Because You Left (Lost S5, E1)

On the Island, we get a introduction that features Pierre Chang, the man who is the focus of each Dharma Initiative training video. He is interrupted from making his latest video and is brought to the very same place that we saw Locke and Ben at last season: The Orchid. The workers there have been drilling holes in the wall, and their drill bits keep melting when they try to drill through. Pierre is given a sonar printout that reveals the "frozen donkey wheel" that Ben turned in last season to move the island behind the wall. Pierre demands they don't drill any further, or else doom will ensue. As he is walking away we see a man come walking the other way in a construction uniform, and it is none other than Daniel Faraday!....LOST....

I loved this first episode of the season because it set up the structure of the upcoming season- which is a distinct lack of structure. After Ben turned the big wheel, the castaways on the island jumped to a different time period before they ever came onto the island. Their camp was missing because it hadn't been built yet and Locke had a run in with none other than the heroin carrying plane that would end up being Boone's demise. But, there is more, the castaways at random times move to different time periods on the island without warning. There is a brilliant flash of white light and all of a sudden, they are in a different time period. This is a fascinating development because it allows for the viewer to get an interesting perspective on the history of the island. They can go back to the beginnings of the Dharma Initiative, and find out more back story about the mysterious others. I am very excited to see where this time travelling goes.

We got to see quite a few important things on the island in this particular episode. Locke got shot by past Ethan and had to be fixed up by a futuristic Richard Alpert. Richard gave Locke a compass and told him that he would have to die in order to get the Oceanic 6 back to the island- which is an important step to fixing their current predicament. Daniel Faraday became useful since he is the only one on the island who has any idea what is happening to them. After telling Sawyer that he can't change anything in the past and that it is useless to knock on Desmond's hatch door, he waits for Sawyer to leave and does it himself! Apparently, Desmond is special and is the only one that can help them. Daniel tells Desmond to find his mom in Oxford, and Desmond wakes up in the future and remembers this and knows he needs to help Daniel out.

As for the Oceanic 6, we got little glimpses of them that showed how bad off they are since leaving the island. Kate had to run off after being approached by an attorney who wanted to test to see if Aaron was really her son. Sun is out for revenge specifically against Ben who she feels is responsible for Ben's death, and she is allying with Charles Widmore to do it. Sayid has become a dangerous hit man and estranged from his boss, Benjamin Linus. Hurley is going back to being crazy and has had numerous encounters with dead people. Then we have Jack who is depressed over Locke's death and knows that it is important to go back to the island. Him and Ben are working together to try to gather up the oceanic six and somehow get them back to the island. But, because of the varying conditions of the oceanic 6 and their mistrust of Jack or Ben, it seems impossible for them to gain the trust of the other members of the oceanic 6. I can't wait to find out how Ben is able to manipulate this situation to his advantage.

Just a quick note...

I have changed my blogging technique a little, and I felt I should explain here what I did and the implications it has on the future of my blogs. This blog started as "Progressive Entertainment" and was a grab bag of basically everything I liked, no matter how related or unrelated they were. This made for a very confusing and crazy blog with one post being about the show Survivor, the next about an album I like, and then another about American Idol. It was getting a little crazy, I think, so I've seperated the main two subjects that were included in "Progressive Entertainment" into two new blogs.

The first is this blog, now called "So Many Shows". This blog will be about the various tv shows that I watch. I will give reviews and commentary about recent episodes of shows such as: American Idol, Survivor, Amazing Race, Lost, Heroes, and potentially others. I realize that these shows aren't all incredibly similar, but I feel that it'll make a lot more sense to have a blog about TV in general.

The other blog is "The Leviathan" and is now my music blog. On that blog I will mainly do reviews of current progressive rock albums and will occasionally spotlight what I consider to be classic prog albums. My 'main' blog is called "The Way Home" and is basically a journal of my life and progress working on my personal goals and so forth. I will provide a link to these blogs on the right side of the page. So, I hope this all makes sense and will lead to many interesting posts!

Apology About American Idol Auditions

It seems I got a little too excited at the beginning of the American Idol auditons and have not felt like writing about the auditions since the first two episodes. So, I'm sorry about not doing "People To Look Out For" for each audition episode. I feel that audition episodes don't really give an accurate showcase of these contestants, so I will start being much more consistent in my idol coverage once performance episodes start. So, there were many cool contestants and many terrible ones. I just am interested to see how it goes in the weeks to come. Hollywood week is always full of lots of delicious drama. Enjoy, humans!

American Idol: People To Watch Out For (Part 2)

I loved this episode- perhaps more than any other audition episode of American Idol ever. I think this is mainly due to the focus on good talent and uplifting stories. As I did last time, I will highlight those contestants that have caught my eye so far and may make it far in the competition.

Second Stop: Kansas City, Missouri

1. Lil Rounds

Yes, I must agree with everyone that she has probably given the best audition yet. She pulled at heartstrings by sharing her story about her family being affected by a twister. Idol usually likes to save the best for last during the audition episodes, and this was definitely the case here. I really have a strong feeling she'll be part of our top 12.

2. Von Smith

I was impressed when this guy took his place and simply belted out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Yes, it was overdone, but he made a significant statement- that he has a voice that not many others have. His vocal power is a strength that could end up a weakness if he overuses it. But, I think there may be potential here.

3. Asa Barnes

Asa was a very likeable guy who is a middle-school music director. He sang a Michael Jackson song and didn't turn it into a complete train wreck. It wasn't the best audition ever, but he proved that he does have significant potential in this competition. I hope for good things from him.

4. Jessica Furney

I loved her take on Janis Joplin and was very touched by the way she interacted with her 93 year old hearing impaired Grandma. I thought she had a lot of personality in her voice and a good tone. I look forward to seeing more out of her.

5. Danny Gokey

His was one of the more heartfelt moments of the episode. His wife died and it was an extremely difficult thing for him to deal with. That is why I felt like cheering for him when he tackled "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". I felt he had a lot of soul and once again a great personality. I really hope he can make it through Hollywood week.

I could probably mention a few more, but these 5 really are the standouts for me. I also wanted to give a brief mention about Jason Castro's brother, Michael. I loved Jason Castro last year (probably my second favorite contestant overall after David Cook) so I look forward to seeing what his brother can do. I wasn't able to tell much from his audition, which is why he isn't included above. I did like the fact that he had only started singing like 20 days ago in order to compete against his brother. There is nothing bertter than some healthy sibling competiton, right?

American Idol: People To Watch Out For (Part 1)

Welcome to American Idol!

During the auditions weeks, I'm going to try to not comment on the bad auditions (which I feel can be quite negative and humiliating) but instead point out people that caught my eye and who I think may have a bright future in American Idol. So, here goes!

First Stop: Phoenix, Arizona

1. Emily Hughes

I am a big fan of rockers, and she seemed to genuinely rock. She sang her heart out on Heart's Barricuda, and it was the first goosebump inducing moment of the season for me. I think she'll need a lot more dedication to the show if she wants to move forward too far, but I was very happy and felt she started off the season great.

2. Stevie Wright

I think she has great potential. She is young, beautiful and extremely talented. She gave a great rendition of "At Last" (not an easy song to sing) and I think she can go far. The only problem is that she needs to have some kind of edge that can separate her from the pack.

3. Alex Wagner-Trugman

I have a soft spot for nerds, and I think this guy fits that bill. Perhaps that is why I was such a big Clay Aiken and Chris Sligh fan (and didn't David Cook call himself the 'word nerd'?). Alex was very smart and calm during his audition and was surprisingly soulful. I'm not sure if he'll make it too far because he doesn't quite have that idol look, but you never know.

4. Scott MacIntyre

Scott gets the reward for the most tugging at one's heartstrings last night. Scott was the man with a vision impairment, and he proved that he does in fact have talent. I wasn't extremely impressed with his audition, but I do recognize that he has potential. I'm very interested to see how he does with Hollywood week.

And those are the four Arizonians that stood out to me. Stay tuned for part 2 when Idol goes to Kansas City!

My 100 Favorite Songs (at the moment)

I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what my top 100 favorite songs are. There were a lot of difficult choices made, and if I made the same list in a week, it would probably be completely different. I think that the 100 songs are all top choices, it is the ordering that proves difficult for me. But, anyways, here is the list!

100. Paradigm Shift- Liquid Tension Experiment
99. Life In Motion- The Flower Kings
98. The Wind and the Rain- Neal Morse
97. I Move- Izz
96. Oh My God- It Bites
95. Hereafter- Spock’s Beard
94. Garden Of Dreams- The Flower Kings
93. And The Druids Turn To Stone- Ayreon
92. The City Of The Sun- Kevin Gilbert
91. Chicken Farmer Song- The Flower Kings
90. In Darkest Dreams- The Tangent
89. Golden Slumbers- The Beatles
88. Mother Superior- Coheed And Cambria
87. Clocks- Coldplay
86. Walking On The Wind- Spock’s Beard
85. Trains- Porcupine Tree
84. When- Salem Hill
83. The Music That Died Alone- The Tangent
82. Send A Message From The Heart- Karmakanic
81. The Good Don’t Last- Spock’s Beard
80. Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen
79. Viva La Vida- Coldplay
78. Hallelujah- Jeff Buckley
77. Dear Dead Days- Frost*
76. Inside His Presence- Neal Morse
75. We Spin The World- Moon Safari
74. When The Water Breaks- Liquid Tension Experiment
73. Solitary Soul- Spock’s Beard
72. We All Need Some Light- Transatlantic
71. The Glass Prison- Dream Theater
70. Imagine- John Lennon
69. Cradle To The Grave- Neal Morse
68. Methuselah’s Children- Moon Safari
67. The Garden- Unitopia
66. The Temple Of The Living God- Neal Morse
65. Love Is The Only Answer- The Flower Kings
64. Help Me/The Spirit And The Flesh- Neal Morse
63. As The World- Echolyn
62. Dance On A Volcano- Genesis
61. Day For Night- Spock’s Beard
60. My River Flows- Izz
59. Love Supreme- The Flower Kings
58. Crumble- Phideaux
57. Stairway To Heaven- Led Zeppelin
56. This Is England- It Bites
55. Long Time Suffering- Spock’s Beard
54. Fatal Tragedy- Dream Theater
53. Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles
52. The Conflict- Neal Morse
51. Proclamation- Gentle Giant
50. Heart Of The Sunrise- Yes
49. Beyond This Life- Dream Theater
48. Goliath- The Mars Volta
47. Other Half Of The Sky- Moon Safari
46. Black Light Machine- Frost*
45. Late Night Salvation- Izz
44. One For The Vine- Genesis
43. June- Spock’s Beard
42. In A Glass House- Gentle Giant
41. Take The Time- Dream Theater
40. Awaken- Yes
39. Mei- Echolyn
38. Iter Impius- Pain of Salvation
37. Thick As A Brick- Jethro Tull
36. Firth Of Fifth- Genesis
35. Coming Like Light- Izz
34. One More Time- The Flower Kings
33. Learning To Live- Dream Theater
32. The Gates Of Delirium- Yes
31. Lifeline- Neal Morse
30. Blackest Eyes- Porcupine Tree
29. In The Fire- Neal Morse
28. In The Presence Of Enemies- Dream Theater
27. Isis and Osiris- Ayreon
26. Deafening Silence- Izz
25. The Conclusion- Neal Morse
24. In Earnest- The Tangent
23. The Light- Spock’s Beard
22. Free Hand- Gentle Giant
21. The Sixth Extinction- Ayreon
20. The Doorway- Spock’s Beard
19. Wasted Life- Neal Morse
18. Milliontown- Frost*
17. Octavarium- Dream Theater
16. Supper’s Ready- Genesis
15. Duel With The Devil- Transatlantic
14. Oh, To Feel Him- Neal Morse
13. Close To The Edge- Yes
12. Bridge Across Forever- Transatlantic
11. Stardust We Are- The Flower Kings
10. At The End Of The Day- Spock’s Beard
9. So Many Roads- Neal Morse
8. All Of The Above- Transatlantic
7. The Truth Will Set You Free- The Flower Kings
6. The Creation- Neal Morse
5. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence- Dream Theater
4. The Great Nothing- Spock’s Beard
3. Monsters and Men- The Flower Kings
2. The Door- Neal Morse
1. Stranger In Your Soul- Transatlantic