Brad Marley's Blog

Brad's (Delayed) Weekly Grab Bag of Links - May 12, 2009

Is it Friday Monday Tuesday already?

Well, you know what that means.

It's that time of the week where I share my favorite links from a week's worth of surfing, of course.

Here they are:

• Amazon's Kindle has a big job: saving the newspaper industry (L.A. Times): There was, quite literally, a ton of coverage last week around the reveal of the Kindle DX and how it and similar e-readers hope to save the newspaper industry. While this seems like a good idea in theory, I have a hard time believing people will fork over hundreds of dollars for a discounted Kindle when they can still access the news online for free.  

• Survey Says: PR People Love Our No-Embargo Policy (TechCrunch): This article was interesting for the simple fact that the blogger broke an embargo on the survey results that are relayed within the text of the post. But don't expect me to sit here and defend the PR people who continue to pitch TechCrunch and request they honor the embargo. It's clearly laid out that they won't, so why try?

• The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media (The Social Path): The headline of this post says it all. I'm a big fan of using known commodities to explain something that's not known, and we all should be up to snuff on the deadline sins, right? Click on the link to see how you can avoid Lust in your social media strategy. (It makes sense when you read it. Trust me.)

• The Need to Procure a Real Spokesman: PR's Struggle With Street Cred (Bad Pitch Blog): This post is a good reminder that great storytelling is key to excelling within the PR profession. The goal, according to this entry, is getting readers to stop and say, "Huh."

And one link for the road...

• Jac, Christian Shepherd (JohnCabrera.com): For all of you "Lost" fans out there, here's an intriguing theory that makes a lot of sense when you stop and think about it.

As always, you can find all of my links on my Delicious page.

Why "Lost" Needs to Matter

Relationships are all the rage these days.

It's why we get married.

It's why we go to the bar with our friends.

We want that connection.

If we're not getting anything out of that connection, we kick it to the curb and forge ahead in an attempt to find something more meaningful.

And sometimes that "something" ends up being a television show.

In this case, I'm talking about "Lost".

What started out as an infatuation quickly became an afterthought when I grew tired of being teased week after week; getting nary a crumb of a reward for my diligent viewing. 

I was spending one hour a week in front of the television and countless hours in front of my computer reading all of the latest theories.  Surely they could've thrown me a bone.  But each episode ended much the same as the previous one: with more questions than answers.

After staying away for about a season and a half, I returned to my former love in the middle of season 3, and was glad to see the pace had quickened.

Sure, there was still a multitude of secrets, but at least we were getting some answers.

Then when it was announced it would end after season 6, things got good.

Answers were given.  Flashbacks became flash-forwards became flashes-at-same-time.  My head was spinning, but in a good way.

I had tried to run away, but I came to the conclusion that I needed this show.  I couldn't walk away, never knowing if we were meant to be.  So I returned and have been faithful ever since.

However, in classic fashion, that tiny thought, that tiny "what if it was all a waste of time?" has creeped into my brain.

I still really enjoy the show; I love hearing what other people are thinking about the island and everyone's purpose.

But at the end of the day (or season six), I want the time I spent on this show to matter.  I want the last episode to leave me with a sense of wonderment.

I want to turn to my wife and say, "Damn.  That was totally worth the price of admission."

Because for all of the time I've invested, it can't end in a snow globe.  Or, a fade to black.

I want meaning.  I want it to tell us that there are things in this world, like fate, that cannot be explained, and we're better off that way. 

In short, I want my mind to be blown.

Because if it turns out it was just a game between two egotistical characters, I'm gonna be pissed.