In the Immortal Words of The Black Eyed Peas: I Gotta Feeling That Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night

Hello my dear friends -

The wait is over -- the final season of Lost begins tonight.

I've shared my thoughts about the upcoming season (before I saw the first hour on Saturday) in a few places:

- "Looking for Lost Answers," by Paige Wiser of the Chicago Sun-Times. This was published in the print edition as well, and featured the full pic of me and Terry O'Quinn!

- "How TV Bloggers Guess Lost Will End" by Erin McCarthy at Lemondrop.com.

- Portland's KPAM radio (today). I chatted with the fine folks at the Bob Miller in the Morning Show for 5 minutes about Lost's fandom. Listen here.

As you know, I was in Oahu for the premiere this past weekend and wanted to share a few of the pictures I took and a bit about the overall experience before things get really crazy this evening at 9 PM EST. So here's the scoop...

I got to my hotel around 3:30 PM on Thursday, and before I even checked in, an "ERIKA?" rang out through the lobby. It was none other than Jo from Get Lost with Jopinionated. A big hug from her was the perfect way to kick off what would be an absolutely unforgettable three and a half days.

The next night I was a "special guest" (that still kills me) of hers at a party she threw for fellow Lost bloggers, podcasters and fans at Sheraton's RumFire bar. We had custom "Juliet on the Beach" cocktails (though someone suggested a better name would've been "Juliet Down the Hatch" -- sniff), giveaways, trivia contests... and a surprise visit from none other than Captain Frank J. Lapidus himself! (Real name: Jeff Fahey.) Jo had been at a press event earlier that evening and invited him over... and he came! I seriously don't think there could've been a more fitting person to have shown up at our little shindig, do you? He was such a good sport, too, because he was absolutely mobbed by the 100+ rabid Lost fans in attendance. I felt that this blurry pic probably best summed up his experience:


It was also wonderful to finally meet Karen from Karen's Lost Notebook!


Some of you might have seen a picture of Lost fan Josh Gordon's intricate Shannon tattoo when Damon Lindelof tweeted it to the world a few weeks back... and I got to marvel at it in person after Josh took his first plane ride ever in order to be at the premiere. Josh also has a band called Kate Dammit Run! which I think is the coolest thing ever, as that is one of my top 5 favorite lines of the entire series.

I was also thrilled to meet the author of The Gospel According to Lost, Chris Seay. I've always loved the fact that the show hasn't been afraid to "go there" with its overtly religious themes, and that's the focus of Seay's book. He brought copies for everyone and filmed attendees' reactions to not only his book, but also the absolutely incredible character portraits it features (by artist Scott Erickson). Here's a short video his team took of the action at Jo's party:



And here's Chris!


Yes, it was a wild night indeed. I was also reunited with my Kos tour guide, Jeff, and Ed Kos himself came out to say hi as well. So did the newest tour guide on his team, Matt. A big group from LostArgs.com was there, as were fans all the way from Afghanistan, New Zealand, the UK, Germany and Australia. Podcasters extraordinaire Jay and Jack (and Colleen!) from The Jay and Jack Podcast had the crowd in stitches, and locals Ryan and Jen from The Transmission stopped by, too, so I finally got to tackle Ryan and give him a huge hug as thanks for his help in tracking down Lost filming (which led to my picture with Terry O'Quinn) exactly 15 months (to the day) prior.

Once again, bravo to Jo for pulling it all together. So. Much. Fun.


The next day was the main event. Because I was all whacked out with jet lag, I woke up at 5:30 and was horrified to find that it was pouring outside. But the weather cleared up by 7:20, which is when I made my way down to the beach and got an excellent position for my crew. I was extra-happy to see that Long Live Locke readers Julie H, Lynne N and their respective significant others were right in front of me, and knew we were going to have a fun TWELVE HOURS waiting together.



It was pretty darn sweaty and muggy all day, but for the most part the heat wasn't too unbearable. I thank my excellent company for keeping my mind off of it. Later that afternoon Unlocke (Thom) and his lovely wife Karen -- also from Chicago -- joined us, and they watched our spot so that I could run back to my room and freshen up before the red carpet events commenced. Here's a picture I took from my balcony at 4:30 PM before heading out again.



My girl Jo was on the red carpet right in front of us (as were Jay and Jack), so we all had a blast watching them interview pretty much every Lost cast member. The lighting was working against those of us trying to take pictures, however, so I didn't get very many good shots. And quite frankly, I just wanted to take in the experience and get a look at everyone with my own eyes rather than through a lens. That being said, here are some of my clearer photos from the 5 - 6:30 PM red carpet walk.


















As the sun went down and the crowd settled in on the beach, Damon and Carlton took the stage to introduce all of the writers and cast members.

And then, it was time for the show. I have to tell you that sitting with your toes in the sand, eating slices of mango with a warm breeze blowing through your hair is THE WAY to watch Lost. The crowd was surprisingly silent as Season Six sprang to life on the big screen... but we'll talk more about THAT soon enough, now won't we?

Enjoy the premiere, my dear friends. I have no doubt that you'll love it.

Since I began with some cheesy lyrics, I'll end on that same note. I think Kanye West said it best: "Let's get LOST tonight!"

- e