Looking over some of my previous journal entries, and my blog post, I wanted somewhere that collected all my posts in one place. I thought I might be able to do that in the actual blog design, but it does not seem to be designed for that. Instead, it looks as if I will have to do it myself in one of my blog posts. This is that post.
Looking back over everything I've posted in 2012, it's quite a lot. 103 posts in my first year alone, to be exact. Since this isn't a movie blog, or a blog about my family, or God, or books, or music, or anything else in particular except my thoughts culled from my journals over the last twelve years, I blog pretty much about anything and everything. Below, I will try my best to put them into discernible categories that link to the actual blog posts through the titles. If your curious or interested in any of these categories, by all means, feel free to check out the posts! Quite frankly, I love the traffic!
Starting Out
My First Post
In which I talk about taking the plunge, writing a blog, my expectation, and what I expect to share... and not share
and followed by
A Short and Sweet Second Introduction
I say a few things I didn't say in my introduction
and later in the year
What This Blog is Supposed to Be
I explain that most of these posts are from my journals, whether old or new journals, and aren't designed to be anything else.
Self Introspection
I had just a few posts about myself and the way I see the world and how it affects me:
Self Esteem and the Art of Reading People
Here, I talked about my own struggles with self esteem and trying to "read" people, something I'm good at sometimes, and horrible at other times.
Karaoke and Diabetes
For this post, I talked about a nephew who, at the time, was diagnosed with diabetes, but I also talked about my love of music, and my ability to actually carry a tune. It may not seem like much, but for someone who has always been told he sounds like a frog or can't sing well, to have that recognition, and have a DJ or two and a few family members tell you that you sounded "really good that time" means the world for a lover of music.
A Conservative Conservationist?
In today's culture, being a conservative conservationist is almost an oxymoron. Here, I try to explain why someone on the right has a heart for a cause usually fought by the left. I just don't go to their extremes.
Part of my struggles are with being corrupted by the evil of this world, and it's something we should all be aware of. This post was my prayer to God not to necessarily shield me from the evil of this world, but for humility and child-like innocence in the face of it, even if it meant my heart will be hurt. That's how badly I want humility and innocence. At the same time, I loved the image I made myself just using Microsoft Paint.
Poems
I fancy myself a writer, so I had a few blog posts that spotlight a few of the poems I've written:
Jesus Was a Teenager
I wrote this poem for one of my teenage nephews when he was being heavily influenced by his peers and popular culture into ideas and life choices that don't have anything to do with God's morality. I presented it with no introduction or fanfare, and it is one of my least visited pages in this entire blog!
For Halloween, A Poem: Fear
Despite being a Christian, I grew up with a love of horror movies, and as a child and teenager, I can remember watching some of the old Universal classics, and being fascinated by the horror movies of the time, such as Carrie, An American Werewolf in London, and Poltergeist. So for Halloween, I shared this poem about fear that uses many of the ideas and catch phrases from some classic fright films!
But it was around Christmas that I pulled most, but certainly not all, of my old and new Christmas poems together to share here:
The first Christmas poem I ever wrote is still one of the best!
Christmas This Year
I wrote this simple Christmas poem the year my Dad passed away, and it was about spending our first Christmas without him.
Christmas Is More
My third Christmas poem was an attempt to go beyond just the easy concepts of the season, not just Santa Claus and Christmas shopping, but going beyond the simple concept of the baby in the manger, or the concept that Jesus was just a man, a "carpenter" and teacher "teaching wisely about moral danger", but to encompass what He was beyond that, which was a Divine Redeemer!
Gifts: A Christmas Poem
This was a list of Christmas gifts, and other than "Recipe for Christmas", it's one of my favorite early Christmas poems.
The One: My Christmas Poem From the Year 2000
For some reason, this is the most popular of my Christmas poems on this blog, by far! While my most popular posts are my movie and TV show reviews (probably only for the pictures), "The One" has had over 600 pageviews. I guess there IS an audience for some of my actual writing.
I've had some friends and co-workers over the years discuss Christian theology with me, wondering aloud if "religion" really matters, or determining that "they're all the same". This poem was my reply: They're not all the same, and we shouldn't just accept the "easy" answers that will actually lead you away from faith in Christ. Stick with the Truth, which may be hard to spot amid all the usual razzle dazzle.
One Christ to Rule Them All
Being that this blog is titled "Thoughts of a Sci Fi Christian Guy", I'm not only a follower of Christ, but I also have an affinity for science fiction. My idea with this poem was to point out the very fantastical, mind-bending nature of Christ, and the Christian faith in general, and to state how it goes beyond the wildest fantasies that science fiction writers can dream up... and what's more, it's all true!
The Birthings: A Christmas Poem
This one takes the concept of three - the Triune Godhead, the births of man, Christ, and his rebirth - along with all sorts of scientific concepts about the nature of the universe, to arrive at the truth of God's love and redemption in our lives. It's another favorite.
The Woman and the Dragon: A Christmas Revelation
My first attempt to write a Christmas poem using Revelation Chapter 12 was a wordy poem that basically wrote all of that Chapter in poetic form. That makes it as difficult to understand as the actual apocalyptic literature it was derived from. Altough I consider it an accomplishment, it is hard to understand, and not what I ultimately wanted to send out in 2011 with my Christmas cards.
Beyond the Nativity: A Christmas Poem
I re-wrote "The Woman and the Dragon" with this poem, making it much shorter, explaining things a little more, and as such, making it infinately more accessible to the common man, and clarifying the message of this chapter and some of Isiah's prophesies concerning who Jesus Christ of Nazareth really was!
Hands and Feet of the Savior: My Christmas Poem 2012
Although I didn't share all my Christmas poems this year ("The Will" and "The Christmas Brook", two other favorites, will be shared later this year), I had to share this year's Christmas poem as well, which focused on the blessed Hands and Feet of our Savior.
The Family
My twin brother Terry and I spent a few weekend mornings in a hunting class.
The Joy of Camping...NOT!
About the time we went camping and I split my arm open!
For the Family: My 1999 Journal Year End Wrap Up
A trip down memory lane for my family about what was going on in the family 14 years ago, from my perspective.
My Faith in Christ
One of the things I love to do more than anything else is theology, and having good, valid reasons for believing what I believe. Since this blog is called "Thoughts of a Sci Fi Christian Guy", you'd know I'd have to write a lot about God, and His existence, and the way this culture treats Him, and sometimes I even mix it up with concepts from the world of science fiction. It actually works!
When we went through the Denver Museum for their evolution exhibits, we found it to be rather ridiculous and humorous.
Freedom and Morality Die Together
This was a small commentary about how "Freedom" and "Morality" are inexorably linked, and how, having one without the other, namely "Freedom" without "Morality", leads to "Immorality" and a break-down of society.
A Case for Theism, and Why It's Better Than Naturalism
I love my theology! In this essay, I explore the concepts of "Naturalism" - believing that all that exists is all we can see and experience, and there is nothing beyond it - and "Theism" - believing that there is something there that exists beyond, and can even interact with and effect, the physical world. Atheistic sceintists - Darwinists - are Naturalists, and Christians are Theists, and here, I try to explain exactly what theism is, and why I choose to be a theist.
Time Travel with Marty McFly and Deanna Troi: One Possible Explanation for the Christian Trinity
"God is One" the High Priest of the Sanhedrin said, tearing his robe open, so upset was he when Jesus stood before him and told him that He, Jesus, was the Son of the Living God, and in essence, was therefore God. It's a difficult concept, even for Christians. But by the same token, we can accept these fantastical science fiction movies in which the character of Marty McFly travels to the past again in the second Back to the Future movie, and interacts with the first version of himself that traveled there during the first movie. Remembering that God exists outside of time and space - in fact, He invented the time and space we occupy - it therefore does not become such a stretch of the imagination to realize how He, in fact, and in reality, CAN be three in one!
God and Holograms
Being a huge fan of Star Trek, and a follower of Christ, I simply cannot get the concept of the Holodeck out of my head. Here is a futuristic device on a set of sci fi TV shows in which people can create fictional places and people and make them seem so real. As a Christian, I know there is another world on top of this one, and reading about Jesus in the Bible talking about heaven and all the things that exist beyond this world, and reading about his miracles and the Transfiguration, and the way he dealt with people, the concept of the Holodeck is simply something I can't get out of my mind. Put simply, we are God's Holodeck.
Three Parables and a Rabid Dog: Nope, Nothing Wrogn Here
Here, I look at three of Jesus' parables about three different people at three different points in their spiritual walks, and then I try to examine which one I am! I compare it to the novel and the movie Cujo, where a fictional character named "The Professor" sells breakfast cereal with the catchphrase "Nope, Nothing Wrong Here!" while everything is, in fact, wrong, and pretty soon, the monsters they try to keep buried come out in the worst ways, including a literal monster of a rabid St. Bernard dog. The word "Wrong" in the title of the post was purposely misspelled to make a point.
The Messiah: What Do Modern Day Jews Think About Him (Or Do They)?
If the Jews have been looking for their Messiah, and didn't see him in Jesus, then what are they looking for? I think it's a legitimate question. If they rejected Jesus because He was just a man, but also rejected Him because He claimed to be more than just a man, then exactly what are they looking for in their Messiah? After talking with a few Jewish friends and co-workers about it, I discovered that most Jews aren't even looking (or at least the ones I spoke with), making me question who was really looking, and exactly what they were looking for.
The Invisible Qualities of God
Sometimes I want to see God, to physically experience Him and His presence and to know for certain that He is real. This short post, however, explores why this is not the way God wanted it, and why.
Science and Science Fiction on the Christian Walk
With this post, I explore the three concepts that tend to fascinate me the most: God, of course, and science fiction, and then science, and finding the truth of God in science and in science fiction concepts. It was my wrap up from my journal from the year 1999, when I talked about all the things I'd written about my walk with God from that year.
Passive Christianity: Left Behind?
Sometimes I feel like the character of Bruce Barnes, the actual "Christian" from the Left Behind book series that was left behind with all the, at that time, unbelievers. It makes me wonder how many "Christians" really will be left behind during the rapture, and how many of them will ultimately be cast out into the darkness where there will be weeping and knashing of teeth. The Bible teaches that "those who do not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire", and that He will "know us by our fruits". And we then have to ask this question of ourselves: "Am I a tree that produces good fruit?"
There is Hope in Jesus for the Depressed
I REALLY struggled when I lost my job in June of 2011. I mean I REALLY struggled. This posting from my journal, from October of 2011, opened the door upon my depression and feelings of worthlessness. It's not a good place to be! The answer I came to - the answer I always come to - is in Jesus! JESUS SAVES!
And Your Heavenly Father Knows That You Need Them
After loosing my previous job quite unfairly, finding a new job was a long, hard, and arduous process, full of self doubt and loathing. Then a new job came along, and it came along right when I really, really needed it. There is no way around the truth of it: God was there for me, and answered my prayers, and the prayers of my family and church.
Cakes, Conscience, and Christ: Choosing Jesus
People are like a recipe. How they turn out is analogous to a cake. In this post, I explore the concepts of nature and nurture - who we are to begin with and the forces that act upon us to change us - and also about the nature of choice, and I realize that I am nothing more than a miserable sinner who needs Christ, and needs to make the choice for Christ always, and in the end, I thank God for the gift of choice, and for allowing us the opportunity to choose Him!
God DOES Exist, and He Loves Us: What I've Learned From My Decade-Long Intellectual Pursuit of God and His Glorious Creation
Here, I try to make sense of my decades long search for God's truth, and what I find is that there are a whole lot of brilliant people - with high IQ's even - that believe in God, some who even became Christians while trying to prove that God doesn't exist! And I realize that walking with God can be an intellectual pursuit as much as it is a spiritual and emotional pursuit, and being a believer in Christ doesn't mean that you have to hang your head in shame among the scientific and philosophical circles, but that one can actually be quite intelligent, and use that intelligence, in their belief in God.
News, Culture, and Politics
Being a Christian, I, for one, believe that it leads quite naturally to the conservative right, and so my look at the big news stories of the year, or from a decade ago, will definitely reflect that position:
A Government of Nancy Pelosi, By Nancy Pelosi, and For Nancy Pelosi
Because she really doesn't want it any other way!
Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Death Dealers
When Whitney Houston died, the Death Dealers came stalking, just like they did for Elvis and Michael
What Would MLK Think of Today's Cultural Landscape?
My contention is that he wouldn't like the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. In fact, I'm sure of it!
American Freedom and the Dreaded "M" Word
America loves Freedom more than Morality, and just look at the results!
Understanding Tragedy From the Theist Perspective: Revisiting the Columbine School Shooting
I wrote this the year of the Columbine school shooting, and then expended it with my theological essay on the nature of theism (linked above)
Obama's Rage: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
I gave my opinion of Dinesh D'Souza's book The Roots of Obama's Rage
Strange Bedfellows: Susan G. Komen, Margaret Sanger, and the Dixie Chicks
The Susan G. Komen Foundation does a great job in the fight against breast cancer. Too bad they've chosen to publicly support Planned Parenthood, which Margaret Sanger started years ago with the express purpose of eliminating poor blacks, which she didn't consider human. And today's society is playing right into her continued plans! Now I can't support Susan G. Komen, which has chose the same Godless ways as the Dixie Chicks!
June 2012: Colorado on Fire!
Our beautiful state was on fire, from North to South and East to West!
The Death of Innocence: My Thoughts on the Atadero and Jon-Bonet Ramsey Cases
It caught my attention in the news when young Jaryd Atadero went missing back in 1999, and, of course, the death of Jon-Bonet Ramsey was THE big news here in Colorado way back then!
The Speculative Party of Inclusion, an Old Canadian Horror Film and NAMBLA: Why I'm on the Right
Liberals claim to be the "party of inclusion" when, in fact, they are not, and here, I compare them with David Cronenberg's cheapo Canadian horror flick from the seventies, They Came From Within, and the North American Man Boy Love Association. Need I explain just why I'm on the political right, or why I'm a conservative Christian? It's because liberalism, when taken to its logical extreme, has no limits. In They Came From Within, a virus infects a condominium, causing the residents to develop insatiable sexual appetites, and nothing is off limits to them. This is the American future liberals are fighting for!
The Chick Fil-A Flack
The owner of Chick Fil-A supports the one man and one woman family unit, and when the liberals and most of the gays decided to boycott the restaurant, the conservatives decided to show them that there are many people who support their right to free speech, if nothing else. I was there!
Revisiting Obamacare, Massively Unpopular Yet Still Shoved Down Our Throats: We Get the "Big Brother" We Vote For
When Obamacare was first rolled out, long before it was somehow passed (I still don't get how that happened!), I looked at what others were saying about it, and compared Obama and Pelosi to Big Brother from George Orwell's 1984 and the firemen in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, using quotes from other people's ideas about Obamacare and those two classic sci fi novels. This is one of my longer posts, but much, much shorter than the Obamacare monstrosity of a bill!
Lost in a Fog of Political Hate
I'd actually make a poor politician, or political pundit. Despite my diatribes against liberals in my blog and my journal, I actually feel more like Johnse Hatfield from the History Channel's miniseries Hatfields and McCoys: I hate all the hate.
If Obama Wins, America Loses
Benghazi is just the tip of the iceberg! And then he won! Even my liberal friends at work felt bad for me!
Modern America: What Will Clean Our Muddy Waters?
America needs a Britta water filter! The conclusion I came to, on the very day America voted Obama back into office to continue fundamentally changing America, was that what we needed to clear the muddy waters wasn't Obama, but God!
Were the Republicans Blind and Deaf to the Reality of Modern America?
The far right, conservative republicans had lost the election. I found three articles on Townhall.com that put that loss into perspective: "Nice Losers" by Thomas Sowell, "It's Hard to be a Republican" by Mona Charon, and "God Will Not be Mocked" by Matt Barber
Movies
I'm a huge movie lover, so there's a lot of my journal entries that resemble movie reviews:
Made for TV Christmas Movies, The Morgans, and Spiders (Lots and Lots of Spiders!)
The Christmas Cottage, about painter of light Thomas Kinkade, was much better than Debbie Macomber's Trading Christmas. I also liked Did You Hear About the Morgans and found the old William Shatner cheapie Kingdom of the Spiders to be a guilty pleasure. At least they delivered on the one thing they needed to deliver on: the spiders!
Why I Liked The Book of Eli
This movie has caused a devision in our family between those that liked it for it's Christian themes, and those that thought it was too violent to have Christian themes and be appreciated by Christians. I liked it.
Killer Robots, The Vampire Next Door, and Elephant Named Rosie, and Minny's "Special" Chocolate Pie: Four Recent Movies I Liked
In which I reviewed Terminator: Salvation, the remake of Fright Night, Water for Elephants, and The Help
Lestat & Louis, Chucky & Tiffany, and a Cinderella Story: 10 Fun Old Movies
In which I review Interview with the Vampire, Bride of Chucky, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, and, briefly, Blade, Evita, Raising Arizona, The Mask of Zorro, Mighty Joe Young, The Mummy, and the TV movie version of Joan of Arc.
The Avengers (Not the New One), a Fallen Angel, V'Ger, and, of course, Beloved: 10 Bad Old Movies
In which I reviewed the bizarre big screen remake the British TV show The Avengers, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Real Genius, John Carpenter's Vampires, Bed of Roses, City of Angels, Snake Eyes, Pleasentville, Mary Reilly, and Beloved, all of which disappointed me... and Beloved totally stunk!
The Spleen, Frau Blucher, the Borg Queen, and a Boy Who Can Fly: 10 More Great Old Movies
In which I review the films Star Trek: First Contact, Disney's Tarzan, Mystery Men, The Boy Who Could Fly, The Sixth Sense, A Simple Plan, Young Frankenstein, and, briefly, Enemy of the State, Stand by Me, and Carrie, all of which I loved.
Butch Babes, Modern Depravity, Uncool Aliens, and Two Stinky Robin Williams Flicks: 5 More Bad Old Movies
In which I review the movies Virus, 8mm, The Faculty, What Dreams My Come, and Patch Adams
The Problem with Horror Films and Gangster Comedies: Five More Bad Old Movies
In which I review the movies Analyze This, The Blair Witch Project, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part II, Phantasm, and, breifly, Forces of Nature
Midnight in Paris: Drawn to It's Many Charms Like the Main Character Was Drawn to Paris of the 1920's
I'm not always the biggest fan of Woody Allen, yet I loved Bullets Over Broadway, and I loved this film just about as much!
Wes Craven's New Nightmare: Why the Seventh Freddy Film is the Best of the Elm Street Franchise
Because they made it something original and unexpected. They took it in a direction most horror film sequels never go.
Praise for a Forgotten Tim Burton/Johnny Depp Collaboration: Ed Wood
Tim and Johnny were at the top of their respective games, and Martin Landau's portrayal of Bela Lugosi during his tragic final days is heartbreaking!
The Avengers: The Best Superhero Movie Ever Made!
It still is!
God at the Movies: A Christian Reading of Disney's Pinocchio
I never really noticed the strong Christian themes running through Pinocchio until I saw again and started keeping a running tally!
That's Right, Walt Disney's Fantasia is Demonic!
I never really noticed the demonic or anti-Christian themes running through Fantasia until I saw it again and started keeping a running tally! The funny thing is, Pinocchio and Fantasia were released by the Disney studios in the same year: 1940.
The Grey Starring Liam Neeson: I Hated It... Then I Kinda Liked It!
There's more going on here than just a survival tale about men fighting off ravenous wolves after a plane crash. In fact, it's not really a survival tale!
Jesus on Film: King of Kings, The Geatest Story Ever Told, and Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth
The big Hollywood versions of Jesus tend to dehumanize Him, but Zeffirelli's TV miniseries got it right!
Unlucky Seven: A Septet of Recent Movies I Didn't Like
In which I review the movies Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Big Miracle, The Iron Lady, Zookeeper, Easy A, Limitless, and Super 8, none of which I liked all that much. The sad thing is, they could have all been good.
In Defense of Dinesh D'Souza and the Film 2016: Obama's America
The liberals on imbd gave it a pounding, as you'd expect, but I still don't see how. D'Souza buries Obama using his own words, from his book Dreams From my Father. It's one thing to say D'Souza was unfair. It's another to say his accusations don't have merit when he was condemning Obama with his own words!
God at the Movies: A Christian Reading of the Stephen King Miniseries Storm of the Century
I'm surprised by how many of Stephen King's books and movies are open to a Christian interpretation! This one is rather blatant
Star Trek: The Motion Pictures Featuring the Original Series Cast: Guide and Ratings
I reviewed each and every episode of Star Trek, the original series, including the animated series and the films starring the original series cast. These are those films.
TV
I'm a bit of a couch potato, so I'll sometimes write about TV shows I watch:
Fairy Tales, Police Politics, and Sloppy Suburbia: Three Modern TV Shows I Like
Here, I review Once Upon a Time, The Closer, and The Middle, our new favorite sitcom
In Praise of American Idol, Season 10
Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, and maybe even that weird ol' Casey James, rocked it! At least more than the judges!
Being Human x2, BBC and SyFy: Still Enjoying It on Both Sides of the Atlantic
A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost live in an apartment together. No, that's not the beginning of a joke! It's a show that started on the BBC, and was remade in America on the Syfy Channel. It took a while to warm up to the American version - Aiden, Josh, and Sally - but the second season went in a completely different direction while the BBC show lost most of it's old cast and replaced them with a new one. I miss George, Mitchell, and Nina, but I like the newcomers Hal and Tom, and Annie's still around. So, yeah, I still love both versions.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - I'll Always Be a Fan, But a Conservative One
Realizing that if Star Trek had a religion, it would be humanism. But I still like all the shows. Okay, maybe not Enterprise.
Reality TV: My Thoughts on the 2012 Seasons of American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Apprentice, and Survivor
The new seasons passed us by. Do you remember Phillip Phillips and Hollie Cavanaugh? How about Clay Aiken and Arsenio Hall against Aubrey O'Day and Lisa Lampinelli on Celebrity Apprentice, or that villianous Colton and all those idiot guys on this season of Survivor? They're all here, along with more B-list celebs like Jack Wagner, Jaleel White, and Melissa Gilbert hoofing it with the likes of Derek Hough, Mark Ballas, and Cheryl Burke.
A Love Letter for Seven of Nine and The Doctor of the Starship Voyager
My two favorite characters on Star Trek: Voyager. Here's why.
Everybody Loves Raymond and The Golden Girls (Or At Least I Do)
One of my favorite sitcoms of the 90's, and a treat from the 80's.
Northern Exposure: Loving Quirky
I fell in love with this quirky show years before Ed and Pushing Daisies came and went.
Bashing Franklin & Bash: It's Not for Christians
I know I still watch some questionable stuff, but this won't be one of them anymore.
Star Trek: Fans Vs. Fanatics
There is a difference! For instance, I'm a fan, NOT a fanatic!
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One Episode Guide with Ratings
My number one post so far, this is the best season of the original series.
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two Episode Guide with Ratings
This one was almost as good as the first season.
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Three Episode Guide with Ratings
This one was not the best season, but sometimes, it's fun to write the bad reviews!
Star Trek: The Animated Series - Episode Guide with Ratings
After watching all the original series episodes, I watched these online on StarTrek.com while doing my treadmill every day. If you view them with an open mind, they're not too bad... of course, the animation is terrible, but the art work is okay, and colorful, and some of the writing is pretty good, for Saturday morning kid's television.
The Best and Worst of The Bionic Woman
I loved this old show, but after buying the DVD's, I discovered I still loved the first two seasons, but the third one, not so much. This is one of my most popular posts.
Stevie Nicks and VH1's Old Series Behind the Music: Where Have All the Documentaries Gone?
Love some of these old documentary shows that don't exist so much anymore.
Music
Over the past twelve years, I've also written a lot about the music I like, but recently, and from twelve years ago, these are really all I felt worthy of sharing in my blog:
Ode to an Enchanted Rock Legend: Stevie Nicks
She may be a guilty pleasure and an acquired taste, but I've always liked her music.
The Necessity of "Weird Al" Yankovic
Okay, sometimes his humor might cross the line, but he's the only one I can think of who has consistently produced some of the best comedy music, and he's managed to make a huge career out of it for more than 30 years running! That's impressive! I mean, isn't it? I'm so glad I'm such a "close, personal friend of Al"!
Books
I've also read a lot of books over the last twelve years, yet from around twelve years ago, and recently, there wasn't a whole lot from this area I felt was strong enough to share in my blog:
The Evolutionist/Creationist Debate and the Book "To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek" by Athena Andreadis, Ph.D.
The Holographic Doctor from the Starship Voyager is obviously a created being! Why can't scientists make the same determination about the actor who plays him?
Sorry LaHaye & Jenkins: Your "Left Behind" Series Certainly Isn't Shakespeare
These might be good if the writing were a bit better.
Boldly Live as You've Never Lived Before: A Bungled Book About Star Trek and Personality Types
I enjoy these kinds of books exploring different aspects of life with themes and characters from the Star Trek universe, but this one really is bungled!
In Defense of "Trivial" Humor: A Validation of Mad Magazine
While other kids were reading superhero comic books, I loved my Mad! I'm all grown up now, yet I'm finding that I still do!
An Intellectual Devotional: Never Stop Learning
I love to learn, and keep on learning. Hopefully, something sticks, and makes me smarter!
Heroes
Lastly, I always tried to include a section in my journal where I admired some celebrity who I felt might deserve my respect more than most (an idea I picked up from an old book of Bill O'Reilly's). However, what I found over the years is that real people, no matter who they are, tend to let you down sooner or later. It is, rather, sometimes fictional characters who can display some of the best qualities that are worthy of admiration and study, and unlike real people, they don't tend to let you down as much simply because they're NOT real, and have no existence beyond the few pieces of media they are characters in, and they were created to be heroes and villains, and to display the best and worst qualities of humanity. Anyway, here's some of the real people and fictional characters I admired in 1999 and 2012, for whatever reason:
Reel Heroes: Michael Sullivan, from the Star Trek: Voyager episodes "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk", Played by Fintan McKeown
I liked the simple Irish "life" of this holographic barkeep!
Real Heroes: Thomas Kinkade - Rest in Peace, Painter of Light
He had his problems, like all of us, and art critics aren't kind, but who cares? I didn't know him personally, of course, but it did seem to me that his heart was in the right place where God was concerned.
Reel Heroes: Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, Terminator: Salvation
A classic redemption story of a character who is half machine choosing humanity over technology, and literally showing us what it means to give your heart to someone else!
Real Heroes: Socrates as Role Model
"The only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing."
Missing the Crocodile Hunter
What a personality! What enthusiasm for doing what he loved! What fascination and love he had for not only all God's creatures, great and small, but also for his family!
Real Heroes: Walt Disney
There are reports that Disney had a dark side, but from a strictly business model, he was someone to emulate, and his creative streak spoke for itself!
...and last, but certainly not least:
What's So Great About Dinesh D'Souza
In which I explain what IS so great about Dinesh D'Souza!
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