The Many Engineering Escapades of Mark

I blogged about the first episode of season four of LOST in this blog.  Since it is summer, and the finale was on Thursday, I thought I'd blog about my final thoughts on the season.

As you may remember, I had a few issues with where I thought LOST was going at the beginning of the season.  Season four had flash-forwards instead of flashbacks, and I was prepared for this plot device to flop.  Fortunately, the skilled writers of LOST quickly proved me to be wrong.

I was worried about the flash-forwards distracting from the plot that was happening on the island.  While the flashbacks directly informed the action on the island, I felt these flash-forwards would distract from that.  I soon realized, however, that the flash-forwards weren't distracting from the story, they were simply driving to the same point of time that the action on the island was driving towards:  the point when the heroes get off the island.

 And that was the season finale.  If you look back and think about it, the flash-forwards generally go from further ahead in time, to just barely ahead in time.  Both the action on the island and the action off the island were working towards the point when our favorite characters leave the island, and they did so in a gripping and compelling manner.  Not only that, but they helped fill us in on a lot of story and development that has happened off the island.  Now, when season five starts, we can get right back to action where the island (I am assuming the search for the island) is very directly involved.

Because the show is primarily about being lost on an island, I think that the island itself is an integral part to the story and what is going on.  Therefore, I am more than glad that when we jump back into season five, the island will be directly involved.  There is a lot of momentum going into the next season, and LOST has done well when it carries momentum from one season to the next.

I realize I have talked a lot about the season as a whole and not so much about the finale.  I thought it was fantastic.  I don't know if you guys caught the ad for http://octagonglobalrecruiting.com/ but my brother and I did.  And it's a very nice little treat for the clever LOST fans who picked up on it.  I love that sort of thing about this show.  Thanks, ABC.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. 

Last night, I attended the Viterbi Awards.  I was invited to go to this event, which was an awards show for alumni that was held at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.  It was ritzy, to say the least.

First off, the Beverly Wilshire is a very fancy hotel.  I had to valet park my car, which always makes me feel sort of important.  Luckily, the even validated my parking, so I didn't have to pay. The event was held in a nice room of the hotel.

Basically, they had some nice videos, gave out some nice awards, and we had dinner.  Dinner consisted of filet mignon and fish.  It was super delicious.  Amongst the speakers at the event were Yannis Yortsos, dean of the engineering school, Steven B. Sample, president of USC, and Andrew Viterbi, who is the Viterbi school's namesake.  It was very nice, and I felt honored to be there.

I also felt somewhat out of place.  But that's okay.  I got to meet some nice people, and have a tasty, tasty dinner, all for free. 

I have no finals at all next week.  I'm looking forward to it.  I do have finals on Monday and Tuesday the following week.  However, I am planning on having a lot of fun and relaxation this upcoming week.

The only thing, is I have a midterm at 4pm today.  Today is the last day of classes, and I have a big test.  It's more or less a final, but the professor is giving it on a regular class day, so it's being called a midterm.  Luckily, we don't have a real final in that class.  I still have a little work to do on the final project.  That's okay.

Immediately after the test, I will be going out with my girlfriend to her sorority's invite.  It should be fun.  It's at the Santa Monica Aquarium.  It should be fun, and a nice way to end classes.  Unfortunately, because of my midterm, I might have to be a tiny bit late.  Hopefully not.  We will just have to see how it goes.