The general idea of this end theory is not mine, I read it, but I really like the concept and it makes me feel better about the entire ending and experience. I’ve expanded a few things.

Technically, the Flash Sideways of this final season was just an extreme flashforward, a hint of the proto-afterlife/purgatory. Despite all the flashbacks and different storylines, the absolute main character has been about Jack Shepard. This flash sideways was his “staging reality”, created between his death and his admittance into the afterlife.

During the course of the season we did get glimpses of other people’s “realities” such as Sayid being with Nadia but not as her husband as he did not feel worthy of her. Or Kate’s where she proclaimed her innocence and was finally able to help Claire. In Locke’s, he was with Helen and had a relationship with his father. Hurley is able to find good fortune and the love of another, Libby. Desmond is successful and has the approval of Penny’s father, Charles. We never see the full stories but we see many of the main characters come to grips with what they were missing most of their pre-island lives.

It all comes back to Jack however. In order to move on, he had to come to terms with any issues he had, primarily whether he could be a good father and finding peace with his own father Christian. Because this was Jack’s “reality” the people and places (primarily in the finale) are as he remembers them:

* He never knew Sayid with Nadia, only with Shannon, which is why they were true loves in this scenario.
* He only knew Aaron as an infant, so that is how he appeared.
* He felt a connection to Juliet at first, but at the end knew she was Sawyer’s love.
* He ends up with Kate, who he has loved all along.

Jack’s son, David, only existed in this staging reality to resolve an issue and was not needed to “move on.” Also why Jin and Sun’s baby was not there as Jack never knew the child first hand.

It is also why some people: Richard, Lapidus, Daniel, Charlotte were not in his final scene because they weren’t as important to him in his life. Each person’s “staging reality” may be different. You may be in my reality because of your importance to me, but I may not be as important to you and therefore don’t appear in yours.

Jack REALLY did become the protector and REALLY did die in the same spot he started his island journey. From the moment his eye closed, start the flash sideways from that point and it would be chronologically correct.

As Christian said, everybody died at different times. Some before, some after. The biggest evidence of that is Hurley and Ben’s interaction where they said “You were a great #1.” and “You were a great #2.” It’s clear they have lived together and experienced things together up to their own deaths when they reached this point. Likewise, everybody who escaped the island on the plane (Richard, Lapidus, Miles, Sawyer, Kate) could have lived far into their old age. We don’t see that however because it is in Jack’s perspective. Another example of this is when Kate says to Jack “I’ve been waiting for you for so long.” indicating she may have lived her own long life and never forgot about him.

While we didn’t get all the answers from their real time on the island, that’s because Jack never knew those answers either. Nobody ever gets all the answers in life and it’s just as frustrating as some fans feel that they don’t know why Walt was “special” or why The Man in Black became a smoke monster. The mysteries of life are taken to the grave. And I am okay with that. Could any explanation truly satisfy your curiosity? Why was there a polar bear on the island? They probably had several types of animals in cages to do experiments on and it escaped. Does it make you feel better? I don’t think it mattered in the overall retrospective of life, just like when you are close to passing you won’t wonder about the small mundane things that occurred during your time.

So the finale truly indicated the final death of Jack, who ironically enough was supposed to die in the very first episode, but other people lived on and had experiences past Jack. We should appreciate the journey we shared with Dr. Shepard, his life, and all the amazing people he met along the way.

Let me immediately make the disclaimer that the game has come out yesterday and I’ve only played it for a few hours. That being said, I have some opinions.

Super Powers of the Plains.

The number of bugs and problems with the multi-player aspect of the game is beyond reasonable and borderline unplayable. Often times players, horses, guns are completely invisible on the screen and 4 out of 5 times you receive an error message stating network connection has been lost when you attempt to join a friend’s game. The potential for a great experience is there. Myself and multiple friends raiding a gang hangout has been something we’ve been dreaming about for… about two days since we decided to get the game, but the dream burns strong. There has already been a patch released and we obviously anticipate more from a high quality developer such as RockStar, but we’re impatient until then.

The Extinction of the Wild in the Wild West.

A great aspect of the single player experience are challenges to kill, skin, find different animals out in the vast, open wilderness. So many challenges that it seems silly to ever let a living creature pass you without trying to shoot it’s head off and skin it for goods to sell back at town. While tiptoeing the line of being an environmentalist nutjob, there are times where I wish I could just appreciate the beauty of a running pack of deer rather then knowing I need to kill 5 of them to get Rank 2 – Master Hunter. If there was a skill such as “Tracker” where it benefited the player to just follow animals or watch them from time to time, it could be a nice balance. In the meantime, if it moves, it dies.

If We Want To Do Anything, Let Us Do Anything.

Last night my housemate spent a half hour riding around on the top of a train and eventually decided to hijack it. By “hijack” it means shooting the four people who were on the train and collecting around $20. This unscripted, totally user driven experience could’ve been much more rewarding by allowing the player to obtain more rewards from successfully getting on the train and holding up its occupants. A simple selection box, while pointing a gun at an NPC, should give a list of options including “Demand Money” or something of that sort. The NPC would then decide if they fork over the dough or refuse and force the player to make the tough honorable decisions the game is based on. There were also several completely empty rail cars that COULD’VE been filled with locked crates that you would have to force a conductor to open with his key, or kill the conductor and take his key for yourself. These adjustments could’ve taken the game to the next level by truly letting you live an outlaw lifestyle outside of the constraints of questing.

Grand Theft Horse.

While old GTA games have you stealing a different car every few minutes, I like the emphasis on maintaining your same horse as long as you can. The longer you have your companion, you “bond” with the animal and it gains benefits to increased stamina which allows it to sprint longer. I’ve named my horse “Friday” and greet it with “TGIF” every time it arrives.

Additionally, little things from the west could be included: You can’t buy cigarettes (although there is chewing tobacco), you can’t appear to “hold up” anyone by pointing a gun at them or store clerks, and I wish there was more interaction with random NPCs around town. A couple lines here and there where they could simply direct the player on progress, “I hear Bonnie is looking for you.” when she has a quest available or “I wish these bandits would leave us alone.” when there is a bounty waiting for you to take advantage of. That would give the world a more lively feel to it then a bunch of zombies walking around ignoring everything else.

The game continues to have potential, and like I said I’ve only scratched the surface, but I already see areas that could’ve taken this game from great to legendary. As of now, I give it 7 rolling tumbleweeds out of 10 and once the multi-player is fixed, it will definitely be higher.

I’ve decided, with the suggestion of a colleague, to begin writing reviews of movies and games. I’ve done this in the past and enjoyed it. Also with my employment at Blockbuster I have the luxury of having access to various types of multimedia. I will not have an exact scoring system, simply state my opinions and if I choose to dictate it some arbitrary number, body part up or down, or multiple meaningless symbols then I shall at my discretion.

Some movies/games I’ve seen that I’ll be reviewing in the next few weeks include (but aren’t limited to):

Iron-Man 2, Gentlemen Broncos, Ice Twisters, The Box, Daybreakers, Legion, WET (Xbox 360), Batman: Arkham Asylum (360), MLB 2k10 (360), NBA 2k10 (360), Red Dead Redemption (360), Assassin’s Creed 2 (360), BioShock 2 (360)

Some reviews will be shorter, others will be longer.

Some will end abruptly.

At what point in our world did the words “need” and “want” become interchangeable. I need that phone, I need to watch that, etc. The continual emphasis that these orders and rules are placed on ourselves is stressful and overwhelming. Who is this unnamed, invisible voice creating all these walls around our freedom?

You don’t need to study for a test. You choose to study for this test because you want to do well on it so you’ll eventually graduate and get a job you want. Will your life end if you fail the test? Don’t be dramatic and say yes, figuratively, because it will not.

My definition of necessity in an action is the direct correlation between the ending of existence. Only at that point is it a necessity because if the correct choice isn’t made, there are no additional choices following it. Eating, sleeping, breathing, all necessities of life. Even shelter, to boost the quality of your life is an essential want of the human race but without a roof it does not mean the immediate end of your survival. If you’re homeless, yes, it will slowly deteriorate your chances of survival and will present you with choices that may eventually reach a “need” status but housing is still a luxury that you should be grateful for every single day you have.

When a person puts these needs and have-to’s on their back, its a weight they shouldn’t have to carry. They have to be honest with themselves and ask “What do I want?” If they want to play video games instead of study, they need to understand the consequences that come with that choice. If they only make “want” choices in the short term they may not reach the point they want to be. Keep perspective that life is a marathon (as cliche as that is) and if you sprint ahead in the first mile, you may not be there in the end. Pace yourself.

Next time you’re in a tough situation or are faced with an overwhelming task, remember you’re in control of yourself and your own actions. What do you want out of that situation and out of life? Look big picture. You may not enjoy doing dishes, but you want to live in a clean and healthy environment. You may not feel motivated to go to work, but you want to earn a living to achieve other desires in your life.

If your wants take you down a path where you’re unsuccessful and harmful to yourself and others, that’s the type of person you truly are. You have to look at yourself in the mirror and have nobody else to blame but yourself. Take responsibility. Most “good” people want to be around other “good” people. People whose ‘wants’ take into account other people’s ‘wants’ as well. Those who don’t fit that category will quickly be on the outside and decide to prioritize their desires in life to not be as self fulfilling or they will remain happy and isolated.

All we need in life is to do what we want. Once you know what that is.

The power was out, a few glowing emergency lights remained. If there was still electricity to power these emergency lights why wasn’t there backup power to keep the office running? It’s one of those “why isn’t the whole plane made out of the black box material” type questions. There is probably a logical explanation to those who are informed on such material, but to the common man a decent question.

Without power, means no internet, it means no phones, no connection to the outside world. It suddenly makes you realize that the majority, if not all, of your job takes place virtually. Why do we even have an office? If I was on my couch at home right now I could be more productive. I could be doing the same job.

I suppose it’s because at home there are distractions. Television, family, friends, pets, neighbors, ice cream sandwiches in the fridge… but couldn’t you argue, even if those distractions cut off an hour of productivity from your regular day, you could make up for it with lack of commute time? Crawl out of bed, no shower, no change of clothes, log on and boot up and you’re at the office. You can IM coworkers and discuss last night’s sports fiasco or mundane office jargon about having memo X in email inbox Y by deadline Z.

Perhaps it’s because people don’t want to fully admit that face to face interaction isn’t even necessary anymore. Physical contact may still seem the correct course of action for old school businessmen but if your deal is hindering on the firmness of a handshake then are you sure you want to go into business? Hell, someone invent a handshake strength tool. It’ll plug into your USB slot and you can have your firmness grade listed on your LinkedIn profile.

Physical desks are breeding grounds for clutter. Clutter of useless items that may be useful later. Clutter for items that use to be useful and are now forever useless. Post it notes with privacy passwords for secret documents. The most security being that you hope nobody knows what “BossMan82” is used for. Xbox alias for some late night Halo deathmatch? No, it’s your email password. It’s either too hard to remember so you write it down, or it’s so easy to remember I can ask your birthday and youngest child’s name and probably “hack” my way in with a few keystrokes.

The office is dying. The brick and mortar costs are unnecessary expenses for most when very little happens there that wouldn’t be improved by occurring online. Wake up at 7, be in a conference meeting in Washington at 7:15, have an eggo from your kitchen at 8, discuss profits with shareholders in Denver at 9 and have a lunch meeting with friends from Miami at noon.

All while wearing bunny slippers.