"Atlantean Subterranean Donkey Wheels"

More adventures of LOST following you wherever you go.
Today Turner Classic Movies ran the film "Atlantis, The Lost Continent". It's not considered to be one of George Pal's best efforts, but it is unusual enough to be good fun to watch and make fun of. The general story is that Atlantis became powerful and "created wonders for the good of mankind." Then all heck broke loose when false gods and egos prevailed, and world domination became its main mission. The usual revolt ensues, involving giant power crystals, volcanoes, slaves, and Manimals.

The scene that made my eyes bug out though, was the following: A bunch of slaves crawl down a hole in the ground, to a small subterranean cave, where they begin to turn a wooden donkey wheel. (!) The wormgear attached to the wheel disappears into a glowing hole, that emits vapors of some kind (probably hot vapors, since they are attempting to unleash the volcano and wreck the bad guys' giant crystal of doom). So gee whiz, where have I seen an underground donkey wheel scene before?! Like I said, there is no escaping LOST, it seems. The following are some photos that I snapped off of the TV screen, because I couldn't find any images of this set online. Sorry about the crummy quality, but I had to share this weird deja vu experience with you all.

Down the hole!

Turning the wheel to blow up Atlantis.

"Is Widmore Dying?"

Does Widmore need to find the island for his own failing health?
There's been some blog speculation as to whether the true reason that Wid needs to find the island is because he is desperate to get healed of some fatal malady. Perhaps that's why he doesn't sleep at night -- because he's dying, and the fear of life's deadline looming closer every minute is pressing in on him. There may be very little time left for Widmore to find the island, which could explain why he pulled out all the stops and engaged the freelance militia to cut a swath to the healing source that he needs so badly before it's too late.

That makes some sense to me. I really could not understand why he'd contract a team of mercs to eliminate all the interference, just so he could be the first to open the Fountain of Youth Adventure Park on the island. Granted, it would make him the richest man in the universe, but I got the impression that he's almost at that apex anyway. And if he is dying, it makes Ben seem all the more cold-hearted, as he stands in Widmore's bedroom mocking a dying man's sleepless nights, when he has the keys to Wid's recovery in his hand so to speak. After what Ben said to Locke in the Orchid, you can almost image the conversation as Widmore says, "Ben, you know that I'm dying." And Ben replies with, "So?"

"Some Jack's-Mom Actress Trivia"

It would be nice if TPTB could throw us some more background information about Jack's mother, somewhere in the final two seasons. For instance, why she was not the best choice for loser Christian to marry (was she too good for him?), or what her part was in the disintegration of their marriage (was she emotionally unstable?), and if Jack is a crybaby because his mother babied him after his father would shoot him down (which might explain Jack's roller-coaster emotions).

I recently came across some early career photos of Veronica Hamel, who plays the apparently long-suffering Margo Shephard. She was one of the top Ford Agency models in the 1960s and early 70s before she started acting. Not a skeevy runway-super-model type like Janice Dickinson and Naomi Campbell (and dare I say, Tyra Banks?). Oh no, Hamel was at the apex of the international high-fashion modeling world, and someone for young women to actually look up to as a role model. I know that I did, and I used to draw her face when I was a kid. Her look was the epitome of 60s fashion, and was perfect for when an image of sophistication, grace, or futuristic beauty was called for to sell a product. She was gorgeous then, and still looks pretty good for her age. Just thought I'd throw out this bit of retro trivia, while we wait for the Comic Con craziness to begin soon. Look for the new OGR letter in your email today! :-)

"The Joke's On Keamy"

Keamy gets his just rewards at a new blog.
Check out http://keamysparadise.blogspot.com/ and make fun of "Mr. Keamy" in more ways than you probably thought possible. It's too funny to put into words, you have to see it for yourself. I think that Mona Keamsa, Keamy the Barbarian, The Keamy Bunch, and dancing Keamy are my favorites so far. :-) You can even submit your own Keamy art to the blog too.

"Thoughts On Eko's Book Of Laws"

The following ideas aren't exactly new, but I just felt like laying them out in writing. I know that there is a holy book in the Bahai faith called "The Book Of Laws" that could be the reference in "Cabin Fever", but it's difficult to ignore the story that Eko told John in the Swan station after they met, especially when Eko could have just said, "Hey, I found this Bible with a secret compartment in it, and some film!":

EKO: I have something I think you should see...Long before Christ the king of Judah was a man named Josiah. Josiah, since he was a good king, sent his secretary to the treasury and said: "We must rebuild the temple. Give all of the gold to the workers so that this will be done." But when the secretary returned, he had no gold. And when Josiah asked why this was the secretary replied, "We found a book."...What the secretary had found was an ancient book -- the Book of Law. You may know it as the Old Testament. And it was with that ancient book, not with the gold, that Josiah rebuilt the temple.

So the point of the story is that the Jewish people had strayed from the Holy Laws, and needed to return to their true faith. They realized that gold would not procure the changes necessary for spiritual revival, only a reformation of their worship and lives would truly rebuild the Temple physically after rebuilding it in their hearts first.

From the Jewish Encyclopedia: Josiah "undertook the repair of the Temple...During the progress of this work "the book of the law" was found in the house of the Lord...The king then set himself to the task of cleansing the land from idolatry...The evidence is very strong that "the book of the law" referred to was Deuteronomy."
From the Catholic Encyclopedia: Josiah "ascended the throne when he was only eight years of age. In the eighteenth year of his rule, the Jewish king undertook to repair the Temple with the help of the high-priest...they all united with Josiah in a solemn vow of obedience to its commands. This was followed by a drastic reformation of worship..."

We're led to think that Locke was originally meant to ascend the "throne" as a boy like Josiah, when Richard came along with his test. Now that the island is in desperate need of regrouping, it seems Locke is expected to return the island to it's original purpose and order, the way Josiah returned faith and order to his people (with Richard in the spot of the king's high-priest?). Except maybe it doesn't happen that way, because the "bad things" happen instead. But then perhaps the regrouped Oceanic-6 return to help make things right again on the island, by committing together to follow the old ways of the ancient island originals? To be continued next season...

"Captain Gault or Captain Gutless?"

So what gives with Captain Wishy-Washy?
Someone posted this in the Doc Ray theory section of Lostpedia, which is pretty funny: "Ray mentions that the captain is "not a man to cross" shortly after we see the cut on his face...You know, back when the captain was still presented as an unseen character who was supposedly really intimidating, instead of when we actually met him and discovered that he's a trembling wuss who can't stand up to Keamy."

This is exactly what I was thinking after the deadly confrontation between Gault and Keamy on the deck. It seemed like a big difference from the ominous "Don't trust the captain" persona that we were led to worry about previously. What the heck happened to Captain No-Nonsense before that night on deck? One episode he's barking orders at the deckhands to let the crazy people go ahead and kill themselves, and later he's kowtowing to Keamy. Most likely we'll never know, unless they give someone a flashback of which Gault happens to be a part. I find this seeming inconsistency rather odd, but maybe everyone was just as terrified of "Mr. Keamy" as Frank was, regardless of their station on the ship. Or, was Gault beginning to catch the Freaky Freighter Fever as well?