Olivier

Great pictures. Nice collection of pictures you linked to, also. Thanks, Maurizio !

Absolutely. Also played Belle's father on stage in Beauty and the Beast--The Musical

$42 to France-- I hit pre-order to find out, out of curiosity. This amounts to $542, and you can bet it will be taxed-- that's 20% more. And it's not even registered and insured mail! (I didn't see any choice-- or maybe I was too dazed by the price to see it). I see many comments about it being a set for "Elfman enthusiasts / die-hards"; I don't think the number of people who love Elfman's music is limited to 1000, nor that most of the 1000 who will buy the set will even be film music lovers at all. After so much teasing and calls for suggestions and contributions, this is very disappointing; Spartacus was exensive, and it was a pity there was no regular edition, but it consisted of music, a great little book and a 90-minute DVD on North and his music; even if you don't listen to the variations every time to take out the box, nor read the book an watch the DVD every time, you may still pick cues from the former, and thumb through the book once in a while. Here, contrary to suppositions, I'm sure the price tag is not due to fees but to the production of such a thing as the magic lantern-- nice object, probably, but that will surely be less often used than the extras in the Spartacus set. Buying the latter was easier to manage, however tough it was (this from someone who's been through a tough time financially speaking ove rthe last few years); buying the Burton/Elfman set is not even within the realm of consideration, and it's huge shame and disappointment. Some buyers will certainly make bootlegs and sell them; these will be copie and sold again, or exchanged for other rarities; in the end, the music should be available for free (or almost), albeit maybe not until a couple of years-- all illegally, despite the fact that the film music lovers who will get it this way would have gladly paid to get this music immediately the legal way. http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=72470 Shame on the powers-that-be that decided this, and used actual film music lovers to put together something most of them can't afford, after having contributed something for free, whether an idea or material !

Interesting-- and funny: guess where I went today? ... http://ob777.free.fr/disneyland_paris/

(I have not read any of the previous replies yet) Since you like Alien, you will like Outland, and surely Freud, too. And since you started with, and liked, such scores as Alien and Planet of the Apes, you should have no problem liking The Edge, which does not quite go the same route (dissonance & atmosphere) all the way, and has a beautiful theme. You also would probably be interested in Christus Apollo, but you might want to ceck out some samples first. You need some westerns; Bad Girls has a great theme, that works very well in both quiet & action modes. For a mexican-flavored western, you have 100 Rifles; and then there's Bandolero!, which has some very very nice tracks. I'm sure you will like Lonely Are the Brave, because it's a very good one. If you liked The 'Burbs, you should also enjoy Gremlins 2: The New Batch-- not that they're similar the way Alien & Outland are, but they are both cartoony. You like Total Recall and Air Force One, so you will enjoy many of Goldsmith's action scores, featuring his distinctive propelling rhythms, such as the Rambo movies (more particularly Rambo-- First Blood, Part II: The Mission, Extreme Prejudice, Deep Rising, ... The Mummy & The 13th Warrior are great (and share a little similarity). The Wind and the Lion is even more exotic than The Mummy is, and has great action. I like Chain Reaction a lot; it's a nice little action score, with some good suspense and action cues ("Ice Chase"). Best Shot (a.k.a. Hoosiers) is a great sports score; "synths" does not equal "bad" at all, any more than "symphonic orchestra" guarantees "outstanding"; it's a highly enjoyable score; Rudy, on the other hand, is fully symphonic, and very beautiful & moving (Best Shot does have nice theme, but it's more "action"-oriented). As a transition to the "scores with most beautiful themes" category, I suggest Lionheart (two single-disc volumes), which ranges from grand & majestic to simple & quiet yet very beautiful. Powder features some "horror" music, but has plenty of very very nice moments and features a gorgeous theme than climaxes in a powerfully moving finale. Medicine Man is light, refreshing, and has the grand "The Trees". The Secret of N.I.M.H. has a most beautiful theme and is a splendid score; so is Mulan. Islands in the Stream is a very beautiful score. Legend is yet another great score I would recommend; also Under Fire. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now that I've read the other messages (trying not to omit anything)... The Shadow is great. (I also love Jim Feinman's song for the movie, incidentally) The Ghost and the Darkness is a really nice score, too. I am unforgivable for ommitting The Great Train Robbery; splendid score-- in a simple, classy way. Timeline was a great adventure score. I did intentionally skip the Trek scores, so here goes... Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: blind buy, but you're right to be wary of an incoming new, complete edition. Star Trek: Insurrection: good but not at the top; the "Ba'Ku Village" theme, however, is one his best; very delicate, soothing, most beautiful music. Star Trek: First Contact (with bits by Joel Goldsmith): very good, and yet another beautiful theme ("First Contact"). Star Trek: Nemesis: I love it; the new theme is a beautiful melancholy one, and the score reprises some earlier themes, albeit discretely or arranged slightly differently.

I really wonder about this box set; this could be great.

Cooool ! This was my fourth movie score LP ever The first ones were E.T. , Gremlins, Ghostbusters ; these two were so short on the actual score, however, that E.T. & Batman really were my first two score-only albums. It will be great to have a complete Batman Returns as well; for some odd reason, like the movie, it's often dismissed as utterly inferior to the first one, when it certainly is not.

Thanks for checking it out! Most of those names are not difficult to pronounce, actually (at least, I don't think so), but they were the ones I cam up with and found by quickly looking around for French names; this was just meant to be an example to sell the idea (for nothing: I was offering it for free).

Here is a link to some names I recorded a few years ago (yes, that's me speaking): http://ob777.free.fr/names/ I offered Soundtrack.net to add such afeature to their site, but never got any reply; I believe I offered it to another site as well, with no better result. Even better, of course, would be to have snippets of the composers themselves pornouncing their own name.

"almost": what of Desmond's reference to the other reality? (Incidentally, I have not read anything by Joseph Campbell) With all the necessary caveats concerning the exact source, this is most interesting-- and what the posts in this thread were converging to. Thanks for the link!

Um, her skeleton is in the cave with MIB. That was a petty big reveal. Aaaaargh!! Of course! How could I utter such a stupid thing?! sorry.

That's a nice idea. A great thing about the flashsideways is that, once again, they did do something different in the off-Island segments, narratively speaking: flashbacks, flashforwards, flashbacks and flashforwards, and finally flashsideways to something inderterminate. The Bomb may not have created anything but given the possiblity of an insight, or of a connection between both realities. Maybe everything, all Life, all History is constantly rebooted, like the Matrix, like the 108-minute countdown. When Time's up, it starts all over again, with the same characters, but with variations of varying degrees of importance, as in Dark City; feelings of déjà vu are flash memories of a former incarnation. In one cycle, the one we have been watching since the beginning, Flight 815 crashes, the characters go through extraordinary adventures and ordeals, till most of them die on the Island. In following cycles, Flight 815 does not crash, and the characters keep going through their lives, which already are different from what they were in the Island iteration. At one point, the characters get more than déjà-vus: they recall their Island selves. This helps them find happiness, comfort in their strong friendship, and frees them from this Groundhog Day cycle, so that they can go on to another Reality. Lost remains as rich and pregnant with various interpretations as ever; watching it all over will be an intereseting experience. A very good thing about The End is that the twist revelation only affects the FlashSideways by hinting at their true nature, but does not change anything that has been going on so far (the way "it was all just a dream" would).

On this point, Jack did not say the formula Jacob's "Mother" and Jacob used to bless the wine; he just handed Hurley the water: he wanted to comfort Hurley, who refused to let him sacrifice himself, but did not make him "like [him", the way "Mother" and Jacob had. Thus, Hurley (and Ben) lived normal lives, with no special powers nor eternal lives. Even though Hurley was reluctant, what makes him "a great number one" is that "[he] care about people"; as for Ben, he cared for the Island and those that loved and respected it. Jacob, had absolutely no choice (he pointed out this was something he wanted them to have, which he had not had); he also felt "Mother" would have preferred his brother to be the one because she knew he was special, and was thus a substitute when his brother defected to the other side. The big differences with Hurley are that Jacob was quite ruthless at first and only assumed responsibility of the Island out of guilt for what he had done to his brother; and then, he used people in a reckless way to find a successor (he did not mind other people getting slaughtered in the process, such as Nadia and the other passengers, and actually used their deaths: without Nadia, Sayid was free to come, and the other passengers and "candidates" were so many false leads that hid the actual Candidates). Hurley surely would neve act this way. By the way, what do you think happened to Jack? Desmond was immune (up to a certain point); was Jack made immune by his status as Protector of the Island? When he stayed next to the Light after plugging the thing back in and reappeared in the stream in the exact same way Jacob's brother had (as far as I can remember) afte having been transformed into a Smoke Monster. I do suppose his being the Island's Protector protected him from being transformed, but his very serious wound could not be healed because it had been inflicted while the plug had been removed; in that sense, like Jacob, his fate was sealed: in other words, the only way to kill a Protector is either to use a weapon made out of the special magnetic metal found on the Island, or to unplug the Island's Light first, which turns off the invulnerability; turning the Light back on does not heal because it's too late. I would have loved, and actually expected, this. As a matter of fact, the stained glass in the back room where Jack is reunited with Christian featured the symbols of various religions and beliefs. Most probably the proximity to the Light; there were several skeletons at the bottom of the "cliff". It's like the Ark of the Covenant (as per Raiders of the Lost Ark): you're not supposed to open it and see the tablets, whether you're Good or Evil (though, come to think of it, since these are the tablets of the Commandments, you should be able to read them since they are the Rules you must abide). A Lovecraftian (and religious) comparison would be that the Light is something divine or so extraordinary (literally) which is beyond the scope of human understanding; in a Lovecraftian story, contemplating this drives you mind; on the Island, approaching the Light too much is like approaching a highly radioactive material: you get burnt, only here it sears your humanity and transforms you into a Smoke Monster. The number of skeletons suggests (as I had surmised and posted) that several people tried to see what there was; I had also hypothsized that "Mother" had done just that, which had enabled her to destroy the little village and explained her "thank you"; I wish there were some clue that one of the skeletons is hers; this is worth checking. I'm quite behind in 24; the last time I got to watch it, Jack was kidnapped by the Chinese at the end of the Season (number 5?). I've been wanting to watch the DVD setsfor some time now and hope to do it soon. As for Dexter, as posted earlier in this thread, I discovered it a couple of months ago and will eagerly keep watching it. I have received the first novel and may well read it after I've finished reading American Psycho. Fringe is a pretty good series but seems to have some difficulties planning revelations and alternating with "secondary" cases; it's a pity because there are some very good things. They may be suffering from the same problem Lost was a lack of end date, hence some padding. The absolute best thing in the series is John Noble; everything hinges around his characters's (Walter Bishop) relationship to his son Peter; it is well told, and the character is very well rounded and given great scenes and dialogue; John Noble (who I only know so far from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) shines every time and deserves many awards; if you loved O'Quinn's Locke and Emerson's Ben, especially when they are the most fragile and bruised (which I know you did), you cannot but love Noble's Walter (who does also have strong moments). I am also catching up with The Shield, after the free channel that had started showing it, years after it started, stopped at the end of Season 3. On my to watch list: The Stepfather, starring Terry O'Quinn; I think it would also be fun to watch whatever episodes I have starring featuring Lost actors, such as the one from Star Trek-- The Next Generation with O'Quinn, the X-Files case with Emerson, ... I hope these two will get to star in great series and movies from now on (I've read something about a project of their own they had submitted). I also hope Season 6 will get the two-disc treatment from Varèse, to feature the whole score to the Finale.

Wow. Beautiful. A great finale, with lots of action and suspense, and plenty of moving moments-- and splendid music. An excellent series, from beginning to end. Let's see, now... (01) Everything that happened in the Island-verse (I-verse) until the Incident in 1977 happened (02) The Incident and the Bomb create a new kind of event, leading to the Sideways-verse (S-verse) (03) Cuse and Lindelof have said (nearly) from the beginning of the series that the Island was neither Purgatory nor Hell, and that it was all real (04) Cuse and Lindelof have said from the beginning of Season 6 that the S-verse was not an alternate reality (05) While the narrative in the S-verse picked up from Flight 815 for us, because it was the moment that the (post-Bomb) I-verse story started, it was not exactly created at this point; the characters had already been living similar lives (same events such as James' parents' death being due to Cooper/Sawyer, but different outcomes, such as James becoming a detective) (06) Christian explains that all those meeting in the Church are dead, like he is (07) They could not let go and die to go into the Heavenly Light until they had met again and remembered their common experience in the I-verse (08) This remembrance started at the turning point of Flight 815 flying over the remains of the Island (which sank in 1977, as the Bomb destrouyed everything, including the light source, possibly creating a crack of causing some pressure to blow off the stone cork-- hey, a cork, like Jacob showed! I've only just thought of it) (09) in the S-verse, the characters could have gone on in their lives never remembering anything of the I-verse, had it not been for fateful a series of fateful coincidences (10) Now, what is the S-verse? (a) Remembering Eloise's explanation to Desmond that trying to save someone whose death you had foreseen was pointless, because the Universe would course correct until it happened, as quickly as possible, just as it course corrected other minor changes. I can't remember which philosopher in the Antiquity (Plato? darn, I should know, I quoted this in something I wrote some years ago-- prior to Lost) said that there might be as many realities as there are choices in life, each reality corresponding to one choice and its consequence. In quantum mechanics, the wave equation shows that a quantum system coexists in several states at once; no quantic system can be observed without interfering with it, and this is what resolves the ambiguity (the possibilities collapse); this is illustrated by Schrödinger's thought experiment of the cat in a lethal box: until you open the box, which may trigger the lethal mechanism or not, the cat is both alive and dead, in that the cat's survival depens on the consequence of your opening the box. The S-verse may be what the Universe was supposed to be like, but Flight 815's crash created an ambiguous quantum state, a Schrödinger's box, so to speak (and you might go further and consider that the audience is the observer that affects the system by just observing it); the resolution comes when all the possibilities collapse and there remains only one. The Universe collapses the system's coexisting possibilities by forcing a change, making the characters meet again and remember. Recalling the events in the I-verse collapses the system into the S-verse because the characters then have the memories of two full existences (like Captain Picard in the beautiful "The Inner Light"-- wait, is that a secret reference? ), hold both lives within themselves, and the two possibilities, the two universes thus collapse into one. At this point, they have to accept to let go, and go into the Heavenly Light; this resolves the fact that they ought to have died a few days before. This is the "Man of Science" interpretation. (b) The "Man of Faith" interpretation has a major common point with it, which is linked to the turning point of resolution: remembrance. The characters do not just remember cerebrally: their bodies remember and change to incorporate in the S-verse their physical history in the I-verse; Jack gets his scars, Locke gets his legs back much faster than he should, and Sun & Jin can speak English at once. Taking Christian's explanation further, the characters meeting in the church in the S-verse are not the only ones dead. The I-verse is thus the prime universe; once people die, they go to the S-verse; the Bomb made this happen sooner for the characters, which made them the ones that had to let go, as opposed to those that were not ready. The S-verse may be a transition in more senses than one: the characters are reborn, live more or less the same lives; there are similarities, as I pointed out above, but major differences as well; overall, their lives at the time of Flight 815 are neither great nor terrible; something is missing, which they had the opportunity to find in the I-verse. The main point of the S-verse is that people are given a second chance to make better choices: for instance, Ben becomes a benevolent Doctor in European History that is tempted, yet does not gain power through plotting, preferring to help Alex. This resurrection may occur several times over until the right time comes, which may not be the same for all For the characters meeting in the church, the time has com to let go; for Daniel and Charlotte, it may be the time and it happens elsewhere, or it may not be the time for reasons we shall never know. ( c ) "They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same" "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress." The true end (which the finale's title may refer to) may be the one shown in the S-verse: the characters may die on the Island or later in the I-verse, but they are given a second chance to fulfill their lives, to live better lives, to make amends (Locke forgives Ben in their final great scene together), and that is when it truly ends; they have come (to the Island, ie, Life), they have fought, they have destroyed, they have (been) corrupted, but they have also been given (on the Island, on which they arrived in a flawed state, physically and/or psychologically/spiritually, then in the S-verse) a chance to progress, until they reached The (Ultimate) End, when they are at peace with themselves and with others, and have found a meaningful other (most of the characters in the Church were couples if I am not mistaken, except for Boone-- but you can consider he is now living a better relationship with Shannon-- and Christian, who acts as the Leader-- the Shepherd). Lost has shown it repeatedly: you cannot be a Man of Science or a Man of Faith exclusively, whether only or successively; you have to be a bit of both. Both interpretations lead to the same conclusion: the characters were flawed and needed healing; they had to go through harsh trials, to question their beliefs, their behavior, to let go of various things. "Live together, Die Alone"; in The End, they for their lives to be complete, for them to find happiness and peace, they must remember what they have lived together in the I-verse, in which they died separately (albeit together in some small groups, the most meaningful one between Sun & Jin), to die together, to move one and leave, into The heanvely Light. (11) Corollary: I am glad to have decided to go the Lighhouse's mirror way ( )to watch the episodes within a day of their broadcast in the U.S.A, because it has enabled me to enjoy discussing Lost here and elsewhere; I have enjoyed the discussions here a lot, and only regret not to have used the Lighthouse's mirror sooner. "Living Lost" together was great. Thanks to you all! Of course, I'm looking forward to more discussions with you on this excellent series, now and in the upcoming months, but also on other things I have neglected discussing here (primarily film music, and of course, hem, John Williams). PS: I also watched the retrospective, and was very glad I did. Watching it, I wondered how I could forget mentionning in my previous "Greatest Hits" this great moment when we discovered Locke had been paralyzed and had regained his legs on the Island.

Another big moment, which I ought to have written about right away... "The Constant": certainly of the best and most beautiful episodes of the series. A nice love story that did not come off as sappy. The things that made this series constantly appealing, intellectually challenging and satisfying, and interesting: - characterization; lots of attention paid to it, from the start, helped by very good to awesome casting; lots of evolution - the series' evolution from one genre to another, and mixing thereof, which renewed it appeal by going different directions, alays surprising the audience: it started as a catastrophe-cum-Swiss Family story of survival on a supposedly desert Island, while immediately introducing a fantastic element (an unseen monster); the mysteries enshrouding many characters, sometimes involving crimes, made it a suspenseful detective story character-wise; this was compounded by the Island's mysteries; it veered into science fiction through different sorts of time travel; a philosophical/mystical/metaphysical angle was introduced - narrative techniques; alternating between Island & non-Island plots, revealing information through flashbacks, introducing flashforwards in such a sly way the audience was unaware of it, then mixing flashback and flashforward for a greater impact; finally, flahsideways.

I forgot to thank for the link to the article. Here's another interesting one I'm reading right now, from the te L.A. Times as well. I have skipped the end of it, as they warned it featured a spoiler about a specific scene from the Finale. Incidentally, I'll admit this: since the French channel holding the rights always broadcasts the series months after everyone else (though, surprisingly, they started about two weeks ago, this time; always 2-3 episodes at a time), since last year, I have been watching Lost, uh, through the Lighthouse's mirror . Therefore, as usual, I will watch the finale tomorrow. Fret not: there is no doubt in my mind; I will buy the whole series when the complete set comes out on Blu-ray (I wonder if the American set will be "Region All"; the individual sets alternated between being "A" and "All", oddly). As for preparations, I have also been using Lost wallpapers this week: the "smiling 'Locke'" from the dinner picture for Season 6 (Tuesday through to Friday); the group picture from Season 5 (yesterday and today); tomorrow it will be a fan-made montage I found and liked-- here it is (I wonder why Eloise & Widmore are missing; pity):

Season 2 now. Here's a quotation from Giacchino's note in the booklet: "In the end, LOST isn't necessarily about the polar bears, the hatch, the numbers or even the Others. For me, LOST is about the idea that we as individuals can be better. Whatever happens to you in life, the one thing you always have is the chance to improve upon your flaws." As it turned out, Jacob picked the Candidates because they had flawed lives they could leave to stay on the Island, where their strong potential for Good and making the right choices could be fulfilled. Thank you again, Jason, and thanks to those who contributed to Lostpedia, for linking me to it for a synopsis of the scenes the CD tracks correspond to. I can't understand how I never thought-- or maybe did, but somehow never remembered-- to check it out. This is extremely useful in listening to the tracks, making some sense of what's going on, recalling scenes and episodes, and appreciating the score albums even more. It's quite a rediscovery. Even if it relatively well stand on its own, some music really needs contextualizing to grasp the cues better. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To celebrate the Finale and Lost, how about picking our favorite bits from the series, TV-wise an/or musically, scene- or character-wise? My favorite tracks definitely are Season 1's "Parting Words" and "Oceanic 815", for their great beauty and high emotion. "Oceanic 815" probably also is my favorite scene of the whole series; having gotten to know most of the characters (we still had to meet Bernard) pretty well throughout the Season, knowing part of their fates, and now, five years later, knowing the fate of nearly all of them, this montage of the future Lostaways boarding the plane, getting to their seats, either politely nodding or at each other or just focusing on their thoughts, unaware of what they were about to live through, is most moving; having it all soundless, with just the music, was perfect. Locke and the hatch, cyring over his constant failure to open it: the core of the series? Mystery, determination, sacrifice-- and a mysterious light. Locke's life was a very sad one; when he found something (the Island) that made him whole again, physically and psychologically (sporitually, even), gave him faith and hope for himself, it turned out to be yet another trick that brought his fall back into despair (back in L.A., the hotel room) and ultimate end. "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham": Locke & Ben's scene. Two great characters brought to life by two excellent actors that shone on their own, outweighed anyone else, and were outstanding together. Locke's end is terrible. ("The Gathering" now playing: I didn't remember such beautiful moments on this CD). "Ji Yeon": we knew some of the Lostaways had made it back to the U.S.A.; we now knew the non-Island segments were flashforwards; Sun is giving birth to Ji Yeon; Jin is running to buy a gift for a newborn before going to the hospital; and we discover the segments alternated between flashbacks and flashfowards, and see Jin's tombstone. A brilliant narrative structure that heightened the impact of already tragic news, learning that Jin would not make it. ("All's Forgiven... Except Charlie": I didn't remember this one either. I always had the vague impression that the albums of Seasons 2 & 3 had more suspenseful, creepy stuff.) "There's No Place Like Home": the 4th season's finale had very exciting, suspenseful action music driven by a thrilling rhythm, and the score was emotionally powerful. I remembered Season 5's finale to have ben the same, but listening to the music on the CD, I found it was mostly a reprise of the previous season's finale, albeit with some new stuff. "Not Penny's Boat": damn. What a scene and what a twist and what a character's death! "What About me"? "What about you?": after making Ben a creepy villain (much thanks to Emerson's portrayal) who always made things interesting (his ingenuity, his schemes, his improvisations, his lines), but, even better, the producers / writers managed to make us feel for him, showing how tragic his story was also, much like Locke's. Ben's downfall and frustration climaxed in his first and only encounter with Jacob, and their brief exchange was quite horrible for Ben. ("The Last to Know" ending, "Rose and Bernard" starting: I've been missing a lot by not playing Seasons 2 & 3 more; my misconception about his CD must have been the result of the wrong listening circumstances) Rose and Bernard: a great, gentle couple, played by lovable actors. Not much screen time, but always an immense pleasure. More later. Your turn, now.

I haven't played the CDs from Season 2 3 in a relatively long time because my favorite ones are those of Seasons 1 & 4, so I am listening to all 5 season albums. Season 1 has just ended.

Cool! Never thought of checking on Lostpedia. Thanks, Jason!

Jason, Eloise Hawking has some very special knowledge and power, so she certainly never needed any revelation. Can anyone please help with the tracks from the CD of Season 5, which I received today? I have only ever seen each episode once, and, as usual, the titles are more confusing than anything-- "Your Kharma Hit My Dharma", for instance; or "Follow the Leader": what moment in the episode does it correspond to? (I remember somone gave clear titles to previous season tracks) Thanks!

When Hurley asked if him if he was now going to pick his successor, Jacob replied he was offering them what he did not have: a choice. This certainly puts everything in a different light: his choice not to interfere beyond the necessary minimum had nothing (or not so much) to do wit Free Will in highly philosophical terms, but quite simply with giving people the choice he hever had: to refuse doing something. In spite of his desire to prove that things can turn out better than destruction and corruption, letting people make a choice was for a very personal reason, much simpler than we assumed. ---------------- Ben's reversal: facing what he deemed certain death, he picked the alternative offered him; he has always been an opportunist. Sall he switch alliances again? Maybe. Desmond: brilliant.

Thanks for the link! very interesting. I'll listen to the sound clips (on the left side) later.

I lost my reply in a silly way and don't fill like typing it all over right now, so I'll just list the basic things (sorry for the list): - my first online experience was in 1996 - I got my first connection at home about 1999/2000 - I don't remember when exactly I cam across JWFN - a huge change brought about by the Internet: buying online (by phone, first), directly from teh labels-- a lot cheaper - the other change you had mentioned: being able to discuss film music, or even simply read discussions about film music, instead of being alone There's a porn section here?!

I'd like you to develop what you just said or anything of that kind. - - - - - - - - - - - - - What made Jacob special? He even felt "Mother" preferred his brother. We know for sure his brother is special and has some sort of intuitive knowledge of things. We also know that Hurley can see ghosts. But makes the others special? Jack? Sawyer? Kate? Sun & Jin? Not special enough to survive, but to have been selected. Is it a potential for unbounded goodness, albeit after a pretty shady past for some? Does the brothers' story mean that a great many people are "special", and that most anyone (a con man, a torturer, ...) could become a paragon of virtue and guardian of the Island's "Light", provided the opportunity to let go of their darker streak and make the right choices? As I said, I really love the idea that it did not start with Jacob and his brother, and that their story is much simpler-- their origin, their conflict. Unlike what Season 5's finale suggested (a battle between two mighty entities representing Good and Evil or locked in a debate on good and Evil), it's a tragic story as common as those of the passengers of Oceanic 815: parents & children, lies, siblings that love each other yet hate each other to some degree, ... Jacob truly is "The Man Behind the Curtain": however powerful he may be, he is no god nor semi-god.

That was a wonderful event, and I'm glad you were able to attend it against all odds; thanks for the report! (I didn't read the spoilers)