Miles & Ben: "Dr. Linus"

So, here’s another “Lost” post for you which will probably include spoilers. If you’re not caught up with all the new episodes and don’t want anything ruined for you, go away now.

I’ve been watching “Lost” since it first aired way back in 2004. I even liked the ’slow’ part of Season 3, especially the second time I watched it. In addition to watching the show and coming up with my own theories (most of which have been shot down mercilessly as more information is revealed) I’ve really enjoyed the online community of “Lost” fans. We’ve all shared theories, quandaries, our desire to know the truth and in general how much fun we’re having with the show.

But I have to say, I’m not enjoying “Lost” fans anymore. I try to go to the same places and read what people are saying but all the whining and bitching is really getting on my nerves. All these years I’ve continuously read “I trust the writers to know what they’re doing.”

Now, all I read is, “I want to know what everything means RIGHT NOW – and I mean everything. If they leave anything out, I’ll hate this show forever.”

For example, in this past week’s episode “Dr. Linus” (my favorite of the season so far, but that’s no surprise since I have a very unhealthy fascination with Benjamin Linus), there was a great bit where Miles mentions Nikki and Paulo and the fact that they have $8 million dollars worth of diamonds right there in their graves. I thought that was funny, totally in character for Miles and a nifty little shout-out to everyone’s least favorite Losties.

So, when I visit one of my favorite “Lost” chats/discussions, what do I read about this? “This is exactly the kind of “answers”/closure/filler that I don’t care about and wish they wouldn’t waste my time on.”

I guess fanboys/fangirls are the same no matter what they’re a fan of. So many of them just can’t stand it when something they care about goes in a direction they don’t want, or that it’s not moving fast enough – or slow enough – or it just isn’t right, dammit! “I want Green Lantern to have black hair, not brown hair. Now it’s all just ruined!”

And no, that’s not an exaggeration. I’ve read about these ‘fans’ who will totally abandon something they profess to love more than anything for something as simple as a bad costume.

This also brings to mind all those Hermione/Harry Potter shippers who had a hissy fit when Hermione and Ron got together instead and started demanding J.K. Rowling change her plot lines and APOLOGIZE to them for being wrong.

So, the point of my rant? Relax, people. Yeah, it’s important to you and that’s great but when you start laying claim to something you had no hand in creating, you really need to get over yourself.

Me, I do still have faith in the “Lost” writers and producers. We’re going to get the answers to the questions they want to answer. All the other stuff that they’re going to leave out? I’ll just decide for myself. That’s one of the advantages of unanswered questions in fiction – for those willing to fill in some of the blanks themselves, they get a wholly original story that no one else has. “Lost” is not my property, but I have my own, personal version of the story that no one else can have.

The little things have been really getting to me lately. I find that I can’t stand it when people shorten ‘vegetables’ to ‘veggies.’ It’s part of what I call ‘cute speech’ and it drives me bonkers. I have to admit that I have used the term myself now and then, but I cringe even when I do it.

I also hate it when people say ‘Ummmm’ before they’re about to disagree with you or try to make you feel stupid. I don’t know how this started but I see it in writing and hear it in speech all the time. It feels passive aggressive to me, like they’re trying to soften the blow by feigning confusion over your viewpoint before skewering you with their own.

And yes, I have also been guilty of using the ‘ummm’ ploy.

It’s Pet Peeves Day here at Brandi’s Blog. Anyone else want to join in?

Kathryn Grayson was one of the many stars in the MGM musical stable. She left us today at the age of 88.

But after the season premiere of season 6 I’ve been reading some comments, theories, etc. that tell me people are focusing way too much on the minute details and forgetting the big picture.

SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN EPISODES 1 AND 2 OF SEASON SIX, STOP READING NOW.

I’ll add some buffer space. If you don’t want spoilers, get out now while you still can.

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Okay, you were warned.

Okay, the bomb went off and it worked…and it didn’t. We have two times lines. Yay! Double the angst, glowering looks and “son-of-a-bitches.” One where the bomb did work and the plane did not crash and the island has sunk; one where the island did not sink but all the Losties were booted into the present – Jacob is dead so we know they’re in the same time period as Ben, Not-Locke and Richard Alpert.

In the timeline where the bomb worked and the plane didn’t crash, we are seeing differences – major differences. And for some reason, this is confusing people. Desmond was on the plane – and he was wearing a wedding ring. Hurley is the luckiest guy he knows. Boone failed to retrieve Shannon.

We have to remember that detonating the bomb didn’t just zip our characters back onto the plane – it changed everything related to the island from 1977 to the present – well, 2004, anyway. (Remember, that’s when the plane crashed.)

So it makes sense for Desmond to be on the plane. Even if he went on his life-affirming boat race, there wasn’t an island to trap him. Hell, maybe he won and proved his worth. Then again, it might not even be Penny he’s married to. Maybe he and Libby hit it off and got hitched.

Because the island is on the ocean floor it may no longer be affecting any of our characters and therefore, anything could be different. Granted, I don’t buy that it would have any effect on Shannon but that change was most likely due to the fact that the actress wouldn’t come back for the final season.

My curiosity isn’t about the major changes we’re seeing, what I’m most curious about is what we’re NOT seeing. I know the actor playing Walt is way too old to play himself from 2004, but we didn’t see Michael at all. Our favorite exploding science teacher made an appearance but we didn’t see see Libby or Nicki and Paulo.

Oh come on, wouldn’t it have at least been amusing to see our least favorite island couple return even for just a cameo?

Michael may have been left out due to acting conflicts, the whole thing with Walt’s age or something else. Personally, I’m taking Libby’s absence as a sign that my original opinion that Libby was in fact an Other may be correct.

We shall see…and I can hardly wait.

But Pam was against abortion, and she had faith in God. She refused. Today, her reward is a healthy, athletic, stellar son. “I’ve always been very [pro-life] because that’s the reason I’m here, because my mom was a very courageous woman,” Tim told reporters last week. That’s the prescribed moral of the story: Choose life. Dave Andrusko, the editor of National Right to Life News, puts it eloquently: “This amazing young man is able to share his many gifts because, and only because, Pam Tebow said no to abortion and yes to life.”

Pam’s story certainly is moving. But as a guide to making abortion decisions, it’s misleading. Doctors are right to worry about continuing pregnancies like hers. Placental abruption has killed thousands of women and fetuses. No doubt some of these women trusted in God and said no to abortion, as she did. But they didn’t end up with Heisman-winning sons. They ended up dead.

Being dead is just the first problem with dying in pregnancy. Another problem is that the fetus you were trying to save dies with you. A third problem is that your existing kids lose their mother. A fourth problem is that if you had aborted the pregnancy, you might have gotten pregnant again and brought a new baby into the world, but now you can’t. And now the Tebows have exposed a fifth problem: You can’t make a TV ad.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

But not for me. I have to wait until it’s posted online.I love living in the country but we don’t have cable television and our antenna doesn’t receive a strong enough signal for the converter box to give us anything but our local NPR stations. As Pepe Lepeu would say, “Le sigh.”

I know I’m not alone but that doesn’t make it any better. All day tomorrow I’m going to have to resist the urge to visit my favorite Lost sites and discussions. I’ve done my best to avoid any spoilers and I certainly don’t want to blow it this close to actually getting to see it.

Oh well. In little more than 24 hours from now I’ll be able to watch. I haven’t been this excited about a tv show premier since the second season of Twin Peaks.

So, thank you to the creators of the Suffusion theme. Now, if I can only figure out how to stop new windows from opening when the page tabs are clicked, it’ll be perfect.