SPOILER ALERT! “LOST” was filming today — a Saturday — a sure sign the traditional winter break is drawing near. Today, they set up in Kakaako, taking over the long-unused parking lot of the former CompUSA store on Ala Moana Boulevard, and staging a car crash a few blocks away on the corner of South and Pohukaina streets.
My friend, Bill Spencer, happens to live in the building overlooking the intersection, and was able to snap a couple of photos of the scene. Two other wrecked cars sit askew in the street, and a bloodied Locke (Terry O’Quinn) surveys what’s left of his vehicle… most likely the blue four-door he and Abbadon were driving in the graveyard scene they filmed on Monday.
Meanwhile, my friend Ed went past the parking lot, and saw some lights, and several cars with Oregon plates. Whether both locations were part of the same scene or time is anybody’s guess. [Read more →]
SPOILER ALERT! ”LOST” returned to downtown Honolulu this morning to film a New York street scene. The intersection of Bethel St. and Merchant St. was converted into the Upper West Side in Manhattan, with a tell-tale subway entrance (”Columbus & 67th St. Station”), New York cabs, some news racks, and an antique rugs shop (”established 1902″).
The centerpiece, though, was Honolulu’s upscale preschool, The Cole Academy. Through the power of quality set signage, its ornate entrance became the door to Fieldcroft School. Students, perhaps in their early teens, stood around with their backpacks. Nearby, a limousine waits.
The scene involves John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), Matthew Abbadon (Lance Reddick), Ben Linus (Michael Emerson)… and Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley).
I missed Ben, but was able to catch Walt and Locke — still in a wheelchair — talking across the street from the school as taxi cabs and pedestrians streamed past. Eventually, some other kids near the entrance call Walt over, and Abbadon helps Locke get into the back of a black Lincoln Town Car. Locke has a blue cast on his leg, but is able to hobble over to the vehicle.
The sidewalk was clogged with fans and onlookers, more than a few with cameras, so I suspect today’s shoot will be among the best documented in some time!
SPOILER ALERT! “LOST” returned to Oahu Cemetery this morning, perhaps a fitting location on the brink of Halloween. The historic graveyard previously appeared in the Season 2 episode “Lockdown,” as the not-quite-final resting place of Anthony Cooper.
It seemed, at first, a peaceful scene, with Matthew Abbadon (Lance Reddick) bringing a wheelchair-bound John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) to a modest gravesite for an intense conversation.
But things turned quickly when it came time to leave. Locke, in the back seat of a blue four-door sedan (I’d guess it was a late model Mercury Grand Marquis), waited as Abbadon loaded his wheelchair into the trunk. But no sooner had Abbadon closed the lid, when shots rang out. And Abbadon is hit.
Who’s gunning for Abbadon? And whose grave were they visiting?
When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on October 28th:
Tenants Claim Landlord Used Them In Experiments: Dozens of Kalihi tenants who escaped the collapse of their make-shift apartment building Sunday night said they were human guinea pigs for their landlord’s medical experiments.
Disney’s first Hawaii resort aims for 2011 opening: It may be the world’s first resort to incorporate a working taro loi, water slides erupting from a faux volcano, and Disney characters doing the backstroke in its pool.
MTV smacks YouTube, posts almost every music video ever: MTV and its sibling MTV2 are hardly channels anyone would watch in order to get a music video fix. MTV is looking to redeem itself with MTV Music that offers an entire back catalogue of videos that go all the way to when music videos were born.
Studios Are Pushing Box Office Winners as Oscar Contenders: After years of giving plenty of running room to independent film companies or studio art house divisions that set the pace with critic-friendly but limited-audience films like last year’s “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood,” this year the major studios are pushing some of their biggest crowd-pleasers into the thick of the awards race.
SPOILER ALERT! “LOST” returned to the campus of Windward Community College in Kaneohe today to film yet another scene at the “Santa Rosa Mental Institute,” where our dear Hurley (Jorge Garcia) has been a tenant.
From veteran spotter “Grappler” (who previously reported from the Windward side) comes this account of the day’s filming:
Hurley is relaxing on the hospital grounds, sitting on a bench and painting, when Locke (Terry O’Quinn) arrives. Locke is in a wheelchair with a cast on his right leg, rolling himself up to Hurley’s side.
They have a conversation. Soon enough, Hurley jumps up. He calls out to a female orderly, perhaps his attendant, named “Susie.” He asks her, “Am I talking to a guy in a wheelchair right now?” She affirms that Locke is really there.
Hurley sits back down, and they talk some more, in even more hushed tones. Locke eventually gestures over his shoulder at someone. It’s unclear whether this person is standing nearby, or is sitting in a mysterious black car with California plates parked in the distance. But from the context (and the stand-in on the set), chances are Locke is pointing at Abbadon.
At this, Hurley again jumps up, even more distressed. “What? Don’t you know? He’s evil!” He then jams his fingers in his ears, yelling, “I’m not hearing this! This is not happening!” He calls for Susie. ”I’m ready to go back now!”
Susie takes Hurley by the arm back into the hospital, leaving Locke behind.
Photo from a previous shoot at the Kaneohe location. Hat tip to Grappler for the report!
PodCamp & WordCamp Hawaii kicks off tomorrow at the Hawaii Convention Center, which will make the next two days utter nirvana (or, perhaps, “nerdvana”) for geeks and geeks in the making. New media and the social web will be explored and discussed in a free event that welcomes everyone — from the evangelists to the skeptics, from the pros to the merely curious. More than 500 people have registered to attend.
There had long been interest in staging a “PodCamp” (a specific brand of “community unconference”) in Hawaii. A more grassroots, local event dubbed “Unconferenz” was held in January — the brainchild of Burt Lum — and it certainly showed the potential. After WordPress.com founder Matt Mullenweg came to speak at Macahiki in April, I personally became interested in staging a WordCamp, a WordPress-centric little cousin to a PodCamp.
But new media entrepreneur Roxanne Darling (and her partner Shane Robinson) were ready to think big. Really big. Soon after a kickoff meeting in May, a full-blown PodCamp was in the works, with WordCamp but one part of it. Big name sponsors? The Hawaii Convention Center? In five months? I admit, I was skeptical. And certainly, there was talk of scaling things down, or postponing altogether, along the way. But Roxanne’s single-minded, take-no-prisoners commitment to the plan made it a reality.
Along with a hui of volunteers and in-kind sponsors, of course.
I’ll be speaking as part of a WordCamp session on blogging (backing up the effervescent Charlene Amsden) tomorrow, but I’ve also volunteered to staff a couple of other sessions. (You can still volunteer, too!) At an “unconference,” anyone can speak and share, and anyone can help. Everyone will learn something, and have a great time doing it.
I’m mostly looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new people. There’ll be people at PodCamp who’ll have traveled across the island, from another island, and from across the ocean. I hope you’ll join us, but if you can’t make it, there’ll be live video streamed from key sessions at the PodCamp Hawaii website. You can also track the keyword “pch08″ on Twitter to get nearly instantaneous updates from dozens of attendees. Of course, I’ll be tweeting and posting photos to Flickr as well.
Yesterday, I joined my 10-year-old daughter, Katie, on a hike up Diamond Head, one of Hawaii’s most recognizable landmarks and a popular local attraction. The hike was organized by her Girl Scout troop (Hawaii Troop #84), and we were joined by seven other girls, another dad, and Troop Leader Debbie.
It had been years since I’d last made the trek, and a lot had changed, from the fee to enter the crater to the partially paved path to the lights in the once pitch-dark stairwell. Despite the entrance fee, it was also as crowded as ever, and navigating the narrow paths with people headed both up and down the mountain was as much of a challenge as the climb itself.
With steps and handrails, Diamond Head is probably Hawaii’s easiest hike, but on a hot day with a crush of tourists it can still wipe you out.
When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on October 10th:
VC’s Gloom Means Entrepeneurs’ and Angels’ Boon: Even if some of the angels with funds saw those funds freeze up, I can promise you they would start investing as individuals again because they can’t not pass up on good opportunities. They know better. Wall Street and Sand Hill Road’s loss is their gain.
Falcon 1 Flight 4 - High Roller: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - Video Gallery: Falcon 1 Flight 4 music video done to Crystal Method’s “High Roller.” HD version available for download.
Death by kisses, an unusual tombstone: An odd, but real, tombstone in New York: “LOST LIFE BY STAB IN FALLING ON INK ERASER, EVADING SIX YOUNG WOMEN TRYING TO GIVE HIM BIRTHDAY KISSES IN OFFICE METROPOLITAN LIFE BUILDING.”
5 Ways to Sell Social Media to Your Boss: Here are some suggestions for ways other companies have used social media tools. Consider how these could apply to your business. Be creative and don’t think about what you could do - think about what your customers want.
MediaShift Idea Lab | PBS: Reinventing community news for the digital age. A group blog in association with MediaShift and underwritten by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Whitney Matheson’s “Pop Candy” blog at USA Today is a must-read for any pop culture fan. Jen and I were bummed that we missed Whitney at Comic-Con. So as a longtime reader, it was a thrill to find that she featured this blog today in “Tracking down the ‘LOST’ gang.”
Since I regularly report on location shoots, it should go without saying that there be spoilers. But with the new season so, so far away, you can imagine why I need to do something to get my fix during the interminable hiatus.
Thanks, Whitney, for the link, and to “John P.” (I’ll go out on a limb and guess he’s John of Hawaii Clothing Company) for pointing her this way.
Kava, or ‘Awa as it’s known in Hawaii, will be explored and celebrated at UH on Saturday at the Kawa Festival. The plant is playing a central role in the resurgence of Hawaiian cultural practices. Drink kava while learning about it from Hawaiian cultural practitioners, ‘awa growers, health and nutrition specialists, and expert scientists.
There will also be food, Hawaiian crafts, a live art exhibition by artist Solomon Enos, an apu (‘awa bowl) making workshop, poi pounding, plants and live music.
Two commemorative Kava Festival T-shirts will also be available for sale, featuring designs by renown vintage Hawaii artist Dietrich Varez and mouth-brush artist Matthew “Chuna” Kaopio.
SPOILER ALERT! “LOST” was filming today — a Saturday — a sure sign the traditional winter break is drawing near. Today, they set up in Kakaako, taking over the long-unused parking lot of the former CompUSA store on Ala Moana Boulevard, and staging a car crash a few blocks away on the corner of South and Pohukaina streets.
Kava, or ‘Awa as it’s known in Hawaii, will be explored and celebrated at UH on Saturday at the
