I’ve heard reports of Evangeline Lilly at Don Quijote in Kailua, Daniel Dae Kim at a Kahala photo shoot (and at the Democratic National Convention!), and a large gathering of actors at Papa’iloa Beach on the North Shore. Heck, even Michelle Rodriguez is back!

Filming has been going on from Waikiki to Police Beach to the jungle in He’eia.

It’s also September, which narrows our wait for Season 5 to just 4 short months…that’s bearable, right?

DHARMA PROGRESS:

Test 2: a series of 10 multiple choice questions, all of which I completely guessed on. I’m with chadepp and H20. Definitely failed, but hey, at least we’ll get to take the VW out for a spin!

Test 3: Almost like a video game. You keep the Dharma logo from hitting a bunch of bouncing balls. If you can keep it untouched for 100 seconds, you get the highest score possible. Me? I only tried it twice, and didn’t make it past 31 seconds. Gonna have to try that one again.

AROUND THE WEB:

-If you’re a football fan, check out this NFL 2008 season prediction chart
-Who knew Jorge Garcia could sing?
-Here’s the scoop about a (gorgeous) new cast member being added this season

I was hoping it would show the picture I uploaded onto my profile on it, but oh well

FILMING UPDATE: Check out Ryan’s blog for details on the first filming for Season 5, which started this week (only peek if you’re ok with knowing the locations before you see them on primetime!). As always, if you catch sight of filming and/or Lost actors in and around town, let me know. You can even snap a picture and send it to me-I’ll post it here on the blog!

Word is also out that filming/production is slated to begin again within the next couple of weeks. This means that if you see filming in progress, let us all know here on the the blog! Better yet, take a few pictures and email them to me so I can post them. It’s always fun seeing the places we visit every day here transformed on primetime television.

Some other news: sources say that we can expect 2 new characters this season. As if we don’t already have enough characters, right? They do sound interesting, though, so I don’t mind–as long as they live up to their hype…

Last thing: I got another email from Octagon Global Recruiting. I am no internet whiz, and the link they originally sent led to an ‘error’ page that was just beyond me. HOWEVER, I thought I’d try the link again to put it on this post, and viola! we have a real site now…a pretty cool one, too. After the intro, if you click ‘new recruit’, you are prompted to take a sometimes-amusing, sometimes-creepy ‘Eligibility Test’.

I ‘passed’. Anyone else try it and ‘fail’?

Anyway, it’s not much. I would have at least expected Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) as a shoe-in for supporting actor, but it seems he got snubbed! At least Ben (Michael Emerson) made it in. Still, I can’t help but be a bit disappointed that the stellar acting in Season 4 seems to have been largely overlooked.

Luckily, the rest of the (behind the scenes) crew seems to be well-represented: sound crew, composers, editors, etc. Reminds me that it takes practically an army to bring us our Lost fix every year!

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Lost • ABC • ABC Studios
Michael Emerson as Ben

Outstanding Cinematography For A One Hour Series
Lost • The Constant • ABC • ABC Studios
John Bartley, A.S.C., C.S.C., Director of Photography

Outstanding Drama Series
Lost • ABC • ABC Studios
Producers TBD

Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (original Dramatic Score)
Lost • The Constant • ABC • ABC Studios
Michael Giacchiano, Music By

Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series
Lost • There’s No Place Like Home (Parts 2 & 3) • ABC • ABC Studios
Henk Van Eeghen, Editor
Robert Florio, Editor
Mark J. Goldman, Editor
Stephen Semel, Editor

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series
Lost • The Shape Of Things To Come • ABC • ABC Studios
Thomas deGorter, M.P.S.E., Supervising Sound Editor
Paula Fairfield, M.P.S.E., Sound Editor
Carla Murray, M.P.S.E., Sound Editor
Maciek Malish, M.P.S.E., Sound Editor
Lloyd Jay Keiser, Sound Editor
Joseph Schultz, Sound Editor
Jim Bailey, Foley Artist
Cynthia Merril, Foley Artist
Alex Levy, Music Editor

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (one-hour)
Lost • Meet Kevin Johnson • ABC • ABC Studios
Robert Anderson, Production Mixer
Frank Morrone, Re-Recording Mixer
Scott Weber, Re-Recording Mixer

Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Live-action Entertainment Programs
Lost: Missing Pieces • ABC.com • ABC.com / ABC Studios
Damon Lindelof, Executive Producer
Carlton Cuse, Executive Producer
Barry Jossen, Executive Producer

Good luck to our nominees — and btw GREAT choice on ‘The Constant” for cinematography…I support! — even though I won’t be watching, I’ll be sure to report any favorable results here.

….DRUMROLL….

There is a Lost Book Club!!!

……….

..

.

Ok, so maybe I’m the only person who is actually excited about this–but the English major in me just can’t help but be totally stoked that all the fabulous literature referenced in the show has been organized and put into a nifty little package complete with island-worn bookcovers that make you feel like you are actually borrowing Sawyer’s copy of Of Mice and Men. Well, sort of.
There’s even a note from Lost writers Carlton and Damon about how important reading is…and, of course, an all-too-familiar disclaimer:

“We can’t promise you any of these books will lead you to answers about LOST, but we can promise you’ll be enriched for having read them.” HA! Much as that irks me (I crave knowledge of Lost’s deepest, darkest secrets!), I have to agree with the second clause: reading enriches life.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s very difficult to find the time to STOP, pick up a book, and curl up for a few hours to read, think, and take a break from life. I get nostalgic thinking about it, as though my days of reading for pleasure are over. (!!!) Now that would be scary.

I guess it’s time to dust off that library card and delve in. We have a long wait ahead of us, and who knows, maybe there is an answer or two to be found if we just take the time to read…and think.

Octagon Global Recruiting!!

Anyone else get the follow-up email after signing up at the website mentioned in the pseudo commercial they ran during the season 4 finale?

The e-mail says that I can take an ‘aptitude test’ at the Comic Con in San Diego next month. Since I will still be here on Oahu then, we’ll just have to wait for those who live in Southern California (or can afford to travel there) to tell us what that entails. I was also admonished not to share the email or its contents with anyone…about 2 lines after being told to spread the word about everything contained in it!

Anyone who says that the creators of Lost have no sense of humor are missing something.

So who is suffering from Lost withdrawals? H20 is satisfying the craving by re-watching Season 1.  And issuing the following challenge: “all I have to say is, anyone who says we never get any answers should go back and watch even the first couple episodes and tell me we don’t know so much more then we knew back then.”

Hmmmm. I might just have to go and do that.

Glad to see that the ‘tidal wave’ of ‘terror’ will be contained for the next few years.

Other interesting tidbits:

-Harold Perrineau (Michael) isn’t too happy with his character’s sudden and explosive demise.

-If you haven’t yet, watch the alternate endings. I think Locke was the best, most intriguing choice for ‘the body in the coffin’.

-Also, I forgot to post Doc’s analysis on the season finale. As always, it’s full of wild ideas and unexpected tidbits.

Honestly? My list of ‘whoa’ moments is about 2 miles long, or roughly one ‘whoa’ moment for every other moment of the entire 2 hours of tonight’s finale. Not to mention that ‘whoa’ just doesn’t cut it. It should really be ‘WHOA!!’

(btw, in case you were wondering, the Kahuku graduation was awesome. Congrats to my brother, Evan, for a job well done. How was the party? Inquiring minds–ok, just mine–would like to know.)

Anyway, the point is that I’m not even going to attempt to write out an entire list of ‘whoa’ moments for this episode. Instead, I think a list of the most interesting things we’re going to deal with next season will give us more to chew on:

-The return of Walt. Does he have to go back to the island with all of them, too?
-Was the island moved in TIME, SPACE, or BOTH? And more importantly, where is it now?
-Ben: good guy or bad guy? He ‘always has a plan,’ and yet still lost it (or did he?) when he killed Keamy and sentenced all the freighter folk–not to mention Jin (NOOO!) and Michael–to death by C4. And then immediately chooses to banish himself from the island forever. What?!
-Where WAS Charlotte born, and why are she and Miles so eager to remain on that island?
-Sawyer finally has his true hero moment when he jumps out of the chopper. What role will he play on the newly relocated island (wherever/whenever it is)?
-What about Desmond and Lapidus? Do they, too, have to return with the Oceanic 6 + Locke’s cadaver?
-We still need to learn more about Widmore. And Sun’s ruthless new game to seek vengeance for Jin’s death.
-What ever happened to Faraday and his 5 zodiac passengers?
-Why does Claire ask Kate NOT to bring Aaron back to the island?
-And my final question: WHY DID LOCKE LEAVE THE ISLAND?

For me, it was a night of ‘hero’ moments. Not only do the major characters sacrifice themselves in big ways–Sawyer, Sayid (how AWESOME was his fight with Keamy?), Jack, Kate, Ben, Jin, Michael–but the less-dominant forces in the finale really saved the day. Faraday and Juliet saved the beach folk, Lapidus came through for the Oceanic 6, the Others took out Keamy’s team, and Penny followed Desmond’s signal. If it wasn’t 1 a.m., I would cheer that those two are finally reunited!

Here’s my take: the show’s ‘present’ has finally connected with the future. This means that next season, we are going to have to go into a new mode of storytelling. I’m not sure how it’ll play out, but the old method of flashforwards and flashbacks just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Not to mention, we are going to HAVE to find out where and when that island went! What do you think? Time to digest and theorize!

All I know is that we’ve come a long way since season 1, when the Losties fell out of the sky. 2 more seasons to go!

Teddy Wells (co-owner of Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Lost ‘Other’ Ivan) tells me that he’s invited the actors who play ‘Others’ on the show to a season finale/reunion party at the smoothie shop this Thursday. Sounds to me like a great opportunity to mingle with cast members, collect autographs, and dig for Lost secrets!

The finale airs from 8-10 p.m., with the first part of the finale rebroadcast at 7. Get there early to get settled with a smoothie and meet some ‘Others’.

As for getting there:

Tropical Smoothie is located by the Ala Moana mall at 88 Piikoi St., at the corner of Piikoi and Waimanu. It is located in the GROUND FLOOR corner of the KHON building.

Parking is easy: There is some free parking in the KHON building– the first spaces on the left in the garage are designated with signs for Tropical Smoothie customers. There is always plenty of street parking in the evenings on Waimanu St. as well. The store phone is 593-7373‎.

PLEASE let me know how it goes…wish I could be there!

If you want to watch reruns this week, “Something Nice Back Home” (Jack, flashforward) and “Cabin Fever”  (Locke, flashback) will air Wednesday night from 7 - 9 p.m. on ABC. I know they won’t take the place of a new episode, but maybe you’ll notice something new the second time around–if you do, be sure to share!

In the meantime, I’ll be holding my breath until next week’s episode, slated to run from 8 - 10 p.m. Thursday (5/29).