American Idol Season 9 - Meet the Ladies

"The Substitute" - Long Connery

"The Pieces Are In Place"

"What Kate Does" - MIB > Pythagoras

5 Burning Questions - February 9th, 2010

'Who Is This Man' - LOST

"LA X, Parts 1 & 2" - Somebody Pooped in the Tub!

Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just fill in the comment box at the end of each blog and let me know what you think! To read more posts and see my entire blog click the Touch 'Em All Productions header at the top of the page!

Smoke Monster From 'Lost' Given Own Primetime Spin-Off Series

Smoke Monster From 'Lost' Given Own Primetime Spin-Off Series

BURBANK, CA—Executives at ABC announced Monday that the network will premier a new Lost spin-off series this fall based around that show's popular smoke monster character.

The smoke monster, a fan favorite.

The new series, a half-hour family-oriented comedy called Where There's Smoke, is touted by ABC as the new anchor of its Thursday-night lineup.

"Somewhere between the smoke monster's first appearance on Lost— when it was depicted as a strange unseen force uprooting trees—and that episode in season three where it grabbed Mr. Eko and smashed him against the ground until he was dead, this character became the breakout star of the show," said Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. "And that's exactly why we're so excited about Where There's Smoke. We get to see the monster's light comedic side in a show about life, love, and good friends having good times."

"Because after all, Where There's Smoke, there's laughter," McPherson added.

Lea Thompson (Caroline In The City) costars with the ominous cloud (Lost) in its new ABC sitcom this fall.

ABC sources reported that the series will transplant the evil black cloud from the island of Lost to the suburbs of Chicago, where it works as a sports radio host, surrounded by "a whole new group of crazy characters." Actress Lea Thompson has signed on to play the monster's long-suffering wife, who must put up with her husband's screwball antics while raising the couple's two rambunctious children, Tanner and Smoky, Jr.

Veteran TV producer Chuck Lorre, of Dharma & Greg and The Big Bang Theory fame, will helm the show, which he said will focus mainly on the deadly creature's adjustments to suburbia and fatherhood, and its comically contentious relationship with its boss, a fussy radio station manager played by Richard Kind.

"The whole concept began with us asking, 'So what happens to the monster after it kills somebody and disappears down that ancient temple vent? What kind of life might it have?'" Lorre said. "And what we realized is that audiences really relate to this character and would like to see it in everyday situations, shooting the breeze with buddies at a local watering hole or murdering its son's soccer coach and depositing his lifeless body in a tree."

"And of course, you'll be hearing lots of its classic catchphrase, 'Brrrrr, chk-chk-chk-chk, muuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrhhh,'" Lorre added.

Lost producer Jack Bender has confirmed that the smoke monster will no longer be part of his show's regular cast. However, ABC has promised that Where There's Smoke will feature a number of guest appearances from Lost regulars. Sources said the pilot episode will feature an appearance by actor Michael Emerson as a slobby houseguest named Benjamin Linus who overstays his welcome, much to the chagrin of the smoke monster's wife.

Though the project has been in development for almost a year, negotiations reached a standstill last winter when representatives for the mysterious, billowing actor expressed concern that their client would risk being typecast as "just a smoke monster" if the role were carried into a new series.

"We're always sensitive to these kinds of things, but we actually think this new vehicle will make people realize [the monster] is a sophisticated actor with a great deal of range," said McPherson, who agreed to pay the show's star $2 million per episode after scenes between the smoke monster and a nosy, ethnic next-door neighbor tested well with audiences. "People love the smoke monster, and people love to laugh. This series is a can't-miss."

Added McPherson, "And I'm not just blowing smoke here."

**From The Onion

What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue - Part 3

Biblical Identities?
One of the biggest questions that we were left to ponder at the end of season 5 were the identities of Jacob and his friend The Man In Black (TMIB). As I mentioned in my previous post (What Lies in The Shadow of the Statue - Part Deux) there has been a heavy influence of Biblical references intertwined within the entire series of LOST. One of the possible ideas as to the identity of Jacob and TMIB is that of Jesus and Satan. Looking back at all we know of them from the season finale there are some definite similarities between what we know of these characters and their biblical counterparts.



Jacob:
Right from the beginning of the episode we were able to see some similarities between Jacob and Jesus that were glaring on the surface. We see Jacob at the beginning of the episode weaving thread and making a tapestry, a task that is usually given to the common folk similar to Jesus being a carpenter. We then see Jacob catching a fish, Jesus was known as a "fisher of men." We also see that Jacob was residing in a cave within the foot of the statue that resembled the tomb in which Jesus was buried in. As far as we know, this is also Jacob's final resting place as he was killed here and kicked into the fire by TMIB posing as "Locke." When we look back at the interactions that Jacob had with each of our Losties, we can see correlations between Jacob's actions and that which we know about Jesus. When he visits Kate in the grocery store he steps in as the store clerk was about to call the police and says, "No need to do that. I'll pay for it." Jacob conspicuously paid for Kate's sin in this situation. When Jacob visited Sun and Jin and their wedding he gave them his "blessing" and when he visited Hurley he told him that he was indeed not cursed but was special and in fact "blessed." The most telling of these visits was when Jacob visited John Locke the day that his father pushed him out of the window. Locke fell 8 floors onto his back and was laying lifeless as Jacob approached him. When Jacob touched John's shoulder, John came back to life, albeit paralyzed but alive.

Looking a little deeper we can see even more comparisons between Jacob and the Biblical Jesus. When "Locke" was leading the Others to see Jacob "Lock" and Ben had a conversation in which Locke was questioning Ben's devotion to Jacob stating that he was "following a man that he had never seen." This is a similar situation for Christians who hold faith in a man that they have never seen. The manor in which Jacob was killed was also similar to that of Jesus' death. In the Bible Jesus was killed when his followers turned on him, Jacob was killed by Ben Linus a former follower who turned against him. There were also two key phrases which lead us to accept the similarities between Jacob and Jesus. There have been a few references in previous seasons to a phrase that says, "God loves you as he loves Jacob." Knowing that God's love for all of his people is equal, and knowing "Jesus loves me this I know," this sentence would make sense if it were "God loves you as he loves [his own son, Jesus]." We were also introduced to a sort of code word this season with the answer to the question, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Richard Alpert answered this questions by saying, "Ille qui nos omnes servabit" translated to say "He who will save us all." It has been said that Jesus will return to the earth and save all who believe.

T.M.I.B.:
There is also a distinct correlation between the actions of TMIB and those of Satan. In the book of Genesis, Satan took the form of a serpent and deceived Adam and Eve causing them to turn their backs on the Lord who had provided for them causing them to be ashamed and banishing them from the Garden of Eden. In the past we have seen Ben Linus and Charles Widmore (acting as a sort of Adam and Eve) be banished from the island. We also see TMIB commit his own deception by taking the form of John Locke and deceiving Ben Linus into betraying Jacob and ultimately killing him. We have also learned from podcasts and the "blast door map" that the smoke monster is referred to as Cerberus. In ancient Greek mythology, Cerberus was the three headed dog creature that guarded the gates of Hades keeping those who were sent there in and keeping those from the earth out. This guardian of Hades is also a similar characteristic to that of the devil.

Another Biblical Possibility:
Another Biblical reference that people are suggesting could reveal the identity of Jacob and TMIB could be that of the Biblical Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were brothers who had very different view points and often feuded. Throughout their lives they quarrelled and deceived each other along with their father. People commonly draw to this possibility because of Jacob's name, but again this seems too obvious to be a legit possibility coming from the writers of LOST. For five years now they have shocked us and if this turned out to be true, there would be not shock. Thus I am dismissing this as a possibility.

Conclusion:
Although there are some obvious similarities between these characters on the show and that of Jesus and the devil, it feels like it's too obvious of a correlation to actually come to fruition within the realms of the show. After having millions of fans pour 6 years of their lives into this show, I think that having a strictly Biblical theme as the underlying secret of the show would be a bit too controversial for any mainstream prime time show. I can't completely rule anything out, but I am not putting my chips in this basket.

More to come on Jacob and TMIB, stay tuned!

Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just fill in the comment box at the end of each blog and let me know what you think! To read more posts and see my entire blog click the Touch 'Em All Productions header at the top of the page!

American Idol - Final Post

Kris Allen Wins American Idol!
My first season of American Idol Speculation has officially come to an end. And what an end at that! After a season full of the judges and producers plugging Adam Lambert, Kris Allen comes out of nowhere to win the title! A good surprise ending to a good season. The show itself was pretty entertaining as well. Listen to this lineup: Keith Urban, Lionel Richie, KISS, Queen, Rod Stewart, Santana, Jason Mraz, Fergie, The Black Eyed Peas, Cyndi Lauper, David Cook, Queen Latifah. WOW! Talk about a few big names! All in all I think that the publicity that Adam was receiving had backfired on him a bit and his "edgy" style did not fit the tastes of mainstream America. I gained some respect for Adam Lambert last night as he was genuinely excited for Kris and really showed America what kind of a guy he is! No worries though, he will go places in life and be just fine! I am interested to see where Danny Gokey and Kris Allen go from here. I would be interested in both of their Cd's, if they have one. I guess we'll see! Until next year, I bid American Idol adieu!

What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue - Part Deux (or 2)

Things to Note Before Embarking on Theories
Before I jump in and start theorizing about Jacob and The Man In Black (TMIB), there are a few things that we should be reminded of regarding these two characters. Some of these may be important to future predictions and theories, while some are just ideas that are good to remember when embarking on the remainder of the series.

• Jacob's Touch - as noted in my previous post (Part 1), the producers made it very clear to us through unique and focused camera angles that Jacob made contact with each and every one of our Losties. Was this just a slight of hand or something that we were 'supposed' to notice?
  
• There's always more to beach conversations then that which meets the eye - When TMIB and Jacob were having their conversation at the beginning of the finale (episode 5.16, The Incident pt. 1) it was obvious the two of them were in the midst of some sort of competition and Jacob had arranged for some 'players' in the game (the Black Rock) to come to the island. They hate each other and for some reason they cannot kill each other.
• Yin and Yang - there have been heavy doses symbolism within the idea of 'black' and 'white' throughout all seasons of the show. We'll start with back in Season 1: Upon the discovery of Adam and Eve, Jack found a pouch which contained one black rock and one white rock (episode 1.06, House of the Rising Sun). Locke was explaining the game of backgammon to Walt, he said it is a game with "two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark" (episode 1.02, Pilot pt. 2). Claire had a dream in which John Locke had one black eye and one white eye (episode 1.10, Raised By Another).
  Season 2: The Swan and all future Dharma logos are black and white. The numbers in the hatch are two mirror representations of black and white (episode 2.02, Adrift). We find out that Rose's husband Bernard is not black but white (episode 2.04, Everybody Hates Hugo). Bernard uses black volcanic rock coupled with the white sand for the S.O.S. sign (episode 2.19, S.O.S.). Season 3: We see a white Dharma bunny with a black number 8 on it's back (episode 3.04, Every Man For Himself). We see Charlie's black and white show floating through the water as he loses it (episode 3.21, Greatest Hits). This one is copied straight from lostpedia.com but it pretty interesting, The Looking Glass is named after a Lewis Carroll book in which the main character Alice has a black mischievous cat that is blamed for all the chaos in her dream and a white cat deemed innocent (episode3.21, Greatest Hits). Season 4: Again Locke is seen playing backgammon with the black pieces whilst Sawyer plays with the white (episode 4.04, Eggtown). Juliet's Garden shows two stones in it, a black and a white (episode 4.06, The Other Woman). Jin runs around town looking for a panda bear, a black and white bear (episode 4.07, Ji Yeon). Hurley and Eko play chess with black and white pieces (episode 4.13, There's No Place Like Home). Season 5: Jacob wears a white shirt on the beach as TMIB wears, obviously, a black one (episode 5.16, The Incident). For four seasons and 15 episodes we have seen the LOST logo in white font with a black background and at the end of episode 5.16, The Incident, it was flip flopped with black letters and a white back ground. I have also been sporadically watching through past seasons with my buddy and there are many many instances of the black and white contrast within the outfits that people are wearing on the island and off. With this amount of occurrences and many more that I did not mention, it's clear that there is something to this black vs. white or good vs. evil plot line.
• Our Father Who Art in Heaven - Since the very beginning of the show there has been a high level of Biblical influence in the stories, the characters, and the episodes. In a number of episodes we have seen the camera focus on Bibles that were either being sold, being read, or on the book shelf. To date there have been 5 episodes that have had biblical references in their name (Numbers, Exodus pt. 1 & pt. 2, The 23rd Psalm, Fire + Water [Matthew 3:11], Stranger in a Strange Land [Exodus 2:22]). The character Mr. Eko carried a walking stick which had Bible verses carved all over it. There is also a plethora of Biblical names within the show (Aaron, Jacob, Naomi, Daniel). The producers have told us that they put a lot of thought into the names of their characters and each one of them is named for a certain reason.

More to come on Jacob and TMIB...stay tuned!

Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just fill in the comment box at the end of each blog and let me know what you think! To read more posts and see my entire blog click the Touch 'Em All Productions header at the top of the page!

American Idol 2009 - Finals Review

American Idol 2009 - Finals Review
Let me be the first to congratulate Adam Lambert as being the 2009 Season 8 American Idol. Or wait I can't be the first since Simon, Randy, and Kara have been his victory since early March. But anyways congrats Adam. Last nights performance finale was a downer for me. For the first 40 minutes I was totally digging it. Both performers put on a great show for their first two songs, and then we got to that piece of garbage that Kara came up with better known as No Boundaries. I thought that the music industry had learned its lesson when Miley Cyrus burst onto the scene with The Climb. Sure the song is meant to be inspirational, sure it should garner some positive PR for the show, but come on it was a flat out awful song! I realize that they did not compose this song over the past week, but when your song is completely out of the vocal range of one of the finalists and both of them struggle with it, something is wrong with the song. This coupled with Kara's worthless critiques should warrant her dismissal before next year. It was a good experiment but people like Paula better anyways.

As for the performances I think that Adam and Kris both rocked it in round one. Simon gave the edge to Kris, but in my opinion it was much closer than Simon let on. Adam's Mad World was one of the only songs I enjoyed that he did this season. Round two was hands down one by Adam. Kris played this round too safe for the finals show. It was good and I liked it but it was plain and boring. I'd rather not talk about the third round as it was a complete and utter disappointment. Both of the performances were painful and Kris forgot the words (this could have been the deciding factor). I'm still holding out hope for Kris, but I think that Idol will get their wishes and Adam Lambert will take this years crown. I have been surprised before though...

Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just fill in the comment box at the end of each blog and let me know what you think! To read more posts and see my entire blog click the Touch 'Em All Productions header at the top of the page!

What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue? - part 1

What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue - part 1

After five years of speculation we were finally introduced to the island’s coveted Jacob. But who is Jacob? Or what is Jacob? He seems like a pretty simple man. He obviously admires Rumpelstiltskin as we first see him weaving his own thread and looming a gigantic Egyptian tapestry. As Jacob is casually going about his day on the beach we quickly learn that he is not the lone inhabitant of the 1800s version of the island. A man who remains nameless approaches Jacob to take in the sight of the Black Rock heading towards the island. Since he has not been given a name thus far, we will affectionately refer to as The Man in Black (TMIB). TMIB strolls out of the jungle and takes a seat on a rock near the shore. It becomes obvious to us that these two men are in a bit of a disagreement as they banter back and forth ending with TMIB stating that “They come, they fight, they destroy, and they corrupt. It always ends the same.” To this sentiment Jacob replies by saying, “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.” They only thing that we can deduct from this conversation is that these two men are debating the innate level of goodness in the human race. TMIB seems to think that humans are evil while Jacob is in the process of proving that there is good within the heart of man. This leads us to believe that even though these men are of human form, they are not necessarily human and as we learn more about them, this becomes a fairly obvious fact. TMIB closes this conversation by telling Jacob that he wants to kill him and that someday he will find a loophole that will allow him to do so.

Other Occurrences of Jacob…

As the episode continues we learn more about Jacob and what he has been up to since we last saw him guiding the Black Rock to shore. I’m going to display these chronologically in time, not necessarily as they were seen on the show. For our first occurrence of “Off-Island Jacob” we see a young James Ford (Sawyer) at the funeral of his parents in 1976. As the procession begins to take off we see Sawyer sitting on the steps of the church writing on a sheet of paper. The camera cuts and we see that he is writing his “Dear Mr. Sawyer” letter but his pen runs out of ink. Interestingly enough, Jacob approaches young Sawyer and asks him if he needs a pen. As Jacob is handing young Sawyer the pen the camera zooms in on the transaction and we see that Jacob’s finger comes in contact with young Sawyer’s and they pause one second longer than the transfer would have called for (note this). Jacob gives the kid his condolences and takes off. James’ uncle rolls over and catches him writing the letter and the producers seemed to stress this line from Uncle to James, “What’s done is done.”

We then jump ahead to 1980 and see a young Kate Austen and her childhood friend Tom Brennan as they are plotting to hoist a New Kid’s on the Block lunchbox from a convenience store. This turns out to be the same lunchbox that they use as a time capsule later in life. Kate gets caught by the store clerk who threatens to call her mother and the police when a man interrupts and says “no need to do that. I’ll pay for it. I hope this is enough.” The man, Jacob bends down and asks Kate is she is going to steal anymore and then taps her on the nose before he walks away.

Jumping ahead to somewhere in the late 90s we see Jack and Christian in the middle of surgery. Jack makes a mistake and begins to panic as he realizes that the patient may become paralyzed. At this moment we see Christian teach Jack the “Count to 5” technique to remain composed, a technique that Jack taught to Kate as she was helping sew him back up. After fixing the surgical error, Jack storms out to grab a candy bar from the vending machine. His Apollo bar (the same type of candy that the Dharma Initiative had) gets stuck in the machine and Jack’s frustration boils over as he begins to argue with his father. As Christian says, “Are you sure I’m the one that doesn’t believe in you Jack?” we hear the vending machine kick into gear again. A man sticks his head around the corner and asks Jack if one of the two Apollo bars that came out were his. As Jack claims his bar Jacob’s finger touches Jack’s, similar to the pen exchange with young Sawyer. At this point Jacob delivers another note worthy line regarding the stuck candy bar, “I guess it just needed a little push.”

Early 2000s we see the end of the wedding ceremony of Sun and Jin. We start by hearing the vows between Sun and Jin and then roll over to the reception line where we see one of Sun's Aunts come up and ask them questions regarding the future of their family and their honeymoon. Behind her we see Jacob come up and “give his blessing” to them and tells them to never take their love for granted, all in Korean. While doing this Jacob touches both of them on the arm. Interesting line here came from Jin when he commented on how Jacob’s Korean was excellent.

Again early 2000s we see Jacob sitting on a bench reading Flannery O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge ironically as John Locke comes flying out a window and into the ground behind him. Remember, Locke was pushed out the window by his deranged father causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down. As Jacob calmly strolls over to where Locke’s body landed we quickly realize that the current state of John Locke seems to be far beyond paralyzation, his body is completely lifeless as a body that had just fallen eight stories should be. Jacob bends over and touches Locke’s dead body on the shoulder which appears to breathe life back into his body. Locke opens his and eyes Jacob says to him, “I’m sorry this happened to you” and walks away.

Ahead again to 2005 we see Sayid with his wife Nadia as they are out on the town. Discussing where they might go on some sort of trip Nadia looks down into her purse as she is trying to locate her sunglasses. As they begin crossing the street a man summons Sayid back to the corner to help him with directions. Nadia continues digging in her purse and begins to cross the street. This man, Jacob, touches Sayid on the shoulder right as Nadia gets hit by a car and dies. The key line in this scene came from Nadia as she told Sayid to “take [her] home” to be buried.

In 2008 after Hurley was arrested for supposedly murdering 3 people he was acquitted and released from jail. As Hurley crawled into a cab on the corner he realized that that cab was already occupied by a man. That man, Jacob, stuck his head out and offered to share the cab with Hurley as he wasn’t going that far. Hurley soon learns that Jacob was not coming out of jail and is there to see him. Hurley thinks that Jacob is dead and a figment of his imagination again. Hurley tells Jacob that he is cursed, and to this Jacob delivers a key line in this scene. He leans over to touch Hurley on the chest and tells him that he is “blessed” and “not crazy.” Jacob tells Hurley about Ajira flight 316 and reminds him that it is his “choice and he doesn’t have to do anything that he doesn’t want to.” Jacob leaves the guitar with Hurley and dips.

Other Occurrences of TMIB…

Since his conversation at the beginning of the show with Jacob we didn’t see TMIB until the very end of the show, or so we thought…

When John Locke and Ben Linus made their way into the foot of the statue we hear Jacob say, “I see you’ve found your loophole” to Locke. After Jacob is killed we see Ilana and Bram roll up to Richard and they open the crate that they have been carrying around. Out rolls John Locke’s dead body that they claim they have found in a coffin in the plane. As our brains are pumping a mile a minute, one by one the viewers realize that the living a breathing version of John Locke is actually TMIB reincarnating Locke’s body. He has been posing as John Locke and manipulating people in order to fulfill his loophole and kill Jacob.

This post is too long already so I will break the rest of this up into daily pieces. In the coming days I will discuss possible theories regarding Jacob and TMIB and look at how this might relate to the big mystery that is behind the island and the entire show. Stay Tuned!

Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just fill in the comment box at the end of each blog and let me know what you think! To read more posts and see my entire blog click the Touch 'Em All Productions header at the top of the page!

'Lost' scoop: Juliet mystery (sort of) solved - ausiellofiles.ew.com

'Lost' scoop: Juliet mystery (sort of) solved

This from ew.com...

And now for some news that should surprise no one: ABC is expected to announce tomorrow that it has picked up a reboot of the camptastic '80s thriller V and that Lost heroine Elizabeth Mitchell is a full-time castmember. Translation: She will not be returning to Lost as a series regular.

However, before you go declaring Juliet DOA from last week's detonated hydrogen bomb, I should point out that this piece of scoop comes with a big but attached: Mitchell's Lost days are not done. Multiple sources confirm that the actress is expected to appear in an unspecified number of episodes next season, so it's entirely possible Juliet survived Jughead and her absence will be explained in another way. (Check out Doc Jensen's column this Wednesday for a comprehensive Juliet theorypalooza.)

'LOST' Featured on Ace of Cakes

For their Season 6 finale on May 9th, The Food Network's Ace of Cakes traveled to Hawaii to create a cake for the celebration that backed the 100th episode of LOST. I finally got around to watching this episode and though I am not a huge fan of Duff and his cake gang, I was drawn right on into the show because of its LOST theme this week. The cake, pictured to the left, was Charm City Cakes' representation of all that went down on the show in its first 100 episodes. It included, the Apple 2 computer from the hatch, Dharma beers, a palm tree, a suitcase that was cleverly stating "This bag belongs to: Jacob", and had 17 of our favorite "Losties." The show included a special guest appearance by Jorge Garcia (Hurley) who stopped by the kitchen to give the cake decorators a few behind the scenes tips on the details of the cake. At the end of the show we got to see the unveiling of the cake as Michael Emerson (Ben Linus), Emily Mitchell (Juliet), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Josh Halloway (Saywer), Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday), and Jorge Garcia (Hurley) stopped by to have admire the cake and ultimately devour it! Top scene of the show was when Josh Halloway (Sawyer) picked up one of the "Dharma Beers," cracked it open and took a bite out of the top of it! Check out some of the other photos that were gathered from the event. CLICK EACH PHOTO TO ENLARGE...

LOST - It's a Locke

It's a Locke: Terry O'Quinn Sounds Off on the Fate of His Character

In the season cliffhanger, a bomb, which could prevent Flight 815 from ever crashing on the mysterious island, was detonated.

As for his character, O’Quinn says he’s really gone. Locke’s dead body was rolled out of a metal box toward the end of the two-hour episode, baffling islanders who had been following a Locke imposter. Exactly who is now occupying Locke’s body wasn’t revealed. O’Quinn said it would be “a good guess” to assume it’s a man seen with the infamous Jacob in the beginning of the episode.

“I think, unfortunately, I think it’s ended for Locke. But I’m still there, as far as I know,” O’Quinn said. “I don’t know how it’s going to end for this other guy. I’m sad. I miss John Locke, poor guy. He was a pawn.”

O’Quinn is gearing up to play a new character when the sixth season begins next year. As for the rest of the story line, he swears he has no idea.

“Your guess is honestly as good as mine is,” he said. “There’s going to be some confrontation that will somehow, I’m guessing, have to do with Jack or Locke or something like that. I think these guys are just setting up good and evil. It’s the way Locke said in the very beginning of the show: One is light and one is dark. Two sides. I think that’s what we’ve got.”

sl-lost.com

goupstate.com

American Idol - Final Two

Kris Allen vs. Adam Lambert
Well, It's down to the final two. In the midst of the LOST season finale, I completely blanked and forgot that Idol was on! I've been doing my research throughout the week reading online, and think that I am sufficiently caught up with all that went down. Seacrest opened, some sweet kid from Rwanda sang, Jordin Sparks came back, Kris was safe, Katy Perry stunk up the stage, and Danny was ultimately sent home. Sounds about right doesn't it? Danny humbly said his goodbyes and sang his song on stage for the last time, then there were two...Kris and Adam. One of those seems like a bit of a surprise while the other should not surprise anybody who has been paying any attention to the season. It has began to sicken me how much the judges, the show, and the media world are promoting and pushing for Adam Lambert.

This may all stem from me not liking Adam one bit, but the way that this competition has been handled by those with influence is shameful. Without American Idol disclosing the actually results of voting, there is no way for us to tell if it is legit and completely fair. But the competition aspect of the show should be fair, and when you have people who get regular air time plugging you, it undoubtedly gives you an edge that the others do not receive. It started about mid-season when the Adam Lambert Fan Club had graduated from its infant stages and Adam became a full blown threat. The judges began openly referring to Adam as the front runner and as a true "American Idol." More recently this all culminated with Idol's producers placing Adam in the last performing slot on Tuesday night for three weeks running. Last weeks Entertainment Weekly Magazine featured Adam Lambert on the cover. This was the first time that the magazine had featured a single contestant, alone, on its cover before the competition had been decided. The article that accompanied his cover was all about how Adam Lambert is changing the face of American Idol. They are basically praising this kid who, for whatever reason was not able to get discovered on his own in San Diego. Last Wednesday Katy Perry hit the stage with Adam's name displayed on the back of her cape, clearly announcing her support of Mr. Lambert. All of this I can over look but Simon's "Daughtry Proofing" speech after Adam's performance on Tuesday is what pushed me over the edge.

If you remember back to American Idol's fifth season, Chris Daughtry was the front runner and by all accounts had the competition all wrapped up. This was common knowledge to the world and to Daughtry. A level of arrogance began to grow within Chris and America got lazy, not a good combination on this show. Chris's fans decided that Chris would be fine without their vote and left the voting up to all of his "other fans." Unfortunately his "other fans" did the same thing and Chris Daughtry was sent home packing, with a 4th place trophy and stuck in an unfortunate record deal with Idol's 19 Entertainment music group. This last Tuesday, Simon did his best to keep this from happening to another promising contestant and gave a preventative, and I think biased speech to the world, basically pleading for people to vote for Adam because he "deserves" it. Now, I agree that this speech needed to be made but the timing of it was what got me. Simon could have delivered this speech at the beginning of the show, earlier in the season, or three years ago after it originally happened. But the world is watching and I was not the only person that noticed this.



I would like to start by saying that I don't have anything against Adam Lambert and realize that he is immensely talented. It's just that he has started to bore me with similar performances every week. That coupled with my desire for a fair competition is why I raise my concern. Many are speculating that Adam Lambert will be the unfortunate victim of a backlash that will be caused by the judges pleas and the shows speculated favoritism that has been shown towards Adam. Matt Giraud was recently quoted on the radio saying, "The judges have their favorites and they're going to make sure they do well. ... There were times I felt, like, invisible in the competition." Now Matt doesn't have much to talk about since he was clearly a favorite of the judges and the show as he was saved from elimination not once but twice this season. Other contestants are noticing this too however. When asked a question regarding this issue by a reporter Danny Gokey responded saying, "It doesn't make me mad or disappoint me. That's who he believes is going to make money. I didn't get into this thing for the money. I didn't get into it for the glamorous lifestyle. But I feel like my goal is so different and it didn't line up with what they see as a pop star. But it's OK. It can't be what I'm about. People can get annoyed by it." It will be interesting to see where people's loyalties will fall now that Simon has spoken and Danny is gone.


Brian Mansfield, of Idol Chatter USA Today's Idol blog, was on KFAN radio today with Paul Charchian and he made light of a poll that he had seen asking Danny Gokey fans where their allegiance will fall now that his journey has ended. Roughly 50% of Gokey followers said that their votes would now fall with Kris Allen. Another 45% were planning on jumping aboard the Adam Lambert bandwagon, while the remaining 5% claimed that they were going to wait for the performances on Tuesday to decide on their vote. One other interesting idea that the two discussed was the fact that Idol popularity in the South, particularly Southeast is much higher than of that in the North. Remember, Kris Allen is from Arkansas and is representing the heart of American Idol fans. With Idol's main focus being on surpassing the 100 million vote mark, there is one thing that I am sure of for the finals. No matter what way the vote goes next week, it will be close. After Kris' rendition of Heartless last week, my vote lies with him. But that is only 1, of a possible 100 million total votes! Good luck to both contestants and may the best man win!

LOST Season 5 Finale

Lost Season 5 Finale - Thoughts and Theories

So maybe I am a huge nerd...and maybe I did spend my hour leading up to the finale last night bouncing theories back and forth with friends around the dinner table...and maybe I did avoid my blog completely yesterday so that my 100th blog post would be about my favorite subject (LOST)...I don't see a problem with any of that! Last night was the season finale of LOST version 5.0, and it fully lived up to expectations! With my buddies Graham, Pappy, and Dan in hand, we embarked on this venture and in complete unison we sat there shocked, confused, and saddened. In true LOST fashion, the shows producers chose not to focus their attention on answering all of our past questions and instead open the door to many more questions and much more speculation. Along with these new tidbits there were some very interesting things that went down during last night's three hour LOST event.

Rose and Bernard
Rose and Bernard made their triumphant return last night and have seemed to fully embrace the overall mantra that was the 1970's. When Juliet, Sawyer and Kate returned to the island after temporarily hijacking the submarine, the only character that we have been promised will never die, Vincent, ran out of the woods and onto the beach. Shortly after that Rose emerged from the jungle with an empty leash. A rather plump and bearded Bernard then follows her to the beach where they declare, "They found us." Rose and Bernard announce that they have been retired and chilling in their own little hide away living in peace. I'm not entirely sure how but they have learned somehow that they are back in 1977. They've completely checked out and claim that "They just want to be together. That's all that matters in the end." This new mindset that Rose and Bernard seem to be under lends to the idea that the Adam and Eve that we saw back in season one (episode 1.06, House of the Rising Sun). If you recall accompanying Adam and Eve in the cave were a black rock and a white rock, maybe representing the color of their skin or maybe representing some sort of good and evil. Either way is Rose and Bernard are indeed Adam and Eve, then they have received their wish of being together.

No Mas Juliet
I think that it was inevitable that we were going to lose one of the main characters in the show, but I was really kind of sad that it had to be Juliet. The Sawyer/Juliet relationship was really growing on me this year and Juliet was finally becoming one of the truly pivitol characters, then she died. I guess that she did go out in flaming glory, no pun intended, but it still leaves you feeling unfulfilled. I guess that you never know in this show if a character will come back or not, but more and more with furthering developments in the show I am starting to find truth in the title of episode 5.12, Dead is Dead. So long Juliet, say hi to Daniel Faraday for me!

What Lies in the Shadow of The Statue?
For a few weeks now we have been bugged with this question which acts as some sort of code word for Brahm and Ilana's group of people. We finally got some vindication to this statement, unfortunately it was in a different language. It only makes sense that the statement, which Richard Alpert answered, was said in Latin since all of the Others seem to speak Latin. Early translations of the statement have it as meaning "He who will save us all." Richard confidently utters these words and a look of relief sweeps over Ilana who then introduces herself as if they are on the same side.

We also got a better view of what the statue looked like last night. It was still not a full frontal view so the likeness of the statue is still up for speculation. We did see that the statue has a large long snout. The newest likeness thrown into the pot is Sobek. Sobek is the Egyptian crocodile God. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense because we have not seen or heard anything regarding crocodiles on the island. My bet is still with the statue being that of Tawaret, the goddess of fertility. The one flaw here is that the statue appears to be more masculine that the full figured representation of Tawaret.

Jacob
Five seasons in the making Jacob finally made his on screen debut, only to be murdered by Ben Linus a mere two hours later. We spent 2 hours learning more about Jacob and seeing how he has intertwined his existence into the life of each of our Losties, but didn't really learn anything concrete about who he is and what his purpose is. When we first saw Jacob he was looming an Egyptian styled blanket deep within some sort of room, lit only by torchlight. We next see him back in the 1800's sitting on a beach when a figure known only as "Jacob's Enemy" rolls in and sits down. They have a little conversation about the boat that is just off the island, thought to be the Black Rock, and Jacob's enemy says "Do You have any idea how badly I want to kill you!" He then mentions that he will find a loophole that will allow him to do so. Jacob's enemy then walks away. We then see a smattering of events where we see Jacob, who also apparently does not age, as he visits our Losties at different key stages in their life. The key visit here was when we learned that Jacob met Hurley as he was discharged from jail and that he was the one who told Hurley that he needed to get on Ajira flight 316 and head back to the island. He also gave Hurley the guitar case. The next time we see Jacob is at the end when Locke and Ben are headed into the foot of the statue with the intent of killing Jacob. Ultimately Ben kills Jacob, and just as quickly as he came into the show, he leaves us for good...or does he?

There have been some really juicy theories thrown out there and discussed, one big one should grace this blog with it's presence later tonight or early tomorrow.