odds and ends and praises

Some are odd some are ends and some are praises, I will let you figure out what is what.

My family found a nice apartment in LB, in their price range no less!!! Mucho happy about that. Plus it has a little more room than current location, so I have place to crash over holidays.

I finally got a hold of someone who cleared up my clearing up of my credential. I don't have to apply for an extension until next year (2 years left on it). Which means I can put that aside for the time and focus on what God wants to do in and through me.

With the above, I am not the most malleable clay, please pray that I will let go of what I want, what I think I want, and even what I know I don't need, and allow God to continue to do more than I can even conceive of for my life.

It's now dinner time. I will try and post more later. Summer is gearing up, new people have arrived at camp, and this week of training has been quite good. Hope to fill you all in with all that when I can.

Click to Enlarge part 2

randomness

I have had Muppets on the brain lately. Figured out why, Monday was the 19th anniversary of the passing of Jim Henson.

I am "home" in Long Beach now. I missed my church here dearly, but realize that God clearly has work for me elsewhere, and saw several examples of what He wants to do/is doing in and through the ministries at Grace I left to go to camp.

Church attendance in Occidental has been super sporadic at best. Still need some reliable transportation, as my schedule doesn't really gell with available rides.

I have 300 pics on my camera, I plan on posting some of them shortly.

Memorial Day weekend at camp is going to be crazy busy. Please pray that we all survive, with our good nature in tact.

Only two weeks left of teaching, then I become summer staff. I am no fan of physical labor (maintenance, et al.) and don't do well in the heat. Please be praying that physically, emotionally, and spiritually that I not only survive but thrive this summer. Please pray that while my strengths and my gifts won't be utilized this summer like they were during the winter season, that I maintain a positive attitude of service. (and that I get more kitchen/program/cleaning shifts than maintenance shifts)

More Muppets

So, I have been giving a lot (too much) thought to Gonzo and how he has appeared over the years. Like any good decades old character he has undergone several changes in appearance. The most resent I like to call his "Disney-ification."

Outside of Kermit, most of the principal players on the Muppet Show underwent some pretty radical transformations during the show's (all too short) five year run. To say then, that Disney has no right to change the characters look would be unfair. However, the direction that the Muppets have gone since Disney bought the rights to Kermit and company, as been to a more rounded, monochromatic, almost Playschool like appearance. (In point of fact, the classic Disney characters (Mickey, Donald, Goofy) have undergone a similar metamorphosis.) It is a case of marketing (kids like bright colors and soft round shapes) dictating the characters' look, over the character of the character dictation the character's look.

I know that last sentence has a lot of "character" in it, but when dealing with the Muppets it is important to remember that they are first and foremost characters. They have back stories and deep seeded fears, they have strengths and weaknesses, they function as a (highly eclectic and highly unstable) family. To turn them into the "funny one," the "mean one," the "jock," and the "outcast" is to miss the point of what made Jim Henson's crazy characters work so well and be loved for so long.

Kermit's new appearance is the most egregious change brought to the Muppets. However, to Disney's credit they have brought him back to a more classic look.

Classic Kermit (Notice his "skull" is basically a hand) with a more football shaped head

"Disney-fied Kermit' with a almost perfectly spherical head.

And here is Kermit in the most recent Muppet Production ("Letters to Santa")

Notice we are much closer to the original football shaped head.

(Side Note: The Muppets and many other properties have been trying hard to produce a seminal Christmas film in the vain of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The reason Charlie Brown and friends have become a part of American Christmas is that CBS ran the special every year for decades on end. If you want kids to grow up watching your Christmas special, stop making new ones every five years, and simply rerun your show until everyone deems it a classic)

Despite the presence of various and radical changes, Miss Piggy adamantly denies ever having plastic surgery. You be the judge.

BEFORE

AFTER

However, what Disney has done to the pig (make her head as round as possible) seems a little extreme.

Disney-ification

Sadly, one of my favorite Muppets (who makes me smile on appearance alone) has undergone (in my book) the most unfortunate transformation of all.

Old school Fozzie

Disney-ification

I really hate the look of the current furry funny man.

So on to Gonzo.

When Gonzo was first introduced to the world, he was this little weird whatever. Not overly appealing in his appearance (or his "artistic acts").

1976

As the years went by Gonzo grew in size as well as physical appeal (relatively speaking of course)

1981

During what some fans have dubbed "The storybook years", Gonzo continued to grow in size, appearance, and in prominence. In 1992's A Muppet Christmas Carol, Gonzo took center stage as the narrator of the film.

narrator of classic novels and stealer of souls

After Disney bought the Muppets, Gonzo became rounder, softer, and more monochromatic.


Once ugly and predominately purple, Gonzo has morphed into a (somewhat) appealing and mostly blue.















I would be absolutely appalled at the transformation of the little whatever who was booed off the stage when he tried to eat a tire to the tunes of Korsakovo to the alien who is front and center of the recent Disney/Muppet outings, except for one thing:

Dave Golez, the man who has had his hand up Gonzo's tucus, since the first episode of the Muppet Show. Gonzo and Golez are the only character/puppeteer combo to remain in tact since the beginning. Golez/Gonzo are the reason that any heart, any humor, and since of nostalgia are part of recent Muppet productions.

So while I am not a fan of rounded heads and simple color schemes (these ain't the telletubbies) I do love me some Gonzo.

Below is a video of Dave and Gonzo

clicky

Just a Thought

PLUS

EQUALS

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

I was in Target today, and among my purchases was the X-Men movies (Hey, the first two weren't bad, and it came with a $10 coupon for the Wolverine Movie.) The 20 something female Target worker commented on the purchase asking if I was getting ready for the new Wolverine movie, and that she was excited for the film. She also mentioned that before Return of the King came out she bought the other two films and watched them in preparation.

Comics and geekdom ain't just for kids (or even just for boys) any more.

On a tangentially related note, is it sad the thing I am most excited about in relation to the upcoming Captain America film is all the tie-ins that will be hitting the shelves?

random thoughts

• The forgiveness of God doesn't simply restore us to the way we were before, but to the way we were meant to be.
• The genesis of Sesame Street was a father wondering aloud if television could be used to teach preschool aged children.
• The Watchmen book is better than the film.
• Same with Prince Caspian.
• Ditto for the Passion of the Christ.
• The Muppet Movie never gets old.
• Disney has DVDs where the commentary isn't simply a rehash of the info learned on the making of documentaries.
• I am now a volunteer for Redwood Kids 
• The main puppet characters at Redwood are named Sven and Ollie.
• When I was a kid, the pastor of my church often told Sven and Ollie jokes.
• I can't believe the good fortune I have had in finding a church/small group.
• This is the fourth time the first church I attended has been the church I made my home church (high school, college, Grace, and now here). In the case of Grace and Redwood Covenant Church (aka RCC) they were not only the first church I attended, but the only church.
• I am contracted to stay at camp through the summer
• I won't make it home for VBS =(
• I am trying to find another, less busy week, to visit Long Beach.
• The act of Jesus kneeling to wash the disciples feet (John 13) is also an act of lifting them up.
• The God who made the cosmos, stripped down, wrapped a towel around himself, and washed the feet of the disciples. Showing not only an example of service, but one of giving worth to those men, an act that would be repeated and magnified as He died on the cross in our place.
• There were no guests (not counting three families of co-workers) this weekend, so that means we don't have to pick up trash before work this morning. (We usually pick Friday afternoon after the kids leave and again Monday or Tuesday after weekend guests leave and before the kids arrive.)
• The fifteen minutes I had before work have now been filled by this list.