4 8 15 16 23 42 Notes of Gratitude

Above and beyond the series itself, I was profoundly inspired by several people during the last six years. Below are my belated notes of gratitude. 


First of all, this site would not have existed if it weren't for my friend Jaime K. During S1, she asked me to email her my theories after we'd talk about them, and she would then send them on to her fellow Lost friends. In the middle of S2, she exasperatedly said something to the effect of "why don't you just start a damn Lost blog already?!" I certainly had no idea that this would reach the interested eyes of anyone outside of our circle of friends and family. To this day, I continue to thank Jaime for the kickstart and success of this site. 


I'd also like to drop Dharma pallets of gratitude to the following members of the media, influential mentors who became friends through our coverage of Lost. 


Natalie Abrams, TVguide
Tara Bennett, Lost Magazine (and co-author of the official Lost Encyclopedia)
Jen Chaney and Liz Kelly, The Washington Post Celebritology Blog
Maria Elena Fernandez, LA Times 
Maggie Furlong, AOLtv/TVsquad and host of Instant Dharma
Eric Goldman, IGN TV
Jeff Jensen, EW
Jace Lacob, Televisionary
Erin McCarthy, Popular Mechanics
Therese Odell, Houston Chronicle's Tubular
Mo Ryan, Chicago Tribune's The Watcher
Whitney Matheson, USA Today's Pop Candy

And then, of course, there are my fellow Lost bloggers and podcasters. You will not find a more supportive, eclectic and friendly group of dedicated fans anywhere. These are my people, and I have a feeling that we'll be in each other's lives for far longer than six seasons of a show...

Anil, The ODI
Cat, Sci-Fi Party Line
Jay and Jack (and Colleen!)
Karen Mauro, Karen's Lost Notebook
Erika Olson, LongLiveLocke
Ryan and Jen Ozawa, The Transmission

A very special thank you goes out to my good friend Jon Lachonis, whom most of you know as DocArzt. He opened some very significant doors for me, and I will cherish those opportunities for the rest of my life. In Lost terms, Jon truly is one of the good guys and he always has my back. 


I also must thank a large group of folks who enhanced my Lost experience exponentially: YOU. In all sincerity, I appreciated every single comment that you emailed, left here or on FB and Twitter, as well as your awe-inspiring generosity with the many charitable donations. Your feedback over the years has been invaluable and I would not have continued to write about Lost as in-depth or as frequently without your amazing support. 

In addition, I'd like to give a few shout-outs to: my logo designer & buddy Brian K, Sharon Z in LA, the Lost ARGs crew, the Lost Weekend crew, Ed, Jeff and Matt from KOS Tours on Oahu, those of you who supported my Jeremy Bentham blog/experiment, my friend and Lost quilt guru Bonnie (who has attended just about every Lost event I've ever been to), my neighbor and fellow geek girl Hillary, and Neal Gold in NYC...for sending an epic email several years ago that I printed out and posted in my office to remind me exactly why I put so much time and effort into covering one single show. 

I would be remiss if I did not also thank the obvious; the people who have inspired me to explore and pursue my dreams - the creative team behind Lost. I had the great pleasure of meeting and speaking with the following folks at various events, all of which were memorable and enlightening experiences: Carlton Cuse, Javi Grillo-Marxuach, Jean Higgins, Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis, Damon Lindelof, Gregg Nations and Liz Sarnoff. In addition, I really appreciated the generosity of Noreen O'Toole for her assistance with one of my charity fundraisers, as well as Jorge Garcia and Beth.

And thank you to Erin, Jeffrey, Richard and everyone on the ABC/Disney publicity team for your hospitality over the years, as well as the awesome Lost DVD team (John B, David D and Corey R).   

Apologies in advance if I left any of you out above - omissions are inadvertent! Thank you for taking the time to read through this ramble, and for your readership and support. 


Regardless of the roads we will all now travel, I hope our paths will cross again. Danke, gracias, mahalo, merci and namaste. 


Thank you for believing in me.


-Jo

Jay & Jack's LOST Finale Party: Recap, Photos and Videos

As most of you know, popular Lost podcasters Jay and Jack hosted an amazing event at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 23 to celebrate the series finale with 2,000 fellow fans from all over the world. 

Sponsored by Global Cash Card, Jay and Jack held a video contest prior to the event and the winner (Frank M. from Idaho) was rewarded on stage with a custom Dharma van. He was handed the keys by special guest Michael Emerson. 

I had the opportunity to host a Q&A panel with a few other Lost actors before Jay and Jack took the stage, including questions from fans in the audience. The first round featured Neil Hopkins (Liam Pace), Eric Lange (Radzinsky) and Andrea Gabriel (Nadia). My second panel guests were Sterling Beaumon (Young Ben), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt) and film actor Tiny Lister. The final round featured L. Scott Caldwell (Rose) and James Horan (Wayne, Kate's dad). 


After Jay and Jack's panel with Emerson, we collectively took a deep breath and watched the series finale together on the giant screen. There were audible gasps, cheers and sniffles throughout the 2.5 hours, and it was an unbelievable experience to view the finale among so many other fans who absorbed every second of it with the same emotions and reactions. 

The photos above and many other beautiful shots from that night were taken by the very talented Cesar Altamirano, who also took stunning photos on the red carpet at the Lost S6 Premiere on the Beach earlier this year.

Below are videos from the very memorable and entertaining evening. Special thanks to my friend Paul McQue for recording and posting these videos; he came all the way from Scotland for the big event!

I was honored to be included, and would like to thank my friends Jay, Jack and Colleen, as well as Michael Purcell and his Global Cash Card team, for their hospitality and generosity. A huge shout out as well to Alice and Terri, who hosted a fantastic pre-finale party on the eve of the event.

Jay & Jack intro, Dharma van winner & Panel w/Michael Emerson
(part 1 of 5; all are available after it)


The Jay & Jack mocumentary (put together by the one and only Clif)


Panel w/Sterling Beaumon & Malcolm David Kelley


Panel w/L. Scott Caldwell & James Horan (part 1 of 3)


Alas, Paul was not able to capture my first panel, but someone else in the audience did...

Panel w/Neil Hopkins, Eric Lange & Andrea Gabriel


Enjoy!

Make Your Own Kind of Music: 2 Incredible LOST Videos

As we approach The End, I have been sent many links to creative Lost tributes. Given that our favorite characters are headed for a flash sideways concert that may just result in island convergence, I thought it would be appropriate to share. These two songs in particular brought me to tears today.


The first is by a very talented singer/songwriter named Jesse David Weeks. This is is his music video for "Answers."



"ANSWERS" by Jesse David Weeks from Jeff Hammond on Vimeo.


The second is a fantastic hip hop song called "I'll Never Be Lost Again" by The NJusticeLeague.





Enjoy!

LOST Live: My Sentimental Perspective & Spoiler-Free Preview of Episode 6.16

I am still recovering from last night's emotional journey and experience at Lost Live: The Final Celebration, but wrote about it from a personal perspective over on DocArzt. I also provide a very brief and spoiler-free preview of the penultimate episode, which airs on Tuesday. Here is the link if you're interested!

[custom Dharma Water, handed out after the event!]

I absolutely loved seeing fellow fans, friends, cast and crew at this event, and it was great to meet people in person whom I'd only known virtually from the vast online Lost community. If we did not get a chance to meet or say hello, I apologize; it was hectic and overwhelming, but in the best possible way. And if I did not hand you a Lost Fan pin, send me an email with your address and I will ship one to you!


Yesterday was also an amazing day because of the front-page story about Lost in USA Today (How America Got Lost). I was interviewed for it a few weeks ago, and it is quite a treat to not only have the story in print - but to be quoted in the same article with Damon, Carlton, Daniel, Jorge and Terry.  


I am still in Los Angeles for the Lost Weekend fan party and charity auction, and will post both a recap and videos/photos from interviews with some of the cast on Sunday and Monday.


Have a great weekend!


-Jo

Give Haiti a Helping Hand, Win LOST Memorabilia (New Items, Last Call!)

Over the years, Lost fans have proven to have an admirable spirit of charity. I would like to call upon that same generosity now, as the people recovering from the earthquake in Haiti continue to need assistance. 

Television columnist and fellow Lost fan Mo Ryan of the Chicago Tribune is working with Partners in Health (Watch Us Care: Help for Haiti) to collect donations for Haiti relief. In addition, Mo is auctioning off various pop culture items on eBay to benefit the charity.

To encourage donations to Mo's Haiti relief efforts, I am also giving away a few Lost items. If any of you contribute $10 or more to Partners in Health by February 26, please email me your receipt and leave a comment below - you will be automatically entered to win one of the following:

One of 2 TeeFury Lost tees (Polar Beer/Maaaaaalt Liquor and What Would John Locke Do): 

 

Or one of 3 cast photos from Season 1: Charlie, Jack and Locke:

Or one of 5 commemorative Lost S6 Premiere on the Beach bags that I had made for the fan meet-up on Oahu in January:

One of 3 autographed Jorge Garcia photos and 1 LOST Film Crew tee (brown, size S):

Or one of 5 autographed trading cards: Carlton Cuse, Evangeline Lilly (Kate), L Scott Caldwell (Rose), Blake Bashoff (Karl) and Brett Cullen (Goodwin):

One of 10 mint condition Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk comic books written AND autographed by Damon Lindelof (specifically for the cause!).

One of 10 limited edition Widmore Publishing comic book protector boards from the DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear poster reveal ARG last year:

Please indicate which item you're interested in the most; there are 3 tees, 6 photos, 5 bags, 5 autographed trading cards, 10 comic books and 10 comic book protector boards to choose from. The winning names will be pulled on February 27. Please spread the word to fellow Lost fans, and thank you in advance for your donations!

I would like specifically thank and express my gratitude to Cat, Damon, Jorge, Paul and Sharon for their generous donations to this charitable fundraiser.

-Jo

LOST Weekend 09, Day 1

Greetings from Los Angeles, where I am attending Lost Weekend 2009 (a gathering of message board folks from The Fuselage and fellow Lost fans, as well as a charity auction event benefiting the Children's Defense Fund)! I am a newbie to this event, but everyone has been incredibly gracious and welcoming; I highly recommend it to everyone next year!

Dharma food drop of the evening

Last night they kicked off the weekend with a cocktail party here at the Universal City Hilton, accompanied by a raffle ticket auction for various Lost items. I won a Lost license plate frame and baseball cap, as well as an Eko action figure!

5 different tees, noted by red check marks
(Dr. Candle, Oceanic, Sawyer, Swan clock & Hanso)

I also picked up two bags full of Lost t-shirts, Dharma bags, soundtrack CDs, etc. for future blog contest giveaways, so stay tuned for your chance to win here and on DocArzt's site! Proceeds from the sale of the raffle tickets and these items all benefit the CDF, so we were more than happy to grab them up!

The ghost of honor was Roger Workman, Ben's dad Roger Linus in his future form as a Dharma skeleton.

Gregg takes aim at the janitor

We took turns channeling our inner Hostile, shooting arrows at him (although they were not flaming like the ones that took out poor Frogurt).

There was also a fierce and spirited tree frog jumping game, and we refrained from crushing them like Sawyer.

After the party, we ventured over to Jillian's at City Walk for some friendly bowling competition between Lost co-producer/writer Gregg Nations' and former Lost producer/writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach's teams! The bowling contest is an annual tradition for Lost Weekend, and there was a great deal of smack talk on The Fuselage message boards ahead of time. Javi's team prevailed, and I was fortunate to be among them, although truth be told...I am far better at Wii bowling than the actual sport. It was a very entertaining evening overall, and we all finally parted ways at about 1am.

Javi, Gregg, Bobby & Monte

Tonight is the main event - the auction! I will be repeating "stick to your budget" repeatedly to myself this evening, as it will be challenging not to bid on all of the fantastic Lost items up for grabs. There will be a few surprises in addition to the autographed scripts and tees, as well as potential guest appearances by some of the cast and crew...I will keep you posted via Twitter!

After I return home tomorrow night, I will post a full recap of Day 2 and the auction. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! It looks like I'll be checking in an additional bag for the flight...I'm off to find a duffel to hold all of my new swag...:)

- Jo

LOST Episode Recaps

I just wanted to let you know that if you're interested in weekly episode recaps of Lost, I am now writing "Lost Askew" posts over on TVOvermind. That is my outlet for infusing sarcasm (channeling Sawyer) and poking a bit of fun at our favorite dramatic series, because I tend to focus on more serious (channeling Jack) theorizing here every week.

Because it is a new feature, I have only covered "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" and "LaFleur" thus far. But keep visiting after each new episode for a recap, and peruse the site for great coverage of other shows as well!

Video Interviews w/Darlton, Ben, Jack & Kate!

My friend Jace (author of the stellar television news & reviews site Televisionary) recently had the opportunity to interview Damon, Carlton, Michael Emerson, Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly for Sky1!

* MINOR SPOILER ALERT; watch at your own risk.

Lost Bloggers: The Community

Yesterday I was notified that this site made the list of the Top 100 Science Fiction Blogs, in the television category. It was a great surprise and honor!

And then today I discovered a list of the Top 10 Lost Blogs (as compiled by The Transmission host Ryan Ozawa), which is very cool. I aspire to make such a list in the future.

I feel very lucky to contribute in a very small way to the vast online Lost community, and to have people actually interested in what I have to say about the show.

Because so many fellow bloggers/Lost fans either occasionally link to articles on this site or have added me to their Blogroll (list of friends and/or favorite blogs), I thought I would return the favor and recommend them to all of you. I encourage you to visit, bookmark and follow those which you enjoy!

In alphabetical order, of course...

Annie in MN

Approaching Lost

Capcom's Lost Blog

Cinematically Correct

Crazy Georgia Lost Fan!

DocArzt & Friends' Lost Blog

Dube's World

The Four Toed Foot

Fringe Bloggers

It's About Bunnies

Karen's Lost Notebook

Les Jones

The Life Tussle

Long Live Locke

Lost Blogspotters

Lost Isle

Not Confused Just Lost

The ODI

Sceneggiatori News

SL-LOST

Too Many Hats

Zap2it's Guide to Lost

If I have somehow missed YOUR site, please let me know and I will update it immediately!

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to getting Lost with you again late tomorrow night.

Prison Break: Bentham's Panopticon as the Island

I am very excited to announce that I am now a contributor on the great DocArzt and Friends' Lost Blog. I will be posting original content there on occasion, separately from this site.

Here is my first entry, an exploration of the real Bentham's prison system as it relates to Lost: Jeremy Bentham, the Panopticon and the Island.

Sawyer, Strawberries & Secrets

[This post and link have proven to be very popular over on my other blog, so I thought it was worth updating here.]

Do you dream about shirtless, sweaty Sawyer in his cage?

Do you ever drift off and imagine yourself having breakfast on the beach with dressed up dirty Kate?

Have you ever envisioned your own version of the steamy Kate/Sawyer cagematch?

Has anyone ever told you that you taste like strawberries?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then it's time to channel your inner Martha. You can now make your very own homemade Fish Biscuits! Bake a batch or two for your next Lost viewing party, or delight your co-workers with seemingly disgusting fish-shaped biscuits that are surprisingly delicious.

Kudos to Kat for sharing her secrets (unlike our friends on the island).