SPOILER ALERT – Lost Season 6 “The Last Recruit”

This week’s episode of Lost, “The Last Recruit,” was rather fantastic, almost overwhelmingly fantastic in fact. I think I need a break from Lost, so it’s probably a good thing that there’s a repeat next week, and according to Wikipedia, new episodes will return May 4. As I'm sure everyone knows by now, the finale is Sunday, May 23.


Best Reunion Ever!

Obviously, I’m referring to the Sun and Jin reunion that finally happened in this episode. I was beginning to worry that they might never reunite, and that would’ve been sad (understatements are fun). It was cute how Sun’s English, or her voice as Lapidus said, came back when she was reunited with her soul mate.

Jin and Sun essentially reunited in the new reality/flash-sideways as well. As Jin tells Sun, it’s over and everything’s okay; they can finally be together as they were meant to be.

Jacob v. Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black

One of the many differences between Jacob and Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black was made evident (though possibly not for the first time) in this episode. Fake John Locke does not take responsibility for his actions; when Sun wrote that he caused her aphasia, he blatantly and unapologetically stated that it was not his fault. However, Jacob does take responsibility, and does have remorse for bad things he causes; when Real John Locke became paralyzed, Jacob told Locke he was sorry it had to happen to him. Um, maybe he didn’t take responsibility then, but he did have remorse and/or sympathy.

Sayid’s New Choice

Apparently, when Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster threw Desmond down the well, he did not kill him, as I was concerned he might have. However, now that Widmore sent Zoe to get him back, Fake John Locke sent Sayid to kill Desmond, against Sayid’s desires. However, Sayid became willing when Fake John Locke reminded him of what he promised him – that he would bring Nadia back to Sayid.

At this point in the episode, something suddenly occurred to me that might have been obvious to most people. Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black makes a lot of promises to get people to do his bidding, but I don’t think we’ve seen any of those promises fulfilled; it seems he simply uses the hope of a promise fulfilled to get people to do as he says, but he will probably never follow through. Furthermore, Fake John Locke promised to bring Nadia back from the dead, but, in “Ab Aeterno,” Jacob told Ricardo/Richard he was not able to bring the latter’s dead wife back to life. If Jacob cannot bring people back to life, what makes us think Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black can? He is totally lying! Stop making fun of me for not realizing before – I already admitted that this was probably obvious to most people already.

Sayid does believe that Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster will bring Nadia back from the dead, because, as he explains to Desmond, he was able to bring Sayid back from the dead. However, Sayid was freshly dead; I would imagine if people can be resurrected, it would have to be a reasonably fresh corpse. After all, Jesus was only dead for two days or something like that before he was resurrected, if you believe in that (I’m Jewish, if you didn’t realize). I am not suggesting that Sayid is Jesus or that he is a Christ figure; I am only attempting to deduce rules of resurrections.

The choice Sayid made in this episode was whether he would or would not kill Desmond, and therefore, whether he would or would not continue to sell his soul and sacrifice everything and everyone for the hope of having his Nadia back. Desmond tried to talk some sense into Infected Sayid. Remember, Sayid has been “infected” since his resurrection, according to Dogen, which makes a lot of sense since Sayid credits his resurrection to Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster. Anyway, Desmond asks Sayid how he would explain to Resurrected Nadia the evil means by which he would cause her resurrection. We don’t know what Sayid chose; we can only hope there was some good left in his soul, and that he made the right choice to not kill Desmond.

Of course, this choice is paralleled in the new reality/flash-sideways. After Sayid shoots some gangsters, he explains to Nadia (he sister-in-law) that she will be okay and he will leave. In other words, he believes he doesn’t deserve her, and he is sacrificing himself and any hope of a relationship with her for her happiness and safety.

Fate in the New Reality/Flash-Sideways

It was fun to see Ben in the new reality/flash-sideways trying to help save Real New Reality John Locke’s life, for as I’m sure you recall, in the reality we are familiar with, Ben murders Real John Locke. Ben was meant to be a good guy, and the new reality allowed that to happen.

Real New Reality John Locke’s disability proved to be life saving; Jack was told that the wheelchair saved Real Locke’s life by absorbing most of the impact from Desmond’s falsely vengeful car (hahaha, like the car can be vengeful or wrong). The life-saving nature of his disability goes well with my previous discussion regarding Locke’s life being improved in the new reality, in part due to his disability, in that by accepting it, he could move on and be happy. If he hadn’t accepted his disability, he wouldn’t have gotten his job as a substitute teacher at the school Ben teaches at, where Ben would help save him and identify the assailant (Desmond). If Locke weren’t disabled, when Desmond sought vengeance, as he surely would have regardless of where Locke was, Locke would have likely died without his wheelchair to save him. Once again, everything came together, as if by fate.

This episode had a lot of coming together of our special characters in the new reality. Sun and Real New Reality John Locke are in the same hospital where Jack works. Jack is Locke’s surgeon, and I imagine he might cure Locke’s disability now that its life-saving purpose was fulfilled. Ilana is Jack’s lawyer who Desmond coincidentally brings Claire to, which brings Jack and Claire together. Sawyer arrests Sayid while Miles questions Nadia. Kate figures Sawyer out and they flirt after Kate is arrested. And so on, I say because I can’t remember what else happened. We still don’t know who Jack’s baby-mama/ex-wife is, and I still bet it’s Juliet, particularly since in the reality we are familiar with, he is filled with guilt for causing her death.

Who’s Your Daddy?

I’ve wondered previously (though I didn’t write about it) who Dead Christian Shephard (Jack and Claire’s dead father) is on the island. I have, at various times, thought he might be Resurrected Christian Shephard, some form of Jacob, some minion of Jacob, or Man in Black/The Smoke Monster. He seemed to be helpful, so I assumed he must be good. After all, with a name like Christian Shephard, how could he not be good…but then again, Real John Locke and presumably Philosopher John Locke were good, so perhaps when characters die, the meaningfulness of their names dies with them. In this episode, Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster claims that he was indeed Christian Shephard, and Claire confirmed it. However, he lies, and she trusts him, so who knows if it’s true.

The Island of Dr. Shephard

Jack is hot. Now that we got that out of the way, we can discuss his new attitude. He explained in “Everybody Loves Hugo” that after Juliet died, he began to question his ability as a leader, and so he began to learn to be a follower. First, he learned to follow Hurley, which is good, since I’m quite sure Hurley will be the new Jacob, as I’ve discussed previously. He also learned to follow Sawyer’s lead, as he helped Sawyer get their friends onto the boat headed for the other island without Fake John Locke. However, when it mattered, he followed his own instincts to not leave the island, explaining to Sawyer that if Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster wants them to leave, he must be afraid of what will happen if they stay. He also explained that the first time he left the island, he felt like a part of him was missing. Jack and Sawyer’s roles were then reversed, as Jack (after being ordered by Sawyer who wants to leave the island) jumped off the boat and swam back to the island. As we might remember, when the Oceanic 6 was preparing to leave the island, Sawyer jumped out of the plane and swam back to the island when there was too much weight. Of course, when Sawyer got back to the island, he was met by Juliet, while Jack was met by Fake John Locke.

Jack’s decision to remain on the island to fulfill his purpose delineates another role reversal; previously, it was Real John Locke who had faith and believed they had a purpose on the island. Fake John Locke called Real John Locke a sucker for believing that. This either suggests that Fake John Locke truly doesn’t believe there is a purpose to the island, or that he wanted to convince Jack of that. The latter is more likely true, since, if Jacob wasn’t lying, Jacob, Jack and the other Jacob-candidates purpose is to protect the island, and the purpose of the island is to detain Evil/Man in Black/The Smoke Monster/Fake John Locke and keep it from spreading throughout the Earth and/or the Universe. So of course Fake John Locke would want to convince Jack that there is no purpose for being on the island. Assuming that Fake John Locke is evil, Jack was right to stay on the island.

Unfortunately, the title of this episode, “The Last Recruit,” refers to Jack. At the end of the episode, Fake John Locke tells Jack that he would be okay and, “you’re with me now.” However, just because Fake John Locke says it doesn’t make it so…Unless Jack temporarily died via Widmore’s attack on Fake John Locke and Fake John Locke resurrected Jack…

We might have another Sayid on our hands…

Eat Less without Being Hungry

Yes, it’s true, assuming my experiences reflect what other people might experience, you really can eat less – a lot less – without being hungry. Well, that’s not entirely true; you might be hungry the first day, or the first few days, but after that, you won’t be left hungry, and when you are hungry, you will eat, and that will be ok, because you will be eating a lot less.


Eat breakfast, and make sure that breakfast doesn’t contain too much sugar, but does contain protein and fiber. Protein and fiber are filling, so they will reduce the likelihood of your getting hungry before your next feeding. Sugar makes you hungrier after you eat the sugar, as I’ve learned from the TV and other places. From what I’ve heard and/or read, it seems eating sugar raises your blood sugar too abruptly, which means your blood sugar will also drop abruptly. When the dropping happens, you will probably get hungry again, as well as tired and crashy. I was eating a yummy Thomas' whole wheat English muffin with Smucker's strawberry preserves every morning (along with my coffee and sugar), and I would eat an awful lot during the day. At some point, I discovered that the preserves contain high fructose corn syrup; feeling betrayed, I angrily shunned those tasty preserves and all its jelly brethren (I now will eat such things again, but only if I crave it, but not in the morning). I don't believe the English muffins contain any of the evil high fructose corn syrup. I now eat a slice of delicious Costco 8 grain toast with a little bit of Smart Balance Buttery Spread, crushed walnuts and toasted sesame seeds on it. It is absolutely delicious. I also drink my morning coffee with honey and cinnamon, because I read and heard that both honey and cinnamon don’t make your blood sugar spike the way sugar and syrups do. This is also delicious. After making these changes, I found myself eating a lot less during the day, without being hungry when I wasn't eating.

Quit or cut down on soda and other things containing massive amounts of sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup. I gradually and almost accidentally cut down on soda until I eventually quit, almost unintentionally. I now have soda very occasionally if I have a craving for it, which happens very rarely if at all. As I mentioned above, I’ve heard and read in various places (for example, I think I heard this from Dr. Oz) that consuming sugar without fiber or protein attached to it will make you more hungry later on, so that’s another reason, aside from just cutting down on massive amounts of sugar in general, for why cutting down on soda could help you lose weight. I’ve never been a fan of diet soda; I think I’m allergic to the fake sugar or probably more accurately, sensitive to the aspartame, so I can’t speak from experience regarding those. However, I have heard (I don’t remember where) that the fake sugar has a similar effect on people as real sugar in that it makes you hungrier later. I don’t know if that’s accurate, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Eat fiber. As Dr Oz says, colonics aren’t necessary to clean out your insides, when you can do the same thing with fiber -- I mean eating fiber, with your mouth. But be careful to introduce fiber gradually to your diet, because (as I think one of my doctors told me) sudden large amounts of fiber can actually swell in your tummy and make you constipated, and that wouldn’t be good at all.

Drink water. Sometimes, I think I’m hungry, but it turns out that I’m actually thirsty. Drinking water, or sometimes a little bit of fruit juice or tea or coffee makes the alleged hunger go away. I’ve also heard this somewhere, but I have no idea where. Furthermore, I’ve also heard somewhere (maybe on the John Tesh Radio Show?) that drinking water before you eat a meal can reduce the amount of food you end up eating during that meal. I think that intuitively makes sense, however, I haven’t intentionally or consciously tried it.

I have some other tips about eating less, such as eating consciously, at this blog posting, the very blog posting that inspired this one.

Good luck in your reduced eating endeavors, and don't forget to look at the disclaimer on the right.

Lose Weight While Eating Anything You Want

In the theme of writing blog postings that might appeal to larger populations (pun intended as always, and also no offense intended), I’ve decided to provide some tips on losing weight. Unlike my blog posting about how to make money, this one has actual tips that might actually help people lose weight. Seriously.


First, my credentials. I was fat for many years until my early 20s, occasionally yo-yoing, but for the most part, remaining chubby at best. Then, beginning in my early 20s, I lost 40 pounds over several years, consistently either keeping the weight off or losing more weight until my mid-to-late 20s. Then I started to gain some back, and now I can’t seem lose it. I think that’s partially due to my old age (I’m approaching 30 at an alarming rate), and also I probably don’t exercise as much as I used to. I probably should exercise even more than I used to because of the old age I just told you about. Anyhoo, my tips might only apply to people in their early-to-mid 20s, and people who exercise sufficiently.

How It Began

I’ll begin my tips with how I lost the initial 15 pounds that got me started on losing weight. I got very sick, with some kind of cold-like thing that lasted for a month one summer. I think it resulted from switching from an oral steroid for some crazy asthma issues I had to an inhaled steroid, which apparently left my body less able to fight infections (I learned that from a Flovent commercial several months after I recovered).

During my month-long cold, I had no appetite, so I only ate to survive. So I lost 15 pounds by eating very little.

As I recovered and my appetite began to return, I decided to take the opportunity my sickness had given me to change my eating habits.

I think a big problem people (well, I) had with losing weight is changing life-long bad habits. My month-long sickness forced me to temporarily change those habits, so as I recovered, rather than lapsing back into my old habits, it was just as easy to create new, better habits.

I’m not suggesting that people become sick to lose weight; I am suggesting that you take or make opportunities you might come across to help you change your bad habits if you have any. Or just use your will power to change your habits the old-fashioned way.

Getting back to my weight loss success story…

I had previously been quite the piggish one; I would eat lots of junk food and other fatty foods frequently. I also drank a lot of soda, and generally didn’t have a healthy diet.

I consciously decided that I would only eat when I was hungry, and I would stop eating when I was full. I learned while doing this that I had to be sure to eat enough food during the day, because I found that I wasn’t always hungry when I should have been, and I didn’t want to become anorexic.

Don't become anorexic. Seriously, be careful, because as strange as that might sound, I really think insufficient eating can occur if you're not careful. Perhaps it might help if you decide how many meals is right for you, and make sure you eat those meals each day. I used to forget to eat all day because I wouldn't be hungry, and I would wonder why I became grumpy and headachy; both symptoms would miraculously disappear when I would finally eat. Just make sure you eat enough to be healthy.

No Deprivation -- Eat Anything You Want

I could eat anything I wanted to, as long as I only ate while hungry. No food was off limits; it was only excessive eating and eating that resulted from boredom or attempts to fill some other void that were to be avoided. This method of weight loss was perfect for me, since I’m incapable of sticking to an actual diet, because I can’t handle being deprived of anything; the second that I can’t have it, I want it desperately. This was a change of habit, a lifestyle change; but there was no deprivation of anything at all.

Exercise

I also started exercising more. I began walking for the sake of exercising. To fulfill my PE requirement in college, I took the easiest PE course available, Walking for Fitness, where I was required to walk two miles two mornings per week. After I completed the two-semester requirement, I took the course again, and I think I ended up taking that course every semester until I graduated. It was the easiest course I ever took, and it had an enormous impact on my life, by getting me to exercise in what for most people is the easiest way possible: walking.

Anyway, after I started walking for the sake of exercising, I lost the next 15 pounds within a year, or maybe a few months (I really don’t remember how long it took). And it only required that I be consciously aware of whether I was hungry and Walking for Fitness.

Maintaining My New, Healthier Lifestyle

After that, I maintained the lifestyle of eating when I was hungry, not eating when I wasn’t hungry, stop eating when full, and eating enough to not be anorexic. I also exercised a bit more, adding crunches to my walking, and also I think I was walking more than I had been previously. Over the next year or years, I lost another 10 pounds.

I would occasionally gain a bit of weight back, and when that would happen, I would evaluate what I was doing, and what kinds of habits I had formed or reformed. I would always find something I was doing wrong: eating even if I wasn’t hungry, continuing to eat when I wasn’t hungry anymore (this has been my biggest weakness), eating s’mores everyday just because I had all the ingredients, drinking too much soda just because it was there, etc. So I would simply stop whatever it was, and go back to the mantra of eat when hungry etc. It was surprisingly easy to go back to that and to stop the new or re-emerged bad habit.

Some Other Little Tips

Eat what you crave, but only real cravings. I learned this from some friends who had joined WeightWatchers™. If you don’t eat what you’re craving, you will eat everything else until you eventually end up eating what you craved anyway. So just eat what you’re craving, but not a massive amount of it. Also (and this is coming from my experience), make sure it’s a real craving. It should be something you’re craving for a long time, not just on a whim that might pass, or something you saw one the TV that looked tasty (though that can become a real craving, in my experience).

Analyze your cravings. Sometimes, I crave extremely fattening food, but if I think about it, I’m not really craving the specific food, but rather a quality of that food. For example, I might crave greasy potato chips, but what I really want is something salty, or something crunchy or crispy. Some baked chips, toasted pita, or a few thin crackers might satisfy that craving for crunch, and an extra shake of salt on healthy food, some olives, some hummus, or a pickle might satisfy the salty craving (unless you have high blood pressure or other reasons to avoid salt). Another example is cheese; in my experience, a cheese craving might really be a calcium craving, a salt craving, a protein craving, or a fat craving. This might be satisfied with a calcium supplement, some low-fat yogurt, a few nuts, or some olives. Bear in mind that nuts and olives are also fattening obviously, though the unsaturated fats are better for you than the saturated ones. Of course, I usually just eat some cheese to fill a cheese craving.

Eat chocolate. Yeah, you heard me. This goes along with eating what you crave, so if you don’t crave or like chocolate, then don’t eat it. However, if you’re like me, and love chocolate and can’t live without it, have fun-sized or other small chocolates available at all times, and have one or two little pieces whenever you crave it. I find that if I don’t have chocolate constantly available, when I finally get my hands on it, I end up eating way too much of it. However, when I have it available, that doesn’t happen; it becomes very easy to only eat the one or two pieces that I’m actually craving and then stop.

Drink lots of water, but don’t drown yourself from the inside out. People always say you should drink lots of water, which seems reasonable. If it doesn’t help you lose weight or eat less, your organs will still thank you.

Moderation is the key. Don’t over-do anything -- don’t completely cut out anything. As Rachael Ray always says, "Everything in moderation."

One bite might be enough. I learned that somewhere on the TV and subsequently realized the truth of this in my own experience. The first bite of many tasty foods is often the best bite, and often the only bite that really gives you that “OMG this is so unbelievably yummy” feeling. When this is the case, the rest of the bites try desperately to match that first bite but never do. If you’re eating something that is not healthy or that is overly fattening, don’t bother continuing to eat after the intense yumminess is gone; it won’t come back until the next time you eat it. This is particularly true of most steaks and most cakes, in my experience. Of course, sometimes things are yummy the whole way through, but you’ll know when that’s the case.

Eat consciously. I learned this from the TV as well. According to the TV, if you eat mindlessly, for example while watching the TV, you end up eating a lot more than you would if you would pay attention to what you’re eating. In other words, you wouldn’t be aware of whether you’re not hungry anymore.

Pay attention to what you’re eating, and ask yourself these questions while you eat: Am I hungry? Is this delicious? Is each bite still delicious? If it’s not delicious, is it some nutritious thing that I should keep eating anyway (for example if you hate vegetables)? Am I eating enough to be healthy and not anorexic? If you need to, write these things down every time you eat; that is, keep a journal of when and why you eat, and whether you’re hungry or not when you eat. If you’re eating for non-hunger reasons, such as boredom, depression, happiness, not wanting to waste food, etc, stop eating and try to fix whatever needs fixing. For example, if it’s depression that‘s causing your non-hungry eating, seek some therapy and/or exercise – the serotonin and endorphins might boost your mood. Remember to always seek medical advice from health care professionals, and not from blogs, for blogs, particularly this one, are not your doctor. If you weren't sure of that, my disclaimer on the right tells you that.

I hope these tips and suggestions will help you in your weight loss or healthy eating endeavors! There are more tips on eating less without being hungry at this future blog posting. Don’t forget to consult your health care provider before doing anything!

I’m Still with Coco

UPDATE May 4, 2010: Conan O'Brien had a nice interview on 60 Minutes.

As everyone except me has known for more than a week now, Conan O’Brien will be on TBS this November at 11 P.M. I only found out the other day when the TV mentioned it; I guess that’s what happens when I don’t keep up with the Twitter or Facebook fan pages or the news in general.


As the title of this blog posting clearly states, I am still with Coco, and I think I always will be Team Conan. I heart Conan; he is talented, funny, and smart.

However, I’m not a big fan of this whole TBS thing. That is not to say that I wouldn’t watch Conan on TBS; I will definitely watch Conan wherever he goes. No one seems to know whether Conan chose not to go to Fox or if Fox chose not to reap the long-term benefits of having Conan, but I do think whoever it was who passed on a Conan-Fox relationship made a huge mistake. I’ve read that Fox might have chosen against having Conan in their late-night time slots because of contracts with lucrative syndicated reruns, and I understand why it would probably be better for Fox in the short term to say “no” to Coco. However, as a broadcasting layperson, I would imagine that Conan O’Brien could do for late-night Fox what David Letterman did for late-night CBS. As far as I knew, there was no reason to watch CBS after primetime (during the times when CBS has had good TV happening during primetime) before Letterman got there, but now, CBS is a prime destination during the late-night hours (for my DVR anyway). I firmly believe that Conan would have the same effect for Fox, though the situation is slightly different in that I do occasionally watch those reruns (such as The Simpsons) that I mentioned.

Speaking of those reruns, that is precisely what Conan will be following when he is on TBS. Obviously, that will be a better lead-in than Jay Leno was when Conan was hosting The Tonight Show, but Fox primetime programming (such as House MD) would be vastly better.

Speaking of lead-ins, it’s funny that Team Leno people, such as the author of this thing from Baltimore, recognize that Jay Leno was a horrible lead-in for the late local news, but at the same time, they don’t seem to get that Leno’s horrible lead-in abilities were the obvious and direct cause of Conan’s poor ratings while he was hosting The Tonight Show. That rather dim article praises Leno for leading in the late-night ratings now that he is back not being funny on The Tonight Show (rather than not being funny in primetime), not appearing to realize that The Tonight Show now has the ratings-causing lead-ins that Leno had always enjoyed but Conan’s Tonight Show never did. That article is filled with bizarre oblivion regarding Leno’s detrimental effects on The Tonight Show’s ratings when he was in primetime. Leno is not the ratings leader because of talent, likeability, humor, guests, or any other quality-related characteristics; it is purely because of the primetime programming that serves as the lead-in for the late local news, The Tonight Show, and Late Night. If Leno’s ratings truly did result from any kind of Leno-ness, then his ratings would have would not have sunken so low when he was in primetime, but obviously, The Jay Leno Show’s ratings were painfully low.

Getting back to funny and talented people, Conan O’Brien will do well no matter where he goes. Some have suggested that he can’t compete with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (or Colbert Nation, what the article I just linked to incorrectly called it), but that really doesn’t make sense. The latter shows re-air several times the next day and can be viewed in their entirety online. Additionally, most people have DVRs or other ways to record the TV for later viewing, so people will watch all three shows, as well as Letterman. They will also watch Leno, but only because they will not have changed the channel after Law and Order.

Some people seem to be suggesting that Conan is pulling a Leno (my words, not theirs). The NY Post claims that George Lopez, whose show (Lopez Tonight) Conan will be bumping from 11 P.M. where it currently lives to 12 A.M., was forced to be on Team Conan. This claim has been denied by representatives of George Lopez and TBS. As far as I know, Conan has not responded, however, if this claim is true, I would imagine that it was not Conan who would force George Lopez to support him. If someone really did that, it would presumably be TBS executives. Regarding the Leno-Conan brouhaha, I have argued several times that NBC executives are more to blame than Leno, though a portion of the responsibility does lie on Leno. In this case, regarding the allegedly fake Conan support, there is a good chance that Conan is free from blame. However, regarding the actual moving of George Lopez’s show to a later time, obviously Conan had to be aware of that when he made his deal, and in that sense, one could (and has) argued that he is being Leno-esque. However, there is a vast difference between George Lopez’s show being moved and Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show being forced to either move or be taken away. The Tonight Show is a television institution, George Lopez’s show is not; the former has been on before midnight for several decades, the latter has not. No offense to George Lopez, but I, and presumably many others, were only vaguely aware that he had a late night show, but everyone knows that The Tonight Show is on, and everyone knew that Conan was the host. Conan is only causing the time-shifting of what I imagine might be a rather unpopular show to a later time; Conan is not causing a firmly established, well-known program to be jolted out of its home, nor is he forcing its host to leave. The situations are very different; Conan is not pushing a popular program into a time slot where it will become less viewed, rather, he is increasing the chances that an unpopular show will likely gain popularity by being on after Conan, that is, by providing a healthy lead-in.

SPOILER ALERT – Lost Season 6 “Everybody Loves Hugo”

Old (Ongoing) Predictions and Mea Culpas


Well, it seems “Everybody Loves Hugo,” this week’s episode of Lost, teaches us not to jump to conclusions. Firstly, it seems I was wrong to jump to the conclusion that I was correct in my prediction that Hurley will be the new Jacob based on the preview for this episode. I might still be right, and this episode seems to be leading towards that, however, it did not confirm my prediction as I expected it to. So, mea culpa, my dear blog readers. As for the other lesson in not jumping to conclusions, I’ll get to that soon enough.

Part of my theory might be very flawed. I whole-heartedly believe that I am going to be shown to be correct in that Hurley will be the new Jacob; however, I think I might be wrong regarding the other half of my theory. I don’t think it’s likely that the new reality/flash-sideways is the result of Hurley’s Jacobian take-over. If the new reality resulted from the detonation of the hydrogen bomb and represents the resetting of everything that would or would not have happened if the Swan were never built, then there is a good chance that Jacob would not have died. Ben would not have grown up to kill Jacob, obviously, since we know that he did live on the island as a young ‘un but left as a young ‘un as well in the new reality. Therefore, assuming that the new reality did indeed result from the bomb, then Jacob is probably still alive in the new reality, rendering a replacement (by Hurley or anyone else) unnecessary. Jacob’s last living words of “They’re coming” suggests that the bomb detonation would salvage Jacob and/or the island, so it’s reasonable to assume that such a detonation could mean Jacob’s survival in the new reality. Of course, it’s possible that it was Jacob’s destiny to die, or that Man in Black found another way to have Jacob murdered, in which case it could potentially be possible for Hurley or someone else to be the new Jacob in the new reality. I believe this possibility might be reliant on the bomb not being the cause of the new reality. Clearly, it is very unlikely that Hurley is the new Jacob in the new reality, but I stand by my prediction that he will become the new Jacob in the reality we are familiar with.

Considering the implausibility of the new-reality half of my prediction, I think I just wanted Hurley to be the cause of all the nice things happening in the new reality. If my whole theory could be true, it would have given us a nice sense of closure; it would have meant that the reality we are familiar with and the new reality would come together. Fortunately, since some of the new reality people are having memories of the reality we are familiar with, perhaps the merging of realities could be happening after all.

New Predictions and Theories

Who is that kid in the jungle? Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster seems to fear him, and, in “The Substitute,” the little boy seems to feel that Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black has broken some rule. I’m guessing that the rule that was broken was the loophole by which Man in Black had Jacob murdered. Perhaps the little boy in the jungle is G-d, or a divine force superior to both Man in Black and Jacob. Perhaps this highest and most powerful being takes the form of a child because who but a child possesses more innocence and less Evil? Alternatively, perhaps the little boy is Jacob reincarnated; I don’t think he appeared (to us anyway) until after Jacob’s death, and I don’t think we ever saw the little boy and Jacob (or his ghost) together. However, I think my first theory is probably more likely.

I have a new theory to go along with my other theories. I correctly predicted (assuming that Jacob wasn’t lying to Richard) that the island is where Evil is detained and kept from roaming throughout the world. Since Evil lives on the island, and since in this episode, we learned that Michael and other dead people are stuck on the island and can’t “move on” because of bad things they’ve done (such as killing Libby), I can’t help but wonder if the island is some form of Hell after all. I previously argued that if the island turns out to be Hell, then Lost will be a tremendously unsettling show, but perhaps it is not the traditional concept of Hell, but rather a place on Earth where Evil itself along with the souls of dead people who have committed evil acts in their lives are held captive, and kept from moving on. Live people can live in this place too, because I refuse to believe that all our characters are dead. If the island is Hell, then Jacob, or whoever takes his place, is the guardian of Hell, and, if I’m not mistaken (and I definitely could be) the guardian of Hell is Satan. Therefore, if my theory is correct, then Jacob and whoever takes is place is the Devil. However, I am still leaning toward my previous theory that Jacob and his predecessor is G-d or a divine entity similar to G-d. Interestingly, Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black/Evil Incarnate refers to G-d colloquially; he said, “G-d knows” at least once. I don’t remember Jacob ever referring to G-d, or the Devil for that matter. (Note: Just because I don’t remember doesn’t mean it didn’t happen; my memory is very much imperfect.) Of course, as Richard said, Jacob doesn’t tell people what to do (although Jacob has told Hurley what to do on at least two occasions), and I don’t believe he tells them what to believe either, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t define anyone as G-d or the Devil. Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Man in Black, however, likes to tell people what they want to hear to manipulate them, so his references to G-d and the Devil mean nothing, it would seem.

This Week’s Episode

It was nice to see Hurley’s story in the new reality/flash-sideways. It was comforting and happy-making to see him finally have his date with his Destiny, his love, Libby. By the way, Hurley and Libby can be added to the list o’ people in the new reality who have memories of the reality we are familiar with. I heart Hurley. It was also nice to see him in the reality we are familiar with gaining confidence as the leader he is destined to be in the form of the new Jacob (I say, stubbornly holding onto my as-yet-unconfirmed theory). It’s also nice to see the role reversal of Jack trusting Hurley.

If you’re wondering about Hugo Reyes’ name meaning, other than his last name meaning “kings,” Hugo means heart, mind, or spirit. Clearly, this fits perfectly with Hurley; he has a connection with spirits in that people come to him after they die, and, despite thinking he was/is crazy, he is of sound mind, and he has a huge heart.

Desmond in the new reality seems to have taken the job of helping his fellow Oceanic 815-ers fulfill their Destiny. It’s cute that Desmond and Destiny both start with Des, as if they were trying to give us this clue from the beginning. He helped Hurley and Libby find each other, and then…well, and then what he did is what I was referring to above about jumping to conclusions.

In the new reality, Desmond might have killed Real New Reality John Locke. He probably did this because he probably had a memory from the reality we are familiar with where what he believed was Real John Locke threw him (Desmond) down a deep well and probably killed the latter (I say “probably” because he might not be dead, particularly if the Island isn’t through with him, since it probably still needs him). However, Desmond is wrong – that was not the evil act of Real John Locke – Real John Locke would never do such a terrible thing. Obviously (to us), it was Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster, but Desmond Hume didn’t know that. Ah, remember I mentioned in a previous blog posting that Hume, the philosopher for whom Desmond was named, believed human knowledge is restricted to what we perceive – just like Philosopher John Locke. It seems Desmond Hume’s Destiny turned out to be Hume-like –he didn’t know that the John Locke who threw him down a well wasn’t what he perceived, and so he sought vengeance on the wrong Locke. Desmond Hume acted on his perceptual knowledge, for he didn’t know the evil that lurked beyond his perception.

I think we can all agree that Ben was destined to protect the children. He clearly serves that role in the new reality, watching out for Alex and his student’s in “Dr. Linus,” and noticing and questioning Creepy Desmond in this episode. He showed his proclivity for protecting the young ’uns in the reality we are familiar with as well, when he took Alex as his own daughter rather than killing her and her mother as he was instructed to. It’s nice to see him fulfilling such a nice destiny in the new reality.

New Scrubs RIP

'Twas a sad day on March 22, 2010, when I gazed upon the Myface (Facebook) status of the great Zach Braff.

"Many of you have asked, so here it is: it appears that "New Scrubs", "Scrubs 2.0", "Scrubs with new kids", "Scrubbier", "Scrubs without JD" is no more. It was worth a try, but alas... it didn't work. Zb"

The end of New Scrubs wasn’t terribly troubling, simply because we had already been through what we believed was the end of Scrubs. We had been through it twice in fact: first, when NBC attempted to prematurely murder it, then again after ABC kindly resuscitated it for what was supposed to be a year to allow them to end the series properly, only to breathe more life into it for this, its real final year. Therefore, I was certainly prepared in that I had already grieved the end of the fabulous show; I knew we were on borrowed time. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed New Scrubs, and it was sad to see that it will not return.

I really liked New Scrubs, although when I first heard there was going to be a ninth season of Scrubs after what I thought was the real series finale, I was concerned. I was sure Scrubs was going to jump the shark the way Happy Days did when Richie Cunningham left and was replaced by his cousin or something (you thought I was going to say when Fonzie literally jumped the shark, didn’t you? Well you were wrong). However, Scrubs definitely did not jump any sharks at all, and there were indications that it wouldn’t before it premiered. Zach Braff seemed to have confidence in it, and I trust comedians, though I remained skeptical since all the entertaining people promote things they are a part of. Zach Braff also defended Scrubs’ continuation, explaining that New Scrubs would provide employment for numerous people. Furthermore, the Scrubs Myface (Facebook) fan page posted this article on Myface before New Scrubs began, where the author seemed to have concerns similar to mine, but was pleasantly surprised with what New Scrubs would bring.

When New Scrubs finally began, I discovered first hand that it definitely did not suck. It wasn’t just Scrubs without JD – it had changed enough, in the setting and with some new characters, that it was almost a different, almost-as-great show. Despite the slight changes, it still had a lot of the original Scrubsiness of the show, via some permanently returning beloved characters, some occasionally returning beloved characters, and the same amazing writing and humor that graced the first eight seasons. They transitioned beautifully into this New Scrubs; they allowed me to fall in love with the new characters as I had fallen in love with the original characters before. It was so perfectly done that they could have – and part of me feels they should have – made New Scrubs a spin-off rather than a ninth season. The new characters weren’t replacements or clones of other characters; there were some similarities, but the new characters were unique. For example, Lucy was not a clone of JD or Elliot, but she clearly exhibited some of their traits while maintaining her own unique and lovable characteristics. I love Lucy (hehehe, I think that’s why they named her Lucy), and I love New Scrubs. I would watch more New Scrubs if it were on. I will watch New Scrubs reruns where I find them on the TV and on the DVDs that I will buy.

However, I need a new show to replace New Scrubs – a new New Scrubs if you will. I was informed recently of a relatively new programme called Modern Family, and I was told I would love it, and that it is worth the addiction that would surely ensue. My informant was right; I watched one episode on abc.com, entitled “Fifteen Percent” (it was the oldest episode still there at that time), and I loved it. It was hilarious, with a bit of an Arrested Development-ness about it, and I already love many if not all of the characters. The reflective introspection that comes from the mockumentary style of it, as well as the lovability of all the characters give it a nice sense of Scrubsiness. I believe Modern Family shall be my new New Scrubs.

I encountered several fun surprises while watching Modern Family. First, Kristen Schaal showed up at the door of the show (I don't believe she is a recurring character), causing me to exclaim to myself (but aloud of course), “Hey, that’s the girl from The Daily Show!” Towards the end of the episode, I suddenly realized, and once again exclaimed aloud to myself, “Omg! That’s Al Bundy!” Indeed, the main character of Modern Family is Ed O’Neill. My excitement grew. As a side note, it’s nice that ABC is taking care of most of the Bundys; Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) is on Modern Family, Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate) is on Samantha Who, Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal) has a recurring role on Lost; where is Bud Bundy (David Faustino)? Perhaps ABC should turn his web series Star-ving into a TV show, or give him some other show, to complete the Bundy fun. Getting back to the fun surprises on that Modern Family episode, at the end of the episode, I was shocked to see the 20th Century Fox thingie – this show is on ABC, but apparently is produced by Fox! That’s crazy! Finally, when I went to write this blog posting, as I searched through Zach Braff’s Myface page looking for the article above that I ended up finding on the Scrubs Myface page, I noticed that Zach Braff also enjoys and recommended Modern Family. Everything came together beautifully.

UPDATE May 26, 2011
At some point since writing this posting, I have discovered that the more accurate new New Scrubs is the funny and Scrubs-like Cougar Town, because Cougar Town is a Bill Lawrence creation, as were Scrubs and New Scrubs.

SPOILER ALERT – Lost Season 6 “Happily Ever After”

SPOILER ALERT The preview of an upcoming Lost episode will be discussed briefly, and content from that episode will be mentioned.

Holy crap! I was right again!!! I am awesome! You are awesome for reading my blog! We see in the previews of the next episode of Lost (“Everybody Loves Hugo”) that SPOILER ALERT Hurley is indeed taking over the position of Jacob! I totally called it! I am so smart! (See “My Brilliant Prediction” towards the end of the blog posting I linked to in this paragraph.)

UPDATE April 15, 2010

It seems that “Everybody Loves Hugo” did not in fact confirm my prediction that Hurley is the new Jacob, as the preview suggested it might. I apologize for my premature excitement. I stand by my prediction, and I believe it will be shown to be accurate.

Before I get to this week’s episode of Lost, there was something I completely neglected to discuss from a previous episode; I believe it was from "Sundown," which happens to be where my first correct prediction happened. Strangely, a segment from The Daily Show where they mention things the Christians did to non-believers during the Spanish Inquisition made me think of this, and in fact shed some more light on it as well. I’m referring of course to Dogen’s poking and prodding and torturing of Sayid to test that the latter was infected. Thus, Dogen was doing as the Christians did. This can be viewed as both evidence for Dogen representing an Evil or a Good Jacob; Evil in that it is evil to do such painful things, and Good in that it might be necessary to hurt an individual to ensure that individual is not evil, like a good ol’ fashioned witch hunt. Obviously, then, if Jacob is Good, then Dogen was doing evil things in the name of Jacob, just as Ben, Widmore, and Eloise did.

In this week’s fantastic episode, “Happily Ever After,” we learned a lot. The perspicacious Daniel Widmore/Daniel Faraday figures out in the New Reality/Flash-Sideways that they had a previous life in which they changed everything with a nuclear bomb. Daniel Widmore/Faraday is smart, kind of like how smart I am for my correct predictions. Anyhoo, when faced with impending potential death or giant magnets, a few of our characters (Charlie, Desmond, and Daniel) were seeing things from their previous life, something that I sort of suggested in a previous blog posting when New Reality Jack seemed to not remember things from his New Reality childhood, and so I suggested that perhaps memories from his previous life were mixing with his New Reality/Flash-Sideways memories. There I go again, being all smart with predicting stuff – or in this case, quasi-predicting stuff.

Speaking of perspicacity (I mean Daniel’s, not my own), Desmond also possesses special abilities to see what could or will be in the reality we are familiar with. Of course, he’s experienced such things before, where his consciousness shifted to a different place and time, and when Daniel Faraday gave him a new memory in the past that he retained in the future. He seems to be the only character in the reality we are familiar with who, I’m assuming, witnessed the new reality/flesh-sideways while he was unconscious via something involving magnetism and some crazy death-tempting experiment Charles Widmore was conducting on him.

This week’s Happy episode also showed us more characters’ lives that have improved. Desmond of course felt empty without Penny, but Destiny and probably Hurley would ensure that he would find her. Charlie might be suicidal, but more likely, he is a risk-taker who is chasing his Destiny. One could argue that he is chasing the Island, but we know he isn’t, based on the other characters’ presumably improved lives.  In this episode, we also see the helping hand of G-d...I mean Jacob...I mean Hurley, when He helps Desmond find his luggage. I heart Hurley. Next week’s episode is so true – everybody really does love Hurley.

It seems that the Widmores are a lot less evil in the new reality than they are in the reality we are familiar with. It looks like Charles Widmore and his New Reality still wife Eloise Hawking (Eloise Widmore in the new reality) both seem to still have some evilness lurking within their souls, but for the most part, they seem to be happy – or happier than they were in the reality we are familiar with. Their son Daniel is alive, which is good, and he is a musician, which is also good. Some might say the life of a genius is being wasted in music, but that genius’s life was literally wasted when he was a scientist in the reality we are familiar with. Furthermore, creativity is certainly not a waste. Penny is still Daniel’s half-sister, and probably resulted from an extra-marital affair Charles Widmore probably had in the New Reality, or so I assume based on Eloise’s angry reaction to Desmond’s inquiries regarding Penny.

In a previous blog posting, I discussed whether Charles Widmore is good or evil, and I concluded that he most likely is similar to Ben was before the latter’s emotional breakthrough in that he is working for a Good cause in ways that often become Evil, and he is consumed by the desire for power, which is also evil. This episode didn’t change these views at all regarding the reality we are familiar with. In the new reality/flash-sideways, however, Charles Widmore is just a regular guy, not needing to fight for Good, The Island, or Jacob, and therefore not having to commit Evil acts in the name of Good. He does have power, though he doesn’t seem consumed by it in an evil way. Desmond recognizes this lack of evilness when he sees the new reality, and thus recognizes that despite Charles Widmore’s apparent evilness in the reality we are familiar with, he is working for a greater Good, for a world where hopefully everyone will be happier – or at least a world without Evil roaming free throughout it.

Disliked Worlds Collide

Two links have been sitting in a Word document for almost a month, waiting patiently to be turned into a blog posting. Sadly, those two links were forgotten until now, and now they have lost much if not all of their relevance. However, since I’ve been known to post out-dated things, perhaps it is not too late for these links to shine in one of my joyous blog postings. If you read to the end (before and including the update), you might get a relevant and timely surprise!

If this article is not lying, and I don’t believe it is, then The Tonight Show with Jay Leno falsely portrayed the audience response to Sarah Palin when she was a guest on the show. They replaced the audience's silence and sounds of dismay with canned laughter.

It is rather unfortunate that I’m not terribly surprised that Jay Leno and his people would commit such a vile act of falsely representing an audience’s reaction to create the illusion of comedy, love, and admiration in a vacuum of such things to aid a politician. I expect two types of people above most others to be ethical: comedians and scientists. Did you think I was going to say “politicians”? Really? Why would you think such a bizarre thing? I’ve learned not to expect politicians to have ethics or souls; that way, I avoid a lot of disappointment. Anyhoo, Leno’s (or whoever’s decision it was to edit the audience – since Leno’s name is on The Tonight Show, I will hold him responsible) ethical indiscretion is, in my admittedly strange view, on par with those scientists who screwed with the climate change data a few months ago. Scientists and comedians are people we should be able to trust; when either lies, it truly is a sad day.

Fortunately, in a world of lying Lenos, there are also truth-keepers in the form of satirists. Here, Jon Stewart talks about Palin’s Leno appearance, particularly about her crazy claims that Fox News is "fair and balanced."

As if the evil editing to make Sarah Palin appear more loved or less disliked weren’t enough, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno continues to commit evil acts of duplicitous editing today. The "I’m with Coco/Conan O’Brien" Myface (Facebook) fan page posted this article a few days ago, that tells of a brave and heroic Slash wearing an "I’m with Coco" pin that made a forcibly brief appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It’s not surprising at all that Leno and his people cannot handle dissent. Somehow, if something like that were to happen on pretty much any other talk show, the host would go ahead and make jokes about it, because that’s what funny hosts do. Unfortunately, Jay Leno continues to not be the funny talk show host that I know he could be. Of course, the other talk show hosts I allude to would probably not find themselves in such situations, for most if not all of them would not have done what Leno did.

UPDATE April 11, 2010

These disliked worlds collided s’more on SNL; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be featured on The Sarah Palin Network.

SPOILER ALERT – Lost Season 6 “The Package”

Love Expansion – Beyond Jack


Well, it’s official: I’ve fallen in love with Benjamin Linus. It was bound to happen – I’ve been strangely enamored with him ever since I saw Michael Emerson on interviews on the TV, where I discovered that he, as a (non-Ben) person, is not creepy at all and therefore is a brilliant actor. Furthermore, I also learned that he is normally a comic actor, and I have a thing for funny men. Finally, after Ben’s emotional breakthrough in “Dr. Linus,” where he turned good, falling in love with him was inevitable, so now it’s happened. I love Ben.

The New Reality/Flash-Sideways

I’ve been discussing whether our characters’ lives have improved, gotten worse, or remained the same in new reality/flash sideways compared to the reality we are familiar with. The new reality has been generally good to most of them. In “The Package,” this week’s episode of Lost, we saw Jin and Sun’s new lives. Thus far, it looks like their lives are worse in the new reality. They are not married, despite being in love and despite being destined to be together. Jin is Sun’s much-needed bodyguard, and creepy, evil people are trying to kill him because of his romantic relationship with Sun. Hopefully things will improve for them, but at the moment, things are looking rather dire. Despite their struggles, however, the one thing they have that might be a sign of improvement in the new reality is that Sun and Jin are together. In the reality we are familiar with, they’ve spent quite some time trying to reunite, so far unsuccessfully. Destiny is trying to keep them apart in one way or another in both realities. Perhaps they are destined to be lovers torn apart by Destiny. Destiny is confused.

I’m rather irritated by the Lost promoting people. The Lost Myface (Facebook) fan page misled me to believe that we would see whether Sun and Jin reunite and we would learn which Kwon is the candidate. None of that happened, unless they are suggesting that Sun and Jin will never reunite and that Jin is the candidate since in the new reality Sun is not a Kwon (since they are not married in the new reality, though she is pregnant – that slut hahaha).

As I watched this episode, I began to consider another possibility for what the new reality/flash-sideways might be. Previously, I suggested that it’s what happens after the new Jacob, who I believe will be Hurley, takes over. However, I think it might be possible that there might not be a new Jacob. Perhaps Fake John Locke/The Smoke Monster/Maybe Man in Black will succeed in getting all the candidates gathered and off the island. After all, Real John Locke/Jeremy Bentham was able to get them all back onto the island. If Fake John Locke manages this, which he obviously wants to because if there’s no one to take over for Jacob, then he can be liberated from the island and roam free, then perhaps the new reality is a reality without a Jacob. If this is the case, then it could suggest that either Jacob is evil after all, Jacob was lying about the evil nature of Man in Black and about the purpose of the island as the cork in Evil’s bottle, or that Jacob and Man in Black are less powerful than we thought.

The new reality/flash-sideways is not a world imbued with Evil, particularly since most of the characters we’ve seen have better lives in the new reality than they do in the reality we are familiar with. However, perhaps those improvements are subjective; perhaps I simply see things optimistically. I’ve discussed previously the rose-colored view of the new reality, where Sayid is morally good even if he can’t accept it, Real John Locke accepts his disability and has more time with his love, Jack begins to improve his relationship with the son he doesn’t have in the reality we’re familiar with, Kate’s good core still drives her, Sawyer chose law enforcement rather than con artistry, Jin and Sun are together, at least physically, and Ben doesn’t need power and saves rather than sacrifices Alex. It is possible to view the new reality as some form of Hell, where Sayid’s guilt keeps him apart from his love, Real John Locke is disabled, Jack has become his father in that his son fears him, Kate is constantly on the run, Sawyer is plagued with the need for revenge, Jin might be murdered for his affair with his soul mate Sun, and Ben lacks power and confidence. Despite these possibilities, I am still leaning toward my previous Hurley-centric, Jacob is Good though Flawed, Man-in-Black is Evil predictions. After all, there is no evidence thus far that Hurley could be in Hell in the new reality.

Is Widmore Good or Evil?

Charles Widmore, Eloise Hawking, and Benjamin Linus have a lot in common. Each has been leader of the Others at some point, and therefore each has served under Jacob. If one is to assume that Jacob is Good, as I do for the most part, then one can also assume that Widmore, Eloise, and Ben are generally Good. However, they all possess some degree of evilness, and they have all, at one time, been consumed by power. They have all committed evil acts in the name of Jacob and, in their minds, to protect the Island. Assuming that Jacob is Good, they have all done evil things in the name of something good, and for the purpose of protecting the world from true Evil, assuming Jacob wasn’t lying about the purpose of the Island. Both Ben and Eloise sacrificed their daughter (Alex Rousseau Linus) and son (Daniel Faraday) respectively in the name of Jacob. Ben and Widmore have clearly demonstrated their unhealthy need for power, although Ben has overcome this Evil attribute.

We don’t know very much about Charles Widmore, nor do we know much about Eloise Hawking; however, I’m more interested in Widmore right now. We know that he hates Ben, and we can imagine that probably results from some big usurping that Ben must have done to get his job as Leader of the Others. Alternatively, perhaps his take-over was legitimate. When it looked like Real John Locke was going to take over as the new leader, Ben understood that it was what the Island and Jacob wanted, but he seemed rather jealous and loathsome of Real John Locke because, with a legitimate take-over comes the necessity to relinquish control and power. Ben overcame this eventually; however, it seems that Widmore has not. It’s interesting to see all these former enemies uniting against the common enemy of the Evil Incarnate that is The Smoke Monster/Fake John Locke/Man in Black.

The title of this episode, “The Package,” sheds light on one of the evil things Charles Widmore has done, presumably for Good purpose. He has drugged and transported Desmond, his package, back to the island, obviously very much against his will. However, Widmore most likely did this because Jacob and the Island presumably need him for the holy war, where they will fight the Evil that is Man in Black/The Smoke Monster/Fake John Locke.

Charles Widmore seems to have several philosophical connections. When he finds Real John Locke off the island, he renames him Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher who believed that which is useful is good. In a Benthamian way, Widmore uses Desmond Hume, named for a man whose philosophy was similar to that of Philosopher John Locke; both philosophers believed that human knowledge is based on and restricted to sensory observations. I think I learned about some of these people many a year ago, however, I remember nothing. Perhaps in the future, I will read more than a short definition of them and write more on Lost and Philosophy. I will say this, however: I believe that Lost is a big conspiracy to get people to learn about philosophy and other edu-ma-cational things.

My favorite part of this episode, other than the Ben parts (because I’m in love with him now) was all that fun talk of the Aphasia that Sun suffered from. Yes, I’m a linguisitcky geek. Yes, I could’ve said “linguistics geek,” but that wouldn’t have been funny.

4 ways to Make Lots of Money!

I read somewhere that when using Google Adsense (I mean Topeka Adsense), the higher paying ads are the ones about money and commerce. This amused me. I guess the old adage is true: You have to [use] money to make money.


So I decided to sell out (pun intended of course) and write a blog posting about making money.

I can think of four ways to get lots of money:

1) Work really hard. This doesn’t always work, but it will probably make you a better person. Unless you become a workaholic, or alienate the people you love and who love you for the sake of working hard. If that’s the case, then it will be your downfall.

2) Be born into a family that already has lots of money. This is the easiest way of going about getting lots of money. But it might make you a worser person (hahahahahaha, get it?) Or maybe it won’t. I guess that’s up to you, if you decide to be born into money.

3) Screw people over, in a Madoffian (Madovian?) manner. You could make lots of money, but you might lose it all and end up in prison for 150 years. Additionally, you’ll be a horrible person. The world will hate you. This is probably not the best route for making lots of money.

4) Be lucky and win the lottery. If you succeed in this unlikely event, this is a great way to make money. However, as with any money-making technique, this can lead to terrible things like greed or the money consuming you, or worse, you could (SPOILER ALERT) end up on some crazy island like Hurley did in Lost after he won the lottery. But then again, maybe that island is a blessing for Hurley and the others, and maybe also the Others.

I imagine there might be other ways to make money as well. For example, you could win a big lawsuit or a big settlement in a lawsuit. However, that would technically require that you (or your lawyer) work hard in the lawsuit, so that would fall under the category of working hard for the money (so you better be treated right). It might also require some good luck, and could thus fall into the “Being Lucky” category as well.

You might think there are ways to make money that require work that is easy, or that don’t require any work at all. However, difficulty is relative, so if something is easy for you, it might be hard for someone else, and so it still fits in the category of working hard. Similarly, if something doesn’t feel like work to you, because it’s so easy or you simply enjoy it, that is also relative – you might not have to put any effort into something, but someone else might struggle with the same thing, and you might enjoy something, but someone else might not,.

Perhaps you might be thinking that another way to get money would be via theft. However, this could fit into two of the categories above: screwing people over and working hard. In fact, screwing people over could itself fit into the working hard category, so perhaps it is redundant. Anyway, with theft, you’re obviously screwing someone over, though not exactly in a Madoffian way, for the latter was probably a bit more creative than simply robbing someone and also the latter involved screwing over a large number of people. I think it’s clear, however, how the two methods fit in the same category.

Both of these screwing-people-over methods of getting money also fit into the working hard category; all the scheming, planning, and preparing for any of the ways to screw people over (Madoffian or more traditional theft) all require hard work. Arguably, it’s not hard work at all, but then we’re back to the relative nature of difficulty. Theft might be easy for some people, but it might be difficult for other people, particularly people who come equipped with consciences. In addition to conscience-ridden people, another example of someone who might feel that theft is hard work would be a shy individual. I imagine it would be rather difficult for a shy person to go up to someone and rob them – they might have to talk to their victim, and if the robber is overcome with stage fright, they might not succeed in their endeavors to screw someone over. Therefore, the robber would have to work really hard to conquer his or her shyness and fears. It’s clear then, the screwing-people-over method of getting money should fall into the category of working hard, and it is therefore a redundant category. However, since I am lazy, I will leave it as a separate category above and continue to claim that there are four ways to make money.

Perhaps being lucky is also a redundant category. After all, in order to win the lottery, you have to play the lottery, and in order to do that, effort (to buy lottery tickets) and pre-existing money are necessary. However, if one were truly lucky, then buying a lottery ticket wouldn’t be difficult, rendering the relative nature of difficulty irrelevant given luckiness. Therefore, being lucky shall remain a separate category, irrelevant of my lazy inclinations.

I should mention that these methods of getting money have some degree of uncertainty. For example, you could work really hard, but make very little money, or no money at all, or you could be a really lucky person, but you might only be lucky in more sentimental ways rather than fiscally. (Does that make sense? Should I have said “financially”? I don’t care, “fiscally” sounds more fun.) You could screw people over, but the people you screwed over might not have much money for you to steal. You could be born into money, but your family might be very stingy in life and then not bequeath any of the money to you. Therefore, my methods of getting money are not guaranteed methods. Also, they are void where prohibited. (What? That doesn’t even make sense.)

I’ve been discussing ways to get money, however my list o’ categories does not reflect keeping the money that is gotten. Keeping money is also important; if you use all the money you get, you won’t have anymore. However, keeping all of it is no fun, because what is the point of getting all that money if you don’t enjoy any of it. Swimming in your money like Uncle Scrooge would probably get boring eventually. It’s important to find a nice balance between saving money and using it for nice things and survival – well, survival is also a nice thing, but you know what I mean.

I like money. It’s a good thing to have around. However, it can also be evil – the root of all evil, in fact. Furthermore, it’s dirty – everyone touches it with their germy hands. That’s why credit and debit cards are better: they’re touched by fewer people. I’m a germaphobe.

I hope this has been helpful in your endeavors to make or get lots of money! Good luck, and when you do, share some with me!

DISCLAIMER: Don’t steal things or otherwise screw people over – it’s wrong, there are consequences that are not good, and you will suffer them in some way, even if your just deserts are served later on, or if it’s in the form of guilt, for that guilt will defeat you.