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Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Creepy, Figure Smear Is On Purpose, Right?

Never fear, dear Vortex friends. I have the answer to that nagging question "WTH were those bizarre commercials with the tiny boxes during Lost last night?" I can barely contain my squee at the premise of what the almost-blackout snapshots meant.

To capitalize on the ultra savvy, sci-fi crazed audience who kneels at JJ Abram's time-plagued altar each week, ABC is promoting blips of their new 2009/10 series called "Flash Forward." According to From Inside the Box's Rick Porter, "The show is based on Robert J. Sawyer's novel and follows the fallout from a cataclysm in which the world's entire population blacks out for just over two minutes. In addition to dealing with the chaos that ensues when everyone wakes up -- everything from car crashes to people walking off rooftops -- people soon come to realize that they all had a vision of their futures. The network says that those investigating the event will have only "a huge mosaic of people's flash forwards" to go on." Huge atta-boy behind-smack to ABC, who has, of late, showed a willingness to embrace non-CSI premises.

And while we're all in piglandia, worried about the guy coughing behind us in the Kroger line, here's another bizarre morsel for you:The Georgia Guidestones are America's Stonehenge. Located on a barren hill in northeastern Georgia, the monument is comprised of five polished granite stones rising up out of the earth in a star-shaped pattern. Commissioned in 1980 by a man named Robert C. Christian on behalf of "a small group of loyal Americans", the stones were built to withstand a catastrophic event so those left behind had a guide to rebuild a better civilization than the previous one had destroyed. According to Christian, the structure would service as a compass, a calendar and a clock. Among the guidelines listed in eight languages, these:

Rule passion, faith, tradition and all things with tempered reason

Avoid petty laws and useless officials

Prize truth, beauty and love-seeking harmony with the infinite

Be not a cancer on the earth

Leave room for nature

Leave room for nature


Lastly, before we leave the land of creepy, check out these dolls someone crafted from Barbie and Ken. While Romance Writer Barbie may be freaky weird to those whose imaginations don't firmly reside in the Isle of Romance, this Rex Harrison/Gene Tierney homage to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is sadly lacking the ostentatious Sea Captain portrait. Even Romance Writer Barbie had a Nora portrait.

12 comments:

Pamela Cayne said...

You're enjoying the free time you have because you've completed your edits, aren't you?

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to the t.v. show more than needing those granite slabs any time soon.

laughingwolf said...

i like weird, too, but that b&k just makes me shudder... and not from anticipation of anything good, lam :(

Sherry A Davis said...

I had no idea this American Stonehenge existed. Wow, what an arrogant guy this Christain must be. I wonder if he solicited any one else's opinion of what should be added? Or did he just assume the world would be a better place according to him?

I'm looking forward to the black out series. It seems like a good mystery premise. I hope they don't over-do the doom and gloom angle. Hollywood so loves a good disaster :)

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir worked for me. I was just a kid when I saw it on television and the overwhelming lonliness of these two characters really tugged at me. I remember being sad when the heroine died but happy they could finally touch and be together.

I think the Lake House could've worked if they'd established a relationship twist before the opening scenes. The never meeting yet still loving each other never worked for me. (One of them should've known they were in love with the other and thus established a need (vs a want) to get back to the other -- ala Somewhere in Time.
There was no progression of their relationship that seemed real for me. The "magical" mailbox just didn't work.

Charles Gramlich said...

I didn't know about the Georgia Stonehenge. Kinda cool actually.

the walking man said...

I've blacked out for far longer than two minutes and never woke to anything more catastrophic than a massive headache.

But then I never bumped into any large stone monoliths while black out, which if I had would have thrown me off my bearings because I haven't been to Georgia in a decade.

Hmmmm...Haven't been to Georgia in a decade, haven't had a black out in a decade...by God!! I think we're on to something here...Watson.

Robin said...

I'm not a Lost fan, but Flash Forward sounds really good! Do you watch Supernatural? I love that show.

And maybe it's just me, but I think Ken-Rex looks like McSteamy from Grey's Anatomy.

Hope you have a great weekend!

laughingwolf said...

blessed beltane to you and yours, lam :)

sexy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Barbara Martin said...

I don't watch TV, but I did enjoy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir when it was on.

Marilyn Brant said...

"Rule passion, faith, tradition and all things with tempered reason"--I loved this and all the guidelines mentioned.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir barbie couple was pretty funny--even w/o the portrait :).

L.A. Mitchell said...

@Pamela...is it *that* obvious? Actually, I'm in "I have 20 ideas and don't know which way to go" mode.

@Todd...The apocolaphobes (made that up, can you tell?) are already ramping up for the 2012 end to the Mayan calendar.

@laughingwolf...sorry to give you the heebee-jeebies :)

@Sherry...in the article I linked to, there is a huge aura of mystery surrounding the guy who commissioned it. He is a gypsy, never in one place for long, so naturally, some suspect he is some kind of prophet.

@Charles...I didn't know it existed, either. I've never been to Georgia.

@walkingman...lol..watch out for the Georgia moonshine or it might happen.

@Robin...Everyone keeps telling me I should watch Supernatural. I guess I'm going to have to go on a Season DVD binge.

@laughingwolf...forgive me...what are we celebrating? :)

Deleted comment courtesy of "Sexy" in China. Alas, my translator could not decipher your text, but I fear it was not referencing Ken or Barbie. Stick to the topic, Mr. Sexy.

@Barbara...I usually limit myself to 2 or 3 favorites and then only watch the DVRed version so I can zip through commericals.

@Marilyn...I don't think she looks anything like Gene Tierney, but I think Robin is right...he has some McSteamy crossover appeal :)