Okay, I have a debate to start. In my youth group, there has been many discussions over the best show on television, LOST  or The Office. I am the only one defending LOST  which is fine with me because I enjoy it so much. Anyways, I am going to watch my first full episode of The Office on Saturday, the finale of this season. Hopefully I don’t have to watch every episode before to understand. I would like to get you guys’, that is, anyone and everyone who reads this at all, opinions on which is better. After watching the Office episode, I will explain the pros and cons of both and give my final summation.

So, we are wrapping up Season 4 of LOST  and it has been a crazy season. We have found out the first group of people to leave the island (Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sayid, Ben, Sun, and Aaron, for now), those who are definitely not leaving the island (Jin), and those who are determined to stay (Locke). I don’t think I can wait two weeks to see how all of this ends.

Jack finally found out that Claire is his half-sister! This is crazy. I did not know exactly until this morning because a failure in our satellite blacked it out at that exact moment. We lost it when Claire’s mom said that her daughter was on Flight 815, and it was Jack’s dad’s daughter. It went out, and we came back with Ms. Littleton ironically saying, “You have a pretty son” to her own grandson. Crazy.

As soon as Ben said that he was going to make a way for Locke to get into The Orchid, I knew immediately that he was going to turn himself in. Ben is beginning to be a good guy. I am really actually liking the way this is going. I remember when we first saw Ben as “Henry Gale from Minnesota” in Season 2. I didn’t trust him, but I am beginning to believe that he turned a page. He’s getting to be like Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. I like the direction he’s going.

There are still a lot of mysteries to be solved. As in: “How does Hurley get to the chopper to get off?” “What happens to Kate and Sayid?” “Will the freighter blow up, and if so, how do Jin and Aaron get off of it in time?” “What happens to Claire? Does she just disappear?”

That’s why I give this episode the sleepless nights rating I do. I’m basing it off the fact that there are two weeks until the next episode.

10 SNs/14 SNs

Starting next Monday, I will be releasing “episodes” of my long story, CRASH-LANDED. It is a spinoff of my favorite show LOST. The storyline is a little different, but you will notice some similarities. FYI it is not a TV show so don’t expect video. Below is a paragraph preview:

Alpha Airlines Flight 427 is headed from Los Angeles, California, to Moscow, Russia. On board are a journalist who was an aspiring filmmaker, an undercover CIA agent, a frustrated Olympic coach and his cousin, an Olympic swimmer, an author who reads one book continuously, and a doctor who has a secret. Tune into http://crashlanded.wordpress.com/ next Monday, May 19th, to catch the Pilot of CRASH-LANDED.

It ends up that “cabin fever” describes both Jacob’s cabin and the boat’s cabin.

The flashback with Locke is a very interesting one. It shows a character at multiple stages of his life, which has not been done before. It also has multiple characters from past episodes, which is no common.

Um, what else? I am really looking forward to the producers expanding the role of Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick). I find him a very interesting character. We also get the reason why Locke considered going to Australia in the first place, which I immediately though of when Abaddon suggested it.

I also like them bringing Richard Alpert back into the mix. He is considered one of the back-up guys to Ben, who considers himself a back-up guy to Jacob. But we are still not sure who Jacob is. When we enter Jacob’s cabin, we see Christian Shepard, nice and cozy, and hanging out with Claire. Huh?

And to move the island?

I like the fact that Sayid is going back to the beach. This sets up the Oceanic Six: Jack, Kate, Sayid, and Sun will be at the beach; Aaron is on the way with Sawyer and Miles; and Hurley is gonna be there soon with Ben and Locke apparently. I would venture to guess that Ben Locke and Hurley go back to the beach to explain the predicament.

Also, I don’t think Hurley will make it past this season. I mean, he’ll get off the island but we won’t see him again. But I laughed out loud when he shared that candy bar with Ben. That was LOL worthy.

Can’t wait for next week’s “There’s No Place Like Home, Pt.1.” Being part 1, there should be a good cliff-hanger.

Cliff-Hanger Rating: 2 Sleepless Nights/7 Sleepless Nights

All Quiet on the Western Front has been proclaimed as “the greatest war novel of all-time.” Just look at the front cover above.

Anyways, I had to read this book for my tenth grade World Literature class, so I figured I’d let you guys, that is, whoever cares about this blog, get my take on it and decide whether or not you wanna get it yourself.

All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer, a volunteer German soldier in World War I. The story begins in the middle of Paul’s career in the army, with him saying, “We are at rest five miles from the front. Yesterday we were relieved and now our bellies are full of beef and haricot beans” (1). The following story is told fron Paul’s point of view, which is a very effective tool for the story. This is so because we see a war from the eyes of the victims (we all should know that Germany lost both World Wars) and not the winners. We also see it from the trenches, the dirty places, the battlefields, the camps. The places where today’s war correspondents would never go. All Quiet does a good job, at least in my estimation, in portraying the reality that was war back then.

The statement above is further backed up by the background of the author. Erich Remarque (1898-1970) fought in WWI himself and was wounded 5 times, the last severely. When we think of great authors today, names like Remarque don’t come up as often as names like Homer, Grisham and Hawthorne among others. In fact, Remarque was not as well known because of the lack of American publishing of his books. All Quiet is one of the few.

The most intense part of All Quiet comes during a humongous battle in chapter six. There is intense fighting and many die. The line that characterizes most of Paul’s, and possibly Remarque’s thoughs about the war comes on page 113 in that chapter: “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men we fling our bombs, what do we know of men in this moment when Death is hunting us down.”

All Quiet comes across as a heavily anti-war book, whether Remarque intended to do that or not. Throughout the book, Paul, who I assumed was a character similar to Remarque, describes the terrible conditions, gore (one guy gets shot in the back and Paul can see his lungs pumping, others are completely dislimbed and dismantled), and overall scarecity of anything good in war. Even when Paul goes home on leave, he finds it hard to adjust to a life without bloodshed and gore.

I defeinitely recommend All Quiet on the Western Front. Out of the books we have read this year in English (The Odyssey, The Inferno, The Count of Monte Cristo) All Quiet  stands out as one that is the most realistic and does not need Hell, gods or confused identities to make an enjoyable read. In an Aurora Forum conducted by Stanford University, war correspondent Chris Hedges, who has covered wars in the Middle East for The New York Times, said that “the only way to understand war is to see it in the eyes of the victims.” In All Quiet on the Western Front, we get that picture.

Grade: A

I was pleased that we finally got a Jack flash this season. Jack seems like he has the most flashes (including the first flashforward), but it was a good idea that the creators took this long to finally bring his flashes into the picture.

I was also pleased that the phenomenon known as Christian Shepard was reintroduced. I always found him to be the most mysterious character in the show. The fact that Jack and Claire are half-brother and -sister has still not been revealed. I get the feeling that Jack and Claire will find out very soon, if they stick around long enough to see each other. We know Jack does, but what happens to Claire?

Kate, wow. What a turn of events. This was something I never expected, something surprising. So we know that Juliet is not Jack’s dreamboat in the end. This takes away from the suspense.

The dilemma on the boat has not been resolved in two episodes. This was saddening, but the previews for the next episode show that it will be resolved. Michael, er, Kevin will take a bigger role, I believe. I also think that he will accomplish his mission. If you are forgetting what his mission is, just look to this quote: “I’m here to die.”

Next week’s episode brings a lot of promise. “Cabin Fever” could imply multiple things. We left Locke, Ben and Hurley as they were trekking to Jacob’s cabin in “The Shape of Things to Come.” It could also mean that those on the freighter are getting restless being cooped up, like Desmond and Sayid. I really hope that Desmond gets off the island. I like him a lot. Or, in response to my self-inquiry about “Cabin Fever”, it could be both…

I was really excited for “The Shape of Things to Come,” the last LOST episode that showed last Thursday. I knew that Locke’s camp was going to be attacked, but I was unsure about who. The appearance of Keamy remedied that.

I was surpised that Alex was killed. I figured that she was going to be given a deeper back-story. We don’t know the process behind Ben kidnapping her, we don’t know how she met Karl, we don’t know, well, we don’t know a lot.

I was also expecting an answer to whether or not Danielle and Karl are alive. It would be pointless to end an episode without answering a question…unless you are making LOST. So it’s acceptable.

I’m glad that the writers decided to show a Ben flashforward. I was wondering how Sayid ended up working for Ben in the end. The fact that Nadia died after Sayid married her was interesting.

This also brings up the whole Shannon-Sayid-Nadia triangle. Shannon and Sayid had something going on in Season 2. And where was Nadia this entire time? In Kal-I-Four-Nye-A. Very interesting…

This is some trivia from the Lostpedia.com website. The hyperlinks do nothing so don’t click on them.

Can’t watch the episode tonight because I’ll be at a track meet. Can’t watch it tomorrow ’cause I’m going to a Skillet-Decyfer Down concert. Might watch it Saturday and get to you soon after that.

I was looking around yesterday and found that Relient K has two new records coming out pretty soon. Here’s the story on the Relient K website (the link has more details on the records).

Dear Everyone That Pays Attention To Our Band,

Hello. Hope you’re doing well.

We’re doing well. Amongst other things.

One of which is recording.

We are not recording the next full length Relient K record, however we have tracked thirteen new original songs that will be going on an EP. We’re calling it The Nashville Tennis EP. We know its a lot of songs for an EP. Whatever.

As well as the EP, we’re going to put out a B sides record. I’m not totally sure of how many tracks we’re going to put on there, but we’re aiming for 20+ for sure. As of right now, we’re calling this The Bird And The Bee Sides.

The two albums together are going form a new release also called The Bird And The Bee Sides. We’re hoping to release it on the earlier side of the summer.

In addition to this, we’ve got a bunch of other tricks up our sleeves. We just gotta run it all past the suits first. God bless ‘em.

Hopefully this gives all of you a little idea of what we’re up to. I wish we had a little more confirmation on The Details, but we’ll clue you in when that happens.
Relient K

1. “Never Let Me Go”-From Family Force 5’s debut Business Up Front/Party in the Back. Look at my album review.
2. “Replace Me”-Same as #1.
3. “Lose Urself”-Same as #1 and #2.
4. “Hotel Aquarium”-From Falling Up’s Captiva. A great guitar song with lyrics I can’t tell but it sounds cool.
5. “Sooner or Later (You’ll Want It All)”-From House of Heroes’ The End is Not the End. I found this song free online and enjoy it immensely and can’t wait for the album.
6. “That Thing You Do!”-From the soundtrack of the movie of the same name. A great song.
7. “Falls Apart”-From Thousand Foot Krutch’s The Flame in All of Us. Great song.

Relient K is possibly the greatest band I have ever heard. There are many facets about them that make them my favorite musical artist.

            I was first introduced to Relient K by one of my best friends, Stan Cameron. I was over at his house one day and he said he had to let me listen to some music. The first words I heard were “Here’s the kick off. Hope you’re not sick of Relient k or all the songs we play. Cause then you’ll want to throw our CD away.” I was like, “Okay, that was a little weird.” Later I realized that the weirdness was just beginning.

            Then I heard the second song. It started with a pretty sweet guitar riff thingy, then added in some drums and it sounded pretty sweet. At that time I wasn’t a huge music fan.

            “I think we’re going somewhere. We’re onto something good here…we’re going and I never know when, never know when where we’re going. And to go back to where I was would just be wrong. I’m.” And “Pressing On” was the first real Relient K song I heard. About a year later, after I had purchased a couple other Relient K CDs, I borrowed the “Pressing On” CD, actually called “The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek”, from Stan.

            I was further introduced to Relient K through the WOW Hits collection. I got the 2006 hits CD from my mom for my birthday. There were two songs on the second CD that I would repeat: Kutless’ “Strong Tower” and Relient K’s “Be My Escape”. I really liked the sound of “Be My Escape.” The lyrics were catchy and I have them memorized pretty much.

            “I’m giving up on giving up slowly.” That line was pretty good and caught my attention. I figured, “Hey, these guys are good.” I never fully realized the songwriting ability of lead singer Matthew Thiessen until a couple years later.

            Soon after I heard that song, I implored my mom to take me to the Carpenter’s Shop, a Christian bookstore in Sanford, my hometown. There I found two CDs by who was becoming my favorite band in my early stages of liking music. It was “Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right, But Three Do” and “Mmhmm,” two of the three Gold certified records put out by Relient K (“The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek” is the other). I got into “Mmhmm” first. Driven by “Be My Escape”, rocked by “I So Hate Consequences”, perplexed by the title of “Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet?”, “Mmhmm” was my favorite CD at this point in my life. At first I never got into “Two Lefts”, but later in my life I realized the value of a few songs.

            I continued listening to “Mmhmm” and the other albums on my iPod daily. Currently my iPod is filled with Relient K songs, with 58 of the 502 Relient K-sung. I still need to transfer songs from my old computer to my Mac, because I lost the CD for “Mmhmm.”

            When I began making movies, I was easily persuaded by myself to put Relient K songs into my films. For my first movie, Act Four of Romeo and Juliet, an English project which I got an A+ on, their acoustic version of “Be My Escape” was the opening credits song. In my second film, Poison, I had beginnings to songs, including “Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry,” as scene transitions. While in production of my award-winning film, Dr. Elite, I used “Must Have Done Something Right” from “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” in the first trailer. Unfortunately, it did not make it in the movie.

            “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” was the height of Relient K fandom for me. When the CD released, I was in Italy. When I returned home, the first thing I did was buy a copy of the CD off of iTunes. I was pumped and aptly rewarded. “Pleading the Fifth” was a fun paradox. “Come Right Out and Say It”, “Bite My Tongue”, “Up and Up”, “The Best Thing”, “Must Have Done Something Right” and “Faking My Own Suicide” all gave me good feelings and some nervousness as well. “I Need You” and “Devastation and Reform” were great hard songs that reminded me of the connection I needed with God. “I’m Taking You With Me” and “Give Until There’s Nothing Left” were fun songs with good messages. “Deathbed” was a solemn anthem of a life story. And bonus track “Sloop John B” was a great reminder of one of Relient K’s influences and another one of my favorite bands, The Beach Boys.

            As for my favorites from my favorite, that’s hard to discern. My favorite songs from Relient K are “From End to End” (“Two Lefts”), “Getting Into You” (“Two Lefts”), “I Need You” (“Five Score”), “Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet?” (“Mmhmm”), “The Best Thing” (“Five Score”), “Pressing On” (“The Anatomy”), “Sadie Hawkins Dance” (“The Anatomy”), “Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)” (“Mmhmm”), and “When I Go Down” (“Mmhmm”). My favorite album is their latest offering, “Five Score and Seven Years Ago.”

            Relient K ranks among the greats in my book because of their great lyrics and great music. I was first struck by their lyrics with the song “Devastation and Reform.” Here is a copy of the first verse and chorus:

            Fear can drive stick
And it’s taking me down this road
A road down which
I swore I’d never go
And here I sit
Thinking of God knows what
Afraid to admit
I might self-destruct

So lock the windows
And bolt the door
Cuz I’ve got enough problems
Without creating more

I feel like I was born
To devastation and reform
Destroying everything I loved
And the worst part is
I pull my heart out, reconstruct
And in the end it’s nothing but
The shell of what I had when I first started.

            It’s a great song. And that’s only the first verse, bridge, and chorus.

            Relient K is great in concert too. I saw them play on the Appetite for Construction Tour with Switchfoot and Ruth on November 2, 2007. I would never forget it. It was a week before my birthday and parents gave me an early birthday present. Not literally, but they allowed me to go with the youth group at my church. There I learned to like Switchfoot and rocked out to every single song that Relient K did. “I So Hate Consequences” was their opener and was awesome. Before Switchfoot’s performance of “Meant to Live” later that night, “I So Hate Consequences” was the best live song I had heard. And I’m not a huge fan of live stuff.

            Relient K has too many good qualities to be passed down by anyone. Mainstream music has even heard them. “Mmhmm” was #15 on the Billboard 200 when it was released in 2004 and “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” was #6 in 2007 when it debuted. “Be My Escape” and “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” were both Top 40 hits whose music videos made it into MTV’s Top 10 Countdown. “Be My Escape” became a Gold single in October 2005. Relient K has played on “The Tonight Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

            Relient K is my favorite artist and “From End to End” is my favorite song. I think that’s ‘Nuff said.