Via LOSTUniversity.org:

Dear LOST University Students and Alumni,

With the series finale several months ago, we know you are sitting at home saying, “We have to go back!” Not only to the island, but back to the campus of LOST University.  For those of you who are new to our program or have not yet experienced campus life at LOST University, welcome.  For our continuing students and alumni we have many new opportunities waiting for you within the LOST University: Master’s Program.

Alumni and new masters students are needed to act as teacher assistants for new classes including Theology, Spanish with Professor Nestor Carbonell, Literature and Acting with the cast of LOST (exclusive to graduates from the LOST University Undergraduate Program). Each of these classes, led by top university professors, delve deeper into the mythology, stories and characters of LOST, providing a greater understanding as to what it all means and look at the show again with a more enlightened and educated point of view.

Enrollment in the LOST University: Master’s Program is the perfect way to move on and extend your LOST experience.  Classes begin exclusively with the release of LOST: The Complete Sixth and Final Season on Blu-ray™ and LOST: The Complete Collection Blu-ray™.  We look forward to seeing you as a candidate for graduation.

When you arrive on campus, please stop by the Advisor’s Office where I will help you set your schedule and choose a thesis topic.  Until then, please visit our online campus at www.lostuniversity.org, where you can experience an array of campus life from the course catalogue, campus news from The Lamp Post, network with other students in the forums or shop for LOST U merchandise at the campus bookstore.

We know you have what it takes, enroll today in the LOST University: Master’s Program.

Namaste.

Dr. David Daniels
Graduate Advisor

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Click here to access the LOST University Tutoring Session #5: LOST A-Z: It’s All Connected.

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Via TV Guide:

Prepare yourself, the sixth and final season of Lost is approaching. Obviously, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have been very tight-lipped about the fate of the Losties after the explosion at the hatch, but they did find time to tease just a few tidbits at Tuesday night’s unveiling of the 16^th and final poster in the damoncarltonandapolarbear.comcollection. (Said poster holds a few clues itself, but we’re still working on that.) In the meantime, Lindelof and Cuse tell TVGuide.com which is their favorite poster, how they feel heading into the final season and what fans should expect when the show premieres on Feb. 2 (9/8c on ABC).

TVGuide.com: With the final season of Lost approaching, what are you feeling?
Carlton Cuse: I think we’re doing something new in this final season narratively, so we have that combination of fear and giddiness. The fear is, oh, what if people don’t like it, what if the audience doesn’t like what we’re doing? The giddiness is, like, we always feel like we have to be bold with our show and if it works, and if people like it as much as we do, we feel like the final season will be a success. When there’s a draw though, we stand by our decisions. We’re not playing it safe in the final season.
Damon Lindelof: I think at this point, the nervousness is more based on how we’re so deep into this season, that by the time the audience sees it, we’re committed to our path. It’s been like that ever since we started premiering in January and February. It’s like it’s too late to turn back now. We’re feeling very confident about executing what our plan was, and that’s all you can ever do.

TVGuide.com: What do you say to fans with such high expectations for your last season?
Cuse: I think it’s like anything in life. I think that you have to have realistic expectations. We’re going to do our best version of the show, but there’s still going to be some mystery and magic and intentionally ambiguous things that emerge at the end of the show. We’re going to answer questions, but at the same time, we’re going to tell the story the way we want to tell it. We feel like, all we can do is make the version of the show that makes Damon and I happy. If we do that, hopefully enough people will like it.
Lindelof: Ditto.

TVGuide.com: How do you feel about the intense fan reaction to the posters?
Lindelof: It’s amazing. We experienced this on a much grander scale at Comic-Con, but there’s a thousand other things down there. The fact that this is just a Lost event and has this level of enthusiasm, with this fan turn-out, it’s a little bit shocking to us.
Cuse: I think one of the unique things about Lost is that you not only have fans of this show, but the fans themselves form a community that transcends the show. I was in the middle of talking to a fan out front and the fan all of a sudden gasped and ran off to hug someone. She came back and said, “Excuse me, this is a person I’ve known online and have never met in person before.” This is not just an event about coming here to see the Lost art, for a lot of fans, it’s a chance to meet one another.

TVGuide.com: We hear there are some little hints in the final poster. What should fans take away from viewing this?
Cuse: I think you should look in there and there will be a couple of clues to the final season that are embedded in that poster. It will make a lot of sense once you’ve actually seen a few episodes of the show.
Lindelof: You should look at the poster and think of the things you’ve seen on the show, and then whatever else is left, that’s a clue for Season 6.

TVGuide.com: Did you guys have a say in what was put into the posters?
Cuse: Only in the last one in terms of embedding a couple of clues in it, but obviously, [Jensen Karp] was responsible for putting the show together, along with Sam Thomas and Noreen O’Toole, who work in the Lost offices. We’re just blown away by the artistry and the imagination of all the artists and what they brought to the table.
Lindelof: As every poster came in, we probably experienced what it’s like for a fan to watch an episode of Lost. You’ve never seen it, you don’t know what to expect, it’s cool. You have to look at it for five minutes and then look at it again to truly appreciate it. The idea that Jensen basically introduced us to the artists’ work before we actually saw what they were going to do with our show, and the way they interpreted it was just amazing. I just don’t have enough wall space in my house for every single one of these posters.

TVGuide.com: Do you guys have a favorite out of these posters?
Cuse: If you were to twist my arm, I’d say that the Locke poster is my favorite. If the gallery caught fire all of a sudden, I would grab that and run.
Lindelof: I’m a big fan of the hatch poster. I feel when you look at the intricacies that are going on below every level of the art, there’s something else there on every level. That, I feel, really encapsulates the spirit of the show. I think it’s beautiful to look at too.

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[Via LOSTUniversity.org]

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Paul Scheer, the face of Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear and Ronie Midfew Arts, invites LOST fans to attend the LOST Underground Art Project at Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA tonight from 7 -10 p.m.  All 16 prints revealed in the damoncarltonandapolarbear.com ARG will be on display.  In addition to these original screen prints, an additional twenty-five commissioned LOST inspired artworks will be available for viewing.  Follow LIVE as it happens from USTREAM hosted by yours truly, Lottery Ticket.

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(Click to enlarge)

Remember that you will be able follow this event LIVE from LA here at SL-LOST.com next Tuesday.

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3. Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear: Water-Cooler Moments (Frames 1-5)

Watch more videos after the jump.

Thanks to LOSTSawyer480 for uploading these videos

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LOSTUniversity.org

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Pre-order now: Lost: The Complete Fifth Season [Blu-ray] | Lost: The Complete Fifth Season Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit [Blu-ray].

[Courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ©ABC Studios.]

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A collaboration between Ronie Midfew Arts and Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear made it possible for sixteen world renown designers and artists to create original, signed and numbered screen prints representing LOST water-cooler moments.  Less than 200 of each were made available to the public for purchase and all have been sold.  However, over at DCaaPB there is one last remaining “?” in a frame.  This is the mysterious Frame 16.  You will have to be clever to find the key which unlocks it’s secret.  Click on the HUB image to see previous frame reveal clues.  If you are still confused, check out The Lost ARGs blog for a closer look this fan-appreciation ARG.  Here are Frames 11-15 and the water-cooler moments they represent.

“Waaaaaaaaaalt! is the first (Pilot 1) and last (Exodus, Part 2) word spoken in Season 1.  It’s utterance innumerable in-between.  This is a father and son that just can’t stay together; separated at birth, by marriage and adoption, after a plane crash, on the beach and at the caves.  But the ultimate separation of Michael and Walt is at the hands of the Others – a high-seas kidnapping.  Frame 11, Drew Millward for Walt’s Kidnapping, depicts that moment with energetic strokes of green, blue and gold.  Mr. Friendly’s bearded visage arises smoke-like while concentric circles radiate outward from the burning raft.  Walt sits in the palm of his right hand.  “Waaaaaaaaaaaalt!”

Titled “And that’s why my hand was shaking. Because this is not a man you go and see, this is a man who summons you.” by Daniel Danger and retitled Jacob’s Cabin by DCaaPB, this print is the 12th in a series of 16. Mr. Danger’s tiny empire is not so tiny. The choice of Mr. Danger as artist for the subject of Jacob’s cabin generated an abundance of exclamation marks on comments on blog sites and thread boards.  Printed on black paper using shades of ‘dark’ with electric-green detailing and final overlay of glossy rain, this print put’s the “Oh!” in ominous. The cabin makes it’s first appearance in “The Man Behind the Curtain.”  Who is in the cabin makes it a water-cooler moment.

Nate Duval‘s “The Barracks” was revealed in Frame 13.  A rustic yellow cabin stands at the foot of a densely forested mountain – laundry hangs on the line, waiting.  Billowing smoke rises into the sky telling us the day is September 22, 2004.  Oceanic Flight 815 has crashed, and Juliet’s book club, sans Mr. Linus, will have to reschedule it’s discussion of Carrie to another day.  The opening scene in “A Tale of Two Cities” challenged our concept of ‘where’ on the island.  But I’ll steal a line from Claire and Michael which expressed my confusion as LOST cut to commercial, “Who are you people?”

What’s in a name?  Subtitled “my name is henry gale, my name is benjamin linus, my name is . . . ” Todd Slater‘s Ben Linus for Frame 14 is a personal portrait of the leader of the Others. He holds bunny No. 8 in the crook of his arm.  Slater’s harsh lines in silver paint illuminate Ben’s right side, face and arm, while the left remains in darkness. He uses concentric lines to represent a spinning starry night.  Benjamin Linus enters the story of LOST as Henry Gale, balloonists in Season 2, One of Them.  LOST fans waffled – good or bad?, Other or not? – right up to the bowl of cereal “. . . got any milk?” line delivered at the end of The Whole Truth.  But this water-cooler moment may be from Season 3, Every Man for Himself, where Ben reveals to Sawyer that no escape is possible from Hydra Island, and a life of loneliness can make you sick.  A lie and a truth.

And finally, Frame 15. The last in the ‘regular’ series of prints.  On this tropical island paradise of guavas, wild boar, and Smoke Monsters, Pilot 1, Part 2 gave us one more “Oh, My!” water-cooler moment.  Charging out of the tall grass towards our intrepid transmission hunters is a polar bear.  Jay Ryan for The Polar Bear has us scratching our collective heads. Has this polar bear taken a liking to Dharma Beer?  Or has an unfortunate party-goers stumbled upon a hungry bear?  As of this article, I have not seen The Polar Bear first hand so my interpretation may need modification.  But, nonetheless, the iconic polar bear inspired Mr. Scheer’s velvet painting and has been chosen mascot for Lost University.  He holds a special place in the story that is LOST.

NamARTe!

Thanks to Rob Perrin for photos of The Barracks.

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LostARGs

Twitter List

SpoilerTV/DarkUFO, the keeper of THE LIST

Related posts:

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A collaboration between Ronie Midfew Arts and Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear made it possible for sixteen world renown designers and artists to create original, signed and numbered screen prints representing LOST water-cooler moments.  Less than 200 of each were made available to the public for purchase and all have been sold.  However, over at DCAAPB there is one last remaining “?” frame.  This is the mysterious Frame 16.  You will have to be clever to find the key which unlocks it’s secret.  Click on the HUB image to see previous frame reveal clues.  If you are still confused, check out The Lost ARGs blog for a closer look this fan-appreciation ARG.  Here are Frames 6-10 and the water-cooler moments they represent.

Jason Munn for the 4-toed Statue filled Frame 6 on September 23.  An elegant and simple depiction of the lower half of Tawaret, Egyptian mother goddess and protector of women during child birth.  The golden platform and foot are viewed in silhouette and determining the number of toes is left to your imagination.  There are further instructions: “Image above gold foot printed in gloss, can only be seen from certain angles and in certain lighting.” Ah, ha! two versions of Tawaret depending on your point of view and lighting scheme.  As mungonna posted at The Lost Args, “I like the eye movement or direction of flow of the Statue..its all up and back in time, thereby establishing a ” connection” between us of today and early civilized folks..The nature of the statue is of Hope,,and that is what connects us. That is the means of Eternal Life that the Ankh represents . . “  As for the water-cooler moment, Sayid’s binocular view elicited this comment, “I don’t know what is more disquieting—the fact that the rest of the statue is missing, or that it has four toes” (Live Together, Die Alone).  From the deck of Our Mutual Friend, the island now seemed timeless.

Warning: Frame 7 The Smoke Monster is not for the faint of heart.  Please view with caution.  Ken Taylor, Australian illustrator extraordinaire, wowed us with his rendition of an encounter with Smokey – full moon, blood-red trees and bright-green foliage screened on black paper.  Smokey is swirling in black and gold as it analyzes club-carrying Eko.  The Smoke Monster has the honor of being the first water-cooler moment in LOST, Pilot, Part 1.  He makes lovely clickity-clackity sounds and toots his ‘quit’n time’ horn when riled.  No doubt, this is a killing ‘machine’ forged beneath the island.

The half-way point in our series was reach with the reveal of Frame 8 Kevin Tong‘s The Hatch, a study in the surreal, an island floating above a surface of water, the “hatch” eye, the cogs and gears of man filling the background. The Latin phrase “deus ex machina” (god from the machine) is inscribed below the floating island.  The Hatch gives us much to ponder. Is the discovery of the Swan Station hatch and it’s inhabitant, just a plot device “dropped onto the stage” to progress Locke’s story? Who’s manning the crane?  Or should we be focused on the illumination of John Locke by an interior light redirected.  Deus Ex Machine ends with a Locke’s flashback.  He is pounding on his car in disappointment after a failed attempt to confront his father.  Similarly, back on the island John is pounding on the hatch door having failed in his understanding of what the island demands, “I’ve done everything you wanted me to do, so why did you do this to me?”

Communication, or lack thereof, has driven many LOST fans to madness.  But none so mad as Danielle Rousseau.  The voice of a young Rousseau is picked up on the radio repeating over and over in Pilot, Part 2.  “If anybody can hear this, they are dead.” Given this as his subject, Dan McCarthy creates Rousseaus’ Transmission for Frame 9.  Our six intrepid characters stand dwarfed against layers of island mountains.  A lonely tower stands in the distance.  These figures are so deftly drawn that you can distinguish each as they listening to Shannon’s translation.  Her quote bubble reads “Jes suis seul cette ile . . . ils sont tous morts.”  “I am alone on this island . . . they all died.”  Not exactly what we hear in Pilot, Part 2, but close.  Charlie Pace utters the words we were all thinking, “Guys, where are we?”

Beep. Beep. Beep. The fate of the world lies in the dutiful input of numbers by human hands into an antiquated computer – faith and science in harmony.  Rob Jones combines the symbols of the countdown timer, two I-Ching symbols, a white swan and a pattern of waves in his interpretation of The Swan Station for Frame 10.   I-Ching Ko (lake above flame below) represents change, upheaval and new situations where one is urged to ‘go with the flow.”  The I-Ching K’an (water above water below) urges one not to abandon principles, to remain true to your beliefs.  To push or not to push was the question of the day in One of Them, Season 2.

Thank you ReverendMilo for permission to use your photographs for this article.  Next up: Water-Cooler Moments Frames 11-15.

NamARTe!

Lottery Ticket
LostARGs, Twitter List
SpoilerTV/DarkUFO, the keeper of THE LIST

Related posts:

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Followers of Damon Carlton and a Polar Bear‘s fan-appreciation ARG have been “treated” to a series of fifteen limited addition, signed and numbered screen prints from world renown artists.  Each print reflects a LOST water-cooler moment and were available for purchase ($50, plus shipping fee).  Saturday, November 28th, I attended the URL reveal for Frame 15 at 44th Ward Dinner Party, Chicago, IL.   Frame 15 is the last in what is called the ‘regular’ series.  There is a 16th frame.  A bit of mystery surrounds this ‘print’ and we will have to do a little detective work to ‘find’ it.  Here is a look at prints revealed in Frames 1 – 5, links to the artists, and some first impressions by LOST fans.

Let’s roll back the clock to August 16, 2009, and the first time we see Frame 1 Tim Doyle for The Numbers.  Mr. Doyle is known for his use of black-light paint and this poster simply glows with the angst of Hugo’s cursed numbers, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.  They surround his caricature, Camaro, a police car, Hummer, falling accountant, dead uncle and sainted mother, Mr. Cluck’s 12-piece bucket and meteorite-destroyed Chicken Shack.  The numbers are first revealed to us in a Hugo Reyes’ flashback as his picks to win the Mega Lotto Jackpot. (Season 1, The Numbers)  The numbers follow Hurley to the island where he sees them in Danielle’s notes, as the serial number of the Swan Station hatch, and, of course, the key strokes necessary to save the world.  Their iterations will continue to be heard long past the end of LOST, and remain one of its most mysterious recurring themes.

Inspired by legendary 1950′s graphic designer Saul Bass, Olly Moss welded pen to paper and brought us Frame 2 Locke’s Secret.  Virtual handsprings were being turned by LOST fans.  Locke’s Secret bills Terry O’Quinn as John Locke, featuring “a terrible sacrifice” among other themes as side characters.  You have to read the fine print to see references to LOST, Oceanic Airlines, and Dharma.  Walkabout gave us the back story for hapless John Locke.  Mr. Moss captures the essentials in this retro-styles print – an empty wheelchair, foot prints, an impaled knife in a wave of expanding circles, and the a statement of fact “Just don’t tell him what he can’t do . . .” all on a lime green backdrop .

From his fan-based website, we get this reaction from uber-LOST fan ReverendMilo to Frame 3, The Dharma Van, “Methane Studios, as far as I can tell, is two self taught bad-asses that explore a large spectrum of design techniques, and like to include subtle skulls… The print is wicked cool, and I am not sure why it has not sold out. It is the first print released on jet black paper, and also the first print released oriented landscape.”  Not long after ReverendMilo wrote those words The Dharma Van did sell out, and for good reason.  Images of the psychedelic, swinging-60s love bus posted by fans expressed a deeper and more haunting vibe especially under black light.  So what water-cooler moment does the van symbolize when it is first discovered in Tricia Tanaka Is Dead?  Was the discovery of skeletal remains enough to get you talking?  Personally, I found Sawyer drinking the 20+ year old Dharma beer rather shocking, a scene that still gives me chills to this day.

Where were you on September 22, 2004?  I would suspect that most of you answered that question quickly and with some gusto.  The eye opens to swaying palms.  A man is injured.  He hears screams and runs to help through a dense jungle.  We watch through Jack’s eye the chaos on the beach.  From that perspective, Eric Tan has captured the most iconic images from the episode Pilot 1 – the remains of Flight 815, Dr. Christian Shepard, Claire, and Jack (one fist open, one closed, tie flying), Kate and Sawyer back to back, armed and disarming, and the face of John Locke.  The title to this print is “The Crash” released for purchase as Frame 4.  Not just a water-cooler moment, but a one-hour, water-cooler event.  Businesses around the world posted plunging productivity numbers September 23.

And then something a little unexpected, Frame 5 The Love Triangle by Leia Bell.   We are asked to observe, to watch, as voyeurs, the vignettes offered on TV monitors via Dharma security cameras.  Kate and Sawyer are on monitor 2.  Jack is watching in Ms. Bell’s interpretation.  But we know from I Do that it’s Ben who did the watching that day.  We started picking sides – Kate and Jack,  Kate and Sawyer,  Jack and Sawyer  – we wagered and sworn allegiance.  But subconsciously, we realized events on the island were being observed, even the most intimate of actions.

Thank you ReverendMilo for permission to use your photographs for this article.  Next up: Water-Cooler Moments Frames 6-10.

NamARTe!

Lottery Ticket
LostARGs, Twitter List
SpoilerTV/DarkUFO, the keeper of THE LIST

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Via ABC Press Release:

Cast Members Teach The

JUNGLE SURVIVOR BASICS

Class Online at LOST UNIVERSITY

If you ever find yourself stranded on a deserted tropical island, would you know the steps you need to take to survive?

The JUNGLE SURIVIOR BASICS class at LOST UNIVERSITY will give you basic information to survive until you are rescued. This class will be taught by several “LOST” cast members via never-before-seen interviews with:

• Naveen Andrews
• Jorge Garcia
• Josh Holloway
• Daniel Dae Kim
• Yunjin Kim
• Evangeline Lilly
• Terry O’Quinn
• Michael Emerson
• Henry Ian Cusick

“Professor” Jeremy Davies will also teach the class NEW PHYSICS WITH JEREMY DAVIES this semester, that will focus on cutting-edge physics seen on “LOST.”

Classes begin at LOST University when LOST: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON arrives on Blu-ray on December 8, 2009.

ABOUT LOST UNIVERSITY

LOST University is a captivating new immersive bonus experience powered by BD-Live technology on the upcoming “LOST: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON” Blu-ray that will expand the world of “LOST“, giving viewers around the world an unprecedented interactive experience unlike any other before it. For more information, please visit www.lostuniversity.org.

Images Courtesy of Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

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[Via LOSTUniversity.org]

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Editor’s note: Please welcome new SL-LOST contributor Lottery Ticket!

According to his blog, damoncarltonandapolarbear.com (DCaaPB), comedian Paul Scheer confessed working six months on a black velvet painting of LOST’s executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carton Cuse with their BFF the Dharma Polar Bear and, in that regard, he represents all LOST fans who have for the past five years expressed their LOST love by creating original works of art, musical scores, dramas, parodies, podcasts, blog sites, quilts, tattoos, and bento boxes.  His dream was to personally present said painting to Mr. Lindelof and Mr. Cuse at Comic-Con 2009. Mr. Scheer’s appearance at the Q & A session of the LOST panel drew cheers from his fans (see Human Giant) where he humbly expressed his feeling for the producers.  The moment was captured on video and posted to YouTube by one Tyson Givens, a mysterious person to say the least.

Distracted by Lost University enrollment, re-watch mania, Comic-Con video reveals, Emmy’s, exhaustive blogs, and podcasts of the Season 5 finale, LOST fans paid little attention to the seemingly innocent and silly shenanigans at DCaaPB.  When hand-written letters and reproduction prints of the velvet painting showed up in the mailboxes of Peter Sciretta (slashfilm.com), Jon Lachonis (DocArzt.com) and mungonna, a regular contributor at ABC’s LOST message board, ears perked. Mr. Scheer declares “I AM AN ARTIST” and asked these gentlemen to get the word out that his velvet paintings will be sold to LOST fans through his website. Enter Alexandra Miller, Assistant to Ronie Midfew of Ronie Midfew Arts.  In a letter to Mr. Lachonis she states that Mr. Scheer does not have authorization to use the likeness of Mr. Cuse and Mr. Lindelof to his financial gain and should cease operations. Let’s just say the story gets a bit LOST-like from this point forward – Paul breaks into the ABC Studios, encounters a man-in-black,  disappears, and then posts The Ultimate Lost Event declaring a collaboration of Ronie Midfew Arts and Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear for the distribution of prints based on LOST water-cooler moments. Mr. Scheer’s original website flashes away replaced by 16 gilded frames, each with a “?” and a planked HUB (hub of a wheel? hubbub?).

All three letters, subsequent Ronie Midfew Arts communications, and original Paul Scheer blog pages can be read over at the LostARGs.com blog, an offshoot of The Lost Community Blog & Podcast.  Click the Timeline link for a breakdown of all the events so far.  I’ll leave it to you to enjoy Mr. Scheer’s imaginative writings and story arc.  Cryptic messages and puzzles are there if you look closely.  The LostARGs folk have “played” all of the alternate reality games which have plagued us since Season 1.  LostARGs is administered by Zort70 who runs a tight ship – steady on the tiller, decks swabbed and polished. The blog is an open forum where all opinions and suggestions are welcome.  Please wander on over and tell them Lottery Ticket sent you.

On August 15 the first frame “?” was replaced by a photograph of Paul Scheer, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and a “Ronie Midfew Suit” (although we know it is Jensen Karp in real life) hands together in the spirit of cooperation. This change signals the hunt is on.  But what are we hunting?  The clue is an invitation from the Dharma Initiative to attend Banana Split Sundae at Bardot’s in LA the following evening.  What! “Who can go?” “Take a camera!” “Do you Twitter?” tumbled off fingers onto thread boards and blog posts.  Exciting times, I can attest to.  The Bardot experience is a well-produced LOST event – the Dharma logo spot-lighting Bardot’s entrance, a framed painting of a masted ship at sea, the Swan Station hatch, a Dharma jumpsuit at the DJ booth, crazy techno music/dancing, and Sterling Beaumon ushered in wearing a blood-stained hoodie announcing something about ketchup!  He is insistent.  OK.  Let’s go – “actuallyitsketchup.com” and BLAMO, there’s Tim Doyle for The Numbers.  The cost is $50 plus shipping.  OK, I’ll bite.  Done.  It’s mine.  Did I make the right decision?

That was August 16, fourteen weeks ago, and my LOST life may never be the same.  The Numbers holds a special place in my heart (with the exception of the Swan Station - a story for other time) not for its edgy take on the life of Hugo Reyes, or the execution of artist Tim Doyle (did I mention it glows-in-the-dark? Brilliant!) but for the real-life moments is represents – joining the ‘family’ at LostArgs, Twitter madness, and embracing the greater community of LOST fans.  No toe-touch by the side of the pool to check the temperature – a straight out cannonball into the deep end.  Splash!

Reveals usually begins with a single image or original design teasing the possible location or subject of the URL event. Two or three more clue are given before the final “invitation to attend” is given.  You can click on the HUB link at the official DCaaPB site and scroll through all of the clues and invitations to-date.

Events have been held in cities around the world (Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Tuscon, Dallas, Buenos Aires, Glasgow (Scotland), San Fransisco, and Toyko), the website of rap artist/producer 88-Keys, and via Attack of the Show on G4.  In most cases, lucky fans who attend these events have been rewarded with LOST swag like a “I Heart My Shih Tzu” t-shirt where the URL was printed inside the collar or a glow-in-the-dark ping pong ball with the URL printed below a Dharma logo.

It took a bit of time for our organizational and communications skills to kick into high gear, but between the LostARGs, DarkUFO and ABC message boards every event has been attended and reported live from the scene.  Modern forms of communication have been put to the test – MMS/SMS, Facebook and Twitter, blog and forum comments, chat rooms. You name it, we’ve given it a try. Hilarity. Failures. Translations. Oh! My.

Here’s the cast of characters we have identified.  I’ll give you the Twitter names and links to their websites were possible: Damon Lindelof @TheRealDamon and Carlton Cuse @CarltonCuse (executive producers LOST), Paul Scheer @paulscheer (comedian/artist), Ms. Alexandra Miller (assistant to Ronie Midfew of Ronie Midfew Arts (anagram time), unidentified),  Jensen Karp @jensenClan88 & Pete Wentz @petewentz (Clandestine Industries and Fall Out Boy), Gallery 1988 Los Angeles, and distributor Go! Merch.  Keeping an eye on this bunch has led ARGers through some very interesting doors.

But that is only part of our ARG journey.  We’ve been tasked with another mission in the simple phrase “15 Will be lost  The 16th Will be found” first posted at Ronie Midfew Arts.  So what’s behind Frame 16′s mysterious red question mark?   Extra spaces, typos, grammatical errors, and erroneous letters and numbers appear in clues, letters, and posters, too numerous to be anything other than purposeful.  Followers of the ARG are in the gathering, collecting, and mulling mode.  Confused. You bet.  Join in on the fun, but don’t wait too long as Frame 14′s first clue is up – it’s a pineapple!

I’ll be posting a series of articles about Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear over the next four weeks. Next up: The Prints – a water-cooler moment.

NamARTe!

Lottery Ticket
LostARGs, Twitter List
SpoilerTV/DarkUFO, the keeper of THE LIST

Related posts:

1. Lots of LOST News in One Update!
2. Comic-Con 2008: sl-LOST.com Meets With Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse!
3. Comic-Con 2008: sl-LOST.com Attends the LOST Panel Discussion

[Via LOSTUniversity.org]

Related posts:

1. LOST University Enrollment Begins
2. New Official LOST Website: The LOST University
3. LOST University Class of 2010 T-Shirt

[Via LOSTArgs.com via @Lottery_Ticket]

ABC Store – LOST University

Related posts:

1. LOST University Enrollment Begins
2. LOST University – Hundreds Witness Unexplained Phenomenon
3. New Official LOST Website: The LOST University