Is Lost's "black smoke" the new Rover?

This week's episode of Lost has a lot of people talking, what with Mr. Eko's backstory and all. The "black smoke" is getting plenty of attention too. Here's a screen-cap of Eko staring it down, courtesy of lost.cubit.net:If you go to the above link you'll find PLENTY more captures of the sequence, along with some commentary on what was being seen "inside" the smoke.

I'll admit to still being a relative newcomer to Lost, and I haven't kept up with the discussion boards but it turns out that my theory that the black smoke is a nano-machine cloud has been suggested already. Well, the guy running The Regularly Scheduled TV Show Blog has a great theory about what "Lostzilla" might actually be...

"I think Lostzilla isn't a killing machine but more of a machine to keep them on the island. Thus, it killed the pilot after he let them know there was no hope in waiting to get off the island, and didn't kill Locke or Eko since they've surrendered themselves to living on the island."

Do you know what this means if this turns out to be true? It means that the creators of Lost are getting some of their ideas from the 1970's TV show The Prisoner... in which case they're gonna really start screwing around with our heads. Lookahere...If iomegadrive's theory is spot-on, that means the "black smoke" is doing the exact same thing that the Rover (the homicidal weather balloon) did on The Prisoner!

I can see the final episode of Lost now: Hurley's holding Locke captive down in the hatch and screaming "Who is Number One?!", before ripping Locke's face clean off only to reveal that it's a mask and beneath it... a gorilla. All while the Beatle's "All You Need Is Love" is playing in the background.

Good theory about the black cloud. I like it a lot :-)

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TheKnightShift.com gets used... FINALLY!

It only took a little over five years, but at last I'm making use of my theknightshift.com domain name. When I first registered it in October of 2000 I was doing my reporter gig in Asheville, with no website at all to put it on but I thought it sounded too clever to not be the guy owning it. So I swiped it up. And it's been just sitting there all this time, periodically renewed but otherwise not doing a darned thing whatsoever. Think the first people I told about it to were Geoff Gentry and my old discipleship partner, during lunch at Sandy's Subs in Elon one day after church. They thought that was a neat name and Lisa's been telling me all this time that I needed to do something with it. Well finally after one wedding, four moves, eight jobs (two of 'em at one time), two Star Wars movies, a whole lotta nonsense and no kids (yet) later, TheKnightShift.com becomes something I can proudly boast about!

Using it forwards you to this blog, so you can remember www.theknightshift.com (or just theknightshift.com) instead of theknightshift.blogspot.com, but the blog is physically still sitting on Blogger's server. Maybe someday I'll move the entire blog to my own dedicated server and stick my domain onto it, but for now I'm perfectly happy to still use Blogger, and use theknightshift.com as a convenient pointer for everyone I know (and don't know yet). And I might use this on my own commercial services website eventually... but for now feel free to use it to come here :-)

EDIT: Special thanks to Kim in Technical Support at Register.com for helping me fix a problem with the domain forwarding. 'Preciate it a lot Kim!

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The Doctor is coming to America! Sci-Fi Channel to run new Who

He's back... and it's about time!! Get it? Ahhh nevermind...

The Sci-Fi Channel is going to start running the new Doctor Who, it was announced earlier today. Up 'til now the only way those of us on this side of the Atlantic have been able to watch the Doctor's new adventures has been to download episodes via file torrent. This past Christmas day there was an awesome Christmas special - the first episode to feature David Tennant as the new Doctor - that was especially fun to behold. Those of us who've been going through the hassle of downloading know only too well that the uninitiated are about to discover something very special come March, when Sci-Fi starts running the episodes: you've no idea what "manic" means until you see Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. There is some serious action, heartbreak, and humor headed this way: can't wait to see what the reaction will be like to the "Bad Wolf" episode featuring the "Anne Droid". The only downside to all this is that the release of last season's DVD set, originally slated for next month, is getting pushed back to June. But that's a minor price to pay for finally getting Doctor Who imported over here. Thank you BBC and Sci-Fi Channel!

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No fun in Smallville political stakes

For the first time since we've been married, Lisa and I aren't watching a new episode of Smallville together tonight. We liked the "Lex-Mas" episode that ran in December very much, but 20 minutes into this new one and it's about nothing but that RIDICULOUS "state senate race" storyline, which has been a snore-bore since the night Tom Wopat guest-starred to ask Jonathan Kent to run for the office. Lisa's now playing a game on my Nintendo DS and I'm sitting at the computer posting a rant.

Nothing about this election plotline has been the least bit believable. I mean really: just what kind of pull does the Kansas state senate have that would entice Lex Luthor to run for the job? Why the heck is Lionel Luthor involved in this anyway? Why are both sides pouring insane amounts of money into their campaigns? They showed Kent's campaign headquarters earlier in this episode. Back in '94 I worked part-time next door to the headquarters of a closely-watched U.S. House campaign, and that was practically a hole in the wall that you wouldn't even know was there if you'd walked past it: It was nowhere near as swanky as what Jonathan Kent has for his state election run. From everything I've heard of it, there's going to be some assassination attempts going on in this race too. So I ask again: how does a state senate seat possibly rate this kind of outlandish attention? Is the Kansas legislature considering a ban on Kryptonite or something?

C'mon guys, this ain't no fun. There's been some good stuff this season, like Aquaman and Brainiac. Can't we see more of that instead of political shenanigans that defy every stretch of belief?

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Trying out a new way to blog

This is the first post I’m making to my blog via the Blogger for Word plugin for Microsoft Word.  If you’re running Windows XP or 2000 and have Word 2000 or newer, you can install the plugin and compose your stuff in Word, then publish directly to your blog!  So this is really a test to see how well it works.  This is going to come in handy for the occasional longer article that I write.

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The Internet: Broken?

"Weird" Ed sends along the following article from Technology Review: one of the Internet's initial architects now believes that "the Internet is broken". It should be completely re-worked from the ground-up, argues David D. Clark. At the present time the 'net is rife with security flaws and an inability to readily adapt to newer technologies. Interesting read, to say the least.

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Tonight's Lost, and a theory about that "black thing"

So earlier today I aired some speculation about tonight's new episode of Lost...

"My theory is that Eko is some kind of Christian mystic, like Emanuel Swedenborg (that may be stretching it though)."

Boy, did I ever get that one wrong.

So... is that the "monster" that we saw Eko stare down?

Only one thing pops into mind as to what that black cloud might be: go read Prey by Michael Crichton. And try to convince yourself that the black cloud-creature on the island doesn't seem an awful lot like the nanomachines that Crichton wrote about.

Very good episode tonight. And a pretty shocking backstory for Eko. A show like this makes me wish I had a DVR to go back and watch it all over again. Ahh well, maybe next Christmas :-)

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"Echo? Eko!" New episode of Lost airs tonight

I didn't realize until a little while ago that tonight brings us the first Lost episode since November. The last time we looked in on the Oceanic Flight 815 survivors, Adebisi from HBO's Oz was down in the hatch recounting Hebrew history while giving Locke a new portion of the "orientation" film, before the episode ended with Michael getting AOL instant messages from his kid.

Okay, so he's not really playing Adebisi anymore, but word is that tonight is when we get the episode focusing on Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's character Eko. We're supposed to find out a lot more about him... maybe even the reason for his 40 days of silence and why he's carrying that big stick around. My theory is that Eko is some kind of Christian mystic, like Emanuel Swedenborg (that may be stretching it though). I mean 40 days is the period of testing and purification in the Bible, so it makes sense that there's some religious significance at play here. I'll be watching it tonight... and maybe this weekend I can finally start watching that Lost Season 1 DVD set that I got for Christmas!

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Beverage of astronauts brews homemade booze

Last night I got Chad on the horn to congratulate him on his "going the distance" at the Walt Disney World Marathon this past weekend. It's the first time he's done a full marathon after a few years worth of training and running half-marathons, so he's definitely in Chariots of Fire mode right now. I'm seriously considering starting a training regimen and joining him sometime.

Chad told me that the day before the race on Saturday, he and some friends visited the Kennedy Space Center. And on a dare he asked one of the tour guides "do the astronauts still drink Tang?" The kid replied that they still bring Tang along on spaceflights. I haven't seen Tang advertised in maybe ten years or so (if it still is) and we were wondering if they even still made it for public consumption anymore: I can't even remember the last time I saw it in a grocery store. Do today's kids even know what this stuff is? I mean back in the day there were so many commercials for Tang, a lot of 'em having to do with how REAL astronauts REALLY drank it in orbit! Those ads quickly vanished after the Challenger disaster though, but I digress...

So after we hung up I did some quick research. Sure enough, Tang is still being sold in stores. But it might be a regionally-distributed thing these days, hence why we've never seem to see it around here anymore. I remember the thing about how supposedly Tang could be put in dishwashers to clean dirty dishes...

...But did you know that you can brew an alcoholic beverage with Tang? I didn't either until I saw instructions posted at "Blog on the rocks" showing you how to take Tang powdered drink mix, yeast, and water along with a few other materials (like a sturdy bottle) and in a few hours time make the Tang ferment into "Tangpagne". The taste of which is said to be "quite nice". I'm not the drinking type, but for some reason I'm inclined to attempt this bit of kitchen chemistry sometime. If so I'll report back here on what it's like. Maybe after that I'll gather up some hops and barley and make my own beer too :-)

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Bush sez: Disagree with me and you're a traitor

So now President Bush is suggesting that those who believe this war is wrong are bringing "comfort to our adversaries". Among those he's now practically branding as traitors are those "who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil or because of Israel or because we misled the American people".

Well, can it be said with any credulity whatsoever that Bush was honest about how he pitched this war to the American people?

That question will sail past most Bush supporters. You know the ones I'm talking about: the ones who get that glazed look in their eyes whenever you speak nothing but the truth about what Bush is doing, as if you don't know what you're talking about. They're the ones who aren't "taking the red pill" if you know what I mean: living in a fantasy world that they don't want to wake up from. They're the ones who will nod their heads and agree with what Bush is saying now, and will tell you that you are betraying your country and your President by believing that this war has been based on falsehoods from the very beginning.

But I prefer what another - and far greater - President had to say about Americans and their right to dissent:

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right.

"Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1912

"Dear God, please send us another great man like Teddy Roosevelt to take the place of the imposters that your adversary has raised up."

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Peretti and Dekker enter House of horror

Chaplain Gentry - a really good fella through and through - notes on his blog that Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker are conspiring together on a new book... which is enough to give you pause if you know anything about either of these guys. Peretti is still best known for his book This Present Darkness, first published in 1986... can't believe it's been that long. Dekker rose to fame in the past couple of years with his "Circle Trilogy", of which I've only tried reading the first book Black and that went WAY over my head: think The Matrix meets The Chronicle of Narnia... but I'm gonna pick it up again soon. These two masters of the supernatural thriller are coming out with House later this spring. The plot of it sounds like, I told Geoff, "that movie Saw as conceived by Ned Flanders". It seems pretty interesting, and I have enough faith in both these writers that I may have to pick up a copy when it comes out.

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Giving the blog a new look

It being a new year, I'm feeling like a lot of changes are in order, including this blog. I've made a few cosmetic alterations already (the font is not so "white" which I didn't notice 'til yesterday could have stood to be more easily read), including the sidebar: a little leaner and things juggled around somewhat. This blog is very much like myself: a continual work in progress, and its only natural that how it looks will reflect that. I'll be changing a few other things in the days to come, including new graphics etc.

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Albert Hoffman turns 100 tomorrow

In 1938 he was a chemist at a Swiss pharmaceutical firm, where he began experimenting with the ergot fungus. His work led to the discovery of several useful drugs, but none of those would go on to have the impact as did the curious compound that was #25, which he called "lysergic acid diethylamide". Although the chemical had no apparent medicinal use, it would become very well noted for its consciousness-altering effects.

Dr. Albert Hoffman, the father of LSD, celebrates his 100th birthday tomorrow. In honor of all the wonderful good that LSD has given humanity, I propose that sometime tomororow we all listen to William Shatner's rendition of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

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Want to WATCH Monday Night Live?

So... want to finally see what this Monday Night Live thing is that I've been raving about for awhile now is all about? Media mogul and maverick mastermind Richard Moore has pulled off a technological coup and started streaming Star 39's television feed over the 'net, and it looks pretty darned good! Moore's Political Soup runs every Wednesday at 6 p.m. EST and if you want to check out Monday Night Live it airs tonight (and every Monday night) at 9 p.m. EST.

Click here to start watching some of the most offbeat television anywhere!

(you might need to use Internet Explorer and the latest version of Windows Media Player)

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Marathon Man

Chad Austin - who played George Lucas in our movie Forcery - ran the entire 26.2 miles of the Walt Disney World Marathon, his first-ever complete marathon. And he beat his expected time by a good bit too! Go to the link to read his account of what it was like. And congrats Chad!!

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Jerry Falwell reveals worldly lust in Alito remarks

Rev. Jerry Falwell shows his true colors at long last. The power that he's been salivating for all these years is almost "his" and he can barely restrain himself from it. Reuters is reporting that Falwell made some pretty revelatory comments today regarding the Judge Samuel Alito hearings...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Christian conservative leader Rev. Jerry Falwell said on Sunday that confirming Federal Appeals Court judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court would be the biggest victory for his constituency in three decades.

"What we've worked on for 30 years, to mobilize people of faith and value in this country, what we've done through these years is coming to culmination right now," Falwell said at a rally on the eve of Alito's confirmation hearing.

"Now we're looking at what we really started on 30 years ago, reconstruction of a court system gone awry," Falwell said at a rally at a Baptist church in Philadelphia and broadcast on Christian radio and television.

"There could be a reconstruction of the U.S. Supreme Court in our immediate lifetime," said Falwell.

Falwell and others, including Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, urged supporters to press senators to confirm Alito, who is set to begin hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.

"Go to the telephone, write your letter, get to your U.S. senators. Let's confirm this man, Judge Alito, to the U.S. Supreme Court," Falwell said. "And let's make one more step toward bringing America back to one nation under God."

Maybe Falwell is using a different Bible than mine, but nowhere in my version can I find it that Christ commanded us to wield our might for the sole sake of changing earthly government.

Let me explain to you how Christians like Jerry Falwell see things. In their minds, the individual Christian does not matter. One Christian cannot make a difference in this world. The solitary brother or sister in Christ has merit if and only if that Christian submits fully to "the cause", of which people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and James Dobson happen to dominate the agenda as its "leaders". Listen to how they word things: "What we've worked for...", "what we've done...", "Now we're looking at what we really started...", "...in our immediate lifetime", "(Let us) confirm this man..." Falwell and his kind have only gotten as far as they have because they've appealed to their fellow Christians to join together in collective might, in a fashion that runs fully counter to what Christ wanted of His church. The church is supposed to be a witness to this world for God. It's focus is meant to be on serving others, not serving itself. It is not supposed to gain control over this world for God. It's been said that "one plus God is a majority", but Falwell and his ilk dare tell us that "one plus God is not enough".

I prefer how Stanley Hauerwas put it: "Let me be as clear as I can be, the God of 'God and country' is not the God of Jesus Christ." And he's right. And people like Jerry Falwell believe that God created government which rules over men, instead of the Founding Fathers's view that God frees men, who then establish government. And herein rests the true motive of people like Jerry Falwell: they want temporal power over other people for themselves. They want to control government and be as high priests of it, because they have yielded to the oldest temptation: that they may become like God themselves. The Falwells and Robertsons and Dobsons of this world are no different than the Nazis who once plundered Europe for religious artifacts: they want to lay hands on a power created by God for their own selfish purpose.

Now this may surprise you, but I wouldn't mind seeing Alito confirmed. He's one of the very few people nominated by President Bush that I think warrants serious consideration. I'm very appreciative of the fact that he seems to be strongly pro-life, and that's a stance that I can show you that I've been vehemently supportive of for more than ten years now...

...but, the kind of support that Falwell and Dobson and others are bringing to the table is not borne out of pure Christ-like for others. It is instead driven by a desire to have dominion over others, and in the end this desire can only corrupt whatever apparent good they claim in achieving "victory", until it inevitably self-destructs.

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