part one:



Part two:


Part three:


And the BEST part:

I have always insisted that I hate poetry.  There is just so much bad poetry out there.  A lot of it falls into two categories: 1)masturbation for the poet.  Look at how I use words in ways they aren't really meant to be used.  Look at how adept I am at manipulating language. LOOK AT ME. 2)Tragically embarrasing journal entry poetry. "I'm so sad, I miss my mommy, the water is blue and the sky carries the birds away, like it carried away you" crap.  Argh.  When I read it my skin crawls with shame.  It's just unbelievably uncomfortable.

In spite of that, there are poets who are important.  They make history, they claim history, their words infuse themselves into our consciousness whether we know it or not.  That is what I really want to write about.  I want to give examples here of poetry that is important.  Poetry that exemplifies how literature and history work together, and how that ultimately changes the world. In its own quiet, but none-the-less important way.

The first is the most obvious.  It is with a sense of bitter irony that I call the next two poets American icons.  These poets are a part of us now and they continue to affect the world of literature and therefor history.  Here goes:

[by the way, this is copywrited material.  Do yourself a favor and go buy some books today.]

Still I Rise
  
 
  You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

On the one hand I think this poem should be the National Anthem.  On the other hand I think to do that would be to incorporate something that doesn't belong to the nation.  Regardless, this poem is the perfect example of poetry and history being related to each other (sometimes by blood even). Incidentally, I once saw Maya Angelou live, and she read this poem.  I cried like a baby.  This poem...ah, heavy sigh at what this poem does.

And Maya's predecessor:

Langston Hughes lit the world on fire.  His poetry is on the one hand critical of the historical moment in which it was written, and on the other hand it is history itself.  I often fantasize about drinking with Langston Hughes.  I would hold his hand (if he would let me).  If I was a good writer at all, I would love to embark on a series of poems written with the premise of Langston Hughes comes to visit the 21st century. At any rate, here's a sample of this man's brilliance:

The Weary Blues
  
 
  Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway ....
He did a lazy sway ....
To the tune o' those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man's soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan--
"Ain't got nobody in all this world,
Ain't got nobody but ma self.
I's gwine to quit ma frownin'
And put ma troubles on the shelf."

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more--
"I got the Weary Blues
And I can't be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And can't be satisfied--
I ain't happy no mo'
And I wish that I had died."
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

Langston Hughes
 
 
This next one is long, but it's really important so I have to include it. It is an amazing fusion of deeply personal, historical and clearly political.  It is an anthem, and it is a seduction.  Here ya' go:

 "You Bring Out The Mexican In Me"
by Sandra Cisneros

You bring out the Mexican in me.
The hunkered thick dark spiral.
The core of a heart howl.
The bitter bile.
The tequila l�ágrimas on Saturday all
through next weekend Sunday.
You are the one I'd let go the other loves for,
surrender my one-woman house.
Allow you red wine in bed,
even with my vintage lace linens.
Maybe. Maybe.

For you.

You bring out the Dolores del Río in me.
The Mexican spitfire in me.
The raw navajas, glint and passion in me.
The raise Cain and dance with the rooster-footed devil in me.
The spangled sequin in me.
The eagle and serpent in me.
The mariachi trumpets of the blood in me.
The Aztec love of war in me.
The fierce obsidian of the tongue in me.
The berrinchuda, bien-cabrona in me.
The Pandora's curiosity in me.
The pre-Columbian death and destruction in me.
The rainforest disaster, nuclear threat in me.
The fear of fascists in me.
Yes, you do. Yes, you do.

You bring out the colonizer in me.
The holocaust of desire in me.
The Mexico City '85 earthquake in me.
The Popocatepetl/Ixtacc�huatl in me.
The tidal wave of recession in me.
The Agustí�n Lara hopeless romantic in me.
The barbacoa taquitos on Sunday in me.
The cover the mirrors with cloth in me.

Sweet twin. My wicked other,
I am the memory that circles your bed nights,
that tugs you taut as moon tugs ocean.
I claim you all mine,
arrogant as Manifest Destiny.
I want to rattle and rent you in two.
I want to defile you and raise hell.
I want to pull out the kitchen knives,
dull and sharp, and whisk the air with crosses.
Me sacas lo mexicana en mi,
like it or not, honey.

You bring out the Uled-Nayl in me.
The stand-back-white-bitch-in me.
The switchblade in the boot in me.
The Acapulco cliff diver in me.
The Flecha Roja mountain disaster in me.
The dengue fever in me.
The ¡Alarma! murderess in me.
I could kill in the name of you and think
it worth it. Brandish a fork and terrorize rivals,
female and male, who loiter and look at you,
languid in you light. Oh,

I am evil. I am the filth goddess Tlazolt�otl.
I am the swallower of sins.
The lust goddess without guilt.
The delicious debauchery. You bring out
the primordial exquisiteness in me.
The nasty obsession in me.
The corporal and venial sin in me.
The original transgression in me.

Red ocher. Yellow ocher. Indigo. Cochineal.
Pi��n. Copal. Sweetgrass. Myrrh.
All you saints, blessed and terrible,
Virgen de Guadalupe, diosa Coatlicue,
I invoke you.

Quiero ser tuya. Only yours. Only you.
Quiero amarte. Aarte. Amarrarte.
Love the way a Mexican woman loves. Let
me show you. Love the only way I know how.

I am going to go further back now.  The Chinese poets, as far as I'm concerned, invented poetry.  These poems are decptively simple, and translating these into English distorts that some.  I'm specifically talking about the T'ang poets.  These poems had several rules.  First, the second and third couplets are parellel.  This means that the actions in the third and forth lines match, and then the fifth and sixth lines match.  That is near impossible to translate.  Additonally there are rules of rhyme and intonation that simply can not be translated.  What amazes me the most about this poetry is the implication through absence.  For example if the poet writes that it is day and warm, this automatically means that there was a time and will be a time when it is night and cold.  This makes the poem very subtle, and without knowing that the poet has reached into you and shaken you up-well you're feeling something that is not expressible.  The first of these guys I will share is TU FU.  His petry is considered to be the most historical of the T'ang dudes.  well anyway, here:

Writes of what he feels, traveling by night

Slender grasses, breeze faint on the shore,
Here, the looming mast, the lone night boat.
Stars hang down on the breadth of the plain,
The moon gushes in the great river's current.
My name shall not be known from my writing;
Sick, growing old, I must yield up my post.
Wind-tossed, fluttering — what is my likeness?
In Heaven and Earth, a single gull of the sands.

This is translated by Stephen Owen who has written some great introductions into the world of the T'ang poets.  This particular poem rocks my world. You can see through Tu Fu's eyes, and if you do that, the world around the poet becomes increasingly blurry.  The continual temporal and spatial movement is astounding.  Read it a couple of times,it will get under your skin. 

[my translation of the same poem-done under serious supervision]:

Travelling at Night I Write my Inner feelings

Fine grasses sway in the slight wind along the river bank

Tall mast of the lonely night boat

The hanging stars level the vast plain

The moon surges the river's flow

Fame cannot come from literature alone

I resigned my position sick and old

Drifting and floating what am I to resemble?

I am the sand seen from heaven by the gull.

The reason I included my translation is because there is an important element that I could not find in any of the translations online.  The action that the stars and the moon make.  It is a verb in its original form and it is important because of the visual aspect of this poem.  The optical illusion that this action creates is imperative in the emotion and movement of the poem.  I did not include this because I think mine is better.  Mine has some serious flaws-most of all that I do not know its original language.  I learned the symbols for this poem only.  And also I did not follow the rules at all. 

The last poem I'm going to share is by Li Po.  He didn't follow the rules of the T'ang poetry.  He was a total deviant.  And I love him for that. This particular poem is my all time favorite poem of all poems ever written ever ever ever.  I don't need to say why because the poem itself sums up everything I've just said about the importance of history and literature:

Bringing in the Wine
  
 
  See how the Yellow River's water move out of heaven.
Entering the ocean,never to return.
See how lovely locks in bright mirrors in high chambers,
Though silken-black at morning, have changed by night to snow.
... Oh, let a man of spirit venture where he pleases
And never tip his golden cup empty toward the moon!
Since heaven gave the talent, let it be employed!
Spin a thousand of pieces of silver, all of them come back!
Cook a sheep, kill a cow, whet the appetite,
And make me, of three hundred bowls, one long drink!
... To the old master, Tsen,
And the young scholar, Tan-chiu,
Bring in the wine!
Let your cups never rest!
Let me sing you a song!
Let your ears attend!
What are bell and drum, rare dishes and treasure?
Let me br forever drunk and never come to reason!
Sober men of olden days and sages are forgotten,
And only the great drinkers are famous for all time.
... Prince Chen paid at a banquet in the Palace of Perfection
Ten thousand coins for a cask of wine, with many a laugh and quip.
Why say, my host, that your money is gone?
Go and buy wine and we'll drink it together!
My flower-dappled horse,
My furs worth a thousand,
Hand them to the boy to exchange for good wine,
And we'll drown away the woes of ten thousand generation!

Li Po 
 
 
On the off chance that I have indeed inspired you to go out today and buy some books, I will say this.  Arthur Waley is by far the best translator of the T'ang poets.  Ezra Pound did some good translations (he was a colleague of sorts to Arthur Waley), but because of his penchant for the Nazi's and his otherwise insanity, it is with caution that I recommend his translations.  Also, if the Chinese stuff interests you, a novel from the Ming dynasty called Monkey is an amazing book.  Also get the Arthur Waley translation.  Although he didn't translate the entire book, his version is still the best one. 

Finally, I just want to say again how much these poets and specifically the poems in this blog, embody what poetry should be, what it can be, and why we need to re-examine poetry which as I said has  become increasingly bad. 

Was the last day of undergraduate class para me. I no longer have to sit through another undergrad class as long as I live (unless I get really really DUMB and decide to go for another BA).

Some things I liked about being an undergraduate:

1)You don't really need to know what the hell you're doing academically. You can just take some cool classes, sit back and have it almost spoon fed to you.

2)You don't really have to give a shit. I mean you do, and I did, but you can not show up and still manage to get a decent GPA. (believe me I've shown up for 2/3 of my undergraduate career).

3) The end is more finite and clear, and also it is unbelievably easy. The next phase in my education is going to be more difficult. Whether I go to law school or grad school, I will have massive examinations that require a LOT of my blood sweat tears heart soul. At the beginning, through the middle and at the end. (also you have to show up for big people school).


Things I will not miss about the undergraduate experience:

1)teenagers. (sorry kids, mama loves ya, but doesn't want to sees ya everyday... mama's got some vodka she needs and you kids kill mamas buzz)

2)The TA system-I'll like it better when I'm a TA. But as for being an undergrad and dealing with them, here are a few of my thoughts on it:

A)They are only a few (if that) steps higher than me in the educational process. I don't feel I need to treat them as though they are special. (I treat them with the respect that anyone deserves, no more and no less). I also don't have any need to believe that they know more than I do-although sometimes I have found some brilliant TA's who do in fact know a hell of a lot more than I do-I've also met plenty of people who don't even have associate's degrees who know a hell of a lot more than I do-so their place in grad school means little to me. Additionally I am not at all fond of the hierarchy at all, and I am glad that I never have to be scolded by a TA for not showing up to class. When/if I am a TA I vow never to scold my students. I will however give F's liberally to any undergrad student that resembles my undergrad performance-because more than likely they will deserve it.

3)I am currently disenchanted with school at all-so I am just glad that I know that all I have to do is go to work come home open beer go to sleep go to work come home open beer go to sleep go to work... and so on. Right now I can't think of a more luxurious lifestyle than that. I'm positive it will grow old, but until then... here's to beer sleep and work.

4)my house-mate. How does she tie into this? Well, if I weren't in school I would be living somewhere else. My housemate is not bad, nor is she evil, lazy, unclean... she isn't the usual things that bad housemates are accused of being. She is just dumb and thinks she's brilliant (there is nothing more annoying-except for maybe some ass-hole who just completed her BA thinking she's brilliant) and additionally she has the dumbest boyfriend.... Seriously I never in my life imagined that someone could be that stupid. I mean... ok think of the term Meat Head and multiply that by about one hundred. He doesn't watch the Daily Show-because he doesn't "get it"... but more than that-well, let's just say that if he grunts it's probably the most intelligent thing he has ever said in his entire life. So yeah, I'm NOT going to miss living here. Why didn't I move you ask? Have you checked out the housing situation in Santa Cruz? Believe me I tried to leave. Plus she isn't a BAD housemate, like I said. She's just... simple.

So that is my list for today. I have a paper I want to write this evening. A paper that I need to have written by Sunday evening, a final on Monday and a final on Wednesday. Wednesday is my actual END day.

at which time I will open a beer and stare at my TV for a multitude of hours and not speak at all. I will drool on myself I will be sofa king relaxed.



peace.

First, let me say this: I hate the summer time in Sacramento. I left Sacramento gladly. I was very ready to get me some cool ocean air. (I'll always be ready for cool ocean air). I also hate that Sacramento has a large group of "hipsters". My love of Sacramento has always been that it's not a hip town and that in spite of that, there is an undercurrent of radicalism and creativity that is very much alive yet accessible. Unfortunately, there is also a large group of downtown kids who are "hip". I was working at a popular bar down there, so I was faced with these hipsters on a nightly basis. Listening to the right music, wearing the absolutely perfectly concocted T shirt that is ironic but not so ironic that it is no longer "funny", the perfect salvation army wear and tear women's jeans that are the perfect amount of tight, and since they spent a good portion of their time snorting coke being skinny was no problem at all for them. Yeah, being surrounded by those types makes you do several things. At first it's sort of attractive. Being part of a crowd that is exclusive is as irresistible to adults as it is to jr. high kids. Then of course you do the coke, because I assure you, these people are much more interesting to you if you're high. But it eventually becomes tedious and you lose interest. Then you just begin to be annoyed because these hipsters just start taking over-they're like roaches, if you see one you know damn well that a million are right behind her on their cruisers smoking the right cigarettes with hair that never seems to move but is messed up in just the right places and their perfect teeth too-you know they're coming, all million of them, and they will take over your town and before you know it all the old dive bars that were great to hang out in because they were dark, dank, and smokey and reminded you of the bars in the movies you watched, and made you feel all pretendy and movie like, and made you want to order things like slow-gin fizz even though you had no fucking clue that was-pretty soon that bar, the one with the bartender who is just as drunk as you are and also probably didn't actually make you a slow gin fizz, pretty soon that bar is going to be over run by hipsters. So the last resort is to never leave your house, stay in your back yard, drink your cheap beer back there in your T shirts that are SOOOO not ironic...

In spite of that I am sooooo happy to be returning. Or at least I think I am.

So. Here are some of the things I intend to do upon my return to midtown.

1) I will go to the Depot and have red headed sluts. I will get drunk in a gay ghetto again. I know that there are plenty of people who have no affinity whatsoever to gay ghetto's. Having lived in a town with no such thing, let me tell you how much I miss it. I've always loved the gay ghettos anyway. I don't care how aunt jemima it is-damn it I want to wander the several blocks that make up Sacramento's lively gay ghetto, with all the fabulousness and crystal meth alike. I will walk from the Depot over to the merc, and maybe even go into Faces, who knows.

2)I will subsequently leave the gay ghetto and revisit herpes triangle. I will have a pabst blue ribbon on tap at the O.T with all the washed up punkers- and listen to the butt-rock on the juke-box. I'll order some fries too. And I'll sit on the back patio and listen to the stupid-and I mean unbelievably stupid conversations. I'll pray for the (almost) inevitable fist fight. I will go back inside, put more money into that jukebox, and I will play pin ball for a while. I will leave the OT to go to the next stop in Herpes Triangle-Benny's. Now I know people there, so I can't really talk shit... oh fuck that, sure I can. At Benny's they don't have pabst on tap, but they have newcastle, and stella I think-or maybe it's harps. Either way, I'll go with lager thanks very much. I will go to the back patio where I will see some old friends and we will probably not have a lot to say-well, I will because then I will be loaded drunk. I'll see the dude who's wife I slept with (thinking that she had left him-not my fault) and he will smile like he is saying "I still want to kill you bitch" and I will think pretentiously "dude, I'm so much better than you. I left sacramento, I don't even need to be here" or something equally ridiculous and bitchy. I will sit on the back patio and watch the boys and girls grope each other-but mostly they are just playing and mostly, in spite of some of the meat heads who frequent Benny's, it is sweet and fun. Next on the final lap of the Triangle I will walk around the corner to The Press Club. Here's the thing-I fucking hate the press club. I have not set foot in that place in almost ten years. I think the last time I went there was with a few friends of mine after a River Cats game where we ran up and down the street screaming that the River Cats were going to the Fucking WORLD SERIES bitches...

3)Then it will be time for a drunken ride through midtown at night. I will try to remember to have a bike light this time-and won't let some dumbass borrow my bike and get my light ripped off-I seem to remember doing that. I will ride all over midtown. Summer evenings in midtown are the best evenings ever, anywhere, no doubt about it. It will finally have cooled off, and people in Sacramento are desperate to get outside when it cools down. They walk. They sit on porches. They ride their bikes. They sit on patios at restaurants. It's really amazing.

4)I will, if it kills me, make it to more then two Friday in the Park shows. I will buy at least one beer in the beer garden. I swear to god I will do this. The last summer that I was in Sacramento I worked at a bar, so every goddamn Friday night I got to serve the schmucks who were all out enjoying the concert in the park. Well damn it, this time around I will be one of those schmucks.

5)I will buy some books at Time Tested Books and say hi to Peter. I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about since I've done some more studying of Tolstoy and I know how much he loves the Tolstoy.

6)I will get bangers and mash at streets of london. it's just something that must be done. like it or not, it's gonna have to happen. This time though I'll take my lap top, sit out on the back patio and have bangers and mash and stella on tap (also like it or not streets of london takes really good care of their taps and their stella on tap is pretty good)-and I will love it out on that patio. There are some crazy but interesting cats that go to Streets in the heat of the afternoon, early evening, and something about it is just wonderful.

7)I will spend my 4th of July in Oakpark, because oakpark on the 4th is fucking great. Things explode and there is a lot of beer. Plus I have friends who live there that like to get drunk and tweak their store bought fireworks, making them go faster, higher and louder.

8)I will go to a River Rats game and will get field seats. I will fill up a cooler with beer and sandwiches and will totally make a night of it.

9)I will see a movie at the Tower theater, and at the Crest theater.

10)I will have breakfast at any of the following places: corner stone, lucky cafe, or tower cafe. oh and Fox and goose. can NOT forget Fox and GOose beer breakfast. I hear they have a full liquor license now too, so bloody marry's will be made completely at the bar instead of what we used to do (bring our own vodka and order the rest). All have their own charm and all deserve attention. So perhaps I will eat at all three places.

11)also of course I'll go to willy burger.

These are just a few of the things I will do when I get home. I don't think people realize what a great town Sacramento is. And that's fine for me. I hear that the really "hip" place to be is Portland Oregon, so head up that way folks, and leave the little town of Sacramento to us boring non-hip people who just want to ride our bikes around at night with beers in our hand. peace.

cross posted

that I don’t need anymore lit classes?

http://sublimelazy23.blogspot.com

I have a new blog:

This is actually my blog, in spite of what myspace says.  I’m not phishing.

Here cut and paste this if you don’t believe me:

http://sublimelazy23.blogspot.com

another blog with other themes... or some of the same themes too...

ok here's the deal.  I have decided to maintain my myspace only as a place to keep in touch with my family-I have a large circle of family/friends, so this is a good place to be in contact with them.  However, other than that, my blogs will be at the above link from now on.  If I did not have said circle of friends/family on here I would close my account, but alas...

So those of you who aren't my friends or family visit my new blog!

(that's a joke!)

come over and argue with me, make fun of me and call me the sexiest bad speller you ever did know...

peace.

This blog has moved.

http://sublimelazy23.blogspot.com

OK first, here is a deleted scene from tonight's epdisode source

The Fence Scene - From "The Economist"

There was one scene that involved Miles, Kate, and Sayid arriving at the perimeter fence though that was extremely interesting. I was surprised to see it cut, so I decided to transcribe it for you here:

MILES
What is this?

SAYID
A Security fence. When activated, the pylons
emit a high pitch frequency that will kill anyone
who passes through it. We used a tree to climb...

MILES raises his hand towards Sayid. He seems to hear something.

MILES
SHHHHHHHHH!!!

SAYID stops and watches MILES as he scans the surroundings, listening intently.

SAYID (Sarcastic)
I'm sorry, are we supposed to be
hearing something?

A beat passes and MILES is suddenly aware that SAYID had spoken to him.

MILES
I'm sorry, what?

KATE is examining the control panel.

KATE
Maybe I can shut it off.

SAYID joins her, bending over to examine the panel.

SAYID
And, how might you do that?

KATE
I saw Juliet do it once.

SAYID (Doubtful)
Without the code?

ANGLE ON MILES. He continues to scan with a slight twitch, similar to when we saw him reading the boys room in Confirmed Dead. Suddenly he walks through the pylons and turns towards an astonished KATE and SAYID.

MILES
Hey, I don't think its on.

KATE
And how did you know that?

MILES
Lucky guess.

MILES turns and walks away. SAYID and KATE exchange puzzled glances and proceed after him.

Source: DocArzt

OOH! So did Miles actually do something with his ghosty talking to the dead magic stuff?  Or is he just a TWAT?  (KILL MILES)

ALso, Sayid is totally working for Ben, because Ben is a god damn hero people.  He is totally saving the world here.  Face it... Ben knows everything... plus he is fucking hilarious... for example when he says "I'm thirsty..." Yeah, that shit was funny.



BEN RULES>

Additionally, Sayid is a good guy because .. . well he's Sayid.  We know.  OK? We just know! LOL

 We actually Saw them LEAVE THE ISLAND- I mean we know that they leave, obviously, but we actually SAW IT- How cool was that?!

And also, Desmond leaves, huh? so maybe Desmond is the +1-the non-oceanic 6 that gets off with them... and maybe, just maybe he's the one in the coffin.  And when Kate said in the season 3 finale  "he'll wonder where I'm at"- she was totally talking about Ben.

And Finally, Daniel Farraday doing the experiment with all that time travel stuff...

I am glad that this season we're actually getting answers because there were so many questions last season I felt like if the writers didn't give me a little bit to hold onto I was going to be frustrated out of watching, and it's the only fucking vice I've got left now, what with the whole no smoking thing, and well, the other vices I quit LONG ago-so if I can't have this one last drug...

anyway, here are some other fun links to check out if you give a shit about LOST:

ReCap Rock -that's exactly what I said!

interview with Michael Emerson-Ben, and more...

really funny well written recap of The Economist

what Sawyer would call YOU tubby

tee hee hee!

It doesn't matter how ridiculous this is.  It doesn't matter how much I've learned about the politics of empire, and how offensive this is.  It doesn't matter how much Franz Fenan or Frederick Jameson I read.  This.  As soon as the music starts, my heart beats faster, I am unable to sit still in my seat, I'm completely taken in by the magic, and. I'm a little boy again- THIS is why I love movies.  This and Star Wars-the two movies that made me understand something about the way magic works-and I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that yes, I will in fact pay ten dollars to see this:

These are two articles regarding the writers' strike and lost-the only thing in here that I wrote is in brackets:


The writers' strike may end up being the best thing that ever happened to Lost.

ABC is said to be finalizing a post-strike spring schedule that not only hands Lost its best available time slot, but promises to further strengthen the network's stronghold on Thursday night.

According to multiple sources, ABC plans on airing this season's final five* Lost episodes on Thursdays at 10 pm/ET beginning in late April, where it will follow all-new episodes of Grey's freakin' Anatomy! Throw in fresh installments of Ugly Betty at 8 pm and you've got yourself the most formidable one-two-three punch since the early days of CBS' Survivor/CSI/Without a Trace smashup. Creatively speaking, I'd go so far as to say this rivals NBC's storied Must-See-TV juggernaut back in the '90s.

And I haven't even gotten to the best part.

The best part is that I'm hearing that ABC is strongly considering keeping this dream lineup intact this fall... and beyond.

I don't know about you, but this almost makes up for ABC's mishandling of [insert any number of show titles here].

* This just in: I'm now hearing that Lost's final arc may consist of six episodes, not five. No, Team Darlton isn't making an extra episode this season. Rather, the final installment of the current run (aka Episode 8) will likely be held to kick off the final batch of five. According to my spies, Episode 7 makes for a better, more logical, break. Discuss....

Source: TV Guide

[personally I don't give a shit about the other shows...]

Welcome back!
Carlton Cuse: It's good to be back. It'll be even better tomorrow when the writers all start rolling in and we start getting to work... pending the vote, of course.

What came out of your meeting with ABC today?
Cuse: Damon [Lindelof] and I are going to try and make five more episodes before the end of May, which is ambitious. But, we've found ourselves in situation where we had eight episodes of story planned, and we're going to try to fit that into five hours of the show. Even though it's going to be very hard to execute, we felt like any less would be doing a disservice to the story we had planned. We really want to give the fans the best possible experience and ending that we can to Season 4.

Any chance that the first of the five episodes will air the week after that last pre-strike episode— thus eliminating any scheduling gap?
Cuse: No, there's probably going to be four weeks between the airing of the first batch of episodes and our new episodes.

What will happen to the three "lost" episodes? Will they roll over into next season's 16, or will they vanish forever?
Cuse: Damon and I remain committed to producing the 40 additional hours of the show that we promised. We haven't figured out exactly when we'll put those other three on, but we're not eliminating them from the show. You will get those three episodes downstream.

I know it's early, but have you decided what will have to get cut from this season's arc in order to accelerate things? Are we going to lose some flashbacks and/or flash-forwards?
Cuse: All those conversations will take place tomorrow when we actually start talking about story.

Is it possible that some guest actors you were planning to use before the strike may no longer be available now? Like, for example, Andrea Roth?
Cuse: Yeah, there are a lot of issues that have to get sorted out. We're also in the middle of pilot season... We're kind of figuring out what has happened to all of our actors who have gone on to do other things. Literally, there are cobwebs on the couches in the writers' room. Call me in a couple of days and I should have more answers for you.

OK, last question: Have you come up with a code word for this season's top-secret cliffhanger?
Cuse: [Laughs] Not yet. That's a very good point. We'll have to get on that. If you have any ideas, Mike, let us know.

Source: TV Guide

[and also the best LOST site ever!]



["awesome the ship sent another Sawyer"! I LOVE HUGO]

For all those who watch LOST, this is my proposal.  Out of the 4 new characters, I firmly believe and will argue that Miles is the one the writers/producers of LOST ought to kill off first.

Also, if I hear one more fucking SNOW GLOBE/ALL IN HUGO'S head theory-I will kill whoever has it.  PUHLEASE!

Next, I would like to argue that Ben knows a hell of a lot more than he is letting on, he is not really a bad guy at all, and we are going to find this out next season, not this one.  He is actually going to play a role in saving more lives than taking them.

Locke is still an idiot though.  I used to almost like him.

Here's the deal, these "flashbacks" and "flash forwards" are getting increasingly more awesome  Last episode, "confirmed dead" the "flashbacks" were particularly interesting because they were taking place "now" sort of... or w/in the last 90 days since the plane's crash...

It isn't really all that surprising that none of the 4 newbies are surprised at finding the survivors for the simple fact that they knew about it before they arrived on the ialand (a la Jack's communication w/ them)-what was intriguing to me was Naomi asking abbadon (whatever that guy's name is) what they should do if they found survivors.  So obviously she knew something.... 

Locke to Ben: "What is the smoke monster?" See, this is why this show gets increasingly better.  There is this entirely unprecedented interaction between the fans and the show- and this statement was totally a nod to from the writers to the fans... AWESOME.  It's all wrapped up in the whole LOST universe on the internet that continually impresses and intrigues and surprises me.  Such a great use of various mediums, it's very creative, and also, if I was into marketing I'll tell you what it's genius marketing... It's nearly as genius as I thought Disneyland was-OOOH I know how many of you are going to correct me on this analogy since Disneyland is (evil) and on such a vastly larger scale, and so on, but whatevers, it is still brilliant. 

Also, can someone please tell me why this is necessarily OFF the island, and/or why it is supposedly at an airport?  These are the ideas going around about this picture, and I don't understand why.

Ben to Locke "If you're going to sleep with my daughter you might as well refer to me as Ben"

and finally, even though I hate him, Jack to Kate "Well, I gave you a wink"... I almost pissed my pants laughing at how ridiculous that was...

also, Charlotte Staples Lewis- SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome.

I love the literary references that these writers have.  However, they are not using the reference to CS Lewis as any sort of narrative tool.  I think it is just an homage to a writer that they revere... I mean they already have two of the prominant capitalist philosophers (john locke, and Rouseau) and they also have the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin...

anyway-here is a link to a good theory for the show, and one that makes probably the most sense, although it pisses me off because I love it when strange and mysterious things end up with mundane explanations- that is why I am BORING... and also that is why I am not writing for any great TV shows and making lots of money (especially now that they are getting a pickings of the internet stuff and so on...)interesting theory

Also, there are going to be at least three more episodes this season, possibly four, but the rumor right now is that they won't make up for remaining episodes and we will just start season 5 out next year... In a way that seems lame, in a way I wonder if it will hurry us along to a conclusion... I will be graduated and possibly having some sort of real job by the time they tell me what I want to know.