Exclusively Lost

Technorati tags: Humor, Lost, Merchandise, Radio, Fly FM

Before we get too inundated with the really serious stuff – you know, with Najib being sworn in today and all – there’s something Walski wants to get off his chest. It’s something simple, yet raises a lot of questions. Making it probably not so simple after all. Oh, well… you decide.

With his CD changer broken (and probably unrepairable), the only entertainment he gets during his morning drive to work is Malaysian radio. Since “crap” pretty much describes Malaysian radio in general, there is one station Walski listens to more than any other, since it’s probably the least crappy, hence most tolerable. And that station is Fly FM.

They have this segment called the Show Stopper, where the 3 deejays each pick a song, which becomes the song to end the morning show, based on how many listeners text in to vote. Recently, as an added incentive for the callers to donate money to the cell phone operators, they’ve included a giveaway: one lucky listener who votes for the winning song stands a chance to win exclusive Lost merchandise.

Now, this simple fact – winning exclusive Lost merchandise – brings up a helluva lot of questions in Walski’s head… which takes his mind off the drudgery of having to deal with the maniacal Malaysian drivers he has to share the road with every day.
(all about Lost merchandise, and more, in the full post)

For starters, is the merchandise that the lucky fool won still Lost, or does Fly FM find the stuff first? Otherwise, does the winner have to find the stuff all by his/her lonesome? And risk the chance of getting lost, too…

It also makes Walski wonder whether civics is still taught in school. Why? Because as he recalls, you don’t simply keep Lost merchandise, much less give it away.

And what sort of crap constitutes Lost merchandise anyway? Airplane debris? Used life raft? Torn bits of some poor Lost passenger’s dirty laundry? Body parts? What? (Apparently, there’s a shitload of Lost crap that can be collected)

Once you collect the Lost merchandise from Fly FM, isn’t there a chance that the original owner – irate by now that someone gave his shit away – comes banging on your door to claim it back?

If you should lose the merchandise later on, does it get back into the pool of Lost merchandise again?

Once someone takes possession of the Lost merchandise, doesn’t it stop being Lost? Isn’t it now Found? Don’t know about you, but Walski would feel totally ripped off that he didn’t actually get what was promised.

You know, until recently, thanks to Fly FM, Walski never knew that there was a big market for Lost merchandise. Hey… here’s an idea: Over the years, Walski’s lost quite a bit of stuff… does that mean they’re worth something now? What a great idea for a business… Buy Walski’s LOST Merchandise! But the catch is that after you fork up the cash, you gotta go find the shit yourself. Money for nothing, baby…

Boy… seriously, thinking and articulating all this is making Walski feel really… umm, Lost…

Walski’s Lost in translation and not yet Found post explanatory footnote: Of course Walski knows that the merchandise being given away is associated with the hit TV series Lost. Which Walski did start to watch sporadically during Season 1. It intrigued him initially, not because he has a morbid fascination with air disasters, but because it got Walski wondering just how far a story about airplane survivors on a deserted island could be stretched. As the show continued (now in its 5th season), however, and the storyline got more and more convoluted, not to mention bizarre, just happening upon an episode and watching it the other day, really made Walski feel unequivocally, and absolutely, Lost.