108

Of course! Numbers! JJ Abrams loves numbers. So what do we have?

01-18-08

Numbers! And this one is easy (at least on the surface). The basic numbers there are 0, 1 and 8. The combinations: 018, 081, 801, 810, 180 and 108. I saved 108 for last for two reasons. First, 108 is the sum of the numbers from Lost and, secondly, 108 is probably the most scared number in Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

In Hindu/Dharmic tradition, a mantra is chanted 108 times. There are 108 beads on a mala, the prayer beads used to track the number of times a mantra has been chanted. The Hindu gods have 108 names. Unlike Christianity, which has a measly seven sins, Tibetan Buddhism has 108 sins. Buddhist and Hindu temples often has 108 steps. In Japan, a bell is run at the end of the year 108 times to signify the 108 temptations (sins) we must over come in life.

After doing a quick Wikipedia search, some more:

• There are 108 pressure points in various martial arts.


• In the Oddssey, there are 108 suitors coveting Peneolpe, Odysseus's wife.


• There are 108 scared stars in Taoist tradition, and stars are clearly part of this whole "thing."


• (A personal favorite) There are 108 stitches on a baseball.

We know JJ Abrams loves numbers. We know he loves numbers that add up to 108. I can't help but wonder, did he look at his calendar, see "01-18-08" stand-up and suddenly say, "By gods, I have to make a really awesome movie so I can use that date as the hook for some crazy internet promotional campaign!"

Cause I did say, "By god, I have to publish this at 1:08 in the morning cause... well... I just had to.

Van Mantra

Any who knows JJ Abrams, knows he loves himself a good name. Where else to start but with Van Mantra, who we see in the videos between puzzles at EthanHaasWasRight.com (EHWR from here on in). I instantly picked up on "mantra." That's a Sanskirt word for the spirituality of words, sounds and vibrations. Think of them like poems. They were used in the Vedas, the classical Hindu texts that forms the basis for all of Hinduism. Among the Vedas is the Upanishads - the philosophical works I studied in college - of which the famous Bhagavad Gita is a part of. The Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna (the supreme god in Hindu tradition) and Arjuna, a warrior price. During the conversation, Krishna explains Arjuna his duties and these explanations form part of the basis of Yago practice, among others.

Literally translated, Mantra comes from man which means "to think" and tra which means "tool." So it's "thinking tool" or "instrument of thought."

But what of the first name? Van? It could be sort for something else, but since we were given Van, I'll work with Van. First thing you think of when you hear the word "van" is, well, a van. So, perhaps Van Mantra means something like, "the vessel of the instrument of thought." Not bad, but I figured I could do better.

How about this: van n.: the leading units moving at the head of an army. Ever heard of a vanguard?

Ah ha! A movie about some sort of attack seems better served by "the leading units moving at the head of an army" than by a soccer mom and her mini-van. So, Van Mantra seems to mean: the lead units of an army of the instrument of thought.

Soldiers who are spreading information, or misinformation depending on who you believe.

That seems to tie in better with Van Mantra's cut-scene ramblings about building up an army. Which leads to a thought: is Van Mantra the characters' name or is it the name of some underground army?

Now I have to go re-read the Bhagavad Gita.

Decoding JJ Abrams "Cloverfield" movie

First things first: I'm a Lost nut. I don't just sit back and watch the show, I delve into every nock and cranny I can get myself into. So when "From Producer JJ Abrams" I knew was going to be hooked, though, admittedly, I already was. After exploring the various websites and putting my limited knowledge of Eastern religions to the test, I sat down and wrote a friend of mine an obsessively long email about Abram's forthcoming, hypothetically titled, "Cloverfield" movie - I realized I didn't want to keep this all to myself.

So here I am. And here's the trailer the movie world is obsessing about, thanks law-breaking-dude with a video camera.