They're just like the rest of us

December 5, 2009 9:57 PM

Hurley has a blog. Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley on Lost, has a personal blog that's just like yours. He doesn't talk about his day job, and instead posts regular updates on what he did for thanksgiving, adventures in gardening, his dog Nunu, and everyday rat problems. He also sings. Surprisingly honest, funny, and approachable.
posted by crawl (56 comments total)

Woah. I'm watching the first season of Lost for the first time...right now.
posted by Taft at 10:36 PM on December 5, 2009

I used to go on the official LOST "The Fuselage" message board, which was frequented by some cast/crew members. Jorge was one of the only ones to actually interact with fans and answer questions on it. Always seemed like a great guy.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 10:39 PM on December 5, 2009 [1 favorite]

My money's on Tommy Westphal getting a new snowglobe...
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:17 PM on December 5, 2009 [5 favorites]

I loved season one, but it lost me around mid-season 3. Is it worth getting back into or should I just leave it be?
posted by cj_ at 11:18 PM on December 5, 2009

The middle of season 3 was the absolute nadir. It picked up a lot after that.
posted by stammer at 11:19 PM on December 5, 2009

I'm watching the first season of Lost for the first time...right now.

It's a good stopping point.
posted by Artw at 12:09 AM on December 6, 2009 [5 favorites]

God I want to go back to the Big Island.
posted by nanojath at 12:29 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

My ex went to middle school with Garcia's girlfriend, and she and my ex are Facebook friends. So I've seen pictures of their trip to Germany. Garcia comes across as an incredibly nice guy, and I'm sure he is, but there's just no reason to see him in lederhosen.
posted by Bromius at 12:30 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I don't even watch Lost but this is a great blog.
posted by june made him a gemini at 2:12 AM on December 6, 2009

I'm pretty sure he can't blog about his job: a few years ago he nearly, almost let a spoiler fact out and was called to the carpet by the producers. TV series stars are under contract constraints that redefine the concept of "free speech."

I am waiting for the Smoke Monster's blog.
posted by zaelic at 2:41 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

He's buddies with Rian Johnson and promoted The Brothers Bloom more than the distributor did. I can't help but like him for that alone.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:15 AM on December 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

I am waiting for the Smoke Monster's blog.

December 6, 2009:

ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!

Current Mood: Enraged
posted by Servo5678 at 4:46 AM on December 6, 2009 [16 favorites]

I'm watching the first season of Lost for the first time...right now.

It's a good stopping point.

I'd say about 25-40% of LOST is extraneous, and I hope someone, someday, does a fan "Phantom Edit." In correct chronological order. Though now that I think of it, that would be a really hard thing to do...
posted by zardoz at 4:47 AM on December 6, 2009

I liked his gf's blogs that he links, both the fiction and her personal one. She seems like a pretty awesome and fun gal.
posted by thisperon at 5:14 AM on December 6, 2009

anyone with a silly dog that cute - stating: "the good news is I don't need a paper shredder" - must be a nice guy.
posted by dabitch at 6:41 AM on December 6, 2009

a fan "Phantom Edit." In correct chronological order

My father "fixed" the Godfather movies by editing them, using two VCRs, so that every scene from all three films was in chronological order. I'm convinced this is never a good idea.
posted by phrenq at 7:05 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

My father "fixed" the Godfather movies by editing them, using two VCRs, so that every scene from all three films was in chronological order.

He's not the only one.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:18 AM on December 6, 2009

I've been reading Jorge's blog for some time... it's pretty great. The post with the lava pictures recently was truly incredible.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:30 AM on December 6, 2009

Oh, yay! I've also been following this for a while -- the first few entries talk about how the producers scolded him about "don't talk about the show!!" so he ended up having to talk about the usual blog stuff that everyone else talks about -- his vacations, his family, goofy stuff like that. His entry about how he came up with a design enhancement for the Snuggie was also endearingly dorky.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:17 AM on December 6, 2009

Yeah, his blog is fun. I really like him as an actor, I hope he gets some good roles going on past Lost. His IMDB page is surprisingly empty; the only other roles I even recognized were "voice actor" in a video game and "Drug Dealer" in Curb Your Enthusiasm. I think he shows a lot of talent in Lost, seems to come from the same school of acting as John Cho.
posted by Nelson at 8:25 AM on December 6, 2009

Every time I see the name "Jorge Garcia," in context with this actor, I do a double-take. Because I know a Jorge Garcia who is not the actor. And the Jorge Garcia I know is a skinny little guy with a crew cut. The two couldn't be more different, appearance-wise, so it's kinda funny.

Also, my Jorge is a terrible actor.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:33 AM on December 6, 2009

The Nunu Advent Calendar is awesome.

Also: "LAVA!"
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:51 AM on December 6, 2009

Aw, I love his blog. He grows tomatoes! He's awesome!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:59 AM on December 6, 2009

Also, his line-edits of The Road totally struck me as something someone on metafilter would do. We should get him on metafilter. Then we could refer to him as Metafilter's Own Jorge Garcia!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:02 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

His girlfriend's blog is also pretty awesome.

Also: I'm kind of in love with his dog, whose name is eeriely similar to 'moonMan's. (Nunu - Nuno)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:02 AM on December 6, 2009

I loved season one, but it lost me around mid-season 3. Is it worth getting back into or should I just leave it be?

Oh, definitely. IMO, season 4 is much better than the 3rd and season 5 is excellent.

As I understand it, since the show became so popular, around the 2-3rd season the network people kept asking the creative team to stretch it out. So season 3 is a lot of terrible filler that goes nowhere. Then they all made a deal that it would end after 6 seasons, so now it has a much better sense of direction and purpose.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:48 AM on December 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

Solon and Thanks is right and season 3 of Lost is well worth struggling through.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:59 AM on December 6, 2009

The first thing I watched was the rat incident video, which is a great example of two different attitudes towards dealing with a stressful situation. In this case, a rat, a shrieking girlfriend, and a chuckling laid-back guy.
posted by jragon at 10:04 AM on December 6, 2009

> I'd say about 25-40% of LOST is extraneous, and I hope someone, someday, does a fan "Phantom Edit." In correct chronological order.

Like I said, I'm only partway through season 3 (all the lead actors are captives of the Others, which is really tedious), but I thought it would've been great if the show just ended at season 1 with the finale slightly altered so the fate of Michael's raft expedition and breaching the hull of the underground bunker were ambiguous. My opinion is probably influenced by how the show seemed to decline almost immediately with season 2. I consistently like the mystery more than the reveal with this show. There's some interesting bits in season two I would've spliced in by doing away with the whole Claire/Charlie psychodrama to make room.

I guess I'll try picking this up again. I'm curious how they managed to drag this premise on for 3 more seasons, since it already seems played out to me.

Also, cool blog, sorry for the derail.
posted by cj_ at 10:11 AM on December 6, 2009

I started watching Lost about a month and a half ago (boredom + Netflix account) and I'm already up to season 4. I'm enjoying it, for the most part, despite some initial complaints.

I think a lot of the actors took a while to figure out their characters, but Jorge Garcia always seemed to know exactly who Hurley was right off the bat and has always been a bright spot on the show for me. I'm delighted by his blog. And really, anyone who blogs about stuff his dog likes to chew on will pretty much win me over instantly.
posted by darksong at 10:11 AM on December 6, 2009

On failure to preview, I'll check it out then, thanks. I'd never heard anyone say the show got better which is why I gave up.
posted by cj_ at 10:12 AM on December 6, 2009

I'm curious how they managed to drag this premise on for 3 more seasons, since it already seems played out to me.

Without spoiling it too much, the premise changes.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 10:23 AM on December 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

Huge Lost fan, Huge Hurley fan.

I once wrote an angry email to Cosmopolitan magazine because they said that Jorge Garcia looked ridiculous walking his small dog.

Then I realized I should probably just stop reading Cosmo.

I had no idea he had a blog. Thanks!
posted by mmmbacon at 10:29 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I loved season one, but it lost me around mid-season 3. Is it worth getting back into or should I just leave it be?

If you didn't finish Season 3, you missed the finale, "Through the Looking Glass", the most thrilling and delightful two hours of genre television I've ever watched.
posted by Missiles K. Monster at 11:11 AM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Garcia had just been in my favorite Mexican restaurant last time I was there, ordering take-out. I felt like it validated my judgment of the place...lots of Mexican restaurants around here, but the others are Mexican the way French dressing is French.
posted by Jimmy Havok at 11:12 AM on December 6, 2009

Excellent, excellent timing. Just decided today to start re-watching all of last season in order to refresh my memory before the start of the final season - which, I assume, is starting sometime late-January as it did earlier this year. Can't wait!
posted by mannequito at 11:49 AM on December 6, 2009

I feel like Hurley is the true heart of the series. Kinda like Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings. He's a lovable lug and so often expresses what the audience is thinking and helps to anchor the crazy story.
posted by ao4047 at 11:53 AM on December 6, 2009 [9 favorites]

Every season's finale is usually tremendous, even if the season itself wasn't so great.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:52 PM on December 6, 2009

I decided to check up on the show after my comment.
New season starts February 2nd, and if the timeline is correct (never a simple matter with this show!), the Series Finale will be on my birthday in May. Thanks, JJ!
posted by mannequito at 1:31 PM on December 6, 2009

Heh, I posted a comment on his blog telling him this got FPP'd and he responded:

Thanks. I saw the Metafilter thing. I was going to post a "hello." But $5? To use it once? No thanks. Let them know I appreciate the kudos though.

Still, seems like a pretty cool normal guy and I'm glad I got pointed towards his blog.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 3:08 PM on December 6, 2009

Thanks. I saw the Metafilter thing. I was going to post a "hello." But $5? To use it once? No thanks. Let them know I appreciate the kudos though.

From this day forth: Metafilter's Own Jorge Garcia.
posted by stammer at 3:59 PM on December 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

I got $5 for him if he promises to come back twice :-P
posted by Nelson at 4:27 PM on December 6, 2009

Mathowie should allow for dispensations, to hand out freebie accounts to get into MeFi. You know, like how the pope can get you into heaven.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:49 PM on December 6, 2009 [4 favorites]

Cool blog.

(Am I the only one who is amazed at how poor the Blogger comment system is? The comments are on a separate page, un-themed, in one tiny little column, and there's no link back to the post. So half-assed!)
posted by smackfu at 6:31 PM on December 6, 2009

And yeah, Garcia is a genuinely good actor and Hurley is a great character. There aren't any wasted scenes when Hurley's on the screen.

Once LOST is finished, I predict that Garcia will go on a diet, get a haircut and a shave, and become a new man. If he doesn't, he and Kevin Smith have got to do something together. If only Kevin Smith were interesting enough to warrant a biopic...
posted by zardoz at 6:36 PM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I thought historically free accounts were given out to people who wanted to respond to a post about their work but didn't want to pay $5.
posted by grouse at 6:38 PM on December 6, 2009

From the gift link: "Thanks for taking the time to give the gift of MetaFilter."

Hah. I picture a commercial with sad music playing. The mods stand in front of doe-eyed, be-speckled individuals. "When you sponsor a person to join metafilter, you are linked with a nerd who will know your username, favorite you, and treasure you as a contact forever. Your donation allows this person to have their very own plate of beans. Please take the time to sponsor a future mefite today."
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:06 PM on December 6, 2009 [5 favorites]

If I had his email address, I totally would!
posted by crawl at 9:07 PM on December 6, 2009

Hurley is the best character on LOST--as others have noted, he's the Greek Chorus that stands in for the viewers, and he's also a rich and nuanced character in his own right.

Also, his dad is Cheech.

Also, Jorge Garcia's blog, dog, and girlfriend are adorable. I wish him well in his herb-gardening.
posted by padraigin at 10:27 PM on December 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'd immensely enjoy accidentally meeting Jorge Garcia one day and have him call me "dude".
posted by bwg at 6:26 AM on December 7, 2009

I got $5 for him if he promises to come back twice :-P

I can think of a user number we can give him.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:02 AM on December 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

4815162342?
posted by dirtdirt at 8:41 AM on December 7, 2009

"Lost" lost me this past season. I just couldn't get into the whole time travel angle.
posted by reenum at 11:30 AM on December 8, 2009

Am I the only one who is amazed at how poor the Blogger comment system is? The comments are on a separate page, un-themed, in one tiny little column...

Also, favorites don't work right at all.
posted by rokusan at 5:22 PM on December 11, 2009

I just couldn't get into the whole time travel angle.

There was always a time travel angle, or at least the suggestion of one, all the way back to the first episode.

That said, them there writers sure do make more messes than they ever tidy up. I think they're dangerously close to "Oh who cares if it makes sense anymore, it'll be cool." territory that comes near the end of any too-long book/movie/show.
posted by rokusan at 5:23 PM on December 11, 2009

I think they're dangerously close to "Oh who cares if it makes sense anymore, it'll be cool." territory that comes near the end of any too-long book/movie/show.

I think you'll see a change in that during this coming season. A lot of times the writers do that because they don't quite know WHEN the end is going to be, so they keep on branching the story outward and adding stuff because the plot is becoming a sort of Winchester Mystery House, where they just have to keep building and building and building but there is no road map showing where the end is so they don't know when to start turning TOWARDS that end.

But with LOST, the powers that be decided that not knowing where the end was was becoming a problem, so they decreed that "that's it, we are ending the show on X date" -- so now the writers finally knew "ah, here is the finish line" and can now concentrate on steering the ship towards it.

Jesus, how many different metaphors did I use in that paragraph?....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:22 AM on December 12, 2009