Food for Thought: Live together, die alone

Lost only has seventeen hours left. That's the sad truth of the matter -- after those seventeen hours are up, no more Lost. The story will be complete, character fates resolved. And the sad thing is, most Lost fans will experience these episodes separately. The Lost community, I hate to say, is too divided. Fans affiliate themselves to one site and then do not venture to explore any other facets of the Lost community.

We have eight months until the season six premiere. Some are dreading this long hiatus, but I look at it as an opportunity to unite these different factions into one big fan community in time for the season six premiere. The sixth season will probably be the best season of Lost yet, and it'd be a shame for us to go about watching it divided into factions. The fanbase is such a thriving and diverse community that it shouldn't be segmented into different parts. It should be one big family that all happen to enjoy the same television show.

Now, I'm not saying that anyone should stop visiting a certain site and move to another. But spread out a little bit. Here's my challenge to you: venture out to a fansite that you've never visited before. Spend a little time with their community. Chat with them about the show. Invite them to spread out a little bit too, to check out other Lost sites (but don't advertise -- that's a big no-no). Help this great community become a little more connected to each other, because hey, live together, die alone, right?

Kubrick launch party at Meltdown Comics

Most of the Lost "The Powers That Be" (TPTB) gathered for the autograph session and launch party for the Medicom Kubrick Lost action figures at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood. The figures may or may not be to everyone's taste, but any Lost fan would be in envy of the fun time had by all last Wednesday November 19. In attendance were names such as : J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, the writing duo of Adam Horowitz & Edward Kitsis, as well as stalwart Elizabeth Sarnoff and of course the recently poached-from-the-comics-world Brian K. Vaughan.

There was also an art gallery by executive producer Jack Bender, and in the LA Weekly gallery I spied the "Hatch Painting" as well as a painting from Widmore's bedroom, a sighting that confirmed for the first time it was yet another in-show artwork by Bender.

Photo galleries: Autographed goodies were available galore, as well as what looked to be a chance to suit up in authentic DHARMA jumpsuits, from the looks of several photo galleries posted by fans as well as the LA Weekly.

Take a look at the two photo galleries and have fun.

The Shape of Things to Do

Damn. Lost Season 4 has been complete for quite awhile. I've seen each episode too many times and I've watched the Charladay scenes many more times than I would like to admit. I caught up on all the shows Lost made me neglect. As soon as Comic Con started I was glued to the Youtube videos of Darlton's panel. Of course, I signed up for the new ARG as soon as dharmawantsyou.com went live. I have even recently been outside. What is a Lostpedian to do in these troubled, Lost-less, times?

Worry not! A few dedicated Lost fans have decided to ease our suffering, with the creation of humorous websites to keep us busy – hopefully for the full 188 or so days until Lost's magnificent return to the air.

Lost ROFL is the icanhazcheeseburger of the Lost fansite universe. For those of you not up to speed with your internet memes (tsk, tsk!), Lost ROFL is a collection of Lost screen captures and animated GIFs with dumb captions, or alternatively, dumb pictures with Lost quotes as captions. Lost ROFL also scopes out the best of Lost humor elsewhere on the web, so you'll get great (and sometimes obscure) videos and websites, as well as Lost humor culled from other forums and blogs. The most entertaining part of the site is a “WE HAZ TO GO BACK” subsection, featuring oodles of cute furry animals, civil war generals, and anything else with a significant amount of hair reminding us where we have to go! Lost ROFL, like Lostpedia, is powered by user generated content, and you are bored. Submit! You've got work to do!

Oh, you're lazy? I know the feeling. I was supposed to have this written in time to be posted after the Season 4 finale! Luckily for us, Lostpedia's own BauerUK has decided to create his own comic and requires nothing from us. AfterLOST is a fantastically drawn webcomic about alternative endings to episodes of Lost, perhaps if it was written by surreal comedians with a taste for the abstract. Currently, it's mostly Season 4 episodes, but previous episodes are in the works, I've been told.

What sort of blogger would I be if I didn't talk about my own stuff? (Answer: unique)
I host the Lostpedia Bash, a collection of funny quotes from the official Lostpedia Chat, based on the great bash.org database, but all about Lost. While some quotes are inside jokes among the participants, others should make sense to any Lost fan – and hopefully make them laugh!

Should you require a little more interaction, you might want to check out the Games Sub-forum at Lostpedia's official forums. While not necessarily humorous, there are a whole slew of forum-based games that will provide countless memes to take part in and word associations to associate. There's also a "Mafia" game, Zombie choose-your-own-adventure (Season 7 anyone?), arrested development word association, and more. Come on in and take a try at it!

On behalf of the sysops, forum mods, and IRC ops, all of us at Lostpedia, say thank you, namaste, and... wish you good luck in finding something to keep you busy.

Lost Ate My Life

Jon Lachonis and Amy Johnston (aka DocArzt formerly of TheTailSection, and Hijinx from the Fuselage) have published their book on Lost fandom: 'Lost Ate My Life' The book is not a rehash of content from their respective websites, but is a varied new collection of unique content, including past and new interviews with Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Gregg Nations, Javier Grillo-Marxuach (who also wrote the forward), as well as a personal report from the set. Lachonis mentions there are more surprises in store as well. The promotional material explains the title: "'Lost Ate my Life!' is not the authors' self-referential statement. Instead, it is the collective cry of the hardened fan base for ABC's pop-culture phenomenon. The book has two central ideas: first, that the creators of Lost created a shift in the thinking of online communities, effectively removing the barrier between the artists and the patrons... (and) Lost bloggers became important celebrities amongst the fan bases, some fans found themselves drawn into the inner circle..."

Read more here

Kris White Interview

Kris White, the producer and sometimes host of the Official Lost Podcast was recently interviewed by AudiblyLost, the fanblog dedicated to all things audio about Lost, including podcasts and music. Part one of the interview has been posted, you can read it here. I'll also eagerly await parts 2 and 3 because White reportedly describes his usage of Lostpedia's wiki.

UPDATE: Part 2 and Part 3 have been published.

User account creation disabled (spoiler lockdown)

Due to vandalism that has occurred repeatedly since the release of the previously discussed spoilers for There's No Place Like Home Parts 2 & 3 on DarkUFO, we have had to temporarily disable user account creation on Lostpedia. Unfortunately some members of the community seem to be focused on destroying the surprise and enjoyment of the show for the majority of the fans, so we've had to take this action to protect everyone who visits from the malicious actions of a few.

Sorry everyone, but when we are faced with a choice between releasing sensitive information like this unwittingly (due to the very nature of a wiki being editable by anyone), and stopping a few members from creating memberships, we decided not to spoil it and limit member creation.

User account creation will be re-enabled once Season 4 has finished on May 29th.

What do you think of spoilers?

New Spoilers Restart Controversy

Note: No spoilers in this article. No spoilers in comments please (Comments thread will be moderated).

In the wake of a major scene-by-scene spoiler of the Season 4 finale by the Lost fansite DarkUFO, I must say I'm disappointed (again) but not surprised. Apparently he has received very specific spoilers for the season finale, and has posted the synopsis of the first hour of three, apparently a very detailed scene-by-scene reveal. A new controversy is brewing, and we want to hear your opinions.

Andy, the proprietor of DarkUFO, says he received the information from a source claiming to be "Lostfan108". If you don't remember, Lostfan108 was the person who gave Dark the spoiler for the finale of Season 3, perhaps one of the biggest mindfucks in television history. I'm glad I wasn't spoiled for that one. Dark of course released the information and started a huge controversy, causing Darlton to sulk into radio silence. If this is indeed the same Lostfan108, the content is real.

This time, DarkUFO has taken some care, including posting warnings, guidelines on behaviors such as disseminating spoilers responsibly, and posting the spoiler as a flash slideshow that can't be easily copy-pasted in its current form. Of course we all know a text summary will be posted soon, somewhere, by somebody. If there is a huge twist at the end of this season, it too will be accidentally spoiled for many fans as the site promises to release spoilers for the final two parts of the finale. Is it worth it, Andy?

For the rest of you, be careful on "teh Internetz" for the next few weeks. It's a dangerous world out there.

Lostpedia Debate League Premieres May 11

Lostpedia's new debate league premieres in the Lostpedia IRC Chat tomorrow Sunday 11 May at 2pm EST and 7pm GMT at irc.gamesurge.net #lostpedia. If you are unfamiliar with IRC, simply click here to use our server's Java chat application in your browser.

The debate topic for tomorrow's event is Ben: good or evil?. Debate teams have already registered in Lostpedia forums here. Team registration for future debates will also be in forums. Please join the chat to watch and make this moderated debate a success!

Name that Car: Lost Edition

Here's a fun game for you while we wait for 4x06 next week. I was editing our Wiki list article on cars, and thought that the image thumbnails could be a trivia test for Losties.

This is how it works. In the following images from Lost, name the main character driving or riding in the car. If you know that, you should know the episode.

The list will be a mix of difficulty: 4 each in categories or Easy, Medium and Hard.

To play, don't click on the images (the URL filenames sometimes give away the answer), and see if you can do it just from the 400 pixel thumbnails.


For every correct answer in Easy, score 1 point.
For every correct answer in Medium, score 2 points.
For every correct answer in Hard, score 3 points.

Post your score in comments and see how you do against other Lost fans.

For more than you want to know about cars in Lost, see our article: Automobiles

EASY (1 pt.)
1.



2.


3.


4.



MEDIUM (2 pts.)

5.


6.


7.


8.


HARD (3 pts.)
9.


10.


11.


12.




Scroll down for answers



















Highlight between the lines to reveal inviso-text answers

---

EASY
1. Hurley (or Johnny) - from "Everybody Hates Hugo"
2. Charles Widmore - from "Live Together, Die Alone"
3. Locke - from "Deus Ex Machina"
4. Mr Eko - from "The 23rd Psalm"

MEDIUM
5. Sawyer - from "The Long Con"
6. Kate (or Tom Brennan) - from "Born to Run"
7. Sawyer - from "Confidence Man"
8. Helen - from "Orientation"

HARD
9. Jin - from "... In Translation"
10. Kate - from "Through the Looking Glass"
11. Christian Shephard (or Ana-Lucia) - from "Two for the Road"
12. Kate - from "Left Behind"

---

Good Job! Next time we'll test you on license plates! Just kidding I think.

DocArzt blog: Lost set video

Popular Lost blogger DocArzt has posted a fascinating video "behind the scenes" from the set of 4x01 (link), from a set of ABC Medianet promotional material that most more mainstream news outlets don't really use-- most simply use the stills to illustrate articles. He's been showing us the promotional stills too, for example here are the stills for last night's episode 4x02 Confirmed Dead. Yes, these have mostly been available on Lost-media.com, but it's good to have another source.

And by the way, in case you have missed them, the Official Lost video podcasts are back, two new ones for Season 4 so far, both narrated by Kris White rather than Carlton and Damon. The most recent one features Lost costume designer Roland Sanchez and the mysterious Lulu the dog. Check them out at ABC's Lost podcast page.

The World's Most Popular Lost Fansite

NetWise, the Australian based internet monitor declared Lostpedia the most visited Lost fan site in the world last week, after its analysis showed a 175% increase in traffic to all Lost fan sites and forums following the Season 4 premiere, significantly higher than the 88% spike encountered for the Season 3 premiere. (link) We're delighted, thank you everybody for visiting and contributing!

EW's Top 25 fansites - Lostpedia is 3rd!

Tis the season and Entertainment Weekly have released their list of Top 25 fansites, and we're delighted to see that Lostpedia is 3rd!!!!! Its great to see that all the users' hardwork has been recognized in this way, and a great Christmas present for the site as a whole (as is Lost Season 4 in January, mind you). Check out our profile on EW's page, as well as for the other worthy sites that were included.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20165619_20165621_20167049_23,00.html

What else is left to say other than enjoy the holiday season, and once again thanks for all the efforts that have gone into making Lostpedia one of the best unofficial fansites on the whole Internet! Roll on Season 4...

Doc Arzt leaves Thetailsection.com

It was with a sad heart that I recently received an IM from Doc Arzt stating that he was leaving his role as administrator of the Lost fan site TheTailSection (TTS), which is a property that he had previously sold to the Buddy TV company. This evening he publicly broke this news in what is presumably his last post as administrator of TTS.

The TTS blog was a wonderful balance of original yet meaningful musing on the news and theories that go along with ''Lost''-- his familiar tone led his readers to feel as if they had a personal friend with the pulse of ''Lost''. Doc Arzt's mature and professional postings seemed to strike that perfect and good natured balance, with well-thought yet entertaining writing that avoided empty sensationalism, and thoroughly distinguished himself from the lowest common denominator of common blog drivel that we have all seen in the fan ecosystem inspired by this television show.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this because he seemed often to have some really unique scoops, and his occasional reference to "being allowed" to break news implied to me that he had managed to cultivate some sources at least fairly close to ''Lost'', a feat pretty much unattained by any other site admin in the teeming fan universe of ''Lost''. It is no exaggeration to say it would not surprise me if Damon himself noticed and corresponded with the Doc.

I take my hat off to him, and wish him the best in his post-''Lost'' endeavors, and simultaneously mourn the loss of one of the premier ''Lost'' fansites, because even if TTS continues, it is now without the Doc, and therefore it is no longer the TTS.

Comic Con Update - Orchid Video...

UPDATE - ABC have released a much higher quality version of the video, which I've replaced the old embedded vid with. Note that in this version the swear word has been removed.

Hey all, further to the revelations received by the intrepid Tapdawg, DarkUFO has also posted information about the mysterious "Orchid Video" that played at the end of the Q&A session with the Lost writers. What's more... he caught it on film!!! There is a swear in the video though so be warned, just covering my bases with Lostpedia being a family site and all.



Weird I think is the generic Lost adjective to be applied in this instance. Obviously there's the parody aspect, but is there underlying grains of truth? Is there really a fake botanical station named the Orchid knocking about where they cloned bunnies? Did my second question just answer the first?

Thetailsection at Comic Con 2007

''Lost'' fansite The Tail Section has just posted a regularly-updated news page for events from Comic Con 2007. The long-anticipated ''Lost'' panel with J.J. Abrams and Carlton Cuse was today, and The Tail Section has two correspondents covering the news live, user "Tapdawg" as well as The Lost Ninja, who is better known to fans as the official Australian blogger for The Lost Experience last summer.

Here's some of their top scoops (beware of spoilers!):
- Michael will return in Season 4 as a regular cast member once again, though how and when during the Season he will appear is unknown.
- There will be many more flash forwards in coming episodes as well as flashbacks. Flashforwards will be difficult to plot on a timeline, with some occurring a year later, five years later, perhaps even ten years later.
- Jack and Claire will discover their relation.
- Ben was caught by Rousseau's trap in Season 2 accidentally, and we will learn how and why during Season 4.
- Getting off the Island is not the end of the story for the Losties.
- No Lost Experience will happen this hiatus but its "looking good" that they'll be another one during the S4-S5 gap.
- Richard Alpert may not appear next season or at least in a much more limited capacity (presumably due to other commitments?)
- No title for the Season 4 premiere just yet.
- Libby's absence in S3 was not intentional, she'll be appearing in S4.
- It was stated that Cerberus (on blast door map) is one name for the Monster, but then again the Monster goes by many names. They also said that information about the Monster will be given, such as its origins, but the answers might not be answers we expect or construe as concrete explanations (they used the example of what was in the Halliburton case, just another mystery in the form of the toy plane etc).
- A Rousseau flashback will occur either in S4 or if not definitely S5. The reason for the delays is that her flashback will coincide with a major plot line about the mysteries of the Island, and the writers were unsure whether that plot line would be addressed this coming Season.
- It was hinted that Lost Season 4 may be shown on Fridays in the US. Carlton Cuse commented that it would be nice to go home after work on a Friday and watch Lost.



Read more: TTS' Comic Con 2007 page

Summer blues? Lostpedia has the answers

Talk about a slow few weeks, huh. No Lost to speak of. But what have we been doing at Lostpedia? Well there's a few new things going on. First off, there's the episode rewatch scheme. At this moment in time we're on Solitary and Raised By Another, the basic idea being watch em again years on and appreciate em, chat about them on Lostpedia forum, and maybe update the corresponding episode articles on the wiki. Bound to give you your Lost fix through the dry season.

Next up is Lostpedia's fan fic Season 4, taking place on the forums. I've read some of the material being produced, and its really great, also the fact that for episode 2 there was 40 submitted scripts shows there's huge variety, and a lot of budding playwrights and the like in the Lost community. Check em out, and maybe think of your own stuff - I wrote one for episode 1 and really enjoyed the experience (though made a rather cataclysmic canon blunder, one which I shall never live down - thank god its an anonymous ballot....).

Finally, all that remains is to discuss the latest tweak to the wiki - nice new headers for the Main homepage and Community Portal, inspired by our Portuguese and French counterparts. Those guys know how to code I must say - let us know what you think about the new thumb designs and headers - not too shabby huh. Also please light us up if its causing your browser to bug out.

Well that's it for now guys, take care and I hope ya'll enjoying the summertime, the living ain't easy without Lost, but stick with Lostpedia and you'll get through it lol. Oh and by the way, hope you like today's Lostbook design on the wiki ;-)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ONE AND ALL!!!!

Lostpedia Wins The Hugo Cup

Lostpedia has been voted top Lost site for 2007 by the renowned Jay and Jack Lost Podcast. Along with Lost site royalty including Lost-media, TheTailSection and DarkUFO, fans voted for their favorites before a selected panel decided upon the final winner from a shortlist.

As Jay and Jack have said, all five nominees were worthy winners, so hats off to them too for being such great resources to quite literally millions of Lost fans worldwide.

Hopefully we'll get some snaps of the coveted Hugo Cup trophy on here soon!

The Hugo Cup reaches its climax

The Hugo Cup has now posted its final five nominations. For those who don't know, the Hugo Cup is essentially an annual award given to a Lost site in recognition of the service they provide to fans worldwide. Unlike last year, however, the final decision this time is down to you, the fan, to vote for which website you think is the most valuable Lost resource.

The nominees include big contenders like Lost-media (one of the most visited Lost sites around), and TheTailSection (often gaining exclusive interviews)

With some of the most popular Lost sites around on the list, it should be a very close contest!