The Green Hornet at 75

A superhero is celebrating his 75th anniversary today, but few will notice.

On January 31st, 1936, more than two years before Superman first appeared in comic books, and more than three years before Batman, the adventures of the Green Hornet were first broadcast over a Detroit radio station.  Perhaps to call the Green Hornet a "superhero" overstates the case.  After all, he has no superpowers, nor even the physical or mental prowess of Batman (although the Hornet's sidekick Kato is a brilliant martial artist).  In fact, the Green Hornet has more in common with the Lone Ranger (Britt Reid, the real name of the Hornet, was intentionally implied to be the Lone Ranger's decendant) than a superhero like Superman (Batman's arguably closer, with the exception of Batman's obvious connections to the Superman crowd). But if I said "pulp hero" or "vigilante" (as the Wikipedia article does, and those terms are unarguably more accurate), who would care?
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Transformers Feature: Animated Sentinel Prime

Last year, after it was confirmed that the theme for BotCon 2010 would be related to Generation Two, I did a short series of blog posts and tweets featuring Generation Two toys. Yesterday, they confirmed that BotCon 2011 would feature the Transformers: Animated line in some way. Now, exactly how Animated will be used is not yet entirely clear. While it is all but certain that molds from the Animated toyline will be used, which molds will be utilized, the exact characters to be featured, and what kind of story the convention comic will tell are all questions that will have to be answered in the coming weeks and months. Anyway, in honor of this year’s BotCon theme, I’ll show off some Animated toys that I’ve yet to feature here on the blog.
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A Children’s Sermon Railroad Analogy

I grew up around trains and railroads.  My dad loves them.  He took a job as a conductor on a local railway when he was a teenager, built a model railroading layout that to this day never fails to elicit awe from the visitors who see it, and would take us as a family to almost any railroad museum or exhibit to be found within a three-hour radius of anyplace we happen to be visiting.  In addition to this, the pastor of our home church during the years I was growing up in Louisville was also a railroad fan, which contributed to his friendship with my family (even in the years that have followed his association with our church).  I know more about railroading than your average person, if purely through osmosis.

Yet, somehow, I seem to have never heard a children’s sermon that referenced trains until yesterday's Sunday worship gathering.  With Knox Presbyterian Church pastor Matt Colwell’s permission, I paraphrase it for you here.
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Defining Post-Christendom

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
     -- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

While it may seem the heights of hubris to define words purely according to our own desires, it is nonetheless the case that, however we have defined a word in our own minds, that (and only that) definition is the one that is at play whenever we see or hear the word used, to say nothing of when we use that word ourselves.
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I'm Married to a Priest

My wife Michelle was ordained to the Episcopal Priesthood this past Saturday.  I've been wanting to write about that experience ever since, but I've had a couple of problems in doing so.  These problems may be described in relation to Michelle's ordination to the Deaconate six months ago.  If you haven't already read about that, I'd invite you to do so now via this link.
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M.A.S.K. Meets GI Joe - Specialist Trakker

I have a small number of GI Joe figures in my collection.  I'm really not much for military-stuff, but there's always been something about the "Real American Hero" that I still remember fondly from my childhood.  Perhaps it's the way that the GI Joe and Transformers franchises (both properties of Hasbro) were apparently tied to each other way back then.

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Learn Guitar to Find Romance

A friend of mine (who herself blogs over at What Is, and What Could Be) shared this video she found a couple of weeks ago, and I've found it to be pretty cute, clever, and addictive.  Disclaimer: I make no guarantee of romance for anyone who takes these lyrics seriously!



If you like the song, you can find it at iTunes. Head over to Big Crumbs first so you can get a few cents back, then search for "(She might love you if you learn to) Play Guitar" by Bella Hemming.