How to Make an Island Disappear

From CNN comes the following story:

An international scientific expedition has revealed a South Pacific island roughly the size of Manhattan and clearly marked on online maps and marine charts does not, in fact, exist.

The 'undiscovery' of the island -- which until now was midway between Australia and New Caledonia -- highlights how much there still is to learn about the oceans, scientists say.

“We saw this mysterious island on all the scientific maps and weather maps but not on this one navigational chart that was on our ship,” Ph.D student Sabin Zahirovic, part of the research team on board the RV Southern Surveyor, told CNN.

“So we decided to go see if it was actually there.”

The island, identified as Sandy Island by Google Maps and Sable Island on others, was supposed to be quite large in size -- 156 square kilometers (60 square miles) -- but the ship sailed right through the area where the island was supposed to be.

Read the full article here.

My theory of what really happened to the island can be found in the video below. There's no other logical explanation.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PTf0IwEDTM

 

The End of LOST

The End of LOST

Stories are all about the ending. If your audience doesn’t buy into how the hero completes his or her journey, it doesn’t matter how riveting the first chapter or opening scene is, how the characters are developed, or even how fresh and original the plot is—they’ll leave disappointed.

That’s not to say that a “perfect” ending to a book or movie is one where the hero gets someone to fall in love with him, completes the quest she’s been sent on, or solves the puzzle seconds before a nuclear bomb goes off. A perfect ending is one that leaves the audience feeling satisfied—even if things don’t turn out perfect for the hero and others in the story. A perfect ending makes us want to re-read the book or turn around and enter the dark, cozy atmosphere of a theater to relive the story one more time just so we can relive the story one more time, contemplate it, and see what else we can take away from it.

Which brings us to the final episode of LOST.

For rabid LOST fans like me, the expectations were so huge I’m not sure that even the most talented writer could have met them. There were tons of unanswered questions, an island to save, and an epic battle between Fake Locke and Jack that all had to happen in one hour and forty-five minutes. Some people were going to be disappointed.

But I wasn’t one of them.

I liked the ending. I was satisfied with the conclusion.

It wasn’t the kind of ending that made me jump off the couch and immediately contact everyone that I know and tell them they just missed out on the best show in the history of television. Instead the ending left me quietly thinking about the fate and choices of the various characters and some things going on in my own life.

Even though there are still plenty of unanswered questions strewn along the beach of that island and plot lines I wished would have been developed more. But, more often than not, the real world is full of things we’ll never know the answer too. Like the characters in LOST, we’re forced to muck along through this world the best we can.

But the final episode did show us that the characters that we either loved or hated weren’t simply lost on an island trying to get back to civilization. A greater journey and lost loves awaited them after they completed their missions and resolved issues they struggled with. It may not be the neatly packaged ending that many hoped for but it left me content and reflective.

Entertainment that has long lasting value makes people introspective or lost in thought, if you’ll pardon the pun. It’s not like the movie we enjoy Saturday night and then forget about it by Monday morning. It’s one that we keep thinking about and coming back to again and again sometimes with a completely different perspective after we read or watch it again. It’s something that holds up decades after it was first created.

I’ve always got more out of LOST watching it a second or a third time. And now that I know how LOST ends, I look forward watching it from beginning to end—again and again and again.

There Is a God

LOST: The Series Fanale

I’ve slacked on my LOST episode reviews this year mostly because I’ve been busy finishing up The Third, writing the sequel, and being a father and husband to four great kids and one fantastic wife.

I will say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season—it’s by far the best of the series—as well as getting answers to all the questions. This week’s episode, for example really ratcheted up the tension leading to the final confrontation between Locke and whoever manages to stay alive.

And, thanks to the good folks at ABC who never miss an opportunity to sell more advertising, the final episode of LOST has been extended by 30 minutes.

The producers of ABC's hit drama have shot so much crucial material for the show's hugely anticipated series finale that the network has agreed to extend the last episode by an extra half-hour.

The supersizing of the finale is the latest adjustment to what might as well be called "The 'Lost' Weekend." ABC is airing an "enhanced" (pop-ups) version of the show's original two-hour pilot on May 22. On Sunday there's a two-hour retrospective titled "Lost: The Final Journey," followed by the finale, then the local news (which was preempted in the first-blush recounting of this plan) and Kimmel post-show.

What more proof that do you need that God exists? :-)

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

First FigMy candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light. -- Edna St. Vincent Millay

It’s last Wednesday night. Marathon Girl and I have just put the kids to bed. We’re in our bedroom. I open up my laptop and check my email. Galleys for The Third have arrived. I start scanning the file, anxious to do one final edit on my book before it goes to press.

“Are you going to watch LOST?” Marathon Girl asks.

I gave her my best deer-in-the-headlights look.

“Lost?” I reply.

Marathon Girl gives me a look—the one she always give me when she’s trying to tell if I’m being facetious.

“Yeah, you know, LOST,” she says. “That show you’ve been obsessing over for the last six years.”

“Oh, that show,” I say. “Yeah, I want to watch it. What time is it on?”

“It was on last night.”

I pause. “Why didn’t we watch it?”

“Because you went to the local caucus meeting then stayed up until midnight getting your website ready to post chapters from The Third.”

“I did?”

Marathon Girl nods. “Positive.”

“Are you sure LOST was on last night?” I ask.

“One hundred percent.”

“Why didn’t you say anything when I got home?”

“I did. You just said something about watching it later.”

“That doesn’t sound like me.”

“I know.”

“What day of the week is it?”

“Wednesday.”

“You sure?”

“Check the calendar.”

“Hmmmmm. We waited until Thursday watch it last week, right?” I ask hoping for a sign we watched it earlier.

“That’s right. Because you were busy with your new job.”

“And the week before that?”

“You were busy wrapping things up with your old job.”

“And the week before that one.”

“I don’t remember. But something came up.”

“My life sounds kind of busy.”

“It is.”

“I should slow down. Stop and smell the roses. That sort of thing.”

“You should.”

“Any suggestions?”

“You could put the computer away and spend some time with me.”

I close the laptop. “Okay where do we start?”

“Want to watch LOST? It’s Richard Alpert’s back story.”

“It is?”

“You don’t know what the episode’s about? You really have been busy.”

“OK. Rest of the night it’s just me and you. No writing, editing, or anything else. Just us.”

“I like that idea.”

“Then tomorrow it’s back to burning the preverbal candle at both ends.”

Marathon Girl has stopped smiling.

“OK. I’ll just burn one end at a time.”

Marathon Girl smiles. We go and watch LOST—which was great.

A Lost Vacation

LOST Vacation

A coworker is heading to Hawaii next month for vacation. He’s going to unwind, relax, spend time with his family, and go see all the places on Oahu where they film LOST.

Yeah, I’m jealous.

Sure, swimming in the ocean and eating pineapple would be nice. But it would be really fun to take some pictures of some of the more famous places in LOST and send emails back to friends and family telling them how your plane had crashed and you found yourself stuck on an island with smoke monsters and the Dharma Initiative.

That would be fun.

***

Speaking of LOST, I’m impressed with the way the writers are driving the show home. We’re getting more answers then questions every week and I’m actually enjoying the “side” universe that the characters are experiencing. I just hope the “side” universe has a point to it. I’m nowhere close to figuring out what it is but so far the writers have been good so I’m going to trust them.

As for what’s going to happen on the island? I don’t know. I’m done trying to predict the show. I’m just kicking back and enjoying the ride. :-)

LOST: What Kate Does

Lost: What Kate Does

I'm starting to wonder if the Island needs some kind of crazy woman who lost her baby running around to make it feel complete.

When the show first started we had Rousseau who had been running around for several years after Ben took her baby. She set traps, shot people who got in her way, and went nuts. Now that Claire’s back, it appears she’s shooting people and setting traps. It remains to be seen if she’s crazy too.

Of course the entire show is a bit crazy and I hope the writers have a good explanation as to what Claire’s been doing for the last three years. So far they haven’t disappointed me in their explanations of what’s going on with the Island but there’s a first time for everything.

And wasn’t it a bit creepy to see Ethan as the doctor? I had to laugh when he told Claire that he didn’t want to stick any needles in her since in the alternate reality, that’s exactly what he does.

I’m still not sure how they’re going to tie in the “flash sideways” scenes where the plane doesn’t crash into the 2007 storyline. It’s fun to watch the alternate realities but I’m scratching my head as to where they’re going. Most of the characters seem to have some recollection of each other or a different life (Jack talking to Locke, Claire knowing the name of her baby is Aaron) but it seems hazy.

I just hope the characters from the flash sideways 2004 storyline don’t end up on the island in 2007. Not only would that be confusing, it would be really lame.

LOST LAX Part 1 and 2

Lost LAX Part 1 and 2

Due to time constraints, I won't go into a lot of detail about the season premier of LOST other than to say IT ROCKS.

The best part?

Finding out who (or what) the smoke monster really is and the explanation for the ash that was always around Jacob's cabin.

The biggest challenge the show will have this season is the end game. If they can leave viewers satisfied after they close the show, then this would have been a six year journey worth taking.

I Won't Be Watching LOST :-(

As much as it's going to kill me, I won't be watching the season premier of LOST tonight. Prior obligations means I'll have to wait until Wednesday night to see it.

All I ask is that no one spoils it for me. If anyone does, they'll end up as one of the bad guys in my next novel. :-)

At least I got to watch the first four minutes. It looks like they hit the reset button.

LOST: The Incident, Parts 1 and 2

LOST: Jacob and Esau

LOST’s Season 5 finale = Best. Episode. Ever.

The writers of LOST have been stringing the viewers along for five seasons making people guess why the survivors of Oceanic 815 were brought to the Island. Only now, in the first few minutes of the show do we actually see what’s really been going on. It appears the Island is a playground for Jacob and his unnamed companion (we’ll probably find out his name is Esau) to test humanity.

We see Jacob, dressed in white, who seems to think that people are generally good and is bringing people to the island. Then there’s “Esau” in black who has a fatalistic view of humanity. Bringing people to the Island, “Esau” tells Jacob, will only result in more death and suffering. The Black Rock sails closer.

Similar to Steven King’s The Stand or the classic video-game Myst, it appears the survivors of Oceanic 815 have been thrust in the middle of a Biblical(?) struggle between good and evil. The black and white imagery that has been a part of LOST since the beginning is now becoming something real.

Talking with a co-worker at work about the episode, he reminded me of a discussion Locke and Walt had back in the show’s second episode.

Locke: Backgammon is the oldest game in the world. Archaeologists found sets when they excavated the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia. Five thousand years old. That's older than Jesus Christ.

Walt: Did they have dice and stuff?

Locke: [nods] But their dice weren't made of plastic. Their dice were made of bones.

Walt: Cool.

Locke: Two players. Two sides. One is light. One is dark. Walt... do you wanna know a secret?

My guess is we’re going to find out a lot more about this war in the next season. We’ll see the Survivors and the Others sides in an epic battle for control of the Island and their destinies.

Sadly we have to wait until 2010 to know what happens.

LOST: The Variable

LOST: The Variable

I love all the answers were getting as LOST draws to the close this season. We now know why the button in the hatch had to be pushed every 90 minutes and that Charles Widmore is Faraday’s father. The latter wasn’t that big a surprise but it added to the complex relationship web that spans so many of the LOST characters.

I really like the destiny vs. free will theme that has been a constant part of LOST. I like the take Faraday’s taking on the people being variables and having the ability to change their future, even if it seems like it’s written in stone. Sadly the one thing Faraday didn’t take into account was the Island. Sure, people are free to do what they want but the Island seems to gets its own way no matter what the people want to do. I don’t see Faraday’s plan working unless the Island wants it to.

It was nice to get more back story on Faraday and his shrew mother Eloise. It gave the episode a classic LOST feel of learning about the characters while still moving the plot forward and a nice clip. It was also nice to see more context to Faraday crying upon seeing the wreckage of the plane Widmore placed in the bottom of the ocean and his being Orchid station with Dr. Chang. It shows that the writers are aware of the breadcrumbs they’ve dropped throughout the previous seasons and are trying to tie them all together.

And don’t worry about Faraday. He’s not dead. Maybe Alpert will take him to the temple to do some Egyptian magic and heal him. Maybe his mom will reach inside is gut and pull the bullet out. But the writers aren’t not going to kill him off – at least not right away. Who else can attempt to set off the hydrogen bomb and save the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 from crashing on the island? Write it down. The climax of season 4 is going to be that bomb going off (or about to go off).

My guess: It doesn’t matter whether or not the bomb goes off. The survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are not going to be able to change their fate. Their plane will still crash no matter how hard they try to prevent it.