Its hard to believe that there will be no more Lost in my life. I did read one article on CNN that said the DVD for season 6 will have 20 extended minutes of the season finale but I haven’t seen that mentioned anywhere else. I actually did not have great expectations going into the finale based on how this season has progressed. I was pleasantly surprised by this finale and not for the reasons I thought I would like the finale. There were no real mysteries about the show solved like time travel, special people, why the island has magical power but they did answer what the flash sideways are which blew my mind (after I realized what happened).

I was really amazed by the first two hours. I had constant chills throughout the first hours because I never expected to see a lot of the old characters and then also see them reunite in their special way. The writers handled this beautifully and helped cement it as the best show ever. I was confused with the last minutes as I couldn’t figure out why they were all going to the Church (and how they knew to go there). I then realized that was the same Church as the Lookout where Mrs Hawking was. I thought they were going to do some weird time travel again to the island. Alas, I was totally wrong. It wasn’t till the show was over and I had a friend explain it to me to understand what went down. In the end the island was not purgatory (like people had speculated since season 1) but instead the flash sideways were. What through me through a loop was the flash sideways timeline but it was arbitrary since people in that timeline died and lived different lives outside the island but then all came back to the flash sideways in the end.

Alot of what happened even was a little expected like:

1. Hurley being the next #1 after Jack. I thought this all along (or at least the last several episodes) since his character did not make much sense for how much they focused on him. I at least thought he would be the new Richard.
2. That Juliet was Jack’s ex-wife in the flash sideways. There was a reason why they waited till the last episode to show her identity.
3. That Juliet was going to be the doctor that helped Sun after she was shot. I was expecting this because I was expecting something worse since she was shot in the stomach. Who better to help than the baby expert.
4. That the final scene would have Jack laying in the same patch of bamboo as the opening scene of the series. It just seemed sensible knowing that the bright light was so close.

What I did not forsee:

1. The meaning of the flash sideways — everyone dies but they don’t have to die together.
2. That everything that happened actually happened (i.e. time travel and alternate timelines, the incident (which I assume the nuclear bomb blowing up was the incident), and so on.
3. Ben being the new #2. I was expecting Ben to be the new MIB especially when he was helping to lower down Jack. There was a lot of similarities to the scene with Jack and MIB lowering down Desmond.
4. That all the characters like Rose, Bernard, Vincent, Shannon, Boone, and others would be in this episode.
5. I knew Jack was going to be laying in the bamboo patch at the end but I did not know how or why. I was just hoping that the episode was not going to end the same way as it started ….ie a time loop where it is all played out again.
6. The high Christian context. Jack was basically Jesus. Someone even made the point that he was stabbed in the same place Jesus was as he was carrying the cross.

What really confused me:

1. The last scene of the plane crash on the ocean. I believe this was to show us that they still always crashed but what threw me through a loop was that we never saw the plane parts in any of the island scenes the rest of the previous episodes after the pilot. It made me think that the Ajira flight crashed too.
2. Jack’s son—Both his mom and dad did not belong in this timeline so how did he even exist? Or more importantly why did he need to exist? Did it make Jack a better person and have more meaning so it didn’t make him the druggie alcoholic he was in the flash forwards?
3. The Aaron and Walt storyline in the early seasons. The only thing I can think of is that it somewhat relates to how Jacob and MIB were chosen as candidates at a young age so maybe Jacob thought he also needed a young kid as a replacement. With that said, I do not think this is the case and it really came down to a storyline where the writers went in a different direction and just hoped we forgot about it.

In the end, Lost was about two things: redemption and emotional connection. The writers used all kinds of crazy story lines and mythologies to get to the end point which confused people (including me) but it made a fantastic story and emotionally ended the show on a hight point for me.

My girlfriend and I went to some of the Augusta, MO wineries on Saturday for a friend’s 30th bday party. My girlfriend had been planning it for the past month. She decided on the Mount Pleasant winery since this same group had such a blast last year at the same winery. The weather was amazing. There was barely a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the mid 80′s.

Unfortunately, Mt Pleasant was a huge disappointment. We were the first group to basically get there at 11:30. We grabbed some tables and went back to the entrance for the tasting. Upon looking at the list, we realized that the choices were pretty dismal. We were told that the sweet wines were moved to Branson but we could still buy them at local stores like Walmart. My big problem is why would you not offer all the wines even though they might be made at different locations? I just got back from Chile and went to several wineries where they made only certain wines at each locations but all the locations carried all the wines. Don’t you want to market your products? Especially in Mt Pleasant’s instance that their Augusta location has always been their bread and butter location (in my eyes). This was huge for us since my girlfriend and I both prefer Merlots. The second big problem was the winery changed their policy and did not allow food to be brought in. Thus we were told after being there for an hour that we needed to take our food out to our cars. Every single table had food and was equally distraught. They told us we could buy food at the market. The problem with this statement was that the normal market was under renovation so they didn’t even offer winery basics like meat and cheese plates. Instead they offered pulled pork sandwiches which they supposedly ran out of anyway. We continued to eat our food out of protest (along with everyone else) until we were told again a hour later. We argued that they did not state their no food policy on their webpage not are they providing an alternative source for food. They explained it was a trash issue which is just hogwash….that is the logistics of running a business. The other big issue I failed to mention was the price of the wine. It was outrageous. We were buying $33 bottles of wine which is ridiculous. Like everyone else, we decided to go somewhere else. It was actually pretty sad because the place had probably 4 or 5 small groups at 3 o’clock on a perfect day. Their policy has to be a losing proposition in their revenue plan. I know they lost a couple hundred dollars from our group of 15 since we went somewhere else.

We went to Sugar Creek because we heard from other groups that they allow food. We were a little worried that we were not going to get a table being so late. We arrived just as a group was leaving to secure a table so it was pretty awesome. The place was packed. There was a band, all the tables were packed, and even the grass was full of people on blankets. It was a great atmosphere. People even brought their own tables and chairs. We had a huge spread so it was good that we could enjoy it here. Plus we got two bottles of wine for $31 and it was better tasting so goodness all around. Also, Sugar Creek specifically stated their policy on what can and can not be brought unlike Mt Pleasant. I would definitely go back.

The one other issue I had with both wineries was their no outside water policy. I understand trying to prohibit liquor, sodas, and other liquids but water? It promotes safety when it comes to alcohol. Especially in the hot sun. Even Busch Stadium (the mother of all rip offs) allows you to bring in water. Even more is that their was another DD checkpoint on 94 which has to hurt business for the winery. I was responsible and had only one glass of wine at both locations but brought a group of people that was drinking. Should I be punished by having to buy water when I am bringing revenue to their business? I think not.

It was a pretty jammed pack weekend for me that was a lot of fun. Friday was the first Cards game I went to with the “boys.” I say that in quotation marks since only one guy was there. It amazing how much changed in two years thinking how we had 5 seats in the Bank of America club which was a blast. Needless to say the game was very fun and the Cards won so it was a plus. I met some other friends at Paddyo’s and did a little dancing. It was a good night.

I went to the Mt Pleasant and Sugar Creek wineries on Saturday. I will have a more detailed post about this later in the week but Mt Pleasant was a big disappointment while Sugar Creek was awesome. The wine was great, the weather was perfect, and we had a lot of fun. Plus, I did not get sun burnt or even red.

I put on my domesticated hat on Sunday and did some grass cutting and yard work in the blazing sun and heat (supposedly it tied the record for St Louis heatwise). I got some errands done and then settled down to watch the best TV shows ever….Lost! I am amazed about the show the more and more I think about it (which is a lot). I will have a separate post about it later in the week too. I missed the Lakers game and they lost (is that the theme of this paragraph?).

Here are my thoughts on Lost and my experience as we hit the stretch run for the final episode.

I first started watching Lost right before the second season started. My friend Matt kept telling me that I needed to watch this show. Especially since I was depressed that HBO’s Carnivale was not picked up for a 2^nd season. Carnivale was the first show I really got extremely into and read a lot online about theories and what not. So I downloaded (I know but this was before they were online) the first season of Lost and watched all the episodes straight in 3 days while I was on a business trip. I was addicted and could not wait till the second season.

The first two seasons of Lost were the best for me. It took two seasons to get a full understanding of the main characters back stories and see how everything was related. All the other seasons are just filler now that I see how the series is ending. The reason I say this is because it seems like the writers kept throwing out more and more questions which seem like they will never be answered. I know I hate to think this but the show would have been perfect in 3 seasons. Going into this last season, I was expecting it to be jammed pack with action and finally understanding what was going on with this island. Instead, the writer chose to continue with a lot of fluff and give half answers. I may seem upset and I am but I have come to the reality like many other Lost followers that it is not the intention of the writers to provide answers. Instead they want to focus on the theme of redemption. It a great storyline but it makes it seem like a lot of the episodes and what we thought we major occurrences and plotlines were worthless. This is why I think the show would have been better in 3 years. The Lost blogs keep referencing the idea that the 1^st season was written so the show could have ended hitting the writer’s storyline if it wasn’t picked up for a second season. I agree that it is possible after looking at some of the facts.

Even though I am complaining about the ending, I am going to be so disappointed to never have Lost again in my life. I know that sounds creepy and weird but I have never been into a show this much. It is the one show that I have to see as soon as it is on. It is also a show I spent countless hours reading about online and discussing with my friends. This is why it is the best show ever! The downfall of the show is that you basically can’t start in the middle thus why viewer ratings went down every year (even though I did convince two coworkers to watch all the episodes in a couple months before the start of this season…and they loved it). It is also another reason why the show should have only been 3 seasons.

And one theory that I can’t wait to find the answer to about the show is why the island was sunk in the beginning of this season. Everyone has speculated because the people found a way to kill Flock, MIB, or whatever you want to call him. The last episode gave a new possibility that the MIB can use Desmond to destroy the island. Is it possible that Lost could end with a sad ending?…I hope not but Carnivale did which made we crave it even more.

I can’t wait till Sunday and dreading it all at the same time!

I went to Nashville this weekend for one of my best friend’s bachelor party. We were all a little worried with the potential for flood damage and no one downtown but the location was picked months ago. The trip was very fun and I would recommend Nashville for this kind of event. It musy be pretty popular because I ran into two other guys that I went to Wash U with that were also there on a bachelor party.

We immediately hit the bars upon getting to Nashville on Friday afternoon. We went to a pretty cool dive bar that had a live band playing Blue Grass music. The interesting thing about all the bars in the area that we stayed was that every bar had live music. We also ate some delicious BBQ that night too. I ordered way too much especially after I had KFC buffet (my favorite) for lunch.

We hit up the pool, an awesome German restaurant, and more bars (including a 80′s/90′s bar on Saturday. It was a fun night.

I never saw any flood water but we did feel the effect. Our hotel’s elevator was out because I think the shaft was flooded. This sort of sucked since we were on the 5th floor. We were right next to all the Country Music Hall buildings which had all the flood damage. We saw one bar that was closed and we also went to a brewery that smelled horrible from flood damage.

Overall a pretty quiet and relaxing weekend as planned. I stayed in the night Friday with the girlfriend to relax, drink some Chilean wine, and catch up on the DVR. We also watched the Hurt Locker. It was okay but I have no clue how it beat out Avatar for best picture.

I went to Becki’s graduation at the Muny for her Webster MBA. It was an interesting ceremony since it was an overall Webster ceremony then the B school ceremony. Needless to say it was a long day in the cold breeze. Plus I got sun burn. But it was worth it and I am proud of her. I made a brief appearance at Milo’s Tavern on the Hill for a friends 30th bday party. We played some Bocce ball and ate some pizza but made it an early night and passed out as soon as I got home.

Sunday was another lazy day. We watched some TV, went and visited my mom’s grave site, and then went to my grandmother’s for an awesome turkey dinner.

BTW, I see no end in sight for my DVR. It is about 70% full with shows I have never watched which estimates to probably about 50 hours. I just keep finding programs to watch. I just started watching Fringe but have not started anything this season from V, Tudors, Flash Forward, Southland, Dollhouse, and probably others. I also just starting watching America – The Story of Us which is pretty good. I haven’t played COD in over a month too. Pretty odd since I was extremely addicted before I went to Chile.