Creative ideas for a Lost-themed party

October 24, 2005 9:11 AM

PartyFilter: My roommate has requested that for her birthday upcoming, this spring (Yes, we plan ahead), that we throw a Lost Party. As in "Purchase the first and/or second season of, and theme the party accordingly." - I need help! The rest, inside.

I've never thrown a themed party. I've barely ever thrown a party in the first place. That being said - I know how to cook, I know how to make our DVD player work, I have room, I am competant with decorations. So I have the basics.

I'm just Lost (Haha. I think I'm funny) for unique and creative ideas for food and decorations outside of Inflatble Palm Trees and A Stuffed Polar Bear.

Here's the kicker.

At least one of the people attending is vegetarian, at least one keeps semi-kosher, and one has more food allergies than I can shake a stick at*. Not -everything- has to be edible by everyone, but some vegetarian -and- themed finger foods, or party foods would help a ton.

So fun, creative ideas would help a ton. Espically for food, but decoration-ideas are also welcome.

* Dairy, shellfish, pork, carrots, squash, pumpkins, strawberries, cinnamon, apples. Hell, I am probably missing a few, which gives you some indication of how many things he's allergic to. I'm -dating- this guy and I can't list all of them easily.

posted by FritoKAL to food & drink (14 comments total)

Well, you could always ask your guests to bring the one dish they'd want if they were to be stranded on an island. That way everybody's happy.
posted by MsVader at 9:20 AM on October 24, 2005

Also, make sure that you put the DHARMA logo on everything you possibly can.
posted by MsVader at 9:21 AM on October 24, 2005

Have some kind of door prize (maybe the stuffed polar bear?) and have each guest pull a "lottery ticket" out of a bowl. Whoever gets the one with the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 wins.
posted by MsMolly at 9:31 AM on October 24, 2005

You could eat the weakest guests. I didn't see 'people' on that list of allergies...
posted by Shfishp at 9:37 AM on October 24, 2005

I despise pot luck parties. Doesn't really sound like it would fit with the theme -- this isn't a desert island theme, this is "Lost," so there's PLENTY of room for creativity. That being said, I think food creativity is far less important. You'll have to have chips and salsa, maybe some pretzels, maybe some vegetables and dip. Those are the standbys. Wait, are you serving dinner? I'm guessing not. For the more 'theme' food... coconut pieces, mango/papaya cubes (if you're feeling adventurous, barbeque them over a low fire -- cut in half, score down to the skin into cubes, and then place them face down over the grill until golden brown. it can also be done in the oven with rum), and I think you'd need to add some babyback ribs/other pork products (they eat a lot of wild boars on the show). One thing about food and parties -- you'll end up getting ten times as much food as you really need. If the party is starting at normal party time (9/10 o'clock, here), people just won't eat as much as you think they will. But if you don't have enough booze... well, shame on you.

As for decorations... I'd theme each room -- turn one into the airplane cabin just before the crash, make one the bunker (with the computer and the countdown timer, of course, and the orientation film playing), if you've got a balcony or patio, get some sand and turn it into the beach... there are just so many possibilities here. Yeah, the polar bear has to play a prominent part, as do the lottery numbers. The Dharma logo. Thing is, the best set pieces won't reveal themselves until closer to the party. If you were throwing this last June, you'd have the raft and the hatch and the pirate ship, but if you included those things now, they'd be a little outdated (although you could probably still have the hatch). Don't stress about it. Since you sound so trepidatious, I'd enlist someone else to help.
posted by incessant at 9:52 AM on October 24, 2005

Don't have big bottles of alcohol- buy the little single-shot airplane sized bottles like the ones that Sawyer hoards.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 9:58 AM on October 24, 2005

Food:
Peanut butter?
Kidneys?
Fish and/or sushi?
Candy bars?
Protein shakes?
Booze, if possible, should be in those little airplane bottles.

Decorations:
Little airplanes?
Imitation bonfire?
Bottle with notes in it?
Luggage?
A folded up wheelchair?
A pit in the backyard where you can throw ornery guests?

Games:
A trivia contest is definitely in order.
I Never (with airline booze mentioned above)
Pin the Turniphead on the Claire, Pin the Hallucinogenic Wacky Paste on the Boone, or Pin the Bad 80's Haircut on the Jack.
posted by gnomeloaf at 10:00 AM on October 24, 2005

One word... Heroin.

You could do shots while watching the show, taking a drink everytime the characters look directly at the camera with a look of fear in their eyes.

You could also have a solo race around the world.
posted by drezdn at 10:07 AM on October 24, 2005

Second the heroin. Also, for a really effective Lost experience you need large sections of the party to drag out for long periods where nothing really happens.

Okay, that's not very helpful. What about doing something with the message-in-a-bottle theme? It seems like it would be a curious diversion for a party. The orientation clip that incessant mentioned is also a great idea. Copy it from the DVD to a blank and rent a projector, connect it to your computer and use the loop as a background visual.
posted by BorgLove at 10:20 AM on October 24, 2005

I had a LOST season premiere dinner at my place for the start of the second season.

The big hit was that we bbq'ed boar for supper. It turned out very good, but you absolutely need to let it marinate overnight. Also boar is pretty damn expensive in filet cuts, close to tenderloin in cost but it was so worth it. Maybe ground boar burgers would be less expensive? If you have a really big party, you could try to roast a whole hog. Although that might be even worse for your vegetarian guests.

As said before, for drinks, a big buckets filled with ice and airplanes size bottles, with mixing ingredients nearby.

Invitations in the form of boarding passes from Oceanic Air. Departure time and Destination indicate the where and when of the party. Of course, the confirmation number for the reservation will be 4815162342. Even if you just send them by email, make them look like an online reservation confirmation.

The DHARMA logo idea is awesome, put it in unexpected places like 3-4 turns into the toilet paper or at the bottom of a bowl of chips or dip.

For music, play "You All Everybody" from DriveSHAFT (Charlie's band). The song is not that great but it fits, you can get it here. You can also get the music that Desmond plays in the hatch. According to chinamom on the Lost-TV.com boards, it's "Make Your Own Kind of Music" recorded by the Mamas and the Papas in 1971.
posted by TinTitan at 10:24 AM on October 24, 2005

Pay some neighbourhood ruffians to periodically run into the house and kidnap a small child. Bonus points if they actually do kidnap the small child.
posted by cmonkey at 10:33 AM on October 24, 2005

Not to throw a damper on your party, but I don't think the second season will be on DVD till September 2006.

That said, close off one room, write "Quarantine" on the inside of the door, and turn it into the hatchelor pad... all the food should be in there, a phonograph, an old computer or two (maybe an Apple IIe would suffice), a copy of "The Turn Of The Screw," and whatever stuff you can dig up for the 70s.
posted by aiko at 10:57 AM on October 24, 2005

Working backwards -

Not having Season Two isn't that big of a problem. Season One will suffice.

The 'hatch' idea is brilliant - not entire sure how to pull that off in our apartment, but its entirely too clever for words not to try.

And ooh yes. DHARMA logo everywhere. That's also a very good idea.

Sadly, pork is a problem, with the vegetarians, people keeping something like kosher, and my boyfriend who is allergic - I don't know how you get allergic to pork, but he is. I'll probably stick with fish, as its kosher-friendly, and one of the two possible vegetarians will sometimes eat seafood. (She's a sort-of-vegetarian)

Airplane bottles is genius. I wouldn't have thought of that.

So many ideas! Thank you guys!
posted by FritoKAL at 11:28 AM on October 24, 2005

Airplane bottles of liquor is an inspired suggestion. Drink tequila & tonics like Michelle Rodriguez's character, if you can stomach the taste.

Definitely sushi and peanut butter--but not at once.

Fried chicken.

Narrate the party like that overwrought guy who voiceovered the season one clip show.

Play Connect 4.

Spell something on the lawn with garden gnomes.

Since you have so much time, maybe you could rig up a simple command-line program that asks for the numbers every 108 minutes. Run it in a full-screen green-on-black terminal window and cover your return key with the word "execute."

And if you really wanted to you could get every season 2 episode from Apple's online media store or just pirate it...

Go back to that episode where Hurley's in gastrointestinal distress and make sure you have whatever fruit it is he says he's been eating.

Give every guest a lotto ticket.

Black and white stones--or even set up a game of Go.

Have on the table works by the philosophes Locke and Rousseau and, of course, copies of Tom Sawyer and Robinson Crusoe.

Place open suitcases in various places. Fill them with items that you think would belong to the main characters, and then have people try to guess who owns each bag.
posted by jbrjake at 2:43 PM on October 24, 2005