Hello Goodbye

               It’s sad to say, but summer is over already. I can’t believe how fast it went by. My work at Sequoia National Park and the ministry with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks is already over, and classes begin on Wednesday here at Cedarville University in Ohio. I’ve titled this post Hello Goodbye because I’ve said a lot of both that past couple weeks (and also because it’s the title of a Beatles song). But before I get to the hellos and goodbyes, let me catch up on the last three or so weeks I spent in Sequoia National Park.

A Reflection on the rest of the Summer

                So remember that time I told you about when I broke a guitar string and went down the mountain to get new ones? Not half an hour after I got back to Lodgepole I was tuning the guitar and I broke a different string. My mom ended up getting new strings and sending them up the mountain for me, but that wasn’t until almost a week later. I had planned on playing guitar with Christian (another guy from the team) that Sunday, but I guess God had other plans. I believe that Sunday was also when it rained during the service, so we didn’t end up playing guitar anyway. Remarkably, however, we had three people show up to the service; a couple that was camping nearby and Heidi, a co-worker/manager who came to several of our services. In the last few weeks of the summer that was about our average attendance in the services; 3-5 people. It was a little discouraging sometimes, but at least we had people at every service; and as long as they got something out of the service, that’s all that matters.

                The ministry in general was a great experience, and a very unique one. Who else gets to spend a whole summer living in a beautiful national forest, meet people from all around the world, and lead worship services in the middle of God’s beautiful creation? This is definitely something I would consider doing again. Possibly next summer but we’ll see. I have no idea yet what I’m doing after graduation.

              

                 One possibility I have for after graduation is coming back to work at Sequoia National Park. I’m not sure if ACMNP would let me do the ministry in the same park two years in a row, and I’m not sure I want to, but I really enjoyed working in Sequoia and I enjoyed meeting and making new friends there. As I mentioned in my last post, I had many interactions with foreigners this summer; both customers and co-workers. There was one time a couple Russians came and visited Anna, an employee from Russia. One of them was an excellent guitar player. He played AC/DC’s “TNT” extremely well and sang it with almost no Russian accent at all. Also, both of them got really into Mafia when we played a few game of that. Apparently the game of Mafia is pretty big in Russia.

              

                 Also, two or three weeks before I left, we had four new Chinese employees come. They quickly bonded with the two employees that were already here from Taiwan. The room they frequently hung out in became known as “Chinatown.” When they moved in, the two guys from Taiwan who had learned to speak English very well the past in the past few weeks suddenly reverted to their “old ways” and began speaking in Chinese again. The same thing when the two guys from Russia came (except that they spoke Russian, not Chinese). But I can understand that; it must be nice to speak your native language after being surrounded by English all the time. Then of course, so many of the new employees we got were foreigners, so when new employees from America came, the other Americans and I made an instant connection. But most of the foreigners could speak English fairly well; at least well enough to engage with customers and participate in games of Mafia.

                However, we did more than just play card games in the mountains. We went on several hikes (many of which I described in the last post), had some movie nights, and hung out by the campfire at night once every couple nights or so (it was especially fun introducing foreign co-workers to s’mores). One memorable hike I went on the weekend before I left was the Watchtower. I had previously been to Tokopah Falls, which is about a 2 mile hike very close to the Lodgepole campground. The Watchtower is in the same spot, just much, much higher. I believe it took Heidi and I around two hours to get to the top, but it was well worth the wait. It was pretty steep right at the end of the trail, but once we reached the peak, the view jumped out at us and took our breath away. I didn’t bring a camera, and even if I did, no picture would have been able to capture the view. I’ve seen movies and shows that feature the edge of a cliff, but I’d never before been to a place like that. I’m not sure how high it was, so I tested it by dropping a rock off the edge; it took at least four to five seconds before I heard the faint sound of rock hitting rock. The cliff face was in a sort-of a U-shape, and we were able to go to both edges and look down. It was frightening thinking that one wrong step could lead to certain death.

Standing on the edge of Watchtower. Photo credit: Heidi

                After sunbathing/resting on the top of Watchtower for a bit, we then hiked about another mile to Heather Lake. Much of the hike was a path that seemed to hug the side of a cliff. Some of the path reminded me of the winding stair on Frodo and Sam’s way into Mordor. Also on the way there were two trees bent over each other, forming a doorway. There were no other trees around them, which made this natural doorway seem even more magical. I will decline to say whether or not it led to Narnia.

Once we got to Heather Lake, we wandered around a bit, but didn’t stay long. It was beautiful there, but there were just a lot of other people there swimming and hanging out, so we went back. We had originally intended on going on another 2-3 miles to Pear Lake, but we were both pretty tired already, and neither of us had brought anything to swim in at either lake. Anyway, I had to finish preparing for my message the next morning.

The next day, Sunday, was the last ACMNP worship service this summer for Jenny, Christian, and I. Since it was the last time I would speak, I wanted the message to reflect Paul’s final instructions and farewells in the endings of his letters. In preparation, I studied the last chapter of each of his letters and made lists of his final instructions and farewells/benedictions. To be honest, I was never completely sure what the main point of the message was, I just felt like addressing the congregation (of three people) the same way that Paul did. Paul was a very personable person, and he always made sure to address people by name in his messages. I didn’t address people by name in my message, but I guess one point I tried to get across was that we should continue to keep up with people the way Paul did. We need to remember to build up and encourage the people we know. This means people you’ve just met, people you see all the time, and people you haven’t talked to in years. I like to think I did a lot of preparation for the message, but I don’t think it went too well. There was one section I completely left off by accident. In the message I meant to explain a bit about why the ACMNP team was in the mountains. I wanted to mention that as a cashier at the Lodgepole Snackbar I had the unique opportunity to represent America to the countless foreigners that visit. Their interaction with me informed their view of Americans in general. In the same way, part of the reason we were there is to give people a better view of Christians than they may have had in the past. We were there to minister to the people. That’s one of the big things they taught us at the conference. The ministry is to lead worship services Sunday mornings, but another huge part is just being a shining light for Christ in the National Parks.

That night, we had the first annual Lodgepole talent show. It was a very informal event that we held around the campfire. Mostly it was just people playing guitar and singing, but it was quite fun. My talent was playing “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men on guitar while Jenny and I sang along. I also played “Let it Go” on guitar while Penny (short for Peng-something) from Taiwan and Nicholas from Colombia sang along in off-key falsetto voices. It was beautiful. I worked the next two days then left Tuesday afternoon to go back home.

Goodbyes

                It was sad saying by to the employees and ACMNP team members I had gotten to know over the summer. I befriended a few of the foreign employees on Facebook, but I don’t recognize some of the names because I can’t read Chinese or Russian. And if any of you Sequoia co-workers or ACMNP team members are reading this: I’ll try to keep in touch, but this semester might kill me. Feel free to message me anytime you want. I’d love a break from writing all the papers.

                I got home Tuesday and spend the whole day hanging out with family. That day was the only day since Christmas break that all six of us were home. My dad and brother left early the next morning for the airport. My brother returning to school and my father going with him then eventually going on to New Jersey to visit family. One joke my family had when I was there was that most of them had seen Guardians of the Galaxy before me. Generally I see new Marvel movies opening weekend, but I wasn’t able to this time because I was in the mountains. I ended up seeing it the next day. My favorite character is Groot. I nearly cried at one point near the end which I will not reveal for spoilers sake.

Groot, played by Vin Diesel, from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

                I finished packing the next day and had enough spare room when I was done to pack some of Joseph’s things that he wasn’t able to fit; just another way in which my twin brother and I are not alike. I left the next morning and I arrived at Cedarville at 1:45 AM (due to a delayed flight).

Hellos

                I’m now back at Cedarville. It was cool, and also kind of weird being back and seeing everyone again. I’ve previously described Cedarville as my second home and second family, but I feel like it might take a couple weeks to get back to that spot. Since my arrival all I’ve really done so far is unpack, buy all my textbooks, submit the ACMNP final report, hang out with people, and watch Avatar: The Last Airbender with my new roommate, Steven. I’ve also really been wanting to go to guitar center sometime and get myself a guitar. I feel like this is some kind of drug. I need to get my guitar fix before I lose the callouses on my fingers and lose all the muscle memory for how to play chords. Of course, we do have a lot of guitars in the unit, but I want one of my own, not one I have to borrow from someone. I’m afraid, however, that once school starts tomorrow, I won’t have as much time to practice. I want to get a good start to the school year. I don’t want this semester and next semester to be like previous semester, where the first half is easy and the second half kills me. I want to even out the work load, get ahead, and finish well.

                I’m not doing Men’s Glee this school year because I want to devote more time to my classes. The funny thing, however, is that this year I am a Discipleship Group leader, which means I’ll have more responsibilities, and a little less time to do homework. But it will be a great experience, and probably won’t take that much time away from homework. I was in discipleship groups the past two years, and I really enjoyed the fellowship and discussions I had. This year, I’ll be leading a group through the book Galatians for You by Timothy Keller. I don’t know too much about the book because I have yet to read it (I just got it today), but I have read Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and I really liked that. Each week I’ll attend a study on this book with other leaders, then later that week I’ll lead my own group in the same discussion. I could really use some prayer for this as this is the first time I’ve ever led a discipleship group. But it will be a great experience. I look forward to seeing what God has to teach me through this study this year.

                The classes I’m taking this semester should be fun, but a ton of both writing and reading. This should be expected, however, since I am an English major. One class I’m taking is World Mythology, which I’ve just discovered is not what I thought it would be. Instead of learning about mythical legends and creatures and such, this is more a study of other belief systems and their myths, and how they relate to our own Western myths and beliefs. One thing that worries me about this class is that it’s online. I’ve had bad experiences with online classes in the past, so I’m a bit nervous. This is a class I’ll need a lot of prayer for. I’m also taking Advanced Composition and The English Language. I don’t know too much about these classes, but they are both taught by Dr. Calhoun, one of my favorite professors here. One class that should be interesting is Graphic Novel. The required texts for this class are about 8 different (for lack of a better word) comic books. And finally I am also taking Theology II, which is the last required course for the required Bible minor at Cedarville. Altogether, this is 15 credits, which doesn’t seem too bad, but it could be. Anyway, if this semester doesn’t kill me, next semester will.

Misadventures in the Mountains

Since I’ve been up here with little connection to the outside world, I’ve been having many adventures. On one day off, I went to Crystal Cave with some friends. The cave tour was led by an old friend from high school, which was kind of a fun accident. He introduced himself to us as “Wilson, like the volleyball.” The tour was educational and entertaining, full of fascinating facts and sarchasm (yes, I meant to spell it like that). The inside of the cave was breathtaking but admittedly one of my favorite parts of the tour was the spider gate at the front. To open the gate, one had to turn the spider in the middle 90 degrees, then the door turned on a hinge on the middle. One memorable part of the tour was when the tour guide turned off the lights and we were in total darkness. My mind made me believe I could see shapes but I really couldn’t. When the lights were turned back on I was afraid we would be surrounded by Weeping Angels. But we weren’t, so that was good. On the drive back to Lodgepole, we saw a couple bear cubs climbing up a tree with their mother at the base of the tree. My friends and I have a competition going on for the number of bears seen. At 9 bears, I’m losing. The winning number is currently 28 bears.

                A couple weeks later I went to Yosemite National Park with some of the other ACMNP members. That was my first time there, and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go up to Half-Dome, so we did one of the only hikes we had time for: Yosemite Falls. The hike was only about a mile; not long at all. But that was only to the place which is a safe distance from the falls. There were signs telling visitors that going on from this point would be slippery and dangerous. We chose to ignore those signs.

                Trailblazing a way, I led the team up the rocky path to where the water hits the rock and forms a pool. My first instinct when seeing this pool of water underneath a waterfall at Yosemite was to swim in it. So I did. The compulsion to do this came from my thinking “When is the next time I’m going to be here and get this opportunity?” Some may refer to this kind of thinking as “YOLO” but I’m glad to say that’s not the term that went through my head when I decided to enter the water. However, the term “You Only Live Once” really did start to ring true once I was fully submerged in the water.

Usually when I enter a cold pool or turn on a cold shower, my breath is taken away for a moment and I breathe quickly as my body’s way of trying to keep warm. This is what it was like when I entered the waters under Yosemite Falls, except that the fast breathing didn’t stop. I tried swimming and moving around to stay warm but it didn’t stop me from hyperventilating. I was pretty sure I was going to get hypothermia and die. I was glad one of the members of the team was a lifeguard because I was pretty sure I was going to need him to save me.

In the end, I didn’t die. We got out of the water, took a picture to prove we were there, and then headed back to the main Yosemite Village. While walking back to the car, the team and I heard something that sounded like thunder. My first thought was “Ooh, thunder! I love storms!” My second thought was “wow, that thunder sure is long…” We then looked over to a mountain face where the thunderous noise was coming from and we saw a trail of dust coming from near the top, to lower down the mountain. From this, we deduced that the thunder was in fact a rockslide. As far as I know, no one was hurt, but it was awesome to see something like that. In a weird way it was cool to have experienced two near-death experiences in the same day.

On the subject of near-death experiences, I had a nasty fall one Saturday afternoon. It was after I got off work and I decided to go to the ranger pools near Lodgepole with a fellow employee. My first mistake was wearing flip flops on a rocky trail. While crossing the stream on the way to the pools, I stepped on a rock that was a bit slippery. It seems that whenever I fall I never remember the fall itself; just the moment before and the pain afterwards. I remember finding myself in the water with two scraped arms and an ankle that didn’t seem to work as well as it usually did. But why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

I mostly ignored the pain at first, and I managed to make it to the pools alright. The cold water felt good on my ankle. After swimming a bit I laid down on a rock and sunbathed a bit, resting my ankle. But doing so gave my ankle some time to swell up. I knew when I got up from the rock, the walk back would be difficult. At first it was, but then I started to not feel the pain as much. I think it’s the same kind of thing like if you’re in the middle of a battle and you receive injuries, you don’t feel the pain from the injuries until the battle is over and your body has had time to calm down. When I got back to Lodgepole, I iced my ankle for a bit and mostly sat in front of the TV the rest of the day, watching movies and writing my message for the ACMNP service the next morning.

ACMNP

                Which reminds me: I should let people know how A Christian Ministry in the National Parks is going so far. Including me, there are seven of us on the team this summer, but it sometimes feels like two different teams. Three team members got placed in Grant Grove, which is technically part of Kings Canyon National Park.  Three more of us, including myself, were placed in Lodgepole, a part of Sequoia National Park and about 40 minutes away from Grant Grove. Our team leader was placed in Wuksachi, which is about 2 miles away from Lodgepole. For most Sunday mornings, the Grant Grove members lead worship services there, and the rest of us lead services in Lodgepole.

Within these groups of three and four, we split up the parts of the service each week. We switch off who will give the message, who will help lead the worship songs, who will lead the congregation in receiving the offering, and other elements of the service. I’ve spoken twice so far. The first time I spoke about experiencing the wonders of God’s creation, and the second time I gave a message on the parable of the sower. I may at some point post versions of these messages on here.

One big accomplishment I’m quite proud of is the fact that I can know play guitar. I’ve only been playing for a couple months, but I think I’m doing really well. I think most of it comes from the music genes in my family. I inherited long guitar fingers and a pair of musical ears from both my parents and their parents. The first few weeks were rough on my fingers, but now I finally have callouses on them! Typing with callouses on my fingers took some getting used to, but I don’t mind it now.

Aside from playing and practicing songs from the ACMNP worship leader book, I also printed out chords from others songs as well. These songs have helped me to learn and practice new chords. The most recent chords I’ve learned are Bm and F, which I practice by playing “Everything has Changed” by Taylor Swift and “Fireflies” by Owl City. I also frequently practice “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran, “Ackbar” by Jeffrey Dallas, and “The Saga Begins” by “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Just recently, however, I broke a string. Luckily it didn’t snap me in the face when it broke. The guitar I play is my dad’s guitar which he got in Italy when he was a missionary there. It was a pretty old guitar and I have no idea when the strings were last changed. But I was able to purchase new strings for the guitar fairly cheaply from Guitar Center.

When I go back to Cedarville in mid-August, I plan on using some of my money from work to purchase my own guitar. I’m really looking forward to doing so. I’m mainly just super excited that I now know how to play a musical instrument somewhat decently. I’d like to buy my own guitar so that I don’t lose the callouses or muscle-memory in my fingers. I also look forward to getting a hard guitar case for my guitar and putting tons of stickers on it.

Work

                Overall, work is going well. It’s neat getting to experience working a retail job. I’m the cashier at the Lodgepole Snackbar. I feel like now that I know what it’s like to have that kind of job, I can sympathize with people who work those jobs all the time, not just during the summer. I can also know to not ask cashiers the same questions that every single customer asks. all. the. time. “No, we don’t have wifi, but they have some at Wuksachi Lodge.” “Restrooms are by the visitor’s center.” “Yes, this is the only place to eat at Lodgepole.” “No, we don’t serve breakfast all day. We have our hours of operation listed on this sign here” “Yes, we sell pizza by the slice. The prices are right there on the menu, right below the prices for whole pizzas.”

                I’ve learned to be patient with other customers; especially the foreigners who are harder to understand. I’ve also learned that sometimes people can be very unobservant. So far I’ve only seen one customer who has stopped in front of the patio doors, read the signs that say “exit only, use other door,” and walked to the other entrance. And when our fryer was out of order, we had a sign explaining that we were unable to make any fries or chicken tenders, yet people would still ask for them.  (In the next two to three weeks, I’ll be posting my account surrounding the mysteries of the fryer…). But this is not to say anything bad against the customers. Many of them have just driven or hiked a long way to get there and are only thinking about food.

                But despite the repetitiveness of the job, I find ways to have fun. One day at the register I began speaking to customers in a British accent, just for the fun of it. In case anybody asked me about it, I had somewhat of a backstory planned so it wouldn’t seem like I was faking it. Other times for fun (and if there is no one in the Snack Bar or the Deli next door) I’ll go over to the Deli and ask them all the questions that customers ask them. And sometimes if I work the morning shift, which gets off at 4pm, I’ll go back to the Snack Bar at 7:16 and try to order a whole pizza (the last pizza order we accept is at 7:15).

                One thing we learned at the ACMNP conference is that while we are mainly there in the National Parks to lead worship services, another huge part of the ministry is in our jobs themselves. We have the opportunity to give the managers and employees different and perhaps better views of Christians than they may have had in the past. We also get a chance to develop friendships and relationships with our co-workers, which has been awesome. Many of my co-workers are from countries all over the world, like Colombia, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Ukraine, and Russia. We also get workers from various states in the US. It’s been great getting to know the other workers and managers up here and I’ll honestly be sad to leave them come mid-August. Every now and then we get employees from Lodgepole and Wuksachi coming to the services on Sunday mornings, which is very encouraging. I’m not sure how many of them are Christians, but I continue to pray for them all anyway. This is also something that you, the reader, can be praying for as well. That in my last 2-3 weeks working at Sequoia National Park I’ll be able to help shine a light for people; that the hearts of my fellow employees especially would turn to God because of what the ACMNP team and I have done up here.

The Future

                Because of the lack of internet up here I can’t actually post my writings too often, but that doesn’t mean I can’t write them. I’m currently working on several blogs, but there’s no knowing when I’ll actually post them. Some of them I may never post because I may never find them suitable for other’s eyes. One blog post I’m hoping to post in the next week or two is a fictionalized true account about an encounter with alien technology. You’ll understand when you read it. Another post I’m writing is a review of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy.  I may also post part of a Spider-Man story I’m writing with my youngest sister. I can also expect that at the end of the summer I’ll write some kind of overview about what I thought about my experiences.

Review of X-Men: Days of Future Past (Updated with the Rogue Cut)

                As I stated in my first blog post, I will every now and then post a review of a recent movie or TV show I’ve seen or a book I have read. These reviews will mostly contain my initial reactions, though I can’t promise that I won’t get off topic about random little details. I may discuss themes I found or other elements that interested me. I will probably talk about characters or scenes I enjoyed. I will likely give some kind of a rating in which I take into account the story, the content, and how much I liked it. I can also pretty much guarantee that any review I write of a book, TV show, or movie will be rife with spoilers; read at your own risk. The first movie I’ve chosen to review is X-Men: Days of Future Past.

X-Men: Days of Future Past theatrical release poster

Story and Reaction

Like any popular movie today, this movie is set in a kind of post-apocalyptic future. In response to the mutant hysteria, humans have created mutant-killing machines called Sentinels. In this dark future (which takes place chronologically after X-Men: The Last Stand and The Wolverine) the Sentinels have killed or captured most mutants, including many X-Men. Those that have survived have only done so because Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) has the power to send mutants’ mind back into their younger body. When Prof. X (Patrick Stewart) and other surviving X-Men arrive, they agree to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to stop the Sentinel threat before it begins. From here on, the film mostly takes place during the 1970’s, in a time that is chronologically after the prequel film X-Men: First Class, though the film occasionally goes back to the future to remind the audience of the danger the future mutants are facing. The mutants from the future are relying on the success of the mutants of the past. Meanwhile the mutants from the past are only doing what they are doing to stop a terrible future from happening.

This was one element I loved about X-Men: Days of Future Past: the fact that it takes place in both the past the future at the same time. I thought it was clever how even though they were separated by several decades, the events of both times affected the others. At the end, I was on the edge of my seat because I was worried about both times at once. Now even though I’ve seen and read many time-travel stories, this one seemed unique and that’s what I love about it. I enjoy different types of time-travel , and it was cool to see this film’s approach used so well (for more about my this, please see the note on time-travel at the end).

Confusion and Continuity

                I guess I should note now that this movie will only really make sense if you’ve seen most of the other X-Men movies. The only movies really necessary to watch before this one are the original trilogy (X-Men, X-2:  X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand) and the prequel film X-Men: First Class. If you haven’t seen these movies, don’t watch X-Men: Days of Future Past. If you have seen these movies, I would say this movie is a worthy edition to the series and even surpasses them.

                All movie series have continuity errors, but the X-Men movie series has had more than its share. Most of them, however, can be explained away. One major continuity error is the appearance of the old Charles Xavier, who seemed to die in The Last Stand. His survival is hinted at in the post-credits scene. Earlier in the film, Prof. X was teaching a class on ethics. He showed the class a video of a man who is alive but has the mind of a vegetable. He then asked the class about the ethics of transferring the consciousness of a dying man into this man’s body. In the post-credits scene, this man in the hospital bed wakes up and speaks with the voice of Prof X. This means he must have transferred his consciousness to this man before he died. However, this doesn’t explain why he still looks like Prof. X or why he is still paralyzed in the legs, but it’s the best explanation I can give. If you have any other questions about continuity errors in this film or in the film series in general, please do not hesitate to message me. I will at some point post a question/answer blog post where I answer whatever questions you may have about whatever.

Rating and Conclusion

This film is rated PG-13, and for good reason. There is a great deal of violence in this movie. Many mutants (especially in the future) are killed in brutal ways. A couple times people are shown to be drinking and/or smoking, but it’s not really an issue in this movie. When Wolverine wakes up in the 1970s, he is shown to be in bed with someone else. When he leaves the bed, his backside is shown. And unfortunately, like almost every other X-Men movie, the character Mystique is basically naked for most of her on screen appearances. There is a little language; a few s-words and one f-word. I can’t remember what else. In general, the film rightfully deserved a PG-13 rating. It’s a good movie, just not appropriate for all ages.

                The main reason I was so excited to see this movie was the fact that it was going to be a time-travel movie that would unite the cast of the original trilogy with the cast of the prequel film X-Men: First Class. I loved Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as Professor Charles Xavier/Prof. X and Erik Lensherr/Magneto, respectively in the first three X-Men films. But I equally loved James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as the young versions of these frenemies. To see played by both sets of actors in the same movie was a unique and awesome experience.

                There was a lot of violence, but only a little more than the other X-Men movies. The content in general was no worse than any of the other movies. The music was amazing, the special effects were awesome (especially Blink’s portal powers), and the story was very well written. There was also some great acting, especially by Ian McKellen (old Magneto), Patrick Stewart (old Prof. X), James McAvoy (young Prof X), and Peter Dinklage (Bolivar Trask). In conclusion, X-Men: Days of Future Past is easily one of my favorite superhero movies, and definitely my favorite X-Men film: I would highly recommend seeing it in the near future.

*A Note on Time-Travel

(Caution: This note includes spoilers for LOST, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and X-Men.)

                This film’s approach on time-travel is not one of my favorites, but it works well for this movie. Most works of fiction dealing with time-travel take one of two approaches: the “Whatever Happened Happened” Approach or the “Time Can Be Re-Written” Approach. In this discussion let’s begin with the “Whatever Happened Happened” Approach.

                The “Whatever Happened Happened” Approach is named after an oft-repeated line from the TV series LOST. Fans who felt they had not experienced enough confusion already were introduced to Time-Travel in season 5. After the island was moved using the frozen donkey wheel, the characters still on the island began flashing through time. During one of these flashes, the characters landed just a couple years ago, and found themselves. At this point in time, there were two of those characters in existence on the island. Later, when they get stuck in the 1970’s, they try to change history by blowing up the hatch before it is built, but this plan doesn’t work (even though the Audience is led to think it is through the flash-sideways stories). No matter what they do, they cannot change what has happened. Another film which follows this approach is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. When Hermione and Harry use the Time-Turner, they go back in time and see themselves. They even interfere with themselves when Hermione throws a rock at Harry’s head. But this was not new. They had already done it; they just weren’t their other selves at that point. When the executioner brings down his axe, it was always a pumpkin. Never was it Buckbeak’s neck. Everything that happened already happened. It’s destiny or fate. No matter what anyone does if they go back in time does not affect the future, because it already happened.

                The main difference with the “Time Can Be Re-Written” Approach is that going back in time actually does change things. Every time someone goes back in time, an alternate universe is created. This approach is named after a line Amy Pond said often in Doctor Who. I won’t, however, use Doctor Who as an example of time-travel. It breaks every rule ever created about time-travel. It goes back and forth between the two main approaches but mostly uses the Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey approach; it’s usually best to not question it. A better example of the “Time Can Be Re-Written” Approach is Star Trek (the 2009 movie). This movie uses time-travel to interrupt an important event, changing the future for Kirk, Spock, and Company, and throwing out all existing canon previously created by earlier Star Trek TV episodes and films. This is referred to in the film as an Alternate Reality. The only one who knows of the previous timeline is old Spock (who comes in handy for important info on characters like Kahn). Old Spock in this movie is in a similar situation as Wolverine at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past. He is the only survivor of the future that was.

The Rogue Cut

The cover art for The Rogue Cut. It wasn't re-released in theatres, just released on DVD and Blu-ray.

                During the editing process of X-Men: Days of Future Past, the editors and the director found that one sequence of the movie, involving the character Rogue from the original trilogy, distracted from the overall plot of the film. They cut most of that from the movie and had to re-shoot some scenes to make the film complete again. About a year after the film’s release, they released The Rogue Cut, which puts those scenes back in, as well as keeps the original footage that was shot. This is not an extended version, but an alternate version.

                In both versions of the movie, Kitty Pryde is wounded by Wolverine’s claw when he almost slips out of time. In the theatrical version, Kitty simply holds on until the end, but in The Rogue Cut, Professor X, Magneto, and Iceman decide that she can’t hold on, so they decide to rescue Rogue, who is being held captive inside Cerebro. After successfully breaking in and freeing her, Magneto, Iceman, and Rogue are attacked by Sentinels. In a great deviation from the theatrical film, Iceman stays behind to ensure their escape and gives his life to make sure they make it safely. Since this whole sequence was cut from the theatrical version, they had to reshoot a couple scenes of Iceman back at the monastery, then reshoot him dying in a different place (though they re-used some of the same effects). After bring Rogue back to the monastery, she uses her power to steal Kitty’s temporarily, then takes her place in keeping Wolverine back in time. Since this was all cut, they had to reshoot all these scenes with Kitty there instead of Rogue.

                Another difference is that there is an entire sequence in the past where Mystique comes back to the mansion, has a brief romantic encounter with Beast, then leaves, but not before smashing Charles’ Cerebro helmet. They then figure out that she will be in Washington, D.C. by seeing that there will be a special presentation there (in the theatrical version, they use Cerebro to see that her plane ticket says Washington, D.C.). Apart from these, there are a few scenes that have been slightly extended with additional dialogue, but that’s it.

All in all, The Rogue Cut is interesting to watch, and it’s cool to see new footage, but I think I actually prefer the theatrical version. Of course, that may be just because it’s what I’m used to. I’ll need to watch both versions again to get a second opinion.

Pilot

An Introduction

                I’ve wanted to start a blog for a while, so I guess I’m just now getting around to it. I’m working this summer at Lodgepole, which is in Sequoia National Park. Up here there is no internet and little to no cell service. It was annoying at first not being able to check Facebook every day, but now that I’ve gone for almost a month with no internet, I don’t miss it. My last Facebook post was very bloggy, and it was the main catalyst for starting this. After only being able to access internet about once every week and a half, and even then with remarkably slow internet, I’ve found that I’m not missing much. It is annoying not being able to keep up with my friends, but I’m not sure how much I would honestly try to do that anyway if even I did have internet all the time. Another thing I somewhat miss is getting updates on all my fandoms. When I don’t have internet I miss the latest casting news, movie trailers, and other announcements. Concerning fandoms, I’ll try to keep the geeking out to a minimum here. That is reserved mainly for my tumblr and occasionally my Facebook page. I also have a Twitter, but I never check it. Like ever. In this blog I’ll mostly write about life updates along with random thoughts and occasional book or movie reviews. But I can’t promise that I won’t occasionally reference movies or TV shows within my blog posts. Within the blog itself, I don’t plan on telling my whole life story, but I may occasionally write about tragic backstory events from my past and other such tales. I may even include works of fiction I am working on at the time.

                One thing I worried about in starting a blog was finding a clever name. Words are some of my favorite things, and I wanted to pick some words that I felt would best fit the tone and direction of my blog. One of the first things that came to my mind was to have a title that would be some kind of reference to something. My tumblr blog is called “This is Home” because it’s the title of a song from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and because I feel at home with the many different fandoms and stories that have become a part of me. Now that I think about it, the word home really does mean a lot to me. I love my family, and I love going home during breaks from school or work. Home is full of memories; not all of them happy but not all of them sad either. Home for me is generally associated with family. I have several “homes”: my literal house in California, Cedarville (which I like to think of as a second home, and my friends my second family), my Uncle and Aunt’s Cabin near Kings Canyon National Park, my old house in New Jersey (which is less of a home now and more of a place in my memory), and of course, stories (which can be in the form of a book, movie, or TV show). Many people underestimate the power of stories. Most of the ones I love are fictional, but that does not make them any less real to me. I have grown attached to so many characters that I feel like they are another family to me. When I read or watch the stories I love, I step through the wardrobe into that home. This home may be bigger on the inside, it may be on a lost island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, or it may be in a galaxy far, far away. One author told me, “Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” But of course, by one Captain’s logic, home is where the heart is, so my real home is in my chest. In these homes of fiction, I am a watchful guardian, an obtainer of rare antiquities, the world’s only consulting detective, a voyager of the final frontier, and an unlikely hero thrown on an unexpected journey. I have lived a thousand different lives. I have loved and I have lost. I’ve been right there with my fictional friends when they’ve had to make hard decisions. All of it is real to me. But my interest in these stories does not make me a loner or a recluse. I may be an introvert, but I am glad to say that I have made some friends outside my stories. In fact, many of these stories have helped me with friendships and relationships in real life.

                (By the way, I eventually went with the title “The Chronicles of Michael J. Newman” because I felt it best described what this blog will hopefully be. The title is also kind of a reference to The Chronicles of Narnia, so that’s a bonus.)

The Greatest Story in the World

Now any discussion of stories must always include the greatest story in the world. Not only is it my favorite, but it is actually true. It is also the most widely read and published book in the world. Now I don’t want this to sound like a cliché Christian answer (If there’s one thing I dislike, it’s things that are cliché; usually), but I also cannot leave this out. I hope that someday I can reach the point where I can write about my relationship with Christ and not look back on it and think cliché cliché cliché! I shouldn’t have to be afraid or ashamed of that. It seems that most people in today’s society who speak openly about Christianity are seen as odd. But that shouldn’t matter, but it does, and it bothers me. But I digress…

                The reason the story of Jesus is the greatest story in the world is because 1.) There had never been anything like it before, nor will there ever, and 2.) it’s true. In many movies today, the hero of the story sacrifices himself/herself in the climax and then is restored to life at the end. A couple quick examples are Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger (Caution: there will be spoilers). In Thor, Thor lets the Destroyer kill him during the skirmish in New Mexico. But because of his act of selflessness, Thor’s life and power are returned to him, and he destroys the Destroyer. In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers crashes Red Skull’s ship The Valkeyre into the ice, sacrificing his life to save the lives of many others. In the end however, it is revealed that he survived the crash and has woken up in modern day New York (conveniently just in time to join the Avengers right before the Chitauri invasion occurs). People adore these characters and the sacrifices they made because they long for that kind of love. Humans are selfish people, it’s true. No normal human would willingly do something like that. That’s why these characters are superheroes. They do things humans often find themselves unwilling to do. In this way, Jesus was the world’s first superhero. His superpower: love. Greater love has no one that this, than that he lay down his life for his friend. The word friend here refers to the way the sacrifice refers to the saved person. Most of the people that killed Jesus were not his friend, but he considered them his friends. So much so that he willingly gave up his life so that they could live, and many people still don’t realize this.

A Late Warning

                By now, you the reader should have an idea of what this blog may look like. Consider this the Pilot episode of a TV show. Whether or not you want to continue with the show is up to you. I will continue to produce episodes anyway. Now, some things that you the reader should be warned about are 1.) I guess I tend to get off subject quickly; and 2.) I like to write about myself. The first I am usually better at, but this blog has no real thesis to follow, nor will all of the posts. But for the second, I’m human and I like to write about myself. That may seem vain, but to be honest, it’s one of the easier things to write about (second easiest is probably anything related to my fandoms). So what you will read in this blog are the writings of Michael J. Newman. And if that doesn’t turn you away from this blog then maybe I’m doing something right. This blog is mainly for my benefit, to improve my writing and to chronicle events in my life, but I hope that you the reader will enjoy going on this journey with me as I find my writing voice and continue ahead in the life God has planned for me.