Lost After LOST

ABC's LOST has easily become one of my favorite shows on television. It's episodes have "mind-boggling" plots which has people talking all week from episode to episode. LOST has become, what I believe to be, a television sensation of the 2000's. What is so unusual about LOST than any other show is that it had an end date; approximately four years ago, the shows creators announced that it was going to end in the spring of 2010. Currently there is only the series finale episode left, and I, like everyone else, has no clue how this show will end.; I feel as though there hasn't been a show before LOST that has required so much thinking. LOST has a huge fan-base with hundreds and thousands of blogs dedicated to the show; LOST fans on these sites refer to themselves as "Lostaways". Although LOST is in a completely different category than other television shows that have ended their run on a good note such as Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and Seinfeld, I believe the end of LOST will be just as bittersweet as it was for the other shows; I say bittersweet because I don't want to see it end, but I WANT SOME ANSWERS! (as do most LOST watchers, I'm sure)

ABC has already come up with two new shows, V (standing for The Visitors) and Flashforward (which was recently cancelled), with similar characteristics in that they, like LOST, have complicated plots and their episodes leave you wanting answers. I'm personally devastated (I know that sounds a bit dramatic) that LOST is coming to an end; I feel like I won't have anything to watch on Tuesdays ever again, but I know there is life after LOST.

Avatar: Film-Making Phenomenon

Avatar has been called the film of 2010, even though it was released in late 2009. Many credit this to the amazing story by James Cameron, and others say it's because of the visual effects. If you have ever seen the movie, the character's movements and facial expressions seem to be unlike any other animated film; that is because Avatar is not like any other animated film. The actor's voices isn't the only part they contribute to the movie; their facial expressions and physical actions are recorded through a new technology called motion capture which essentially records someone's movements and translates them onto a digital model. Most of the physical stunts that are performed in the movie are actually performed in real life by the actors.

Motion capture isn't the only thing that is what helped make Avatar such a huge success; James Cameron, who is the director, used a new camera called the virtual camera; what this does is it allows the director to view the "actor's virtual counterparts into their digital surroundings in real time, allowing the director to adjust and direct scenes just as if shooting live action". Before seeing Avatar, when I hear that it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars I thought it was ridiculous that a "cartoon" would be with regular films; however, this was before I saw the movie and how it was made, changing my classification of it from "cartoon" to film. After watching the following, The Making of Avatar, I was completely amazed how technology has developed to allow such a movie to be filmed at the most "mind-blowing" standards. Avatar has changed the future of film-making forever.

Facebook: What's So Appealing?

Facebook seems to have taken over the internet world of networking. Like MySpace, Facebook's users were mostly made up of people in their late teens and twenties. Now, Facebook has users ranging from their late teens to late sixties and seventies. The questions is, why has Facebook become so much more popular than MySpace, when they really almost seem to be the same thing. I believe Facebook is less complicated and more easy to use than MySpace, which is why the older generation, who claim they still know nothing about computers, can have a Facebook. It's easy to look up a "friend", write on a friend's "wall" and to share news, pictures, links, video, and music with friends. Facebook isn't as "fancy" as MySpace because it doesn't have the option of choosing backgrounds and different fonts and colors; this simplicity seems to draw users in.

Facebook has become a way for people to re-connect with old friends and stay in touch; it has also been used in schools; my National Honor Society used Facebook to remind it's members when meetings were and for general discussion. Although Facebook has been in the news lately for invasion of privacy, many people say that the privacy settings on Facebook are, for the most part, general and easy to set up; however, the people who don't use the privacy settings the proper way are the ones who usually end up with a "problem". Facebook, when used the right way, is a good social networking site where people all over the world can keep in touch with old and new friends.

How to Go From a "D" List Star to an "A" List Star: Dancing With The Stars

Dancing with the Stars is a reality show on ABC where, most of the time, they have what people consider "D" list celebrities competing for a dance trophy. Many stars haven't been seen sometimes in ten years. Dancing with the Stars is an outlet for seasoned celebrities to come back into the limelight. Stars have used Dancing with the Stars as a way to "kick-off" their new show or any other kind of project. Mario Lopez would be the best example of an actor from a 90's sitcom, Saved By The Bell, which the new generation of television watchers did not know about. After Dancing with the Stars, Mario Lopez made several guest appearances on television shows, made work-out videos, and now is a host on Extra.

Chad Ocho-Cinco is also a "D" list star who has gained fame from Dancing with the Stars. Chad Ocho-Cinco is a football player who supposedly had an offer for a reality show on VH1 before Dancing with the Stars; now that he has become more of a household name, other than only being associated with football, his new show will most likely have a bigger audience. Dancing with the Stars also helps make a celebrity who has a tarnished image look better; examples are Tom Delay, and Steve-O. Dancing with the Stars is the quickest, not always the easiest, way for a "D" lister to become an "A" lister.