Return

Yes I'm back. Things have been crazy for me lately and I've been very busy with work and school; however, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 releasing in just over a month...I couldn't say away much longer.

First of all, I never got to wrap up my take on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. Here are my final thoughts:

• The Forbidden Journey ride was better than I originally gave it credit for. It's actually quite scary and I'm interested to see how the younger audience reacts to it. 
• Take a deep breath before you get on because you're bound to miss something. The ride throws so much at you so fast; I believe that's why I felt a little disappointed after the first ride. After riding it multiple times though, I was able to absorb each aspect of the ride in better detail.
• The queue leading up to the Forbidden Journey ride is simply phenomenal. You truly feel as if you've stepped into the world of Harry Potter.
• The food was definitely one of the highlights. Butterbeer is awesome. Pumpkin Juice was better than I expected. 
• Chocolate frogs were a disappointment. 
• The shops are incredibly detailed and offer an incredible selection of merchandise. If you're a big HP fan, you definitely have to restrain from overspending.
• They need more room and they know it. I really feel this is just the beginning of something much bigger for Universal.

As for Deathly Hallows part 1, I absolutely cannot wait. I'm still finalizing my plans, but I will most definitely be going to a midnight showing. I also plan on reading book 7 one more time before the film releases. Expect more soon. In the meantime, go check out the Deathly Hallows trailers...simply AMAZING.

Forbidden Journey round 2

I enjoyed the ride much better the second time around. The first time through, I was overcome with such excitement that I missed half of what was going on. I nearly lost my phone midway through the ride, which didn't help matters.

The second time though, I really had a chance to relax and take it all in. The ride has its flaws, but it's much better than I originally thought. You can expect a full review when I return home.

Pumpkin Juice

You know the cider you have every year around Christmas time? Tastes like that only cold.

I don't even like pumpkin but I enjoyed this. Definitely has a slight pumpkin flavor but it's mixed with apple flavors as well.

Hogwarts

>> Not sure how much blogging I will be able to do as our hotel doesn't have free WIFI :( I have tried to attach a video of our first glimpse of Hogwarts; however, I'm not sure if it will come through or not.
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>> My quick thoughts on the park...Harry Potter needs a park all to his own. I have loved nearly everything I've seen, but it's only left me wanting more (maybe a wee bit greedy).
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>> My quick thoughts on everything I experienced today. More detail to come later.
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>> Forbidden Journey ride: Above average but not quite perfect
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>> Butterbeer: Absolutely AMAZING!
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>> Chocolate Frogs: Frogs are just plain chocolate. The cards are pretty cool. Way overpriced at $10.
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>> Shops: Amazing detail, but they need more room. There were lines just to get into the shops. Prices weren't too outlandish, but definitely way above average. I had to splurge on a sweet Gryffindor hoodie.
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>> Dragon's Challenge: Still the same, great roller coaster that was formally known as Dueling Dragons (queue was an upgrade, but I think they could have done better)
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>> Disappointed that they were sold out of the Ash Wand (for my birth month). I'll probably look to pick one up online.
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>> Still looking forward to eating at the Three Broomsticks, sending a letter via Owl Post (special postmark), experiencing Ollivander's, and definitely riding the Forbidden Journey ride once more.
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>> Hope the video works. Look for more soon (if not then, definitely when I return).

Edit: I'll post the video later.
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Dear Mr. Francis...

...you have been accepted, into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That's right, tomorrow my family and I will depart for Orlando, Florida to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Saying that I'm pumped for this trip is a drastic understatement.

I have literally been counting down the days since the park was announced. As a matter of fact, I've actually been dreaming of a Harry Potter theme park long before Universal even made the official announcement.

SO, I would love to tell you that I haven't been blogging recently because I've been hard at work on my novel; however, that isn't the case. Sadly, I haven't worked on it much at all. The truth is that I have been working really hard to find a new job. I've actually started working in a part-time position and have had multiple interviews for a specific full-time position. Much of my time has been devoted to those two goals, as well as grad school

With all that being said, you can look forward to a plethora of quality blog posts over the next few days. They may not be long, but I can assure you they will be interesting (at least if you're a Harry Potter fan, and let's face it, if you aren't a fan...you should be). You can expect to see updates ranging from my first butterbeer, my wand selection, and of course...a review of the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. So, with that being said, I hope you will follow my blog over the next week to see what all Universal's new park has to offer.

50,000 words

Wow. It just sounds crazy to say it, but I have officially eclipsed 50,000 words in the first book of my trilogy. Just to put that in perspective, the first Harry Potter book is 309 pages and around 77,000 words. You see, 50,000 words is special for me because I think I've subconsciously deemed it as the point of no return. In terms of plot, I would say I have at least 1/4 of the book left to go including a pretty big climax I have planned. I also need to go back and flesh out some details on characters, as well as add a few things to make everything flow together. Of course, then begins the monotonous process of editing, but I'll be thrilled if I can even get there...when I get there.

I still have quite a ways to go, but as I said earlier, I am officially deeming this as the point of no return. For years I've dabbled here and there with some ideas, fleshed out some characters, and written outlines for the trilogy, but never have I fully committed 100% to finishing this book. In fact, I honestly wasn't sure if I ever would finish it. I am now happy to say that whether this book is read by 2, two thousand, or two million, I am going to finish it. Whether it's published across the world or simply posted here on this blog, I am going to finish it.

Something just came over me today and I felt really inspired to write. I've been sitting here for the past couple of hours writing one of the most thrilling sections of book 1. For the first time since I've been writing Kedu, I was actually brought to tears tonight. It's something I had been planning for a while, but as I started to write it down, I couldn't help myself from being moved to tears. Now I'm not saying I have the next big hit on my hands, but if I can get attached to these characters enough to cry for them, I have a feeling others may do the same.

From the start, the thing that was always most important to me was the characters. I may not have the most advanced writing style or use a lot of complicated words, but I feel that I have truly created a group of lovable characters. That brings me to the book itself. I am not sure I've ever discussed the actual contents of the book on my blog, but now is just as good a time as any.

During my undergraduate years, I had a blind professor. Many of the students were constantly amazed at his ability to lecture, remember facts, and use his other senses without sight. It's pretty fascinating how his ability to hear, smell, taste, and touch is probably 10 times what I'm capable of.

As I thought more and more about this idea, I soon came up with the idea of the Proeliators. Basically, the Proeliators are an ancient group of warriors who protect the land of Vale. Their powers come from their incredible ability to sense the world around them. Their senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch are so advanced, that they are nearly unstoppable in battle. Their heightened senses also make them some of the most advanced spell casters in my world.

I don't want to give too much away because, after all, I want you guys to read it one day! Basically though, my trilogy tells the story of Vale's last Proeliator.

I can definitely see myself finishing the book this year, maybe even this summer if I have more writing days like I did today (although editing is another story entirely). I have a cousin who leaves to read, as well as a few friends who I think would be happy to proofread. I never really understood it when authors said that you can't write with the sole hope of it getting published...that is until now. I genuinely want to finish this story for the sake of my characters...and for myself. If it gets published, that would be a dream come true. If not, you guys can look forward to reading it here on the blog one day.

Am I living in a sideways world?

So I wrote up a blog the other day and for some odd reason, it didn't actually post to the site. Some of it was saved, but a large portion of it was lost. Me being too lazy to re-write, I put off the blog post until now. I'll try to re-create the original post as best I can.

Do you ever have those days when something just feels off? A few weeks back (before the end of LOST), I tweeted that exact statement. One of my friends jokingly said that perhaps I was living in a flashsideways world.

Now to add more fuel to the fire, I've noticed several strange coincidences occurring in my life.

1. During a job interview last week, I interviewed at a location that looked incredibly similar to to a place I interned at back in college. Ok, that's normal enough. Buildings often look the same of course. To make things more interesting though, the gentlemen I interviewed with was a UofL graduate (same as me) with a Communication degree (same as me). Not only that, he had just got married and his wife worked as nurse where she was preparing to start a new job at the same hospital where my wife works as a nurse. Weird, huh?
2. Also found out recently that 2 different couples I've known for about a year or so have the same wedding anniversary as me and my wife (June 6).
3. I also find out that someone I just met is now working as an intern in a Communication department where I used to work myself.
4. Finally, in class the other day, our discussion somehow arrived at evolutionary psychology, which was a major point of an article I presented on later in class.

Before you freak out and accuse me of losing my mind or something, I should let you know that do not really believe that I am living in some alternate universe :) That being said, these coincidences are interesting nonetheless. I'll be sure to let you know if anything else happens. Funny thing, coincidences...

Since the end of LOST, I'm sure you've noticed that my blogging has been pretty lackluster (*cough* nonexistent *cough*). I have thought a lot about my blog and where I want it to go; however, I don't feel any closer to figuring it out than I did before. I can't decide if I want to blog on a myriad of topics or focus on one thing of which I am a big fan (sports? video games? technology?).  Maybe some of you can help.

There are two things in my life I'm working on right now so it would be great if the blog could help me with one (or both). Number 1: Live a healthier lifestyle (exercising more, eating better, drinking less soda, etc...). Number 2: Write more. Many of you know that I've started work on a trilogy, but it's something I've never had the drive to finish. I've typed over 150 pages and am just over 45,000 words. I actually have many of the major plot points already worked out in my head. Maybe I just need to "get my [butt] in the chair and write," as Pat Rothfuss so eloquently wrote in my signed copy of The Name of the Wind.

Regardless, let me know if you have any ideas on where my blog should go from here.

Lost Recap: "The End"

It's pretty hard for me to even start this blog. I wanted to wait until I'd watched the episode again, but there's so much discussion everywhere that I couldn't resist writing it now. So, here it is...my final LOST recap.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse called it. They said there would be those who love the finale and people who would hate the finale. Fortunately, I seem to be in the majority of those that loved the finale. In short, I thought it was absolutely brilliant. For all the discussion about electromagnetic energy, smoke monsters, and the island, LOST was a show that always was, and will forever be remembered as, a show about the characters. Everything we saw through six season of amazing television was their growth and journey as humans.

Let's get this out of the way first. I am of the camp that believes they did NOT die in the original Oceanic 815 crash. This seems to be a growing belief among fans, based mostly on the shots of the plane wreckage that were displayed during the final credits. I think that might just be an image they chose for the final credits, just to remind us of where it all started. The LOST logo appears right after Jack's eye closes so I think that's meant to be the final image of the show. Knowing how much we all like to over analyze things, I do question why they chose that particular series of images for the credits. Seems like they could have went with something else that would have caused less confusion.

I believe everything we saw on the island happened and was real. The flashsideways however was a place they created together that acted as a kind of purgatory for each of them to accept their deaths and move on to the after life. They struggled to accept that they were indeed dead. Some (i.e. Hurley) were persuaded easier than others (i.e. Jack). We know that "everyone dies some time kiddo. Some before you, some long after you," as Christian says in the end. Christian also tells Jack that "everything that has ever happened to you is real." He also says that all the people he met were real. If they had all died in the crash, then they would have never met each other anyway (aside from the brief time on the flight). For anyone thinking they died in the crash, just watch that last scene with Christian again. I thought he did a pretty good job explaining it all.

I also love the conversation between Hugo and Ben, which clearly indicates they shared quite a few years on the island together. Too bad it's all ending because I would love to see a whole season dedicated to Hurley and Ben running the island together. That would make for some great tv. 

As for the rest of the episode, I loved nearly every minute of it. We saw a series of emotional, powerful scenes that triggered each of the characters on-island memories. It's hard to decide which one stood out the most. They were all incredibly well done and heart felt.


Locke was pretty much my favorite character so I was thrilled to see that he definitely died for a reason. Without his death, Jack would have never been driven to go back to the island. Jack would have never went back to destroy MIB. The scene were Jack berates MIB for mocking John Locke and his memory was awesome. I LOVED when Jack told him that he disgraced Locke by wearing his face. 

Desmond was also great in this episode. He too has been one of my favorite characters so I was happy to see him get such a great ending. This is certainly up for some debate here, but I think that Desmond took away the smoke monster's powers when he pulled the column out of the light. It stripped MIB of his powers and was getting ready to make Desmond the next smoke monster. Fortunately for us and Desmond, he's resistant to the energy. Not only did he survive the electromagnetic energy once again, it's almost a given that Hurley and Ben found a way to get him back home to Penny and Charlie. Hurley has always had the charming ability to care for others. I can assure you he found a way to get Desmond back home.  

And for Jack. Good ole' Jack Shephard. We have watched this dynamic character grow and develop through each season. He goes from being a concrete man of science to the man who dies to save the island...the island he once fought so hard to escape. 


For all of those who wanted answers about the island and the overall mythology of the show, I certainly see where you may be upset. Try and take a step back though and realize how much this show has been about the characters. Would we have cared so much about the mysterious apparitions if it hadn't been for the characters seeing them? Would Richard's agelessness have been nearly as interesting if it wasn't for his motives and story behind desiring immortality?

You know, I used to be one of those people who always longed for the answers, but something about The End transformed me. Maybe it's because the episode was so well done, but somewhere along the way I learned to let go. I came to realize that this was a show about the journey of characters who crashed on a mysterious island with some pretty cool properties...and some pretty dangerous ones. It's about a group of characters who learned to love, live, forgive, and ultimately, how to die.

Even still, you may be in luck if you are wanting more answers. There have been rumors floating around about all the extra content for the DVD release and it sounds like there may be a lot of answers there. I'll be sure and do a post when we get some type of official confirmation on that. 

I can't guarantee this will definitely be my last post on the show. In fact, I can almost guarantee that I will be making some LOST related posts in the future. I also plan to blog about other topics, I'm just not sure what all I want that to include yet. LOST is definitely still fresh on my mind so I may need to come back and further clarify a point or mention something I forgot. Unlike Jack, I'm still not ready to to let go. 


Be sure to vote in the poll on the top-right side of the page!

Lost Recap: "What They Died For"

There are several reasons why this week's blog is a little late. First, I've just been very busy this week. I worked Sunday-Thursday and have a class on Saturday so this week has been packed for me. Secondly, I just don't want this show to end. By writing this blog post for the penultimate episode of the season, I am confirming that the show is indeed coming to an end. And after watching What They Died For, I just don't want this show to end.

Don't get me wrong, I'm dying to know how this magnificent story ends, but it is incredibly rare to have a show like LOST. Who knows how many years will pass before we see another like it. Now that we got all the reminiscing out of the way, let's recap What They Died For.

"Now THAT was an episode of LOST!" Those were the words I immediately tweeted upon seeing this week's episode. As you all know from my last recap, I wasn't all that thrilled with Across the Sea. I understood it, but that just doesn't change the fact that I didn't enjoy that 60 minutes in front of the television. Not only did What They Died For blow my expectations out of the water, it made Across the Sea even better.

We see that Jacob fully admits he made a mistake and that the smoke monster's existence is entirely his fault. Sawyer even questions why they should try and fix his mistake. Sawyer also asks something similar to "Why did you pull us out of our lives? Things were going pretty well." Poor Sawyer. He's already forgotten how miserable he was before finding the island. Before the island, Sawyer was a broken man on a path of revenge. He had never known true love and he lived his life as a con man. Jacob quickly respond by telling them that none of their lives were perfect and that was the reason he brought them there. We knew they all had issues, but what we didn't know that is specifically why they were brought to the island. Had there lives been going great, there is no way Jacob would have brought them to the island. Rather, like Jacob, they were flawed. Not only did the island need them...they needed the island.

The quote from Jacob about them needing the island really got me thinking and believing that this flashsideways universe is indeed the end. Time for one last effort at a prediction: someway, somehow, the on-island events have allowed these characters to have a re-do on life. They have been given a chance to make their lives better and Desmond is working to make sure they all remember what they went through to get there. I'm reminded of the ending to D.J. Machale's Pendragon series. If you don't want to be spoiled on the very ending of that series, please skip the next paragraph.
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[Pendragon spoilers] Throughout Pendragon, the main character travels through time and space saving multiple worlds from their destruction. He keeps a journal throughout that details the events of each adventure. At the very end of book 10, after the evil is vanquished, Bobby Pendragon gets a chance to go back and live his life completely and totally normal. As he rests on his death bed, a mysterious man (his Uncle Press) comes to visit him. Press gives Bobby a journal that was written by Bobby himself as he went on his adventures to the different worlds. Bobby then has a chance to remember and realize everything he did in those other worlds. Not only did the events definitely happen, the events made Bobby's normal life possible. I believe this will turn out to be true for the end of LOST. Everything that our characters have done on-island has given them a second chance at life [end of Pendragon spoilers].
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We then get to see a phenomenal scene as Jack makes the choice to take over as Jacob's replacement. Jack has been such an interesting character to watch for me. I don't think I'm alone in my love/hate relationship for his character. In season 1, everyone pretty much loved the guy. He became the leader of the losties and did his best to guide them. Somewhere in the middle of the series, Jack grew increasingly stubborn in his struggle with science v.s. faith and got to the point where many people hated him as a character. By the time he made it off island, he was completely broken as a man. Now, he's returned to the island and Jack has re-emerged as a character we can all love. He's given the perfect chance to ridicule Sawyer for practically blowing up the sub; however, he reacts as a good leader should. He points the blame at MIB, the one really responsible, and he even admits to Sawyer that he's been wrong before (and he has definitely been wrong in the past).

In the flashsideways, we get to see Desmond and Hurley who appear to be fully conscious and aware of the other reality. Hurley makes this clear by saying, "I didn't know Ana Lucia was gonna be here." Hurley remembers. What makes all of this even more exciting is that Desmond says Ana Lucia isn't ready yet, which might imply that the finale is going to be A LOT about Desmond showing everyone the other reality.

I couldn't end this recap without mentioning the superb scene between Jack and Locke. These two men have been some of our very favorite characters since the beginning. The hairs on my neck prickled when Locke said that he was ready to get out of his chair. I'm getting chills now just thinking about it. What a phenomenal line and just a great scene from LOST. I think it's all but a given that the real John Locke is going to walk at some point in the series finale. And my, what a powerful moment it's going to be.

That's it for the recap. I can't believe I didn't even get a chance to mention MIB killing(?) Richard, Ben going evil (again), and the appearance by Danielle. This episode was just so packed with awesomeness. I want to take a quick moment to say how incredibly excited I am to see the finale. Whoever is out there reading this, I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts on the series. I hope you all have a chance to watch the finale with people you know and love, people who have shared this incredible journey with you. My wife and I are having 10 or so people over to our house for a little goodbye party. I will, of course, be fully decked out in my LOST shirt, which may end up serving as a tissue by the time the final credits roll. Definitely look forward to my post-finale blog, which may even come in two parts considering the length, not to mention magnitude, of this episode. So for the final time before we KNOW HOW LOST ENDS, I bid you farewell. As my fellow blogger Vozzek put it...see you on the other side.

Lost Recap: "Across the Sea"

I would like to preface this post by saying that I am an incredible fan of the show (as if you couldn't tell by the fact that I devote my time to writing a blog about it). I think Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are two of the most brilliant minds in the world today. They have created a show that - regardless of its outcome - will go down as one of the greatest in television history.

With all that being said, I write this blog post with somewhat of a heavy heart as for the first time (in a long time), I have been incredibly let down by an episode of LOST. Don't get me wrong, episodes have disappointed me in the past, but none like this one. Maybe I'm personally guilty because of the fact that my expectations were at all-time high. It seemed like this would be the deep, explanatory, mythological episode we've all been dying to see. Alas, it wasn't meant to be (at least not for me). Before I go any further, I'll warn you now that this post is longer than my usual. Much more content to cover! So, without anything further, here's my recap of Across the Sea.

One is light, one is dark. Good v.s. evil. Black and white. Those are just a few of the themes that have been prevalent throughout the entire show known as LOST. After watching Across the Sea, I'm ready to go ahead and accept that all these concepts were just a big red herring (so to speak). LOST is not about good v.s. evil. It's not about things that are black and white; Across the Sea made things more gray than ever. It has made it absolutely clear to me that this show is about moral ambiguity and how "every man has a scale." Every man is capable of both good and evil.

It is truly something we should have seen from the first couple episodes of the show. We see characters with dark pasts (Sayid, Kate, Sawyer) come to the island to do both good and bad. We also have characters who come to the island as seemingly "good" people, only to commit unspeakable acts on the island (Michael, Jack, and even Locke to some degree). In addition, LOST has also been about truth and how there is seemingly no absolute truth. In other words, we are all, essentially, lost. 

I am definitely willing to hold off judgment until the series concludes; however, I'd be lying if I said this episode wasn't a disappointment for me. Maybe I'm just a sucker for heroic, epic battles of good v.s. evil because I am not at all pleased with the direction things seem to be headed. Why shouldn't the MIB be allowed to leave the island? All he ever did was search for the truth. His whole life he'd been sheltered and hidden away from all the truths in life. He only wanted to know what was "across the sea." Although he's taken many actions I don't agree with, it's hard not to feel a little sympathy for the guy at this point.

Even though we sympathize with him in some regards, it's hard to accept his ruthless killing of Eko, manipulation of John Locke, and slaying of Sun, Jin, and Sayid. Who are we supposed to cheer for here? Is there a right or wrong? Alas, there's no one to support, nor a right side to take. We are simply bystanders watching these characters struggle to find the truth...only to see them become further entangled within the infinite loop time after time, completely and totally lost. 

Speaking of sympathizing, what about Jacob? He seems like a jerk, but really, he is just a victim of Mother's lies. Forgive me if sound all doom and gloom today, but I just can't lie and say that I liked this episode. For starters, "Mother" said it best with the line, "Every answer I give you will only lead to more questions." Well mother, that's exactly how I feel. Although some may be satisfied with the answers given in this episode, I am not entirely pleased. I have a million more questions to follow them up with, which I suppose is part of the infinite web of searching for truth.

Despite all that, this is their story and they don't owe me anything. If a scene or event is done well, I'm not going to fault it just because it didn't go the way I'd hoped. However, there were many things in this episode that just felt contrived and frankly, not well done at all.

Let's start with "mother." First of all, who is she? Is she a goddess? Did she go through a candidate selection process like Jacob and the MIB? Maybe we're just meant to think of her as a protector of the island with divine, god-like powers. Ok fine, I'll go with that.

So Mother has taken MIB and Jacob as her potential candidates for taking over and protecting the island. As we observe MIB and Jacob during the early years, we see that Jacob takes believes everything that's told him. MIB, on the other hand, is curious and inquisitive about the world. I do have to wonder though, what if the island had decided to show Jacob his dead mother instead? Would he have have been just as curious?

MIB decides to go searching for the truth while Jacob continues to swallow every lie that Mother shoves down his throat, even though he realizes that she loves MIB more.

Next, what is she protecting the island from? You guessed it - a giant ball of light!!! This light is something that every man has, but it's also so great and powerful that every man wants more of it. Well doesn't that just make things crystal clear. You don't think so? Yeah, me neither.

So if that's the case, and the light is something that every man desires, then what's all this bull coming from Jacob about the island being a cork for evil? I thought the light was something every man desires and why would every man desire evil? After all, MIB is the one who believes that men are corrupt, not Jacob. You see? The rabbit hole just keeps going deeper.

We also learned how the smoke monster was created (or released?) and that was by - yep, you guessed it again - being shoved into the ball of light! Look, I'm totally fine with a vague explanation. After all, we've stuck around through polar bears, time travel, and moving an island so naturally, we shouldn't get upset when we learn that an equally unrealistic entity - a pillar of black smoke - was created by shoving a seemingly immortal man into a ball of light. HOWEVER, I do have a problem with there being absolutely no explanation in terms of the MIB's body washing up in a stream. Did his soul actually become the smoke monster or was it just released when Jacob cast his brother into the light?

Again, I'm withholding my final judgment until the series concludes, but the scenes throughout Across the Sea are events that often take a full season to come to an ultimate fruition.

Welp, it looks like this turned into more of a rant than an episode recap, but I guess I'll just leave it at that. What do you guys think? Am I being too hard on the episode? Were you satisfied with the answers? Maybe I will watch it again and give it another chance.

LOST shirt arrives

As you can see, the shirt I blogged about in a recent post arrived in the mail today. Overall, I'm very pleased. The t-shirt itself is actually 'fruit of the loom' so it is good quality. The graphic is screen printed so I hope it won't start to tear off after a few washes.

If I had to change one thing it would be to actually have the graphic a little bigger. Only a minor gripe. Definitely worth the $19 and I'll certainly be wearing this on 5-23-10.

Lost Recap: "The Candidate"

Speechless is probably the best word to describe how I felt after watching The Candidate. Although short on mythological answers, this episode more than made up for that with the intense action and incredible emotion. There’s really no way I can hope to illuminate on everything that happened in this episode. I’m just going to make an attempt to highlight a few of the things that stood out to me.

I’m sure many of you have already noticed the countless references to mirrors and reflections, both of which have been persistent throughout this entire season. In fact, if I had to sum up season 6 in one word, it would probably be one of those words. Everything from the on-island dialogue, to the alternate reality, is packed with interesting little throwbacks and connections to past seasons, past episodes, and even scenes within the same episode. Let me point out just a few of the connections I made in this most recent episode.

• Jack saves Locke/Locke saves Jack- On island, Flocke saves Jack after the explosion. In the alt, Jack saves Locke after Desmond runs him over.
• Jack and Locke/the candidates- In the alt, Jack tells Locke that he might be a “candidate.” On island, Sayid seems to confirm that Jack is indeed the candidate to replace Jacob when he says, “It’s going to be you Jack.”
• I wish you’d believe me- In the alt, Jack tells Locke, “I wish you’d believe me,” the very same words Locke wrote in his suicide note to Jack.
• Jack has come full circle- I know I’ve said it before, but it is crystal clear that Jack is now the John Locke/Man of Faith of the island.

Now...time to address the deaths. I’m not going to lie, I definitely teared up during Sun and Jin’s emotional scene. After all their marital struggles, they found what was most important in the end: love.  Yet again, we have a character coming full circle. For much of the first season, everyone hated Jin because of the way he treated Sun. Now, after the events of this week, every woman in the world would love to have a husband who would do the same as Jin, staying and dying together with the love of his life.

Sayid’s death was also well-done and a great ending to one of our favorite characters. It was refreshing to see him get one last moment of redemption. Sayid was a tortured soul (pun definitely intended), but in the end, I think we can all agree that his scale tipped ever so slightly towards “good.”

Some seem to believe that Lapidus is actually still alive, but let’s go ahead and assume he’s dead. He was never as important as Sun, Jin, or Sayid, but it was still sad to see him go. In the previous weeks, Lapidus has often been the source of comic relief with his never ending stream of one-liners. Thus, his death signifies that play time is over. This is the end and MIB is playing for keeps.

With only two episodes left until the finale, one would expect that we should be able to make a pretty educated guess on how the alt is going to merge with the on island timeline.  That being said, I feel like I have no idea a.) what caused the alt reality and b.) how it’s going to factor into the MIB/Jacob feud. I will say this though, I read a theory today posted by 'WarningTrack' on DarkUFO's website (darkufo.blogspot.com). This is one theory that I’m fully backing and feel it has a great chance of happening. Here it goes...within 5 minutes of the audience seeing Frank die, the ONLY pilot on the island, we are introduced to another interesting little nugget of information. In the alt, John Locke is a pilot. On island, there’s currently an Ajira plane with no one to fly it. At some point, these two timelines are going to merge and when they do...John Locke is going to fly the survivors off the island (everyone except probably Jack and maybe Kate).  Again, it’s not my theory and believe me I wish it was...but it’s definitely a theory that I’m backing. Check the link here for DarkUFO’s post.

Until next week...enjoy it while it lasts guys. We don’t have much time left. Oh, did you all see the promo for next week? Looks like all of us begging for answers are about to get our wish.

LOST Series Finale Extended by 30 minutes

This is just incredible. The finale will be 2 1/2 hours. I didn't think it was possible, but I'm now even more pumped for the finale.

DarkUFO broke the news here.

An affordable, yet awesome Lost t-shirt

There it is people. I finally found a LOST shirt that I absolutely love...and a pretty cheap one at that. Here is a link if you're interested in purchasing a similar one. I paid $19.40...shipping and all (there's a coupon code at the top of the screen to get $5 off).

What's cool about this shirt is that you can customize the color of the shirt, as well as the color of the design. Take a look at the link and you can see for yourself. Locke has always been one of my favorite characters so it isn't really a surprise that the shirt I ended up buying featured everyone's favorite man of faith.

I still have faith that the real John Locke's story isn't done quite yet. I'm holding out hope until the end... Sadly, we don't have much longer to go.

Lost t-shirts

With the finale less than a month away, now would be a great time to purchase a Lost themed t-shirt. I will most likely watch the finale with a pretty large group of friends so it would be cool to have a Lost themed shirt to wear. I've been searching around on the internet today and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you.

Price: $27.64
Shipping: $10.67
Purchase here

This is by far my favorite Lost themed t-shirt. Only problem is that it comes from a UK website so the shipping is kind of expensive. The shirt is already pretty expensive at $27.64 anyway. I would have already bought this if it wasn't for the price. You can save 10% by signing up for the site's newsletter, but I'm hoping they will have some kind of sale leading up to the finale (maybe free shipping at the very least).

 Price: $18.00
Shipping: $4.00
Purchase here

Unique and cheap. This is an overall great design and it's at a good price.

Price: $23.94
Shipping: $7.13
Purchase here

Not only is this a tribute to one of the best characters on Lost, you can also customize the color of the shirt as well as choose whether you want long or short sleeves. Again, slightly expensive though. Check out a Desmond version here.

Price: $24.00
Shipping: $7.00
Purchase here

Simple. Unique. Awesome.

Available in multiple colors as well.

Too bad the majority of the world would mistake you for a werewolf lover.

Price: $24.95
Shipping: $7.95
Purchase here

Ok seriously, who wouldn't want a Mr. Cluck's t-shirt?!

Check out the rest of ABC's official LOST gear here!

 Price: $27.64
Shipping: $10.67

Purchase here


Another one of my fave's; however, this is also from the UK website where shipping will run you $10.67.




There are quite a few cool ones out there, but these stood out to me. I'd be willing to bet that some of these will see a pretty significant price drop following the finale. The only question is do you want to wait that long?

Let me know if there are any others out there that you guys really love.

Lost Recap: "The Last Recruit"

The Last Recruit was a fast-paced transition episode that really seemed like the calm before the storm, even though it had quite a bit of action in its own right. Sadly, you really get the feeling that the show is coming to a close. All those years of buildup, and we'll know the outcome exactly one month from today. You might know this type of episode would air right before a two week hiatus for the show (more on that later).

The opening conversation between Jack and MIB was pretty awesome. You really get a great look at how Jack's character has totally made a 180. He is now the man of faith. He's the one who believes in destiny. He's the new John Locke.

The interesting dynamic here is that MIB doesn't seem to know this. We know that by taking on John Locke's body, he also took on his memories (remember him telling Ben what Locke was thinking before he died?). By taking on John Locke's memories, he definitely saw all the confrontations between Locke and Jack. He saw Jack as a man of science who would stop at nothing to get off the island. This time, the game has changed and MIB has no idea. Jack has come full circle and is now ready to accept his destiny. He's ready to thwart the infamous man in black.

I really enjoyed the multi-centricity of the flashsideways throughout this episode. It was pretty cool to see how our losties are all coming together once again. Some quick notes about the sideways:

• Sun definitely remembers "MIB-Locke" as she frantically says "It's him!" when being wheeled-in on the gurney.
• Sayid, Kate, Sawyer, and Miles are now all in the same location...but how is this going to tie into the losties at the hospital?
• During the surgery, Jack is definitely going to flash to his island memories. Will he then believe that the man laying before him is really the evil MIB? Will he choose to save him or let him die? Very interesting stuff here...
• I still have absolutely no idea how this flashsideways is going to converge with the on-island stuff. Don't forget, we still have to find out why the island is under water in the flashsideways. 

 After reading several different thoughts and impressions on the episode, I'm definitely under the impression that MIB wanted Sawyer to take his boat. He wanted him to round up Kate, Sun, Lapidus, Hurley, and Jack. That's why he conveniently left to go check on Sayid...to give them time to get away. What he didn't anticipate was Jack coming back. Good ole' Jack Shephard now wants to stay on the island until his destiny is fulfilled. Jack and Sawyer share a tense moment and Sawyer basically tells Jack to get off his boat. Jack apologizes for Juliet's death and then he obliges by going overboard.

We also see that some of the real Sayid may still be alive underneath the "zombie-Sayid" we've come to know over the past few weeks, or as Hurley so eloquently puts it, "You can come back from the dark side." No way he shot Desmond in that well, especially after the moving speech he delivered. Desmond has taken on a very Jacob like manner in both realities as we now see him talking his way out of a life or death situation. There's still hope for Sayid and even Claire it seems. MIB is slowly losing his recruits, one by one.

Widmore's team is really throwing me off here. He seems to know a lot about the MIB, but if that's the case, then why in the world is he trying to kill him by firing a missile? He should know it's not that simple. What I loved about this scene is that the MIB doesn't even flinch and shows no signs of fear. He is clearly impervious to all physical harm, which makes it even more interesting to see how they're going to destroy him in the long run. Just check out the screencap to the right. Jack is clearly the focus of the shot, but look off to his left. There's the MIB, stoic and unscathed.

I was also confused as to why Widmore decides to hold all the losties at gunpoint. Right when we were starting to think he was a good guy, he goes out and pulls something like that.

If you don't watch the promos for future episodes then stop reading here.................

All I have to say is, WOW. The Candidate looks as if it's going to be one amazing, intense episode. The promo was just haunting and eerie. It seems that MIB goes "Rambo" on Widmore's camp, taking them out the old fashioned way...with a gun. Although the promo didn't show it, I can almost guarantee that we'll see MIB's smoke form sometime this episode. I can't even remember the last time he changed into Smokey so it will be cool to (hopefully) see him again.

As for next week, the show is taking a week off, then the remaining episodes will air on May 4th, May 11th, and May 18th. The two-hour SERIES finale will air on Sunday, May 23. Since we have a week off, I'll probably do a re-watch for some of my favorite episodes from this season (Ab Aeterno for sure). I will try and do a blog post regarding my re-watch just to let you guys know what I noticed differently.

By the way, in case you haven't had a chance yet, check out my previous blog post here. I need everyone's help in coming up with a new name for the blog!

Who says predictions can't come true?

I'm not one to brag, but when you predict something on LOST you have to at least mention it. So I'll just point you all to my previous post here where I predicted that Jack would operate on Locke in the flashsideways. "At some point in the next couple of episodes, sideways-Locke is going to be taken to a hospital where he will come into contact with...you guessed it...Jack Shephard. Jack is going to operate on Locke and when he does, I think that will be his moment to remember the island."

Not too hard to see that one coming, but I'll take it haha. We'll see if the second half of it comes true in the future episodes, but I'm pretty sure that Jack will most definitely remember something.

You can expect a full episode recap coming within the next few days. We have two weeks until the next episode so I'll try to come up with something cool for next week.

What's in a name?

I have been blogging since 2006, but I haven't been doing it regularly until this season of Lost. ABC's incredible show has given me a lot to write about week after week. Recently, I've been trying to come up with a new name for my blog. "Jonboy's blog" isn't very unique and many of the people who read my blog aren't familiar with my "Jonboy" nickname anyway.

I would do something Lost related; however, as many of you know, the show is in its final season and I will likely be moving to other blogging topics once the show has concluded. So I would like to extend an invitation (to anyone out there reading this) for you to send me suggestions for a new blog title.

Just to throw out some ideas, here are some other blogs with titles that I like: Rememorandom, Life, or something like it..., My Little Corner of the World, and The Writer's Notebook.

Here are a few of the possibilities I came up with (some clearly more thought out than others)...

• A Stream of Thoughts
• Ray of Impressions
• Flowing Rivers
• Sunny Side Up
• Mythical Dreams
• Jonboy's Stoop

I came up with these in about 5 minutes so it isn't going to hurt my feelings if you hate them all. What are some of your suggestions?

Beware: Finale spoilers have hit (no spoilers in this post)

I can't stand spoilers, but for some reason, I always find myself wanting to read them. Not this time though. Not with the LOST series finale at stake.

I normally don't mind little spoilers such as who the episode focuses on, the title of the episode or who the guest stars are. This is why I look at some of the spoilers sections on different websites. This is really a catch 22 as sometimes I will read something that is a little more than I want to know. I'm glad to say though, I haven't been spoiled on anything MAJOR this season. I hope to keep it that way.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I have recently seen two thread titles on forums that indicate finale spoilers are starting to leak out. One read "FINALE Spoiler" while another read "MAJOR RUMOURS about series finale."

Needless to say, I'm not clicking on them to see whether or not they seem plausible and I hope you guys can avoid them as well. Here are some quick tips to avoid spoilers.

1. Stick to the sites you trust who have spoilers clearly labeled so you don't accidentally read one.
2. Avoid forums/message boards completely. Even if a section isn't supposed to have spoilers, you almost always have one jerk who'll throw one in there just to tick people off.
3. Do not read the comments sections on any story you read about Lost. Even if the story you are reading doesn't contain spoilers, often times, people will put spoilers in the comments just to annoy people.

Lost Recap: "Happily Ever After" and "Everybody Loves Hugo"

As you probably know, I failed to deliver on last week's recap. So for that, I give a double-dose of the LOST blog this week!  Rather than write out a blog for Happily Ever After, I would like to share a video I found on a fellow blogger's website (logankstewart.blogspot.com). This video recaps the episode better than I could ever hope to. Trust me...you MUST see this video.



In short, I loved Happily Ever After. Desmond has long been one of my favorite characters on the show, and definitely one of the most intriguing characters as well. He's clearly a game changer and one who will play a huge role in how the show ends.

Let's move onto Everybody Loves Hugo and seriously, who doesn't love Mr. Hugo Reyes? The guy is one of the most fun, lovable characters on the show, and ultimately, he's just so darn nice. Often times, Hurley has simply been there for comic relief, delivering one liners that bring a smile to our face. At other times, he's served as an advocate for the viewer by asking some of our biggest questions. In season 6 however, Hugo has taken on a much greater role. He's slowly making his voice heard and dare I say it...he's becoming a leader.

Let's start with the flashsideways, which have now become incredibly interesting. I'm really glad that they didn't leave Desmond out of the story for long. Right away we see that he has indeed set out on his mission to contact all the passengers from flight 815 and to show them their island memories.

His meeting with Hugo was charming and insightful. Desmond perks up when he hears that Hurley has already come into contact with Libby, which makes his job even easier. He tells Hurley to go with his gut-feeling. He follows up later and observes Hurley and Libby having their picnic on the beach. Once Hurley and Libby kiss, Desmond can see that his job is done.

On the island, Team-Jacob is scrambling about as they try and figure out what to do next. Richard and Ilana seem determined to blow up the Ajira plane, but Hurley and Jack aren't so sure. In one of the first three jaw-dropping moments of the episode, Ilana is literally blown to pieces when she throws her bag of dynamite to the ground. Poor, poor Ilana. Jacob stopped the dynamite from killing Jack and Richard, couldn't he have done the same for her? I still think Jacob is the good guy, but come on! She devoted her whole life to Jacob and now she will forever be remembered as Artz part II.

Meanwhile, MIB and Desmond are trekking through the jungle when they come to an ancient well. MIB tells Desmond a story of the island's original inhabitants and how they had dug the well to try and find the source of whatever it was that messed with their compasses. He then asks Desmond why he isn't afraid to which Desmond replies, what's the point in being afraid? We then get the 2nd "holy crap!" moment of the episode when MIB proceeds to throw Desmond into the well. I guess I should have seen this one coming, but I sort of expected Desmond to have something up his sleeve. Instead, he just allowed it to happen. At this point, I'm thinking Desmond definitely knows something that we don't (As a side note, I'm a little ticked that the previews for next week showed Desmond alive at the bottom of the well. I mean, I'm thrilled he's alive, but a little suspense wouldn't hurt).

Team-MIB is also trying to decide what to do next. Sawyer is growing impatient, but MIB says they must wait for the rest of the candidates to come to them. Oddly enough, Hugo suggests just that and unfortunately, Team Jacob comes to a crossroads. Richard, Ben, and Miles head to the Dharma barracks to stock up on grenades so they can blow up the Ajira plane (I just have a bad feeling about these three. I don't seem the surviving to the end). Jack, Sun, Lapidus, and Hurley head for camp-MIB thanks to some help from Michael's ghost (finally an answer to the whispers!).

Hurley enters the camp first and makes MIB swear that he won't harm them. Yeah, good luck with that. So now the stage is set for next week when MIB will make his case to Team-Jacob. It will be interesting to see how they respond and also interesting as to whether or not ghost Jacob will make an appearance.

Now back to the flashsideways. For some people (i.e. Hurley), Desmond only needs to show them their loved one to get them to remember. Unfortunately for one John Locke, he's already found the love of his life and she wasn't on the island. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that there is no reason she would trigger his island memories. So what does Desmond decide to do? He runs over a man in a wheel chair. I have to say, this seems like something we should have guessed, but my jaw fell to the floor (for the 3rd time this episode) when Desmond's car smashed into Locke's wheelchair.

I now find myself asking some very interesting questions about the flash-sideways. How many people will just see their loved one and how many will have to have near death experiences? Let's do a quick tally to see where we stand.

Hugo- Kissed Libby. No near-death experience needed.
Locke- Ran over by Desmond. 'Nuff said.
Sun and Jin- They're already together in the sideways. Near-death experience needed to remember.
Kate- She's already seen both Jack and Sawyer and even though she had a moment of recognition, none of her memories came flooding back. Looking like a near-death experience for her as well
Sayid- He's seen Nadia, but she was never on the island to begin with. Who was you ask? Shannon. He definitely cared about Shannon, maybe even loved her. Lucky for Sayid, no near-death experience required.
Sawyer- He's already seen Kate...but not Juliet. No near-death experience required.


As for Mr. Jack Shephard, here's my semi-bold prediction for the coming weeks. At some point in the next couple of episodes, sideways-Locke is going to be taken to a hospital where he will come into contact with...you guessed it...Jack Shephard. Jack is going to operate on Locke and when he does, I think that will be his moment to remember the island. He will flash back to the moment when he operated on Ben Linus to remove the tumor from his spine. Once Locke wakes up...who the heck knows what he and Jack will set out to do.

If you've been a fan of the show for very long, there are three things you know for certain about LOST. Episodes that focus on Desmond, Locke or Hurley are absolute gold. They seem to stand alone as some of the best episodes in the entire series in part because not only are they well written, but they usually contain quite a few answers as well. Everbody Loves Hugo was no different. The writers have really stepped up their game and the final season has hit the home stretch. I can't wait for it to end...but I'm going to be very sad when it does.