i am LOST

My obsession with LOST has been in overdrive the last few months.  Those sneaky showrunners slipped me (and 6000 other people) the first clue of their fan appreciation project at this year's San Diego Comic-Con when a guy walked up to the mic and started spouting the name of his website he'd dedicated to fine fan inspired LOST art. He presented to them a velvet painting of Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear. I was there- and thought nothing of it.  Just another crazy, insane fan, giving them a crappy velvet painting.  Fast forward a few weeks- and a friend of mine at work sends out a link to a video of the "crazy fan".  He's gotten onto the ABC lot and is running around and dumpster diving. He was able to retrieve some shredded LOST script pages.  When I saw this (obviously staged) video, this was my first clue that this was something more than just another crazy fan site.  This was something "REAL". (The crazy fan, by the way, is comedian Paul Scheer.)

I decided to check on this website (DamonCarltonAndAPolarBear.com) a few times a week to see if anything else happened.  And boy did things start happening.  Unfortunately, I missed out on the first event they had.  The event was at a club in Los Angeles with DJ AM and that is where they revealed the first website for the LOST Underground Fan Art Project.  The first LOST print was revealed on actuallyitsketchup.com. A Hurley-centric print entitled, "The Numbers" by artist Tim Doyle.  It was intriguing- with glow in the dark ink- but not something I wanted to drop $50 on.  A few days later a new clue appeared on DCaaPB.com. Immediately I started googling the words- trying to decipher their cryptic meaning...  Each day a new clue would reveal more information until finally a location, date and time was spelled out for the next LOST print website reveal.  Somewhere along the way- I stumbled upon a blog called LostARGS.com.  A place where others (not The Others) like me, were following this white rabbit down the twisty, turny road of fun and discovery.

The second reveal was at a bakery in Boston where limited edition LOST skate decks were handed out to the first 8 people there.  The second print was entitled "Locke's Secret" by artist Olly Moss.  I saw it- and I have to say- I wasn't going to buy it at first- but the more I looked at it- the cooler it got.  And I just had to have it.  Okay, $50 for a limited edition piece of art about my favorite character from my favorite TV show- totally worth it. That was on August 26th, 2009.  It is now November 5th, and I am still neck-deep in this crazy, mad, wonderful adventure.  Every week- a new print has become available- and every week it gets harder and harder to keep up with the momentum that this Fan Appreciation project has built up.  The second print I bought was "The Crash" by artist Eric Tan.  At the time (September 9th) it was the fastest sell-out of all the prints.  Selling out in under an hour, I believe.  I was one of the last people to snag one.

I was able to attend the 7th reveal at Rusty's Discount Pet Center in Studio City, CA.  It was great to meet some fellow LOST fans there and we all got an yellow "I <3 Shih Tzus" t-shirt like the one Hurley wore on the TV show.  I am still kicking myself for not purchasing the print that was revealed there.  At the time I was thinking that the print wouldn't really go with the rest of the prints that I had bought- but after seeing people's close-up shots of the amazing detail of the work, I am sad that I do not own "The Smoke Monster" by artist Ken Taylor.  Maybe one day down the road I will be able to buy one for a reasonable price.

And speaking of reasonable prices- this is where I get into the ugliness of people buying these prints just to turn around and resell them for a profit on eBay.  As this promotion has chugged along, print fanatics who are not even LOST fans are buying these prints.  I guess I can understand if they are a fan of a certain artist and want to buy their work- but the the people who have no love of LOST or of beautifully rendered print art and are blatantly horning in on this promotion make me sad.  Sad for the "real" fans.  Prints have been selling on eBay for up to $500 or more for some.  The latest prints have sold out in under 2 minutes.  Long gone are the days of taking a moment to think about your purchase.  Now it's either buy now or forever hold your peace- and pay up the wazoo on eBay.

This print "flipping" phenomenon seemed to happen right around when the 7th and 8th prints became available.  I was actually standing in line at the DMV when the 8th print entitled, "The Hatch" by Kevin Tong was revealed. Needless to say, I panicked, jumped out of line and drove like a maniac back to work and got there in enough time to buy it. (And for my girlfriend who may be reading this- even if I had stayed in line, I would have had to go back to work before my number was called. I swear!!!)

So there you have it.  I'm obsessed with LOST.  If you read my last post, you probably got that already. But just in case you were wondering... :)  And since the last post, I have finished framing my prints and have even finished cutting a special mat for my white LOST poster that was signed by Damon Lindelof. And yes, I did etch The Numbers on the frame myself. (nerd alert!) Oh, and I had a birthday- and my wonderful girlfriend got me a special Dharma ice cream cake.  (Yeah, my girlfriend totally rules!!! )  Hope you enjoy the pics and my words. Toodles.  Time to get ready for the next print reveal...

He brought his MOM!

I love meeting famous people.  Let me rephrase that-  I love meeting humble, down-to-earth, famous people.  Tonight I went to a comic book store in Sherman Oaks, CA called Earth-2 Comics.  They were hosting a signing by Damon Lindelof, co-creator, executive producer, and writer of LOST.  This in-store signing was to celebrate the release of the hardcover edition of his limited comic book series "Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk".   Me being a huge LOST fan AND a huge Wolverine fan- this was my thing, ya know? 

I got to the store about half an hour early and there were already several people there waiting for Damon to show up.  (I could tell they were waiting for him because they had Dharma Swan Station t-shirts on and this other guy was wearing a Dharma jumpsuit.)  By the time Damon arrived, there was a healthy crowd of about 30 people- all dying to get their books (and LOST stuff) signed.

He arrived quietly, thru the front door and shook hands with the comic book store owner. He looked at the signing table all laid out for him.

The store owner introduced him to us and told us that Damon wanted to say a few things before he got started.  Damon said hello and thanked us all profusely for being here this evening. He pointed out his mom, who was visiting from New Jersey and joked that if anyone could explain Adamantium to her, that person would get a special prize.  This was a dream come true for him- his first comic book signing.  His dad would take him to comic book stores when he was a kid and he never thought he would one day create a series of his own.  He said that he's always been on the other side of the table- and that he's a fanboy just like the rest of us.  "I'm just here to hang out with you guys for the next two hours.  Feel free to ask me anything about LOST or comic books - I'm just here to hang out with you all."

I was the 4th person in line.  The first guy was in a Dharma jumpsuit.  The next guy had a tattoo of the Numbers  (4 8 15 16 23 42) on his right bicep- and Damon loved it so much he took a picture of it with his iPhone.  And the guy also had "Live together, die alone" tatted on the other side of his arm- which Damon also geeked out on and took a picture of.  I had brought my stack of comics for him to sign and I also brought my John Locke toy which he gladly signed "Alice.  Everything happens for a reason.  Best, Damon Lindelof"  and he also signed my LOST The Final Season poster, which he said he had never seen before.  I asked him what episode they were currently writing (episode 7) and how he felt it was going.  "It's going well.  But I have to admit, it's kind of sad that it's ending."  I asked him what he'd be doing next and he replied "I heard someone at comic-con ask James Cameron what he'd be doing after Avatar. And he answered 'That's like asking a woman when's the next time she's going to have a baby when she's in the middle of crowning.'  I liked that.  I think that's how I'm going to start answering that question from now on."  I asked him if he had a favorite character:  "I like Desmond and Locke a lot.  But my favorite is Jack.  I know that's not a popular answer, but I think of him as the glue that holds them all together.  Hopefully more people will come around to that after this last season."

I thanked him for his time and for coming out and hanging with us- and we took a picture together. My last question to him was about the LOST print series.  I asked him who came up with the idea- and he pointed to a woman standing next to me, Noreen.  She quickly said- well, there was a group of us that came up with it.  I asked her if she could divulge what the next print would be of- and she smiled and simply said, "I think you'll like it.  It's one of my favorites."  I tried pressing for more information, but all she would say is "Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow."

This wasn't the first time I've met Damon, but it was my favorite.  Just seeing him there, genuinely happy to be signing books, dvds and whatever else people brought in (someone brought in a giant painting of the Hatch mural for him to sign).

So in conclusion- Damon Lindelof is one cool cat.  And I am proud to be one of his many adoring fans. Can't wait to get LOST for the last time in 2010...