special guest stars)..The highlight about his name is that it's much like other names on LOST and it has a reference to the past. The REAL Mikhail Bakunin(according to my favorite site of all time,Wikipedia):(May 18 (30 N.S.), 1814–June 19 (July 1 N.S.), 1876) was a well-known Russian revolutionary, and often considered one of the “fathers of modern anarchism".
Anarchy...fitting, considering the turmoil he caused in this episode alone....Patchy had a Russian accent and told a great story about being the last surviving member of the Dharma Initiative. After he was released from the Russian army, he saw an ad in the newspaper about 'saving the world". That was 11 years ago. He spoke of the war or "purge" that occurred between the "Hostiles" and The Dharma group. He was allowed to live as long as he didn't cross the line. The hostiles took 2 cows and he never saw them again.

The Flame Station had a satellite dish on the roof. Patchy described the station as the "hub". All of the communications come through the hub and circuit back out to the other stations. Here's instant internet access!! And possibly cable TV!! However, since 'the sky turned purple', communication with the mainland has been down. It hasn't cut the power though because Patchy had a lamp on and ice in the fridge. My Al Gore like hope is that the island is "green" and is self sustained on solar energy, with the exception of power needed to make the communications devices work.

Theory: the Swan station was the power plant. The electromagnetic anomaly that needed to be discharged every 108 minutes was also the source of power for all the Dharma Initiative projects and hatches. It also powered the equipment that enabled the island to communicate with the outside world. Think of it as an amplifier or booster. But it wasn't the only source of power. It would make sense from a hippie, Mother Earth News sort of way for the Dharma Initiative to have solar or wind energy as an alternative power supply. That would sustain all the power the stations or barracks need. Once Desmond turned the fail safe key and blew the power station up, the booster was underpowered and ceased to work.

The booster not working is confirmed by Locke's playing of the chess game. Once the chess game is beaten, Dr. Marvin Candle comes on the screen with a series of protocol situations and numbers. For a food drop, press whatever. For mainland communication press 38. When Locke presses 38, he's informed that it failed due to the system being down. For sonar something or the other, press whatever. When Locke tries this, he's informed that it failed as well and if there has been an incursion by the hostiles, enter 77. Before he can do that, he's stopped but I'm getting ahead of myself...

Theory: Patchy has been playing chess and giving the outside world the impression that the Dharma Initiative is still up and running. This can be confirmed by the food drop that happened last season, which by the way, won't be happening anytime soon due to the booster being dead. Slow down on consuming all the Dharma Oat bars, Paulo!!! Now that the communication is dead, it's just a matter of time before someone on the mainland recognizes that something's amiss and sends a search party, right? Except here's the next problem with the Swan station being killed: The sonar ping is gone. The submarines that have been traveling to and fro won't have a point of registry. Which could cause some serious problems....


Now you've got Locke carrying out the mission of destroying the Flame station because the computer told him to...How cool was it seeing Locke smile after he beat the chess game? I think Locke has been playing Dungeons and Dragons or other role playing games for quite some time(think back to his box company days) and now he's living one out....He's approaching the island as one giant game with each task getting him to the next level....

And next week we see another daunting task. The security fence. Is this to keep people out or something else out? Something "smokey" perhaps???? We'll have to wait and see....

This last episode was chocked full of cool things and I'll need to watch again to really dive into it...I have a major theory that's shared with a few other theorists across the net that I'll be publishing soon.....Stay tuned for that...

It was good to see the folks at the beach having some fun...It's an interesting dichotomy that they can be playing ping pong and Sayid and crew are getting shot and in fist fights...that's what I love about this show..you get all kinds of different action!
That's all for now...check the website over the weekend for some other ramblings and musing.....
Later
EPdeLFC, JB

on the 8 track

Sayid and Kate raid the file cabinets at Dunder Mifflin....

GREAT WEDNESDAY, LOSTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
El Prez is back in the building!!!! I had to take some time off, do some traveling and see the folks...All is good in my hood, how about you!?!?!
TONIGHT:
Enter 77Wednesday, March 7 at 10/9c
Locke, Sayid and Kate investigate a strange structure and its mysterious inhabitant

Well, that sounds promising!! Don't expect the feel good story of last week...Tonight is all about intrigue and island lore. We may find out more than we expect about the Dharma Initiative and the Others....one and the same??? Tune in and you may find out.....

As for last week's episode, one little tidbit I didn't really touch on: The Song
It was playing at the beginning of the episode on the boom box and then it was also the same song on the 8 track in the van.
The Road to Shambala by 3 Dog Night.

Check out what Wikipedia had to say about this...Very Interesting, with a capital I...
The song is about the mythical kingdom of Shambala, said to be hidden somewhere within or beyond the peaks of the Himalayas and mentioned in various ancient texts including the Kalachakra Tantra and ancient texts of Tibetan Buddhism.[6]
Shambala is also a theme in Sufism and it is through this tradition that the notion of Shambala became the song discussed. Songwriter Daniel Moore became a Sufi in 1970.[1]
The lyrics refer to a situation where kindness and cooperation are universal, joy and good fortune abound, and psychological burdens are lifted:
Wash away my troubles,

wash away my pain

With the rain in Shambala

Wash away my sorrow,

wash away my shame

With the rain in Shambala

[...]Everyone is helpful,

everyone is kind

On the road to Shambala

Everyone is lucky,

everyone is so kind

On the road to Shambala

[...]How does your light shine,

in the halls of Shambala?

While the lyrics include the refrain "in the halls of Shambala", much of the song actually refers to "the road to Shambala", perhaps alluding to the idea of Shambala not as a physical place but as a metaphor for the spiritual path one might follow.[6]

Now, say what you will about last week's episode being more about Hurley's faith but this song is pretty damn leading when it comes to the world of LOST.....Read into it what you will..It could be an answer to certain mysteries or it could just be a feel good Hippie song that sums up the Dharma Initiative folks....That's what I love about this show...You never know what to expect...
Enjoy the show tonight folks!!! See you tomorrow!!
EPdeLFC, JB

Little Miss Sunshine

Damn Hippies....

GOOD THURSDAY, LOSTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a show! It had a little bit of everything in it......here we go:

Hurley was a skinny kid. Before his dad left him, he gave him a candy bar. I guess that set into motion Hurley's weight issues. But his dad did leave him with one thing that came back: You make your own luck. Hurley was able to break free of the "curse" of the numbers and he found a little HOPE and FAITH, which, ironically was the name of that Kelly Ripa sitcom that ABC cancelled....at least I think they cancelled it...I saw it once..they should have cancelled it right away...

This shot of the meteor(or astroid) destroying Mr. Clucks was awesome!! It was on par with Heroes this week, for best visual effect...Those who watch Heroes know what I'm talking about...It was good to see Randy Nations, Hurley's boss turned employee...LOST TIDBIT: Randy also was Locke's boss at the box company. Who's willing to bet that Hurley got him that job, since Hurley owned the box company?? a little nugget there for you to chew on...it's delicious!

So Hurley finds a van and one Mr. Roger Workman, aka Skeletor. I swear Sawyer had some of the best lines of his career last night and then Hurley hit him back with a few pop culture references of his own..."Dude, that beer's been there since Rocky 3..Or Rocky 2.."...HA!!

Sawyer and "Jinbo" got hooked on phonics and shared a very endearing moment. I think the stuff that these two guys have been through has formed a bond that may not be broken. Way back when they got on the raft, Sawyer called Michael and Jin "Han and Chewie", a reference to Star Wars and the unspoken communication that Han Solo and Chewbacca had. Now I've always maintained that Sawyer was Han Solo, which would make Michael more of a Lando Calarissean....I always assumed that Lando and Chewbacca had a backstory and more history than Chewie and Han...I think it had to do with Lando moving on and becoming the Cloud City mayor or whatever, leaving Han and Chewie to their more mercenary ways...Much like Michael left Sawyer and Jin...sorry..my analogy went a little tangent-ish....

In the van, Sawyer discovers that Roger was part of a DHARMA road services program...Adopt a Highway that Doesn't exist yet...I loved it when Hurley said he was on a beer run....which he could have been..It would explain why he flipped the van and died..Don't drink and drive, even if you're on an island with no one else around...

But realistically(and I use that term loosely, seeing as how this is a TV show), why would you have a VW van on an island? It doesn't really seem all that terrain worthy...I would think a Jeep would have been more appropriate..either way, it sets up for a great flashback..Imagine if Roger was actually Gerald DeGroot, the founder of DHARMA...say he was drunk and trying to get out for a bit..go grab some beer from the Swan Station, threw on Roger's jumpsuit and then perished...No one finds him, the DHARMA initiative fails, everyone leaves(except the true believers, the Others) and many years later, he's discovered by our Losties....That's how I would write it..because of a drinking binge, the whole thing failed....

Let's see..what else happenned?...Charlie decided to join Hurley and laugh in death's face...I would be easy tempting fate, Charlie Pace.....all your past sins will come back to haunt you...Everyone please remember that it was Charlie who attacked Sun in her garden..It was Sawyer who put him up to it so I think it's very possible that will come out eventually..Atone for your sins....

Kate went off to get help....Sayid and Locke followed and told her that they found something at Eko's funeral. The way the sun hit Mr. Eko's stick gave them a compass bearing..This is important because way back in season 1, Locke gave Sayid his compass, basically because it didn't work...that may have to do with the large magnet they are all sitting on..SO the sun shined down, shone down?, shine downed?..whatever and pointed out where north was...And then Rouseau popped out of the woods...I swear this woman sleeps standing up....Kate tells her about Alex, so now we have some new drama...I guess Kate feels guilty about leaving Jack, or sleeping with Sawyer or drugging her husband and running away...any way you slice it, she's going to get Jack back....I hope when she gets to Othersville, she stumbles upon Jack and Juliet having a picnic in Juliets back yard....this show has been missing a good cat fight...:)

Well that's my two cents...I'll re read this later and realize that I left out something big but I have the power to POST and will if needed....

Next week's episode is going to be intense!!! It is a Sayid flashback, entitled "Enter 77"..If you pay attention to the preview, there's a voice that says "Manual overide complete. For mainland communication, enter 38"....AHH yeah!!!! The plot thickens!!!!!

Tell me what you think LOSTIES!!! Click comments and let the brouhaha begin!!!!

Later

EP

Earmites have stolen all the bread

Hurley has a bad experience with Clairol

GREAT WEDNESDAY, LOSTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
El Prez has been burning up the campaign circuit, looking for those extra voters for the next election...it's never too early....
Before we jump into the update, I would like to announce a contest of sorts....

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WRITE AN UPDATE???

That's right..I am extending the offer to one of you awesome LFC members to have YOUR OWN words and opinions published here on this blog. There are no rules but let's set a few guidelines:
No curse words.

That's pretty much it....if you are interested, we can start tomorrow. Tell me what you liked about tonight's episode in 200 words or less and I will publish it on this site and for the readers around the world!
You can enter by 2 different means: In the Comments section at the end of this blog or you can send me an email at: elprezdelfc@gmail.com
We're all interested in this great show and here's a chance for all of us to be heard. Please participate and join the fun!!!

Onto to tonight's show:
Season 3: Episode 10 - "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead"02/28/2007

Hurley's discovery of an old, wrecked car on the island leads him on a mission of hope not only for himself, but for a fellow survivor in need of some faith. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer reunite with their fellow castaways, but Kate is still torn about leaving Jack behind with "The Others."

This is episode 10 of 22...we are almost at the halfway point and the pace is about to pick up....I am excited!!! of course, I'm always excited but that's my burden to bear...
See you tomorrow!!!

That's a mighty fine looking banjo

I was gonna make a joke about a bear in the woods, but I'll keep it clean....

GOOD MONDAY, LOSTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Oscars are over and now it's time for LOST to rule ABC's promotional spots for the rest of the year. Congrats to all the winners and for the Academy finally giving Scorcese his due...

ONTO the show:

This week:

"Tricia Tanaka Is Dead"

Wednesday, February 28 at 10/9c
Hurley discovers a wrecked car on the island and uses it on a mission of hope.

According to my sources, this episode is going to be laugh out loud funny and get out your Kleenex sad. Look for the mythology of the island to be left alone for this episode and don't hold out hope that you'll see any Others. This is all about the big fella ,Hugo...

There will NOT be an encore episode of last week's show before the new one, like ABC has done the past 3 weeks. ABC is starting to get their spring programming in order but still fail to give LOST a companion show that could help it in the ratings. As it stands now, LOST is still the number one scripted show for it's time slot and it leads the pack in the ever important demographic, the coveted 18-34 age group. When it comes to ratings, it's no Grey's Anatomy(don't get me started on that debacle...Izzie's speech 2 weeks ago was the worst moment of television so far this year..." I believe that blahblahblahablah...."...uck!!) which pulls in 26 million viewers a week. LOST is currently at 12.9 million.....No fear of cancellation, no matter the grumblings of a few who find the show to be a little slow so far this season. Let's not forget that it was about this time last year that the show really started to pick up....I have no doubt that the show will continue to gain momentum and then leave us wanting a lot more by the season finale...

There is a moment coming up that will solidify Niki and Paulo's status on the show. A lot of people had been grumbling about their impromptu introduction as background characters(where have these 2 hotties been hiding out??..not my words..)...well in an upcoming episode, they will be explained and it's sure to be a shocker...I have a theory about this and will offer it up once we get closer to that particular story line...if what I think is right, it's sure to be a turning point in the show....

And now, if I could, I'd like to promote another one of my favorite shows: Friday Night Lights....If you aren't watching this show, you should tune in for what I consider to be the most honest portrayal of small town life on television today...If you aren't a football fan, don't stress...this show is about the people and Kyle Chandler(the dude who blew up on Grey's) is by far, one of the best actors on TV...The show has a lot of stand out performances...no magic, no law and order, no time travel..just simple, honest TV....good stuff...thanks for listening...

That's it for now...

EPdeLFC, JB

It would be a shame to have to kill you now....

Hug it out, (insert bad word here)

GOOD FRIDAY, LOSTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No pictures of swollen ankles today....just some LOST tidbits to get your day started...
This question was posed to Matthew Fox:
Why do you think LOST is so popular?
It's not about the 43 minutes that someone's getting when they watch an episode. It's about how they interact with people after, and how much they theorize about it.
I couldn't agree more....He hit the nail on the head..That being said, some of you may not know how to leave comments on the new site...remember nothing is too trivial and no one will hate on you if you ask a silly question...we are all in this together...
Here's some directions:
at the bottom of each update is a small font heading that says comments...click on that..it will take you to a screen that says Leave your comment..Select "Other" and type your name in the yellow box...then place your cursor in the bigger box above and type away!....You then hit publish your comment and voila! you are now involved....

I don't know if anyone watches the Office but if you aren't, you should...Funniest show on TV, without a doubt...well last night's episode was directed by JJ Abrams, co creator of LOST....It was an excellent episode as well....too funny...

That's it for now! Keep the comments coming!!
Later
EPdeLFC, JB