Television: "Lost"

Lost is the best show on television right now. Of course, this statement comes in the midst of a writer's strike in which there is almost nothing else airing on TV right now, but it is still one of my favorite shows of all time. Oh, I'll get to other favorites in the weeks to come such as Buffy, Veronica Mars, West Wing, Simpsons, Futurama, Firefly, etc., but Lost is unique.

Lost is a hybrid show like no other. Sure, we've seen large ensemble casts, exotic landscapes and flasbacks before, but not like this. People can enjoy Lost on several different levels. On the surface, it's the story of a planeload of castaways struggling to survive and return home. But there's so much more to it than that. The flashbacks that occur aren't ONLY so that we can see what makes our characters who they are, they're also for the character themselves, so that they can atone, repent, or sometimes become stubbornly apologetic (for which there are consequences). The exotic landscape is not just any exotic landscape. This island is somehow both out of 'time' and 'space.' How did they crash there? Why can't anyone else find it? This kind of mystery has led some fans to even question the idea that there even IS an island. Was the crash just happenstance, or were they 'brought' there?

These are just a few of the mysteries of Lost. There is nowhere near enough space in this blog post to mention even the major ones. Every season it seems as if there are more mysteries to solve, more questions asked than questions answered. This can tend to frustrate most casual viewers. Not me. I eat this kind of stuff up. Every time I see some new mystery on the show (i.e. the four-toed statue or Hurley's ability to see Jacob) I get even more excited.

But that's not the only reason I love the show. For me, there's the whole 'book' angle. Books feature prominently in Lost, from The Wizard of Oz to The Third Policeman and pretty much the entire works of Stephen King. And, they all mean something. Books aren't just something that characters like Sawyer read on the show. Each book means something to the show as a whole, and maybe even more than I'm thinking! Some seem to be simply indicative of what's going on in the episode or the story arc, such as Watership Down mirroring the idea of a community of 'creatures' seeking a new home. Others tend to reveal something about a character, such as Carrie being a favorite book of Juliet's, which later sets up the idea of the power of a woman both ostracized and humiliated. So, do these plots merely mimic books, or is there something deeper going on? Does the power of the mind on this island create things? That was one of the theories when we saw a polar bear after Walt read about them in his comic book. We did find out that Dharma had polar bears on the island, but was that one of the 'escaped' bears, or was it 'conjured' by Walt? Did Juliet's betrayal of the 'Others' come as a direct result from the book club reading Carrie? Or, and this may be crazy, are all of these characters actually in a novel themselves, written by someone with a vast knowledge of different types of books? (If this comes true I'm a genius, if not...who cares.)

Anyway, those are some of my quick thoughts on Lost, a show with enough characters that everyone can have more than one favorite (mine are Ben and Hurley, and formerly Charlie R.I.P.). Tonight is the second episode of the fourth season and I can't wait. It supposedly is going to be one of the few shows to feature flashbacks (or flashforwards? Darn that crazy possible time paradox!) of non 815 people. This one focuses on the 'rescuers,' the people on the freighter who were 'looking' for the survivors. The writer's strike may be ending this week, and it could mean more episodes of Lost than we originally thought at the onset of the strike. I hope this is the case, but I also hope that care is taken in how these scripts are written. Lost is somewhat unlike most shows in that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof know pretty much what is going to happen every step of the way. That being said, I bet they could farm out say, episodes 11-14, write 9 and 10 quickly themselves so that they could get to filming right away, and then work on polishing the other farmed scripts and the season finale episodes. It can be done. They have seven weeks for episode 9 if they want no interruptions between shows. That being said, if making it good means taking more time, then by all means, why not have a short hiatus of a couple weeks, then resume the season. We as fans would, I'm sure, be okay with that if it meant a full season. Besides, what else does ABC have going on in the summer besides crappy reality shows? Lost is the best thing that network has going for it, and they should treat it as such.

Books: "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvino

I could think of no other more appropriate book to write about in my first Wednesday installment than Italo Calvino's "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler." I first read the book almost fifteen years ago, and it's remained a favorite of mine ever since. Unlike most books, which I read only once, I've read "Traveler" four times. Calvino is considered a postmodern master, but yet very few readers are familiar with his work. He's certainly not for everyone, and that is especially true of this book. Oddly, I've found that the only people who seem to enjoy this book are men. I have yet to meet a woman who enjoyed either this book or Calvino in general. I'm not quite sure what that's all about. I've tried to recommend him to over ten women, all of whom either couldn't get past the first few chapters or just plain didn't like it. It could have something to do with postmodernism, or this book's purposefully nonlinear trajectory, or something that I haven't thought of yet, but I'm no expert.

"If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" is told in the second person (mostly). That means that the reader becomes the main character. The first chapter of the book has Calvino speaking to 'you' and writing about how 'you' are going to start reading "Traveler." This jars people right out of the gate. Thoughts such as, "I thought I was already reading it," bounce around your brain. It's not an introduction. It is the first chapter. Calvino, in the second chapter, presents a more traditional type of story in which you begin to become engrossed. The problem is, the third chapter finds you back in the second person as 'you' discover that the next chapter in the 'book' you're reading is completely different than the first. Besides a bit of self-reflexive tongue in cheek as it somewhat reflects the actual book you're reading, it is also perplexing and mind-blowing at the same time. This continues, as the second person narrative chapters trade turns with many 'first' chapters of several different novels. However, it all comes together in the end.

The brilliance of this book lies not in a gimmick, or any kind of ability to find order in chaos, though that is impressive, it is in Calvino's storytelling ability. From the very first chapter, he grabs you. Had he not written in the second person, or made the book intimately 'yours,' any reader could have easily lost interest. But, from the get go, you are invested. Not only that, but there is a whole lot more going on in the relation of the bogus first chapters and the subsequent narrative chapter than one might think. (i.e., after reading the first chapter of a detective story, 'you' become a detective of sorts to find out why the books you keep attempting to read seem to go kablooey) Also, each of the 'first' chapters are very very good and could have been actual books that would have been intensely interesting. I cannot even begin to comprehend Calvino's mind. To have come up with this idea, this structure, and then to make it readable, enjoyable and so densely layered is beyond me.

The best books are the ones you can come back to again and again and find something new. I recently read the first chapter of this book as a promotional gimmick for the store in which I work. It couldn't have gone more horribly. There were only maybe four people in the audience, all sitting as far away from the stage as possible, all waiting for the music segment after the reading. They all seemed completely disinterested and impatient. I was definitely reading the wrong book for that audience, but then again I suppose I could have been reading their own lottery numbers as 'winners' and they still wouldn't have paid attention. "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" is a book for people who like to read, and probably for those who don't just read 'for pleasure.' If all you read is Clive Cussler adventures or Nora Roberts romances, this book will probably just frustrate the hell out of you. But, if you're like me, and reading has to involve more than just a plot, then you should really pick up this title. Of course, if you're like me, you probably already have...

Music: Jason Collett & School of Language

Well, if anyone is reading this who doesn't know me, I am the assistant editor for Treblezine.com, a music magazine on the web. So, as Tuesday is traditionally new release music day, Tuesday will also be the day that I concentrate on music on the Blogsmos. I have to give my love to two new releases this Super Tuesday. One is Jason Collett's Here's To Being Here and the other is School of Language's Sea From Shore. I have written reviews for both and they should appear shortly on www.Treblezine.com. The two albums are vastly different, but both excellent. The former is by a Canadian artist who is also part of the collective group, Broken Social Scene, and the latter is in an English band called Field Music. One is a poetic folk rocker in the style of Dylan, the other is a pop experimentalist. I'll let the reviews do most of the hype for me on this, and I don't want to repeat myself. So, I'll just say that these are highly worthy of picking up at your local record shop. And yes, I still call them records.

Re-Tales: The Little Red Book

No, I'm not talking about Mao's manifesto. I was in one of the many retail bookstores I've worked for, and was called up to the front register to approve a return. I arrived to find a middle-aged woman with a leather-bound Bible. At the time, bookstores were still asking why customers were returning their purchases. So, I asked. She stated that the Bible was supposed to have the words of Christ in red print. I picked up the Bible and did, indeed, see that she was right. The binding of the Bible claimed that the words of Christ were supposed to be in red. I opened the Bible to find out if it was misprinted. However, I found that those passages were, in fact, in red. I pointed this out to the customer to show her the proof. Her response? "But he's not even in the whole first half!" Honest to God....

Welcome to the Blogsmos....

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Blogsmos. While this won't be as trippy as Carl Sagan's public television flight on his 'Ship of the Imagination,' it will hopefully be as fun...with far fewer numbers...and planets and stuff. Mondays will be devoted to "Re-Tales," funny stories from the world of retail. Tuesdays will be devoted to the world of music. Wednesdays-Books, Thursdays-Movies / Television, and Fridays- Miscellaneous. Although it might not always follow this model exactly. So, put on your tin foil helmets and let's explore the Blogsmos...