Lost: Its's Finally Over

It's been six years since Lost first aired on ABC. You either watched it, or you didn't. If you did, you probably watched every episode, like I did. Lizi was watching the pilot, and quickly hit pause, thinking I'd like it. She was right. It was fast, crazy, and different. Not many shows about plane crashes (especially with 9/11 only a few years earlier). Before I get into this, let me say I loved Lost - I thought it was really creative, and the way they tied things together (at least in the beginning) was amazing.

So we gave Lost a chance. We liked it. Plus, I'd never watched a show from the original pilot, and I've watched a lot of stuff: Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Six Feet Under, etc. I liked Lost in that it felt like there was something bigger that would ultimately pay off. It seemed different than, say, 24. It's nice to watch Jack Bauer shoot people but after a while it gets a little old. It's fun, but predictable. Lost wasn't predictable. It was a little ridiculous, yes, but it wasn't predictable. So six years. Every episode. And finally, it was ending.

I enjoyed the ending for what it was: warm, exciting, and generally pleasing. But it also left me feeling a little empty - I wanted a little bit more. I appreciate leaving things to question but it seems there was something unsatisfying with how it ended, at least for me. I think much of this has to do with the fact Lost started in one direction and the writers really took a turn in year 3. Again, I appreciate what they did, but I'm not sure I liked where they went. I liked the beginning stuff with The Others. I really liked the Dharma Initiative science stuff. Both became mainstays of the show but I think I hoped they'd be a little more instrumental to the Island itself, and in the end I didn't get that feeling.

My personal favorite moment of the show is when Locke is on the hatch and looks down into it, he screams "What do you want me to do?". And the light turns on and comes up through the hatch. That was a WOW moment for me, and honestly, I don't remember too many other ones. A little disappointing in the end.

Jack becomes Jacob, and Hurley then becomes Jack (with Ben as his #2). A few people left the island and the others died. Jack has to 'let go' in order to get to the afterlife, and they're all waiting for him. A nice ending. You either buy into it, or you don't. I don't think there's much middle ground. I liked that things revolved around Jack, but in the end, I still think I wanted a little more. I didn't get that WOW. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I didn't get the WOW.

The best final episode of a show I've ever seen was Six Feet Under. It was an incredible show, and in some ways has an unfair advantage because it's on HBO. It was the finest hour of television I've ever see and the feeling of closure and contentedness was amazing. I was left wanting nothing more. I'd seen all I needed and that was it. I've never since thought "I wonder..." with Six Feet Under.

I'm not suggesting leaving things to interpretation isn't good. I like letting people theorize and create their own view of what they see. But with Lost I just had too many questions left unanswered (What really was the light? Why Desmond? Why not Ana Lucia's time? What about the numbers? Who built the statue? What about the polar bears?? What about the *&%%ing polar bears????).

Lost was really fun, and for a few seasons kind of frustrating, and in the end I'm glad I spent some time there - wherever 'there' really was.

Census 2010

Today a census taker came to my house. It wasn't really a surprise as I knew this would happen. I knew the census was happening and I knew I didn't send mine in. To be honest, I don't remember getting it. I have enough trouble with mail these days. Personally, I wish all my stuff was done online, and most things can be. I'm just bad with mail. Opening it, putting the trash aside, keeping what's important, filing stuff away. A waste of paper. So, I'm sure I got my census. I'm also pretty sure I threw it out. Yep, silly, but I did it.

I checked the Government website and found a number to call. I couldn't find a way to do my census online, so I thought a call might help me find what I was looking for. While on the site I read this:

* Call TQA to get answers to basic questions about the 2010 Census. If you haven't participated in the census yet, you should receive a visit from us soon. Over 600,000 census-takers are currently interviewing the households that didn't return a questionnaire. Calling us now will not prevent your household from being interviewed, so please cooperate with the census taker if one visits your house.

I thought there must be something online I could. There was no way someone would actually come to my house. So I called anyway, despite the above (I'm tough to convince sometimes). Then I saw this:

Can I fill the form out online?

No, not this time. We are experimenting with Internet response options for the future.

No way to cancel the census taker coming to my house. So today, she came. And I answered the questions. I was happy to do so but kept thinking what a waste it was. The Government spends money on this stuff. With all due respect, as nice as she was, I didn't need this lady to visit my house. I would have gladly done my census online and saved the Government, and presumably all taxpayers, some money. At the least, some more of us would have done it online and saved the census takers a few trips. Seriously, how hard could a few, simple online pages be?

Here's a really great breakdown , and where I got the below info. I haven't verified it but it looks realistic to me, especially after thinking about my census lady today, and the fact she absolutely gets paid.

• $14 billion – the estimated life cycle cost of the 2010 US Census
• 305 million – the current population of the US
• $45.90 – the cost of the 2010 Census for each American
• $101.45 – Your portion of the cost if you are one of the 138 MM who actually files taxes

Hard to believe we couldn't get something online and have saved at least a little money. To me, this is a great example of how our Government really needs to set an example, and lead us into the Digital Age. Yes, I may have kept procrastinating the online option anyway, but that would have been something a good, old fashioned threat could have solved.

The Mundown

I haven't seen any shows recently but I think I'm gonna check out Miike Snow at the Rhythm Room in early June. I've heard he's good. Also bought my tickets to see Roger Waters perform The Wall in November. Pretty excited. I saw him do Dark Side a couple years ago and it was fantastic. Even if you're not familiar with him, or Pink Floyd, he's still probably worth it. Anyway, this is what's currently out there, spinning for free on website near you.

Spinner
The Full Listening Party offers the much anticipated new album High Violet, from The National. I've listened to it a few times now and it's a grower, just like their other stuff. It's good. Not quite Boxer good, but good. Sage Francis also offers a new album. If you're not familiar with him give him a listen. I think the story goes he's really a slam poet. The man makes good music. British Steel is re-released by Judas Priest, and you gotta like that. Also up is Fela Kuti, and a bunch of other stuff I don't know, but maybe you do (Sweethead, Phosphorescent, Hoodoo Gurus, and Fan-tan).

AOL
AOL (also Full Listening Party, hmmm) gives you Zac Brown Band, Charice, Meat Loaf, American Idols (OMG!), Taproot, and the Crash Test Dummies.

NPR
NPR is giving folks the Black Keys (I must say, I don't have any of their stuff but that's gonna have to change), as well as the much hyped album Treats, by Sleigh Bells. Sleigh Bells is produced by M.I.A, who seems to be hotter than the surface of the Sun right now. Personally, to me, she seems to be one of those 'everywhere' music people right now - she's everywhere I seem to look. Calling someone out, making a controversial video, etc. Whatever. Anyway, I like the Sleigh Bells album. I said to someone it sounds like what I'd guess a war zone sounds like. Just an assault of sound.

MP3.com
Offers a cool, free download directory. I don't think you can stream albums, but you can download songs by She & Him, Shout Out Louds, Bloc Party (it's a remix), The Shins, Band of Horses, Blitzen Trapper, and Sia, among others.

MSN
The Listening Booth gives you the new Dead Weather album, Sea of Cowards. Definitely will listen to that at some point. I must say: they have a TON of stuff here. A list of albums you can stream, including: Iggy Pop's Raw Power, Jonsi's from Sigur Ros, new album, Go, Laura Marling, and Dr. Dog. They've got older albums, too: Mogwai, Arctic Monkeys, Mudhoney and The Eagles. It's pretty impressive.

More to come next week. Check out some of the above, or just enjoy whatever it is you're listening to (and let me know!).

Doubt: A Ten Word Review

Booooring. Tried, but couldn't do it. Don't waste your time.

Soon....

I promise, new stuff coming soon. Don't get your hopes up, though.

The Mundown

Sorry, haven't written anything in a couple weeks. Just haven't really found anything I felt like writing about lately. So I thought I'd at least return to The Mundown and try to throw out some good music vibes. Among other things...

GO SUNS! Up 1-0 against the Spurs. Good start.

I've written about Lala quite a bit, and I use it to post music on here, so I was very disappointed to hear Apple will be shutting it down as of May 31, 2010. Seems iTunes will be moving to the Cloud soon, which I guess will ultimately be good, but they haven't really said if they'll do anything along the Lala model. Probably no free listen, and I can't imagine they'll let you 'rent' songs. Too bad. I hope something comes up in place of it. Oh well, enjoy while you can.

Seems all I can do is post a link now, so this may or may not work. Until I figure out one of those bottom of the screen music stream things. This is "Closing Time" by Tom Waits.


Spinner http://www.spinner.com/new-releases#/1
Stream new albums from Broken Social Scene, The Hold Steady, Free Energy, Holy F*ck, New Pornographers, Minus the Bear, Cate Le Bon (no relation to Simon), and Bone Thugs 'n Harmony. Plus more I didn't list.

I must say I really like Free Energy and have listened to that a couple times. Also like the new Broken Social Scene and Hold Steady. Haven't listened to Minus the Bear yet but I will. I probably won't listen to Bone Thugs.

Lala (enjoy it while you can!) http://www.lala.com
Looks like new stuff from Ozomatli, Godsmack, Snoop Dogg and....Glee (OMG!). There are also some EPs from Cornershop, VHS or Beta and Ozzy. Oh, I left out a new one from Air Supply. All in all, it's getting pretty crappy on Lala.

NPR http://www.npr.org/music/
Stream new ones from The National, The Dead Weather and Flying Lotus.

I like the new National album. I can't say I love it but I like it. I'll listen to it a couple more times I'm sure, and it hasn't officially been released yet. Somehow, though, I think I was wanting a little bit more.

There are so many 'radio' sites. I like Pandora, Last.fm, etc but I like to be able to choose what I want to hear and I like to be able to hear entire albums. They just don't give you that. I read on Mashable those are more of discovery sites, and I'd agree with that. Good for a certain time, but for me, that's not a lot. YouTube is also great for listening (and obviously watching) stuff.