Long Summer Days Suck

Just a quick link back from the last post about how it will end, I really liked the Truman Show because the tag line was How's it going to end? I really think that the statement is a way for everyone to live their lives by. After all the reality shows wear off on the public consciousness, there's gonna be a wasteland of dissatisfied viewers wanting substance after they've had their fluff. It'll be like the religious pilgrimages of the medieval age, where people are trying desperately to cling to something that isn't there.
One of the reasons why the Dark Tower, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix Trilogy, The Star Wars Saga, and Lost are all well thought out pieces of art is that they all know they must end, the fun is in getting their, to simply enjoy the ride, even if parts are bad or not to our liking, it all adds to the experience.

Personal History

A very interesting concept that has come into the show Lost is leaving behind what Carlos Castaneda calls, Personal History. According to Mr. Castaneda, the only way to elevate to the next level of consciousness for humans is to leave behind their Personal History. He wrote that leaving one's history is the hardest part when one wants to be a true shaman and magician. But, without losing your Personal History one cannot proceed to the next level. In the various acts in Lost we see the main characters slowly lose their personal history as they realize they have been given a tabula rasa, or clean slate, by the island.
In the Dark Tower Series, Eddie Dean, Susannah/Detta/Odetta Walker, and Jake Chambers all get the same clean slate to work with in Midworld. Roland's world doesn't care what these people did in their previous life and gives them the opportunity to start again.
The same can be said of the Fellowship of the Ring. They start off as a group of strangers and become friends along the way. They endure the trials of fire and suffer losses in the process. But they end up not as they first began. Each one of the group becomes changed.
Another interesting concept is that in each tale there is at least one person who knows how it will all end. For the Lord of the Rings it is both Elrond and Gandalf, though this is always a matter of debate, they know good will prevail over evil. In The Dark Tower, Roland alone knows how things will work out despite not ever being fully aware that he has gone through a loop several times. In the Matrix Trilogy, Agent Smith, though there are small differences within this loop of the story as are in The Dark Tower. In the Star Wars Saga it is Yoda who forsees the balance brought back to the force. In the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it is Aslan. This is what makes for good story telling, someone who either knows incontrivertably or at least prophesying the outcome.

Return from Sin City

After a pretty hectic week I'll have more on LOST and other stuff tomorrow. I need sleep. And my Las Vegas trip was wild.

Passing On

Today I received this message from Ali,

Laura Esguerra Adams (July 5, 1969 - September 3, 2005)
On Saturday night at 10:35 pm, Laura, my darling wife, died in her sleep after a 14-month battle with cancer. She had come home from the hospital on Tuesday, after having made the choice not to have her gastric feeding tube reinstalled. Laura was able to say goodbye to some of her friends and family, and coming home gave her a few last moments of joy before she passed away, finally leaving behind the suffering she has had to endure for the previous months. I am sitting now, alone, in our loft, the hospital bed to my right, surrounded by medical equipment, the oxygen pumps now silent, and my heart aches for her presence, but I am grateful that she is no longer in pain and can finally find some peace.Laura, I miss you and I love you. You are my family and I am yours.
James

So sadly Laura, whom the blood drive was for, passed on. My heart goes out to James.

A Side Track

A very interesting theme of Myths in general is that they are cycles. I looked on my book shelf and remembered I had bought the LOKI hardcover and reread it this past week. I was so amazed at the artwork by Esad Ribic, that I read through it but did not read it. LOKI deals with the god of Mischief's final battle with Thor and is now the ruler of Asgard. Once scene is key, where he views the multiverse and sees the various interpretations of both Thor and himself. Another comic is Mark Millar's WANTED, which also held the multiple earth theory and essential did what DC is doing now, killing the heroes and villains that aren't necessary.