LOST - ABC TV Photo Album

Time as spiral groove in a record, ala Sita Sings the Blues

2009-11-03T01:21:09Z

Some similarities with LOST in the flavor of the male-female dynamic, the juxtaposition of mundane daily life with numinous archetypes, time symbolized as a spiral groove, and so on. Download or watch "Sita Sings the Blues" online, free, at http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/watch.html The three shadow puppets chattering away amongst themselves in commentary and speculation on the saga do remind me of all of us in the LOST tribe opining, asking questions, correcting each other on errors of fact, and cracking jokes about the characters and context of LOST.

YinYangBlueFlare.jpg

2009-10-08T08:06:14Z

This is cool- at http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-yin-yang-symbol-blue-flare-image3277201 is a yin yang image superimposed on a spiral like The Orchid Station time travel motif and if you click on it then a colorful blown-up portion appears on your screen as you move the cursor around. Yes, I am easily entertained (...and yes, I rotated and flipped the image so the yin and yang portions map over and match up the same as the shaded and unshaded areas below and above the LOST numbers plotted out).

LOST Numbers Plotted

2009-10-08T07:56:59Z

Hmmm, where have we seen this approximate shape before? WolframAlpha's plotting of the LOST numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 generates a yin and yang, er, dark and light shading pattern somewhat similar to the DHARMA motif and ever so much else in LOST. Perhaps just coincidence.

WolframAlpha parsing of the LOST numbers

2009-10-08T07:46:10Z

Pictured: the outcome when WolframAlpha's mighty engine parses LOST's numbers. If this link http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%224+8+15+16+23+42%22&a=*MC.~-_*Math- does not work then search "WolframAlpha" and at the Wolfram site enter 4 8 15 16 23 42 as a mathematical object. The LOST numbers' Diophantine relation is interesting; I had not realized 4+8-15-16-23+42 = 0. Probably coincidence, yet given 4+8-15-16-23+42 = 0, I wonder if this might be a hint LOST is a zero-sum game? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-sum This would seem consistent with both how the characters as a whole seem to be struggling over control of the island as if it is a cake to be cut up and how each character individually seems (imho) to perish the instant his/her dharma balances. Maybe part of the way out, off the wheel such that they are not all trapped in a loop which repeats forever, is to somehow shift the game away from being zero-sum.

4 8 15 16 23 42 or 4 15 23 24 35 42?

2009-09-18T07:53:50Z

Interesting. "Bulgaria's identical lottery draw just a coincidence" (Reuters, 17SEP2009) http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Bulgaria+identical+lottery+draw+just+coincidence/2003980/story.html The odds of an identical draw twice in a row were apparently one in four million. I wonder what the probability was for four of LOST's six numbers showing up twice in a row in Bulgaria's lottery? Doubtless much higher than one in four million. Can you imagine the consternation (if not pandemonium), though, if all six LOST numbers had shown up twice in this lottery? It actually would be a bit eerie in a way if this had happened. ABC could not buy such phenomenal advertising buzz as a fluky event like that would create for the show in the run-up to the final season.

Jailed Jack enroute to Hawaii behind bars...

2009-09-17T18:06:54Z

...locked in a parrot cage amidst 31,406 lbs of household stuff being shipped in a sea container from Alaska. There is another photo taken from farther back showing the whole mess in my blog; stuff packed in there like sardines in a can. At the last moment just before the doors were about to swing shut and the container be hauled down to the Port of Anchorage, I came across a handful of magazines I've not yet had time to read and jammed them inside a parrot cage for the trip. Quite by random chance Jack ended up looking out from behind bars, yet again, amusingly enough. If you want to read this exact copy then please do plan ahead toward coming to the post-LOST wrap party for the LOST ABC tribe at my place on the Big Island near Pahoa this coming year!

5

2009-08-16T17:09:50Z

Neuron Fractal, by Anthony Mattox

2009-08-13T06:27:05Z

Within the LOST universe construct does Smokey experience emotion of any sort --from reptilian brain impulses of anger or fear to higher monkey-brain warm fuzzies- ...and is Smokey a “he” or a “she” or an “it”? If the masculine/yang/men are from Mars and the feminine/yin/wimmin are from Venus then where is Smokey from? For your possible interest and enjoyment, at http://www.theemotionmachine.com/?p=1454 check out "The Hard Problem Of Consciousness: Is Science In Need Of Another Cognitive Revolution?" by author Steven Hardy, along with this remarkable illustration by Anthony Mattox ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/amattox/ ).

LOST Poll on Facebook, 22JUN2009

2009-06-24T08:24:50Z

BOOK

2009-05-21T02:45:12Z

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Twin-Gary-Troup/dp/1401302769 - AMAZON LINK

Creatures of Light and Darkness

2009-05-16T09:46:46Z

From 1969, by Roger Zelazny -LOSTalicious flavorful good!

Primal Egg by Laura Batson

2009-05-06T18:25:12Z

...replete with both LOST yin yang goodness and a whiff of Smokey flavor.

And what hatches from the swan?

2009-05-06T18:21:47Z

Way cool cosmic egg creation image from http://www.vladimirkush.com/popup.php?id=159&category=Editions/Available%20Limited%20Edition%20Prints Painted by Vladimir Kush, the text accompanying his Sunrise By The Ocean says "The egg symbolizes the rising Sun and the beginning of life. In many myths about the creation of the world, a cosmic egg is laid by a giant bird in a formless, ancient ocean. The egg splits into two and the sky and the earth appear from the halves of it, while the sun is seen in the yolk. You can see in the picture that the newborn Sun still hasn’t taken its final shape yet. Shreds of primary matter continue to stream from the burning sphere rising over the ocean. According to Polynesian myth, the Hawaiian Islands were born from such an egg."

Yin Yang Nebulae Cosmic Egg

2009-05-06T18:17:33Z

From a juicy New Age visual orgasm site, http://www.the-universal-link.com/

LOST in Little Athens

2009-05-04T20:26:23Z

The dynamic duo of Hurley & his skinny friend, also paired together as basically the same characters in Little Athens.

August 2003 issue of WIRED

2009-05-01T17:21:46Z

That magazine is an August 2003 issue of WIRED. The cover says, "The Super Power Issues," as well as "The Impossible Gets Real." There is also a mention of Time Travel on the cover as well.

Frequency

2009-05-01T06:54:50Z

Ever see that pattern on the poster anywhere else? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_(film) Frequency may be such a significant LOST influence that you might want to consider waiting until after LOST ends before seeing Frequency if you want everything in LOST to come as a total surprise, since LOST may use some of the same devices and employ the same thematic flavor for wrapping up a couple strands of the story.

Shadow Puppet version of Semar

2009-04-29T06:56:27Z

"Semar is perhaps the most venerable of all the punakawan and probably the best loved in all wayang. Though a comical retainer, Semar is in fact the most powerful of all Gods in the wayang genre and on occasions Batara Guru (the Hindu god Siva) has to submit to him. Semar is portrayed as being immensely fat, with heavy breasts and an enormous derriere. He is decorated like a woman but dressed as a man which gives him an ambiguous identity, heightening the mystical quality of his character. He is the repository of great wisdom, and entertains through his gentle jokes and, well, persistent farting." http://www.nusantara.com/heritage/clowns.html ...like LOST's Hurley?

Painting of Semar by Soedibio

2009-04-29T06:55:27Z

"Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer" homage by the late great John Blackburn

2009-04-28T02:13:13Z

"Ah!" I commented aloud upon seeing the opening screenshot of LOST's season 4, episode 1, with great satisfaction, "An entirely worthy LOST homage to Hippolyte Flandrin's 'Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer'!" It seemed a nifty-cool LOST moment with which to open a new season, to me, but now I am wondering if my imagination simply ran away with itself. Since then (and it has been a while now) there has been no mention I have seen in the LOST lore and canon connecting the pile of mangoes Hurley plowed through with his old camero to Flandrin's very famous exquisite painting. If you have seen the film "Gods and Monsters" then you are aware from that glimpse into the life of James Whale that it is fairly common for those who aspire to skill with painting to make their own versions or adaptations of the great masters most famous paintings. "Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer" by Flandrin is one such which has been copied many times, with many different variations, by painters during the last century-plus. My late friend John Blackburn was among them; here is a snapshot of his homage to "Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer" now hanging on a wall at my home. When I saw the pile of mangoes at the opening of season 4 my mind went immdeiately to "Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer" with the additional wonderance "...but where is the pleasantly buff lad?" The absence of the lad from the otherwise intact scene by this famous French master struck me as potentially significant and quite LOST-worthy, at the time, but since then I have seen nothing come forth to elucidate a LOST connection between Flandrin, the missing figure, and "Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer." So, am I just imagining it, or is there not a strong resemblance between the composition of this LOST pile of mangoes by the seaside and "Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer"? If I am not just imagining a strong similarity in the composition (especially given all of the Francophilia in LOST), then what does it mean that the magnificent youth in "Jeune Homme nu Assis au Bord de la Mer" is missing, LOST from this well-known scene?

LOST season 4 episode 1 opening screenshot...

2009-04-28T01:52:10Z

...a pile of mangoes, about to be plowed through by Hurley in a vintage camero (the second time in LOST Hurley has run amok in a vehicle) for the sake of comparison with various copies and renderings in homage of the original done by the great artist Hippolyte Flandrin in 1836, now in the Louvre in Paris. It is usually entitled: “Jeune Homme nu assis au bord de la mer” (“Naked Young Man seated at the sea shore”). Flandrin was superb.

Comparison with Tissot's "Cain leads Abel to Death"

2009-04-20T22:52:17Z

Looking at Tissot's "Cain leads Abel to Death" the two brothers figure in the painting's composition just as the yin-yang symbol's light-on-dark and dark-on-light circles do against their contrasting backgrounds, with the forest serving as the dark curving background around Cain and the mountain path and foreground serving as the light background around Abel. See it? Also, at http://taoism.about.com/od/visualsymbols/p/YinYang.htm are interesting observations on this central DHARMA symbol, including... Smaller Circles Within The Larger Circle: What's great about the Yin-Yang symbol is that the smaller circles nested within each half of the symbol serve as a constant reminder of the interdependent nature of the black/white "opposites." It reminds the Taoist practitioner that all of relative existence is in constant flux and change. And while the creation of pairs-of-opposites would seem to be an aspect of our human software, we can maintain a relaxed attitude around this, knowing that each side always contains the other, as night contains day, or as a mother “contains" the infant that she will, in time, give birth to. The Identity Of Relative & Absolute: We see this same idea illustrated in this passage from Shih-tou's poem "The Identity Of Relative And Absolute": Within light there is darkness, but do not try to understand that darkness. Within darkness there is light, but do not look for that light. Light and darkness are a pair, like the foot before and the foot behind in walking. Each thing has its own intrinsic value and is related to everything else in function and position. Ordinary life fits the absolute as a box and its lid. The absolute works together with the relative, like two arrows meeting in mid-air.

"Cain leads Abel to Death" by James Joseph Jacques Tissot (1836-1902)

2009-04-20T18:37:45Z

For lo, Adam knew his wife Eve intimately and even though they were on the Island she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the LORD/Smokey's help." Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a Shepherd of a flock --like unto Christian Shepherd and the prideful son he begotteth, Jack, yet to come-- but Cain cultivated the land. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering in sacrifice to the LORD. And Abel also presented an offering in sacrifice — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious --as vegetarians are wont to be with carnivores-- and he was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why are you downcast? If you do right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do right, sin is crouching at the portal. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. – Genesis 4:1-8 (HCSB, as adulterated by a LOST heretic)

Adam and Eve in a LOST tropical setting

2009-04-20T18:23:22Z

Usually the Garden of Eden looks more like it could be located in Europe or North America but this rendering (artist unknown) shows Adam and Eve in a LOST-like tropical setting. Maybe they got a look at what lies in the shadow of the statue and so have just gotten the boot from the garden in this scene? Who, indeed, will LOST's Adam and Eve turn out to be?

The original Hatch, both before and after Purple Sky Event?

2009-04-18T14:23:02Z

Check it out at http://www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/nucweapons/runit.aspx "Beneath this concrete dome on Runit Island (part of Enewetak Atoll), built between 1977 and 1980 at a cost of about $239 million, lie 111,000 cubic yards (84,927 cubic meters) of radioactive soil and debris from Bikini and Rongelap atolls. The dome covers the 30-foot (9 meter) deep, 350-foot (107 meter) wide crated created by the May 5, 1958, Cactus test. Note the people atop the dome." [Photo credit: Defense Special Weapons Agency] I wonder if this was a LOST influence, given Jughead, the island, and the Hatch (both before and after the purple sky event)? How surreal this place has in fact become, even more so than J.G. Ballard's immortal description (written in 1964, long before this dome was built over the blast test site) in The Terminal Beach. Someday to come in the not very distant future --probably somewhere between 50 and 500 years from now-- as global climate change melts the Greenland and polar glaciers raising sealevel and as the atoll continues to sink (as Charles Darwin first described the process happening), this containment dome will become submerged beneath the sea and grown over with a coral reef. If, thousands of years from now, there is an ice age which then drops sealevel 300+ feet or so, it could once more be revealed to the wind and sky, feeling the direct light of the sun, before finally being swallowed again forever by the ocean whenever that ice age ends and sealevel rises again. "The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project was completed in August 1998 and resulted in the book Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 edited by Stephen I. Schwartz. These project pages should be considered historical. "