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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

C. S. Lewis Day (29 Nov)

29 November 1898 is the birthday of C.S. Lewis, or Jack to his friends--and that’s definitely us.  Well, me.  It’s Brian here, the alleged captain of this ill-fated fictional almanac, and I have to say that C.S. Lewis is one of my all-time favorite writers and that he really did change my life.  I consider him my mentor. Now just so you know it’s coming, this is where you find out that I am in fact a Christian.  (I know, so much for that respect I was starting to earn, right?)  There’s a lot of baggage with that word (and history and beliefs), but don’t worry. We have additional contributors of other faiths who will share in coming weeks too. I’m not going to get preachy.  What I’m going to say is that Lewis (I never could get a handle on calling him Jack) matters a lot to me both in what he wrote and in how he lived.

Now, if I were to rank the things that Lewis is commonly known for, they would probably look like this:

  • Being friends with Tolkien and the Inklings
  • Narnia
  • Writing faith-defending things (like Mere Christianity and doing radio shows)
  • And maybe …he was a teacher?
You know what Lewis did?  He wrote things that helped him understand what it means to be a Christian.  The Chronicles of Narnia supposes a different though analogous world to our own (NOT an allegory--Lewis was very clear on that) and plays out what Creation and redemption would look like there.  Lewis also wrote a science fiction trilogy to explore this issue of sin and contamination, changing the scale of our thoughts from global to universal.  He talked on BBC Radio about the core beliefs at the heart of Christianity. 

But he also lived a normal life.  He had a scholarly career as a professor of medieval literature.  He fought in the Great War.  He got married (to an American!) and raised a stepson. He became a widower.  C.S. Lewis was a regular person who wanted to know exactly what it meant to believe what he did in his time and place, and he wrote so that he and others could learn from that.  That’s why he’s my hero.

How to Commemorate
  • Read his books (out loud is better!)
  • Eat Turkish Delight
  • Shout "Narnia and the North!" when leaving a room
  • Have a conversation about words (like a true philologist).


Normally we have a Works Cited section here, but since we really love Lewis (and I’m the alleged captain), here is a breakdown of a bunch of his books and why you might want to read them.

Till We Have Faces.  Epic.  This was Lewis’ favorite of his own writings.  It’s an old-type story set in a backwater Dark Age country.  So bleak and detailed and wonderful.  It’s more Game of Thrones than Narnia, so be ready.  It’s one of my own Top Five.

The Chronicles of Narnia.  Really, you haven’t read these yet?  Think of a Romanesque alien world where animals talk.  Enter humans and …conflict!  (Lewis suggested people read them in the chronological order in which the stories take place, which is how you often find them numbered in sets, but I prefer the order they were written.  Remember, he made his suggestion way before prequels and such became popular.)

The Space Trilogy.  Start with Out of the Silent Planet.  Classic.  The main character is a linguist who gets kidnapped and taken to Mars where he has to journey across the world and communicate with various species of Martians to get back home.

Letters to Children.  Think of Lewis replying to fanmail from kids.  Which is precisely what this is.

The Great Divorce.  In the fashion of George MacDonald (Lewis’ own literary mentor), Lewis writes from the perspective of someone who journeys with a few other residents from Hell to effectively the front yard of Heaven. "There will be surprises."

The Screwtape Letters.  An epistolary collection of correspondence from one demon (high-up admin in Hell, you know) to his nephew Wormwood (entry-level demon trying to corrupt this one regular guy).  Screwtape’s tone is gloriously condescending and scathing, and it’s truly insightful to hear his comments about the world as a sort of dark mirror.

Mere Christianity. This was the most popular non-fiction book in the 20th Century after the Bible, and I wish we would see its value in the 21st.  Lewis just flat out discusses topics like virtue, sin, sacrifice, pornography, and what is really at the heart of the Christian religion.
The Indigo Dragon.  Ok, Lewis didn’t write this one, but he is one of the main characters along with Tolkien.  And it’s a series!

And feel free to check out the Wade Center at Wheaton College, which is a primary research hub about Lewis as well as J.R.R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Charles Williams.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Sam Becket leaps home for Thanksgiving. (Nov 25, 1969)

Happy Thanksgiving Week!  One of my favorite Thanksgiving scenes of all time is the one from Quantum Leap.  In Season 3, episode 1, Sam Beckett--who is always bounced around into other people’s bodies in different times and places to set right what once went wrong--finally leaps into his own younger self.  His 1969 self is in high school, about to celebrate Thanksgiving.  As much as Sam enjoys having this time in his childhood back, he also wants to save his family members from the decisions that will tear them apart in the future.  But if he does that, he’ll be changing his own timeline (which we all know is a temporal no-no).

Anyway, I really love the scene where the whole family has Thanksgiving dinner at the farm.  It has an almost Norman Rockwell quality to it, and it seems to encourage us to savor the beauty and intimacy in these family moments.  I know these days we’re supposed to say how holidays make us crazy by forcing us to spend time with relatives, but come on.  There’s going to come a time when we wish we could have this back.  Enjoy it while you can.  Love them while you can.

How to Commemorate
  • Have Thanksgiving dinner.
  • Hug all of your family members.
  • Maybe play basketball.  Bonus points for using a hook shot.
 
Works Cited    
Quantum Leap (Season 3)
Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Adoption Week: Four Brothers

Four brothers.jpgIn honor of National Adoption Month, we’re featuring a few stories about adoptions and adoptive families. 

Think blood is thicker than water?  Think again! This 2005 crime thriller was largely overlooked by critics (maybe because they were still having trouble admitting Mark Wahlberg into the acting circle).  It's the tale of four adopted brothers who return home for the funeral when their mom is killed, but when they find out it was deliberate murder, they decide to take out the one who did it.  Detroit style!  (In other words, be ready for the violence.)

Even besides the story, this movie is worth seeing for all the notable actors, many of whom had not come into big-time fame yet.  The cast includes: Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson (from Empire), Sofia Vergara, Tyrese Gibson, Garrett Hedlund, and --the ever-amazing--Chiwetel Ejiofor. And lots more.  If it were me, I'd do a drinking game where you have to shout out the actors famous movie or show as soon as they walk on screen.  But that's me.  And with this movie, it could lead to liver damage, so just nevermind that.

How to Commemorate
  • Decide who your "family" would be, if not your blood relations.
  • You know, just don't hurt anybody, okay?  Violence is bad.
 
 

*Share your photos and celebrations on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Works Cited    
Four Brothers
Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Adoption Week: Supergirl

In honor of National Adoption Month, we’re featuring a few stories about adoptions and adoptive families. 

Don't get sidetracked by that superhero outfit so much that y'all forget that Supergirl was adopted.  That's right--this Kryptonian tough girl was adopted by the Danvers family to raise her safely and teach her the ways of us Earthlings. And it's a good thing too.  Her adopted sister Alex saves her butt all. the. time.
How to Commemorate
  • Put your hands on your hips as much as you can.
  • Bring someone hot coffee, maybe your boss.
  • Traditional food: potstickers and pecan pie.


*Share your photos and celebrations on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Works Cited    
Supergirl (tv)
Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Adoption Week: Modern Family

In honor of National Adoption Month, we’re featuring a few stories about adoptions and adoptive families. 

Hey. Henry here. I’m the granddad in this motley group of book jockeys. I’m the one who’s pretty old-school.  I like Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy and Horatio Hornblower and stories about soldiers and all that.  You know, tough stuff. Not saying I'm a tough guy or anything, though I am a former Marine so... yeah, maybe I'm tough.

Until it comes to my granddaughter. My daughter (ok, my daughter and her husband) adopted Grace 3 years back, and I admit I didn't quite get it when they made the decision.  Blood means a lot to guys like me who fought for their country, but when I first saw Grace's little hand in my daughter's, something in this old turkey melted.  So I relate a lot to Jay on Modern Family, being the grandad to a beautiful kid.  Jay doesn't always catch on right away, but he usually comes around in the end.  There are kids out there right now who need love and a home, and I'm damn proud that my daughter stepped up to welcome one in and make her family.

How to Commemorate
  • Dress up in costumes.
  • Go ice skating.
  • Go trapezing.
  • Plan a Halloween funhouse.
  • Take a family portrait?  (I don't know.  How do you guys come up with stuff for this every time?)


Share your photos and celebrations on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Works Cited    
Modern Family
Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

Monday, November 6, 2017

Adoption Week: Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Meet the robinsons.jpgIn honor of National Adoption Month, we’re featuring a few stories about adoptions and adoptive families.   
 
In Disney’s Meet the Robinsons, Lewis is a twelve-year-old inventor who lives in an orphanage.  When another boy shows up at his science fair saying that he has a time machine, Lewis sees an opportunity to fulfill his dream of finding his mother and learning why she abandoned him at the orphanage.  All that sounds pretty serious, but then they go to the future, encounter a dinosaur, and lots of other mayhem.  This is a fun movie with a solid inclusive theme about how families come in all shapes and sizes.
 
How to Commemorate:
  • Wear a bowler hat.
  • Go to a science fair.
  • Decide where you’d go with a time machine. (Okay, when.)
  • Support an adoption center.

*Share your photos and celebrations on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Works Cited    
Meet the Robinsons
Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

Sunday, November 5, 2017

V attacks Parliament on Guy Fawkes Day (5 Nov)

Vforvendettamov.jpgV is an anarchist freedom fighter in dystopian London who tries to incite a revolution by performing various acts against the government.  V for Vendetta was originally a graphic novel that was made into a successful movie in 2006.  The V/Guy Fawkes mask has become a sort of symbol against tyranny.

Also, there’s this great dialogue where V says:
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous."


How to Commemorate
  • Listen to the 1812 Overture.
  • Shave your head (or, okay, wear a bald cap).
  • Use as many v-words as possible.
  • Decide which ideas are most important to you--because ideas are bulletproof. 
*Share your photos and celebrations on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Works Cited   
V for Vendetta


Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Henrik Vanger receives a framed flower on his birthday. Again. (1 Nov)

“It happened every year, was almost a ritual. And this was his eighty-second birthday.  When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dalarna.”

This 44th flower was the one to finally push old Henrik Vanger to look into the disappearance of his niece Harriet Vanger all those years ago. To this end, Henrik acquires the services of Mikael Blomkvist who himself enlists the help a girl with a dragon tattoo—one Lisbeth Salander.

How to Commemorate
  • Press a flower.
  • Get a tattoo.  Bonus points if it’s a dragon.
  • Learn some Swedish. (Check your local library for Mango Languages for free!)

*Share your photos and celebrations on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Works Cited   
The girl with the dragon tattoo.
Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Public Libraries