Hey -- maybe 'Lost' is a metaphor, huh?

As I read Tai's recent blog on how she had made no mention of the Olympics and wasn't prepared to write a word on the Oscars, all I thought was, me too. Phew, disregard of what is happening in the wider world of what we are told we are supposed to be in touch with, seems to be a bit ubiquitous.
Not only did I disregard the aforementioned elements of the universe of 2006 (it is 2006, isn't it?), but I cared not at all that I did.

There are reasons for my disregard of elements that others seem to regard with a passion. One of the reasons is, as I stated in an earlier blog, I hate to be controlled. Another reason is that sometimes I just don't give a shit about stuff that seems vacuous and nonsensical. A further reason is that I hate grabbing on to trends, just because it seems that everybody is doing it. It reminds me of the time years ago when my ex-wife kept exhorting me to go to Expo 86. I had no desire to go. Quite frankly, fun-loving guy that I can be otherwise, I hate fairs. I put them in the same category as clowns and mimes. They're forced upon one. I have never been to Disney-anything, and don't care a whit if I die without so doing. Anyway, my ex said to me at the time, that I "would regret" not attending Expo. I've checked a few times over the years since 1986. Nope, no regrets yet.

One thing in popular culture that has caught my attention, I must confess, almost regretfully because it seems to go against my grain, is my fascination with the TV series Lost. I began watching it in its first season, and I truly do hate to make the admission that I probably haven't missed an episode.

I have no idea why I like it so much, but I keep tuning in to see what twists will manifest themselves with each successive episode. There are some good things going for Lost. It's enticingly scripted and drops hints all over the place. The cast is almost universally watchable, even though most were virtual unknowns when it began. Evangeline Lilly (sigh) is in the cast, as good girl/bad girl, Kate (my kind of girl in some respects, if truth be known), and there can be no doubt that Fort Saskatchewan never before produced a creature of such delectability. Hey, I even saw her in person when I was in Hawaii last September. Real life is even better than the video presentation. But, I digress outrageously.

Lost is as corny as hell at some levels, with all the formulaic sci-fi stuff being troweled on as obviously as Bill Shatner's ego (speaking of cornball sci-fi), but it tweaks enough that I find I want to come back each week. I have concluded, regardless of the outcome, that the people are stuck in a microcosm, which is, of course, a metaphor for life. Duh. Hey, that wasn't hard. We never know what's around the next corner. There are Maxwell Smart 'Golliwoggles' in the jungle, and we fall in love and lust with people who aren't always good for us, and the primary drive is to survive and not to let the bad guys, whoever they might be, prevail.

I don't know how Lost will come out. I don't even really care. It's only a TV show. I just want the writers to keep pumping out scripts that are a little bit enchanting and highly entertaining. And, I want to decide if I want Kate, at the end of it all, to turn out to be just a sweetie-pie girl next door, or the horny homicidal psycho who is her alter-ego. I'll just have to wait and see.