Portfolio Number Review II

Once again, for my Lost followers, this is another post for my class and I apologize for the delay in new posts. School has been very busy, but I will resume once school is out and I have time to catch up and finish the series. Here is a list and explanation of my work that I have done for this class since my last portfolio update.

· Clicking here will take you to the fourth story I wrote. This article was about how students that were involved heavily in Spring Sing were adjusting back to life without it. This story was timely at the time because it was the week after Spring Sing and it asked students how they would spend their first free weekend and time after that. This story was fun because I talked to five sources and covered many different aspects of Spring Sing involvement. I was once again able to use a bulleted list in this story, a technique that is often easier and more accepted to do on the web than traditional print journalism.

In the true sense of transparency that we talk about in PR classes all the time, I was a little disappointed with my video. I used the tripod but at one point the camera wiggles for just a second or two; I’m really not sure why. This was the first time I’ve ever filmed and put something on YouTube, so this was definitely new ground for me. This exercise showed me that I need to expand my skills in the video realm so I can be more versatile in backpack journalism.

· This link will take you to my fifth and final story on the Link for this class. This story was an audio slideshow covering a group involved with Bison’s for Christ. I did some research to see how many groups were involved and what all they were doing. Once I got the list I determined that TNT was a good group to cover because they were helping reroof a house which I figured would be a good story to cover for an audio slideshow. While on the site I used my iPhone to record audio interviews with two of the leaders of the site. I was really proud of these two interviews because I got a lot of good “natural sound.” After taking pictures I returned back to the dorm to work.

This article was fun because I got to “learn by doing,” a favorite pastime of mine. I had never used Garage Band before and only used iMovie once on the project mentioned above, but certainly not for a slideshow. It took a while but I figured out how to edit the audio, merge the two clips, set up the slide show with Ken Burns effects on some, sync the audio with the video and upload it to YouTube.

Today (Thursday, April 29), I decided to update this article. I went back and re-edited the video some to change some Ken Burns effects in order to help it flow a little better. One thing I hope you notice, but I certainly want to point your attention to, is the “natural sound” that lines up at 1:09-1:13 on the video. It is showing a guy hammering. While Mark Baur is talking you hear hammering in the background. I just really thought that was neat how the “natural sound” matched up really well with the photo there.

· When the last portfolio was due I had turned in a story early. I am not sure if it was graded then or if it was held off until this portfolio but I will link that story here as well. It was just the story with an audio clip about Zach Cantrell finding Beth Anne Colvin’s lost engagement ring. Honestly I was a little surprised by how this article took off. It is still, at the time of posting this, the number six most visited article on the Link. I am very proud of that, especially because it hit that number very soon after I first uploaded it.

· This does not really necessarily pertain, but this is a story I wrote for the Bison that was also teased on the Link.

· This link will take you to my first portfolio that was put on the Link.

· This link will show you more of my blog posts. I have hit the limit necessary of posts for this class but will continue it until Lost is over.

This class has been exciting and I had hoped to write more for the Link this semester, but between this class and writing for the Bison weekly it was hard to find time to write extra for the Link. Next year I will be able to spend more time on the Link. I hope to be able to be a part of this project and lend my help to expand it further. As mentioned earlier, I’m a big proponent of “learning by doing.” This class has allowed me to do that with the different techniques I was asked to employ in my articles. While on that note I want to stress again my interest in looking into what all it takes and is involved with making an App for the Link. I would love to take something like that on if it looks possible. I think the Link is an incredible opportunity on so many different levels and I am excited at the prospects of being able to work on this more next year.

My thoughts on a job posting from IMDb.com

If you are a follower of my Lost blog you will notice that this has nothing to do with Lost. This is an assignment for the same class that I write my blog for. So, you can read this or choose to return when I have.

The job that I found was one for IMDb.com. The job posting is asking for someone who can help promote their website in terms of mobility and social networking. This job wants a person that can think critically and come up with good strategies to promote their service.

I need to be able to effectively communicate with people, as well as have an understanding of social networking. Social networking is the new emerging way to communicate. I need to be able to understand how it works and how to effectively and accurately use it to reach the maximum amount of people successfully. Being able to write is also a necessary skill with a job like this that wishes to reach out to people.

Since I am already involved in social media I need to keep using it to stay current with what the trends are and exactly how it operates. In addition, I need to keep writing in order to get better at it. I should also read good writing to get ideas on how to write better.

Harding has been instrumental in teaching me how to write better. Also, through my classes here I have learned how to write for the web. This will obviously be needed to communicate for a website. Recently, many of my classes have been stressing the importance of social media. I now see that it is a fundamental shift in the way in which we communicate. I want to be a part of the shift. This is a new revolution and I want to be able to be a part of it from the start. I feel that my classes at Harding have reduced the learning curve to jump into this constantly changing industry.

Happily Ever After- Episode 6.11

Alas, we might actually be going somewhere with the flash-sideways. The Desmond episode did not disappoint. Let’s jump on into what happened in “Happily Ever After.”

This episode starts out with Desmond finding out that he was brought back to the Island. When Widmore tells him this, needless to say, Desmond is very upset, to the point of physically attacking Widmore. Soon after, Desmond is placed in a “room” to see if he can survive another “catastrophic electromagnetic event.” From what Widmore has been told, Desmond is the only person in the world that has survived this, and if he can again, then he will be asked to make a sacrifice.

When the infamous white light from electromagnetic events goes off we now see Desmond’s flash-sideways persona. He is seen getting off of flight 815 and being picked up by George Minkowski. This is interesting because Minkowski was the other person on the freighter whose consciousness was jumping between two timelines, as Desmond’s was when he arrived on the freighter.

In this timeline Desmond works for Charles Widmore, and Widmore looks on him with great favor. (Did anyone notice the artwork in Widmore’s office? A scale with white stones on one side and black stones on another.) Widmore gives Desmond a glass of MacCutcheon whisky because he is worth it. In the original timeline we see that in Widmore’s eyes, Desmond is not worthy to have such a “fine” drink. (I guess when you have a thing for the boss’s daughter it can make you easy to dislike.)

Desmond is charged with the task of looking after Charlie Pace, because he is going to play a charity concert with Widmore’s son, Daniel Widmore aka Daniel Faraday. In this timeline “Faraday” (how I will refer to him in this timeline) is a musician. In the original timeline we knew he was a piano aficionado but his mother persuaded him to go into science because it appeared that was his destiny, to help the Island. However, with the Island sunk in this timeline, I guess he can stick with music.

Charlie seems to be on to something between the two timelines. Charlie tells Desmond that when he nearly died on the plane by choking on his bag of drugs he saw Claire (although he doesn’t know her name in this timeline) and felt as if he had loved her. There was a true, real feeling in him when he saw Claire when he was about to die. In an effort to show Desmond something, Charlie jerks the wheel of the car away from Desmond and they crash into the water. Desmond swims out of the car and goes around to Charlie’s side of the car. He thinks he sees Charlie holding his hand up to the window which says “Not Penny’s boat.” Desmond snaps out of this vision and gets him out.

At the hospital Desmond goes into an MRI machine. Inside this machine Desmond starts seeing flashes of his life with Penny from the original timeline. He leaves the MRI machine and runs into Jack, who is a doctor in the hospital, and reminds him that they were on the same plane. Desmond meets up with Charlie again in the hospital and Charlie tells him that he will not play in the concert because none of this matters and that Desmond should start looking for this girl named Penny that he saw written on Charlie’s hand and also from the visions in the MRI machine.

Desmond then goes to tell Mrs. Widmore, Eloise Hawking, that Charlie will not be playing at their event. Despite how everyone told Desmond she would react, she did not seem to mind this news. As Desmond leaves the event site where he was meeting with Mrs. Widmore he hears the name Penny Milton being read off the guest list. When he asks to look at the list Mrs. Widmore jumps all up in his conversation and says that:

ELOISE: Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem. It is, in fact, a violation. So, whatever you’re doing, whatever it is you think you’re looking for...You need to stop looking for it.

DESMOND: Do you, do you know what I'm looking for, Mrs. Widmore?

ELOISE: I don't know why you're looking for anything? You have the perfect life. On top of it, you’ve managed to attain the thing you wanted more than anything--my husband's approval.

DESMOND: How do you know what I want?

ELOISE: Because I bloody do.

DESMOND: I need to see that list...or you need to tell me why I can't.

ELOISE: You can't because you're not ready yet, Desmond.

DESMOND: Ready? Ready, for what?

Desmond then talks with Faraday who basically gives him the same Charlie speech. He felt as though he loved this redhead girl who works at the museum. We of course already know this to be Charlotte. Faraday says that after seeing her he felt as though he had already loved the redhead; he woke up that night and wrote down some crazy advanced quantum mechanics equations. Only someone who had studied that field a lifetime would understand them. He knew this because he showed it to a friend of his that is in the mathematics field.

Faraday then concludes that things must have been changed, that this life was not meant to be. Faraday said that things could have been changed by releasing a large amount of energy, like exploding a nuclear bomb. Faraday then speculates that he has already set off a nuclear bomb. Faraday tells Desmond that Penny is his half sister and he tells Desmond where to meet her.

Desmond finds Penny running in the same stadium that we saw Jack and Desmond running in from the original timeline. When they shake hands Desmond faints.

Desmond comes back into consciousness in his original timeline persona. Widmore says that he was only out for a few seconds. Widmore expresses to Desmond that his ability is paramount to the success of their mission. Desmond does not even let Widmore finish and says that he is ready to do what he must. Moments later, Desmond is being lead away by Zoe and two other of Widmore’s men. Sayid jumps out and neutralizes the two men and tells Zoe, at gunpoint, that she should run.

SAYID: Desmond, I don’t have time to explain, but these people are extremely dangerous. We need to go now.

DESMOND: Aye, of course. Lead the way.

The episode concludes by flash-sideways Desmond waking up in front of Penny where we last saw them talking. Penny agrees to a coffee date and Desmond returns to his limo still being driven by Minkowski. Minkowski asks if he can get Desmond anything to which Desmond asks for the Oceanic 815 flight manifest. When asked why he needs it, Desmond says, “I just need to show them something.

This episode shows that the flash-sideways are starting to go somewhere and actually serve a purpose. A few quick questions I think we should ponder:

· Was Desmond in control of his flash-sideways self, or was he merely “watching” himself do things? I think he was “watching” from his flash-sideways perspective.

· Is Mrs. Widmore/Eloise Hawking aware of the two timelines? It seems that she is. How much is she aware of them? Did she create one of them? Can she operate between the two of them? Is she a “master” of one of them? She has always known too much about time and fate. She talked about Desmond violating things pertaining to rules, presumably of time. Are we finally going to get back to all these rules we keep hearing about. Remember, Ben said that Widmore had “changed the rules” when Widmore killed Alex. Although Widmore’s relation to killing Alex can be questioned since Keamy was the one who pulled the trigger and Ben blames himself for her death.

· Why are Widmore and Eloise still together in the flash-sideways? How did he even have a step-child, Penny? Who is the other parent? Does it matter?

· Is love the key thing combining the two timelines?

I am not sure how I feel about love being the thing that connects the two timelines. It seems a little childish, or fairy-tale-ish. However, that would go right along with the name of the episode, “Happily Ever After.” I’m ok with it showing them other things from the timeline, however, if that is what brings them together I’m going to be a little upset. I do not think it will be though.

Why did Desmond just go with Sayid? Does he really trust Sayid more than them? Was he simply afraid to stand up to Sayid? This will be interesting to see in the next few episodes.

I do wonder if they will tell us why Desmond is so special, able to handle high levels of exposure to electromagnetism.

Also, in this timeline Penny’s last name is Milton. Is that meant to imply anything? John Milton is the author of Paradise Lost. This is what Wikipedia has to say about Paradise Lost:

It deals with diverse topics from marriage, politics, and monarchy, and grapples with many difficult theological issues, including fate, predestination, the Trinity, and the introduction of sin and death into the world, as well as angels, fallen angels, Satan, and the war in heaven. Milton's epic is generally considered one of the greatest literary works in the English language.

Sounds like it might be why she was given that last name. There are a lot of common themes from Lost discussed in it (I bolded two big points, but others apply in some degree at least.)

Another quick note about Penny, according to the Lostpedia, there is no actual coffee shop at corner of the two streets where Desmond set up his coffee date with Penny. In real life, there is an antique shop there called, “Thanks for the Memories.” Was this a coincidence or done on purpose? I don’t know, but it is very interesting.

I have few quick predictions. In the flash-sideways timeline I believe that Sawyer might be looped into going to the hospital where an injured and pregnant Sun will be seen by Juliet, a baby doctor. He will see visions of him with Juliet. Sawyer will either end up at the hospital because Sun and Jin go to the police station looking for help with Sun’s gunshot wound or, Sawyer could end up at the hospital because he just found Kate and he will need to take her to Claire, who is in the hospital, for some reason, such as asking Claire questions about Kate. Either way, Sawyer will need to end up at the hospital to see Juliet I feel like. I am not sure how Jack will end up running into Kate. Unless they switch it on us and say that Sawyer is going to be with Kate. Maybe now that he caught her running he started seeing some visions. I think something in this paragraph will be right.

As far as Desmond goes, I think Widmore will need him at the volcano (which has been mentioned once and we have been told it will be of “seismic” importance). There he will tap into an electromagnetic pocket and “resolve” the two timelines. However, doing this will put him at great danger; hence the sacrifice Widmore alluded to.

As far as the next episode goes, “Everybody Loves Hugo,” I think we will get an answer to another big mystery. This episode title is a play on the season two episode entitled “Everybody Hates Hugo.” The producers said we would eventually give an answer to why there was a DHARMA supply drop near the end of season two. In a podcast last month they said that they intend to tell who dropped it and why but that it may not be revealed on the show. I’m hoping it is revealed on tonight’s episode or at least hinted to since they said it probably won’t be shown on the show. Often, Hurley’s episodes deal with food. He was in charge of the Swan food that they found in the hatch. He also worked for the kitchen during his short stint in the DI. Other than that, I have no more predictions.

By the way, please feel free to leave comments below. I would love to hear what you have to say about the show, theories or reactions to anything I say.

In the words of Smoke-Locke “You are so close; it would be such a shame to turn back now.”

Until next week when we have seen a little bit more Lost, Namaste.

Steven

Here are the sneak peeks ABC has put out for this week’s episode. Watch at your own risk!

The Package- Episode 6.10

Due to how ridiculously long my last blog post was and how seemingly useless this episode was, my post for “The Package” will be much shorter.

Let’s hit the flash-sideways first. We see that Sun and Jin have a functional relationship in this timeline and this time around Sun wants to run away to America with Jin. We find out that the money that Jin lost at customs was to pay for Keamy to kill him. (Sounds a little poetic) Jin is taken to the restaurant that we saw him at in Sayid’s flash-sideways.

Sun’s father apparently found out about her secret bank account and closed it, thus keeping Sun and Jin from paying Keamy. Jin gets free thanks to Sayid helping him. Once Jin is free he shoots Mikhail Bakunin in his right eye (the same one in the original timeline…Karma, close to the word DHARMA…like the DI…snap!). In this shootout Sun is shot in the stomach and then tells Jin that she is pregnant. That is where this flash-sideways ended; only some closure, but adding a new twist. I bet they get to the hospital and Juliet treats them.

Moving to the original timeline, Jin is kidnapped and taken to Hydra Island to help Widmore and his people. During this time Jin is kept in the infamous Room 23. (This was the same place the Others kept Walt. As seen in a flashback, Walt exhibits a connection with birds and while being kept in Room 23 he shows this ability again. Watch this video; it is part of the “Lost: Missing Pieces.” collection.)

Back to the real, current plot, apparently Widmore and his people want to know where pockets of electromagnetism are on the Island. They know Jin can help them because they see that he made the maps back in the 70s. Widmore basically tells Jin that the world would be doomed if the Smoke Monster ever got off the Island and that is why he is there, to stop him from leaving.

Locke tries to get Sun to join him so he can take her to Jin. Sun does not trust him (good call) and begins to run from him. She smacks her dome right into a tree branch and thus looses the ability to speak English; she can still understand it and write it, but she can only speak Korean.

Locke returns to find his people tranquilize-ed. He revives Sayid and takes him to Hydra Island. Before they leave, Locke tells Claire that the reason Kate is with them is that she can get the last three people he needs in order to leave the Island. After that, “whatever happens, happens,” thus implying Claire can kill Kate. (So much for true forgiveness.) Locke gets to Hydra Island and talks to Widmore with Widmore’s portable sonar fence between them. Widmore says all he knows about “Locke” is “a combination of myths, ghost stories and noises in the jungle at night.” (A very cool thought and way to write that. Touché writers) The sonar fences would suggest otherwise. Smoke Locke then tells him that war is now upon the Island. (Finally, we have been hearing about this war for a long time and it’s between two sides we didn’t even know it could be between. When war was first suggested in season 4 we assumed it would be between Jacob’s people, the Others, and Widmore. Now it might appear that Widmore and Jacob are on the same side, but certainly the other side is the Smoke Monster. Didn’t see that coming until this season, or for those of us who assumed the Smoke Monster was the Man in Black last season.)

Richard returns to the camp and tells Jack and followers that they must destroy the plane. Sun is not happy about this and rants; however, no one can understand her. The last scene of the night was Sayid seeing Widmore’s people pull out “the Package,” Desmond, from the submarine. (Boom, twist!) Desmond is back on the Island!

A few quick thoughts. Is Jin fertile in the flash-sideways? He wasn’t fertile off-island in the original timeline. Or, is the baby someone else’s? Has Sun been having an affair in this timeline? Probably not since her relationship with Jin is good here, but who knows. I know Jin said they were not married, but are they really? Was that just to throw people off the scent of them having a relationship?

Between this episode and the previous one (Richard’s episode) I can now work out a theory I had for a long time. If you remember from season one and maybe even two, there was a lot of sexual tension between Michael and Sun. He walked up on her bathing; he connected with her well because he was one of the first, if not the first, to know she speaks English. They had a couple of awkward moments so until Ji Yeon was born I thought that Michael might have been the father. If you still do not believe that there was tension between them watch this video that ABC put out right before season 4 aired. It was part of a set entitle “Lost: Missing Pieces.”

Continuing on with my point, we learned in “Ab Aeterno” that one of the functions of the Island is for people to have a chance to redeem themselves, their pasts do not matter. So I was wrong about Sun and Michael ever actually being anything more than co-survivors (deep down I’m glad I was wrong, but it’s Lost so you have to expect a crazy twist) but what I failed to see at the time was that this was Sun’s chance at redemption. She had cheated on her husband before she came to the Island. On the Island she had another chance to be unfaithful, but she did not take it. She is good at heart, score one for Jacob.

It is interesting that Sun can only speak Korean now. This season is mirroring season one in many ways, this is another. When her and Jin get back together only one of them will be able to speak English, just like season 1. Speaking of which, when are they going to get back together? Please say before the finale. I was hoping they would have gotten back together in this episode. I just don’t want this to be hyped up too much and made into too much of a big deal.

Smoke Locke told Claire he needed three more people in order to leave the Island. I guess we are to assume he is talking about Jack, Hurley, and Sun, the other three potential candidates that are not in his group yet. Can he really physically not leave if they are still on the Island or is he covering his tracks to make sure that if he leaves the Island they will not become the new Jacob and have power over him?

Finally, a quick thought about the final scene. Was Desmond the thing Widmore had locked away in the Submarine? I guess so, but I’m not sure we can fully make that assumption. Unless when they told Sawyer about it if they used the word “Package” we could safely assume Desmond was what was locked up.

Now I’m going to make a few predictions about tonight. It appears that tonight’s episode is going to be a Desmond centric episode. I say we should expect to see Daniel Faraday, after all, “If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.” Are we going to see some crossover or connections between the flash-sideways and original timeline tonight; I think there will be something. Remember, the rules of time/time travel do not apply to Desmond. Did Widmore take Desmond out of the hospital and straight to the Island? Maybe. What if the Desmond we saw was actually flash-sideways Desmond?! I doubt it, but who is to say. However, seeing as how Desmond became time travel important by imploding the Swan Hatch, exposing him to electromagnetism, this would help explain why Zoe, Widmore’s geophysicist, needs to know where pockets of electromagnetism are. Is Widmore or anyone aware of the flash-sideways? At the very least I would not be surprised at all if Desmond’s conscious jumped between his two bodies like it did between his present and 1996 self when he arrived on the freighter. I am hoping for great things from tonight’s episode.

By the way, please feel free to leave comments below. I would love to hear what you have to say about the show, theories or reactions to anything I say.

In the words of Smoke-Locke “You are so close; it would be such a shame to turn back now.”

Until next week when we have seen a little bit more Lost, Namaste.

Steven

Here are the sneak peeks ABC has put out for this week’s episode. Watch at your own risk!