My good friend, John Reidy, and I finally got around to recording the LOST podcast we’ve been meaning to do — posting it less than 24 hours before the series finale.  But alas, it is in the bag and chock full of LOST music, reflections, and predictions.

So who’s going to die in the series finale?  Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Locke… all of them?  We get into it with our LOST finale predictions.

Scott Stafford

John Reidy

As you can see, our LOST debate was heated and vibrant.  We played lots of fun LOST music, as well.  Nirvana, The Pixies, Perry Como, Mama Cass, Patsy Cline, Iggy and the Stooges, and The Kinks all make musical appearances.  We discuss the scenes and how the music was used in LOST.

Good Stuff.  Enjoy the LOSTcast and the series finale tonight!

I’m so confused

I’m still not sure what to make of last night’s episode.

Irony:  (i·ro·ny) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.

Last night Sawyer led a mission off the island, much like Jack did at the end of season four.  Jack jumps into the ocean to stay on the island, much like Sawyer did at the end of season four.   This time around Sun and Jin reunite, instead of being torn apart.  Claire is on board, instead of Aaron.  Their escape is impeded by Charles Widmore, instead of facilitated by Penny Widmore.  Why was Lepidus not steering the boat?

Sayid and Desmond, who both were conspicuously absent from the planned escape, now seem to be working together against Locke (Smokey, Mib, Flocke, etc.).   After Jack determines he needs to stop Locke, he is saved by him.  Where are Richard, Ben, and Miles?

In the flash sideways

Desmond continues to be the constant, pulling the strings to reunite the timelines.  Jack learns of his sister, Claire.   Kate and Sayid have now both been arrested by Sawyer.  Sun knows Locke is evil.  Jack is about to make Locke walk again.  And we have yet to see Juliet in the flash sideways, which makes me believe she will reappear as Jack’s ex-wife.

I’m more confused now then when I started writing.

Melo’s People of Utah

Anyone catch this commercial at the end of the 3rd quarter in last night’s game against the Utah Jazz?  I’m going out on a limb and thinking The Fans of Carmelo Anthony in Utah did not pay for this ad, nor do they exist.  This video stinks of Nike.   But I like it.

Back to LOST…

I always knew that Jacob looked familiar, but could not quite figure out where I saw him before.  A quick IMDB search produced lots of places, mostly TV shows.  The actor who plays Jacob is named Mark Pellegrino.  He’s also been in some featured films.  Most notably, the Coen Brother’s Big Lebowski.

I have seen this video making the rounds around the interweb.  For those who have not seen it…

And for the LOST version.  Where’s the money, Ricardo?

Hot damn! Fresh out of a Kwon episode we find out, once again, that Desmond is the constant.  Desmond is blasted with electromagnetic energy and we learn he no longer flips back-and-forth through time and space — but sideways. I can’t believe this show is almost over. Happily Ever After was epic!

Now we have two confirmed characters that have seen the “flash sideways” from the original time-line.  After death — through Miles’ interpretation — Juliet tells Sawyer “it worked,” referring to the alternate reality (flash sideways) they were attempting to create. Of course, she dies from blowing up The Hatch, which Desmond later blows up… or something.  They both get a serious blast of electromagnetic energy.  There’s something to this…

What struck me most about this episode was the feelings the characters were sensing and seeing (hallucinating) while traveling toward a different destiny. It was beyond déjà vu or destiny, though. It was an immediate understanding and acknowledgment of profound love. Amazing. I think we now know it will be up to Desmond to “fix” the time-line, but how?

I was upset with last week’s episode, as I’m not a fan of the Kwon storyline.  I also thought the flash sideways was cute, but a waste of valuable time.  That all changed with the resurrection of the Constant.  Not Penny’s boat!

As I am typing this, I am watching the latest episode of Heroes on Hulu.com.  It’s difficult to watch my favorite TV shows when I am on the road, so my wife and I often have a TV Show Marathon Night when I return.  But now, thanks to Hulu, I can watch NBC, Fox, and Comedy Central shows on the road and not fill-up the DVR.

I gave Hulu a spin about a year ago, but really did not like it.  It was slow, awkward, and had limited viewing options.  In fact, I completely forgot about it.  It’s funny what a clever commercial during the Super Bowl with an A-list actor can do to promote a website.  So here I am again, after Alec Baldwin turned into an alien, checking out the site.   And I have to say… it’s the bee’s knees.

My Internet connection on the road is my Blackberry Pearl tethered to my MacBook Pro (there will be another post on how to successfully tether a Blackberry to a MacBook later).  I use VZAccess from Verizon and get decent speed, but certainly not broadband speed.  That being said, the buffering speed from Hulu is very fast within the “natural” segments of the show.  There are 30 second commercial breaks before each segment, as well.

The Hulu video player is close to perfect

The flash-based web video player is fantastic!  The stream buffers when the player is paused, which is essential.  There is a buffer meter to help those on slower connections, like myself, to know when it is safe to start playback without worrying about the stream stalling.  You can watch it in full screen 480p if you have a fast connection.  You can also pop the screen out in real-time.  There are embedding options to post on websites, as well.   There is even an option to “lower the lights” to darken the browser surrounding the video player.  It’s pretty slick.

Hulu movie and TV clips

One of the things I really love about Hulu is the ability to watch and post movie and TV clips.  Although, it’s hard to navigate without some trial and error.  If you search the “most popular” or “highest rated” movie clips, for example, you will find that various frat-favorites like Porky’s, Animal House, and American Pie dominate the search results.  So if you have kids, you may want to save the Ice Age clips in your queue, instead of searching for it with them.  I did a search for the Three Amigos and found this clip below.

Full length, commercial interrupted movies and TV shows

There’s actually a decent amount of movie titles, especially for independent films.  Each movie has commercials inserted, just as if you were watching a movie on a network television station.  Personally, I think it’s great.  I would much rather endure a few 30 second commercials than pay a monthly subscription fee for a service I may or may not use.

The amount of TV shows Hulu has to offer is ridiculously good.  Almost every NBC and Fox show is represented, as well as favorites from other networks such as Comedy Central, PBS, USA Network, Bravo, Fuel TV, FX, SPEED Channel, Sci Fi, Style, Sundance, E!, G4, Versus, Noggin TV, Nick Jr., PBS KIDS Sprout, Disney Channel and Oxygen.  The only catch is that most TV shows only provide the last five episodes.

Scott Stafford [dot] com subscription recommendations

Alright, it’s time to set-up my queue.  Here are some quick recommendations for new TV shows for all you road warriors and non-digital converters out there.  In alphabetical order:

24, 30 Rock, Chuck, Colbert Report, Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Fringe, Heroes, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Medium, The Office, The Simpsons, and Spaceballs: The Animated Series.  Have fun!