I was Lost (season three) but now am Found (season four)

Yeah, Lost is back tonight. I can’t wait. A generous Christmas present and a recent long haul trip abroad left me with both the time and means of re-watching the entire third series of Lost so I’m stocked, primed and ready to go.

Not only have I watched the first, second and third series all the way through, I’ve watched the extras and special features on the box sets, listened to the podcasts and carefully combed my way through the fantastic and encyclopaedic (literally!) www.lostpedia.org in order to get my plot lines and conspiracy theories in order.

Will it be worth it? The season finale in Season three got me excited and re-engaged with the story, so I’ll be tuning in tonight and I’m hoping to revisit an island that’s given me some of the most engrossing storylines and fantastic writing of the last ten years worth of television.

It’s may not be as good as the Sopranos (and on that matter, I feel another blog entry coming along any day now) but it does scratch my sci fi/fantasy/thriller itch in a way not much has recently, and that’s good enough for this viewer.

EDIT: Right, I sat down last night in plenty of time for the season premiere and even had the patience to live pause it for ten minutes so I could fastforward through the ads when they came on. Was it worth it? Absolutely - vintage Lost. I loved it and can’t wait to get more.

The writers look like they may have done it again. For Lost fans, series one was all about the crash and the mystery of the island, its monsters and of course, the horrror of The Others. The series ended on a massive cliff hanger with the discovery and opening of the mysterious hatch. Rarely have I shoved a DVD into my player as fast as I did disk one of the second series, and series two did not dissapoint - more excellence as we learned more about the Others and the Dharma Initiative.

This series did dip a little at the end, but came back from another cliffhanger and Series three started with the excellent scene of the Others’ camp at the time of the crash and the revelations regarding Jacob, the ‘magic box’ that produces whatever you want it to, and the story arc concerning the submarine and Ben’s tumour. Truthfully though, this series didn’t grab me as much as S1 and S2 - I think possibly because this was the first series I watched as a series - one episode a week.

The previous two series I’d watched on DVD and so got a different sense of pacing. Three dipped a little, but things are looking up for Series 4. For starters, we now know we’re going somewhere - the writers have announced that there will be another three series (including 4) of 16 episodes each and then it’s finished. The problem with Lost is the lingering suspicion that there’s no end and the makers are just making it up as they go along, but the end is in sight, so it’s go to be wrapped up in 2010.

This first episode has me more excited about Lost since I have been since the end of series 1 - the writers have introduced a totally new story arc and it looks like it’s going to work. A totaly new group of people are coming to the island and through the new technique of flash-forwards, we now have a story being told in three time periods, the past, present and future. Presumably these will all come together as the story is resolved. Bring it on!

Guns are cool, mkay?

I was lucky enough to be in California before Christmas - been doing a lot of travelling lately - and got a chance to call into the LAX gun range to shoot some handguns - .22 calibre revolvers and Glock and Sig Sauer 9 mm semi-automatic handguns to be exact.

(You’d never guess I spent most of my teenage years playing DOOM, would you?)

It might seem weird to be a card carrying leftie - a tree-hugging pseudo-hippie with distinctly pinko leanings - yet also be into guns. However, I’ve no problem seperating the political ideology that goes with gun culture (particularly in the US) from the enjoyment of practicing the technical skill of firing them accurately. To me there is no difference between a handgun and a bow and arrow, or a cross bow, other than the fact that one can be more rapidly deployed as a weapon. However, that said, I find gun culture mostly repugnant.

Because these are dangerous objects, I’m perfectly happy that access to them is restricted in the country I live in. In LA, I thorougly enjoyed the time I spent shooting - if you get a chance, go for it, it’s a blast - but it was also slightly scarey to realise that in Ireland, the odds of you having a gun pointed at you are extremely remote unless you’re involved in the drugs trade or organised crime. In personal crime - muggings and handbag thefts - guns aren’t for the most part used, but in LA, it’s much more likely that a street mugger will be carrying a gun. The police have to make a whole series of different presumptions regarding the level of threat suspects present to them.

I think the society I live in is much richer for the restrictions we have here. The price of these restrictions mean that I can’t own or keep an automatic handgun in my home, but I’m also glad that I don’t feel like I need to. Shooting paper targets is really fun though.

Watch them shuffle out of the way

A friend sent me a link to this video on youtube this morning. I’m just back from a two week training trip and so I find this particularly entertaining. In Japan, bizarrely, bicycles have right of way on the footpath. Why, I have no idea, as it makes no sense whatsoever when there are perfectly good roads all over the place, but as a visitor you’ll frequently find yourself wondering why cyclists expect you to get out of their way when they come up behind you on the footpath ringing their irritating little bells.

Now, armed with that nugget of information, watch this video and see how this person came up with an innovative way to make navigating busy tokyo streets that bit easier. I particularly like the way it works indoors, on escalators and in places it’s very hard to imagine people are expecting to hear a bicycle bell!

I really love the almost pavlovian way that people wander into single file - excellent!

Dog leash goths ‘hounded off bus’

I know it’s cruel to laugh at the afflicted, but I nearly fell off my chair today when I read this story.

Dog leash goths ‘hounded off bus’

And yes, it is exactly what the headline sounds like it is. The photo is the best bit.

A goth who leads his girlfriend around with a dog lead and collar was stopped from getting on a bus amid fears for passenger safety, a bus firm confirmed.

Dani Graves, 25, and his fiancee Tasha Maltby, 19, of Dewsbury, West Yorks, claim they have been discriminated against by bus firm Arriva Yorkshire.

Seriously, you should read the story for full effect. Fantastic - the world needs more people like Mr Graves and Ms Maltby. (I’ve only just noticed this guy’s second name as I type this - it gets better! ha ha ha!)

Why you’ve got no chance of making a living out of music

Because statistically it’s a non starter, and as soon as you want to make a living out of it, you start sucking dick and the music turns crap. Usually - but not necessarily.

Most people who do make a living out of music often labour under the misapprehension that their success is due to their own talent, insight, intelligence and good looks. Whereas they usually just happened to coincide with a dip in the social fashion continuum and got thrown off on one. There is success among the genuinely talented and emotionally powerful, but it is all subject to the unpredictabilities of chance, market positioning and industry bribery. There is no formula or helpful foresight, other than knowing that if you don’t get off your butt, you ain’t gonna get that gold disc. It also helps to be good looking, have an attitude, a great voice, corking songs with a good hook, a rich well-connected manager, a good PR company etc etc. But these are neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for achieving anything.

If it’s millions you’re after, the statistics get even worse. Wait until Elton, Michael, and Billy retire or die.

If it’s TV theme tunes you’re after, move to London, get matey, and prepare to kiss your health, your life and your girlfriend/boyfriend goodbye in favour of shrinking budgets, deadlines measured in minutes, and plummeting programme quality. Again, you may avoid all of these pitfalls, but don’t bet on it.

If you want to get rich selling your precious art, remember that in order for a song to be popular, lots of people have to like it. Just because a song is popular doesn’t mean that it’s not good art or that it’s crap, and just because a song is unpopular doesn’t mean it’s great art or a great song. In the same way that a fat ugly woman is not necessarily really nice, loving and interesting, and a beautiful model is not necessarily shallow, boring and manipulative. Equally, if a song is not popular but you like it, it doesn’t mean that it’s a good or bad song - it just means that you like it and others don’t. If you want to sell records, people have to like your song(s). That shouldn’t be the prime consideration in writing the songs - just be aware of it when selecting the songs to offer for sale. Some art should definitely go into private collections. Before the auction.

Taken from Rationale & Rhyme & Reason

Long time no . . . blog?

Just noticed it’s been almost two months since I updated the blog. Been lots busy with travel and christmas stuff. Needless to say, there’s bloggage coming this way, but it will take a little while.

The role of the Sunday

As a journalist that works primarily with Sunday newspapers and mostly always has, I have a soft spot for the things that make Sunday newspapers different from their daily cousins. Roger Alton - editor of the Guardian - has written an excellent piece on the ongoing role of the Sunday that’s worth a read:

 Something for the weekend

Quality Sunday papers remain in rude health, even as their daily counterparts struggle for circulation in the face of the web and freesheets. But can that continue? By Roger Alton

You can read it here.

Festive cheer

This is an authentic press release put out by the Garda (Irish police) press office in Dublin this afternoon. I didn’t receive it personally, but obviously every journalist working on a news desk today immediately forwarded this to all their mates.

Gardai from Kevin Street Garda station, Dublin are investigating the theft of 180 Kegs of Guinness, 180 Kegs of Budweiser and 90 Kegs of Carlsberg from the Guinness Brewery on Victoria Quay, Dublin 8 yesterday. A man drove into the yard in a truck and took a trailer containing the drink which has an estimated value of 64,000 Euro. Any person with information is asked to contact Kevin Street Gardai on 01-6669400.

On one hand this isn’t at all funny and a real crime has been perpetrated. On the other . . . well, you’d never guess it’s Christmas party season in Dublin, would you? Only in Ireland . . .

Are you hot or cold on climate change?

Like a lot of people I don’t know what to think about the issue of climate change. This is what happens when a public debate continues for some time but you weren’t paying attention at the outset. People are now arguing about the data without presenting a ‘beginner’s guide’ style of introduction. It’s hard to form an opinion. I’m heavily inclined towards thinking that it would be stupid to ignore the risk of climate change, but some people I know and respect argue against it.

Hmm.  Someone sent me this video this morning and it presents an interesting case.

Italian fantastic

Went to Italy last weekend. The wife had to go on business, so we paid for me to go on the cheap with Ryanair. Ryanair sucked (Seriously, the decent into Forli airport prematurely aged me. The pilot took four goes to land the plan, aborting each at the last second to go around again. We were in the air for an extra hour due to “adverse weather conditions” but the sky was clear and there was no wind on the ground. Not funny at all. All that was missing was a hysterical woman standing up and screaming “we’re all going to die!”)

Anyway, Italy rocked. I’m a major foodie, much to the detriment of my waistline, and this was a great trip to a place called Campofilone around two hours south of Forli and two hours north east of Rome. A very nice place that’s totally off the tourist trail. We spent a fantastic two days stuffing ourselves silly with fantastic cheeses (various pecorino and scarmorzi served with different honeys), deep fried artichokes, stuffed olives, broadbeans in garlic oil and the best pasta I’ve ever had.

We visited a pasta workshop where some very skilled women hand made different kinds of fresh egg pasta such as tagliatelle, pappardelle, spaghetti and the regional speciality macaroncini – a sort of thin vermicelli-like pasta. This place was incredible and extremely cheap. I also learned quite a bit about pasta that I didn’t know. The place we visited makes a pasta dough using tipo 00 extra fine durham wheat, and then hand rolls the pasta out on large marble slabs using long wooden rolling pins. The lady there told me that the reason this is better than factory produced pasta is that in factories, the pasta is made using teflon moulds and as such is perfectly smooth. Handmade pasta has a rougher texture which allows it to hold sauce better than the mass produced version.

She’s obviously doing something right because her pasta is fantastic, and also, she is extremely busy supplying restaurants in her area - they all buy from her rather than make it themselves and having tasted it, I know exactly why. Fantastico!

In the local restaurants we had spaghetti in lemon sauce, tagliatelli with truffles, gnocchi with sage and butter and a sort of risotto made with radicchio lettuce. The carnivores had 101 different types of sausages and hams, steaks in greenpepper sauce, pork chops in prune and congnac and lots of excellent wine. Fantastic. Anyway, more anon.