Sports + the Summer of 2010

Yep, that's everyone's favorite horn to hate, the infamous vuvuzela.  With apologies to all my non-athletically inclined friends, this post is going to be a sporty spice one.  Obviously I like athletics, and play them whenever I can (hence my girlish figure).  Usually summertime is a fairly boring season, sports wise.  The only thing going on the US is baseball, which is unquestionably the most boring of the 4 major American sports.  It's only fun if you are at a game and even then, it's more entertaining to have a beer and a hot dog with a friend.  At best, you casually follow the game while you talk about a wide range of topics in the hopes that a foul ball gets popped somewhere in your vicinity so you get that rush of maybe catching one.  Baseball gets exponentially more exciting in September in October when each pitch means something but before that the games, and the season (162 games) are too long.

The other event that happens every summer which is always exciting in my world is Wimbledon.  For a tennis nut like me, it is Mecca. Whenever I am wandering the grounds, I get that far too infrequent feeling that there is no other place on the planet I'd like to be at that exact moment.  I can go on and on about what makes the tournament so fabulous, but it's best quality is that it retains its tradition.  The British are crazy about tradition, in many cases to a fault, as they are slow to evolve and change compared to the US or many of their European counterparts.  However, at Wimbledon, this stubbornness is a large reason why the tournament is unique and spectacular.  For example, they are the only tournament that reserves tickets on the show courts every day (except the semis and finals) for people willing to, "queue" (line up in American).  They keep 500 tickets for center court and court one and people camp out overnight in the hopes of buying them.  Moreover, these are superb tickets, usually in the first 10 rows and would fetch a price 10-15x higher in the open market.  Wimbledon is not interested in the $$$ though and I'm quite glad they aren't.

The above pic is court 18 where the historical 11hr 5min match took place a couple days prior between Isner and Mahut.  I suppose that's what happens when you have two solid servers and mediocre returners but the statistics on that match are silly.  The final set alone was longer than any match in the history of the sport.  On this day, Thomas Berdych was serving there in a 4th round contest.  This was the match before he upset Roger and then Djokovic to get to the final.

I also went to check out Roddick who I felt had a decent shot at the title.  He was playing a Tawainese guy that even I hadn't heard of and somehow lost in 5 sets.  So much for that prediction.

This year, Wimbledon, and all other sports, took a back seat to the biggest sporting event in the world, the World Cup.  Most Americans don't freely admit that, but if you travel abroad during any of the games there can be no dispute.  The fans and media in any country that is participating is wholly consumed by what their team is doing.  I even found myself jumping around my hotel room when stranded in Boston when Donovan scored that late goal in extra time against Algeria to push the US to the top of their group.  Of all the countries in the world, our recent nemesis happens to be Ghana which is annoying because they are next to impossible to hate.  They are happy, go-lucky and deserved a better fate in the World Cup.

I was in England when the Brits lost to Germany.  The poor British are a tortured sports nation, desperate for any kind of success from anyone from the UK.  They'll even root passionately for a Scot if he shows promise.  They are quick to bash a player or team when they lose which is a shame.  Imagine Cleavland and Cubs fans populating a collection of islands where the weather is the same as Seattle.  It's going to take a herculean effort to rise above the pressure the country puts on its athletes, but if the Red Sox could win a title than anything is possible.  They have the talent but I think the national players need to stop playing in the Premier league a month or two early to focus on taking a solid TEAM to the World Cup and not just a great group of individual players.  The US basketball team had a similar problem for a while but figured it out. 

My travel schedule after London took me to Amsterdam where Holland was somehow still alive in the WC after beating Brazil.  To say the Dutch were a fired up people was an understatement.

This was after their semi win over Uruguay.  It was orange and more orange everywhere you looked.  I even got into the act and made a few purchases to show my support for the "Oranje".

I was supposed to be in Barcelona for the final which would have worked out swimmingly given that Spain made the final. (Side note: I didn't realize that Barcelona folks would not be 100% in support of the Spanish team but they weren't.  The reason: Barcelona is in the Catalan part of Spain and many of the Catalan people would like to secede from the rest of Spain if it were an easy thing to do.  Why this is the case is historical and complicated, but feel free to wikipedia it at your leisure.  The net result is that only 50% of the people there were excited, flag waving hombres).

Given the sentiment and the fact that I was traveling with a Dutch girl, we high tailed it back to Amsterdam early, peeling myself away from Park Guell which was truly painful.  In anticipation of the final, the spirits were high and apparently there were helicopters over the main square there that holds around 70k dropping orange flowers on the crowd.

I'm a dork, but I was caught up in the pre-game excitement.  Alas, it was not meant to be and Spain deservedly won an ugly game marred by too many yellow cards and fouls.  As usual, there were also some missed offsides,etc.  I don't want to beat a dead horse, but why FIFA refuses to adopt technology to help with simple things like goals and offsides makes no sense to me.  I'm not even advocating replay as I like soccer's continuity but sensors on people or in balls is hardly rocket science.  If tennis (and apparently American football as of today is putting chips in the ball to help with spotting) can do it why not the greatest game on earth?  Tsk tsk....

The last compelling sports story of the summer had nothing to do with anything contested on a field or court.  I thankfully missed most of the silliness while in Europe, but "the Decision" seemed to be a huge story here.  Normally basketball is an afterthought in the summer and most are just glad the season finally ends in early June.  This time it was different as you had several prominent free agents looking for suitors, including the arguable best player in the world in Lebron James.  To mine, and most people's surprise he chose my team, the Miami Heat, along with another superstar Chris Bosh to "take his talents" to.  I was legitimately shocked when I heard it, and, after the elation, I started to think how much harder it was going to get tickets for my dad for his bday in November.  When I read about how badly he screwed over the people in Cleveland I also felt badly for them.  They deserved better and even now, I don't fully understand his behavior to those fans that cheered so loudly for him when he played or did his powder smoke ritual before games.  All I can think is that he's, for some reason, treating it like a break up with a girlfriend and is in this stage immediately post breakup where you minimize all the good times you had and concentrate on all the reasons you left the relationship to make things unequivocal in your mind.  I hope he comes around on this, because as happy and curious as I am that he is in Miami now, the "fan" in me wants to see resolution for his old fans that were so invested in him.

The Wonder of Iceland

Ever since I moved to NY 9 years ago, I talked about making a trip to Iceland for a long weekend.  The reasons are numerous; it is a shorter trip than going to California (4.5 hr flight), 24 hours of daylight in the middle of summer, fascinating and exotic landscapes/terrain and, last but not least, a fun, intelligent, attractive and cultured people who almost universally speak English and are extremely welcoming.  My 1st year adviser at Stanford was Icelandic and he was one of the smartest and nicest guys I've met.  It also didn't hurt that the Vegas gate at JFK neighbored the Icelandic one for many years.  Every time my buddy Jay and I went to Vegas on a Friday night we'd watch the Icelandic stewardesses run onto the plane which each time triggered the same thought and conversation that we should switch gates.

For whatever reason, that trip never materialized.   Then the banks in the country failed (and were NOT bailed out) causing the largest banking collapse of any country ever relative to the size of its economy.  Soon after, there was an unpronounceable volcano that disrupted air travel so mightily that airlines were claiming to lose $200mm a day in aggregate and many passengers were stranded and angry.  Iceland was in the news (albeit not for the best reasons), but it rekindled my desire to visit.  I was also secretly hoping that the whole country was on sale due to the bankruptcy and that I could buy snowboards and Viking ships for $10 but that did not turn out to be the case.

After a disastrous couple days in getting to Iceland that cut my trip time in half, I finally landed at 12:30am just after midnight.

The view 10 minutes before wheels touched down.  I'd call it a beautiful sunset, but the sun never actually set.  It just poked below the horizon, still illuminating the sky all night before rising again.  Around the summer solstice the light never goes out, even for a few hours which is terribly cool unless you are one that needs total darkness to fall asleep.  I was able to get in touch with my former adviser, Sverrir, and he was nice enough to clear his schedule that afternoon to give me an extensive and crash tour of Reykjavik and Iceland in the 28 hours I had there.  It is not a stretch to say that without Sverrir, I most likely would have not made it out of my first few quarters at Stanford.  I hadn't seen him in 10 years, but to this day still remain indebted to him for having the kindness and patience to guide me through a challenging time.

After having lunch, we hopped in Sverrir's car and away we went.  I had assumed, incorrectly, that the infamous volcano was not reachable by car in a day.  When I found out that it was (it's about 1.5 hours from Reykjavik) the hunt was on.  Along the way I learned a bunch about the Icelandic folk and how they make use of and harness the unique natural resources they possess.  For example, it is almost unheard of to heat water there for any reason.  They instead tap into all the natural hot springs and reservoirs not just for everyday hot water, but also as a source of energy for the people there.  They strive to coexist with nature and not alter or pollute the landscape where possible.  This line of thinking is also common to the Scandinavian peoples as I am learning and is a breath of fresh air.

The volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, sits atop a large glacier.  The name means Island-mountain-glacier with the island part there because it is very close to two large islands just off the coast.  One fascinating result of the eruption was that it, not surprisingly, caused large parts of the glacier to melt.  Pools of water collected on top of the glacier with nowhere to go.  When these pools got sufficiently large all around the glacier, the entire glacier would start to lift and float.  This gave the water a chance to escape and sent massive waves of water streaming down from to lower lands.  These short bursts of 'flushing' happened 4-5 times before a consistent channel was made on the glacier for water to escape continuously.  One result of this was that roads down below were washed out in places.

These are two examples of large river basins that were full of rushing water as the glacier water ran out to sea.  At the base of the Volcano were a few waterfalls that we got a closer look at.  

I was told, that behind these waterfalls, lives a gnome that controls the eruptions of the volcano and that if you piss him off he will ground European air travel for years. 

I looked for him but must have been on break.  I did feel like I was in a video game.  There's always treasure behind the waterfall.  Alas, there was nothing valuable there, just a lot of mist and water vapor that froze me in the 50 degree weather. 

It's no Iguazu but it was very cool. 

Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day when we visited so the best pictures of the volcano are obscured by the cloud cover.  

After that, Sverrir took me to one of the famous geysers of Iceland.  It's name was, well, Geysir.  It is believed that the word geyser came from the Icelandic word.  This one went off every 10-15 minutes and was the first geyser I've seen.  

A cool and noisy spectacle to witness.  My favorite though was the geyser just a few steps away from the famous one.  

My Icelandic is not the best, but that says "Little Geyser".  He is basically a smaller hole in the ground with constantly bubbling water inside but no eruptions.  He does not get the attention of big brother but I found him entertaining.

With that we headed to our final destination, the famous Blue Lagoon.  It is a large pool of steamy waters inside of a lava formation.  The waters are part of the water output of a nearby geothermal power plant.  They are used for recreational and medicinal purposes (they are said to help people suffering from skin diseases like psoriasis).  The mud mask comes from the shores of the water and is supposed to be also be very healthy for the skin.  After 5 hours of driving and traversing mountains, paved and dirt roads, avoiding sheep and birds in the road we arrived there 15 minutes after the close.  We whined our way in + got a solid 20 minutes.  Pictures like the first one above are on some of the NYC subway advertisements so I was definitely keen to check it out.  

The waters were warm and salty.  It is definitely a unique and special place that I would like to check out again when I have more time to enjoy the natural wonder and relaxation that come with spending time there. 

We had dinner and afterward I checked out some of the famous bars and clubs that dot Reykjavik before my early morning flight.  The natives are a lot of fun and definitely come to party.  They like their cocktails and have no problem bumping into you either in line for a club or on the dance floor which takes some getting used to.  All in all, it was a spectacularly beautiful trip and I do not hesitate in recommending it for a few days layover or even a trip on it's own if you want something slightly off the beaten path. 

Off to the land of Ice

I apologize for neglecting my blog for so long.  I have been caught up working on a few trading strategy items and on some general improvements for my apartment and life in NY.  But now I'm back, and for those of you that have stuck with me (and especially the ones that don't watch LOST) I am flattered, appreciative and promise to make the wait worthwhile. 

Tonight I fly to Iceland for two nights to have an up close and personal look at that pesky volcano.  I'm bringing my fire extinguisher and I'm expecting a big payday from the airlines of the world when I put it out.  I'm staying at the hotel Bjork and she better be there.  I hope to see some Vikings and enjoy the hot springs out there.  From there I will head to London for Wimbledon, Amsterdam and Barcelona.  I will return to the frequency of posts that I had while in South America (one every 3-4 days roughly).  I'm excited, of course, to see the tennis and all of my international mates, but equally excited to watch the World Cup games in another country!

Off to JFK now....

FOUND!

I've been twirling around titles for my last LOST dedicated blog.   This one seemed cheezier than the others, but watching the last scene in the church, and indeed for most of the sideways world, the characters all seemed to "find" a measure of happiness, peace and most importantly, each other.   Before I attempt to break down my view on what it all means, I want to say the finale, without question, delivered in it's grandeur and scale.  It was nothing short of epic!  Even prior to the last episode, the recap was surprisingly well done and thought out.  The interviews with the actors provided a fresh and sometimes humorous perspective as they tried to tell almost 6 seasons worth of history in 2 hours.  The narrations by the creators, Lindeloff and Cuse, (who are now in seclusion for a couple months while people debate the show's ending) were useful as usual and thank God there were no more bubbles!

All throughout the episode existed numerous parallels and symmetries between the finale and past scenes, season, and themes.  The most obvious symmetry was the ending, with jack lying down in the same place he first dropped onto the island, Vincent running out from the bushes to lie by his side and his eye closing.  This sequence of events is the mirror image of the first scene we ever see in the series.  In addition, we have a tense scene involving Jack and Locke looking down from the waterfall into something they don't understand with Desmond at the bottom.  This time the whole island is at stake rather than just a hatch.  Jack, surprisingly early in the episode defeats Lockeness and kicks him after he's been wounded to his death in the same way MIB kicked Jacob after Ben stabbed him into the fire.  We even had another hospital candy bar jam.  Someone needs to get that machine fixed. 

The events of the show moved along surprisingly rapidly and Lockness was defeated within the first hour.  I, like most, had expected a climactic final scene pitting Jack against MIB.  Instead, he was killed early on with Kate of all people, shooting the now mortal, Smokey.  Meanwhile, Desmond was busy "catalyzing awakenings" in the sideways world and the show was really hitting its stride in terms of excitement and the feeling of a buildup to something tremendous.  A wounded Jack seemingly fixed the island, passed the torch to Hurley while the sideways versions were gathering first at the concert then at the church.  Jack arrived at the church then his father's coffin and it when it looked like the crescendo was imminent....

Christian Shephard walks in the room

In almost exactly the same way viewers were shocked when Kate emerges from the shadows in season 4 signifying the flashbacks were actually flash forwards, we learn that the sideways world is a purgatory of sorts.  In a Sixth Sense like epiphany, Jack realizes that he is deceased like his father.  In fact, all of the people in it are dead and are about to "move on" presumably to heaven or at least somewhere where they are with loved ones and aware they are no longer living.  Wow!!

I try not to read any other blogs before writing my own so I am not sure if there is an accepted theory out there about any of it, but I suspect not.  In chatting with friends, it seems the old theory, floated around since season one, that they all died on the plane crash is back in play.  The island was a different sort of purgatory either for all of them or just Jack where he (they) had to pass certain tests to be able to move to heaven.  It's a convenient theory since we are no longer in the realm of the living, you absolutely can have smoke monsters, time travel and immortal beings.  Jacob states that they were all flawed which is the reason they were brought to the island so it would make sense that they had to work on those flaws.  Even the last scene during the credits lends itself to this idea, depicting a crash with no survivors as they show the beach plane wreckage (which they had cleared in season one I believe) and no living people (but no dead ones either). 

Personally, I don't like this explanation for many reasons.  Bernard and Rose did not seem flawed except for Rose's cancer which is not a flaw at all.  If the island is purgatory then what is the sideways world and the reality Michael and the other "whisperers" are trapped in?  Different forms of purgatory?  Christian also says to Jack at the end that the most important time of his life was spent with these people.  When he says life I expect he means actual living and not swapping one purgatory for another.  The thought of their adventures, trials and tribulations experienced after the crash as they were in some sort of spirit form rubs me the wrong way.  I want to believe what Jack says to Desmond, that it does all matter.  

So if they didn't die in the Oceanic crash when did they die?  Was it from the atom bomb?  After all, we only start seeing the sideways world once the bomb is detonated.  Penny was conspicuously in the church and she was neither on the plane nor involved with the bomb.  That is if you think of time linearly.   Christian states everyone dies, some before Jack and some long after.  They built that purgatory so they could all come together when they all passed on.  That is not so dissimilar from most people's view of heaven.  A place where you hopefully become the best qualities about you surrounded by your loved ones and the people that meant most to you from youth to old age. I wonder what would have happened if Desmond was never awakened by Charlie?  Would they have gone on believing they were living this happier version of their existence ignorant to the fact they were dead.  Or, were the dominoes always set up so that would be impossible and they were destined to fine one another in the afterlife? 

Given that some of their flashbacks/awakenings in the sideways were post atom bomb, I believe this last season and all it's crazy experiences were real too.  Jimmy Kimmel posits the whole series was really about Jack's personal journey and him proving that he indeed had "what it takes".  The way the final couple episodes played out, it is hard to argue against that, but I think too much went on between characters away from Jack in the series that it's too short sighted to think it's exclusively about him. 

After seeing the final chapter, my opinions and feelings about the show will no doubt change as I rewatch older episodes looking for clues as to the true meaning of it all.  I welcome all ideas and theories from any who likewise invested 6 seasons in the show.  What won't change is that I still think this is the greatest TV series I've ever had the pleasure of watching and debating.  And just like our favorite characters were about to do, it is time to move on.....

The Passing of the Torch

There will come a time soon where I will stop blogging exclusively about LOST especially with the series finale only 3 days away.  That time however, is not now.  I found the last hour long episode of the show to be both mesmerizing and revealing.  It's one of the first episodes I can recall that answered more questions than it asked, and just about every scene it in was critical to the series's arc. It had sadness, death, hope, humor and a sincere feeling that the end is nigh. Indeed, in the last 4 days I've listened to (on a podcast) and read (in the New Yorker) interviews of the creators (Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelhoff), watched multiple episodes and even found a program "Before they were Lost" on a random channel I didn't know I had, that has the cable programming guide at the bottom.  I've been obsessed for a while, but I guess it's official now.

There's a million pictures of Jack Shephard on the net.  I went with the above one because it's a reminder of how far Jack and the show have come since the whirlwind of the Pilot.  The scene with the remaining candidates finally talking to Jacob in his last moments was my favorite.  He explains why they were brought to the island defying Sawyer's assertion that they were doing "just fine" before they got there.  They were "like him" alone and flawed.  It begs the questions, was the entire plane filled with similar people or were there collateral casualties so these candidates could come to the island (that's awesome alliteration!).  I think of Bernard and Rose who didn't seem flawed at all except for Rose's cancer.  For as good as Jacob may seem when you talk to him, a LOT of death and misery has come from his desire for a successor.  I don't think he's as "good" as sometimes he seems in the same way I don't think the Man in Black is as bad he seems (see my last entry) despite the clothes they wear.  Welcome to Lost and the real world where shades of gray abound. 

In any event, Jack, with a barely visible trace of hesitation, accepts the job.  In some ways you always knew it would be him.  "If you think he had a God complex before" Sawyer says during the christening.  (For the record, Miles quip about "a secreter room", Alex's comparison of Ben to Napoleon and Rousseau's threat to "kidnap" Ben for dinner also rate high on the comedic scale).  One of the interesting things about this episode was the return of 2 former leaders to power. 

Jack hadn't been himself since the leaving the island, hitting rock bottom above when he was ready to commit suicide.  Even when he did make it back to the island he immediately had to defer to Sawyer and the Dharma Initiative.  The title he was given, "Workman" couldn't have symbolized it any better.  After meeting Faraday he snapped out of his spell briefly to lead the charge to blow up the Swan.  This, most notably, resulted in Juliet's death and he went back to deferring, this time to Hurley and a little bit to Sawyer again.  He sat back and observed which he admitted was hard for him, but in the end, he picked up on some of the "rules" and figured out what was going on on the island better than anyone else.  His ascension back to a position of power reminded me of someone else in the show.

For most of this season, Ben has been a reactionary, uncertain and scared follower.  A shell of his former self.  In some ways you can't blame him.  After all, he was manipulated by who he thought was Locke to kill Jacob. Shortly thereafter he found out Locke was the smoke monster and watched him kill most of Ilana's men.  Then he witnessed Sayid after he just killed the leaders of the Temple, was ratted out by Miles about Jacob's death and made to dig his own grave.  These sequence of events would rattle even the best of men, but it was, nonetheless, a strange sight to see after watching him masterfully manipulate others around him for 3 seasons.  Finally in this episode, he gets his feet back under him and takes some control back.  It must have been bittersweet to shoot Widmore after all those years.  NOTE: in the episode where Ben visits Widmore in his bedroom Widmore says "you know you can't kill me" to which Ben says "Then I'm gonna kill the next best thing, your daughter".  Was there a rule made ala Jacob and MIB?  The conspiracy theorist in me says yes and MIB didn't know about it so Ben shot him before he would have to spill the beans.  I think it's unlikely we see Widmore alive again (I give it a 20% chance), but something to think about. 

Ben also may be manipulating MIB as crazy as that sounds.  He's eager to kill more people and since he's given his life to the island I find it hard to believe he will help him to destroy it.  I found the scene where Miles passes over Alex's grave to be significant.  Miles hears something (presumably Alex) and starts to say "I don't think you're gonna like..." before he's interrupted.  I think Ben will find himself in a Darth Vader like position where he will either be able to kill Jack and the others and Miles will have a critical role to play in telling Ben what Alex said.  My call is that this will cause Ben to snap out of it like Vader or more recently when Desmond's words snapped Sayid out of the Dark Side from their conversation at the well. 

After all the questions that were answered in that show, the biggest one left is WHAT IS THE SIDEWAYS WORLD???  Desmond seems to be the chessmaster there.  (By the way, the best promo for Lost I've seen is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RecTEQ7BNg8.  It was originally filmed in Spanish and there are a few different versions.  This is the English one).  Desmond seems to be gathering all the important Losties in the same place (Faraday's concert?) for a purpose.  To surmise what that could be, I have to take a step back and think about what we know about the sideways world: 

1. The island is at the bottom of the ocean in that reality.
2. That reality is NOT if they had simply landed instead of crashing.  (Jack has a son, Sawyer is a cop, Hurley did not win the lottery, but made his $$$ through chicken stands, Locke's dad is not a con man, etc etc).
3. Charlie was the first person to have a glimpse while choking, Desmond, Faraday, Libby, Hurley, Ben, Sun and possibly Locke in some way have seen a flash of island life. 
4. Jack keeps waking up with bloody neck wounds.  Is he dreaming about island life?  What's the connection?
5. Eloise Hawking seems to be wise to everything and told Des to stay away.  Very significant.  Hmmmm......
6. Desmond is a failsafe in the island world.  He's the only one that seems to have consciousness in both worlds and we don't know where is island counterpart is. 

The sideways world is such a utopia compared to the island version of the characters it must be what they are striving towards but will that reality become THE reality if MIB is destroyed or if the island is destroyed?  I mean, the island at the bottom of the ocean means the light at the center of it (and in every man?) is out, no and that's supposedly a very bad thing?  Is it possible the island's destruction is a good thing?  My friend and fellow Lost follower, Ivan, correctly points out that the concert is going to be a huge deal.  Among the attendees will be Eloise, Widmore, Faraday, Desmond, Penny, Sayid, Hurley, Kate, Jack and his son (performing), probably Claire with Jack, probably Charlie because of Claire, Miles, possibly Sawyer if he hears the escaped fugitives are there.  I don't know how Jin and Sun would be there and ditto for Locke or Ben but in any event, it looks like it will be pivotal.

Given that the writers have said they are going into seclusion for a while after the show, I am convinced we are in store for an ambiguous ending Sopranos-style.  I am completely fine with this and expect nothing less.  After all, one of the best things about the show is the ability to debate about it with friends and why should that stop just because the show is ending? 

Genesis

Before I start on this blog I want to apologize for a misfact in my last post.  My longshot call of Danielle appearing to help the remaining Losties is impossible as I forgot she was killed off by Widmore's men along with Carl (Alex's boyfriend).  That is a grievous error and unacceptable.

I will read how Doc Jensen and the other blogs are receiving last night's show, but the first watching of it left me somewhat underwhelmed.  The story was basic and straightforward.  There were no flash-backs, -forwards or -sideways.   Jacob and the still nameless Man in Black (MIB) were as normal as two teenagers could be growing up on an island with a mom who loved them but was a little off her rocker.  Of course, when you hear about the beginning you can always ask, what was there before, but I won't go down that road.  Frankly, I saw parallels between their mother's situation and Desmond who was stuck pushing the button for all those years in the hatch.  He was so grateful once someone came to relieve him of his duty that he bolted.  After she is stabbed, one of the only things she says to her son that just killed her is "Thank you" indicating she is happy to be leaving her life.  The irony of course, is that her poor son can't do the same when it's all he really wants.  You can even argue that she filled the well and destroyed his chance to leave in order to manipulate him into being angry enough to kill her.  Something tells me there was some rule that said she can't commit suicide.

After watching it a 2nd time it got me thinking a few things about MIB.  As evil and twisted as he's become, I can't help but feel pity for him.  Would any of us react differently if we were lied to our whole life till the age of 13 only to find out that who you thought was your mom, not only wasn't but the woman killed your real mom.  She stole them in order to groom them for her position as protector.  He still didn't react violently towards her only leaving to hang out with what might be the first Others.  In fact, based on the conversations he was having with Jacob while he lived with them, I don't think he was a bad guy even then.  He recognized that the men he was with are greedy, "bad" and that is pseudo mom was in fact correct.  It was only when she somehow knocked him out, carried him up a ladder and out of the hole and then killed and burned a whole village did he start to become pissed (can you blame him?).  How a non-aging, but older woman did all those things is another question, but you have to take this whole episode with a grain of salt.

This theme of meeting someone at a point in time, making judgments about them based on that slice and then having those judgments change as you fill in the pieces of their life prior is my favorite in LOST!  It's something we all do every day with people we meet, work with or interact with on a simple level.  Those that are annoying, stand-offish or even evil, are like that based on the sum total of what's happened to them thus far in their life.   If you go down death row at your favorite prison and ask the inmates there what their childhood was like, I bet 90% of them would say they were beaten, abused, one or more parents absent or on drugs, etc, etc.  I head Adam Corolla from Love Line, Man show and other fame once say to Dr Drew that the best way to fix crime in this world is to ensure that children are born to loving parents.  Adam's a simple man, but I liked that theory.  Even if you could do this (you need a license to drive a car, but not have a child), you'd still have some bad apples, but I think it would be far less.

Back to Lost, it's also interesting to note that MIB did not willingly go into the golden pool (i.e. biting the  biblical apple), he was knocked out and pushed in there by his own brother.  So whatever evilness he embodies in the smoke monster was forced upon him by Jacob.  When I take a step back and think about it, he was born to a murderous, manipulative mother and once he found out the truth, his only sin if you can call it that, was wanting to leave and see the rest of the world and where he came from.  Even Jacob got to leave once he got older, visiting the candidates off island.  In a fit of rage, he kills his non mom after she obliterates a whole village and looks as if he feels genuine remorse immediately after.  His brother then beats him up and sentences him to smokey.  I'd be angry and bitter too!

I have a feeling LOST is heading to an open interpretation ending ala Sopranos.  There are many other questions from this one.  For example,  why can MIB see dead people and Jacob can't (MIB even sees dead boy Jacob)?  Did the mother "call" the ship there?  How long has she been there?  Don't get me started on how the underground wheel idea works?  If that seemed like it would work for MIB why didn't he try it once it was constructed later and go to Tunisia?  What does it mean that Hurley can see dead people like MIB?  Is the show implying that if all the candidates die, the light under the island will go out >> the light in all people will be extinguished, and lawless anarchy will rule the planet? We have 3 episodes left to find out....

The Beginning of the End

A rush of thoughts/feelings/emotions have hit me, now that I've been back in NY for a number of weeks after my time South of the Equator.  However I am going to postpone those for my next entry since I have even more thoughts on Lost since we are down to the last 4 hours of the show....ever.   I know it's possible they can make movies or spinoffs after the finale, but in my mind this is the true conclusion to the spectacular roller coaster ride of 6 seasons.

Having just watched the last episode I found some developments predictable and yet was floored by others.  If you haven't seen it yet, then this is a spoiler alert and you need to stop reading.  The predictable includes the fact that Lockeness's goal was not to escape but to gather the team of candidates together in one spot so they can all be killed simultaneously.  Man in black (MIB) gives these intentions away on the hillside when Jacob brings him the wine after Richard feebly tries to kill him.  Jacob says "If you kill me, someone will take my place" to which the MIB snaps "Well then I'll kill them too".  I wonder if MIB needs any vessel to escape (which is the real reason why he kept the plane intact) or if the death of all the candidates with Jacob's simply "releases" him into the world like Pandora's box.

Jack realized this, of course, even back to the previous episode when he takes the "leap of faith" off the boat.  He was ready to stay on the island and would have if Kate hadn't been shot.  You almost wonder if Lockeness shot her from the water somehow because it all worked so perfectly for him including transferring the bomb.  Since all they dynamite was gone from from the Black Rock (thanks to Hurley/Michael) he knew where to get C4 explosive and it makes me wonder where Richard, Ben and Miles are.  Speaking of missing people, I was happy to hear Sayid say my favorite character, the one pictured above, Desmond was not murdered in cold blood.  He will still clearly have his part to play in somehow vanquishing Lockeness or leading him to some of those Electricity and Magnetism pockets to do so.

It seems I can't make it through one episode these days without bawling about something.  This one was no different as no sooner were Jin and Sun reunited, they were caged then led to the submarine where they met their tearful ending.  So shocking and tragic!  I found myself wondering in the final seconds whether Jin should have left her, not to save himself, but to raise their child.  As romantic as the scene was, I think he should have put his duty of fatherhood above that of being a husband. It all happened so fast he probably wasn't thinking at all + the scene when Hurley and Kate find out on the beach is poignant and sorrowful.  

As sad as it was, nobody asked about Chesty or Sayid for that matter.  Sayid had a Darth Vader like epiphany at the end so it looks like he did come back from the dark side after all (thanks to Desmond).  I wonder if he'll be trapped on the island in some sort of purgatory (like Michael and the others) or if he'll be allowed to "move on"?

People keep hypothesizing what the little boy represents.  Some postulate that it is a growing Jacob or maybe Aaron (Claire's son).  I am not sure whether he is real or a spirit, but my guess is that he's a referee of sorts.  He appears to Lockeness periodically to remind him he is not allowed to kill any of the candidates or main players like Desmond.  This is why he threw Desmond in a well (to trap him) and then had Sayid kill him later.  Given these rules it will be interesting to see what his next move is (and i do mean move like chess).  My guess is he will try to get Widmore to kill the remaining candidates in some kind of shootout  (or maybe he'll resurrect Sayid again from the deep and enlist him anew).  Just about anything is possible at this point.

One thought I've been mulling in my head is whether ALL of the appearances from dead people have been the work of MIB?  We know about Christian Shepherd and the others ones from earlier seasons.  But what about taking it a step further to Richard's wife, and even Jacob himself.  It could all be the MIB posturing to get the candidates killed.  After Richard visits with his wife it causes him to separate from the candidates in an effort to blow up the plane and he says "Don't get in our way" implying if they do, Richard is likely to kill them.  As for Jacob, he tells Hurley to save Sayid + that didn't work out so well, especially in the short term.  I'm not as convinced of this theory as I used to be since it's not clear if MIB can do this anymore since he might be "stuck" in Locke (Illana briefly mentions this).  Jacob also led Jack and Hurley to the lighthouse and that's where Jack starts to think differently about what he is supposed to do on the island.  Time will tell.....

On the topic of spin offs, I was thinking today that LOST set themselves up nicely for them and future movies by showing all those names in the cave and on the sundial.  I mean, who were those people and how did they get themselves crossed off the list of candidates.  If someone does finally succeed Jacob (Jack is the frontrunner at this point) it will certainly be a big deal after potentially centuries of failures.  Who built the statue?  What was there before Jacob and MIB (MIB says he was once a man)?  Did he inhabit MIB's bodies and memories (like he did Locke's) when MIB came to the island?  I suspect some of these might be answered in the last few episodes but there is plenty more they can do with it.

I keep wondering if someone new is going to come out of nowhere to make a difference when we least expect it.  Right now, I'm going to take a longshot and put my $$$ on Danielle.  Yes, the French chick who we haven't seen at all this season but to my knowledge is out in the jungle somewhere.  There's also the others from the temple who are out in the jungle after the mortar attack including the stewardess.  Will Eloise Hawking make it back (she must have helped Widmore find the island)?  If she did aid Widmore she must know the gravity of the situation. As for super longshot theories, I think it's possible the leader of the temple and his lennon glassed sidekick could appear for some role.  They were killed in the pool of life and I don't think that's a coincidence. 

Lastly, as expected, it's still not clear what the parallel universe is.  I used to think it's the future or timeline that will occur once Lockness is defeated.  The fact that a few of them have seen snippets of their island life confuses this.  Desmond is the only one that seems to have complete consciousness of both worlds and why he tried to run over Locke is unclear (to kill him?  to get him to meet Jack? to force him to have an island vision? (Locke does mutter something about pushing the button and people believing him)).  BLOG ADDITION: Upon rewatching the last episode, I noticed that the last thing that Jack says to Locke in the hospital, "I wish you believed me" is almost the same thing that Locke mutters when he is sleeping and having an unconscious flashback.  When Jack says it back to Locke, it stuns him.  I think he has a conscious flashback at that moment to the island like Desmond underwater or Hurley when he's kissed only we don't see it.   Who knows what he sees in his flashback?  His life on the island?  His death?  His possession by MIB?  Whatever it is I am sure it was stranger than the other ones we were privy to.  I'd wager that Desmond was trying to induce this moment as it is somehow critical to defeating MIB.  Who knows, maybe, just maybe Locke isn't dead after all.  If he can be dispossessed maybe he can return (although this didn't happen with Christian, so perhaps not). 

The parallel world is so much more pleasant than the one we've known.  Even Locke's dad didn't try to kill him and they seemed to have a good relationship.  Of course it's not all roses, Sayid is not with Nadia but rather arrested, Kate is on the run (not clear if she did kill her step dad in this time line) and we still have no idea where Shannon is.

That's enough for now.  Feel free to call me out on any misinformation or erroneous conclusions or even if you want some good healthy debate.