Good, or evil, sides, these ideas are irreverent.  The LMFAP gives clues to help, whether through a dream or vision, his main goal is to aquire more souls for the lodge and send out demons for more. He could be a collector for the lodge. The giant, old server dude, and the loglady's log are dwellers of the lodge, not considered so bad, but give clues to Cooper's path to lodge. Earl does phyiscally lead Coop to the ring of trees, but what lead Earl? We Know.  Also...    

If I were in that lodge with Cooper and Laura I might consider floating around a bit, maybe check'n out the ceilings. 
 

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I didn't read all the posts here, so pardon me if I repeat something.

 I've always thought the object was the bird in the cabin.

And maybe this is been discussed, but I'd thought I'd bring it up. One day while watching FWWM I made a connection. When Red Room Laura snaps her fingers and points down, its the same gesture she does in the Pink Room to Buck asking him to give her oral sex.  

This would look good on your wall.

-Noah- 

Everything in Cooper's dream was just simply a clue to help him track down BOB so that the LMFAP and Mike could get their share of the Garmonbozia that BOB had kept to himself. The shadow is that of a bird to make sure that Cooper knows he is on the right track when they find Waldo. When the LMFAP says that the beautiful woman is his cousin, he's only trying to get the word cousin into Cooper's head so that Maddy won't go by without some attention. He doesn't literally mean that she's his cousin.

Just like "let's rock" shows him that it's connected to the Teresa Banks case when Cooper found the words written across Agent Desmond's car.

And the way "that gum you like is going to come back in style" is repeated near the end.

All just pieces of the puzzle. Afterall, the LMFAP and Mike (technically the same person in the real world) would really like their Garmonbozia back.

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Not sure when this got bumped up (it's still a bird, people) but Melissa is so right about the cousin thing!  Yay!  That always bothered me, and now I get it.  Thanks!  

I'd like to throw in my 2 cents.

 I think the LMFAP saying "she's my cousin", is somehow related to Gordan Cole calling Lil (who is a DANCING girl in a RED dress) "my mother's, sister's, girl"......meaning cousin.

The bird shadow or whatever it is in the original red room sequence is there because it looks really cool.  Who knows what spirits are in that place?

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!

Has it been merged?

Well, it's very interesting anyhow.

 Re-reading Jospeh Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which I have always loved because of it's reverence for the wilderness and the mysterious dark force in/of them, I caught this gesture:

"I slapped him on the back and shouted, 'We shall have rivets!' He scrambled to his feet exclaiming 'No! Rivets!' as though he couldn't believe his ears. 

Then in a low voice, 'You . . . eh?' I don't know why we behaved like lunatics. 

I put my finger to the side of my nose and nodded mysteriously. '

Good for you!' he cried, snapped his fingers above his head, lifting one foot. I tried a jig. 

We capered on the iron deck. A frightful clatter came out of that hulk, and the virgin forest on the other bank of the creek sent it back in a thundering roll upon the sleeping station. 

It must have made some of the pilgrims sit up in their hovels. 

A dark figure obscured the lighted doorway of the manager's hut, vanished, then, a second or so after, the doorway itself vanished too."

So many surreal moments (you never fund out who the dark figure is, btw) in that story, all the creeping madness...

Anyhow, here the signal seems to mean "I have the solution" or "I've got it taken care of." He never has to elaborate to the other man.

Nice! I've read the book, but I never made the connection.

It doesn't really bring me any closer to understanding anything, though.

"What credit card do you want to put that on?"
"Caash, prease."

I always thought the shadowy flying thing was an owl too...because you see it as a silouette, meaning it is on the outside of the lodge.

As for Laura touching her nose then pointing to Coop - my thought the first time I saw it was that she's saying, "I know you...."