The folks at the Rabbit Room recently posted a couple of good music videos. One, a cover of a Rich Mullins song, I posted a couple of days ago. Here’s a second one, a recent cover of U2‘s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by Jenny & Tyler (with a little help from their friends).
I’m not sure why, but U2 covers aren’t something I seek out. This one is just different enough; it builds well. Plus it’s always good to hear nice harmony.
One of the more delicate parts of LOST was the way that so many main characters had weird, unknown connections. Sometimes it worked well, while other times it smelled of incredulity. This scene between Jack and Sawyer from near the end of season one was one of the best. Just before parting ways, Sawyer says something he’s known for a while but had been unable to tell. It’s a great moment for both.
There used to be this “jingle” in tourism commercials for Tennessee: come to Tennessee, we’re playing your song. All these years later, something about the jingle stays true. Case in point: Andrew Peterson’s new Local Show. It’s an opportunity for a lot of great artists (many with roots in CCM) to showcase their talent and skill. Here’s a Rich Mullins song performed by some of my favorites: Andy Osenga, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, and Jeremy Casella.
This past week, people of pop culture commemorated the tenth anniversary of LOST, a show that many consider a pivotal show for 21st-century American television. I found (or was led to) a few interesting “reflections” on the series worth pointing out.
First is a Grantland article by Andy Greenwald. I love his first sentence:
Lost premiered 10 years ago this week. It ended four and a half years ago. And I still miss it like crazy.
What followed was a list of the six things that network today could learn from the show. My favorites? Number One: Characters First, Concept Later. Whatever you think of the show’s ending, its success was based on how well-articulated its core cast was . . . from the very beginning. And the new characters that came along, like Juliet and Ben, were fleshed out quickly and with brilliance. And then there’s Number Three: Don’t Self-Segregate. Money quote:
Here’s the beauty of Lost: There are polar bears, flashbacks, bursts of electromagnetism, and a giant, tree-crashing, human-smashing monster in the pilot. Within a year, there would be a hippie cult, a torture room, and a set of magical numbers that appears to control the universe. By the end of Season 5, a time-traveling fertility doctor used a giant stone to bash a hydrogen bomb until it exploded. The end of the show hinged on a pair of godlike brothers squabbling over an immortal deckhand and which one of them Allison Janney loved more.
And yet during all of this, Lost carried itself like a fully mainstream entertainment. Even midway through the third season, after the show secured its end date and committed more fully to the genre looniness that had been lurking beneath the surface, Lindelof and his fellow showrunner, Cuse, never stopped projecting to the furthest reaches of the peanut gallery. Lost was a big, bold show that always sought the largest possible audience.
A second article ran in the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly and was written by Doc Jensen, who also loved and wrote often about the show. The essay quickly turns to how the show became frustrating and divisive, and how he contributed to that situation as a writer.
In the aftermath, we are left with Losties who feel certain that they were loved, Losties who feel jilted, and an enduring conflict between the two parties that boils with the rancor of a bitter custody battle: How do we remember Lost? Was it a success or failure? Who decides? Who gets to be the caretaker of its memory? If there is one thing I hate about Lost—and it is probably the only thing I, an ardent, gonzo acolyte of Lost, truly hate about the show–is how its evolving vision (unintentionally) fractured the show’s vibrant fan community, and how its well-meaning wont for never-ending, friendly debate over the show’s finale has resulted in never-ending, unfriendly fighting over the show’s merit and meaning.
What is certain is that Lost helped change the way we watch and talk about television. A once-passive experience processed the next day around the water cooler is now an interactive experience parsed immediately via social media, recaps, and blogs. Of course, Lost reminds us that this kind of cultural interaction can also be a messy, flawed affair. Case in point: Me. I wrestle with the value of my contribution to the conversation. The overthinking. The projections. The emotional enmeshment. My constant theorizing—sometimes cheeky, more often sincere—cultivated the notion that Lost was a puzzle to be solved, not a story to be enjoyed. What I regret the most is season 6. Those frustrated by the show’s oblique, confounding story needed clear-eyed, common sense analysis—not one last hurrah of my absurd shtick. I am sorry.
And in case you’re wondering about the mysteries whose lack of resolution frustrated so many viewers? Well, the people at The Telegraph put together a nice list of most of the Island’s major mysteries and what explanations were given (that you might have midst while in the midst of an early form of hate-watching). You can check that list out here.
You can read more of Greenwald’s Grantland piece here. I highly recommend it. And you can read the rest of Jensen’s piece here.
Hard to believe that we’re almost two months on the other side of the release of Guardians of the Galaxy. There was a long moment where the movie’s success was an uncertainty. It was probably the biggest risk Marvel Studio’s could make. And yet something about that risk was probably well-calculated. So leave it to the folks at Saturday Night Live (recently hosted by Chris Pratt) to play off of things. Funny stuff. And probably not untrue.
Today marks the official tenth anniversary of that Sunset on the Beach where ABC premiered the two-hour pilot of LOST. And what an evening (and series) it was! Had the chance to say a few words in yesterday’s Star-Advertiser (not at my most profound), which was cool (thanks to a friend who also put together a crossword puzzle for the occasion). A few days ago I dug up the “loot” that ABC passed out that evening: pictures, postcards, license plate frames, and even a hand-held fan (that still works). It was a great beginning to a great show . . . one that has in many ways been emblematic of the best parts of life here on “the Island.”
The producers of the show put together a quick montage of the show’s run that aired recently at Comic-Con. Thought it would be worth sharing here. I’ll resume my “greatest hits” look at the series later in the week.
One of the strongest themes that runs throughout six seasons of LOST is the potential conflict of science and faith. From almost the beginning, Locke was the man of faith placed in contrast to Jack’s man of science. It’s interesting to watch the characters change perspectives, especially in the first three seasons. What are your presuppositions? What new information do let shape your view? Locke waffles when he learns more about the hatch. Jack waffles when he understands the significance of the island after leaving it. Here’s the confrontation from season one that really coalesced the conflict.
I haven’t said much about the imminent release of final installment of The Hobbit (which isn’t to say that I have nothing to say, mind you). I’ve got a theory and I’m excited, but I’d rather put those thoughts down later. Two things to look at, though.
First, Entertainment Weekly just released this “banner” for the final movie. It’s a beautiful thing. And once you click on it, you can enlarge it.
And then there’s the sole trailer that we have for the movie so far. For the most part, it’s quite impressive. The overlay of the song from The Lord of the Rings is a great and necessary touch. And the last question, asked by Thorin, is probably a question straight from Peter Jackson’s mouth: you’ve followed me five times before, so can you follow me one more time?
The answer, of course, is yes.
The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies commences in December.
It’s not that I have a problem with technology; my problem is with how we (don’t) think about how it affects the way our world actually works. Part of this problem stems from my becoming an old codger. Another part of it comes from interacting with people who don’t know a world without the internet. But it’s what I’ve read over the last few years that has most informed my view on technology and its use of us.
So while I don’t plan on purchasing Apple’s new Watch when it releases, I do think it’s worth thinking about. Two of my favorite authors have posted their thoughts about the tech, and their questions and concerns are good.
In his TIME magazine online piece, Nicholas Carr notes that Apple has a history of producing product that changes things, even if it starts out as nothing special. Consider:
Apple has some experience in taking a lackluster new product and turning it into a must-have for the masses. When it released its iPod in 2001, there were already plenty of MP3 players on the market. None of them, though, had garnered much interest. The iPod, with its simple interface and copious capacity, broke the market open—and revolutionized the music business in the process. With the elegantly designed, eye-catching Apple Watch, the company is hoping to pull off a similar feat for wearables.
For Carr, though, that’s just the beginning of things. The rest of his article focuses on things learned from the advent of the wristwatch. It’s a good read that you can find here.
Another post worth considering is the list of questions raised by Seth Godin. His post begins:
Watches and eyeglasses have morphed into devices that many choose to spend time and money on, becoming not just tools, but a form of identity.
We could extend this a bit to handbags and to cars, but the number of items that qualify as functional jewelry is fairly small–and the market for each is huge, far bigger than if the only use was as a tool.
Apple has long flirted around the edges of this psychological sweetspot, and the reaction to yesterday’s watch is fascinating to see.
From there, Godin asks four questions that connect to issues of fashion and identity. You can read those four questions here.
Change, of course, is inevitable. But we have been given the ability to reason, to think through, the potential benefits and costs of our decisions. Even something as small as a wristwatch can have great effect. That’s reason enough to watch the Watch.
And we were all wondering why U2’s latest album was so long in dropping . . .
I found out about the release of Songs of Innocence at the end of a half-day at work. Took a brisk walk home and downloaded the album so I could listen to it on big speakers. Early favorites? “The Miracle” and “Song for Someone.”
Bono did one brief interview along with the album’s release. Rolling Stone got the story, and you can read it here.
And while there are no official music video for the album’s first track, you can hear a sample of “The Miracle” below.
Space Enough, and Time 