The Millennial Jedi

(Yes, the title would make great clickbait in present popular parlance. Maybe I should add "10 Things You Won't Believe About..." to assure this post's procreation.) Well, it's been a month to the day since I first saw The Last Jedi, and I'm finally getting to blog about it! I have intentionally avoided any reviews (still have the last 20 minutes of a podcast from December to listen to), and have only discussed the film with friends in an attempt to keep my thoughts as clear, cogent, and unique as possible. Spoilers after the jump.

Protestant "Lent"

As I've done during past Lents, I'm going to record some of my reflections upon this year's liturgical occasion; however, this time around, I have gained some new perspective on why Lent is significant to me, largely in response to what it does not signify.

Of underdogs and the redeemed

Watching Super Bowl LI last Sunday, I was rooting for the Falcons. Like most, I enjoy a good underdog story (no pun intended with Michael Vick in mind...), even though both the Patriots and Falcons had excellent seasons. So, by "underdog," I mean simply that the Falcons were not favoured to beat the Patriots. And man, the first 3 quarters of the game were exciting and hopeful for anyone who wanted to see the Patriots served their comeuppance for being lousy, rotten cheaters! Of course, as things turned out, the Patriots won. And that got me thinking...

To Be Titled

Being a summary of my thoughts on The Lord of the Rings,  A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Magicians trilogy, as relates to their themes, similarities, and divergences.
Updated 2016.6.13 with Part II: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things."
Updated 2016.11.13 with a few thoughts from A Clash of Kings
Updated 2017.2.5 with even fewer comments on A Storm of Swords

Delaying gratification

Last Halloween, I met a student at my new school who also shares my interest in A Game of Thrones (though she's only seen the show, and hasn't read the books), and our first conversation lasted about 45 minutes, with her writing questions in dry-erase marker on a whiteboard, and me responding verbally. (She was in full makeup as a zombie for Halloween, so she couldn't move her mouth enough to talk without risking displacing her gorey makeup.) Her questions ranged from speculation about future plot incidents and story lines to my opinion of certain characters and events. At one point, she asked about the current state of a certain character in A Song of Ice and Fire - whether a situation has been resolved or not in the books, as opposed to the show. This post will be about how that question, my response, and her reaction converged on Ash Wednesday this year to make me think about the importance of having a penitent mindset before the exultation of Easter. But for the sake of not spoiling anything for those concerned with the series, I'm going to make the section break here, so if you click to read on, you do so at your own risk of spoilers.

Undiscovered Country

I was deeply saddened to hear of Leonard Nimoy's death last Friday, and since Jess and I had already seen Wrath of Khan, we watched The Undiscovered Country on Tuesday night in memoriam. To avoid becoming maudlin, and since I've already blogged about sojourning and the city with foundations, I'll just say that the themes of walking into an unknown future while reflecting on a painful past (or present) resonated strongly with me because of what's going on in my life right now.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The last 5 months have flown by as we anticipate the birth of our daughter in February. Never before has it seemed like a semester has gone by so quickly (not that I'm counting down the 15 days till Christmas break), or that work-week cycles ended & re-started so abruptly. It seems like having a long-range goal that's got a due date I cannot control or change has really put a lot of things in my life into perspective, or perhaps thrown them into sharper relief. As today marks the first Sunday of Advent, the season of year when Christians look back to Christ's birth and anticipate His return, I find myself pondering long-expected arrivals.