Whoa! Lots of good info and navel-gazing going on over at BuddyTV today... check it out...

A new, not so authorized, picture has shown the world that �The Orchid� not only exists, but will be featured around midway through the fourth season. It�s purpose is still unknown, but a curious set of dinosaur-sized bones sticking from the ground stirs memories of a four-toed foot, and questions over just where the rest of that statue is.

Is it February yet?!  Is it much further? Are we there yet?!  And since I'm too lazy to go look for it , anyone have a link to this other photo of the Orchid?

Link: Lost's Fourth Season Closes, and The Orchid Blossoms

Technorati Tags: LOST, rumors, theories, dharma, orchid station

Oh no, just when things were looking up.  Hopefully Jin doesn't meet an untimely demise this season, as those who ran afoul of the law previously....

Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin on ABC's hit drama Lost, was arrested early Thursday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence.  Though the details remain sketchy at this point, Kim was pulled over in the Honolulu area around 3am this morning.  He was taken into custody and posted bail soon after.  He left the Honolulu police station at a little after 5am and was quickly whisked away, saying nothing to reporters.

Link: Lost: Daniel Dae Kim Arrested for DUI

New info emerges! Check out the scans from the 10/22 TVGuide!

More important is the title of the episode.  "The Beginning of the End."  A clue to the 'flash-forward' nature of things to come?  A hint to the now-fixed timeline of the show?  Another literary reference I'm not familiar with?  All of the above?

We'll have to wait another near-four months to find out! ARGH.

Link: Lost - Season 4 Scans

Technorati Tags: LOST, season four, rumors, title, the beginning of the end

(And I've fixed the ! in url's bug! yeah! sorry about that!)

Variety posts an interview with Carlton and Damon about the roadmap for the show.  Sort of interesting.  It seems they've got the timeline planned out to a tee.

They also make some comments about the Nikki and Paulo debacle, and about the potential for spoilers.  Nothing really quote-worthy, but a good read in these dark LOST-less times.

Oh, and they mention the "mobisodes" (gak) at the end.  Hopefully they'll find their way onto more traditional media outlets so that those of us who use our phones to talk (really!) can see them!

Link: Lost: The weight of the wait - Entertainment News, MSN News Feed, Media - Variety

Technorati Tags: lost, carlton cuse, damon lindelof, mobisodes, interview

To quote:

Fisher Stevens will join the cast of ABC's Lost in a recurring role as the mysterious Minkowski, whose voice was heard on the other side of the satellite phone found by the gang in the third-season finale, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the Lost fan blogosphere, the name of the character has been tied to German mathematician Hermann Minkowski, whose Minkowski space�??a four-dimensional system including the three dimensions of space plus the dimension of time�??was used in Einstein's theory of special relativity, the trade paper reported. Lost returns with its fourth season early next year.

Ah, but Minkowski's (the real one) work goes a bit deeper than that, even.  He basically invented the math that Special Relativity is founded on, and indeed General Relativity could be thought to come out of it (and is needed to describe it) as well.  In Minkowski space (or "manifolds"), the concepts of absolute coordinate systems go out the window, and space is allowed to curve, twist, compress, and generally get all wonky.

Interesting enough is a property of Minkowski space which says that in a finite small region surrounding a point (which a couple exceptions), the geometry remains whats known as 'locally flat spacetime,' being indistinguishable from 'classical' spacetime.

Sooo.....  Our little band of islanders are trapped in a region of this locally flat spacetime, yeah!?  while everything around it goes weird.

I like it.

Link: SCI FI Wire | The News Service of the SCI FI Channel | SCIFI.COM

Technorati Tags: LOST, cast news, characters, minkowski, fisher stevens, spacetime, physics, theories

Man, does this guy like the F bomb or what!  Director and Silent Bob actor Kevin Smith gives his two cents worth on LOST.  Here's a taste.

Absolutely. Suddenly it's like, ''Who gives a f--- about the polar bear, who gives a f--- about the smoke monster, any of that �?? all the f---ing sci-fi weirdness just took a backseat to, like, ''Holy s---! Why did Jack and Kate stop being friends?''

Oh and Doc J pontificates some more, come on, did you really think he could hold out til February?!  The topic? Why'd Locke have to kill Naomi?

And this little interesting tidbit, straight from the mouth of Damon himself...

"After lying, gutshot, in a pit of Dharma corpses for two days and on the verge of taking his own life, an apparition of Walt appeared to Locke and said ''You have work to do.'' I would dare say that we might be willing to give John the benefit of the doubt for any action he took in response to this series of events, even if considered slightly ''out of character.'' I, for one, become VERY cranky when I get gutshot.''

(Emphasis mine.)  So, Michael's coming back, but that was merely an "apparition" of Walt.  Hm, the mind races.  So maybe he's close enough to the island to do some astral projection thing, or something.  Errr, yeah.

And of course the Doc comes out with another caraaazeee theory of his... this time, revolving around Ben.

Like Desmond, Ben receives flashes of the future, too. Of course, while Old Bug Eyes has been on The Island longer, and has actively cultivated a deeper rapport with The Island (or is that just Jacob?), Big Bad Ben has banked many, many, many more flashes than the formerly Hatched-trapped Scot. My belief is that Ben has seen the Ultimate End of the drama currently transpiring on The Island �?? the one involving The Castaways, his fellow Others, and even the newly arrived freighter people �?? and he's either determined to do whatever it takes to make sure that Ultimate End comes to pass...or to thwart it.

Now there's a thought!

Link: Kevin Smith raves about ''Lost'' | Lost | DOC JENSEN | TV | Entertainment Weekly | 1

Technorati Tags: LOST, kevin smith, doc j, theories, rumors, interviews, walt, apparition

SciFi Wire got some juicy info from C&D themselves about some of the mechanics involving the "Flash Forwards" we'll be season in season 4....

The distinction between a flash forward and a flash back will not always be immediately evident.  According to Cuse, determining whether you are watching a flash forward or a flash back will be part of the fun. �??Moving forwards, you'll get a mix. Every week will hopefully be a guessing game as to not just WHO will be focused on, but WHEN we're focusing on them,�?� Cuse said.

And even a snippet about the mysterious Jacob....

A possible clue to how we will be seeing the mysterious Jacob next may be embedded in Cuse's legendary command of English usage.  When discussing the mysterious phase shifter, Cuse said "Yes, we do know how Jacob will be depicted. Notice the careful wording of my answer.�?�  Depicted, by most dictionary definitions, means specifically to be painted, or otherwise imaged.

So is this to mean that Jacob is not a specific, or for that matter, real person?  I'm still betting that "Jacob" is simply a manifestation of the island's "power" or whatever you want to call it, however weird that sounds.

[EDIT: Oh yeah, and Michael will be back.

Link: Lost Listens To Fans?

Link: 'Lost' Producers Spill the Beans on Season 4

Technorati Tags: LOST, interviews, jacob, timeline, rumors, carlton cuse, damon lindelof