This afternoon (in about an hour) I’m going to be interviewed as a guest on the Writing Excuses podcast. The podcast is run by Dan Wells (my brother), Brandon Sanderson, and Howard Tayler, and they talk about all things writing-related. There are an awful lot of places on the web where you can get writing advice (including here on this very website) but these three guys are really SMRT. They’re educated, they’re experienced, they’re funny, and they’re even kinda humble, sometimes, relatively.

I’ve been on the show a few times in the past, talking twice about marketing (here and here), once about fight scenes, and one other time that I can’t remember what we talked about (I think).

A few other podcasts that I’m a fan of:

This American Life: From a writing perspective, this show is amazing in the way that they can play with your mind and emotions (but in a good way). It’s not uncommon for the show to lead you down one path only to pull a quick u-turn and tear down everything they’ve been building and create something entirely different. From a non-writing perspective, it’s just darn entertaining.

Stuff You Should Know: This podcast is run by the people at How Stuff Works, a website that I occassionally will use in researching stuff for books. The podcasts are not as authoritative as you’d hope–the guys occassionally spread an urban legend or two–but it’s still entertaining and informative (as long as you listen with a grain of salt).

Skeptoid: Speaking of urban legends, this podcast debunks them, everything from alternative medicines to ghost stories to cryptozoology. I enjoy this podcast for several reasons: first, it’s just entertaining to listen to crazy ideas get debunked. Second, I’m a sucker for conspiracy theories, ever since writing The Counterfeit, and I enjoy hearing about the theories, even though I know they’re baloney. Third, I love logic and the science of argument, and one of my favorite parts of this show is when they analyze a claim and explain the various logical fallacies. Good stuff.

Intelligence Squared: Another NPR show, this one takes big, current topics and then gathers together the best, most-relevant minds to debate them. And it’s not just a point/counterpoint style talk show, but a real Oxford-style debate with rules and time limits and rebuttals and, best of all, winners!

I’m running out of time to get over to the convention for Writing Excuses, so I’ll have to get to more later. But look these up on iTunes; they’re all free and you’ll have plenty in the archives to entertain you.

So, Lee won, which means I won, which means: hooray.

But the important thing to discuss is this: is American Idol having serious trouble attracting modern, popular talent? I doubt it, because they had plenty of popular judges (Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth, Mary J Blige, Neil Patrick Harris) and guests (Justin Beiber, Black Eyed Peas, Miley Cyrus, Usher, Lady Gaga, etc). So why in the blue Hades were last night’s guests such malaise-inducing has-beens like the BeeGees, Hall & Oates, and Chicago? Crystal got to sing with Alanis Morrisette (who is becoming a has-been, although she’s definitely a has-been-fairly-recently), while Lee was stuck singing with the Rest Home Marching Band (aka Chicago). I think that winning was his compensation for making the elderly people feel good about themselves.

And: Janet Jackson? What the heck happened there? At least we had a few good moments: Joe Cocker was ancient but still awesome, and Christina Aguilera is still amazing despite being a weirdo. And Carrie Underwood made everyone else look bad.

But still, Hall and Oates? Really?

Anyway. I win, 37 to 28. Until next year, Seacrest Out!

Okay, I admit it: I’m a nerd. I not only like American Idol, but I blog about American Idol. I not only blog about American Idol, but have a blog dedicated to American Idol. Fellow author Tristi Pinkston and I have a blogging competition this season, where we watch the show and then predict the losers/winners. As this is the finals, I thought I’d cross post my final American Idol predictions over here.

The final week is here.

Looking back on past seasons, I can’t think of a top two who were as talented or commercially viable as Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox. Certainly not last year with Kris Allen, who won only because slightly more than half of America thought that Adam Lambert was a weirdo. Certainly not Season Six, when we had a beat-boxer lose to a generic blah, or Season Five, when an elderly man beat a model. The closest thing might be Season Four, with Carrie Underwood against Bo Bice, except that Bo Bice never had a lot of commercial potential. He was definitely talented, but not really a star (unless it was 1974 and he was a member of Lynyrd Skynryd).

Maybe Season Seven: Lil Davey Archuleta against David Cook, but I still don’t think they compare talent-wise.

Anyway, back to Season Nine. At the start of the Top Twelve, this is where I stood on the finalists:

Crystal: “Crystal was the best of the evening. She started out sounding a lot like the college kids who sat in the commons area and played guitar and didn’t go to class, but once she got into it she was really amazing. So, even though the judges gave the crown to Siobhan, I’m giving it to Crystal.”

Lee: “Lee was boring. Boring enough that he’ll almost certainly be in the bottom three.”

Lee continued to not impress me for several weeks. Not until Week Four, in which he brought out a bagpiper to help him with Hey Jude. He won me over as a fan with that, and I’ve been firmly in his camp ever since (not because of the gimmick, but because he’s legitimately good).

Which is not to say Crystal isn’t good. She’s amazing. In fact, if we were to make predictions based solely on last night’s performances then Crystal would win. Based solely on last night Crystal should win, and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.

That said, she’s not going to win. And here’s why:

1. Momentum: Since about Week Four, Lee has been rising, getting better and better every week. Crystal has not ever been lousy, but she hit her peak early and plateaued. I don’t want to say that she’s coasted, because I don’t think that’s her mindset, but her steady awesomeness has become expected and no longer wows us.

2. Charm: American Idol is still predominantly watched and voted on by women, and Lee has the charm. As unfortunate and unfair as it may be, I think that–all other things being equal–a cute, single guy will beat a dredlocked, slightly overweight woman with an enormous tattoo on her back. (I’m NOT saying this is a good thing. I’m saying I think it’s a reality.)

3. Rationalization: I think that America will quite often vote someone off if they assume that person doesn’t want/need the win as much. I think voters will look at Crystal, who is supremely confident and self-assured, who hasn’t ever wavered from her personal desires to be who she is, and they’ll say “Crystal will be fine if she doesn’t win. It’s Lee who needs the boost.” To some extent, I think this is how Taylor Hicks won. I think it’s how Melinda Doolittle (and Syesha Mercado) got voted off in the top three.

So, there it is. Crystal will lose and Lee will win. I’m not sure how I feel about that, because, again, they both are very deserving. I’m not sad about it, but I do think that Crystal is kind of getting the shaft.

Lost just ended. I’m sure you all watched it. I didn’t, because I stopped paying attention back during Season Two when I realized that the writers were just makin’ weird stuff up, with no rhyme or reason.

I’d actually assumed that almost everyone gave up on Lost, but it turns out that I was wrong. 90% of the world still watched it, apparently, and it’s all they’ve been talking about for the last week.

So, as a public service to all those who gave up on it, I’m going to recap the season. This is based on vague memories of the first season, and the few snippets I’ve overheard from various watercooler discussions over the last six years. I assure you it’s 100% accurate.

First of all, there was a plane accident, wherein the plane ripped in half. I don’t suppose you can call this a plane crash, because the damage was done before it hit the ground. The reason for the accident? Electromagnetism. (The electromagnetism was possibly controlled by a fellow named The Smoke Monster, who later wore a suit and made one/several of the characters feel bad about themselves.)

So now they’re all on the beach of this island, and they’re all really happy that they’re alive, or sad that they’re stranded, and they’re all hiding deep, dark secrets. And one guy, John Locke (named after the famed keyboardist of the rock band “Spirit”), can walk! This is significant because he used to be in a wheelchair. How was he miraculously healed? Electromagnetism (which was possibly controlled by The Smoke Monster.)

There were other people on the island also, including a pregnant lady, a Korean couple, a hot murderer and a big fat guy who plays golf (and some other people).

The first thing they discover is that this island is populated by crack-addicted Hobbits. One of them, Charlie, tells the others that they need to throw a ring down The Hatch.

From here on out, things get a little murkey. There’s this group/thing called the Dharma Initiative, who moved out to the island specifically trying to escape the late-90s sitcom Dharma and Greg. It would appear that they also brought polar bears with them. Why? Electromagnetism/The Smoke Monster.

Then things start getting crazy, as characters and storylines go back in time and also sideways, because what’s the point in writing just one incomprehensible story if you can write three!? Or eight!?

But the show is not all wacky crap and jokes. There are also important social issues addressed. For example, the fact that all the characters kowtow and submit to the Howells–despite the fact that money is of no real use on the island!–might lead one to assume that there is a true natural aristocracy: that certain people are just better than others, and should be served. On the other hand, it could instead be interpreted not as an intrinsic superiority, but as a social construct that is too strong to break, even out here on this island where there are no social constructs. Or, it could be chalked up to electromagnetism.

So then, when all seems bleak, there’s this timeline that tracks all of the characters for us, and I think you can agree that there’s no way I should be able to keep track of this show. There was a Crash 2? And a thing that’s only called “Incident”? And someone named “False Locke”, who is actually The Smoke Monster? (I’m not making that one up. He actually is.) And what crazy crap happened in January of 1989? “Various unknown” things? At least we can rest assured that, no matter what various unknown things were happening in January of 1989, they were accompanied by The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame”.

And then the show ends. We find out that the True Meaning of Lost isn’t really about knowing anything, but about feeling good in our hearts. Because the island isn’t really a thing that we should understand, but a mirror through which we might understand ourselves, Brother.