Thank you

My last blog should really be about how much I have enjoyed this class (BTW #2 King Kong #1SamWise Gamgee)

God has truly blessed me with a class that was just what I needed my first semester of college, my first semester of truly being an artist.

The Fridge taught me its okay to cut deep, really deep

Flannery O'Conner taught me that you can't squeeze God into art. Art and God is a package deal

Sandman, Tcho-Tcho, The Street and Tale of Tales - Taught me that you can't be afraid to get a little wacky and you do truly have to love what you do.

Joel, you taught me to stick to my guns!

Professor, fellow students you guys taught me that this university is exactly where God wants me to be for the next four years.

Thank you very very much!

God Bless you all!

Top Ten Characters # 3- Arwen

"What grace has given me let it pass onto him."

This quote is really powerful to me. Especially has a Christian.

Arwen says this quote as she "prays" for Frodo who has just been stabbed by one of the Ring Wraiths.

Arwen is a very beautiful character both inside and out.

I really admire her bravery. I love the scene where the Wraiths are chasing her on horseback and she's all like "If you want him, come and claim him!"

And then she does that super awesome chant and BOOM! River is a herd of horses

Arwen shows the true heroism Jesus shows in the way she makes sacrifices. I think the relationship between her and Aragon is really sweet and interesting. Of course they love each other and want to be together but she is immortal and he is of course mortal. He would have her leave to be with her people but she wants to stay with him.

Arwen becomes mortal then, right Doesn't Elrond give her that whole spheel about how eventually Aragon will die but she will keep on going, she lives like a few hundred years longer than Aragon but she eventually dies. Those last years of her life she will "live out in sad existence" (or something like that)

But that is what she choosing when she chooses Aragon! Death! And not only that but a few hundred miserable years because her love is gone.

This really is a good portrayal of Christ, in some ways He is so much like Arwen! He chooses, death he choose mortality. And all of the stuff that entails like being exhausted, working, hunger,

He chose all of that so He could be with us!

Top Ten Characters # 4- Bruce Wayne

"But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you....then you become something else entirely."

"Which is?"

"A legend, Mr. Wayne"

I feel this quote does a great job laying the foundation for the complex actions and scenarios Bruce Wayne finds himself in as he becomes the Dark Knight aka Caped Crusader aka Batman

Bruce Wayne does a really good job of turning a tragedy in his life into something that did a lot of good for people, this is one of the reasons I admire him so much.

Although, he devoted himself so much to this idea that his identity as Bruce Wayne kinda got lost.

I suppose you could compare this to Christianity, our own identity getting lost in Christ's who should be our one "ideal"

Another thing I really admire about Bruce Wayne is the sacrifices he makes within his identity as Batman. The end of The Dark Knight, shows this very clearly. At the end of the movie Batman does what is best for the people.

Sacrifices again!

Top Ten Characters #5 Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker, what a guy!
Altough some people might think that by now, Luke Skywalker is getting kinda old, there was definetly something that first caught our attention from this farm kid.

With Star Wars George Lucas was looking to utalize the classic adventure story framework, and that is what we got in Luke Skywalker, the fact that he is a farmboy is a dead giveaway!

He's just kinda got that boyish persona, especially in New Hope. Not a mischevious boyish, but almost like a overly ambitious boyish, like Tom Sawyer or George Baley as a kid.

I also really like the heart the Luke has for people! I think that it is soo cool that he can still kinda see Darth Vader as his father and not just kill him because he has done so much evil

He gave him a second chance!

(You really can find God in a lot of stuff! I agree with Flanner O' Conner any truth is God's truth

Top Ten Characters # 6- Moses

As you already know I am a big fan of The Prince of Egypt. I sincerely do value their interpretation of Moses.

His character is just really believable, and the fact that he doesn't have biceps the size of my head like Charleston Heston in Ten Commandments makes him a little more approachable.

Its hard to pick a favorite scene from that movie, but the burning bush scene is incredible. I love God's voice, how there is many layers to it. Go listen to the Hans Zimmer score for that scene, it is so so moving! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrUTsJ-8s1k

I think in general though I have always been a fan of Moses. Even as a kid I loved the story in the Bible (and the Movie)

As a kid I remember crying because I wasn't going to see Moses because he didn't know about Jesus. (Yes, I was a very weird little girl!) But that was before I learned about the whole old/new covenant thing.

Top ten characters #7-Quasimodo

Quasimodo! Or more specifically the Quasimodo from the Disney version.

What I really love about Quasimodo is his heart. I love the idea that although he has lived under such abuse from Frollo, the Judge of the city, Quasi can still have such a clean heart and still love the world for the people and the mystery it has. If you wanna listen to a good song, here is Out There from the movie! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEOFQAJAcss

In that aspect Quasi would make a very good filmmaker. I have always thought that we need to have a sense of wonder. Wonder both in the amazement sense and the sense of trying to explain or offering up an interpretation. I just feel like if you think you have the world understood you wouldn't become a filmmaker, perhaps a film historian but not a filmmaker.

Top Ten Characters #8- Belle

Is it girlie to write a blog post on your favorite Disney Princess?

I suppose so!

But Belle is worth talking about! (Random fact! The animators based Belle's walking off of the way a ballerina would walk)

Beauty and the Beast was is exceptional movie! The first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture! :) And like professor Leeper mentioned the famous ballroom scene! 2-D character dancing in a 3-D environment!

Throughout the film's mosaic of colorful characters and songs, Belle is the woman who holds it all together. She is the one who breaks the spell! A lot can be said for the Beast too, but Belle is the one the audience falls in love with first.

I think my favorite part in the movie has to be the ballroom scene! Angela Lansbury has such a fantastic voice!! I guess she really didn't want to sing that part and part they got it in ONE take!

I love the part when they're dancing and Belle rests here head on the Beast's chest and even though he isn't human yet, you know that everything is going to be okay.

I really respect Belle because of the sacrifice she makes for her father. (I seem to be on theme with these sacrifices.....Jesus....Rick Blaine...Little Creek....Belle Jesus is the model for true heroism!! :) :)

I also love the grace and confidence she emits too both to Gaston and the Beast. The dialogue between her and the Beast after the wolf attack is great!

"If you hadn't runway THIS wouldn't have happened!"

"If you wouldn't have frightened me I wouldn't have runaway!"

I really love the whole idea of looking at Beauty and the Beast through the lens of the gospel. Jesus is the Beauty and we are the Beast

Top Ten Characters #9- Little Creek

If you have not seen the Dreamworks movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, I highly recommend it!

It is a simple yet inspirational story of a horse's journey for his and his herd's freedom.

An Indian, Little Creek, helps rescue him along the way.

I really like Little Creek's character. Sure, he's not the deepest character in cinema in history.

But I really like the way he treats Spirit, the horse. I myself am a sucker for horses so he gets extra points!

In the end, just like Rick Blaine!, he does what is best for Spirit and his own horse, Rain. He lets them go free!

Top Ten Characters- #10 Jethro

I really like Jethro's character in The Prince of Egypt. Jethro was Zipporah's father, so he became Moses father-in-law. He is called something else in the Bible. Its Jethro and something else that begins with a R....

Anyway, in the movie, I know he only gets like three minutes of screen time but those were a good three minutes!

I think it was because of the song he sings Through Heaven's Eyes.

I don't know, very theologically profound for an animated movie....especially a studio's first one!

Or maybe its not so profound.....maybe its one of those obvious things I keep forgetting.

But anyway! Jethro reminds me of God in this song, so I'll give him a ten!

Listen to the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG0a9WFkgzU

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Recently I watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have to say I am a big fan of the trilogy and sometimes an Indiana Jones movie is more of a comedic experience than a dramatic one! Harrison Ford is good at that

However, there was one aspect of the movie that I hadn't thought about as much.

The aspect of God.

This is going a bit too far but feel like God was almost like a monster image in the movie.

I mean He does kinda melt everyone's face off in the end.....

except for Indiana and Marian because they didn't look.

At first I feel like, "What! You can't portray God like that! People are going to get the wrong idea! God isn't a monster!"

But on the OTHER hand I feel like some of that stuff isn't too much off the track from Exodus and Genesis and the rest of the Bible. Maybe its in 1 Samuel? but there is an instance where the Ark is being carried over the Jordan River?? but anyway it begins to slip and some guy reaches up to stabilize it and HE DIES!!!!!! Drops like a sack of potatoes! And he wasn't even trying to hurt the Ark! He was just trying to protect it! But I guess God doesn't need help from nobody!

I mean let's get real here! There is a lot of passages in the Bible where its like "Holy!" God really is.. holy and really big and really scary. Sometimes HE's not the kind of God you just wanna cuddle up too...more like run away in the opposite direction and beg for mercy.

The concept of Holiness is a key concept to grasp before you can get the concept of grace.

I mean it sounds kinda mean but really!

I mean if you think God is like this ancient grandpa in the sky whose should have keeled over centuries ago by the looks of him its like"Oh...yay! Grace... gee thanks Granps! Glad you still kicking! Anything I can do for you?"

BUT, if you look at God, like a God! In Isaiah there is this passage where it talks about the throne room of God and there is wearing this huge robe with a train that filled the Temple ( I think, symbolically, the longer the train is the more you are respected and considered to have real power and authority. And there is smoke and these really kinda creepy looking things with wings and multiple eyes, and each of them have a different animal's head like a lion or eagle. And these beings are around the Throne covering themselves up with they're wings chanting, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy." They do this all the time! LIKE RIGHT NOW! "Holy, Holy, Holy"

Isaiah just flips out because he knows he is filthy compared to this.

Getting Grace from this God is a big deal! I mean he could easily just make you dissapear, zap you, nothing left but a little pile of ashes.

but the really cool thing is He doesn't

God is God. I love the verse in Jeremiah? where God says something like "Can a nursing mother forget her child? Even if she could I will surely not forget you."

The old rugged cross is an unfathomable mystery when you see it with a perfectly Holy, All-Mighty God.

Of all the gin-joints in all the towns of all the world...she walks into mine.

Yeah for World War II propaganda movies!

Casablanca, a 1942 picture with eight nominations and three awards including Best Director Michael Curtiz, Best Screenplay Julius J. Epstien, Philip G. Epstien and Howard Koch , and Best Picture!

And Max Steiner also got an nomination for best musical score. Max Steiner also wrote the score for the original King Kong movie!

I don't wanna give away any of the plot for those of you who haven't seen it because you really should see it!

Its just classic, classic Hollywood filmmaking. It was one of nine picture that Warner Brothers released that year.

Disclaimer for my opening sentence. It wasn't written to be a propaganda film put that was kinda the way it played out. Apparently the screenplay was first read by Warner Bros on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked but I don't know if quite by that. That seems a little too dramatic, but stranger things have happened.

I know a lot of things about the plot in Casablanca can seem romantically loose, if you know what I mean. Back then they used to have censors about those kind of things! They were called the Hayes Code Censors. One very big no-no was extra-maratial relations.

But at the end, there's just...grrr I can't go any farther without spoiling the ending.

[*****SPOLIER ALERT!!!*****]

There. That's better.

Rick is the owner of Rick's Cafe Americano in Casablanca, Morocco. There he meets his old love Ilsa who is married to this French Underground Activist for the war. (When they met however, she thought her husband Victor, was dead. That is why she let the relationship get as far as she did. But she finds out Victor really isn't dead and goes back to him

Victor and Ilsa are trying desperately to get out of Casablanca before Victor is arrested. Of course, Rick helps him escape.

I can't help but respect Rick for practically demanding Ilsa to go with Victor at the end and leave him behind.

I really respect the selflessness that that took, because she was willing to stay in Casablanca with Rick.

"If that plane leaves and you're not with him, you'll regret. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

"Here's looking at you, Kid."

Passing Hearts

I really liked this film! The writing was superb! I loved how they threw in all the little clues and they let you put it together. I feel like they almost didn't need to have the letter at the very end, because you knew before then what happened. But it did help tie it all together.

The acting in the short film was subtle yet very pointed and powerful. The Mom of the other boy was incredible. The scene where she breaks down and runs out to hold Daniel was so powerful! "I'm so glad you came!" I thought Daniel was really her son for a while there.

This movie really inspired me to think about screenplays more. The way the story unfolded, no detail was taken for granted, the boy wasn't at a soccer game just to be at a soccer game.

It really helped remind me of how powerful stories can be when we respect them and believe in the message behind the story. It reminded me to really value pre-production. From being on set I feel that room for new ideas and creativity can be snuffed out a little bit because of the demands of the schedule. Of course some new ideas and good ideas come on the set. Bt that doesn't mean that the screen play should just be a well detailed synopsis. It needs to have its own treasures and nuisances that are central to the heart of the story. The on-set inspiration is just icing on the cake.

Jesus kicked death's ass!!

I got the irony of the article, I really did. But Jesus wasn't a pansy.

I can't really saw much on Neo because I haven't seen the Matrix (woah! really?) Yes, its true!

I wanted to saw this in class, but honestly I had a problem saying "ass" and saying Jesus kicked death's butt didn't quite have the same effect!

So I decided to blog about it because, apparently I can use profanity in my writing without having to feel AS guilty.

Maybe that makes me a pansy.

I may very well be, but Jesus is definitely not.

It takes serious guts to be allow yourself to be nailed to a cross for a bunch of pervs and murderers, especially if you are God!

"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Epehsians 3: 17-19

Making a trailer was so much fun!!!

More or less......

I made a trailer for the Prince of Egypt. One of the best by Dreamworks! Great movie! Even if the trailer does nothing for you please watch it! It even has a Hans Zimmer score! C'mon! What is not to love! If Mr. Zimmer ever did a score for me.... I think I would keel over and die right there, but I would die a happy woman!!

One my favorite scenes from the movie is the part where they sing the song "Through Heaven's Eyes" In that scene Jethro, reminds me of God, I don't think that is being disrespectful. He's just so happy!

"A single thread, in the tapestry, though its color brightly shines can never see its purpose in the pattern of a grand design!"

Oh wow, you guys. I need about to think about how big God is a lot more than I do. I mean its really scary to think about that sometimes, (some of the throne room scenes in the Bible.....wow! Don't want to mess with Him!)

One of my favorite parts in the Bible when God is telling Job "Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?" (39:19)

And then God talks about a mountain goat, a lioness, an eagle? Maybe?

oh yeah and Dinosaurs!!!!!!!!!

It is not a hippo!!!!!!! It is freakin' dinosaur!!!!!!!

I wanna ride a Brontosaurs when i get to heaven!!!! That would be sooo cool!

So, there it was a rant.

God is Holy.

I really really need Him!

And I'm denying my existence if I think otherwise!

Made by/for him!

(so easy to write down! So so hard to do!)

I think I've forgotten that action speak louder than words!

Anyway! Here is the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFQKmoiimoE

I would appreciate feedback!

(Who doesn't?)

Break from the trailer!

I am taking a break from editing my trailer! I am close to being done but I don't know how much longer I can take sitting in this chair! Seriously! Good old' Prince of Egypt! Trying to do it justice in the trailer!

So lately I have been thinking about something we talked about at the very beginning of the year. The Prayer of the Cock.

The what? Its on the extra pages of Professor's website, prayers from the ark.

In his poem, the cock says,

Do not forget, Lord,

it is I who make the sun rise.

I am Your servant

but, with the dignity of my calling,

I need some glitter and ostentation.

Noblesse oblige . . .

All the same,

I am Your servant,

only . . . do not forget, Lord,

I make the sun rise.

Amen

Its the last part that really gets me. "All the same, I am you servant, only...do not forget, LORD, I make the sun rise."

Professor Leeper explained it something like this, "I'm only doing what you made me to do?"

Do you ever feel guilty about wanting to be an artist?

I do.

I mean isn't there something more useful I could be doing with my time? Your sitting here, writing you little stories and there's little kids starving in Africa.

It's a legit question right?

But if this isn't what I'm supposed to do why this strong desire? Why the desire to move away from my family and go to some school in University in Indiana to learn how to make REALLY REALLY REALLY good stories?

But aren't stories powerful?

Didn't Jesus teach in Stories?

Aren't people effected by stories in a way unlike any other?

But I am supposed to be the dog?

Lord,

I keep watch!

If I am not here

who will guard their house?

Watch over their sleep?

Be faithful?

No one but you and I

understand

what faithfulness is.

They call me, “Good dog! Nice dog!”

Words . . .

I take their pats

and the old bones they make me happy.

I take kicks too

when they come my way.

None of that matters.

I keep watch!

Lord,

do not let me die

until, for them,

all danger is driven away.

Amen

I so want to be that dog! Be willing to do WHATEVER my Master wants me to do, whether or not it is within my passion.

But that darn Rooster never shuts up.

"Don't make eye contact with anyone that looks like they could stuff you into a trunk"- Professor Leeper

mmmm, yes! Words of wisdom for us all! Such were Professor's words to us shortly after arriving at Chicago, where I think we all had a pretty fabulous time.

I'm really glad I went! It was super fun! You guys should think about going next year! As I touched on earlier it really helped me appreciate foreign films more They're not ya know, boring or irrelevant to us as Americans. And I don't even wanna say that they're better than the stuff we got here. They simply deserve respect as the arts they are. Don't be afraid of the subtitles either! You just get used to reading and watching at the same time. After a while you kinda forget you are reading subtitles. Trust me! They are better than English Dubs!! The first feature we watched on Saturday was the Star Talers. A german production made my swedish filmmakers. It was a really good film! The coolest part was hearing the filmmaker, Maria Von Helund, come up and talk after the movie. Wow! What a great model for women in film.

www.imdb.com/name/nm0374842, this is a link to her imdb page.

I think I found her determined but easygoing spirit so attractive. Man, if only I spoke Swedish! I wold love to work on one of her sets one day! Her story was very good too! It was a retelling of the Grimm Bother's fairytale. It is actually a pretty short fairytale. So she had a lot to get to be the feature film length it was. It follows the story of a little girl, Mina, who has to go and petition to the king to free the weavers of her town, among them are her parents. Along the way to the castle she goes out of her way to help others. She is confronts the red hair brute and tells him to give a town its water supply back, she gives away her family's ancestral medallion to help a fisherman catch his fish, and she also gives away her doll, her coat, and her bread to people in need. She also gives her love to a small, loud-mouth dog named Mr. Flix

When I look at this tale I can't help but think of the organization Starlight. Basically what they do is give Kids with brain tumors the opportunity to have a story idea of there into a movie. And professional filmmakers help them do it.

I looked at this young filmmaker, Stephanie and just thought, Wow! You are being a servant! You are using your craft to make something worthwhile, to hear a little six-year old boy say "If you have a brain tumor don't worry because sooner or later you are going to make a movie." If anything else, its amazing! That filmmaker is like the girl from Star Talers. Like we all do, she probably has her own stories that she is dying to tell and yet she still goes out of her way to tell the story of a six year old boy with brain cancer.

And just like Mina who knows where it will lead....

"Love the Process as much as the finished Product"

I am hesitant to write a post about my own book after I have just gotten back from a wonderful weekend with our fabulous upper class man and after viewing some awesome work at the children’s film festival this weekend. In a sense shouldn’t good work make you think about the stuff you are dishing out??? I don’t want to pump out some guilt induced post about the films we watched. It really wouldn’t do them justice! One thing I will say, “Watch more foreign films!”

I don’t have to tell any of you how it feels to work on a piece that is very important to you. So, if anything I’m writing this post for myself and my blog points.

This past summer I “finished” a project that I have been working on for the past six years. Since I was twelve years old. When I first started writing it way back when in longhand I wasn’t writing it for a specific reason. It was a good idea that I was excited about and I didn’t have anything better to do with my summer.

But as the years past it became it grew to be something more in my warped 13 -year old mind. It became a job. Like a “I have to do this for Jesus or….”

I don’t know why I thought this way. In a way I still do think this way. For some reason the whole concept of grace can sometimes get lost in my mind. But that is another story. I think I got the whole job mentality because there wasn’t much else I did besides write. Both in choice and in just natural ability. J

The weird thing was, when I actually would sit down and write, that was sacred. Long hours in front of a laptop editing were….pure. I might have been comparing myself too much to another teen author I new….and by might be I mean yes I was!!! Almost shamelessly!

So because of this, the end result of the book had to meet certain productive means. What they were exactly I didn’t ever knew but essentially it had to be raised up as this great Christian tool of evangelism. Which to a shy, awkward 14 year old is both terrifying and a prospect to good to be true. Recognition for something! Let me on board!

But I thank God that this whole weird post-production phase wasn’t very present in those long, sweet, quiet nights of production.

As my spirit grew and has God formed it, so did Jesse. I had this really sappy come to Jesus part in my book and I can’t believe it made my Grandma cry. Unless they were tears of pain. But as I grew that part became more and more believable. This is a trilogy, so they way it is now she doesn’t even come to God in the first one. In fact in the last chapter she ends up screaming “God where are you!”

My heart screamed that many many times in those six years. Funny how the way it is now is the most honest and almost fragile with my protagonist’s broken heart. I mean the poor girl she is from a broken and abusive family, something I thank God I was not a part of. So why am I writing about it? I honestly have no clue. Maybe God can tell you. I sure can’t.

The next part I have to say is equally hilarious and bizarre. I would like to say I have gotten over myself in these past six years, but I haven’t. In some ways I am probably worse. I still am working on letting God alone satisfy me instead of some whimsical pleasure. So this past summer my book got….sigh.....self-published. Ewww! Gross! Okay! There I said it! I feel better. Now most people are viewing this as a positive thing. And it is. Even the influence of Divine interference is suspicious in this whole bizarre process. But to me, its not that I don’t believe in this story, because I do. Jesse, is me. What can I say. I don’t know how but she is.

Honestly, I’m not going to do any kind of marketing unless God just drops it my lap. He can delivery to it who He wants, probably easier without my “help.”

It’s been a heck of a six years though…… and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. James 1:4 right?

transformity

I have a lot of thoughts churning about in my brain from our movie watching this week but I don't know if they're ready to take blog form. Haha!! I'm making them sound like Sauron! One blog to rule them all.....

Sorry. Just one sleep deprived teenager.

I'm all for woman in film! Mostly because I am a woman and I am in film.......

But besides the obvious women really DO have interesting stories! God made sure women's stories got told in the Bible! Like Ruth, Esther, Mary! the story of the ten bridesmaids or were they called virgins..... Oh yeah! And there was the story of the woman who was looking for her lost coin! (I had to get a parable in there for you Professor!)

And don't you just LOVE the story of the women with that internal bleeding issue that just wanted to touch Jesus' robe because she knew that He could heal her. The littlest part of Him was guaranteed to heal her. Jesus reply, "Daughter, your faith has made you well." I WANNA BE LIKE HER!!!!!!!!!!

I actually wrote a book once about a girl. I loved writing about it because it wasn't just an external quest it was an internal one. I kinda like dealing with strong emotions in stories. Wierd? Yes, maybe, who knows! The story kinda goes with the whole issue of family that we were talking about with The Stain (Chilling story by the way) This girl comes from a abusive home with a abusive father and just wants to know what a real family is. It was just so fun to write about that! Her need to be in a family is mixed in with the "do it yourself" mentality her frightening childhood poured into her.

I think I like the story of the bleeding woman so well because it shows such pure desperation. Something is pure about desperation. Maybe pure isn't the right word, maybe genuine is. I hope my book has some of that. Eventually people can only hide for so long before who they really are. That makes it easier for God to ya know? Again I'm using the wrong word. Not easier but, um, necessary! How can God truly transform us unless we show all there is to be transformed?

Jump at Jesus, He didn't mind!

I find that really cool that Jesus knew that someone had touched Him, even though He was walking in a crowd. Maybe because she truly touched Him. No more lies... no more masks. :) How sweet would that be! Unfortunately masks are far to easy to put on. Short-term benefits with long-term hindrances. God's got your back!

"Daughter, Your faith has made you well!"

What I read in the newspaper today!

Lately, I've been feeling a bit convicted of living in my little HU bubble and not having a clue so I decided to read the newspaper! USA today had a very interesting article in it called, "Can God Take a Joke?" It was a very good read. If any of you happen to be in the library I would encourage you to read it.

It reminded me a lot of all the stuff that we have been talking about in class and though I wouldn't say every word is entirely infallible it still had a lot of cool points.

What I thought was really kinda cool was the Muslim stand-up comic they mentioned. I guess, to me, I never imagined muslim and comic in the same sentence before! His act was called "Allah made me funny" :) I don't know if this is bad but I would seriously be tempted to go to one of his acts if he ever came around. One of his lines was "Allah gets a good laugh out of people who deny him."

The quote that really struck was when a methodist pastor said, "I take my cues from Voiltare who said' God is comedian playing to an audience to afraid to laugh." Voiltare was a french philosopher who lived back in like the 18th century.

I thought it was interesting that they had members form each of three main monotheist religions all comment about humor. I guess God being funny is a universal truth..

The quote i'm not sure about is what a mormon said, "We take God and ourselves far to seriously. I put my my failings out there and find what's both funny and holy. I probably wouldn't be a Christian at all if I couldn't laugh"

Can God be taken 'far to seriously" He is God after all! hmm, as Yoda said, "Meditate on this I will."

What do you guys think??

Professor Leeper as a fairytale

Every so often something very inexplicable happens to Professor Leeper.

Every since he was a small child is parents dare not let him go outside at night, especially when there was a half moon.

You see, whenever the half-moon shone brightly in the sky our very own, animating professor would turn into a hideous, blood-thirsty werewolf!

(Traditionally the full moon has had the most effect on people, but Professor Leeper has always been very special)

Normally, Professor Leeper always took great care to be home by sunset on such nights, but sometimes it just slipped his mind. Normally the next morning would bring long deep scratch marks on cars, front doors, kitchen tables, and teapots; all the kumquats would be tolen from Owen's grocery store, and there would be a severe decline in the cattle population of Huntington County.

Fortunately for the kumquat lovers and the cows, Professor Leeper was usually very good at keeping himself inside and nights like this rarely happened.

However, Professor Leeper was very excited to go to the Dowden's Midnight Study Break and since he had forgotten to change to moon calendar from september to october he figured he would be free to show off his new pink snuggie to all his students.

The sun began to set as Leeper once again shook his head in disdain at the lack of blogs his students was posting. The faded half moon perched behind some clouds ready for night to descend.

He should have noticed when trouble was brewing when, to his disappointment, his wife made Mac and Cheese for dinner. He had really been hoping for kumquat burgers.

However he still climbed eagerly into his car that night at about 11:30 ready to spend a wonderful evening at the Dowden's.

The night was clear and bright and the moon shone boldly into his car. Already the haunting effects were beginning to take place, it started slowly, at first, with his own thoughts.

Finally when the thought came to him that he might actually want to go see the next Scorsese film, Leeper knew something was wrong. Sure enough, he looked down and 10 long claws were digging into the steering wheel. With a howl of despair he slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. A shaggy muzzle was reflected on the rearview mirror.

Leeper glared at the moon. Of all the tough luck...... his pink snuggie would never fit now.

Leeper got out of the car and padded down the side of the road until he reached the Dowden's. He hid behind a pine tree and watched the festivities. His bushy werewolf tail wagged at the sight of the funny looking packer snuggie man. Leeper had found himself in a very interesting position. He could do the decent thing and go home...maybe stop for a kumquat or two or he could spend the rest of the night, lurking in the shadows, giving all the students the creeps.

Leeper decided to have some werewolf fun and several of the students walking past lake snow tip to go back to their dorms, couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.