Others' Child Protection Agency

A new podcast available on the Lost Podcasting Network is simply awesome and has given me the seeds of a wicked new theory. The podcast is "The LOST Mystery Podcast with Anton and Evan." The concept is Evan has watched Lost and Anton is watching it for the first time. They watch the episode and then run down all their thoughts about it.

On episode 2-1, Anton said the way the Others always took the children was like CPS taking them out of a dangerous situation. As if psychological experiments, torture, hunger, and terror were part of a business model of Ben's. Ben's investors said all this is fine to do to the plane crash victims, as long as all the children were first taken out of harm's way.

So the Others quickly brought the children to safety and put them in foster care. They were then free to unleash the smoke monster, polar bears or any other terrors on the Lostaways.

This theory makes so much sense to me. It explains how we might be able to tolerate Juliette for another season. Last season, I kept saying to myself, "She steals children in the middle of the night! With no explanations! How can you people let her live with you on the beach??" It's a different story if the Others did this to remove the children from a situation that was sure to get more and more dangerous.

Add this to my last post, which posited Ben was the show's hero and Widmore the big bad, and Ben has an even stronger position as a hero. Now if I only knew how he was saving the world / making money for his investors by unleashing a mechanical smoke monster on plane crash victims...

Lost Power Struggle Is A Classic Tale

It's time for a new theory in anticipation of the Jan. 21 commencement of Lost season 5. In a previous post, I mentioned the importance of Horus, an Ancient Egyptian god. I would like to widen this theory a bit, and return to Ancient Egypt for answers to Lost's infinite questions.

Osiris is the father of Horus, and the legend of Osiris is one of what Neil Gaiman (one of my faves) calls the "great stories." Great in that the characters, names and times may change, but the fundamental story appears again and again in human supernatural myths across cultures: the just king murdered by his cruel brother, only to be avenged by the prince who follows in his father's footsteps.

In the Ancient Egyptian telling, Osiris was killed by his jealous brother, Set. After the slaying, Osiris' wife, Isis, hid their son Horus on an island where Set could not find him. On his island, Horus grew to manhood and strength. Set sent many serpents and demons to kill Horus, but he defeated them. Horus soon challenged Set's throne and, after a battle of many days, Horus defeated and castrated Set. Meanwhile, Isis was able to resurrect Osiris, but he could not return to the land of the living. Thus Osiris went to Duat, where Anubis yielded the throne to him and he became the lord of the dead.

So...how to connect this to Lost. Taking into account the fact that Carlton Cuse called Charles Widmore "the big bad," I think he is Set. Ben Linus is Osiris - the son who was hidden away on an island and is now exacting revenge. Ben is also the age that a son of Widmore would be. Ben's father then is Jacob, who raised him on the island and from whom he takes orders - having never respected his birth father. We can also assume Ben was chosen as Jacob's "son" by the original Others when he passed a test that Locke (the Others' first choice) had failed.

The Island Is A Machine

After four months of intensive study and reflection, I finally figured out what the Lost finale means. Actually, it was four months of mostly goofing around, and then I drop the soap in the shower, stand up and scream, "Yes! That's it!"

Or did I steal this idea from a friend? No matter. Today's theory: The Island Is One Big Machine. The smoke monster is its arms and legs. This explains why the smoke monster makes that mechanical sound. Because it is part of the machine that is the island. Also why Ben can turn a wheel and move the island. The island is not igneous rock and dirt, but clockworks and gears inside!

Of course, it was conceived of by Alvar Hanso and the Hanso Foundation, funded and built by Charles Widmore, and then run by the Dharma Initiative. I'm thinking the purpose of the Dharma Initiative was to conduct research so that these islands could be built and sold around the world.

Imagine the fortunes to be made if you could build an island that any millionaire could plop down in the middle of the ocean. It has several built-in security systems (smoke monster and sonic alarms) to give that extra protection only the ultra-rich need.

But then some kid from the Dharma Initiative discovered the secret. He killed everyone who knew and moved the island. For all we know, he has been manufacturing and selling islands for the last 10 years -- which is how Ben Linus has made all his money (that the Freighties say he has).

The Losties mission is clear: Find the hidden blueprints and take control of the island!

Horace's Cabin in the Sky

It was pretty obvious to me that the latest episode, "Cabin Fever," gave us our first look at Jacob. Otherwise known as Horace the Mathematician.

The most obvious clue being that he said he was building his own cabin. Slightly less obvious being that Jacob, in an earlier episode, let out a creepy plea to John Locke to "HELP MEEEE." Now his ghost is showing Locke a map, perhaps so John can unearth the truth about his death and put him to rest. Horace seems to be in some type of purgatory, having to chop down the same tree for eternity. Which is another reason he would ask for John's help.

But who is Horace? My theory on Jacob/Horace is that he is actually Horus - the ancient Egyptian deity. Very recently we saw hieroglyphics on a door in my Ben's home. This room may have previously belonged to Horace. Coincidentally, while pondering Jacob/Horace this morning, I got an email from an atheist mailing list with the following text:

The Basis for the Story of Jesus Christ
HORUS an Egypician god 3000 BC -- the holy ghost impregnates a virgin and a child-god is born on 25 Dec. this child is adorned by 3 kings who followed the star of the east (Sirus) , this child prodigy and teacher at age 12, baptized at age 30 began a ministry and traveled with 12 disciples and preformed miracles of walking on water and heeling the sick. After betrayal was crucified, buried for three days and resurrected. Horus was in conflict with Set, sun vs. dark, good vs. evil. as in "sunset". Horus as in "hour".

Maybe I'm missing the big picture, but what struck me about this was the "sun vs. dark, good vs. evil" bit. Lost expert, Jay Wood, made an excellent point in his book that the opposing forces of light/dark, black/white and good/evil are very important in Lost.

Wikipedia says that Horus was known as the god of the sky, his name meaning, "he who is above." It was said that the sun was one of his eyes and the moon the other -- did you just see a picture in your head of Locke holding the black and white backgammon pieces to his eyes? Horus was represented by a man with a hawk's head. Could Jacob/Horace also be the Hurley bird?

Now that we know Jacob is actually the ancient Egyptian god of the sky, we know where the island is: in the sky. A picture on the cover of the comic book Richard Alpert shows a young John Locke, in fact, contains a picture of a floating island. (Shout out to Mike for spotting this and positing the first floating island theory I've heard).

It may not always be in the sky, but it can rise up and float around, and I think that's what we're going to see next week. If I had to guess, I would say it will look much like Morla rising from the swamps of despair in the Neverending Story. But of course, every devoted fan would let out a horrified scream if they saw a magnificent CG shot next week of the island pulling up roots and floating off to a new location (as little Australian children look and say "mummy, what's that?"). That will be happening in my imagination, though.

This image also brings up other literary references, most notably, Gulliver's Travels, where Swift describes the rebellion of the surface city of Lindalino against the flying island of Laputa. The island could pick up and fly around to defend itself.

Seeing this picture of Morla brings up another theory: maybe the smoke monster actually IS the island. Imagine Morla here, with holes in her shell from which she could send out vicious columns of smoke. Next week, we could see the island rise, and the face of the black smoke monster has been beneath the water the entire time. And even further down, he wiggles his four toes.

Another tidbit: Horace's jumper says he's a mathematician. Who's on record for having the first written numbers? You guessed it, the Egyptians. Remember too when we first saw hieroglyphics-- when nobody pushed the button. Perhaps programmed by Horace?

Flight 815: Widmore's Power Play

After weeks spent in my own homemade backyard sweat lodge pondering the mysteries of Lost, I have emerged with a cornucopia of new theories.

First among them is this: Flight 815 was an invasion orchestrated by Charles Widmore in an attempt to take back The Island from Ben Linus as the two continue their real-world game of Risk.

Last week's episode revealed Widmore has been trying to find The Island. We have proof he has sent: a hot-air balloon (it had a Widmore Corporation logo on it), a sailboat (read on), and most recently, a freighter.

But between the sailboat and the freighter, Widmore decided to use a commercial 777 to find the island and recapture it from Ben. Per the rules of their game, Widmore hand-picked his chess pieces: the Lostaways who would be on that flight.

With his limitless connections in business and government, Widmore first swaps out the pilot. He replaces freightee Frank with Seth Norris. Then he calls in favors, or directly contracts with the agents (on the left) to get the following Lostaways (on the right) on that flight:

Mr. Paik - Sun, Jin
Bryan - Shannon, Boone
Libby - Hurley (she had previously recruited Desmond for him)
Ray Mullen - Kate
Robbie Hewitt - Sayid
Brian Porter - Michael, Walt
Abaddon, Travel Agent - John Locke

When he decided on these people or how, I'm not sure. But he must have thought each of them pose a threat to Ben in a specific way. Libby, who was maybe Widmore's executive assistant, joins the flight to watch and report back to Widmore. In describing the mission to her, he most likely left out the part about how the plane will actually arrive on the island - by Desmond pulling it out of the sky when triggered.

That's the sailboat I mentioned. Libby gave Desmond a sailboat so he could join Widmore's agent Kelvin Inman who was already there. (The fact that Widmore controlled the Swan station explains why Ben didn't know Desmond or the station was there.)

Desmond crashes the plane on Sept. 22, 2004 and Widmore's army has arrived. Ben does not seem at all surprised when a plane falls out of the sky -- because he knows about Widmore's hot-air balloon and other attempts at reaching the island. He quickly sends spies and Smoky.

But let's back up a bit. Ben isn't surprised because he knew that plane was coming. In fact, unbeknownst to Widmore, he had put his own pawns on it.

In finding out about Widmore's plans for 815 (of course he found out - he's Ben!), Ben scrambles to get people on the plane. People who will fight for the island. People who can be touched by the island, or who have a connection to it already.

Ben's counter-force is: Jack, Sawyer, Anna Lucia, Claire (and Aaron), Eko, Rose and Bernard. Many of whom are recruited by two of The Island's agents: Christian Shepard and Richard Malkin. Christian Shepard's connection with Jacob (the Island incarnate) is obvious: we've seen him in the cabin and he's said he speaks for Jacob. Malkin's connection is a little less obvious. But when he conned Claire into giving up her baby to a couple in Los Angeles, he said they were "good people." Ben has frequently referred to his side as "the good guys."

A word about Locke: Why did I put him on Widmore's side and not Ben's? When we saw Richard Alpert following him throughout his childhood? The answer: Locke failed the test. I'm guessing a young Ben Linus was also tested at the same age. Only he passed, and was brought to The Island to be the next leader. Widmore discovered who Ben's original competition was -- and that he would make the perfect king piece to checkmate Ben.

Ben's Minions: Sayid and Michael

Thank Jacob, the Lost hiatus has provided me with some much-needed distance from the show and allowed me to develop a new, super smokin' hot Lost theory:

Sayid, in his flash-forward, is continuing work that Michael started -- finding and killing those with information on the Island.

Here's the logic -- Michael is on freighter. Michael works for Ben in the present. Sayid is on freighter. Sayid works for Ben in the future. Hence, Mr. Friendly is gay. No, the last part is not related to this theory. Well, maybe tangentally, but that's another entry.

So Sayid and Michael start talking on the freighter, and Michael sells Sayid on Ben and how he's the good guy. So Sayid agrees to also work for Ben.

If this were the case, you're saying, why would Ben have to threaten Sayid to get him to work for him? What Ben is saying is not a threat. It's just a reminder of the logic Michael has already used to sell him on this mission. It's like when you go to return a dress and the saleslady says, "But you looked so good in it!"

The point of all this is not that Mr. Friendly is gay, but that Michael is in the coffin. Ben had to recruit Sayid because Michael was no longer available. Because he's in a coffin. Which on this show, does not always mean you're no longer available. Keep that in mind.

Ben's Painting of a Woman

There has been some speculation of late about the painting that hung in Ben's house through his childhood, and still hangs now, in his home in the barracks (may be the same house).

Harper said to Juliet in "The Other Woman" that "you look just like her." This picture does look a lot like Juliet. The woman in this painting may be the woman to which Harper was referring.

So who is it? Well, it can't be Annie, Ben's childhood friend. It could possibly be his mom, but I doubt very much that Roger Workman could paint this, or could afford to have this painted.

Ben's painting reminds me very much of a painting that was hanging in my own childhood living room. It's a painting that was a subject of much discussion between me, my parents and sister. A painting so central to our family story that we made a miniature version with an identical miniature frame and hung it in the living room of a grand-scale dollhouse my dad built.

The painting is "Christina's World," by Andrew Wyeth. According to my dad, Christina was crippled, but would still work her dustbowl farm by dragging herself around the land using her arms.

Wyeth painted many pictures of her. I'm thinking Jacob painted the picture in Ben's home. And it is of a woman whom Jacob adored. Perhaps Eve from the caves? And Jacob is Adam: now a non-corporeal ghost/god whom Ben serves.

Kate's Family Tree; Montagues and Capulets

I'd like to preface my latest crackpot Lost theory with a few word about Shakespeare, who I like to call "Shakes." The name Kate was used by Shakes in the Taming of the Shrew, in which Petruchio schemed to marry and tame Katerina (and succeeded). In one of the most recent Lost installments, we saw a new Dharma station, The Tempest, which is a chemical weapons plant that can kill everyone on the island. Also a Shakes reference.

Now to segue into crackpot theory: their are two families on the island. The Montagues and the Capulets, basically. Lost is all about opposites - black and white. One family is good, the other bad.

The first indication that their were family ties on the island was when Christian was revealed to be Claire's father, making her and Jack half-siblings.

I think we will soon learn that Kate's mother, Diane, IS ANNIE. I will submit into evidence, exhibit A) Harper says "you look just like her." We have confirmation from the pop-up show that she was referring to Annie, as I suspected. Here are she and Juliet:


Hmm. Blond hair, blue eyes, overly tweezed brow, high cheekbone. The cheekbone I will submit as exhibit B) Annie, as a child, had an exceptionally high cheekbone which I also noticed in Diane.



I will submit into evidence exhibit C) Annie has lots of freckles. So many that one, if one were the type to nickname people, might call her "freckles." So above is the family tree: Annie and Ben -- yes, I said Ben -- beget Kate.

Remember that Kate's mother never confirmed Wayne was her father. Kate assumed that because she found evidence Mr. Austen was not in her life until a year after she was born. These both do much to prop up my theory that Annie left the island with child to hide from Ben. That's also why she changed her name to Diane, a meme for Die-Ann, as in Annie is dead. She may have even faked her death so Ben could not find her.

But, once again, I have disproved one of my own theories, which is bound to happen when you're on the sharpest end of the cutting edge. That theory being that Thomas was Annie's hidden child.

So the two big families are Ben's line and Christian Shepard's line. We've seen both of these patriarchs in Jacob's cabin. Ben's line is Kate. Christian's line is Jack, Claire, and Aaron. Ben's line is bad, Christian's line is good. Which is why Kate steals Aaron.

Island Comings and Going

I only have time for a quick word today about teleportation. The best part of the latest episode, "The Other Woman" was when new character, Harper, magically appeared, preceded briefly by whispers, and then vanished right before Jack and Juliet's eyes.

What to make of this? The picture at right shows a more common method of teleportation: beaming. But Harper was not beamed. But can you imagine her de-materializing slowly while Jack and Juliet watched in stunned silence? Anyway, Harper was there and then she just wasn't there.

Remember when that Other lady asked Michael if Walt had ever appeared somewhere he wasn't supposed to be? So Harper must have a natural ability to teleport just like Walt does.

Also remember the day Shannon was shot by Anna-Lucia? Shannon heard whispers in the jungle louder and louder, and then saw Walt. Then she was shot.

Do whispers and teleportation always go together? Do magical hidden whisper people transport the Others around the island (and possibly off-island)? More later.

Shout Out To Another Crazy Theorist

A real kindred spirit came up with a theory I am craaazee about:

Man in Widmore Video is Thomas Linus

I give this a 89% probability. I'm not sure about the "Widmore sent this video to Ben" theory. But it does lend A LOT to why Ben would want to enlist Sayid to hunt down and kill people: To find and free his son Thomas and get revenge on Widmore -- who personally performed this beating to send a message to Ben. I mean just take a look at this Linus family album I've put together:


This also plays very nicely into one of my earlier theories: that Ben "turned" Jack and Kate to his cause and placed Aaron with Kate for safekeeping. He would have an excellent reason for doing this if he couldn't watch the baby himself because he had to be a veterinarian and rain down some justice on Widmore.

But where is Claire? Why can't she care for the baby? Puh-lease. Ben hates Claire for some reason. More theories on that later. He may have killed her himself. I still believe she's the one in the coffin (see another earlier post). And don't let that silly newspaper clipping stop you from believing me.

After seeing, "The Other Woman" last night, I'm thinking Claire may meet her end by disregarding her lover Locke's no-no and popping in on Miles. He's trying to say something to her and she's like, "I can't hear you with this thing in your mouth." 'Nuff said.

Pure Purple Sky

Last night's pop-up episode of "The Constant" had a few nice reveals. One was something I had speculated right here in this very blog: that when Desmond initiated the fail-safe and the sky turned purple, it was the same phenomenon that Faraday created in his lab at Oxford.

The pop-up specifically mentioned the purple light. I have a few notes about this. It came out a few years ago that our sky is actually purple, but the cones in human eyes cannot detect such short wavelengths that are being scattered over such a large expanse, so we see a blue sky (honeybees and some birds see a purple sky, incidentally).

Soon after Faraday landed on the island, he mentioned the light scatters differently. This could be after-effects of the fail-safe. The fact that humans were able, for a short time, to see the purple sky, must have meant either the blue waves in the sky did not scatter over the purple, allowing us to see all purple, or the purple waves were longer. Because we know light is electromagnetic radiation, then I think it's obvious that when an electromagnetic pulse was release, it amplified the wavelengths of light in the sky, effectively stretching the purple waves and allowing them to be seen by humans. Soon after the pulse, they shortened and the sky was again blue.

The physical explanation for the blueness of the sky is attributed to the work of Lord Rayleigh in the 19th century. Rayleigh scattering, a phenomenon named after him, is the scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light. It is interesting to note that in 1879 he was appointed to follow James Clerk Maxwell as Professor of Experimental Physics and Head of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. Maxwell is a name given in the Lostverse to the "Maxwell Group," a group that paid for the expedition to find the Black Rock ship in the find815.com game.

So, it follows that in order to unstick your consciousness in time, you need to alter the electromagnetic spectrum in a way that makes the short spectrum longer. And apparently this will happen if the device is set to oscillate at 11 Hertz.

A few brief words on Hertz: Wikipedia says: Heinrich Hertz, through experimentation, proved that transverse free space electromagnetic waves can travel over some distance. This had been predicted by James Clerk Maxwell and Michael Faraday. So two more mentions of Maxwell and Faraday. I think we're getting somewhere.

With his apparatus configuration, the electric and magnetic fields would radiate away from the wires as traverse waves. Hertz had positioned the oscillator about 12 meters from a zinc reflecting plate to produce standing waves.

It's funny that Hertz is quoted saying about his experiments -- which paved the way for radio and radar -- "It's of no use whatsoever." Hertz died at age 36, much like Ferris at age 37.

So Hertzian radiation, better known as radio waves, should also be considered important in the Desmond-Faraday time travel experiment. Radio waves, like electromagnetism, are an important theme in Lost. Sayid is always trying to get some radio to work. I wonder what would happen if we got Sayid and Faraday together for some type of radio magnetism experiment?

Faraday Knows About Oceanic Six

I just wanted to pop in before Lost airs tonight and post a new theory about Faraday -- my current obsession. Here it is: Faraday knows all about the Oceanic Six.

He is definitely a time traveler (in mind, not body), and in re-watching the second episode of season four, I noticed some tidbits that seem quite telling now that we've seen the equation-intensive Eloise episode.

For one: First thing after Faraday lands on the island he says to Jack and Kate, "I'm here to rescue you." How does he know who they are? Because they're two of the extremely famous Oceanic Six that he has seen in the future. Then Faraday asks Kate, "Where are the rest of your people?" Kate says, "Mostly on the beach." He says, "Mostly?" He seems very confused. Because he is expecting only six survivors. He's also packing heat -- because he knows Kate goes on trial for murder in the future, and may not be keen on being rescued.

How does this tie in to the greater Lost mythology? Well, we know the Freighties came to the island looking for Ben. Which means, Faraday must have also seen a vision or a future where Ben's relationship to Sayid is public. That's how he connects Ben and the Oceanic Six. He tells Hanso Foundation, who has been looking for Ben since they took a fuzzy snapshot of him in 1979. Apparently they've lost their own island in the meantime, so they launch a freighter mission to explore the area where the Oceanic Six said they came from (in Faraday's future flashes).

It's apparent Faraday has also told his team about the future and about the Oceanic Six. This may solve the mystery of Naomi's conversation with Abbadon. She was asking him, "What if there are survivors?" and he was saying, "There were no survivors of Oceanic 815." What we weren't privy to was her then saying, "Then why would Faraday say there are six or eight survivors?" And Abbadon would say, "You're believing that wacko? He's only on the team because Hanso says he won't fund the mission unless he's on it."

Miles Straume also seemed to know about the Oceanic Six. He glanced at Jack for a split second before calling him "handsome." Because surely, he's seen Jack's picture on TV a thousand times and heard Oprah and everyone else call him handsome. He also tells Kate to stay away from the gun. Because he knows she's a criminal. And, let's not forget, Sayid asks him why he's not surprised to see them and Miles is like, "woo woo woo!" and mocks him.

Frank, too. When he sees Juliet, he makes up some story about memorizing the passenger manifest. Really, who can memorize 300 names? Not. He knows the Oceanic Six from their faces, and he also knows the name of the other two Kate says she saved out of the water but died on the island. When Juliet wasn't either, he yells, "She's a native!" Probably alerting the team to the fact that she must know Ben -- another native.

And we know Charlotte knows because she does the three-card game with Faraday. What we missed is Daniel telling her, "I'm having trouble seeing the future here. The island is messing with my abilities." She says, "I'll pull three cards and promise to show you those cards in an hour from now, but for now I'll put them here face down. Now what are they?"

Also, Charlotte was the only one on the team wearing a bulletproof vest. And she was the only one shot. Faraday had a flash where she is shot and killed by Ben and subsequently told her to wear a vest when they go to the island. Very similar to how Desmond was saving Charlie. But you know what that means: the world will course correct and Charlotte will die. Probably soon.

We also know that, because Faraday has written in his journal that Desmond is his constant, he must be in contact with Desmond in 2007. When he flashes forward and sees the Oceanic Six and Kate's trial on TV, he then calls Desmond. This means Desmond gets off the island, too, but he's not one of the Oceanic Six.

Be Careful on the Ferris Wheel

So apparently, George Minkowski died on the Ferris Wheel. Or trying to get back on the Ferris Wheel. But he couldn't get back. Or he couldn't get off. Not sure.

But, I think the mention of the Ferris Wheel is not accidental. Consider first, the name of its creator, George Ferris. George Minkowski. Coincidence? His full name is George Washington Gale Ferris. Gale -- as in Henry Gale, and Dorothy Gale.

The Ferris Wheel is a type of "observation wheel," which has origins back to the 17th century. The term "observation wheel" makes me think of the Dharma Pearl station, whose purpose was "observation."

I also learned the main character in Stargate: Atlantis is John Sheppard, a fan of Ferris Wheels. No relation to two of similar name, Jack and Christian Shephard.

Ferris died at the young age of 37.

Rats and Scots with Nosebleeds

Here's a comment I posted on lost-theories.com this morning:

I saw the rat experiment much like Desmond’s flashes of the future when he was on the island. When he turned the key, he was basically hit with the 2.347 oscillating at 11, and from then on, he saw events in the future in the same way the rat had knowledge he had obtained in the future.

Desmond saw Charlie being struck by lightening, but then that event didn’t happen. So if that event never happened, how could he see it? Just like the rat was never taught the maze, so how did he know it? Same thing.

But I’m wondering, why didn’t Desmond’s nose start bleeding the first time he saw Charlie struck by lightening? If the rat died within 75 minutes of his exposure, why did Desmond live for weeks with no effects — until he got off the island.

That may be the key to why Faraday had to come to the island. When his Eloise experiment is performed on the island, you don’t die — and you can see the future. It’s only when you leave the island that you get the killer nosebleeds. But that begs the question, why does Faraday need to see the future? To finish his dissertation?

Rock The Casimir

Much has been made of the Orchid orientation film that came out at Comic-Con 2007. The film is perhaps more confusing than any single episode of Lost -- which is saying a lot.

In the film, Dr. Marvin Candle, who calls himself by another name here, explains how the island's properties create a Casimir effect. Candle is all the while holding a white rabbit with a number 15 painted on its side. Then all of a sudden, another number 15 rabbit appears on a high shelf. Everyone is freaked out that the rabbits are in the same room.

Here's what I've gleaned from this. Certain characters on the show have doubles. If you've watched Alias at all, you know J.J. Abrams will not hesitate to double any character. He even doubled extras (Ethan Hawke) on occasion. These doubles were created by the island's Casimir effect -- on Lost, not Alias.

Any folks who have had dramatically different appearances in flash forwards or flashbacks may have doubles running around on or off the island. Also, folks who seem to be in two places at once. These people are: Libby -- she had dark hair and was in a mental institution while also having blond hair and coffee with Desmond at the same time; Ben -- just because four evil geniuses is better than one; Claire -- just because one may be goth; Aaron -- one Aaron is with Claire, the other with Kate; Jack -- one is clean cut, one is hairy and hooked on pills; and Walt -- one is tall, one is short.

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

Warning: This post is not for the faint of heart. There is a significant "ick" factor to my latest theory.

Locke and Claire are doing it. That's right. Locke has been after her since Day One. He tried to make it known early on by building her a cradle. Later, he would pop over to her tent and swaddle and coo at Aaron, as if he really cared. The whole time Charlie was sooo on to him.

After he swaddled the baby that time, Locke goes over to Charlie and says something about not imposing and Charlie looks confused. That was really Locke putting Charlie on warning. It was the same conversation Hurley and Frogurt had in the mobisode where Frogurt tells Hurley he better make a move on Libby because he's "holding up the line."

As soon as Charlie is conveniently out of the picture, Locke marches off to the suburbs with Claire and Aaron in tow. And in "Eggtown" he gives the game away by walking into Claire's house without even knocking. That's because he LIVES THERE, folks.

He's only staying at Ben's house to keep an eye on Ben and keep his Claire action on the DL while Kate's snooping around. Didn't it seem strange that Sawyer had to room with Hurley but Claire gets her own house? She totally lives with Locke.

Which explains why Kate wants to steal her baby. She, Jack and Sayid all think Locke is dangerous, and if he's the new baby daddy, then they have to plot to hide Aaron from him (in a galaxy far-far away). Locke can't or won't leave the island, so they have to take him where Locke can't get him -- off-island.

Charlotte and Three Card Monty

One of the most curious scenes in "The Economist" had to be when Charlotte and Dan were playing some cards on the beach.

Dan would look at the backs of the cards and try to guess the card, while Charlotte waited for his response and then turned them over. Most curious is, this is not a two-person game. Dan could easily have dealt three cards, guessed them, then turned them over himself. Why is Charlotte involved?

Let's look at the facts. We know that back in the real world Dan had a caretaker. My original theory about this was he was paralyzed -- just like Locke. But when I saw him stand up for the first time on the island, he didn't seem surprised to be walking. Second fact: a caller on Dharmalars mentioned that card tests like this are often associated with autism.

So, Dan may be autistic. And maybe not borderline autistic, if he needs a caretaker. But I don't think this is the case. Even highly functioning autistics do not look people in the eye often when talking, and Dan clearly does.

Back to: his legs are broken. While I'm on this: Why did he cry while watching the Oceanic footage? Why does anyone cry when they watch TV: they see suffering. Hmm. But the Oceanic plane at the bottom of the ocean had no survivors, and no suffering. Unless: Dan can see another dimension where the plane did not crash. And those survivors are suffering.

Miles and Much More Magnetism

The exchange between Miles and Ben in "Eggtown" is an extremely important one. My theory is the entire conversation is gibberish except for the number. On this island: Only the numbers matter.

So, Miles constructs a b.s. conversation to convey the number "3.2 million" to Ben. Ben verifies the number by saying, "Why not 3.3 or 3.4?" With this he is asking Miles if he is sure that 3.2 is the correct number; Miles nods. I'm not sure if the million is significant, or if Miles was just getting 3.2 across to Ben. How else could he say it with Kate standing there? "I just came from Minnesota, Ben. And it was 3.2 degrees outside. Do you get me?" Not.

What's the significance of 3.2 million? With little searching, I found a recent experiment that sheds light on the state of Earth's magnetic field 3.2 million years ago. This ties nicely into one of my previous theories that the island exists millions of years in the past. Another article on this has a link to some findings on the Earth's inner core, which ties in nicely to my theory that the island is located within the Earth's core. Though, 3.2 million years ago was the Pliocene era, which puts me about 137 million years off -- but who's counting.

This new finding about ancient Earth's magnetism was widely publicized in scientific rags in April 2007, right about when this episode was created. Here's another link that says this finding has "important implications for the origin of life on our planet." The article also mentions that the method for measuring the ancient Earth's magnetic field was developed four decades ago. Which would put it at about 1970 -- when the Dharma Initiative was founded.

Miles could be telling Ben about Charlotte's findings -- the polar bear she found in Tunisia was 3.2 million years old. She did say to her colleague at the dig site that she was off by "a couple of million years."

Also significant about 3.2 million years ago: the beginnings of humanity in Ethiopia. Australopithecus — a type of ape which, just like us, walks upright on two legs -- walks the Earth. Their major threat: malaria. They must not have had the vaccine the Others have been taking. In climate news: the Earth was actually hotter 3.2 million years ago, so the island could be in a part of the world that is now icebound. Which would explain Penny's two Portugese men listening for signals in a snowstorm, and the many references to ice and winter that I've discussed previously.

If not 3.2 million, what could 3.2 signify? It is Pi rounded up. That's all I got for now.

But back to Miles and Ben: Why would Ben need to know about 3.2 million? I think it has to do with some imminent deadline. Which is why Miles says he wants the money in two days. Then Ben says he can't -- prompting Miles for a drop-dead date. Miles says one week. So Ben got two pieces of info: 3.2 million and one week. Maybe the Earth has one week left unless Ben fixes whatever has gone wrong with its magnetism -- caused by Locke not pushing the button? But, at the rate of one island day per show, we won't find out until the season finale if Ben makes the deadline. Great.

Others Adoption Service

Today's theory involves Kate and her questionable adoption of baby Aaron. I think the most likely explanation is Kate and Jack have switched sides and become Others. They may have been finally convinced by Ben (or more likely Jack by Juliet) that the Others really are the "good guys."

The Others routinely take children and raise them as their own. Couple this with the fact that, when asked, Others have identified themselves as "Canadian" and you have your explanation. For 70 years, orphaned and impoverished children in the U.K. were sent to farms to work in Canada. The Canada Home program was started by some British religious zealots who believed they were giving the children a better life in a new country.

The Others seems to be convinced they need to take children and "give them a better life." This seems to be what Kate has done with Aaron. I don't think Claire is dead. We know she was with Locke. Locke is decidedly not Other. In the future, I believe Claire is still on the island with Locke and Jack helped Kate abscond with baby Aaron -- because they both believed she could give him a better life than the one Claire and Locke could offer. This is why Jack can't see Aaron. He believes he did the right thing, but part of him still knows this is wrong.

What we need to see is Jack and Kate making lists, or calling people good or bad. They are definitely in cahoots with Ben, but not in the same way as Sayid. They drank the Kool-Aid, but Sayid must still be blackmailed to do Ben's bidding.

Also, I would not be surprised if Ben orchestrated the Aaron adoption to Kate, or is behind it in some way. Heck, Aaron probably calls him Uncle Benry.

Kate "Criminal" Promo

This morning I was all ready to spend the day creating a You Tube video of Kate clips to Fiona Apple's "Criminal." Thank goodness I did a quick search first and it seems ABC has beat me to it. Not bad either, but I would have included clips of her childhood sweetheart, Tom. And it's an altogether good Jate video.

"Eggtown" Has Egg On Its Face

I'll just start by saying this was probably my *least* favorite Lost episode so far. I would almost go so far as to say it jumped the shark. How do you know if a show has jumped the shark? You look at your past blog entries about how great the show is and you're embarrassed for yourself.

First of all, NO ONE gets time served for a laundry list of charges like were brought against Kate. In fact, when I saw her enter the courtroom I said, "If she leaves with time served, I'm selling my TV." Oh, but she's really hot you're saying. That's not enough either: just look at our local girl Mary Kay LeTourneau.

We did get confirmation that Jack does, in fact, love Kate -- now and in the future. So the $10 I spent on my new domain name will obviously pay for itself. But then we see Jack can lie about what happened on the island no problem, but the lying gets harder when he has to look at Aaron.

Now on to the theories:

1) Baby Aaron may be the devil. I say this because the psychic said he would be evil if not raised by Claire. And Matthew Abaddon seems to be looking for him, and I've read that Abbadon's name is a reference to the devil. He may be searching out his successor.

2) Claire is in the coffin. She did get on the helicopter with Aaron, as Desmond predicted, but what Desmond couldn't see was that she was on the helicopter dead, much like Naomi. Sure, the newspaper clipping Jack had said "Man found dead," but I think that article was about his dad. His dad drank himself to death (because the universe course corrected), and the L.A. Times article mentioned Claire was his dad's daughter in Australia -- a fact Jack didn't know (and is very upset about). So then he goes to Claire's funeral, whom he and the other Oceanic 6 had brought back as one of the purported two that Kate couldn't save. Claire has no one in L.A., explaining the lack of visitors. This is why Jack is shocked that Kate didn't attend -- she is passing off this woman's son as her own and doesn't even attend her funeral!

Redeeming qualities:

This episode did have some excellent Skate foreplay, but it seems Kate can no longer see past his dreadful personality and just wants to cuddle. Sawyer may be spending the rest of his life on the island bunking with Hurley (and what, there are enough barracks for everyone to get their own?). Though he did have a valid point about her bouncing between him and Jack. I personally wouldn't have slapped him on the beak for that.

Relativity and the Rocket Clock

I've been puzzling over the Daniel-rocket experiment on last week's Lost episode, "The Economist," and found myself again staring at the ceiling mumbling, "What could it mean? What could it all mean?"

The facts are these: Daniel apparently travels with a rocket that has a clock in it. Regina, his colleague on the boat, is familiar with this rocket and with the experiment he wants to conduct, as Daniel does not have to explain much to get her to fire it. When fired, she commences a countdown without prompting, as if she's done this before. Daniel and Regina refer to this rocket clock as "the payload."

With that to go on, I did some searching on rocket clock experiments, and quickly found details of an experiment called the Vessot Rocket Clock Experiment, conducted in 1976 by Robert Vessot and Martin Levine. As described in the book, "Was Einsteen Right?" Vessot created a clock that could be loaded into a rocket and launched into the atmosphere. He did this from Wallops Island, while his colleague waited on Merritt Island with the ground clock for the "payload," as they referred to it.

It gets better. At 8 minutes 31 seconds into the experiment (Daniel observed a 31-minute difference between the island clock and rocket clock), a cancellation between gravitational blue shift and time dilation occurred. It took the scientists two years to process the data gathered in this one experiment, and when they where finished, humanity's understanding of curved space-time had made a significant leap.

Building on this experiment, physicists later developed the Principal of Maximal Aging, which answers the "Twin Paradox." I was also interested not only to see a mention of twins, which is a major theme in Lost, but a mention of Minkowski, specifically "Minkowski space."

I also found it interesting when researching curved space-time that one of the leading minds is Lewis Carroll Epstein. His book "Relativity Visualized" contains illustrations showing how the "curvature of time" causes objects to fall downward near the surface of the earth and causes time to run slower in the basement than on the top floor of the building -- illustrating the findings of the Vessot Rocket Clock Experiment. Could the Lost show title, "Through the Looking Glass" be a reference to Epstein?

Back to Daniel and the rocket. When he calls Regina and says, "Fire the payload," Frank says, "He does this kind of stuff on the boat all the time." The question is: Why would someone need to regularly run experiments testing the curvature of space-time? Because -- drum roll please -- the island is in a black hole. A black hole would create a gravity well and a strong distortion of space-time (to the tune of 31 minutes?). Of course, they could also be in a neutron star.

That kind of reminds me of the movie "Contact," in which Jodie Foster talked to her dead father on an island in a neutron star, much like Jack talked to his dad on an island (in a neutron star?). But I digress.

One final note on this experiment. The ratio of difference between Daniel's clock and the rocket's clock is 1:31. Genesis 1:31, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day." Oceanic Six, anyone?

Oceanic Six: On Trial

Here's the latest crackpot Lost theory I'm working on: the term "Oceanic Six" is a name given to the six defendants in a very high-profile trial.

When I first heard the name "Oceanic Six" I immediately thought of Abbie Hoffman and the Chicago Seven. The Chicago Seven were defendants in a high-profile 1969 trial. The original Chicago Eight were indicted for demonstrating against police action at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. One of the eight did not complete the trial, leaving the Chicago Seven.

News of the Chicago Seven and their courtroom antics was major national news fare. Hoffman's face became so recognizable, he would write "FUCK" on his forehead so his face wouldn't get on TV.

Even now, 38 years (almost to the day) after the Feb. 18, 1970 verdict where all members of the Chicago Seven were acquitted, the trial is still a headline. Aaron Sorkin recently wrote a movie about the trial; it's being produced by Steven Spielberg and is scheduled to start shooting next month.

All this is to prove that a high-profile trial would be one of the best ways to make the "Oceanic Six" the most recognizable faces in America, if not the world. Sayid in a flash-forward in the Seychelles says he was the recipient of a large settlement. A major trial could have convened for months before the Oceanic Six decided to swear their silence and take a settlement. (But the fact that they are recognizable from the trial suggests an open courtroom, a place where most secrets would come out -- but I guess not all).

The number "Six," instead of Seven as in the Chicago Seven, may allude to another novel we can add to the list of Lost literary references. "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said," is a Phillip K. Dick novel where the main character is a celebrity who loses his identity overnight. The novel is set in an America that has become a police state. Also present are a race of super-humans called the "Six." With themes of rebellion in a police state and celebrity in common with the Chicago conspiracy trial, and the prevalent "Six" in common with the "Oceanic Six," I have to think it's not coincidental.

Skater vs. Jater

I don't Know why this is even a question. Of course I want Kate to end up with Jack. Here's what bothers me about the Skate camp:

• Sawyer is a hick and a conservative. I grew up in rural America and am familiar with the species. They are not misunderstood, or sensitive one minute, a huge a-hole the next. They're usually just a-holes.
• Kate has reservations too. Sawyer is just like her dad - only not a drunk because all the island has to offer is 20-year-old Dharma beer, a wine bottle you have to wrestle out of Desmond's hands, and maybe some half-empty vanilla bottles (which I learned from Amy Sedaris will work in a pinch).

That being said, I do enjoy a teensy bit of Skate here and there. My two favorite Skate vids:

• Brighter Than Sunshine
• Dream a Little Dream of Me. By Mama Cass-also a Desmond favorite.

I should also come clean that my true fave is Desmond. As much as I loathe the surely duplicitous Juliet, I was hoping to see some Desmond-Juliet action in the woods just for fun. And just so he could say "I'm sorry, brother," to Jack and Jack would cry.

Lost: The Economist

J. wood's most recent post on this episode of Lost makes mention to Doyle's Moriarity :
http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=2933#comment-259780

Significant because: I posted a theory not too long ago about how Moriarity could be the key to Lost.

The show's title intrigues me because not too long ago I took micro and macro economics at Phoenix College. I learned many fascinating things in economics class; this weekend I will have to review my textbooks for clues!

Lost Island Exists in Paleozoic Era

A few notes on the most recent episode, "Confirmed Dead."

1) The "ghost" dustbuster -- there is a circular element on the front of this device that looks exactly like a CD cleaner I bought a couple years ago:
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Innovations-Skipdoctor-Repair-Kit/dp/B00005B9W6

2) Why does the pilot look like he fell out of the sky and his phone is broken when he landed the plane safely? There shouldn't be a scratch on him.

3) The island exists way back in time. Specifically, before the paleozoic era. I found a couple science briefs on magnetic anomolies in Tunisia, and also on how flora in Tunisia was found to match ancient flora in Australia:

http://tinyurl.com/2lfb8z
http://tinyurl.com/2ufjjm

This would explain the compass not pointing north, because the polarity of the earth has changed many times. Most recently 750,000 years ago.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/earth_poles_040407.html

This also explains the teradactyl charlie saw. There's probably plenty of other dinosaurs.

The polar bears, dolphins and sharks were brought back in time to the island by Dharma.

It explains all the dead people on the island like Jack's father and Ben's mom -- if Ben can make people travel through time, he can bring them back from a time they were alive.

And it explains why Jack's father is alive in the future -- because he was brought back in time before he died, he went back to the future as one of the Oceanic 6. He was, technically, on the plane -- though in a coffin. But he may have been on the manifest -- with an asterik.

4) The submarine must be a time-travel device. Which has something to do with why Locke blew it up.

5) This gives the show a great hope, because of its true the Lostaways are all back in time, they can go forward to any point and not make all the mistakes they made in their pitiful lives. One thing is certain: they have all made horrendous mistakes that I'm sure they would undo if they could. This might be exactly what they did.

Ben showed them how to time travel and before going back to their own time, Kate first didn't burn up her father (so she's not wanted), Jack didn't turn in his dad (so his dad's not dead -- he's still a doctor). Hurley didn't play the lottery. But they paid a high price for this -- their lives now suck really bad and they want to go "back" -- that is, back in time.

6) Reference to my last theory about the poles: one of the Freighties is Charlotte S. Lewis (C.S. Lewis). Narnia was a land where it was perpetually winter.

Now that I am *finally* caught up to the 4th season of Lost, I have a new favorite theory.

When I was a kid, my dad told me about the inner Earth and the possibility of a hollow Earth. Because Lost is all about daddy issues, I have to give special weight to a theory purported by my own dad.

So, the Hollow Earth can be accessed from the South Pole, and exited from the North Pole. The South Pole entrance explains the polar bears. It also explains why Penny's team looks to be in an antarctic bunker -- that is the closest place they have picked up a signal. The Oceanic 815 plane departed Australia for Los Angeles. I know when you fly Seattle to Europe, they fly over the North Pole to save time. Surely, an Australia-L.A. flight would do the same. They got sucked into the South Pole and down into inner earth -- Agharta.

Legend has it Hitler himself when looking for inner earth, and may have found it and escaped there.

The opener of season four dropped us several clues that the island is within the hollow earth. 1) Hurley saying Charlie was in front of the HoHos, and 2) Jack getting H-O in a game of horse with Hurley. Both references to Santa -- the poles.

If the show is flashing forward, and Jack and Hurley are traveling back to the island -- they will first need to go to the South Pole.

More about the Hollow Earth: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/03/01/85-inside-the-hollow-earth/

Very Weak and Still Lost

I must come clean that after saying I would watch no more Lost, I continued to camp out on the couch and watch episode after perplexing episode.

This morning, in a hazy, sleep-deprived moment of clarity, I arrived at the answer to every question raised on the show. And there are many:

http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Unanswered_questions

What I think is the most important question is not on this list: Why does Ben tell Juliet that taking women off the island to conceive is not possible? This question is the key to nearly every other question. I ran this through a thousand possibilities, and even mind-mapped it. Here's the solution:

There are two types of Others -- those who were "born" on the island and those who were brought there. Those who were "born" there cannot step off the island because they are holograms. That's also why they cannot go to term with a pregnancy -- they themselves are not flesh and blood.

The idea came to me as I was staring at the ceiling in my office repeating to myself, "Why can't they leave? Why can't couples just honeymoon in Fiji and come back and have a healthy baby?" Then I thought of Professor Moriarty on Star Trek. He could not leave the holodeck because he was a hologram. One foot off and he would disintegrate. In the same way, a young Other couple cannot exist in Fiji. Ben knows this but he won't tell them.

Many of the objects are also holograms. I believe the island, besides sustaining its holographic inhabitants can also implant memories and replicate items. The implanted memories, like Kate's black stallion or Sayid's cat, coincide with the materialization of the subject of the memories in the place in which the physical person exists.

So, how can a hologram have a tumor? Easy. Ben thought about a tumor for some reason and it appeared on his back. How can Jack operate on a hologram? Just like the game operation. The guy with the big red nose isn't really human.

Ben learned this truth, and has made it his life's work to become real -- just like Moriarty wanted. He wants to step off the holodeck. He has recruited off-islanders like Ethan and Juliet to this end, by promising them miracles. And if you were a hologram and wanted to be real, what would you do? Study real people.

Now reframe all your Lost questions with this in mind. Doesn't it all just make sense now?

Cutting my "Lost"ses

I have decided not to continue my quest to catch up to Lost. After three straight days of watching Lost DVDs, I have become disenchanted with the show.

Last night, I watched the first episode of season three. Jack got angry and cried a lot, they all did whatever the Others told them, Sawyer acted like a circus animal. They all basic lost whatever shreds of dignity they had left.

I couldn't relate anymore. Not to mention, of the thousands of questions the show raises, some they beat you over the head with the answers and others they leave on a raft in the ocean, figuratively speaking. And the flashbacks are boring my to tears.

Besides, I have greeting cards to scan, so TV ban is back on.

"Lost" In Time

So, I am officially the last person on Earth to start watching "Lost."

My early decision to not watch "Lost" was based on several criteria:

• I was angry that J.J. Abrams was getting all kinds of attention for this show and not for "Alias"
• It was just too "water cooler" for me
• I had given up watching TV for the summer
  
• I had rented and watched the pilot last year and found it weird and off-putting

But, I decided to give it another try. In the last week, I have absorbed all of season one and about seven eps of season two. And now friends are telling me season four starts on Thursday! So, my work is cut out for me: finish season two, and tackle three before Thursday. I know what you're thinking: That is impossible. But, this is not my first time playing DVD catch-up.

Several years ago, I Netflixed the first episode of Alias when it was mid-season-four on ABC. In about two weeks, I was caught up AND had "found" the 6 season four episodes I missed on the Internet. Now it should be clear why I simply cannot fit in exercise.