Literary References in Lost

This post is going to have heavy spoilers for the Lost season finale. If you haven't seen it yet, read ahead at your own risk.

The day after every episode of Lost airs I tend to head over to Lostpedia and read about the latest fan theories based on the information revealed in the most recent episode. One thing that I always find interesting is the literary references that they cram into every episode. Some of them are a stretch, but the sheer quantity of them leads me to think that most of them are not a mere accident. The one reference that I found on Lostpedia for the finale was the following:

The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring: Jacob's "They are coming" is the same phrase found in the Book of Mazarbul, found and read by the Fellowship in the Chamber of Mazarbul in Moria. Shortly after reading this account of the demise of the Dwarves of Moria, the Fellowship loses one of their company when Gandalf is dragged into a chasm by the whip of a Balrog, a scene which Juliet's own fall recalls.

That's really cool and even if it's an accident, it's interesting that someone was astute enough to make that connection.

Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance Trailer

A new trailer was recently released for the new Evangelion movie and it's definitely got me excited about it again. I just hope that the pilot of EVA-05 isn't batshit crazy. That series could use a sane, well-adjusted, female character.

In WoW news, I got my 2v2 rating up to 1250 last night and was able to purchase the Deadly Gladiator's Libram of Fortitude. For those that don't know what this does, it grants 120 attack power for 10 seconds every time I use Crusader Strike, an ability with only a 6 second cooldown. This means that as long as I'm not crowd controlled and can keep swinging, I always have this extra buff. Not a bad upgrade for both PvE and PvP after only 2 weeks of arena matches.

3D Realms closes

The brains behind the decade-long production of the fabled Duke Nukem Forever is closing shop. Tis a sad day for gaming.

In WoW news, I got my 2v2 team to 1200 and the week still isn't over so I might get even higher, who knows? For any paladins out there still using Seal of Command for PvP, stop right now. I switched over to Seal of Blood and the self damage is negligible, even on a team with no healer. Just keep Sacred Shield up and use those Art of War procs when your abilities are on cooldown and you'll mitigate more than enough of the damage to yourself to blow someone up without killing yourself first.

Long time no see

So, I know it's been almost 2 months since I've updated, but I have a perfectly good explanation for that...actually, I don't, there's just nothing terribly exciting happening.

Patch 3.1 for World of Warcraft launched about a month ago and the Argent Tournament and Ulduar have been eating my soul. However, it's good times and if you quit playing this god-forsaken game a long time ago, I highly suggest you take another look at it. It's still as addicting as ever and it's being made even moreso as they keep changing all the little annoying things that have been in the game since its launch 4 years(?) ago. It's a good game and they only keep making it better, it's uncanny.

For those who may be curious about how far through Ulduar I've gotten, our guild has cleared through Auriaya on 25-man and we're on Yogg-Saron on 10-man.

Also, I've started twittering. If you feel the need or desire to read my inane thoughts you can check that out at twitter.com/joecheez.

Max Payne 3 announced

Rockstar announced the release of Max Payne 3 today, but aside from the knowledge that it takes place after his retirement and in a new city, there is little else known about it. Personally, I'm a huge fan of this series and loved the "renegade cop hellbent on revenge" premise, but I thought that they took a step backwards in the second installment by focusing on the love story a bit too much. Hopefully they go back to the series roots and find a new reason for him to dish out the vigilante justice that makes this series so much fun.

Eureka 7 Trailer

There's a Eureka 7 movie coming out in April and the first trailer for it is up on the Japanese movie site. It's looking good.

Dragonball Kai and more BioWare news

I didn't report it, but it's been known for a couple of weeks that Dragonball Z will be re-cut and re-aired in HD as Dragonball Kai. Which is all well and good, but the real news is the announcement of exactly how much is being cut. Toei has said that the new cut of the series will follow the plot of the original manga. This means that there should be far less filler episodes and the consecutive episodes of 2 guys grunting at each other for 30 minutes will also be gone. This might actually be worth re-watching.

In gaming news, BioWare has announced that they are openning a new studio to assist in the development of Mass Effect 2. I can't argue with that. Anything they can do to make Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 2 the most stellar games ever is a good thing in my book.

Mass Effect 2 Teaser and New Resident Evil 5 Trailer

BioWare has released a teaser trailer for Mass Effect 2 and Capcom has released a new trailer for Resident Evil 5. I'm highly anticipating both of these games and can't wait for them to come out. Resident Evil 5 is being released on March 13, 4 days before my birthday ~_^

Vacation

Well, so far I'm enjoying my time up here in the frozen norths of Wisconsin...mostly because it means I don't have to work. Vacation is vacation no matter where you spend it =P

I also have some WoW news today. Apparently Jeff Kaplan has stepped down as the director of World of Warcraft and has moved on to Blizzard's "next-gen MMO"...whatever that is. Also, there's an interesting interview with Ghostcrawler containing some information about dual speccing that I know many people have been interested to know the details of.

Sessler's Soapbox

So, Killzone 2 is/was/will be released in the near future or past. I have no idea and don't really care, but this video of Adam Sessler ripping both Xbox 360 and PS3 fanboys a new asshole is priceless.

FFXIII Trailer

Square Enix released a new Final Fantasy XIII trailer today. Check it out. Too bad we still won't see this game state-side for over a year =(

EGM shutting down

Electronic Gaming Monthly is shutting its doors this month. Their last issue will be the already released January '09 issue. This definitely saddens me a bit since it's the only magazine I've subscribed to in years and was one of the least biased video game magazines I've ever had the pleasure to read. They stood their ground when threatened by companies to pull ads if they didn't give good reviews several times during the magazine's lifetime and their journalistic integrity and wit was the main reason I stayed subscribed for so many years, even after I was finding out about things weeks earlier on the Internet. It was a GOOD magazine and I hope the people who got laid off find greener pastures elsewhere and continue doing what they do so well.