Still Lost...

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So, that feeling of wasting 6 years of TV viewing that I had immediately following the Lost finale is starting to fade away, but I still feel like I could have used a lot more answers. College Humor does a pretty good job of summing up the insane amount of loose ends, although they didn’t quite come up with 108 questions, which would have been a much better conceit. And they managed to leave out the most important question that remains unresolved. In the immortal words of Charlie Pace, “Guys, where are we?”

Island Getaway

As much as I love Lost, I’m still not totally sold on this final season. Where last season’s time travel storyline went too far into the sci-fi realm for a lot of viewers, this season feels a little too dumbed-down to me. All the creepy, mysterious fun has disappeared from the show, partly because we’re finally getting the answers we’ve all been demanding (prompting one of the little voices in my head to remind me to be careful what I wish for), and partly because this season seems to be yet another confusing reinvention of the format. To me, the writing is really suffering as a result of the departure of Brian K. Vaughn, but maybe I’m biased. I do love me some Y: The Last Man. I really wanted to be blown away by this season, and so far, it’s just not happening. Or maybe it’s just that I’m just sad that the show is ending and I’m preparing myself to be disappointed by the final episode. Either way, I guess I’m still watching.

That said, I still enjoy Lost-related media, and this is an extremely cool idea. An illustrator named Michael Myers (no relation to the comedian or the mass murderer of Halloween fame) did some Saturday morning cartoon-style drawings of the Losties for a made-up Lost: The Animated Series. I like it, although I couldn’t help wondering what they’d have to change Sawyer’s signature “Son of a bitch!” line to for the kiddies.

Illustrations by Michael Myers.

Desert island discs

So between all the Lost buzz and the news that someone may have discovered Atlantis, I’ve had islands on the brain this week. Being slightly music-obsessed, that got me to thinking about the age-old question, “If you could only have five albums with you on a desert island, what would you take?” Well, three of these are no-brainers for me. The other two I had to think about a little more, but not too much. Despite the fact that I’m nearing 15,000 songs in my iTunes collection (which roughly translates to 1,500 albums), I can still pretty easily pick my five most-precious discs. As a side note, it’s weird how my thinking has changed over the past two years. For a long time, I measured my music collection by how many CDs I owned. But since I’ve gone almost completely digital, now I measure in songs and gigabytes. Anyway, here’s my list:

Riverside, One
Four guys from small-town Pennsylvania get together and create the best album of British shoe-gazing mope rock that I’ve ever heard. This is, quite simply, the most beautiful rock album I own, and every time I listen to it, it puts me in a good mood. Every song follows pretty much the same pattern: textured vocals and chiming guitars, sometime with underlying strings. The tempo may change from song to song, but the quality doesn’t. This is an easy choice as my all-time favorite. Sadly, Riverside broke up in the early 90’s before making a follow-up. I’ve heard they reunited recently and may have finally recorded that next disc, but I’m afraid to listen to it. I don’t want to taint the purity of One.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out!
Outside of the Sesame Street Christmas Album, this is the first strong music memory I have. My dad had this record, and I remember being absolutely haunted by the opening strains of “Take Five” every time Dad would spin the disc. To this day, the opening bars with the cymbal and brushed snare give me chills, especially when the bouncy piano line comes in. Dave Brubeck made this album to experiment with different time signatures, and as I’ve gotten older, I've come to appreciate it on that level (and many others). But there’s something in these songs that just hits me in exactly the right spot, and I can’t imagine never being able to hear it again, so it’s an obvious desert island choice. Someday, when I get around to writing my will, I’m going to ask that “Take Five’ is played at my funeral. After the bagpiper’s done playing “Amazing Grace,’ that is.

The Beatles, Revolver
It’s impossible to imagine being stranded without the Fab Four. The only way to improve this selection is if I could make it a double album by adding Rubber Soul. Fantastic songs straight through, with lots of different moods. “Taxman.” “Eleanor Rigby.” “Yellow Submarine.” “Good Day Sunshine.” Just the thing for when “I’m Only Sleeping” the day away on a deserted beach.

John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace Soundtrack
Sometimes when I go for a long run, I load my iPod Shuffle with nothing but this album, because I know I’m guaranteed at least 6 or 7 adrenaline rushes during the course of my run. Far and away the best part of this movie, this soundtrack is the pinnacle of John Williams’ work for me. He takes 20-year-old themes that are some of the best-known pieces of music in the world and manages to make them sound fresh and new. The introduction of choral passages makes for some pretty powerful music, but the ultimate geek moment for me is the self-referential introduction of a few bars of “The Imperial March” at the end of “Anakin’s Theme,” an ominous musical hint of what’s to come at the end of a light and airy piece of music. Every time I listen, I hear something new. And that, to me, is the mark of a masterpiece.

Fountains of Wayne, Utopia Parkway
And we’ll close with some power pop. I suppose I would say FoW are my favorite band, and this album has it all: upbeat rockers, power ballads, love, loss, and snarky, self-deprecating lyrics. But best of all, it's a concept album about growing up in New Jersey. Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger lyrically create a perfect snapshot of summers during high school. It’s impossible for me to hear “It Must Be Summer” or “Prom Theme” and not instantly be taken back to my last days of freedom before heading off to college. And if I’m going to be stuck in a moment of my life on a desert island, there are worse times I could think of.

What came very close to making the list:
AC/DC, Back in Black.
Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction.
The Connells, Ring.

Getting Lost again

Damn, that's good television. Clearly, the writers of Lost heard the viewers clamoring for answers, because tonight's season premiere tackled a big one. But by finally showing us what's inside the hatch, they managed to give us several new mysteries and simultaneously set up up the path that Season Two will travel. And that is why this show is genius.

I haven't been much of a TV watcher for the past few years, but after a few years of reality-crap overload, this season seems to be full of interesting (and fully-scripted) programming. Mondays are shaping up to be a busy viewing night. I'm already addicted to Arrested Development, and both Kitchen Confidential and How I Met Your Mother showed some promise. Tuesdays have My Name Is Earl, and most likely Scrubs when it returns mid-season. Lost rules Wednesday, and after taking most of last season off, on Thursday nights I'm going to give Smallville a try again this year, since I hear Clark finally begins to embrace his powers and act like Superman. I'm beginning to appreciate my DVR more and more, since I can set it to record every episode of these shows and watch them on my schedule (damn, could I sound any more like a frickin' commercial?), even if I suddenly decide to have a life and leave the apartment once in a while.

Financial security

Very interesting article from Money magazine about the financial struggles of an MLS player, in this case Real Salt Lake's Andy Williams. Talk about being up, down, and all over the map. In most cases, players don't move around the way Williams has, but it's interesting to see the other side of collective bargaining agreements and incentive-based contracts. Link from Grant Wahl at si.com.

Caught the premiere of My Name is Earl tonight. Interesting idea. My initial thought is that the show is trying a little too hard, and it needs some time to catch its stride, but it's got promise. Jason Lee is the man. And tomorrow night, new Lost. Clear the decks! I am not accepting phone calls.

Keane, Lost and Bono Strikes Back

I made the trip to Cincinnati last night to see Keane at the Taft Theatre. The Taft is a nice venue; I've been there three times before for Dave Matthews Band and Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and the last Kids in the Hall tour. Last night, the sound was pretty good, our seats were terrific and the crowd response was surprising in its ferocity. You could tell the band felt it. They played most of Hopes and Fears as well as a few b-sides (like my favorite, "Snowed Under") and a couple of new songs, but generally stuck pretty close to the album arrangements on the songs I knew and didn't mess with the formula too much on the new stuff. Overall, it was an entertaining but short set that just seemed to be missing that little bit of magic that turns a great show into an amazing one. Doves had it, Keane didn't.

So tonight was the two-hour season finale of Lost. At some points during the show, it was obvious that they really didn't have enough to fill two hours, but there were enough twists to keep me hooked for next year. The fact that I got through the entire season and still had no idea what was going to happen in the finale speaks to the quality of the show.

And finally, I found this article to be very interesting. Apparently, Greg Kot, the music critic for the Chicago Tribune has a long-running relationship with U2, and has recently published some articles questioning the direction the band has taken since releasing Pop in 1997. Well, Bono took issue, and decided to hash it out face-to-face. The man is either total class, or the biggest media whore in the history of the world. More likely, it's some combination of the two. Either way, I have more respect for him after reading this.