Friday, January 16, 2009

How Lost Ate MY Life

FLY HOME, GEESE!



We're BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!



Be nice to our old pond. She's been through a LOT. She may look a little wonky for a few days, but believe me, considering what she's gone through, she's looking BEAUTIFUL! She's had a near death experience and she lived to tell about it. Well, I lived to tell about it. And I will. But first, everyone needs to know the following:

1. You will have to reset your passwords. Click on "Forgot your password?" and you'll be emailed a new one.

2. Pictures that have previously been posted are showing up as URL only. New pictures that are posted will show up correctly.

3. There will probably be a few more glitches to work out but please be patient. Contact the mods with any problems, but remember they just got back in there and will need some time to do all the necessary housework.

So, go for it!



When you're done splashing around, please take a minute to read the whole story of what happened, because this is one hell of a story. As everyone now knows, last Sunday night, during the course of a so-called routine update, our dearly beloved Fishbiscuitland suddenly up and went (to paraphrase Sneak Peek Hurley):



BLOOP.


Now this may come as a great shock to some of you, but though The Fish may be many things, a Techno Genie she is not. I reacted to this unexpected, and extremely untimely, catastrophe in the most productive manner possible: lots of swearing, phone calling, help messaging, hyperventilating, dry heaving, head desking, hair pulling....Mercifully, it never quite pegged Jack Shepard on the Craze-o-Meter



but it was a dark day and night, I tell you. It wasn't just a message board that seemed lost. it was the collective genius of hundreds of Skaters, their picture essays, their gutbusting humor, their freakouts and bubble popping and spoiler trawling and all the rest of the material harvested from every corner of Lostland all these months and years. The entire history of this most raucous and trenchant fandom within a fandom seemed to have been permanently, hopelessly


And just when I was about to make the saddest announcement I've ever had to make, something happened that I never expected. A light appeared!



Well, technically, it was an email. From a most unexpected and unsolicited source. It turns out that Fishbiscuitland has her very own White Knight, someone who was watching out for us even when we had no idea. The email came from none other than the new Patron Saint of Fishbiscuitland,



St. Doc of Arzt!


.....who, it turns out, is a consummate Computer Science professional of the highest order! Yep. Among his many other talents, this guy is a freaking GENIUS! Doc Arzt, a/k/a Jon Lachonis, a real person and an incredibly nice man, most generously offered to journey down into the underworld where internet message boards go to die and pull our beloved Fishbiscuitland out of the flames before it was completely burned to ashes. He donated his own time to do this, and his own mad skills, for no reason other than that he wanted to help us out, as fellow Lost fans. This is not something you see everyday, Fish. This is not something you see...like, ever. It took a few nail biting days, but Doc did it! He rescued all our data, all our files, all the pictures and links and posts, and hauled them back out of the ether and ... Here it is!



So this means something, Fish. This is not something we are going to forget. This guy, this great, nice guy, did something that hardly anyone bothers to do these days. He helped a friend in need for no reason other than that he saw we needed help. That is not something that happens everyday, and we are NOT going to ever forget this.



So, if you're happy to have our pond back, there are just a few things I need each and every one of you to do.

1. You need to bookmark this page: Doc Arzt and Friends' Lost Blog. Do it now. Make it your one stop shop for any Lost info any time you venture out of the pond. You don't need any other blog, since he's got it all right there. The spoilers, the commentary, the photos, the theories, the media...and it's all from a true insider. Now that I know Doc a little better, I understand why his site has such a positive, friendly vibe. The guy who runs it is a cut above, a real gentleman and a genuinely decent human being. The "and Friends" in the name of this blog aren't empty words. They have real meaning.

2. If you have not already done so, you need to get on over and REGISTER at Doc Arzt and Friends' Lost Blog. And post. Early and often. This is the kind of place we need to patronize and keep alive in the Lost fandom.

3. I urge you all to go over to Amazon.com to check out Doc's awesome book, Lost Ate My Life: The Inside Story of a Fandom Like No Other. It's a really fun read about a fandom that none of us are ever going to forget. Plus, if enough of you buy the book, maybe Doc will get to write another one! One with FISH in it!



So, I'm going to go sleep off this week from hell. I want to thank the amazing HELENA for giving everyone a temporary place to gaggle. Geese are resourceful! I ask a little more patience while the kinks get worked out. But we're back! Thanks to our Knight in Shining Armor, Doc Arzt, we made it in time for the premiere.



Thank you, Doc. We will NOT forget this. And I hope you don't mind having a lot of noisy, crazy geese hanging out in your yard from now on!



I hope you don't regret this!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wanted to say Thank you very much Doc and Helena for the help. Sadly I don't think I would be able to survive without the pond. Not so damn close to the premiere.

Shirley Parker

Anonymous said...

Wow, Doc to the rescue. You're right FIsh, not many would step up like he did. Many thanks to Doc and Helena, Heather and of course Fish for starting it all - for the fabulous FBL.

April

bluefish said...

Thank you DocArtz for being our knight in shining armor. And thanks Helena and everyone responsible for Temp FBL so we wouldn't suffer from any withdrawal effects. Happy Day! FBL is back!

Anonymous said...

That's such a great story and made all the better because it's true. Thank you Fish for hanging in there and a huge, HUGE Thank you to Doc Arzt. St. Doc you just earned yuourself a heaping plate of karma chips. We would have been lost without you (no pun intended). Thanks.

rove3

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Doc! I've already registered and bookmarked Doc's site, especially since the Fish is going to be having her reviews there.

I never used that 'other' guys site anyway so now I have everything I need to be ready for Wednesday! Long Live FBL and DocArzt and Friends!!!!

And thanks to Heather and Helena for giving us a place to gather these past few days!!!

-iamme

Anonymous said...

Thank you so,so much, Doc and Fish, for rescuing FBL.

-Heather

LostTvFan said...

Fish: I already registered at Doc's site when you announced your reviews would be posted there this year; but I admit to having tears in my eyes (yep) after reading this entry. IMO, this is a guy who does have what it takes!!!

Thanks to Heather and Helena we have survived the last few days and thanks to Doc, The Fish and our hard working mods our pond is back in time for S5.

-Ann

Anonymous said...

Oh good Ann. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who got misty-eyed while reading.

Anonymous said...

Adding my own very big THANK YOU to DocArzt too. You're the best of the very best, that's for sure! Thanks Fishbiscuit for hanging in there for us too. Also, THANK YOU to Helena and Heatherlar for helping to keep the sanity of many fishes this past week too! Back home in the end...YAY!

~Midnight

Anonymous said...

Thank you, DocArzt and Fish.

Finally, our forum is back, right before the new season!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Doc. You're a true fan - you helped out fellow fans in need instead of using it to your advantage. It's clear you follow Lost for the of love for the show, not the money it can make you.

TRoss

Susan said...

Wow, thanks Doc, for helping the Fish with everything that needed to be done to rescue the pond. And thanks to Helena and Heather for the temporary place to hang out till this got up and running. Friends stick together, just like geese. It's great to have FBL back! :)

~susan14509

Anonymous said...

Thank you Doc and Helena! :)

-Obsidian76

Maryann said...

Goodness gracious Fish..that's one helluva story! I suspected something went awol with the upgrade when the pond didn't return...sorry you had to go thru all that scary stuff..

To Doc if you read this, ppl in fandoms could learn a thing or two from you, to help out fellow fans JUST cos you're a fan too. So thanks for helping the fishies getting their pond back. Doc you rock!