UConn James

Too much exposure to bright light can trigger migraines for me. So, I'm sorry if I talk to you through shades, but I'm not going to pay the piper just so you can see my baby blue-greens.

Not if the mothers don't give a sh--. Which is why my stance on abortion is what it is. If a mother doesn't care enough, I'd rather that a child not have a sh-- life like that and become something that society has to pay for.

Here's a pretty cool screensaver that mimics the Swan hatch computer... Link.

Always the argument from people who just can't accept that the bullet needs to be bitten at some point. Waiting, putting it off all the time, grasping at straws from others teams' jetsam, then forever comparing young QBs to your previous HOFer, and you get the situation we've had post-Jim Kelly. Next year's class includes Ryan Mallet and Jake Locker. If the past is any indication of the future, the top prospects will fade a bit in measurables, have injury concerns, or something that will cause second-guessing. Also, some guys not on the radar now will light it up, and the second-guessing about them will be whether they're one-year wonders. And then, the talk will be all about some junior who decided to go back for his senior year or a soph who will enter the draft as a junior next year, and the process repeats again. It's always something. A GM has to identify a guy that has reasonable or close-enough fundamentals required for their type of offense and then put in the resources required to get that guy. Basing anything on what may be the case next year and the "paralysis of analysis" is a very good recipe for failure.

We haven't had sat or cable for the last 12 years now, and are over-the-air (OTA) only... but we're right in the middle of 3 DMA markets. I've written before on the consumer forums about antenna and digital transition stuff. Since we got an HDTV (we've saved so much w/o subscriptions, this is our one-off entertainment budget, and a very decent 1080 set at Sam's for $900) and I got a new laptop recently, it's a little mind-boggling to me that people actually pay for TV anymore. Networks are available by OTA and you can supplement with Hulu, etc. Things seem to be converging toward an internet-based delivery system that might actually provide the holy grail of "a la carte" programming --- meaning, rather than being forced to pay for a package of 30 channels you never watch, just to get the 3 channels you really want... you pay for only the channels you watch. Internet broadcasting might be what finally forces cable's hand on this. If enough people just tell TW, Comcast, Charter, etc. to pound sand with their $80+/month crap, things might actually change for the better. For the past couple of seasons, it's been a matter of finding an Internet broadcast link wherever I can find one. The NFL cracks down every so often, so it's a matter of people having to stay one step ahead. I've also been interested in Slingbox products. This is a box --- with no monthly service charges, just buy the box --- that relays an input signal (sat, cable, or OTA antenna for CBS and FOX channels) to a remote location via broadband Internet. They now have an HD box, as well. I believe you'd need a go-between to display it on your TV, say an HDMI-out from your computer to your TV. So, it appears that if you have friends/family in WNY with a broadband connection who is willing to accommodate this (it goes without with saying that kicking such a person a bit of cash or a 30-pack for their trouble would tide things over a bit), it might be a nice solution for providing free broadcast feeds for watching the games (tho blackouts would still apply). Anyone know more about this or have experience with the Slingbox?

Surprised that no one has taken comment on my observation of Hurley's vision of "Dave" in the same-titled episode. That was another one of those so-called "loose ends" that now seems very tied up, once you think about it. My contention was... Dave, which was an entity that only Hurley saw in the real-world and on the island... was rooted in the Sideways world, and had figured out/knew that the Sideways existence was fake. How or why doesn't really seem important... it was an anomaly / unpredictable nature of the Island as it related to space-time. Dave was a much more comedic/carefree take on it, as opposed to Charlie's mopeyness or Jack's workaholic-ism. Also wanted to say that I totally missed the Light cascading over Jack et al. in the final close-up image inside the church, after Christian opened the door. I guess I was concentrated on Jack dying on-island. So, it seems that they weren't very long inside the church before their next destination. This destination, if you put any stock into what Mother said, would seem to be "rebirth"? But what kind of rebirth is meant? Back to earth, or a rebirth into heaven/nirvana/paradise/whatever you want to call it? I dunno, it looked very much like a time-flash from S5, but then again, I guess the Light probably doesn't have special color settings or anything.... Oh. .... Dude! That sucks. RIP Nunu. Yeah, I'm not sure what anyone wrote to you, and I'm going to be careful to respect his and others' privacy here wrt details of postings past, but it's the real deal. And yes, he was a great representative for BR all the while. To me, it showed something that a person who worked on that stuff all day would come home and read/write about it on their own time. As I've written, I truly hope that tgreg didn't get into any hot water that necessitated taking that post down.

Why not put it in a flatscreen TV fund? A modest one.

This is a thing that's struck me for a while now... that so many people look at it as a science versus faith/God argument. As if it's some kind of ultimate ontological combat that can and will only have one winner. I don't view it that way at all. Much the way I'm a Compatibilist in the debate b/w Free Will and Hard Determinism, I stake a middle ground here as well. Why is it that people assume that God/Allah/Jehovah/Flying Spaghetti Monster is separate from science and the things man figures out of the workings of the natural world? We discovered the building blocks of the chemical elements, DNA, etc. Cannot a higher power have brought on what we call "evolution"? Tho there are people who will steadfastly argue to the death (sometimes, quite literally ;-( ) that every word of the early Bible is God's direct word, those words were written by human minds and hands. Perhaps God intended us to slowly transition to a higher state of being/consciousness. Perhaps it's making the point that discoveries of science lead back to the spiritual. Science and faith aren't in opposition, never were. They're just using different methods of discerning Truth.

Well, to speak metaphorically, they are like the numerous people who continue "living" in the Sideways world. Totally oblivious, untouched, not able to let go of "unanswered questions" (whose answers 1. Don't really matter all that much, or 2. Will "just lead to more questions.") and not able to move on. And, as Locke tells Jack... "I hope someone does for [them] what [the show] did for me." That moment with Jack dying in the banyan trees and Vincent cuddling up to him got me again. It always will.

A lot of people hated "Waterworld." I thought it was great.

Just as a reminder that ABC is replaying the finale tonight (Saturday). Since, in the run-up, I missed providing the TV listing, here it goes for the last time.... Thanks for the thoughts, merij, and I'll offer my welcome to a latecomer. That sucks re: everyone abandoning the LOST discussion, but I suppose it has to happen sometime. Eventually, you've stayed in the pews for long enough and it's time to step into the light. That said, this series isn't quite over yet. That ~14 minutes of Hurley-reign epilogue has me pretty giddy, all over again. I don't have the time... but did tgreg go back and delete all of his posts in this thread, or just the one that received all the interest? I, too, hope he didn't get into any hot water over it. He always walked the line perfectly; really a credit to Bad Robot. And after all, the series is over --- the toothpaste that was in the tube was expired. And in view of Cuse and Lindelof going all Jacob on us, it was/is nice to have tgreg's Richard there to at least point in the right direction. So many of the people who are confused about what the Sideways world was, just DIDN'T LISTEN to ANYTHING Christian said in the coffin room.

Several years ago, my mum's computer went all kafarfle after she downloaded a knitting pattern. Ultimately, found out it was a derivative of CWS (Cool Web Search). Used several anti-malware programs before I even got a whiff of what was wrong. Then one of them IDed it as CWS... but didn't fix the whole problem... and I discovered the CWS Shredder from fileHippo. A few months ago, I opened a .pdf that, once clicked unmasked as an .exe and there was no way to stop it --- tried Esc button as it was, then forced shut down by the button, but it was on there and bricked everything. Had to use safe mode and system restore, which was a lot easier. (This was on the same ancient rig, that by then had no antivirus, etc. b/c updates bogged down the resources, making it unusable anyway.) Got a new laptop last month and Windows 7 has been great so far. To a very high degree, yes, the bolded section is correct. Visiting the seedier side of the Web, downloading from untrusted sources, torrents and P2P, etc. are all very good ways to expose your computer to bad things. But there are a lot of ways things can happen.

That's what I took it as at the time, a little playful joshing. Do people who take this 100 percent seriously ever heard JK, or have the faintest idea of his personality? How it translates to pure 12-point Times New Roman is very different from the tenor of the spoken words and absent body language. JK's personal/quasi-professional opinion near the end of last season, as many others shared, was that TE had his chance, had regressed, and that it might be time to hand the reigns to a different QB. If TE wants to use this as motivation, fine; I'll cheer him on as long as he wears the Bills' laundry. That old saying applies here, tho. "Those who can, do. Those who can't, whine about same." TE's only reply to questions like these should be, "Everyone is entitled to their viewpoint. I've done what I've done in this league and I still have a lot to prove." And then shut up until you have proven it.

I, too, was half expecting for a scene early this season/in the premiere to show Jacob touching her after she ran out of the house. Wasn't meant to be. I think the point they were making in that S5 finale was that Juliet hadn't been touched. And so, she did not have that special kind of protection that the candidates had. But, they did give her the coffee / go Dutch lines right at the end that foreshadowed the Sideways. It was also interesting that she had the Sideways parallel of un-plugging the machine to get the Apollo bar, that unexpectedly turned off the lights in the whole corridor. An obvious allusion to unplugging the Source which shut down the island. ----- While driving today, I got to thinking about Isaac (the faith healer that Bernard took Rose to in OZ). From what he said (and from what Mother said), we took it as meaning that locale had the same or similar works as the Island, and that there were others located throughout the world. Just like the Island Source had spots around the periphery, there were access points in whatever kind of pattern (I would imagine, kind of like a wheel hub shape, judging from the map of the Dharma stations). Isaac seemed to have commercialized his spot, as he was charging $10K to see Rose. As I wrote before, tho, the Island may be special even among these b/c it is where the "cork" on Hell is... unless these other spots have similar accesses as well.

Krisitin also writes: If you didn't like it, or liked it but didn't love it, ABC is re-playing "The End" on Saturday night (5/29), with fewer commercials. On a second glance, you might connect some things you missed. I have to say that it seems when I first watch an ep I watch for content --- what happens, how do things make sense. And when I see it again, I get the emotional content. I didn't tear up much in the finale on Sunday. But the waterworks were flowing when I re-watched it. I don't know if I'm weird in that regard or what, but that's just how it goes.

It's also just dawning on me that among the candidates that Jacob touched, Hurley and Sayid weren't touched until after the O6 got off the island. Further, Hurley wasn't touched until after Locke was killed. Can we view that as a last-minute addition from Jacob once he had an idea of what MIB would try to do? Once Locke was dead, Jacob knew that whoever took over right after him (and he always hoped it would be Jack) would probably need to sacrifice him/herself? Hurley as such an 11th-hour addition makes more sense to me that way.

Here's a clip from E! Krisitin Dos Santos, where she spills a little re: who the Kwon candidate was, the MIB's name (Samuel, translated to "Man of God" in Hebrew. I'm surprised no one here responded to that news --- kind of a validation that it didn't matter that much?) and what the entry for '108' meant in the Lighthouse. The video was getting very choppy for me. She also said that "the producers have gone into radio silence and are never, ever going to answer questions about the show." Some of the more important points: 1. It was MIB-as-Christian Shephard's form who was the Jacob's Cabin ghost. Kristin said that if you go back, you can see the white shoes he was wearing in the casket. MIB-as-Christian's eye was also the one that appeared at the window to Hurley. 2. Some further information about Walt will be given some attention in the DVDs. [i would suspect that this will be part of the Hurley-reign epilogue.] 3. The Kwon candidate was Jin. Sun was not considered a candidate b/c she was a mother. [And further to that, she was an actual birth mother, not a guardian-type mother as Kate was serving to Aaron.] 4. The entry under '108' in the Lighthouse didn't matter. Evidently, it was a made-up name. The Lighthouse served only as a way for Jack to ultimately realize/see his purpose. We all were puzzled that it didn't say 'Hume' when in reality, it was probably a made-up Kaffafka name. 5. Krisitin was told that the Protector of the Island can change the weather on the Island. Either subconsciously or consciously. To draw someone to or send someone away from the Island.... She cited the sudden onset of the storm that drove the Black Rock so far inland, and the rainstorm just before Mother was killed. Touche, Ken. As one of your belief system, what did you think of the ending? (Going by a vague IIRC history of your postings & your under-avatar line and the fact that you're posting here, I'm assuming that belief system and that you watched the show). Yeah. I will be doing that with present and future gens of my family, when they're ready. Actually, getting the Blu-rays may just make it possible to loan out the DVDs frequently. I have an uncle who's a 100% mentally disabled Vietnam vet who at this point in his life, reading a lot about it, went to the Marine Corps museum, and is finally achieving something close to peace with that time in his life and what happened. I think he really needs to see this show, especially as it relates to that final Christian Shephard speech. Well, I think the toothpaste is already out of the tube anyway.... Not quite sure why it was deleted. I would be pretty proud to have written that and be able to deliver some answers to people who are having trouble connecting the dots. I loved finding out that the Protector was not imbued with any really special powers or trove of knowledge when s/he sipped from the cup. Really, all they've got is their wits, and what they've learned and will learn about the Island and its properties. I always want to be reminded of this show's final message re: our relationships. I have it as my desktop and want it as something to hang on my wall. If ABC or whoever doesn't release a print of that church scene with the Light, I'll do it myself if I have to.... It comes so close to what I hope whatever comes next, is. (My only nitpick is that Vincent wasn't there. If my dogs aren't in 'heaven' then I don't want to go there).

And that's the sh---- part as media gets more complicated beyond stone inscriptions. Paper, celluloid, DVDs, the ether that we call the Internet, etc. don't last. Hell, even stone carving doesn't last. The question becomes, as new media arises, whether a work will survive and be translated into the next format. Or how long that translation might take. There's countless works that have just been lost to history through disinterest, natural disaster / calamity, projects that get perpetually postponed, moneyed interests and the George Lucases and Peter Jacksons of the world that are content to just sit on things, release one improvement at a time to try to get fans to buy thirty-eleven copies of their movie sets. One would hope that the quality of LOST will always draw people to it.

I'm also keen on the idea that going into the Light triggers the "rebirth" that Mother stated was one of the Light's properties. And, if this group all goes into the light together, they are with each other in their next life. One could also argue that they had achieved 'Dharma' in the Buddhist sense.... and that the Dharma Initiative actually helped bring about these peoples' Dharma. It's a little unclear to me whether this epilogue going to be on the S6 DVD/BD set for those of us who have purchased all along, or if it's exclusive to the Complete Six Season Collector's Set. It would suck a bit if it's not, but hey, they need to create their incentives so they can make more $. Also, it will doubtless be on Youtube about 10 minutes after that set is released, if not before, as many of the S5 extras were. ----- Just found the sensibility in this posting to be very nice. These LOST threads are the place we made to be together....

The Smoke Monster could take the forms of the buried. He used Alex's form during Ben's "judgment" and we learned that Richard had buried her near the Dharma-ville swingset. It could also take the form of people whose memories it downloaded, who were never on the island e.g. Ben's mother, Isabella. I think Richard may have brought Paul's body to the Temple, as that was the only place Smokey/Cerberus couldn't go. The Jughead detonation is and will remain a mystery. One could even question whether it blew up at all. Perhaps the energy release that produced the time-flash was just the effect of the drilling. The DI could then have used a lot of concrete to contain whatever radiation emanated from the exposed Jughead core, and/or used it as a power device for the Swan hatch. As UB2 wrote, the candidates couldn't die... or at least not by the hands of Juliet. But there may well have been a small explosion (without the rest of the bomb, the core explosion wouldn't have been nearly as large), and the DI built the Swan to contain the Source energy release to levels where it wouldn't do harm. That actually makes sense as I write it now. Just so everyone knows, the Incident is where Richard "saw them all die." Per writer's-room white-board that was shown in S5 DVD commentary, there was to be a scene where Richard witnessed the Incident, and it evidently didn't make the final cut. This link gets it totally right (but, screw the writer's "thoughts and wishes"). Jacob loosely orchestrated everything. Aaron was a part of the core S1 group, and apparently, the island experience was the most important part of his life. Different from Des and Penny's son, Charlie, who had no real connection to the island. Not quite sure how Penny is there, but then again she did serve as Desmond's constant. Interesting to note that only Boone and Locke are without a coupling in the final church scene (and, no, they're not sitting close together, either). Not any kind of judgment on you, but Doc Dank, that link is a pure canard. There is nothing to it, that's not from an interview with JJ Abrams, and most of the ideas in it are directly opposed by what we saw and what Christian said in the "The End." The Sideways world was not reality, they are all dead, and the time lines do not merge, beyond the consciousness merges of certain of the Lostaways from the original timeline into this purgatory/intermediary stage where they 'waited' (but, "there is no now, here" so there was no wait as such) for everyone to corporeally die and then decide whether to move on/let go. I put no stock into this link's contents. I believe so. Also, the cat Sayid saw at the Flame station. Every vision was an effort by the MIB to push the Lostaways on. As much as he accused Jacob of "pushing" them all to the island, he was doing the same thing. But whereas Jacob largely left people to make their own choices, MIB was using ghostly persuasion. Yeah. That seems clear. Ethan was the last baby to be conceived and born on the island. If you're unhappy with the ending and/or the last season, that's your prerogative... to be unhappy. Personally, I don't want to be moany and groany. We got a pretty darn good resolution, the story came full circle, and it was a beautiful message at the end. I'm sorry you didn't like it.

Sorry for the flood here, but also remember that some of the Temple survivors who went with FLocke and were not killed by Widmore's bombs were still on the island. I believe that included Cindy, the 815 stewardess and Zach & Emma. Suppose that Hurley would get them home, or would they stay on-island? It would be pretty difficult to resume their old lives b/c of the O6's public statements. But I suppose that Ben's network could hook them up with new identities if they wanted to leave. It would be interesting for them to be part of the Hurley-reign storyline, tho. Also, I would like to believe Hurley sets up a Mr. Cluck's franchise on the island... or at least imports some more chickens. Rose and Bernard apparently don't leave, and I would imagine that Vincent stays with them as he had been. And, I imagine that if/when Hurley finds Jack's body, they bury him on Boone Hill.

I'm one who initially put some interpretation stock into that. That was pretty ****ty of the network to do, especially w/o asking the producers. They wanted from the start to have the last, last, last image of the show be Jack's closing eye, and some stooge just had to ---- with it. Hope it's fixed in the DVDs. It would've helped immensely to have put some kind of word mark there, a tribute, a thanks to the fans, a "THE END" etc. to really hit it home that the scene was separate from the storytelling/content of the series.

Some items.... - The MIB's name has apparently been revealed as "Samuel." Link. This is going around the Internets based on the casting scripts. Judging from the number of people who either don't think it matters, thin it doesn't count b/c it's not LOST 'canon,' or actually prefer that he be/remain called "Man in Black," just shows Darlton made the right call. It probably would have made for too much of a biblical diversion that wouldn't really have gone anywhere. Also, as one person alluded, that was the Boy in Black's name... when the Smoke Monster / Cerberus inhabited his consciousness, "Samuel" was altered. - Jacob could travel off-island and not worry about MIB getting off also, b/c the Light had to be shut off in order for MIB to leave. Jacob / the Island Protector is the only one who has access to the Light's area. It is apparently somehow hidden to others, except by invitation/accompaniment of the Protector. - Also, this sounds like a very reasonable explanation of Eloise Hawking's character in the Sideways world. She is Island Enlightened, knows it's not real, and doesn't want to let go. (And, I would add that "how she knows what would happen in the original timeline" was that she had Daniel's journal. After Dan started flashing back, that was it, and why "for the first time in a long time, I don't know what happens next." That seemed pretty self-evident after "The Incident" when she got Dan's journal.) - paulv70, we can't really explain all of the sounds the Smoke Monster made. If you go back to the Nikki & Paulo ep (Expose), tho, you'll find that part of it (I believe the ticka-ticka-ticka) was comprised of the paralytic spiders. I suppose you'd have to chalk the rest up to the physics of rapid air movement, and metaphysics.

Doc Jensen's LOST finale recap Part II: Step Into the Light ----- ABC will be replaying "The End" on Saturday @ 8 p.m. It will run in 2 hours, meaning... fewer commercials. ----- This photo is my desktop background. Hope to get it in better quality when the DVDs come out.

This was not explained in detail. You kind of need to combine it with some of what we saw in the Light cavern, and what we saw in the other wells that there are other access spots to the Light (tho, these do not have access to the "Cork" that contains Hell). In "Across the Sea" the MIB said something about channeling the water" which was an important part of what happened when Des removed the carrot stone --- the streams that funneled water to the pool pretty much stopped flowing. There was no outlet for the pool, either, so the water apparently drained into spots along the hole (the carrot stone didn't take up that whole space), which may have had the effect that whatever was in there couldn't get past the water and/or the stone. Might've been like having a knob lock and a deadbolt on your door. As such, the water was an important part of what kept whatever it was, at bay. I guess their thinking with the wells was to make a small crack in the Light /(and with what we saw when Ben and Locke moved the wheel, the Light is connected to Time), divert some water, and voila. Perhaps the Romans(?) in the time of Mother had observed some phenomena along the lines of the guy who died during the Orchid drilling. They had a theory, that for Mother, hit a little too close to sounding like it'd work. There was also the point made at the time that so many things on-island work by someone just believing they'll work. At a certain point, you need to take it on faith, and as presented.