LT241: Warning Messages, Memory and Variables

WARNING: ALWAYS TO BE ONE OF THEM

Richard warns Kate and Sawyer that if he takes Ben then Ben will always be “one of them”. Why does it seem that so many people are bending over backwards to help this guy? Could it be that history can be re-written and maybe the redemption theme will extend to Ben who will be given a chance to change his ways?

Imagine if that is what happens! Charles Widmore is invited back to the island to lead the Others happily ever after. Roger Linus marries Kate and they have 23 kids together. The sonic fence is taken down and a new civilization is started that outlasts the outside world. That would be strange.

Consider what we have seen in five seasons, I’m more inclined to wonder about Juliet. If the doctrine “once an Other, always an Other”, than could Juliet still be a threat? Does Sawyer realize the danger of having a Latin-speaking Other in their midst? Could see be leaving tape recorded messages for Richard some place? Yikes!


DRINK UP

Richard tells us that Ben won’t have any memory of what has happened prior to his “healing”. Fine, I can work with that. But that got me thinking about all these beverages again.

Juliet drank something in order to “not remember” the trip to the island in the submarine. Claire returned from her ordeal with Ethan and couldn’t remember anything and we saw her drinking something bitter.

One has to wonder if the drinks being served and the medicine show performed by Oldham aren’t related in some way. It may not be a time flashing at all. Re-ordering the show in chronological order may be the actual and only order of events ever to have happened. The headaches and dizzying lights could be part of the memory beverage. Hmm…


STATUE POSSIBILITY

I came across an interesting theory for the statue. It could be the goddess, Taweret. Here is some pretty convincing evidence:

The goddess was said to carry an Ankh – same symbol Paul wore around his neck! Plus the four toes…I’d bet money on this one. Plus the pregnancy tie-in and we have ourselves a resolved mystery! Well, maybe…


LOST REVIEW: The Purple Sky

This is going to be a quick one because the main point is that light is a critical theme of LOST. Light and computers share a lot of commonality.

Besides “flash drives”, we know computers use light in the form of lasers to read CD’s or to project holograms. Computers use light as an interface device: monitors.

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When time changes on the island, we have always observed a light flash. This leaves me wondering if the memory banks of the supercomputer aren’t being reset or re-programmed.

In a computer program we find “variables”. This term is used to hold the value of various key pieces. For example:

Person1 = Jake
Person2 = Kate
Time = 9/22/2004
Animal1 = Boar

And so on…what if the flashes are changing the variable known as “time”? The rest of the program continues to operate without notice or obstruction, but the date-related routines now have a different value. If a piece of the code goes to retrieve other objects based on the time variable, then it gets a 1970’s Technics turntable at one point in time and a 2008 watch at another time. Keep in mind that unless the programmer tells a program to “dump all current variables” the computer just holds on to the current values. This might be what gives us our occasional anachronistic observations!

CONCLUSION

So far our observations are leaning heavily towards a supercomputer as a valid hypothesis. We do have some areas however that do not directly relate to a computer such as the religious and philosophical themes. In the next TIDBITS we will explore a possible rationale for these observations.


NEXT ON TIDBITS

After the next episode, there will be the Initial Thoughts posting. The next one is entitled, “Dead is Dead”. That sounds interesting and may begin to explain some of the ghosts we have seen.

Here is your teaser photo for this next episode:

Check it out...more beverages and a purple shirt. Hmm...

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Enjoy,
KC

LT240: Blinded By the Light

NO SURPRISES

The past episode was short on Easter eggs and “Oh My!” moments. Most of it seemed to simply confirm things we strongly suspected in the first place. Everyone knew Ben wouldn’t die even if it was the trained, professional killer Sayid doing the shooting, right?

Item after item was resolved with solutions that were easily the favorite choice going into the show – such as Kate giving Aaron to Mrs. Littleton.

This episode even offered solutions that we didn’t need such as Ben losing his memory so he wouldn’t later remember being shot by Sayid.

This kind of episode always leaves me struggling to fill a week’s worth of postings. The good news is that we can mull over a few subtle points…


SCIENCE AND RELIGION

During my second viewing I began to notice things that were easy to gloss over originally. The show offered as a wonderful explanation of science and religion. It was almost a refresher course on the doctrines of LOST.

For example, consider the simple and funny line from Miles, "You're all free to leave whenever you want. But I'll shoot you in the leg." If anyone has ever struggled to understand the doctrine of predestination versus free will, then just consider Miles’ explanation. He states that free will exists, “You’re all free to leave”, but then explains how predestination fits in, “but I’ll shoot you in the leg”. Everyone has had moments like this in the life – at it usually involves parents: “You can stay out past curfew, but your bags will be packed on the front lawn”, sort of thing. Some choice, huh? The truth of the matter is that there still is a choice in there.

And we can consider that later Kate storms out of the house and Miles is caught off guard. Makes one wonder if this isn’t sometimes how God is thinking. “Hey, I give you perfect bodies, a perfect garden to live in, and still you make bad choices, Adam.”

This reminds me then of the basic tenet of the show which is philosophical musings. The greater question remains a mystery…who is this God or if you prefer, who is the man behind the curtain? If you’ve been following the TIDBITS LOST Review then you know I’m learning towards a scientific answer of a supercomputer. I’ve tried the religious angle and found it too convenient to blame everything on a being with “I can do anything and everything” powers. That explanation falls as flat as saying, “Oh, Ben won’t remember.” A little too convenient.


REVISITNG THEMES

This latest episode really was a reunion of sorts. We revisited the theme of games.


Above we see Hurley and Miles playing Dominos. It was on the second viewing that my appreciation for this show began to grow. The idea behind Dominos being a chain-reaction was really brilliant. And it kept that common theme of games which must be difficult for the writers to keep in mind every theme presented.

And consider the beverages on the table. Drinks have long been a running theme of the show, so a tip of the hat to the writers for keeping the theme around. Give them a pat on the back for selecting Juice while Aaron is asking mommy for a juice box in the same episode. It even gives me flashes back to Hurley’s crazy Camaro ride which begins by knocking over a table of oranges.

It was really upon this closer examination that the full appreciation of this episode was realized.


TIME TRAVEL

Hurley and Miles even provided a confirmation of time travel. Actually, it was more like the writers telling us, “Yep, you have the basic premise figured out, but you still don’t understand it.” Spot on.

How the writers keep all this stuff straight is really quite a feat. At times it has gotten them into trouble. For example, I want to see how they explain Kate and Sawyer coming back to Dharmaville. Sooner or later, Horace is going to start putting the pieces together and someone is going to have to give him some answers. Personally, if I were Horace I’d march the group of “friends” out to Oldham’s tent and pump them all full of truth serum.

The more we examine “What Happened, Happened”, the deeper the meaning becomes. Consider Locke’s line, “Welcome back to the land of the living.” Oh, that’s right – Locke was dead. Just how numb have we become to this show. Or was this another theme reminder for us that involve reincarnation, spiritual rebirth and other religious themes?


LOST REVIEW: ETHAN

When reviewing Season 1, our first major clue we get is Ethan. If you recall, Hurley was doing a census using the manifest from the flight and discovers no Ethan on the list. He was a tangible clue that there were other people on this island.

We learn that Ethan’s last name is Rom and he hails from Minnesota – at least, this is what he told Hurley. I think it is important to remember that every lie usually has some piece of truth in it. For example, Minnesota would eventually show up as Henry Gale’s home state. Odds are great then that Ethan was involved in the discovery and perhaps burial of the balloonist. And most likely, it was recent history for it to be on Ethan’s mind.

LOST is big on anagrams and when we take Ethan Rom and mix up the letters we get “Other Man”. We always have to be on guard about seeing things in LOST that aren’t really there, but it interesting to note that the word “Other” was being provided to us early in the show.

It might actually be his actual surname that is the clue, Rom. In computers this acronym stands for Read-Only Memory. When we consider our working hypothesis of a supercomputer, this clue fits like a glove.

Read-Only Memory is as the name implies as it can be read from its source, but not written or updated. We might call it “hard-wired” or “hard-coded” on a integrated circuit chip.

There are times when a descriptive name is assigned but over time it no longer applies. Great examples include how older people may say they like to play music “albums” instead of “CD’s”. Older folks might also like to play “pinball” when they mean “video games”. It is merely the terms we…er, I mean, THEY grew up with. Same with ROM. Over time, computers offered erasable ROM.

ROM is instructions hard-wired into a computer in order for the computer to have enough basic information to get booted-up. As improvements were made, a manufacturer may wish to update that initial set of instructions and erasable ROM make an oxymoronic term. But it served a purpose.

In order to update ROM chips the technology uses a bright light flash. The type of light is ultraviolet and it “burns” a new set of instructions onto the memory chip. The color of that light is purple.

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CONCLUSION

While we may not have a super strong case to make for computers yet…we do have several circumstantial clues pointing us in this scientific direction. Now if we discover down the road that the island experiences some flash of light where the sky turns purple…ah, we have! More on this in the next edition of TIDBITS.


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KC

LT239: Reflection

FAMILY MATTERS

If Charles and Ellie is a couple then they could be the parents of Penelope Widmore. Assuming that Ellie stands for Eloise (maiden name Hawking?), then they could also have a son named Daniel. This would make Penelope and Daniel siblings.

When we consider that Daniel introduces another surname of Faraday, then we might conclude they are step-siblings. This would mirror Jack and Claire.

Some are going as far as to suggest twins.

When you consider that Charles had Eloise’s address handy, and that Charles funded Daniel’s research work…well, it sounds like something a wealthy father might do.

Speaking of Daniel…where is he? Most suggest that he is either a solo adventurer looking for the Dharma Wheel or working with Dr. Marvin Candle as a laborer. We did see Daniel in that job function, so that has to be the leading candidate. Either way, I’m betting his mission is to find a way that leads him back to the grown Charlotte.


READING MATERIAL

Adrian points out that he believes Ben said that he doesn’t ever read a book twice. I couldn’t find a quote along those lines, but the reference Adrian might be referring to is when Locke has Ben as prisoner. Locke brings him a book from Ben’s bookshelf and Ben says, “I’ve already read it.” Locke tells him, “You might catch something you missed the second time around.” Ben sets the book down.

This is an issue because young Ben tells Sayid that he read the Carlos Castaneda book twice. I get the feeling that this could be an indirect reference to looping in time. Or it could indicate that the pre-healed Ben is indeed different from the post-healed Ben.


DID YOU NOTICE?

When Sayid shot young Ben it was on his left side of the chest. When we saw the replay this week, it was on the right side. Couple this with the backwards “23” we have observed the past two episodes and it leads us back to mirrors.

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When Kate is giving her blood we see a man in the bed next to young Ben. In the next shot he is gone! It looks like that photographer of the group picture.

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Everyone noticed the similarity of the woman in the supermarket who found Aaron to Claire. Not the same actress. Then someone suggested it was an “aged” Claire back from the future. Hmm…

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Why isn’t anyone wondering why mechanic Juliet now knows fancy doctor words? On the same topic, the doctor is in the Looking Glass hatch and won’t be back for “two weeks”. Can’t someone call the guy? Desmond was able to swim to the surface and there is probably some scuba gear down there.


LOST REVIEW: The Numbers

An avid reader of TIDBITS, Adrian, expresses his doubt about the supercomputer hypothesis. I urge everyone to keep in mind that this is not even a theory but a hypothesis which we are testing as we review key aspects of LOST from the beginning. We also need to be aware that another theory may present itself. The only demand we should make of any theory is that it is universal – it fits everything.

A previous theory on TIDBITS was science reconciling with religion. However, I’m not quite sure how missing hairbrushes and rain would fit universally with that theory. One could say that missing hairbrushes is a typology of God’s Will and predestination. And one could say rain is a reference to the washing away of one’s sin.

And if I’m honest with myself, suggesting Smokey is a virtual reality creation isn’t really rock solid proof either.

So, let’s keep examining things and testing our hypothesis until we find a working theory. This time we ponder the Numbers. They really weren’t known until Hurley offered a connection to his Lotto win and the source of his picks. Clearly, they make themselves known and then we discover the role the Numbers played when Jack first takes a seat in Row 23 of Oceanic Flight 815.

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Adrian points out that a supercomputer is too much like Matrix. One could counter that no thought is original, but let’s not go down that path! But if we hold up our two most popular hypotheses, which one fits the best with Numbers?

I think computers easily win this contest. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of numerology in religion. But the association is clearly more with a computer which is built upon the premise of binary code.

Binary code is simply 1’s and 0’s. Off or on. Dare I say it? Ok, black and white. There I said it. Digital components either perform or they don’t. Consider the video monitor in the Looking Glass hatch where Penelope shows up to speak with Charlie. There was a lot of “snow” in the picture which tells us that was an analog signal. If it was digital Charlie either sees her plainly or Charlie doesn’t see her at all. Keep this off or on concept in mind as we talk about computers. Computers are most definitely black and white in the approach to processing.

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If we take a look at the Numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42, we see a strong tie to computers with the 4 and 8. In computers 8 bits make a byte. Since binary is built on a two-number system we are going to get a lot of increments of 2 (i.e. 4, 8, 16 and so on).

Also in computers there is a term called a “word” which consists of 8 bits. A “half-word” is 4 bits. The increments show that 16 falls nicely into this pattern.

But 15, 23, and 42 are not found in the doubling up sequence. Rats! So, we are left only with the fact that computers deal with numerical values.

CONCLUSION

The Numbers do not rule out computers as a valid hypothesis. We do want to keep in mind science AND religion co-existing and complimenting each other. But for now, I think the observations so far still allow us to say that there is a computer behind all this.

One final thought…Adrian switches subjects (read the Comments for more detail) to Ben’s memory being wiped. If ever a phrase fits better with computers than “memory being wiped”, I can’ think of it. I’m just saying…


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KC

LT238: Have You Seen My Child?

END OF THE INNOCENCE

What a strange thing for Richard to say when offering to help Ben? If we turn to my favorite riddle book, the Bible, we find something like this:

Adam and Eve were innocent until they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Prior to knowing what the gods know, they had no need for free will. Now their eyes are open.

The question we are left with is, “Who is the snake in the garden?”
I thought the losing of his memory was an interesting twist. Does this mean that in some ways Ben wasn’t lying when he told people he was born on this island?

If Ben loses his memory then this explains why he doesn’t recognize Sayid years later when a prisoner in the Swan Hatch. Like the lady who tracked down Sayid as her torturer, this kind of person is not one that someone easily forgets…unless of course you’ve gone through what Ben is about to go through.


BATTING ORDER

If I heard correctly then Richard answers to Widmore and Ellie? I have never quite figured out what position or role Richard plays. But I guess we now know whose Penelope’s parents are. Does this suggest that maybe Penelope was born on this island?

Could all the kids have played together at one time or another? Would this make LOST a version of the Peter Pan story?

And not to get over-analyze but didn’t it sound like Ellie was the leader and Charles was more of the enforcer?


SOMETHING STRANGE

When Ben ducked into his bedroom to summon Smokey to fight off Keamey…wasn’t Sawyer there? Why hasn’t someone realized that room is still back there? It would seem that after Kate and Sawyer dropped off Ben it might be time to start to do some investigation into that room.

Now watch Ben appear in that house after Richard fixes him, but through the tunnel system!


DID YOU NOTICE?

I mentioned the mirrors in the grocery store in the previous post. But did you notice the aisle numbers in reverse?




YO, ADRIAN

If you haven’t notice or read Adrian’s comment to the last post, you must do so. I’ll try to grab a copy of that book and do some follow-up posting on this. This might be a good off-season chore, but for now, check-out his comments. Nice find, Adrian!


READER FEEDBACK

Michael writes that the supercomputer may be involved in determining who got flashed from Ajira 316 and who didn’t. I agree that the computer could easily be running two scenarios for people since a computer is oblivious to time as we are. LOST REVIEW will return soon because Adrian’s comments with Michael’s have led to me a couple of new discoveries. So check back often to read TIDBITS.


BLOODY WHAT?

I read this the other day and couldn’t believe the implications that came with this: some of Kate’s blood is now in Ben. Think about it…

Will Ben start hitting on Jack and Sawyer now?

Speaking of Kate…while she is giving Ben the transfusion, Roger is sitting there saying that a kid needs a mother. Kate is thinking about how Aaron lost his mother and then his second mother. Whether Aaron turns out to be a pivotal part of the storyline or not, he is likely to be one dysfunctional kid now.


ANOTHER OTHER

Now that Sawyer, Kate, Jack and Hurley are in the Dharma camp, does this have any impact on years later when Mrs. Klugh asks Michael to retrieve these same four people?


TRIVIA

You remember that Geronimo Jackson song that showed up this season? The logo found on iTunes is of that rabbit. Well, its official name is “Rabbit Jack”. Funny.

Test: what’s your blood type? I didn’t think so.

Where is Cassidy’s trust fund that Sawyer set up for Clementine? Or is she playing Kate and laughing all the way to the bank?

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LT237: What Happened, Happened Initial Thoughts

POWER OF MUSIC

During Kate's first flashback it sounded like Patsy Cline on her car radio. My count has this being the third time the two have been paired.

When she walks to Cassidy's door she is singing Claire's song, "Catch a Rising Star".


CASSIDY SEES THINGS

How about the similiarities between Cassidy and Kate? I knew she would think that Aaron was Sawyer's kid, too. Man, Cassidy can sure she see through people...well, all but Sawyer it seems!


SAWYER'S PLANS FIZZLE

Did it sound like Sawyer had a cold this episode?

Jack's refusal to help young Ben was a surprise. Are you sensing the Returnees are getting a little tired of the hoops they have been jumping through for over three years? But for Jack to not fix something? Oh my!


MILES RULES

"We all stop existing and known of it matters anyway." How is that for a summary? The conversation with Hurley was one of the best of this episode: clues and comedy.

"What are we going to say next?" asks Hurley. Hilarious.

"Why don't I remember any of it?" Miles says that time isn't a straight line. How does he know so much?

"I hadn't thought of that!" That was classic. Miles needs more lines in the script.


JACK IS A PAWN

Jack tries to twist the rules of the game...but is he pushing it too far? I'm not sure I agree with Kate's logic anymore than Jack's logic. But his line about Kate didn't like him now and didn't like him before was sadly accurate.


ROGER AND KATE

Roger is being nice to Kate? Was he hitting on Kate? He cares about his son and has a heart? Are things changing a lot more than we think.


JULIET'S PLAN WORKS

Another fine LOST twist as Juliet suggest the Others might be able to cure what ails Ben. All I can say at this point is that Horace is going to put the pieces together real soon and the "newbies" are going to have to start talking. But then, won't that change things?

Hold on a second, I have a nosebleed.

Not only is this Juliet's plan, but she convinces Kate to put the plan in place. Silly, Kate.

Sawyer comes out to help Kate. Is everyone growing a heart? Is this show based on the How the Grinch Stole Christmas? Just wait, someone is going to get nasty and I think his name begins with Horace (or Radzinsky or Phil). What do these people think is going to happen when Roger finds out his kid is missing? Horace is going to start making the connections and then what? Better hope right before the entire group of Survivors get shot on the firing line that Daniel turns the Dharma Wheel!


AARON MISSING

So this is why Kate got on the plane. Was that lady really being helpful or not? Nice little twist thrown in. So we do not know why Kate got on the plane yet. Any ideas why they through this at us other than for dramatic flair? Did you notice the use of mirrors as Kate was searching for Aaron?


JULIET'S GAME

I don't trust her one bit. Jack is just doing what he is suppose to. Sorry, I don't think it was Juliet's place to scold him.


CLEMENTINE RESURFACES

At the creek Kate runs Cassidy's theories by Sawyer. Seems Cassidy was right. But no real surprise since I recall Sawyer in bed with Kate saying he had nothing to back to. How can these people be some smart one minute and naive the next?

Don't know about you but everytime one of the Survivors says something related to prior knowledge (or is it past knowledge), I enjoy it. "You are going to take us Richard Albert and you are going to do it now." Knowing the future gives one such confidence!

So how does Ben get sent back to the Dharma Initiative without raising suspicions? Won't Horace and the rest wonder why the Others helped them? And why wouldn't an incident like this make Roger shape up and be a good father?

Did you notice the Hostiles/Others are in dirty clothing again? Why does only Richard get to wear Izod (assuming the 70's is still in play here)?


MRS. LITTLETON

Kate spills the beans! Oh, oh! But she lies again...she won't find Claire. But now we now why Kate goes back...sort of. Not quite clear on the details, but it seems to be something associated with guilt.


INNOCENT NO MORE

Richard gets kind of creepy again. Ben won't ever be the same? A little Pet Semintary in the Temple.

Followed by a nice closing with Locke.


SUMMARY

This was LOST at its best again. More questions offered! There will be plenty to analyze - especially with Miles comments. So be sure to check back often for more TIDBITS!


LOST REVIEW: The Monster

In the last review we observed the rain coming down on Jack, Kate and Charlie as they made their way to the cockpit. It wasn’t long before Smokey makes himself known to the Survivors.

The hypothesis we have formed is that the island is some sort of supercomputer. It helps explain just about everything we have reviewed. The idea at this stage is the island is a holodeck. And this fits nicely with the black smoke. But it seems like we need a little more than just saying the computer can create any virtual reality is wishes for this would leave us little more than a “demon rule” (a demon rule means that demons have unlimited abilities and can be used explain away anything the writers wish…if you will, a cheat).

We turn to sonoluminescence to help explain the physical properties of Smokey. Sonoluminescence is the release of bursts of light from bubbles when excited by sound. This might explain the light that flashes in Juliet’s face when the Monster examines her while handcuffed to Kate.

And we have witnessed that when time flashes occur there is a loud sound that causes the inhabitants to cover their ears. Combing sound waves with a liquid that results in bubbles that emit light is a concept that appears to describe Smokey. It also ties in with the rain observation.

Now consider that one of the properties of sonoluminescence is that it is created within the vacuum of a bubble in a process similar to Hawking radiation…as in Stephen Hawking and his book seen on LOST, “A Brief History of Time”. This relationship to sonoluminescene and Hawking leads us to a theory known as the Casimir effect. This effect was mentioned by Dr. Marvin Candle on the #15 Rabbit video.

The temperature involved for a bubble to emit a burst of light is so great they use the Kelvin scale to measure it. Kelvin? Swan Hatch? See why this might be related to LOST?

The claim is that a thermonuclear fusion reaction is happening known as “bubble fusion”. This field of research led to longer light emissions.

And let’s not forget that Smokey can’t seem to penetrate the sonar fence. It has a sensitivity to sound.

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CONCLUSION

It is possible that part of Smokey’s structure is involving bubble fusion which would evidence itself as flashes of light, utilize rain/water and involve very loud noise. These two conditions are found in several instances on LOST, most notably when the time flashes or Smokey are involved.

Smokey exhibits other properties including the ability to grab hold of the pilot, Eko and the French guy. I’ll save that for another post.

Could the supercomputer control sound speakers which begins a chain reaction resulting in some of Smokey’s attributes? It seems possible and the hypothesis appears to have some merit.


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Enjoy,
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LT236: Billie, Birds and Burning

OLDHAM’S PHONOGRAPH

What an odd thing to fine out in the woods next to Oldham’s tent.

The song playing is by Billie Holliday and is entitled, “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”.

The phonograph was available in the late 1890’s and survived until the 1960’s. It should be noted that RCA was a major player in the market and used the phrase, “His Master’s Voice”, in its marketing campaign. The logo is of a dog listening to a phonograph and mistaking it as his owner’s voice.

The oldest recorded human voice is a piece of a song named, “Au Clair de la Luna” which means “under the moonlight”. It reminds me of the “Moonlight Serenade” heard by Sayid and Hurley one evening – both in timeframe and the term moonlight.

On a complete side note: Is it just me but when you hear Claire’s name do you also think of clairvoyant?

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The person playing the phonograph is the actor from the Newhart TV show. It is interesting to note that this show’s finale made the entire series a dream by Bob Hartley when he woke up with his first sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show, wife in bed saying he had a bad nightmare. The second series then ended by playing the theme song from the original series.

Beside being Larry on the second Newhart sitcom (and thus only a figment of a dream), the actor was in the movie “Blade Runner”. This gives a tip of the hat to the author, Phillip K. Dick, whose books have been referenced in LOST. The movie also deals with if anyone can really know who they are or if they are even human or just replicants.


NAGUAL

While reading up on Carlos Castaneda’s works the term “nagual” came up. This word is used by Castaneda to describe a dimension of reality. He claims some people are special and have the ability to view this other dimension. Such a person is called a “nagual”. He describes the process of seeing this other reality as being “imprinted” with it.

In Mesoamerican culture, nagual is associated with harmful magic. These practitioners are able to transform into the shape of an animal…like Hurley’s bird. It might explain how Richard and his followers are able to move around the island in a blink of the eye. Researchers have found evidence that the folklore of Naguals was often used to avoid modernization within a tribe. Nothing like the hatred of technology to keep a group of followers within one’s control!

Oh, and this ability would sure come in handy if one needed to find a way to circumvent a sonic security fence.


SHOCKING

Someone asked if they had Tasers back in 1977?

Did some digging and found they were invented in 1969. Plenty of time to reach the market, find their way to the South Pacific and then be used to shock the snot out of Sayid.

Besides the stress of time jumping, in the past 24 hours or so, Sayid has gone from Hurley’s couch, to a hospital room fight, to shock treatment and a little sugar cube medicine. Did you know that in Europe history it was common practice to hold a sugar cube with your teeth while drinking a bitter beverage like coffee? It is amazing how much LOST has made me learn. Why can’t college be this fun?


LOST REVIEW: THE RAIN

Soon after the crash, Jack gets the idea to find the cockpit and retrieve the transmitter. As Jack, Kate and Charlie head out to find the cockpit, it begins to pour.

We have all noticed the rain on this island. It seems almost manufactured and happens at key points in the plot. What has not been discovered is any definitive pattern to the rain.

This challenges the current hypothesis that the island is some sort of supercomputer. The one thing to be aware of is that computers hate water. This could lead us to conclude that rain scenes are when the computer is upset, senses trouble or when something goes wrong. In the cockpit scene we have not only water but Smokey running about.

However, we also have Smokey operating outside the rain as with Mr. Eko. So we have to break connection between Smokey and rain.

A more plausible idea is simply that the computer program being ran by our Island 2004 Computer “knows” that tropical islands get sudden downpours. The supercomputer may simply be executing a virtual reality based on the “rules” it was provided.

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When Jack, Kate and Charlie arrive at the cockpit, they climb inside and find the transmitter…just like a plane offers. Let’s backup a minute. Recall that almost everything NEEDED is found from a sewing kit to pregnancy tests. As one character pointed out, “Who travels with a pregnancy test?” Exactly. Yet, not one hairbrush can be found.

Let’s ponder these observations. We have a sewing kit for Jack’s wounds but no hairbrush? There are over 300 passengers on board and not one suitcase produces a hairbrush? Sawer can find a cigarette lighter (did you remember he smoked?), but we can’t get a comb?

This is why I lean towards a virtual reality program. These things are only as good as the programmer and what they can remember to include in the scenario. In reality, there should be over 100 hairbrushes, but in a computer “bug”, we don’t get any.

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While on the topic of rain, let’s jump ahead in our review to Walt speaking to Shannon. In reality, people that are kidnap victims on a boat just don’t appear at your tent or in the middle of the jungle. And if they did appear, they sure don’t appear dripping wet.

Of all the water and oddities, this scene has always mesmerized me. A hologram of sorts can easily produce an image, but why did the computer think to show Walt dripping wet? This must be a clue of some sort. One thing that comes to mind is that at the time Walt appears to Shannon he could still be on the water – either a raft or Tom’s speed boat. Walt never was in the water. Again, this leads to a fairly understandable conclusion that a program could easily mistake Walt’s location as “on water” to mean he should be all wet.

I’ve programmed for several years and you would be surprised at the outcome of the simplest oversights. The computer, bless its heart, merely gives you exactly what you ask for.

Consider as well that Walt spoke to Shannon in reverse. Reality teaches us that people do not do this. To an innocent collection of bits and bytes, it has no clue how silly it would be to have Walt speak backwards.

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CONCLUSION

You might sense that the water, Walt and reverse speech are considered vital clues to the overall theory and theme of LOST. It is possible to explain these oddities by hypothesizing that a computer is running its best effort program and that there are bugs in the code.

On a final note, you should be aware that there is a programming language called Water. It was introduced for release in…you guessed it, 2004. Further all programming languages need basic functionality and one of the base functions of any language is the ability to LOOP.


NEXT ON TIDBITS

The plan is return Wednesday evening for the Initial Thoughts post. If there is any breaking information between now and then, I might find time to get a post out on Tuesday. But the plan is Wednesday evening so here is your “somewhat interesting, yet non-spoilerish” picture for the next episode, “Whatever Happened, Happened.”

It looks like Kate walking away from some abandoned Dharma building. She is out of jumpsuit, but behind her appears to be someone in a Dharma outfit. And we see the Dharma van. It sure seems to be the burned Building 15, but that pine tree is making me scratch my head. I’ve been to Hawaii and there was grove of pine trees but they were brought over and specially planted to line a road to some mansion property. Hmmm…


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Thanks for reading.

Enjoy,
KC