The Cosmopolitan Blog

Well, the time i thought would never happened… is happening! Lost writers are finally revealing what direction they always meant this show to take. I still feel as confused and Lost (the real reason for the name of the show, i believe, was to reflect how the audience would feel when watching) at the end of every episode, but now, at least, it seems we’re being told what the “secret theory” is behind the show. Can it be classified as sci-fi-ish? Not yet. But it’s definitely taking that turn.

Basically, the island has a special power. At first, we thought it simply somehow cured illness (Locke’s legs, Rose’s cancer…). But since the last episode, a seemingly-forever-young Richard Alpert (Ben’s right hand “Other” man), is apparently the same age the day Locke is born, the day he meets Ben as Ben escaped from the Dharma compoud, and the day he recruited Juliet to the island. So, it would seem that this island holds the secret to eternal life. Eternal life with no NEW life, since they can’t have babies on the island. And of course, eternal life so long as you are not killed (i.e. shot, dead from plane crash,

What’s confusing to me is that, if time goes by at different speeds on the island and in the real world, then the curing of diseases and the eternal life contradictory, right? I mean eternal life would suggest that time goes more slowly on the island (takes longer to get older), while healing powers might make us believe that time goes faster on the island (thus healing faster).

One of my thoughts, right now, is that, while they’re only on day 90-or-so on the island (meaning they’re now December 2004, since their plane crashed when we started watching, September 04), the world outside has actually been following the normal timeline, and everyone is already in 2008. But i don’t think that’s quite accurate, or still unprovable.

Either way, the island is special enough (even if it’s just the healing powers) that people are willing to kill for it. We now have 2 nemeses, Ben versus Charles Widmore, both of them realizing the value of the island. We know Widmore wants to control the island (and kill all survivors, for fear they might leak the truth, why the Oceanic 6 haven’t yet, is still to be determined).

Speaking of nemeses, Locke’s other nemesis is Jack, this revealed itself in season 2 when we realized that both men represent the “battle” between science and faith (represented by Jack vs. Locke).

Anyway, for all of you interested in the time issue on the island, read this on Lostpedia, the reference for all things lost. So what do you think the time thing is on the island? Is there a discrepency between the time on the island and the time on the real-world?

I grew up in London. London is a big city. In a big city, there’s a million more chances of seeing weird and shocking things everyday, then say, in small town middle-America. I say that tongue-in-cheek, of course, because while in London the weirdos are right there in the street for all to see; in small-town middle America, of course, the weirdos are there too, they’re just sitting behind their white pickets fence with a few dead bodies in their basement.

Anyway, so back to London. So having grown up there, trust me, I’ve seen everything (I don’t take such a statement lightly). I went to a school, private as it may have been, that didn’t spare the shocking: drugs, under-age drinking, heavy partying, teenage pregnancies, you name it (again, that whole, ‘oh it couldn’t happen in this private school with high standards and only the crème-de-la-crème students… yeah, right!’).

I then worked in the hotel industry, and whatever it was I hadn’t yet seen, i saw it there, you’d be surprised what those clean-cut business men get up to when they’re away from their wives and staying in swanky hotels paid by their companies.

Fashion is a great example. I honestly don’t think anyone’s fashion sense would shock me, in my life, ever again, after the fashion statements i’ve learnt to be surrounded with and lived with my whole life. Behavior, the same. British people, i hate to break it to you, are not overwhelmingly polite (old school, maybe, but not nowadays anymore). They’re actually quite often rude. They’re not helpful and kind, and the spirit of community, in a big city like London, is practically non-existent.

My apologies, this is not meant to be a rant on London. It’s meant to highlight that, in the 22 years there, i can honestly say, i’ve seen it all. I’ve seen a woman get attacked on a subway platform with no one doing anything. I’ve seen British teenagers tag a bus with graffiti and then run out so fast that they pushed an old lady to the ground and then swore at her for being in the way.

So then, sometimes i worry, because i feel desensitized now to a point where, when something shocking shows up in the news, i no longer get shocked. In Austria, a man held his daughter captive for over 25 years and bore her 7 children. That’s pretty sick right? Don’t get me wrong, i recognize that it’s sick, but at no time was i shocked by the atrocity. I am no longer shocked by the low depth to which the human race can sink. I feel so sorry for the 600 kids that were taken away from that community in the US, because some of them are suspected to be victim of abuse. I think they’re abusers should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but the thought of what may have actually been going on there for generations, THAT was not a surprise to me. And THAT, i find sad.

The good news, of course, is that on the other hand, my eyes swell up with tears very easily when i hear of acts of bravery that remind us to just what level of wonderful the human spirit can rise to. Anyway, just thought i’d share my state of mind. I’m now off to go make myself feel better by donating some money to the poor people of Myanmar, please read about what’s going on there, so far the count is 22,000 people have lost their lives in the storm on Friday, and there are 100s of thousands left with no house, food or possessions. Please donate now. Don’t find yourself so blasé that you no longer care: Canadian Red Cross.

Which site(s) do you consider the most popular web 2.0 / social bookmarking sites out there? Vote now in the poll on the right (scroll down a bit if this is the latest post of this blog). Also, i want to hear from you. Which sites to you like? Which work well? Which don’t? What features do you like? Which are the easiest to use? Which ones do you use for self-promotion, and which ones do you use for a collection of interesting links? Am i missing some crucial sites in my list (see poll)?

Write your comments below after you voted (in the poll, you can pick as many answers as you like).

I’m giving a speech tomorrow on setting up your own blog and the key to success. I was doing some more researching today and found these two valuable posts / resources:

• Mitch Joel (yes, i know, again, what can i say, he’s good!) claims that blogging is getting a second wind and that micro-niches (i like the term) and fresh new ideas are the way to go.
• Tactical Execution: nothing new in their post other than reinforcing the idea that linking to other experts in your field is a good idea, i like the “outbound links = currency” part, they have a point.

Since it’s pretty much guaranteed that there’s a least ONE other person out there discussion the same thing(s) you are, then you might as well use each other. Post on their blogs, and link back to yours. And ALWAYS open up conversation, don’t close it. Ask questions. Even create a bit of a debate. People who will visit the “competitor” blogs will then visit your blog, because you have something interesting to say.

It’s funny, everyone (even me) out there is pretending they have valuable info to share about blog promotion.

I’m looking for those fresh new ideas, so tell me, what resources do you use? Let me know, comment below! I want to hear from you (i do, really, i’m not just saying that so that i can promote my blog effectively), hehehe.

One element of a successful blog is branding. Either branding of your blog itself, or your the author. The marketing circle in Montreal is a small one, so you’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Mitch Joel, a branding guru and president of TwistImage. Mitch Joel also has the perfect example of personal branding and web presence, since this is what he advocates. For example, his avatar/picture is always the same one, regardless of which site, chat social network, blog or application you find him on.

So one of the ways i am planning on making this blog more successful is to ensure a presence for CosmoChick. One of the ways i do that, for example, is, every site i sign up for, I use the same user name and update my profile with the same information and links to this blog. On the right column of this blog, you’ll notice i started a “web presence” widget, where, as much as possible, i will try to add the different places where i hold the CosmoChick identity. I look forward to hearing from you on suggestions of where else i should sign up.

Today, my goal is to look into online playlist sites, and see if my online identity can be extended to the music I’m currently listening to. There’s YouTube, of course, but i’m about to go explore Deezer and Seeqpod to. If I’m successful, I’ll be able to find a widget of some sort that will allow me to share my tunes with you (legally, of course!).

That’s it, i’m done, this could possibly be one of my shortest blog posts EVAH!

i think i brought the vancouver weather back to montreal! sorry people. good news is i’ll be blogging about my trip shortly, so stay tuned!

my plan for tomorrow? picking a fight with AMEX customer service… good times! but then again, who looses their card 4 days before a trip??

i think i’ve just instantly become a hockey fan! now i’m truly a montrealer

I’m glad to see my Twitter Buddies are promoting their “green-ness”. Last year, i had a post on what i do to stay green, and i’m glad to see that Big Peach Runner has her post to: http://bigpeachrunner.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-waste.html, so good job there girl!

Oh, and if you like dogs, you should read her blog, it’s got the cutest picture of her Jake at 6 months old!

Blogs are funny that way. They’re a historical log of your thoughts and opinions over time. Except that sometimes, your opinions change, so it’s worth remembering to post updates. So here’s me making an update to a post dating back 6 months called “Someone Please Explain Twitter To Me” to state that i am still a Twitter user, i’m addicted, I’ve integrated it into my blog, my facebook account, all my desktops and into my life, and still, i don’t understand it!

I don’t make very many twitter updates, considering some people twitter every 2 minutes, but apparently what i say matters, because i now officially have more “followers” of my updates than i have people following me (apparently, that’s a good thing, say the experts). I still agree with someone who commented on my previous post, that this just means i have an extra 20 stalkers (YAY!), but the good news is i get to “meet” people, and out of those 20 stalkers, 1 might actually have something insightful to say other than that he had sushi for dinner.

Turns out that twitterers (well those on my list anyway) are all quite techy, which suits me just fine, so i end up hearing of events, podcasts, posts and conferences that are sometimes interesting. Also, there is what is known as “twitter royalty”, such as Robert Scoble et al., and well, I’m not sure what to think of those guys other than they’re funny sometimes and conceited most of the time, but definitely worth following.

After all that, though, Twitter has become something i love to hate. I’m in touch with a bunch of strangers, and it takes time out of my day for nothing, and it serves no purpose whatsoever… just the way i like my applications.