The mission is well-underway and hopefully, by the end of the day, it will be out of my hands and the powers that be will be controlling my poster destiny. This is more of an informal update to let everyone know that I haven't actually quit. I am scheduling the first formal Lost Poster update to be August 24, 2009. Why? Well, for those Lost fans that aren't in the know, that is the day that the cast starts shooting in Hawaii. What this means is that I have two weeks to actually get some cast members to sign it right in front of me!I know that some cast members have moved to Hawaii, making it a little difficult.
But there are some who still live here in Southern California, and I hope to actually get them to sign it. That is, of course, if I can work up the intestinal fortitude to just walk up to them in the middle of the street with my poster in hand without making it look like I was stalking them. I'd rather not resort to TMZ tactics. Although I do find it frustrating that the weekend I wanted to go to Disneyland but couldn't was the weekend Jorge Garcia chose to go to the happiest place on earth (As mentioned on Jorge Garcia’s Blog).
Until August 24, I'll post up some short stories that I've written that will hopefully entertain you. It's fitting since the initial reason for setting up this blogger account was to post my short stories online. Before I sign off, I'd like to give a special thanks to Anil and Karen of TheODI.com Lost Podcast who got me pointed in the right direction for this project.
It happened on September 22, 2004. A phenomenon was unleashed upon the world that proved that anything was possible. Amidst an ocean of reality shows and game shows, LOST dared audiences to start thinking again. Five seasons later, the show is about to complete its run as one of the best shows that has ever been put on television since the T.V. was invented.
Fans (myself among them) are already mourning, the end of a great run of television that actually got people started reading again, started talking again. It wasn’t until I made it to the LOST panel at the 2008 Comic Con in San Diego that I saw the shows ability to connect people. And I’m not just talking about the writers’ obsession with the “six degrees of separation” concept.
People from all over the world can find a character that they relate to, that they can cheer for. Of course there are the storylines that keep audiences guessing week after week, but it’s the characters that draw us into this world. It’s the characters that make us believe that there is an island. When the characters go through their ups and downs, we all go along for the ride. We rooted for Charlie to kick his addictions, none of us dared to tell Locke what he couldn’t do, and there’s no way you can convince me that no one was mourning with Sawyer when Juliet fell down that shaft.
It’s a rare thing to be connected to total strangers, especially when it can be credited to a television show. It’s inspired hope in so many people and I am certainly no exception. I don’t want to bore you with the details of my life but suffice it to say that I need direction. I’ve been running around in circles like Desmond at the end of season 2, and I need the right bearing to get out of this rut.
Comic Con 2009 hosted the final LOST panel not too long ago and participants were given various treats. There were of course the cast members that showed up: Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Michael Emerson (Ben), Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), and the biggest surprise was Dominic Monaghan. On a side note, I wonder why female cast members never make it out to the convention. Elizabeth Mitchell and Michelle Rodriguez were there, but not at that panel. But I digress.
Among the freebies they were handing out on entry were fliers (a possible Alternate Reality Game to promote the Season 5 Blu-Ray release), pencils, and a poster. The poster was an interesting gift. Fans of the show noticed that the cliffhanger to the Season 5 finale ended with the cut to white with the LOST title in black letters. For 5 years it had always cut to black with white letters making it arguably the best cliffhanger in the show’s run thus far.
This white background was the poster that was handed out at Comic Con. It was on a 13” x 19.5” poster, white background, with dark green letters that read LOST, The Final Season, 2010. And that’s when I got the right bearing. For the longest time in my life, I felt as if nothing was going right. At one point I felt that it was entirely my fault; that I didn’t follow through with anything that I started. It was almost as if I had felt destined to fail at everything that I attempted.
But now I have a new goal. It’s a goal that I intend to reach. When you look at the bigger picture, it might not look like much, but if I could accomplish this then I could feel like I could do anything. Before the end of Season 6, I am going to fill that poster out… with the autographs of at least 4 members of the cast and/or crew of LOST. So if you know anybody that can help me out then let me know. I live right by Burbank, CA where the show is written and edited and it still seems like a daunting task, but I promise you that I will do it.
There will be those who don’t believe I can do it. But in the words of my favorite character on LOST, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do.” Wish me luck, and here’s to the greatest show that has ever been on television.
