My All Encompassing Thoughts on LOST

Oh, LOST. Where do I begin? Let me just say that LOST is one of the most entertaining shows ever. So much drama and mystery, mixed in with romance and a bit of comedy all together makes one heck of a TV program. However, what makes LOST such a great show is its characters. The main nucleus of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley are what drive the show. But there’s also even better characters in Benjamin Linus and John Locke. There’s a reason Michael Emerson and Terry O’Quinn won Emmy’s for their portrayal of those characters. And there’s also great characters in Sayid, Sun and Jin, and Charlie. Funny thing about a lot of the characters is that a lot of them, Sun, Jin, Hurley, and Ben, were not supposed to be in the show or not on for as long as they were, but strong performances by the actors kept those characters around. Jack was supposed to be killed off in the Pilot, but he wasn’t for two reasons. One, they liked Matthew Fox as a lead, and two, they thought it might possibly dissuade people from watching if the most important characters can be killed off so easily.

What’s also great about LOST is its unique blend of science fiction with reality. It uses just the right amount of sci-fi to make us believe things that happen on the show might actually be possible. Perhaps they went too far with time travel, people living for hundreds of years, and the island physically moving on the earth, but those kinds of things intrigued us. They kept us wondering. Without the sci-fi on LOST, it would just be about people landing on an island, trying to survive, leaving, then trying to get back to save others.

The show progressed in such an amazing way, that like Harry Potter with each of its books, each of LOST’s seasons can be briefly described as to what they are about. Season 1 is about surviving and getting to know our characters. Season 2 is about the Hatch, Dharma Initiative, and the other people on the Island. Season 3 is about the Others, finding out more about them. Season 4 is about getting off the Island and the introduction of Flash Forwards. Season 5 was about Time Travel and the history of the Dharma Initiative. Season 6 was about returning to the Island, the Man in Black and Jacob, and what was known as the “Flash Sideways” timeline. Each season of LOST can be viewed by itself as a great season, and every season ending episode has a great cliffhanger.

While LOST is one of the most entertaining hours of television in the history of television, it’s hard to describe it as one of the most accurate and complete television series. The show is now finished, but there are still questions about certain mysteries. How could Walt appear to people on the Island? Why did Hugo get the nickname Hurley? What was the real story about the real Henry Gale? And what about the earliest inhabitants of the Island, which appear to be Egyptians? Who built the Statue of Tawraret? A lot of the questions also on the show were answered half-heartedly, such as Jacob’s powers and how he was able to do certain things with his touch, and the healing properties of the Island.

LOST will forever be one of my favorite dramas of all time. What I personally love about the show is how it can make us feel so many ways: happy, sad, excited, anxious, and scared. There’s also many moments in the show so intense and heart pounding you have to take deep breaths after watching it.

One more thing that doesn’t get recognized enough on the show is its music. LOST has a fantastic score, thanks to the brilliant work by Michael Giacchino. Giacchino does an amazing job composing perfect pieces for each scene, and they always fit into the scene. Sad, emotional moments will feature background music with a slow melodic beat usually accompanied by a nice piano piece. They only add to the emotion we feel with each scene. LOST without its music would be like the Star Wars prequels without their special effects. They would be nothing.

LOST, to sum up, is a fantastic show. It’s sad it only lasted six seasons, but it finished nicely. If anyone likes mystery, drama, action, and romance all in one show, and they haven’t seen LOST, then they are definitely missing out. It started out with one of the most expensive Pilots ever, but boy was it worth it. LOST will forever live on as one of the great television dramas of all time.

Comparison of Giants and Mariners Games

I have recently, in the past month, been to two baseball games. They were in different stadiums and each involved two different teams. The first one I went to was in San Francisco at AT&T Park where the Giants took on the St. Louis Cardinals. The second one I went to more recently was in Seattle at Safeco Field where the Mariners took on the Detroit Tigers.

First, I will start with the similarities. Both games were close, competitive, and low-scoring. Both games featured great pitching performances. Both games had the team I was rooting for win. Both games had the home team (the team I was supporting, obviously) take the lead in the bottom of the 8^th and had their closers close out the 9^th for the save.

Now the differences. The Giants game had over 40,000 fans while the Mariner game had only 20,000. However, the Giants game was only slightly louder. The Giants game featured no home runs while the Mariner game had three.

I enjoyed both games and I am very happy with their outcomes. The Giants ended up winning 2-0 and the Mariners won 5-3. The Mariners are my #1 favorite team, but the Giants are my favorite NL team.

Safeco Field is one of the fan friendliest parks in baseball. I had really good seats along the first base line, just 12 rows back from the field. For the Giants game, I was more than 30 rows back, but still on the first base line. I would have to say I enjoyed the Mariner one more, not only because it was with my favorite team, but also because I had better seats.

AT&T Park is a very good ballpark to catch a game. The Ferry ride to the game takes you right to the ballpark. However, by the time it gets there, it gives you very little time to explore the ballpark. But the fans are passionate in San Francisco and they’ve got a decent team with some good young players such as Lincecum and Sandoval.

I’d like to finish by saying just one thing. Go Giants and go Mariners!

American Idol Top 3 Recap

American Idol Top 3
May 18, 2010
By Brian Holland

Sorry I didn’t do a blog last week. My girlfriend didn’t need me to plus I just wanted to enjoy it without having to worry about writing about it.

Ryan walks by the Idols announcing their home towns, blah blah blah. Cue American Idol theme.

The judges are introduced by Ryan.

Casey’s going first and his personal song choice is “Okay, it’s all right with me” by Eric Hutchinson. Never heard of the song or artist. He does an ok job at best. It wasn’t that great.

Randy: It was only all right for me. It didn’t quite work for me.
Ellen: It was all right but it needed to blow us away.
Kara: It’s hard to pick a song that most people haven’t heard and take it to a new level.
Simon: That song was like the salad part of a meal. It will leave no lasting impact.
Me: It was only ok. You gotta be great and you weren’t. You are in deep trouble unless your next performance wows us.

So Casey didn’t do great. Crystal up next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Crystal chose “Come to My Window” by Melissa Ethridge. Another song I haven’t heard of. She has the harmonica holder and the harmonica to play during her performance. She does a great job. Much better than Casey’s. She only plays the harmonica for a couple seconds right at the very end of her performance.

Randy: I didn’t love the arrangement but I loved the vocal. It all worked in the end.
Ellen: Good song choice and Melissa would be very proud of you.
Kara: You did get lost in the arrangement, you don’t have the rasp of Melissa, but it’s still a good vocal.
Simon: Very honest performance and right choice of song, well done.
Me: I agree, good song choice for you, but I hope you really connect with the next one because I didn’t sense a full connection with the song here.

Lee up next with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Lee is singing “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Good song. He does a decent job. Nothing that wowed me too much, but I did like it. It started out slowly then picked up.

Randy: Brilliant song choice. You sounded amazing. Somebody here is feeling like they can win it!!!
Ellen: You have grown a lot, first you were a lamb now you’re like a gazelle.
Kara: Everyone needs to do what you just did there. IMO, round 1 goes to Lee.
Simon: That song was absolutely on the money. You didn’t just win round 1, you CRUSHED the other two.
Me: Perfect song choice for you! You did a great job and you did win round 1.

We’ll see what Randy and Kara picked for Casey, after the break.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We see a tiny bit of Casey’s hometown visit and Randy and Kara have chosen “Daughters” by John Mayer. Never heard of it. I think Casey would be better with “Waitin’ on the World to Change”, but ok. The song is very slow and not exciting at all. Casey’s really doing nothing with it.

Randy: This fit you like a glove, nice one.
Ellen: You’ll have a lot of mothers and daughters voting for you. That was really good.
Kara: You changed it up but didn’t stray too far from the original. You did a good job.
Simon: Good song choice. A lazy arrangement however. You sounded very good on it, but there wasn’t that wow factor.
Me: I thought Randy and Kara could have picked a better song. Something that got that deep vibrato of your voice.

Crystal up next with Ellen’s pick.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Ellen picks “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney for Crystal. YES! I love this song. Excellent song choice. Ellen might be quite smart in the music field after all. And she hits the falsetto really well. The song actually doesn’t seem to fit her that well. Maybe it’s the tone of Crystal’s voice or the fact that the lyrics contain “Maybe I’m a Man”. Oops. Maybe Ellen didn’t pick a great song for Crystal. Oh well, LOL.

Randy: Great song, great vocals, and we got somebody else in it to win it!!!
Ellen: I couldn’t have asked for more. You did it.
Kara: You showed parts of your voice we hadn’t heard of before. And no instrument. I think it paid off.
Simon: I was surprised at the song pick at first, but you showed you have soul and I think you may be thanking Ellen for putting you in the final.
Me: The lyrics kind of confused me, but it was perfect for your vocal range. You could not have done any better with it.

Lee with Simon’s pick next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

As opposed to being in front of a crowd when hearing about their song, Lee was on a plane when he got his text from Simon. He is singing “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. A choir of backup singers joins him on stage, and I gotta say, another great job by Lee. One of his best. Simon is shown afterward looking very pleased and applauding. All the judges give him long applause. The audience gives him longer applause.

Randy: Biggest moment of your career right there! Unbelievable dude!
Ellen: That was stunning.
Kara: You are what this show’s all about. You owned the entire night.
Simon: I’m very proud of you. That showed you are a fantastic singer, a great person, and I really hope you make it next week.
Me: That’s the kind of performance that you’ll look back on fifty years from now and think, wow, that jumpstarted my career. It was that good.

So there you have it. We finish on a good note. Lee has his best night ever. Crystal was ok, at least for her standards, and Lee was a bit of a letdown. So Lee is probably going home. It would be one of the biggest shockers ever if Lee managed to make the final two.

American Idol Shortened Top 5 Recap - Frank Sinatra

American Idol Recap Top 5 – Sinatra
By Brian Holland
May 4, 2010

This is a short version because I’m watching this with my girlfriend. Anyway, Harry Connick Jr. is a part of the intro.

We have montages to Connick and Sinatra. Ryan talks to Connick for a while on stage.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Frank Sinatra’s two daughters are in the audience. Ryan talks to them.

Aaron is first. BTW Harry will be on the piano for all of the contestant’s songs. They don’t announce Aaron’s song. I personally think it’s one of Aaron’s best performances. Randy and Ellen love it but Simon and Kara are skeptical and think he needs to command the stage more.

Casey up next with his hair up.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Casey is singing Blue Skies. I think he does all right. Some of the notes he kind of struggles with however. The judges did not like his performance at all. They thought his vocals weren’t that good. He is almost as good as gone.

Crystal is up next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

She is singing Summer Wind. She does an ok job, and the judges are with me. They again think it’s not her best. She is certainly not getting better. She could be in danger not this week, but next week. If she does only ok next week she could be gone. But she is certainly safe for this week.

Big Mike with a Sinatra type hat is up next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Michael is singing The Way You Look Tonight. One of Sinatra’s most well-known songs. He does only ok but finishes with a decent note. However, the judges absolutely love it, and I can’t see why. Randy and Simon call it the best of the night, but I really didn’t see anything exceptional except the last couple notes. They’re either pimping him so he stays or I need my ears checked.

Lee finishes the show after the break.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Lee is singing That’s Life. Harry says his wife likes him (former Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre). Lee does a decent job, I liked it. The judges loved it. Lee again appears to easily be safe.

So that’s it for the Top 5. It seems to be that Casey is going home. Something I saw just recently was that Vote for the Worst switched their pick at the last minute saying “Aww (expletive) it” and going with Casey instead of Big Mike. Well, if they switch that easy, why would you support them? They are total bandwagon fans.