Over 1 Million Podcasts Downloaded!

This week I reached a significant milestone as a podcaster:

My podcasts have been downloaded over 1 million times!

I'm most well known for the JoshMeister's LOST Podcast, which accounted for the largest share of episode downloads.  The podcast I currently produce is MacTech Live, the official podcast of MacTech Magazine.  You can find links to all my shows, past and present, at http://podcasts.thejoshmeister.com

Some people who deserve special thanks include:

• Ryan Ozawa, founder of the Lost Podcasting Network, without whom my LOST podcast probably never would have become as popular as it was
• Orien Colmer (Big-O), who became a good friend of mine through LOST podcasting, was later a host on my short-lived Tech Pulse podcast, and cohosted MacMod:LIVE (the precursor to MacTech Live) with me
• Anthony King, cofounder of MacMod, who was a regular host on Tech Pulse and invited Orien and me to start MacMod:LIVE
• Neil Ticktin, editor-in-chief and publisher of MacTech Magazine, who kept the podcast alive after acquiring MacMod
• Alex Castex-Porter (congested), Jack and Jay Glatfelter from The Lost Podcast with Jay & Jack, Andy Page (DarkUFO), Josh Spivack (Spivvy) and Amanda Hafer from The Lost Flashbacks Podcast, Cliff Ravenscraft from GSPN's Weekly Lost Podcast, Matt and Steve from The Smoke Hatch, Curt Yanko from the Black Rock LOST Podcast, Jon Lachonis (DocArzt), Sam McPherson from Lostpedia, Master Nak, diesel929, baileybear, KateJack, kane, MsAmaris, shelley5, James721, PsychoBabblinMom, Robin C., Aerc, Matthew K., Bob Naidus, Judy L., Mark Hunter from Podcast User Magazine, Mister Payne, Jeff Roney from RoneyZone Radio, Code 42, Audioengine, LogMeIn, and the many others who have participated in, promoted, donated to, or sponsored any of my shows

To everyone who has downloaded my podcasts, thanks a million!

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News and Announcements

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

Hey, LOST fans!  Just wanted to give you a brief update about the status of the podcast and a few other things.

First, I haven't forgotten to edit and post the series finale podcast episode.  I've just been really busy since May and haven't had time yet.  In September I just began working on a Ph.D. in Business Administration specializing in Computer and Information Security, and between work, school, family, and church obligations my time is stretched extremely thin these days.  Eventually I'll get around to posting the edited finale podcast, but for now, here's a direct download link to the unedited version for those who can't wait any longer.  To save the MP3 rather than listen directly in your browser, right-click on the link (or on a Mac hold the Control key and click on it) to get a menu that will let you save the linked file.

Second, I wanted to let you guys know that I'll be attending MacTech Conference next week, November 3rd through 5th, 2010, in Los Angeles.  It's a technology conference for both IT professionals and developers with a focus on Apple's Mac OS X and iPhone/iPad platforms.  If you're into Macs or other Apple technologies, you should definitely check out the details that I've posted on my personal blog, along with a link that will get you a free Apple certification or $100 off the conference registration price.  All that is at http://bit.ly/MacTechConf — If you're interested in Apple technology and can make it to the conference, I'd love to meet you there!

That's it for now!  Stay subscribed to the podcast, and check out my other podcasts at http://podcasts.thejoshmeister.com

You can also follow me on Twitter @theJoshMeister, and I'm on several other social networks as well.

Until next time, stay LOST, and namaste!

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Meet me at MacTech Conference!

For any LOST fans out there who might also be IT professionals or developers, I just wanted to spread the word that I'll be at MacTech Conference from November 3-5, 2010 in Los Angeles if you want to meet me there!

For more details and a link that will save you $100 on conference registration, see my post about MacTech Conference on my security blog.

As Jack would say, "See you in Los Angeles!"

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LOST Season 6 Finale: Initial Reactions

SPOILER WARNING: DO NOT read this until after you've watched the series finale episode of LOST!

So this is it.  LOST is over.  "The End."

I'm going to post more detailed notes about the finale soon, but I needed to spend some time to get some of my thoughts written down.

First I need to discuss the flash-sideways.  We find out in the finale that this entire season the so-called "flash-sideways" have been nothing more than a fictional universe concocted by the collective minds of the Oceanic Flight 815 passengers (plus a handful of other people like Desmond, Penny, and Juliet, apparently) as a way for them to have a "class reunion" of sorts before passing on into the afterlife.  (I'm sure there will be different interpretations, but that's what I got out of it.)  The flash-sideways didn't really take place in 2004; it was only meant to look like it did.  This, of course, fooled the viewers into thinking that when Juliet detonated the hydrogen bomb in 1977, this event created a rift in the space-time continuum that created a parallel universe, including a new 2004 where the Island had sunk long before Oceanic Flight 815 took to the skies.  It turns out there was no rift, no sunken Island, and no parallel or alternate 2004.  In fact, as evidenced by Hurley and Ben's conversation outside the church, the flash-sideways actually took place sometime in the future—probably a long time in the future, since Hurley and Ben had clearly spent some time working together on the Island, and presumably Hurley would have lived as the protector of the Island for a long time before ultimately dying, like Jacob.  What really bothered me was the fact that the writers completely ripped off the flash-sideways storyline from a terrible 2008 movie that was in itself a ripoff of LOST in many respects.  Or perhaps, as conspiracy theorists might suggest, the writers of Passengers somehow heard about the ending of LOST and stole the flash-sideways concepts for their awful movie.  Either way, now that I know what the flash-sideways really was and how it concluded, I would rather have skipped the entire flash-sideways plot altogether and had a much shorter season and a much more enjoyable final episode of LOST.  If you haven't seen Passengers and you have a masochistic desire to subject yourself to watching it to compare it to the flash-sideways, you can watch the movie instantly online if you have a Netflix account: http://netflix.com/Movie/Passengers/70104310

Thankfully, in spite of the flash-sideways the whole series didn't crash and burn in the final episode.  Setting aside the bizarre "class reunion" post-death ending that takes place sometime in the future, there was also the "present-day" (technically 2007) ending that shows Kate, Claire, Sawyer, Miles, Richard, and Frank leaving the Island for (hopefully) the last time.  We also get to see Jack's ultimate heroic sacrifice (or stupid, totally avoidable sacrifice, depending on your perspective), giving his life to save the Island along with Hurley, Ben, Desmond, Rose, Bernard, Vincent, and anyone else who may have been living somewhere on the Island.  Hurley becomes the new Jacob when Jack dies, and Ben finally gets his wish of being someone important to the Island, a true right-hand man rather than just a pawn in someone else's game.

It's a bit odd, though, that there's no more Man in Black, no more smoke monster—no more evil force to oppose the forces of good on the Island.  So what's Hurley going to do?  Maybe the cycle of people coming to the Island, fighting, etc. described by the Fake Mother and the Man in Black will continue.  Maybe Hurley will help everyone who arrives on the Island to get back home; Ben said that taking care of people is what Hurley does best.  In any case, it just doesn't seem like the Island would be as interesting without a smoke monster.

...Or maybe when Jack brought back the light, the Man in Black was resurrected again as the smoke monster.  More theories, mysteries, and observations about the finale will be posted here soon.

All in all, I've thoroughly enjoyed LOST and I'm glad that I've taken this journey.  To everyone who contributed in any way to the making of LOST, thank you!

Be sure to tune in to my (potentially) last-ever live LOST podcast, Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 10 PM Pacific (1 AM Eastern).  Listen live, participate in the chat, or call in to discuss the finale.  Details are here: http://talkshoe.com/tc/16338

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"What They Died For" Discussion

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

the JoshMeister and fellow LOST fans discuss Season 6 Episode 16, "What They Died For".

News
I will be recording my live podcast about the series finale episode on Tuesday, May 25th at my usual time, 10 PM Pacific (1 AM Eastern).  There will NOT be a podcast on Sunday night.  If you would like to call into the (potentially) final live episode of the podcast, mark your calendars for Tuesday!

In other news, Alex Castex-Porter (aka Congested, a regular caller on the podcast) has relaunched his site AudiblyLost.com in anticipation of his upcoming documentary on the LOST podcasting phenomenon.  He just released a video trailer for the movie, which you can watch at http://vimeo.com/11838904 — please share with your friends!

Additional insights into "Across the Sea" from Geronimo Jack's Beard (not spoilers):

• The script confirms that Claudia and the Fake Mother spoke to each other in Latin, not Latin and English (the English spoken in the episode was for the viewer's convenience, not meant to be interpreted as the characters speaking English to each other).
• According to Jorge Garcia, the script says that the game that Boy in Black (BIB) found is called Senate, "which may be essentially a precursor to Backgammon, which was introduced [by John Locke to Walt] in the Pilot."
• Beth Shady points out that BIB said "everyone will have to play by your rules," not "I will have to."  At that time BIB and Jacob knew about the other natives on the Island, but BIB's wording is interesting because they only associated with each other and their Fake Mother.
• The script says that the knife that the Man in Black threw at the magnetic well is the same knife that Dogen gave to Sayid.

Season 6 Episode 16 "What They Died For":
2004, Flash-sideways:

• Jack wakes up, looks in the mirror, and his neck is bleeding
• Why?!  He hadn't even shaved yet!
• "maybe he sleepshaves" -diesel929
• David asks Jack if he's coming to the concert, and Jack asks David if his mother is coming (we still don't know who she is yet - should be revealed in finale!)
• "mom is julliet, there's no one else left,lol" -kane
• "david's blue eyes are a give away" -kane
• "speaking of eyes, did you see Jack's eyes, they were brown when he was talking to locke in his office." -kane
• Maybe he met Juliet in medical school!
• Or it could be Sarah, Jack's wife from the original timeline
• "it's annie" -diesel929
• In all seriousness, it won't be.  The executive producers have said that Annie was a minor character and they're done with her story
• Claire comes out to eat breakfast with them; she's living there too
• Oceanic Airlines calls Jack to tell him that they found the coffin and it will arrive later that day... but it's not Oceanic, it's Desmond
• But wait, later in the episode we find out that Desmond is going to David's concert... so what's the purpose of Desmond's phone call?!

2007 on the Island:

• Jack stitches up the bullet wound in Kate's chest
• Kate says they have to kill "Locke" (MIB) because he killed Sun and Jin, who had never gotten to meet his daughter
• Jack agrees that they need to kill Locke
   
• Jack tells the rest of the survivors (Hurley, Sawyer, and Kate) that they're going to go save Desmond because obviously Locke doesn't want Desmond alive

2004, Flash-sideways:

• Desmond beats up Ben and Ben has flashes of Desmond punching him in the original timeline
• How did Des know that Ben was part of original timeline?  Did Des have flashes that made him remember Ben?

2007 on the Island:

• At New Otherton, Miles hears a dead person's thoughts
• Richard explains that he buried Alex after Ben left New Otherton, and Ben thanks Richard
• Ben goes back to his house to get C4 from his secret room
• Ben: "It's where I was told I could summon the monster.  That was before I realized it was the one summoning me."
• Richard says they're looking to blow the plane to hell
• They hear Zoe in the kitchen, they don't recognize her, and Charles Widmore walks in and Ben is surprised to see him
• Charles Widmore says he already rigged the plane with explosives, and that Jacob personally invited him back to the Island
• Zoe sees Locke docking a boat

2004, Flash-sideways:

• Ben gets cleaned up and Locke rolls by in wheelchair
• Where did this take place?  In a hospital?  At the school nurse's office?
• Locke: "A fight?  With who?"
• This line is funny because the use of "who" instead of "whom" has been brought up on The Official LOST Podcast
• Ben says he thinks he "saw... something."
• Ben tells Locke that Desmond said he was trying to get Locke to "let go"
   
• Miles says he's going to a fundraising event at his dad's (Dr. Pierre Chang's) museum that night, and Charlotte will be there so James says he's not going
• Desmond turns himself in to James for hit and run and for beating up teacher
• Desmond gets put in the same cell as Sayid and right next to Kate's cell, and Desmond acts as though it's all according to plan
• This is ridiculous!  How could Des know that he would get placed right next to Sayid and Kate in jail?
• "mrs hawking [Eloise Widmore] told him" -diesel929
• "maybe it was farradork [Daniel Widmore, aka Dan Faraday] then" -diesel929
• "the informant has to be the chauffer [George Minkowski]" -kane

2007 on the Island:

• Sawyer feels bad because of pulling the wires on the bomb in the sub - he didn't trust Jack so he feels responsible for Jin and Sun's deaths
   
• Young Jacob steals the ashes and other things that had been in Ilana's pocket away from Hurley, claiming "they're mine"
• Why is Young Jacob appearing?  Why not normal age Jacob?  It doesn't make any sense.
• "sawyer saw him too" -kane
• "richard did not" -mibmadedonkeywheel
• "so young jacob was real??" -kane
• Yeah, apparently -- he stole the ashes from Hurley and took them to (or morphed into?) older Jacob
• "maybe he liked his younger self cause he didnt have a chidhood. plus hurly didnt even know who he was" -mibmadedonkeywheel
• Hurley not recognizing him gave him a chance to steal the ashes
• "oh what about this he was his kid self because he knew he was going to die so he gave his kid body one last huzzah" -mibmadedonkeywheel
• Hurley chases after him and sees the older Jacob sitting next to a fire
• Jacob: "My ashes are right there in that fire.  When it burns out you'll never see me again."
• Why?  Jacob's ashes had already stopped burning by the time Ilana found them.  Why does re-burning his already burnt ashes make him disappear forever?
• And seriously?  That's what the ashes were saved for all this time?  I was kinda hoping someone would throw them at MIB or make him eat them or something to defeat him, but oh well.
       
• Ben says to Charles that he's not interested in hiding from MIB
• Widmore warns that MIB is going to kill him
• Richard says he knows MIB and all he wants is for Richard to join him, and maybe if they leave together it will give the rest of them a chance to get away safely
• The smoke monster shoves Richard out of the way like a train
• Will Richard be okay?  Is he still immortal?
• I think Richard will show up at some point and surprise us out of the blue and save the day
• "i think richard will kill ben" -diesel929
• MIB comes to Ben and says "Just the man I was looking for"
• MIB: "I need you to kill some people for me, Ben. ...  Because once I leave this Island you can have it all to yourself."
• "All right."
• "Good.  Now whose outrigger is that out there on the dock?"
• "Charles Widmore's."
• "And do you know where I can find him?"
• "He's hiding in my closet."
• "do you think smokey knew about the secret closet? and if ben didnt snitch would it have known they where there" -mibmadedonkeywheel

2004, Flash-sideways:

• Alex Rousseau notices that Dr. Linus is beaten up
• Danielle Rousseau introduces herself to Ben as she offers to take him home with them for dinner
• "oh yeah, you coming with us or i'll have to kidnap you,lol" -kane
• "yes, i caught the kidnapping line" -diesel929
• Danielle: "He died when Alex was 2."
• Danielle: "You're the closest thing to a father she's ever had." (Same as original timeline)

2007 on the Island:

• MIB slashes Zoe's neck
• "dont forget the line smokey gave widmore after he killed zoe: you told her not to talk to me so she was no use anymore" -mibmadedonkeywheel
• MIB says he'll kill Penny Widmore when he leaves the Island unless Charles tells MIB why he came back to the Island
• Charles says something about Desmond's resistance to electromagnetism, and wants to tell the rest to MIB in private (without Ben hearing)
• Charles whispers to MIB, and Ben shoots Charles multiple times, presumably killing him, explaining "He doesnt get to save his daughter."
• Ben gets revenge for Alex's death
• MIB says "No harm done" because he got the information he wanted from Charles
• Ben asks if there was anyone else MIB wanted him to kill, and MIB smiles evilly
• Does MIB want Ben to kill the candidates?  Would Ben kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley?  Just to supposedly get the Island to himself?
• MIB doesn't keep his promises; he promised Sayid his woman back, then sent Sayid to his doom on the sub with a bomb
• The only reason MIB would need Ben to kill anyone is if he needed someone to kill the candidates; MIB can't kill them, but MIB can kill anyone else he wants to.  That's why he's using Ben
• "smoke monster needs ben to be his assassin but ben will double cross him" -diesel929
• "where is miles?" -diesel929
• "miles is out in the jungle somewhere with a walkie talkie. miles does have a walkie talkie, ben gave it to him" -kane
   
• Jacob appears to Kate, Sawyer, Jack -- Hurley is surprised they can all see him
• Kate: "I want to know that Sun and Jin and Sayid didn't die for nothing."
• Jacob: "I'll tell you why I chose them and why I chose you.  And then I'll tell you everything you need to know about protecting this Island because by the time that fire burns out one of you is going to have to start doing it."

2004, Flash-sideways:

• John Locke visits Jack and talks to him about the airplane and the apparent coincidences that brought him back to Jack, leading up to Desmond telling Dr. Linus that he wanted to help Locke "let go" -- the same words Jack said to him
• Jack: "Mr. Locke, I want to fix you, but I think you're mistaking coincidence for fate." (an oft-repeated line on the show)
• Locke asks Jack to fix him

2007 on the Island:

• Jacob: "I brought all of you here because I made a mistake. ... You call him the monster.  But I'm responsible for what happened to him.  I made him that way.  And ever since then he's been trying to kill me."
• Jacob: "I didn't pluck any of you out of a happy existence.  You were all flawed... alone... you needed this place as much as it needed you."
• Kate: "Why did you cross my name off the wall?"
• Jacob: "Because you became a mother.  It's just a line of chalk on a wall.  The job is still yours if you want it, Kate."
• Jacob: "You have to protect it from him."
• Sawyer: "You want us to kill him?  Is that even possible?"
• Jacob: "I certainly hope so because he is going to try to kill you. ... I'm not going to pick, Hugo.  I want you to have the one thing I was never given.  A choice."
• Kate: "What if none of us chooses it?"
• Jacob: "Then all this ends very badly."
• Jack: "I'll do it.  This is why I'm here.  This is what I'm supposed to do."
• "Is that a question, Jack?"
• "No."
• "Good.  Then it's time."
• Is Jack going to go see the light?
   
• "You remember that bamboo field you woke up in" -- near where the light is
• "Do you have a cup?"
• Jacob whispers something in Latin and then instructs Jack in English, "Drink this."
• Jacob: "Now you're like me."

2004, Flash-sideways:

• James says he's shipping Jarrah, Hume, and Austen off to the county jail
• Kate tries to talk James out of it but he says "Nice knowing you"
• Des in car to Kate and Sayid: "I think it's time to leave."
• Ana Lucia Cortez is the cop driving the van and she asks where Desmond's friend is with all the money - it's Hugo
• Hugo gives Ana Lucia $125,000 and she drives off
• Des says that Ana Lucia isn't ready yet
• Des told Sayid to go with Hugo
• Des tells Kate she's going to a concert with him, and he hands her a dress

2007 on the Island:

• Ben: "Why do you bother walking?"
• MIB: "I like the feel of my feet on the ground.  Reminds me I was human."
• MIB looks for Desmond in the well
• MIB: "He said Desmond was a failsafe.  One final way to make sure that I never leave this place. ... I'm going to find him.  And when I do, he's going to help me do the one thing I could never do myself.  Destroy the island."
• So MIB would be okay with the destruction of the Island?
• Foreshadowed by MIB smashing the bottle with the cork, perhaps
• Does this mean MIB got his wish in the flash-sideways timeline?  Did he get free in the flash-sideways timeline?

Other questions, comments, and theories discussed in the chat:

• "do you think penny is going to show up in the finale?" -diesel929
• Maybe in the flash-sideways
      
• "flock left Claire on the other island. didn't he? everyone leaves her on the island" -baileybear
• Unless he killed her... but I don't think they'd do that without showing us.  I think we'll see Claire again in the finale.  It would only be right.
• "so what is claire doing?" -diesel929
• "[MIB to Claire:] 'claire they ditched you again.  please kill hurley' 'ok'" -diesel929
      
• CrapCastBilly's theory is that it's not the Jughead bomb that caused the rift, it was the sinking of the Island -- and when the Island sinks in the original timeline, the two timelines will merge.
• He also thinks it's possible that the Island from the original timeline may be the one we saw sunk in the flash-sideways (I disagree with that theory; I think it was pretty clear in the show that the sunken Island was in the flash-sideways)
   
• "desmond will connect them" -diesel929
• Yeah, otherwise why waste our time with all Desmond's actions in the flash-sideways?
   
• CrapCastBilly points out the electromagnetism reference and how Desmond must be the savior?  He's taking care of things on both sides
    
• CrapCastBilly's theory: maybe the concert is the benefit for the museum - Des will call Sawyer say I'm here come arrest me, (or Sawyer shows up with Miles after all) runs into Jack's (wife / ex-wife) who is Juliet(!) and she says to Sawyer "Let's go dutch."
• Maybe Charlie and Claire will meet up at the concert!
• Sawyer meets up with Juliet, Daniel sees Charlotte there, Jack is going to see Kate, Hurley took Libby there on a date? but Hurley is with Sayid -- maybe to pick up Nadia, and then they'll pick up Libby on the way.  ;o)
• "piano recital/geronimo jackson/drive shaft concert" -diesel929
    
• "now that Jack is Jacob is MIB stuck?" -baileybear

Screenshots and Easter Eggs:

• Screenshots: http://gallery.lost-media.com/thumbnails-1558.htmls

Preview for the final episode:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhCeGBwHHs4

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Season 6 Donation Goal Reached!

As of this morning, I've reached my donation goal! Thanks to everyone who made a contribution. You can still donate if you wish, but I no longer need any more donations to help pay for getting LOST on my TV this season.

Don't forget to join me for the live episode tonight at about 10:05 PM Pacific!  You can join the live show by going here on TalkShoe during the recording time.  If you have a TalkShoe account, you can choose to Follow the podcast on TalkShoe to receive notifications of new live shows.  To subscribe to the MP3 podcast, please use this iTunes link, or if you don't use iTunes you can this RSS link.  (Please avoid using the TalkShoe podcast subscription buttons because you'll get unedited shows.)

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Mother Jones Magazine "Recon" Chat, and Jay & Jack's Autism Speaks Charity Podcast

Last week I was invited to participate in Mother Jones Magazine's weekly LOST chat, and we discussed Season 6 Episode 8, "Recon."  Several interesting observations and theories about the episode were discussed.  You can read the chat transcript here.

Over the weekend I was also privileged to participate in Jay & Jack's 30-hour charity podcast.  Normally their marathon podcasts are live-only (meaning they don't post the whole 30 hours afterward) but if I can somehow get an audio copy of the segment I was on, I'll post it here on the blog and in the podcast feed.  You can donate to Jay & Jack's charity of choice, Autism Speaks, here.

As a reminder, I record my live podcast right after each episode of LOST ends in the Pacific time zone.  Fans from all over the world are welcome to participate in the chat and listen live.  Just go to TalkShoe at the designated time and join in!  If you miss the live show, stay tuned to this blog or subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and I'll post the edited version of the podcast sometime during the week.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter for tweets about LOST and my other interests!

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Do you have a product or service that you'd like to market to thousands of LOST fans? Find out how you can become a sponsor of this blog and podcast! Send an e-mail to thelostmeister+marketing at gmail dot com.

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Season 6 Live Post-Episode Podcasts

NOTE: As of May 4, 2010, I've reached my donation goal! Thanks to everyone who made a contribution. You can still donate if you wish, but I no longer need any more donations to pay for getting LOST on my TV.  Thanks again!

Many of you are probably aware of the DTV transition that took place in the U.S. on June 12, 2009. This was shortly after Season 5 of LOST ended. Although I have a television with a built-in digital tuner, I've been unable to get ABC on my TV.  No matter what antennas I try or how I position them, I can't get any signal from the only station I want—the one that shows LOST!  This, of course, is a major problem for someone who hosts a live podcast about every episode right after they air on TV.

This week I ordered the basic broadcast channels through my local cable television company, the cheapest plan that gives me access to ABC.  However, "cheapest" doesn't exactly mean cheap.  I don't currently have any companies sponsoring the blog or podcast, so blogging and podcasting about LOST is a (very time-consuming) hobby, not a side job.  It's hard for me to justify spending much money on a hobby when I already spend hours upon hours of my time each week blogging and podcasting about it.

I'm not going to require anyone to pay for this podcast.  That would be ridiculous; LOST fanaticism is a hobby for all of you as well, and if I demanded payments you'd stop listening to my show and instead listen to another of the dozens of other LOST podcasts out there.  So, no paid subscription is required.  However, if you enjoy participating in my live shows, or if you simply enjoy listening to the podcast and would like it to continue in the same format, I would greatly appreciate a donation of whatever amount you can afford to help cover the costs of me getting ABC for the next 4 months.  You will find PayPal donation buttons at the top of this page (if you don't have a PayPal account, you can alternatively donate via credit card through PayPal's secure site).

Oh, and if you're new here, I record my podcast live on TalkShoe right after each new episode of LOST airs in the Pacific time zone.  If you miss a live show, subscribe to the podcast (iTunes, RSS) to listen to the episode after I've had a chance to edit it.  And of course stay tuned to this blog for my very detailed show notes and commentaries.

Thanks to all of you fellow LOST fanatics for supporting this blog and podcast!  I appreciate your support and look forward to discussing and theorizing about LOST with you this final season.

The LOST Rewatch: Seasons 1-5 in Review

Recently I was invited to participate in The LOST Rewatch, masterminded by DocArzt & Friends and Lostpedia. It's going to be a hiatus-long event where fans rewatch the first five seasons of LOST in anticipation of the sixth and final season.

The rewatch starts June 1st, and a tentative episode schedule is here (I say tentative because the Season 5 portion may be postponed until after the DVD and Blu-ray editions become available on December 8th if there isn't an official means of watching Season 5 online by then).

I plan to blog and podcast during the rewatch, sharing insights and commentary on each week's set of episodes with a particular emphasis on making connections we didn't make the first time around, since we now have much more context for the series. As usual, I intend to mainly focus on the mysteries and most plot-relevant points. I'll probably blog once a week and podcast a bit less often (although my rewatch blog commentaries should all make it to the podcast).

If you're into social networking, you can:

• Join the LOST Rewatch official Facebook group
  
• Follow the LOST Rewatch official Twitter profile
• Follow the JoshMeister on Twitter if you haven't already
  

Subscribe to this blog and podcast, and stay tuned for the rewatch!

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Do you have a product or service that you'd like to market to thousands of LOST fans? Find out how you can become a sponsor of this blog and podcast! Send an e-mail to thelostmeister+marketing at gmail dot com.

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Jay & Jack's LIVE Podcast Tonight!

Jay and Jack (from The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack, of course) are hosting a live 25-hour charity podcast for Autism Speaks. They've asked me to moderate the discussion from 9 PM to 10 PM Pacific tonight. Other planned guests for the hour are:

• AnnaInIndiana from Jacob's Cabin
• Heath and Wendy from LOST Revisited
• Clay and Chris from Dharma Dummies
• Mr. Bill from Behind the Cutting Edge
  

We're going to discuss LOST mysteries and theories. It should be a lot of fun! Join in on Ustream at 9 PM Pacific (midnight Eastern) to hear my segment, or any time after 2 PM Pacific which is when the 25-hour marathon begins. And don't forget to donate to Autism Speaks!

Season 5 Premiere - Live Podcast Tonight!

As usual, I'm hosting a live podcast tonight after the new episode airs in the Pacific time zone. Listen, chat, or call in on TalkShoe at 11:00 PM Pacific (2:00 AM Eastern) to participate in the live show!

Many of you are probably wondering what happened to part 3 of the Kris White interview, or even more likely, the review of the Season 4 finale. They'll be posted soon. I really needed a break from the podcast during the hiatus. Thank you for your patience. Between my full-time job and having a family, there's very little time left over for podcasting. I think I'm going to be doing a lot less editing this season so I can hopefully post the podcast episodes sooner.

Talk to you tonight!

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Do you have a product or service that you'd like to market to thousands of LOST fans? Find out how you can become a sponsor of this blog and podcast! Send an e-mail to thelostmeister+marketing at gmail dot com.

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Announcements: Podcast Feed is Changing; Josh at PodCamp AZ on Saturday

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

A couple of brief announcements:

1. The podcast feed URL is changing effective immediately. Since my LOST podcast was the first one I ever produced, I was a total newbie and didn't use FeedBurner to make sure my feed URL would always be safe in the event of a host change. The short version of the story is that many of my subscribers will have a broken subscription feed sometime within the next couple days. I'll probably lose of a lot of listeners who have their LOST podcast subscriptions paused during the hiatus.
   
   Please make sure that you are subscribed to the correct feed. You should be subscribed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/tjmlostpodcast — here's how to check (in iTunes 8):
   
   Under your Library, click on Podcasts. Go to the View menu and select "as List". Click on the Refresh button in the bottom-right corner of the window. Then right-click (or if you're on a Mac, control-click) on "the JoshMeister's LOST Podcast" (NOT an individual episode) and click on Show Description. Make sure that the URL line contains "http://feeds.feedburner.com/tjmlostpodcast" and not the old users.aol.com address. If you need to subscribe to the new feed, go to the Advanced menu and click "Subscribe to Podcast..." and then paste this URL — http://feeds.feedburner.com/tjmlostpodcast — and click OK.
   
   
2. Now for the good news: I'm going to PodCamp AZ 2008 this Saturday! PodCamp AZ is a podcast and new media conference (or, as they like to call it, a "relevant media unconference"). Registration is free, but you can make a donation if you wish. This weekend (November 1-2, 2008) is when PodCamp AZ is being held this year, but I will only be there on Saturday, November 1st. If you would like to come meet me (and other new media personalities/Internet celebrities like iJustine, Chris Pirillo, Evo Terra, Brian Shaler, and others), I'd love to see you there. Here's what I look like so you'll recognize me.

I'll try to get back into a more regular podcasting schedule... eventually. Life has been extremely busy for me during the hiatus. So until next time, stay LOST, and namaste.

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Do you have a product or service that you'd like to market to thousands of LOST fans? Find out how you can become a sponsor of this blog and podcast! Send an e-mail to thelostmeister+marketing at gmail dot com.

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Yankees-Red Sox Article Narrows Flash Forward Timeline

Hey everyone, this is Master Nak. I've been on the podcast and posted comments in the past. the JoshMeister asked me to be a contributor to the blog starting with my thoughts on "Something Nice Back Home."

The newspaper article shown in Jack's flash forward (titled "Yankees bludgeon Red Sox in Series Sweep") caught my eye. The headline rung a bell; I had a hunch it was from the 2007 season. I did a search of "Yankees sweep Red Sox" on Google, and found this article that confirmed my suspicion.

Much of the text in the article shown on TV was taken directly from this real-life edition of the New York Times. For example, this part was in both the actual newspaper clipping and the one on the show:

"It was good, because as a team, we're behind," said Robinson Canó, who smashed two opposite-field home runs against Curt Schilling. "We need to start winning some games if we want to make the playoffs. We’re a half-game up for the wild card, but we're not worried about the wild card. We're just trying to win games."

The name "Suzy Allman" appears in the Lost version. After looking up her name, I discovered that she is in fact a photographer for the NY Times.

Assuming that the date of the newspaper article is the date on which the flash forward is taking place, that would make it August 31st, 2007.

However, after taking a closer look at both articles, I found some discrepancies between them. The opening paragraph of the Lost version says the Yankees "rampaged into Fenway Park and won three games to bury the Boston Red Sox." Actually, the series this is referring to (in August 2006, one year earlier) was 5 games, not 3. This could easily be passed off as a simple mistake, but the next thing I noticed put the actual date of the newspaper in question.

The score box right below the Yankees-Red Sox piece was for the Angels vs. the Astros. The Angels are an American League team and the Astros are a National League team, meaning they would rarely play each other. They did, in fact, play each other in 2007, but the 3 game series was from June 18th - June 20th - not at the end of August. How, then, do we know for certain that the paper is supposed to be from August 31st?

At any rate, it still appears as if the year is supposed to be 2007.

Supporting evidence:

• The newpaper in Jack's lap in the Season 3 finale flash forward was based off of the April 5th, 2007 edition of the LA Times.
• Considering how big Aaron is, 2007 would make sense - he would be about two and a half years old. If these flash forwards were in 2005 as some speculate, the kid would be pretty huge for a one-year-old.
  

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If you have a product or service that you'd like to market to thousands of LOST fans, find out how you can become a sponsor of this blog and podcast! Send an e-mail to thelostmeister+marketing at gmail dot com.

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Season 3 Finale with Popup Notes

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

In this episode of the JoshMeister's LOST Podcast, Josh announces an upcoming special Find 815 podcast episode, covers some Find 815 updates, and discusses the popup notes and some additional thoughts from the special Season 3 Finale rerun from Wednesday, January 30th (recorded that night right after it aired). Show notes follow.

• There's going to be a live multi-podcaster discussion of the Find 815 alternate reality game on Monday, February 4, 2008 at 7:00 PM Pacific / 10:00 PM Eastern, organized by DarkUFO's site
• Big-O from Cranky Fanatic, Curt Yanko from the Black Rock Podcast, and Amanda from the Lost Flashbacks Podcast are planning to participate (and of course, I'll be there as well)

• Josh talks about some information about Find 815 that he had posted here
  

• In the rerun of the Season 3 finale, the popups say that the person in the article Jack was reading on the plane was from New York and died in Los Angeles
• The popups did not say anything about the name John Lantham/Latham
  
• Why did Ben lie to the Others about the Looking Glass?
• Is he trying to trap everyone on the island by disabling communications?
• Or did Jacob tell him to do it?
• DHARMA is spelled in all caps this time. Last time it was spelled out on the show (when Ben came to the island) only the D was capitalized
• DHARMA, of course, is an acronym for "Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications," as we learned in The LOST Experience
  
• I guess I'll go back to capitalizing the whole word DHARMA again on the blog
  
• Ben to Richard Alpert: "You're going to take everyone to the temple as planned"
• What and where is this temple?
• Who built it, ancient inhabitants of the island? Richard Alpert's people?
• Josh talks about Richard Alpert's non-aging, which may indicate that he's one of the ancient inhabitants who built the foot statue, etc.
• Does the non-aging thing have anything to do with not being able to have children? Sort of like how in some theologies, Adam and Eve could not have children while they were immortal in the Garden of Eden?
  
• Dr. Gary Nadler, the spinal surgeon at St. Sebastian, has the same last name as Bernard, the dentist, Rose's husband
• Ben told Mikhail to kill Charlie, and Mikhail followed his orders
• Sawyer asked Juliet what he and Kate had been doing hauling rocks
• Juliet: building a runway
• this was confirmed in a Season 3 DVD extra
• On Ben's map it says "Pascal Flats"
• popups say this was a homage to Blaise Pascal, who abandoned science for theology
• John Locke was about to commit suicide (like Jack in the flash-forward earlier in the episode) and he saw... Walt?
• Is it really Walt or is it the island helping him?
• Walt to John: "You have work to do."
• This was reminiscent of the sweat lodge dream that Locke had at the beginning of Season 3 where Boone appeared to him, with the exception that Boone was already dead and the executive producers have said that Walt is alive and well
  
• If this is the real Walt, is Michael back on the island, too? And where did he go the remainder of the episode?
  
• Jack tells Kate "he loves you" referring to Sawyer, then tells Kate he's sticking up for Sawyer "because I love you"
• Who is in the coffin?
• Damon Lindelof has said that this is one of the questions we should be asking
• Nobody showed up for the viewing, there was no funeral - this indicates that not many people seem to care about whoever this person is. Was he or she a traitor? An enemy? Could it be Michael, who turned on his own people and killed Ana Lucia and Libby?
• The popups hint that the person in the coffin may be one of the survivors of Flight 815
• It looked like the spear Desmond shot at Mikhail went in deep
• Is Mikhail immortal, like Richard Alpert may be considering his non-aging?
• It's very frustrating that the executive producers have said that once someone dies on the show, they're really dead, and can only come back in flashbacks, while Mikhail seems to have died twice and come back from the dead (and perhaps three times if it turns out that the grenade didn't actually kill him even though they confirmed that it did)
  
• Perhaps the biggest revelation from the popups was that that the guy in the pharmacy wasn't referring to the car crash rescue—Jack has become a celebrity in the aftermath of Flight 815!
• The popups say Ben may have a point... we don't know a lot about Naomi
• Why will every single living person on the island be killed if Jack calls the freighter? How could Ben know this? Is Ben lying because he's afraid people will leave the island?
• Jack says he's going to kill both Tom and Ben because he thinks they killed Bernard, Jin, and Sayid—this is a much more angry Jack than before the island
• Oxycodone is "an extremely powerful and addictive painkiller" according to the popups
  
• The popups say that the radio tower was built by the DHARMA Initiative and was broadcasting the Numbers before Danielle changed the recording to her distress signal
• As you might recall from The LOST Experience, the DHARMA Initiative's goal was to change one of the core values in the Valenzetti Equation to try to prevent the end of the world
  
• Survivors have been on island for 91 days, say the popups
  
• When John Locke kills Naomi by throwing a knife at her back, it's the first time he's killed someone by his own hand
• Why is it that Kate isn't in jail? She was wanted for murder in the United States before the crash, and now she's living in Los Angeles (310 telephone area code, as the popup said)
• Jack: "I was hoping that you'd heard" and go to the funeral
• Kate: "Why would I go the funeral?"
• Jack: "I am sick of lying. We made a mistake. We were not supposed to leave."
• Sarah and Kate both said a very final-sounding "Goodbye, Jack."
• Jack: "We have to go back!"
• Spoilers ahead. From the preview for upcoming episodes:
• Guy from freighter says, "Rescuing people... can't really say it's our primary objective."
• Locke says, "Whatever they came for, it isn't us."

Live podcast tonight!

I'm doing a live podcast tonight, and I'd love it if you would come join the discussion!

When:
Tonight (Thursday, January 24th) at 7:30 PM PST / 10:30 PM EST

Where:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/16338
or call (724) 444-7444 and enter 16338 when asked for the Call ID

Planned discussion topics include updates on the Find 815 ARG, theorizing about what we'll see in Season 4, and LOST: Missing Pieces (aka "mobisodes") 9 through 12. I hope to see you there.

By the way, the episode I recorded in December is finally edited and should be online within the next few days, so stay tuned!

Live podcast tonight!

Hi, LOST fans! I'm doing a live podcast tonight, and I'd love it if you would come join the discussion!

When:
Tonight (Saturday, December 29th) at 5:30 PM PST / 8:30 PM EST

Where:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/16338
or call (724) 444-7444 and enter 16338 when asked for the TalkCast ID

Planned discussion topics include the The Orchid's orientation film (released at Comic-Con 2007), the LOST mobisodes (officially known as "LOST: Missing Pieces"), news, and more. Oh, and a preview of some very interesting things soon to come on this podcast (wink, wink)! I hope to see you there.

By the way, part 3 of the Season 3 Finale live podcast is coming soon, so stay tuned.

the JoshMeister's LOST Podcast Featured in Podcast User Magazine!

Issue #17 of Podcast User Magazine featured the JoshMeister's LOST Podcast, including quotes from Josh and a photograph of him.

You can download the issue for free here (PDF). The article on LOST podcasts starts on page 30, and the section featuring tJM's LOST Podcast is on page 34.

Announcements and Hiatus Plans

Don't worry, LOST fans! I haven't forgotten about the Season 3 finale. I'm still in the process of editing the live post-show podcast, which was roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes long unedited! I intend to release it in a few smaller, more manageable segments over the next few weeks.

After I release the Season 3 finale podcast episodes, I intend to continue to post occasional updates during the hiatus. If there are any good new theories, producers' comments, official ABC press releases, or anything else that I think is worth mentioning, I'll blog and podcast about it to keep you informed. Here are some tips on staying up-to-date:

• You can get an e-mail whenever the blog is updated if you subscribe via RssFwd.
• If you prefer to listen to the podcast, you can subscribe via iTunes.
• To use another subscription service, you can use the links in the sidebar.
  

If you still find yourself bored during the hiatus (which is expected to last until February 2008), fret not—here are some suggestions:

1. There are a lot of references to books in LOST. Sawyer is always reading something. Casual references to books are frequently made on the show. Why not read some of those books to get a better understanding of their significance to the show, if any? Or why not read official LOST books like Bad Twin, which was a part of The LOST Experience? Or commentaries and guides by various authors? All of these and more can be found in a new LOST store that I'm opening this summer. You can catch a sneak peek now! Be sure to check out each of the item category links in the sidebar (DVDs, Books, Games and Toys, etc.) for a wider selection from those categories.
   
   
2. Subscribe to the LOST Theories Network or the Lost Podcasting Network to listen to LOST podcasts that are producing epsiodes during the hiatus. You can also catch up on older episodes of this podcast or The Official LOST Podcast, if you'd like.
   
   
3. Browse old articles on this blog or Lostpedia and bone up on your LOST knowledge. One study suggestion might be to read up on The LOST Experience if you didn't participate in it during the post-Season 2 hiatus. Although The LOST Experience is not expected to continue during the present hiatus, studying the previous Experience can be insightful since many of its revelations about the Dharma Initiative, the Hanso Foundation, and Alvar Hanso still haven't been explored on the show. Another idea is to participate in Lostpedia's "Lost Rewatch" (see the main page at Lostpedia for details) and go back and look for things you may have missed in previous episodes. Then, if you find something that hasn't been mentioned yet on Lostpedia, you can contribute to Lostpedia's articles.
   
   
4. Take a few minutes and fill out my podcast listener survey and digg this podcast! You can also digg the LOST Theories Network.
   
   
5. If you're into technology, I'm in the planning stages of starting a tech podcast during the hiatus. More details will be posted when the podcast becomes available. If you're interested in becoming a co-host, please read this! Also, if you enjoy studying religion, another podcast that might interest you is this one.
   

If you come across any good LOST theories, news, etc. during the hiatus, please e-mail me at thelostmeister at gmail dot com.

Initial Reactions to "The Man Behind the Curtain"

Right after seeing the episode, some of my initial thoughts were:

1. John Locke's not going to die. The island will heal him as we've seen it do to him several times already. Ben should have known this; why didn't Ben shoot Locke in the head if he really wanted him dead?
2. Ben's insane; there really isn't a Jacob (boy was I wrong about that one—more on this later).
3. How is it that Richard Alpert didn't seem to age one bit while Ben has obviously aged significantly? And why is Richard following Ben instead of the other way around?

In last night's live podcast, we discussed these and many, many other topics surrounding the mind-blowing Ben-centric episode, "The Man Behind the Curtain." I'll try to edit the podcast and divide it into more manageable chunks as soon as I get a chance, and I'll post show notes along with each segment. Subscribe to the podcast or blog using the links in the sidebar and stay tuned!

Notes on The Official LOST Podcast for April 16th, 2007

Just a quick note before we get into the Official Podcast: I've finally posted extensive show notes for my live podcast last week—please see the updated post immediately after this one.

The remainder of this post contains spoilers.

Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse stated in Monday's Official LOST Podcast that we'll be getting back to the story line of women dying on the island next week (April 25th). The episode will be called "D.O.C." and will be Sun- and Jin-centric.

It was teased that there's "a large and significant happening" in this week's Desmond-centric episode, "Catch-22."

Carlton revealed that the DHARMA Initiative built the sonic fence to keep out the smoke monster, and hinted that we'll be finding out more about the DHARMA Initiative's story this season.