Thoughts On the Last Episode of LOST

As a sci-fi fan, I am a little disappointed in the ending of LOST. Since the first season I have wished that the show was more sci-fi. But that is not LOST. For every geek who watched the show for the sci-fi (and got a love story), there was a housewife who watched the show for the love story (and got some sci-fi). Well, the show had a love story ending and I am okay with that.

The producers had repeatedly mentioned M*A*S*H as an influence and we got a similar ending-the characters went their separate ways, but their time on the island will always be the most important time in their lives.

Contemporary long-form television is difficult to wrap-up. They have too many subplots, too much complexity much a nice ending. The Sopranos, The Wire and Battlestar Galactica (to name a few) all did less-than-spectacular jobs. So, it should not be surprising that LOST's finale was not perfect.

From a sci-fi point of view, the show had been following a very predictable trajectory the whole sixth season. And I am relieved that they did not introduce some new sci-fi element as an explainer or, worse, introduce some "theory of everything" that explains... well, everything that happened on the island.

It is one thing to give a simple explanation for everything or give a total mindfuck ending after a two-hour film (M. Night Shyamalan is so fond of doing both of these). But, after over 100 hours, I think we need something more than a mindfuck.

Yeah, LOST did not explain a lot of things, but I think over-explaining would have hurt the show (think "The Matrix" series) and any explanation that would have encompassed everything would be so complicated as to be ridiculous. The overall explanation is that the island is a strange place where strange things happen. BAM! Explanation enough.

Desmond survived a electrical discharge and could see the past, present and future (and the afterlife apparently). Does it make sense scientifically? No. (And there is a ton of other examples like that). But, I do not think the show needs to explain it anymore than that. To paraphrase the show "Whatever weird stuff happened, happened".

For example, does faster-than-light speed travel make sense? Does teleporting make sense? No and no. But these are accepted parts of those respective franchises and they work in service of the story and are not the story itself.

Lastly, Americans love love, so in American television, the two lead characters will inevitably find themselves in a romantic relationship (think Friends, Moonlighting, Cheers, Will and Grace, Who's The Boss?) and yes LOST ends reaffirming all of the romantic relationships (Jack and Kate, Sawyer and Juliet, Charlie and Claire, Rose and Bernard, even digging deep to bring back Shannon and Sayid)

However, in a strange way, in addition to the one-on-one romantic love, there is the affirmation of a group platonic love that the people on the island experienced. To me, this group affirmation is more heartwarming that any single relationship. This group relationship mirrors not only that of the relationship of viewers to each other (who met around watercoolers and chat rooms to discuss the show) but also the viewers' relationship with the show itself and the love they we have for LOST.

And, yes, I loved LOST.

Refrigerator Tea

In yet another instance of everything-good-is-bad-for-you, people are not supposed to make sun tea anymore.

Sun tea, in which tea bags are placed in a water pitcher and left out in the sun for a few hours, is a favorite of mine. First, because it produces a mellow tea compared to iced tea made with boiled water (that for my taste requires more sugar to take the edge off of those tannins). Second, because of the ease of the recipe (water, tea bag, time) which is ideal for a lazy summer day.

However, sun tea sits around for hours in the food temperature danger zone (40°F-140°F) and becomes a breeding ground for bacteria.

The solution? Skip the sun and put the iced tea container in the refrigerator overnight for comparable results.

Unscented (or one-scented)

When it comes to household items, there are many options for scent.

Take a shower using scented soap, shampoo and conditioner. Brush your teeth with a scented toothpaste and floss with scented floss. Use scented deodorant, lotion and wash hands with scented hand soap. Put on clothes washed in scented laundry detergent. Style your hair with scented hair care product.

Maybe even use scented toilet paper (seriously, scented toilet paper was commonly available until the 1980's, but fell out of favor when people thought better of putting chemical-drenched paper in their most intimate of areas. However, with some Googling, I see it is still available).

All of these scents combined can lead to a cacophony of odors.

Additionally, when Procter and Gamble give their products a scent, do you think they're using some centuries-old recipe handed down from Cleopatra involving rose water and anise seed (for example) or do you think maybe it is potentially-harmful chemicals designed by Dow? My guess would be the latter.

Between the olfactory assault and the chemical implications, maybe we need to take a hint from the scented toilet paper example.

It takes an additional minute to find them in the store, but all of the above items can be bought unscented.

Still want to have some scent? That's reasonable. Buy one scented item. Buy a scented lotion, or better yet a cologne or perfume as they are designed to last. My current favorite cologne is Acqui di Parma. (cough, cough, Cary Grant used it).


And why are you all of those scented items anyhow? If you have an odor problem look at your diet, limit your coffee intake and drink more water. If this does not clear it up, go to your doctor. Seriously.

Half-pints

I love beer. And I love going to bars that have lots of different beers. And I love drinking many of those beers. Unfortunately, my threshold for consuming multiple pints of beer is lowering as we speak.

Luckily, a few beer bars understand this and offer the half-pint.

Most notably, The Grey Lodge (not coincidentally Philadelphia's best beer bar) offers half-pints at exactly half the price of a full pint.

Also, The Swift Half Pub at the Piazza at Schmidts offer half-pints, but I believe charges more than half the price of a pint (which feels like a rip-off to me).

I'm also aware that many old-man-bars (most memorably Krupa's at 27th and Brown Streets in the Art Museum area) also sell small glasses of cheap beer that need constant refilling and cost less than a dollar, but that is a different story.

Beer bars of Philadelphia, please offer this aging man the half-pint he needs before I am forced to go to go back to Krupa's. Or before I am forced to share every pint with my wife.