I love Lost.
OK, that’s no shocker, but it’s not just because of how awesome the show is.
The show creators have been so, well, creative, in their efforts to keep the buzz alive between seasons. Their marketing, frankly, is brilliant.
Lost fans are like no others in their desire to learn every little tidbit they possibly can about the universe of Lost. But not silly stuff. Intellectual stuff. I read Mystery Island by Jules Verne solely because it was mentioned by Shannon in Season 1.
Cuse and Lindelof created the Dharma Initiative, giving fans apoplexy a couple of years ago, trying to decipher hints left online, in telephone messages and in commercials. And no matter how many times we swear off the message boards and the activities, we get sucked back in.
So here we are with the Dharma Initiative series, which is far better than the mobisodes from a couple years ago, which were a little puzzling.
But the first segment connects the Dharma Initiative with Area 51.
“Why should a veterinarian be profiled in the same manner as a psychotic killer?” the narrator asks, after talking about the psychological tests given to all Dharma job applicants.
I had trouble loading Segment 2 and watching it (it was released yesterday), so I won’t be able to report on it until I get to see it. But it looks great. Done like an old-style documentary.
Then, there’s Lost University. (Hat tip to Jennifer Wagner for her post about it.)
The fall session kicks off Sept. 22, and I can only assume it will help diehard fans survive until the January premiere of the (sniff) final season of one of the best shows evar.
Enrollment for the first semester of LOST University will be open to all students beginning September 22nd, 2009. At that time, you will take a placement exam and be given a Student ID, as well as be able to watch your LOST University introductory class, LOST 101. Semester 1 begins on December 8, 2009, at which point you will be able to choose and enroll in all of your classes, as you build credits toward Semester 2 and graduation. In the meantime, feel free to browse the online course catalog and get a head start with some of your recommended reading.
Now, what that recommended reading
Now, there are other tidbits that have just got to include hints and nods. There’s one fraternity, Epsilon Kappa Omega (EKO), an obvious homage to the dear departed Mr. Eko. The frat’s rush table is on the Orchid Lawn, natch.
Tickets to the Drive Shaft Cover Band Contest is being held at the Hume Amphitheater. But tickets are $20. But why $20? Shouldn’t they be 23?????
And the Smokey Patrol, a service to walk students home at night and keep them safe, takes applications at the Degroot Center. But why room 324? Is it because that’s 4 and 23, two of The Numbers, backwards? C’mon, guys, you can’t throw any numbers out there and not drive us crazy.
Then, there’s the course list for the first semester:
• HIS101: Ancient Writing on the Wall
• LAN101: Foreign Language for Beginners
• PHI101: I’m Lost, Therefore I am
• PHY101: Introductory Physics of Time Travel
• PHY301: Seminar: New Physics with Jeremy Davies
• SCI201: Jungle Survival Basics
And second semester:
• ART 101 Seminar: Inspiration & Expression with Jack Bender
• LAN 201: Advanced Foreign Language
• PHI 201: I’m Right, You’re Wrong: The Us vs. Them Mentality
• PHY 201: Advanced Physics of Time Travel
• PSY 201: Self Discovery Through Family Relationships
If you click through the course descriptions, though, it starts to become more apparent: This is a description of what’s going to be on the Lost Blu-Ray, which, as it happens, comes out Sept. 22.
But you know what? I don’t care. I signed up for the e-mail notification and I don’t even have Blu-Ray.
And there’s even a link to the Lost Book Club, through which you can buy any of the books read by characters on the show, even A ECG Workout: Excercises in Arrythmia Interpretation, which costs $33.99. The club tells you which episode each of the books appeared in and in what context.