Geekklesia

On a recent episode of the podcast The Sci-Fi Christian , the hosts (Matt Anderson, Daniel ‘The Other Guy’ Butcher and Koby Radcliffe) spotlighted their “Top 5 Childhood Influences.” It was a pretty cool episode and got me reminiscing about some of my favorites from my not-quite-misspent youth. I list them below, honorable mentions first, followed by the top five, ranked from five to one*: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: The prototypical steampunk adventure movie. It was also my favorite ride at Disneyworld. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Spielberg's classic movie about an alien invasion that turn out to be benign. Incredible Hulk: This was the second superhero series I saw. I think the recent movies (except for The Avengers) fail to capture the pathos of the character. Mission: Impossible: I loved this uber-cool spy series that relied a lot on misdirection. Six Million Dollar Man: The series about transhumanism before transhumanism was ever in the public consciousness. ...

I am the wild blue yonder. The front line in a never-ending battle between good and not-so-good. Together with my stalwart sidekick, Arthur, and the magnanimous help of some other folks I know, we form the yin to villany's malevolent yang. Destiny has chosen us. Wicked men, you face The Tick. Just the other day, I recently watched the entire series run (minus one episode) of the live-action version of The Tick, starring Patrick Warburton.  I was not familiar with the character, and had never seen either the original comic, the animated series or this version.  My initial reaction was unprintable; not because it contained bad language, but because I couldn’t find the words. In short, it is a funny, silly take on the superhero genre.  I loved the absolutely blithe innocence that the title character has. He has only one drive and that is to fight crime, wherever he finds it. Along with his trusty sidekick partner, Arthur. Arthur, whose moth-inspired costume gets him confu...

Let me begin by stating up front that I am not a ballet guy. One reason I started this blog was so that I could explore the themes and tropes that I find in in the stories within the geek culture and see how they relate to what Tolkien referred to as “the True Myth.”  So I enjoy speculative fiction – science fiction, fantasy and the like.  Those themes are indeed present in many, if not most of the great stories – redemption, self-sacrifice, heroism the overwhelming power of good over the seductive yet ultimately self-defeating temptation of evil. Speaking of Tolkien, he found much of the inspiration for his great masterpieces from what he called “fairy stories,” tales told and retold by Andrew Lang, the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.  One Anderson story, The Snow Queen, has been adapted by a troupe called Ballet Magnificat , a group based in Jackson, Mississippi by Kathy and Keith Thibodeaux. Kathy is the 1982 Silver Medalist at the II USA International Ba...

LiveJournal Tags: Christianity , Health , Creativity , Travel , Bible , Writing , Resolutions , New Year This is a list of the things I’d like to accomplish by the end of this Year of Our Lord, 2013: 1.  Lose at least 15 pounds.   In order to do that, I need to pay more attention to my diet and get off my rumpus and move (i.e., exercise); 2. Read through the Bible this year.   I will be using a reading plan and Rob Lacey’s edgy Word on the Street paraphrase. Yes, I know its cheating, sort of, but I gotta start somewhere, right? 3. Be more creative.   I like to write some, and I’m drawn toward fiction. I’d like to write some short stories for the Ranger Co. X setting that has been recently published by Asparagus Jumpsuit. I’ve also started what was known in the pulps as a ‘novellette’ featuring my favorite characters from three of my favorite Old Time Radio series, Rocky Jordan , Chandu, the Magician , and The Ghost Corps . I really want to finish this one this...