Origin Story

It’s now been over a year since my last blog post. So as a refresher course of Me; here’s some of what you missed:

A Year in the Life

Last you heard about me was that I was working at the local Best Western checking people in and out (mostly doing the night shift). I was only there for a couple months before they fired me because “training didn’t work out,” whatever that means. This was after I had already turned down working in Hume Lake for the summer. I went from having two jobs, to having one job, and now I had no job. Turns out God’s timing is perfect, because a couple weeks later I found out about a job that had just opened up at the John Muir Lodge in King’s Canyon National Park. One of that summer’s ACMNP’s team members (remember that ministry I was a part of five years ago, back when I first started my blog?) had suddenly left the team, leaving a vacancy at the hotel and also on the team. It was fortuitous (and definitely a God thing) that I had just had a couple months of experience working in a hotel so that I could then easily take a job at a different hotel.

This picture was taken on the way to Redwood Canyon, where the team and I stayed overnight.

It was fun to be a part of ACMNP (A Christian Ministry in the National Parks) again. Last time I was in Sequoia National Park, this time I was the park right next to it - King’s Canyon National Park. Because I knew how to play guitar (having taught myself four years ago in Sequoia), I mostly just led the music for the services, but I also gave a couple messages. I enjoyed getting to know the other team members as well, though once again I haven’t kept in touch with any of them after the summer ended.

I was in the mountains from mid-May to about mid-September. ACMNP was only a summer ministry, but the job I had at John Muir Lodge was for as long as I wanted. In theory I could have stayed up there even until now (maybe I should have). The main reason I left the job up there was the distance. I was driving up and down the mountain almost once a week. I lived in employee housing while working there, but I also wanted to spend time with my family during the summer. Because I was torn between two places that summer, it finally got to the point where I had to make a choice. I decided to return to the valley.

During my last few weeks in the mountains I was also itching to be a part of another play or musical. That’s not the reason I left, it was just a benefit to returning home. During one of my days off I decided to go back down to the valley and audition for an upcoming musical one of the local theaters was putting on: Into the Woods. This was being done at the same theater where I played Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical. I knew that because of my job in the mountains I wouldn’t be able to make it to many rehearsals, therefore I wouldn’t be able to take on a main role, but I wanted to be a part of the show anyway. I was cast as Rapunzel’s Prince, a fun but small part, which I was glad to accept. My brother meanwhile had been cast as The Baker, my sister as Little Red Riding Hood, and my father as The Mysterious Man. With my Mom helping with the music, it became a fun family experience.

While rehearsals were still going on, one of my sisters and I went down to Anaheim for the day to visit Downtown Disney and see Owl City live in concert. Owl City is nowhere near as big as he used to be (you could almost consider him to be a one-hit wonder with “Fireflies”). But my family (especially my sisters and I) have been fans of his throughout his career. His latest album, Cinematic, may actually be my favorite album of his. This is the album he took on his recent tour. It was incredible seeing him performing these songs live. My favorite song on the album is actually called “Cinematic”, and is about how life is like a movie (the song also references Star Wars, which I like). Adam Young (the artist behind Owl City) excels at writing encouraging songs, and this one is no different. I also like that Adam Young writes about his Christian faith in some of his songs. I’d love to meet him someday.

A good close-up picture from the concert that my sister took.

A couple weeks after the Into the Woods cast had been announced and rehearsals had already begun I officially returned home. Now that I was able to make it to every rehearsal I was able to help out much more; which also meant I could now be a bigger character. The other Prince and I decided it would be best for the both of us if we switched parts. I was now playing Cinderella’s Prince - an equally fun character, but a much more important role. With this new part I had to learn several new lines, as well as another song, both of which didn’t take long. What made this musical even more memorable for me was that as a part of the choreography for “Any Moment”, I had my first on-stage kiss. What made it more amusing to me was that the character I kissed was the wife of my brother’s character.

The other prince and I doing our best smug faces. This picture was turned into a portrait that hung over the fireplace in Act II.

The musical ran for two weekends, though I almost wish it had gone on longer. It was tiring, but it was a blast. But now that it was over I could refocus my full attention on finding a job again. I had been looking for a job even before I left the mountains, but now I really needed something. Eventually, through a contact from church, I was able to get a job working for an after-school program. I was hired about mid-October, so I had only been about a month without a job. When I started I first worked in two different schools, one about 15 minutes away, the other about 20 minutes away. At these schools I taught computer science, or rather I was supposed to teach computer science. The curriculum we were given involved Lego Robotics (something I had always wanted to try). At one school we didn’t have enough tablets and robots to go around so we were only kind-of able to do the curriculum. At the other school we weren’t able to use the tablets or robots at all, so we just did engineering projects with the Legos (projects like building tall, structurally sound towers, as well as bridges that can hold a certain amount of weight). Once during those first couple months I was also able to help out with First Lego League (FLL), a Lego Robotics competition - something that I always wanted to try as a kid after seeing it on kids shows like Zoom.

During those first couple months at this job I found out about another upcoming local musical that interested me: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. This was being done at the same theatre where I did Big Fish, Pecos Bill, Oliver!, and Pippin. I auditioned and was pleasantly surprised to be cast as Charlie Brown. This was super fun musical that was unique in that it only had six cast members. I wasn’t familiar with this show before auditioning so it was a lot of work to learn all the songs and lines - including a long monologue at the beginning. This stuff comes pretty easy to me though, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Snoopy, Sally, Charlie Brown, Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus performing "Beethoven Day"

I know that music runs in the family, but apparently theater does as well. In 1981, when my dad was working as a high school teacher, he and some of the other faculty put on a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and my dad played Charlie. This version they did was slightly different than the one I was in, which was based on the Broadway revival. Still, it’s fun that I had the same part in the same play almost 40 years later. Maybe if I ever have a kid someday I’ll try to get him to play Charlie Brown.

That's my dad as Charlie Brown in the center and in the top left corner.

A couple weeks before Christmas, I had a break from work (because school was not in session), and also a break from Charlie Brown rehearsals. One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a fancy display case to hold Lego minifigures (of which I have many). After Christmas my siblings and one of our cousins did an escape room for the first time and also saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, both of which were excellent. Around this time my parents told us that we were finally officially planning on going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios, something we had been talking about for a while. They set a date in late March, which was then changed to early April because that worked better for everyone’s schedules (more on that later…).

After Christmas break ended, the after-school program sent me to a local school to help out for a couple weeks before I began teaching computer science again at the other two schools. But this school I was helping out with temporarily just happened to be within walking distance of my house, which is much more convenient for me travel-wise. I submitted a transfer request, which was quickly approved, and began helping out at the after-school program there (not teaching computer science, just working as an after-school program leader). I was now responsible for a group of about 20 kids for almost 4 hours every day. It was a challenge, but I was determined to take it on. After all, if I one day want to work as a film or stage director or something of that kind, I would need to have leadership experience.

Every day I signed kids in, played a game or two with them, took them to snack time, and led the kids for about an hour on a  specific program. When I first starting working there I took over for a teacher who was leading a class on Spheros, which are small spherical robots controlled by tablets (similar to the Lego robotics I had done before). After that ended, I then got to choose my own program to lead - I chose drama. This is something I know much more about; plus it would be good experience for me. The after-school programs are meant to be mainly student-led, so I had the class vote on a play out of a few options I chose for them. They opted to do a Scooby-Doo play, which I was super excited about. I found an episode of the classic show Scooby-Doo Where Are You? and converted its screenplay into a stage script - something else that was probably good practice for me.

During the later part of the Spheros program, I asked for a Friday off in early April for the Harry Potter trip. The supervisor said that should be fine. When it got to about a week before the trip, I got a message from the supervisor saying that she could not approve my time off request because one of the other teachers was still sick. The two-day tickets (Friday and Saturday) had already been purchased, and there was no way to get a refund. Plus if I only went on Saturday, I would have had to buy a whole new ticket, because the other tickets are specifically two-day passes. I explained this to the supervisor, and talked to a couple of the other after-school teachers about it. The other teachers said it shouldn’t be a problem to just take the day anyway, since it’s something my family had been planning for a while. The supervisor herself said she couldn’t stop me from going, but that it would just reflect poorly on any kind of employee evaluation. I figured this was alright; I hadn’t missed a single day of work, and Fridays are much more laid back because many kids don’t go to the after-school program on those days anyway. I explained that I was sorry, but I really couldn’t come on Friday.

Our family spent most of the first day in the Harry Potter part of Universal Studios. It was a little weird seeing all the buildings covered with “snow” while the temperature didn’t match, but overall it was exciting experiencing everything there. One of the rides, Flight of the Hippogriff, was short, but fun. After that ride we ate at the Three Broomsticks and had a delicious feast of chicken, ribs, and vegetables. We also tried the butterbeer, which I was not sure about at first but I actually liked it. The other main Harry Potter attraction, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, had a long wait, but it was worth it. I got a little bit of a headache from screens that were a part of the ride, but my dad felt much worse. After getting off the ride he looked almost green. We figured, for my dad’s sake, that we should go on something nice and calm next. We decided to go on the Universal Studios Tour, which was one hour of just sitting on a bus taking a ride. I loved seeing all the sets and sound stages they took us past, which made me wish that one day I could return here not as a tourist on a ride, but as a filmmaker or actor. Unfortunately for my dad, we didn’t realize that there were a couple 3D experience parts to the ride, one of which nearly made my dad throw up. He was done with rides after that.

My siblings and I posing with the Scooby Gang.

Aside from the rides, we also did a Walking Dead walk-through attraction, saw a trained animal show and watched a special-effects show. One of the highlights of the trip for me however, was meeting Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, and Daphne. I also met Frankenstein and shook his hand, though he didn’t have much to say. I saw Shrek and Princess Fiona, but unfortunately Lord Farquaad was nowhere to be found (they didn’t even have Farquaad merchandise in any of the stores). On the way out of the park I got myself a Jurassic Park mug, which I then broke the handle off when I tripped trying to go up the down escalator. I then accidentally cut my finger on a sharp shard of the mug’s handle and had to spend the whole trip back with a large bandage on my finger (the mug has since been repaired with glue).

We were all exhausted from the trip, but I was eager to tell my students about it, especially about how I met the characters from the play we would be performing. I returned to work on Monday, and everything seemed to be going fairly well. Then near the end of the day the supervisor’s supervisor approached me and told me I needed to attend a meeting at the main office the next day. From the way she told me about it, it didn’t sound like it was going to be a good meeting.

It wasn’t.

That Monday was my last day at the school, and the next day at the meeting was my last day of work with this after-school program.

I could have just told them I was sick that Friday, but that would have been lying. I did contact people to try to get someone else to cover for me on Friday, though no one could. I had perfect attendance up until then. That Friday was the only day I missed. Even in the short time I was there other after-school teachers had missed several days. Now I won’t get to see the Scooby-Doo play that I put all that work into, and I am now without a job…

…again.

The next week was spring break, so I wouldn’t have been working anyway. My dad, my sister, and I took a road trip out to Ohio to get my sister’s things from my Uncle and Aunt’s house. She had taken a semester off of college but has now decided to not return, so we needed to get everything she left behind. It was a long trip, but it was nice to be away for all that time.

We got back, celebrated Easter, watched Avengers: Endgame (twice), celebrated my 27th birthday, and now we’re here.

So now what?

Origin Story

I’ve titled this post Origin Story because, like nearly all superhero stories, this story has a sad beginning. I don’t mean to say I consider myself a superhero; I just mean that I am seeing my story from my point of view - and it’s not going so well right now.

Almost all superheroes have a sad beginning. Or maybe their life is going okay for a while, but then something sad happens to them. It’s at this point, when the hero is at their lowest point (or at least the lowest so far), that something amazing happens that turns their life around. Suddenly this hero can be who they were meant to be - who they were destined to be.

I’m still in that sad origin story part, waiting for something, anything to happen. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be waiting here.

I applied for unemployment, at the suggestion of the very people who made me unemployed. I’m still waiting to hear back.

I have no idea where to begin looking for a job, again. I feel like I can’t stay in this town anymore. There are too many people I have to avoid now - former employers and former fellow employees.

I know this isn’t nearly as important, but in terms of plays and musicals, I’m wanting to be a part of some stage production again. A local theater will be putting on a stage adaptation of Prince Caspian, following their recent play of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I love Narnia so I’d like to audition for this play, though I’d also like to be in a musical again as well. Though this all needs to take a backseat for now.

Prayers would be nice.

Memories of Polar

On Monday, April 16, the world lost a beautiful soul: my good dog, Polar. I wanted to post something sooner, but whenever I tried to write it I would start to tear up - it still felt too soon. It's been a couple weeks now, and though I still get misty-eyed thinking about him, I wanted to share these memories and pictures of my good boy.

Polar, shortly after we got him in 2007.

We got Polar in 2007, when he was one year old. A family from church was moving and they were not allowed to have dogs at their new place. So, unbeknownst to all but my dad, they gave Polar and his friend Hunny to us. (Yes, I spelled "Hunny" like that on purpose. That's how I've always spelled it). That was a bit of a surprise when I came home from school that day. Before they came along, our only dog was Abby, the floppy-eared corgi/terrier mix. We did have another dog, Bella, but she had been put to sleep a few months before Polar and Hunny came along. So after a few months of being the only dog, Abby had two new friends.

(left to right) Abby and her two new friends: Hunny and Polar

It took some getting used to going from two dogs, to one, to three, but Polar and Hunny quickly became beloved members of the family. But to me, Polar quickly became more like my dog.

Polar and I goofing around, summer 2010.

Polar's Personality

One thing I love about animals is that, just like people, they have distinct personalities.

He always was a goofy boy.

When Polar was younger especially, he liked to roll around on the grass and lay on his back. I often rolled around with him and "wrestled" with him.

Sometimes after lying down for a while, if he saw us by the screen door, he would come over and say hi, but not before stretching his legs. Whenever he stretched by the door like this it looked a little like he was bowing down to us, so we would always politely bow back.

Other times while sitting up he would scratch his belly with his back leg and it looked a little like he was dancing or something. It looked funny so we would laugh at him and he would get embarrassed and stop.

"Oh, you're taking a picture?!? Make sure I'm front and center!"

Polar also loved being the center of attention. If we were trying to take a picture of someone or something else, he loved getting in the way. And if we were paying too much attention to another dog, he came over and got right in-between, sometimes even stepping on feet and paws in the process.

Polar was always trying to "butt" in on pictures of Hunny and Abby

He also was a very jumpy dog, in both senses of the word. If he was about to get a biscuit by the kitchen sliding glass door, he jumped. If he was excited to see us, he jumped. If we stood by the door and jumped up and down and told him to jump with us, Polar gladly obeyed. He also would sometimes jump up behind the fence next to the orange grove. From the other side all you could see was a happy dog head suddenly appearing above the fence line. I know he gave at least a couple high-schoolers walking by a bit of a scare.

Hard to say how high off the ground he is here.
Maybe a foot or two? (No pun intended)

Polar was also jumpy in the sense that he was easily spooked by loud noises. In the rare case that we would get a thunderstorm, Polar would get nervous - but he was mostly afraid of fireworks. 4th of July was Polar's least favorite of the year. Even before the fireworks would start, he knew they were coming and he would start panting nervously, his heart beating three times faster than normal. Finally one year we got him what was called a "thunder shirt", which was like a compression jacket to help Polar feel more secure and safe during times he was nervous. It seemed to help a little, but I always liked to sit by him and comfort him anyway during the fireworks.

Poor buddy looks happy, but at this moment he was pretty stressed.

Polar was much happier with his "thunder shirt",
(and he looked pretty good in it too).

Gardener Day

Every Tuesday, especially in the summer, the gardener at the house behind us would arrive to work in their backyard. This was always the highlight of Polar's week. Once the gardener starting working, Polar would run along the length of the back fence barking happily the whole time. After several minutes of running back and forth in the hot sun it was then pool time, so long as nobody was watching. Maybe he thought he wasn't allowed to go in the pool or maybe he was embarrassed but for whatever reason Polar (for the most part) only went swimming if he thought nobody was watching. After doing a quick lap Polar would get out of the pool, shake off, roll around, then bark in contentment. Every now and then he would go back to barking at the gardener and start the whole routine all over again.

Only once and a while could we actually catch him in the act.

Polar barks contentedly to the sky after cooling off in the pool.

He was always so dirty after swimming in the pool then rolling in the dirt...

...but he didn't mind one bit.

Polar and the Cats

At our house it is a rule that cats are inside, dogs are outside. Because of this they hardly ever interact with each other, and only then by the screen doors. Abby and Hunny would sometimes watch the cats inside, or even bark at them, but Polar never saw them. It's not that he was blind or anything - his vision was perfect - maybe he just didn't know they were living creatures? Once and a while we would even hold a cat in front of him, or even take a cat into the backyard, but he still would look right past them like they weren't even there.

As hard as we tried, Polar never saw the cats...

...not even if we took them into the backyard with us.

Polar and his Family

Before Polar came to live with us, he lived on a ranch with his mother, Angel, and his brother, Grizzly. Apparently in the year between his birth and his coming to live with us, Polar's mom and brother wandered off. Where to, I don't know. The family lived kind-of in the country, so they could have gone anywhere. Around that same time Hunny wandered onto their property. The family doesn't know where she came from, but I'm glad she became a part of Polar's family, then later ours.

One thing I will miss about Polar is sitting in the back yard with him. If I went outside and sat cross-legged on the grass, Polar would almost always come over and sit right in my lap. He was a good hugging dog, and just the right size for it, too. If I was feeling sad, or if I just needed a break from the world, I would often go outside and embrace my good dog for a solid few seconds. That always made me feel better. Usually he would try to lick me in the face - sometimes I would let him.

Me dodging a lick in the face from Polar.

Polar also loved going on walks with us. He had a special vest that we would put on him for walks. This is so that he wouldn't be constantly choking himself when going over to sniff things. Polar loved that vest, and it sure looked good on him. Whenever I would walk into the backyard holding that vest and leash, Polar knew what was coming. He would trot over to the gate, and wait patiently while I buckled him into his vest. On our walks we would usually we would take him, along with Hunny and sometimes Abby, through the ag farm next to us, but sometimes we would wander through the neighborhood as well. One time we drove the dogs with us up to Rocky Hill, and walked around with them up there. They had a good time - but then, they would be happy walking anywhere - as long as we were with them.

Polar and Hunny walking in the ag farm.

Polar liked Rocky Hill.

I was glad that Polar and Hunny got along well with Abby. Despite Polar taking over as top dog of the pack (being the only male), Abby still got along well with them. A little more than a year ago, their little pack went from three to two as we had to say goodbye to Abby. She was getting pretty old, but also she was overweight and having trouble moving. Poor Polar and Hunny were confused that she never came back with us that day.

Polar saying goodbye to Abby :(

We tried to get Hunny to say goodbye to Polar before we took him to the vet, but she didn't know what was going on. And I might have taken a picture like this of Hunny and Polar, but I was not in the mood to take pictures that day.

Polar and the Vet

Up until these last couple months, Polar was always such a healthy boy that he hardly ever went to the vet. A few months ago we took Polar in to the vet because his ear was bothering him. It turns out he had a foxtail that had been buried in there for a while. Polar wasn't too happy about getting his ears cleaned, but at least they got the foxtail out.

He seems happy now, but this is before they cleaned out
his ear and found a foxtail deep in there :(

In the car outside the vet after his ears were cleaned.
Polar did not like having his ears cleaned.

While we were at the vet, we also asked them about his nose, which had been kinda crusty for almost a year. It didn't seem to bother Polar, so they just recommended putting vaseline on it, which we did. It didn't seem to do very much though.

Poor buddy had a crusty nose.

Other than his nose, they mentioned that Polar was looking very good for his age, which was nice to hear. Polar never seemed to age - he was always just a big puppy.

About a month ago we took Polar to the vet again. He had some sores on his arms and had been limping on different legs, likely because of arthritis. He also had lost some weight, and he was already a skinny boy. They ran some tests and found that Polar had an extremely high white blood cell count. They diagnosed it as lupus and gave us pills for him.

After a couple weeks on the pills, there was visible change, but not a good kind. Polar had been licking the sores on his arms, which irritated the skin, causing the fur to come off and leaving the skin raw. He had also lost even more weight, which causing some shivering. It pained me to see him looking so miserable. He had had an appointment scheduled for the end of the week, but it was decided he needed to see the vet much sooner, and he might not come back.

Polar, with his head resting in my lap, looking old and
tired just minutes before we took him to the vet.

There really wasn't anything that could have been done. The pills we had been giving him had not slowed down or helped his condition. The lupus that had affected his nose had spread to his legs and had likely already started to spread to his internal organs. He wasn't reacting to the medicine we gave him, and he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed from his food because his body was working so hard to fight the infection. The vet said there were other potential treatment options, but none of them would be guaranteed to work, and would only prolong his discomfort. As sad as it was, we agreed that it would be a kindness to end his suffering before it got worse. I hated seeing my boy in pain, so I knew that this would be best for him.

The vet gave him a sedative, which took away the pain. Polar was much happier and more relaxed after that, and eventually fell asleep, even before they gave him the next shot. We got an imprint in clay of his paw print, and were given a few minutes in the room with Polar before the vet came back. Even though he was sleeping we kept petting him, telling him he was a good boy and we loved him. We continued to do this as the vet came back and administered his last shot.

It was done. I don't know what my parents at that time, but eventually I noticed they had both left the room, as had the vet. I was alone in the room with my boy. I pet him and hugged him again.

The hardest part was turning around and walking out of the room. I knew that he was already gone, but it pained me to look away, knowing I wouldn't see him again. Somehow I did it. I left the examination room, exited the building, then went to the car, where I sobbed the whole way home.

I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Maybe it's therapeutic, something I just needed to get off my chest. Or maybe I'm hoping I'll get some of you to tear up reading this, as I have been writing this. I know that losing a pet is something nearly everyone goes through at some point. Maybe these memories of Polar will remind you of happy memories with your own pets.

I still get a little choked-up if I see Polar's collar sitting on my shelf, or Polar's empty dog dish sitting inside by the dog food. But I'm focusing now on making sure we take care of Hunny, Polar's friend who now finds herself sole protector of the backyard. She is kind of overweight, so I'm taking her on more walks now. It's helpful for her to lose weight, but it's also helpful for the both of us emotionally. She misses her best friend, and I will always miss my good boy.

Polar
August 2006 - April 16, 2018
Rest in peace, my good boy <3

MCU in Review

Favorite moments from every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie and TV show (so far)

One week from now will see the release of Avengers: Infinity War, the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the culmination of everything that has come before it. Its storyline centers around the objects that have weaved through almost all of these films: the infinity stones. This film will also have an unprecedented number of big-name cast members and characters. It includes every single Avenger (though Hawkeye and Ant-Man have been mysteriously absent from marketing), as well as Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and all of the Guardians of the Galaxy (and I’m hoping for cameos, or at least references, to some of Marvel’s TV shows).

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty excited. This is something I’ve been preparing for all year. Around New Year’s Eve 2017, there was a picture going around which explained that if you watch one MCU movie a week starting with the first week in January, then you will finish just in time for the release of Avengers: Infinity War. We had to slightly adjust the schedule when they announced that Infinity War would be releasing a week sooner than originally announced, but my family has (for the most part) kept up with this weekly schedule. As I’ve been re-watching them, it's been fun to remember those parts that I really enjoyed. The moments I’ve written about here are those scenes that really stand out to me as highlights - scenes that I look forward to seeing when I press “play.”

***Spoiler warning for all MCU movies and TV shows***

Movies

Iron Man (2008)

When I think back at my favorite parts of this movie, I actually prefer the smaller, dialogue-driven scenes to the explosive action scenes, and that is largely because of this movie’s stellar cast. The casting for this movie is spot-on, especially that of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark and Gwenyth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. Their chemistry together is the main reason this movie is so good, and that’s why my favorite moment from Iron Man is when Tony needs Pepper’s help in replacing the arc reactor in his chest. It’s a funny scene that allows them to play off each other comedically, while also serving as a way to build up the relationship between them. Though there are many great scenes in this movie that have these two throwing quips at each other, this scene stands out because of the added humor of Tony playing it cool during his procedure while Pepper freaks out.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

My favorite moment from this film is the chase near the beginning with Banner and the special forces trying to capture him. One of my favorite aspects of this movie is that it really focuses on the character of Bruce Banner more than the Hulk, and that is largely why I love this scene. It’s an action scene that focuses on this scientist-in-hiding rather than his monstrous alter-ego. I love seeing Banner climb on the rooftops and run through the crowds like something out of Assassin’s Creed, but I especially love the added suspense of Bruce making sure his heart-rate stays below a certain number so he doesn’t Hulk out. My heart races right alongside Bruce’s as he evades the special forces for as long as he can. On top of that, the thrilling music makes the scene that much more intense and exciting. The movie may not be as much of a memorable part of the MCU now, but this scene still stands out as a highlight.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Before the amazing casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, one other actor who was considered for the part was Sam Rockwell (who just recently won an Academy Award for his performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Though he would have been entertaining as Stark, Rockwell is hilarious as Justin Hammer, a rival inventor and the comedic foil for Tony Stark. Though Iron Man 2 isn’t one of my favorite MCU films, Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer makes the whole movie more enjoyable, and some of my favorite moments involve his interaction with Ivan Vanko. One scene in particular that stands out to me is when Hammer finds Vanko working on drones instead of suits, and he gets frustrated, sarcastically telling his butler to try to fit his head into the drone’s head like a helmet.

Thor (2011)

After re-watching Thor, I had forgotten how much smaller this film is compared to later MCU films. I also found that I don’t like this film as much as some of the other movies. It’s still a good movie, just not quite as enjoyable as I remembered. One aspect I’ve always loved about this movie is the characters. Director Kenneth Branagh, who has been involved with several Shakespeare adaptations, wanted a large focus of the film to be on the Shakespearean-type characters of a king and his two sons. This is why one of my favorite scenes in the movie is Thor’s banishment. The acting from Anthony Hopkins, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Hiddleston as Odin, Thor, and Loki, respectively, is incredible. The pure emotion of the scene is palpable: an arrogant son angry with his father, an upset father deeply disappointed with this son, and another son who would rather stay out of this.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

I’m a big fan of musicals and movie music, so I was extremely excited when I heard that Alan Menken (Academy Award-winning songwriter for Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast, to name a few) would be writing a song for this movie. His song “Star Spangled Man” works perfectly as a patriotic period piece reminiscent of World War II USO songs, and the scene it accompanies is an exciting montage that shows how the Captain America character impacts the morale of soldiers and citizens alike. I like that the film implements the original Captain America comics, as well as showing Steve Rogers starring in several black and white war films. Even though shortly afterwards we see that Rogers wants to be more than just an actor in tights, I like this scene because it shows that for a little while at least Steve has found a way to help out the war effort.

The Avengers (2012)

My favorite moment from The Avengers is without a doubt the scene when Hulk punches the leviathan, the other Avengers help bring it down, then we get the first panning shot of all six assembled Avengers ready to fight, all accompanied by Alan Silvestri’s epic Avengers theme. I get goosebumps every time. The rest of the Battle of New York is amazing as well, especially that one continuous shot that follows each Avenger battling Chitauri and concludes with Hulk and Thor killing a leviathan and crashing it into Grand Central Station - but my favorite moment is still that amazing first shot of the assembled Avengers.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

One of Marvel Studio’s strengths is that it cares more for the alter egos rather than the superhero sides of its heroes, and it’s great at getting the audience to feel the same. I loved The Incredible Hulk for focusing more on Bruce Banner than the Hulk, and I loved Iron Man 3 for focusing more on Tony Stark than Iron Man. Iron Man 3 sees poor Tony suffering from anxiety attacks following the Battle of New York, and sees him having to rely solely on his brain rather than his fancy tech and unlimited resources like usual. My favorite moment in this film is when he goes undercover to a hardware store and buys random household materials to turn into makeshift weapons. He then uses those weapons (such as glass ornament bombs) to infiltrate the “Mandarin’s” house. It’s an exciting scene, and even more fun to watch because this is our first time seeing Tony fight without the aid of an Iron Man suit. Also, shout-out to Trevor Slattery, my favorite of the new characters introduced in this movie.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

This sequel to Thor stands along with Iron Man 2 as generally one of the least-liked MCU films. Upon a recent re-watching of it, I actually liked this movie, maybe even more than the first film. This movie’s main flaw is its misuse of Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who’s ninth doctor) as the boring villain Malekith. However, one of my favorite scenes in the film is Malekith’s invasion of Asgard. It starts with Heimdall being awesome and attacking an invisible ship, then gets better from there. Honestly I think one of the reasons I like this scene so much is because it feels like something out of Star Wars. I also love the mix of ancient Norse iconography mixed with modern sci-fi, like the ships that look like wooden boats but actually fly around and shoot things. It’s a thrilling scene that I look forward to every time I watch the movie. And if I had to pick a second-favorite scene, I love the battle with portals at the end of the film.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Man oh man, there are so many scenes I look forward to when I watch this movie. But one scene in particular I’ve always loved is Nick Fury’s car chase near the beginning of the movie. All of the action scenes in this movie are top-notch, but this one seems especially exciting. Story-wise I love this scene because it’s the moment we begin to suspect there is something wrong with S.H.I.E.L.D. so it catches the viewers, and Nick Fury, off-guard. Once Fury gets free of the police surrounding his car, the chase begins, accompanied by a thrilling and tense musical score. I also like this scene because it’s action is centered around Nick Fury, who doesn’t get many scenes to himself in the MCU. This scene also has just the right amount of humor (“What’s not damaged?” “Air conditioning fully operational”). To top off this awesome scene, once Fury has finally gotten away from the police we get our first look at Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier, who promptly flips Fury’s car upside-down. What a way to (re-)introduce a character. And if I had to pick a second-favorite scene, I would choose that awesome elevator fight which, in my mind, has become as iconic as that first panning shot of the assembled Avengers.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

When I think of scenes that I look forward to when I watch this movie, one that immediately comes to mind is the first scene after the Marvel Studios logo. Right after the logo finishes, we see a mysterious figure searching a stormy planet set to creepy and foreboding music, all while some of the opening credits appear. That music ends as the character reaches his destination. He then removes his mask, pulls out his walkman and begins dancing to “Come and Get Your Love” while the title appears on screen. The rest of the opening credits appear on screen as Star Lord dances his way to his destination: The Orb (containing the Power Stone). I love this scene not just for how entertaining it is, but for how well it captures the tone of the movie. That initial transition from dark and foreboding to funny and upbeat is the hinge that this movie is built upon, and it is executed beautifully.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

I didn’t like this movie as much as the first one. The Avengers had everything going for it. The main heroes, the villain, and the McGuffin had all been introduced in previous movies - all that was left to do was put them together. Avengers: Age of Ultron unfortunately had the near-impossible task of living up to the high standards of the last movie, in addition to introducing new characters and a new villain. I believe its weakest scenes were those that were just put in to tease future movies, similar to select scenes in Iron Man 2 (or all of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). After re-watching the film, I believe one of my favorite scenes is when the Maximoff twins, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, stop the runaway train. It’s an awesome way to re-introduce them in the film as heroes, and a neat showcase of their powers. It also reminds me of the train sequence in Spider-Man 2, one of my favorite superhero movies. Other favorite scenes include the party near the beginning when everyone tries to lift Thor’s hammer and the birth of Vision (one of my favorite characters).

Ant-Man (2015)

Luis did more than steal two (2) smoothie machines, he also stole this movie. Many of the best scenes in the movie are those with Luis and his two buddies, but my favorites are the elaborate stories he Luis tells - the ones where he is supposed to give “just the facts”, but never does. Of the two stories that Luis tells, I like the second one (at the very end before the credits) best. In this short funny scene we get a Stan Lee cameo, a reference to Spider-Man, as well as another appearance from Falcon (another of my favorite characters), all accompanied by Luis’ quick-talking narration. The dialogue is hard to follow the first time, which makes it all the more hilarious when his last words are “he said yes” followed by a second of blinking. I hope there are more of these stories in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Before rewatching this movie I was thinking I wanted to pick something other than the airport battle as my favorite scene, because that would be too obvious and overused. But as I rewatched it I realized, *sigh* yeah… this scene is awesome. I remember eagerly looking forward to it when I first saw the movie, and I still get that same feeling of excitement when rewatching the movie, right before the battle begins. I love the moments of interaction between characters who had never met before this battle, especially those involving Ant-Man, who always makes me laugh. It’s also just exciting seeing all of these heroes together in one scene. This is more heroes than had ever been in an MCU film before (a record that will soon be beat by Infinity War). I don’t know how the directors were able to stage such a big fight between so many heroes and make it look good. Infinity War is going to have a lot to live up to.

Doctor Strange (2016)

This film has some of the best visuals in the MCU. It would have easily won the Oscar for Visual Effects had it not been up against The Jungle Book (which had so many visual effects shots it might as well have been an animated film). The story and the music are also good, but the visuals are some of this film’s best features - and they are put on full display during the fight in the Mirror Dimension. It baffles me how they can construct and film a scene that takes place in a dimension where matter can be folded at will. Its Inception-esque visuals of buildings closing in on each other are spectacular to behold, and make this chase and fight scene one of the best scenes in the film.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Music is an integral part of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and I am forever grateful to director James Gunn for including so many great songs from the 60s and 70s that I very likely never would have heard had they not been in these films. The songs featured in the film are catchy, and go well with the action on screen. They heighten the emotion happening in the moment, whether it be touching, exciting, or funny. One scene that made excellent use of such music is when Yondu kills all the Ravagers with his arrow, set to “Come a Little Bit Closer” by Jay & The Americans. Yondu, Groot, and Rocket are some of my favorite Guardians characters, so it was cool to see them all working together to escape the Ravagers. And yes, the song made the scene that much better. A similar funny scene is when Rocket attacks the Ravagers in the woods, set to “Southern Nights” by Glen Campbell. But the Yondu arrow scene is still my favorite.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

I was unsure at first what an MCU movie would be like that has another studio’s hands in the mix, but Spider-Man: Homecoming was better than I expected. And as always, the acting was top-notch. One of my favorite moments in the movie is near the end when Peter goes to Liz’s house to pick her up for the Homecoming dance, and is shocked when Adrian Toomes (aka the Vulture) answers the door. Peter knows who he is, so he is terrified, but Toomes doesn’t figure out Peter is Spider-Man until they are driving to the dance. The scene is intense, as is Michael Giacchino's score, and the acting from both Tom Holland and Michael Keaton is terrific. On a side note, I also love how this film portrayed high schoolers much more accurately than the previous Spider-Man films.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok was a gift. After two decent Thor films, we finally got a great one. There was some definite influence from Guardians of the Galaxy, but maybe that’s just what was needed. I enjoyed the whole movie thoroughly, but the ending battle scene on the Bifrost was my favorite. I liked seeing Heimdall with his awesome sword leading the Asgardians to safety, then seeing Hulk save them by fighting that big wolf. This is followed by the timely return of Loki, Korg, and the others coming to the rescue, then Thor fully realizing his lighting powers. I also like the following scene when Loki unleashes Surtur to destroy Asgard (but steals the Tesseract right before). I also like Thor’s line to Hulk after Hulk tries to attack Surtur “Hulk, for once in your life, don’t smash!” The coronation at the end serves a nice bookend to the Thor trilogy - complete with Patrick Doyle’s original Thor theme. Such a great ending to a great movie.

Black Panther (2018)

I didn't get to re-watch this film before Infinity War, so it’s hard to pick a favorite scene. Can I just say the whole movie? I loved the gorgeous visuals of the scenes in the Spirit Realm, the acting and choreography in the waterfall battle scenes, and the beautiful music in the entire movie. One of my favorite scenes was the battle at the end. Not T’Challa vs. Killmonger down in the mine, but the one before that: the one with Killmonger vs. the Dora Milaje, and Black Panther and loyal the Wakandans vs. W’Kabi and all his soldiers. Then some Rhinos come in, then the Jabari come join the fight, and in the middle of the battle Shuri is telling Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) how to remote pilot a ship. Great cast, great music, great story. This might be my favorite MCU film. Infinity War, your bar has been set. Good luck meeting it.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Yes, the movie has not been released yet, but these are some of the moments I am most looking forward to seeing in this movie.

1. The proper introduction of Thanos into the MCU. He first appeared as Loki’s mysterious benefactor at the very end of The Avengers, then had quick appearances in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron, but this movie will finally focus on and give us some proper information about him. Hopefully he’ll be a better villain than Ultron.
2. The culmination of the infinity stones sub-plot that has been weaving through the MCU since the Tesseract’s first appearance at the end of Thor (though it wasn’t officially identified as an infinity stone until Thor: The Dark World). Though we likely won’t get an official end to this storyline until the still(!) untitled fourth Avengers movie. I also can’t wait to find out where the Soul Stone is.
3. Seeing the Guardians of the Galaxy in a non-Guardians movie. These characters are writer/director James Gunn’s babies, and I am interested to see what the characters do in the hands of different writers and directors. Will they still be accompanied by fun music from the 70s and 80s? I hope so.
4. Seeing more of Wakanda and its people. I loved Black Panther so I am super excited that at least one section of the film will focus on Wakanda, as well as many of its inhabitants. Naturally T’Challa was always going to appear in this film, but I am excited that Infinity War will also have appearances from Shuri, Okoye, Ramonda (T’Challa’s mother), and M’Baku. No word yet on whether or not Nakia will appear, but I hope so.
5. Seeing interaction between so many of these characters. I know that with so many characters it will be hard for each one to get a lot of screen time, but it will be even harder to see interactions from each individual character with each other character that they haven’t met yet. I at the very least want interaction between Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman, who isn’t even confirmed to be in this film, but I hope he shows up anyway). I want to see a Marvel-ous reunion of Sherlock and Watson. On a somewhat-related side-note, Jude Law is confirmed to be in Captain Marvel. Will he appear alongside Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in Avengers 4? And more importantly, will his character interact with Iron Man? I need my Sherlock/Watson reunions.

It will be hard for this film to live up to the first Avengers movie, and also Black Panther, but even if it doesn’t, I’m sure it will still be a good time at the movies. Maybe next year I’ll update this post with my favorite moments from Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Captain Marvel leading up to Avengers 4.

TV Shows

Despite Marvel’s insistence that #ItsAllConnected, Marvel’s TV shows have yet to make any kind of mark on the movies. Sure, the TV shows sometimes react to or mention movie events and characters, but it’s not quite what most fans were expecting.  Usually it’s an occasional reference to the “Battle of New York” or “The Incident”, or a reference to “that big green guy” or “the guy with the hammer”.

So even though Marvel telling us Avengers: Infinity War is a culmination of everything that has come before it, I am still pretty certain that the TV shows will not be recognized, as much as I would like that. At the absolute most all we would get is maybe a quick shot of some of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Defenders, but at the very least I hope they are given a quick mention. I would also be okay with just showing some of their faces in the opening logo.

These are some of my favorite things about the MCU’s TV shows:

***Again, Spoiler Warning for all MCU TV shows***

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-Present)

Of all the TV shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has always had the most direct connections to the movies (which is saying quite a lot, since there isn’t that much anyway). Some of my favorite moments have been appearances from movie characters (aside from Coulson, of course). In season one we got appearances from Agent Sitwell, Sif, Maria Hill, and even Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Stan Lee also has a cameo in a season one episode. When the show was first announced I was thinking this sort of thing would happen all the time, but it hasn’t. A little later we got cameos from Peggy Carter, a couple Howling Commandos, Dr. List (from Avengers: Age of Ultron), and POTUS (from Iron Man 3), but we haven’t had any film characters appear since season 3.

Film references aside, I’ve loved getting to know the main characters of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., my favorites being Fitz, Simmons, and Mack. Some of my favorite moments from the show include Mack chopping off Coulson’s hand, Daisy emerging from her Inhuman cocoon as Quake, the deaths of Lincoln and Ward/Hive, and all the appearances of Ghost Rider (with surprisingly good visual effects).

Agent Carter (2015-2016)

As with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I loved seeing characters from the movies make appearances in this show including Howard Stark, “Dum Dum” Dugan, and Dr. Zola (all from Captain America: The First Avenger). But some of my favorite moments were the interactions between Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis (Howard Stark’s butler). To me they always had this lovable R2-D2/C-3PO kind of interaction with each other. Another one of my favorite moments is the musical number dream sequence near the end of season 2. I like that the style of the song fits the time period, and I liked that both Peggy and Daniel Sousa sang and danced in it. I was glad those two finally got together at the end of season 2. But is Daniel Sousa the “husband” that Peggy Carter mentions in Captain America: The Winter Soldier? We will never know now.

I will forever be upset with ABC for cancelling this show after just two seasons (and at the same time renewing Once Upon a Time again). There are so many things I wanted to see happen. Aside from confirmation about whether or not Daniel and Peggy get married, I wanted to see Howard Stark get married to his wife Maria and I wanted to see Peggy and Jarvis watch baby Tony Stark for the day. I wanted to see Peggy and Howard start S.H.I.E.L.D. and maybe even meet the parents of some characters from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. As sad as it would have been, I would have wanted to see how Edwin Jarvis dies, then see when Howard Stark (or young Tony Stark) names his new AI program after him. Maybe we could have also had more guest appearances by characters like Hank Pym or even the Winter Soldier. I also want to know if Agent Thompson is still alive or not after getting shot at the very end of season 2. I suppose there’s always hope for a revival or a TV movie to at least wrap up the series.

Inhumans (2017-?)

I would honestly be surprised if this show wasn’t cancelled. Though it could potentially improve during a second season, since Agent Carter wasn’t renewed for a third season, there no way this show will be renewed for a second. The show was okay at best. My brother and I watched the premiere of the first two episodes in IMAX, which was fun for the experience but not worth the price. Though I was pleasantly surprised about Medusa’s haircut (which got rid of that super fake-looking wig), I still didn’t like the show all that much. The finale was probably the highlight of the show: abandoning Maximus on the moon while the rest went back to Hawaii. A fit punishment for Maximus, though I believe actor Iwan Rheon played a much better bad guy in Game of Thrones. In general, the acting in this show was pretty bad.

Daredevil (2015-Present)

Marvel TV’s first foray into streaming television had a pretty good first season, but I didn’t like the second season as much. Of course, (like all the Marvel Netflix shows) I’ve only seen the show all the way through once. It would take far too long to try to watch all of this again before Avengers: Infinity War. One upside to a long television series is that there is much more time spent on character development. The characters in this show are all great, but two that stand out are Daredevil/Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. The fight choreography is also incredible. One of my favorite moments in the show is the long one-shot hallway fight in early season one. It does an awesome job of showcasing Matt Murdock’s abilities. The fact that this was all one shot (or at least made to look like one shot) shows realistically the stamina it takes to fight a whole group of people like that. And this is while Matt is still recovering from another fight after being patched up by Claire.

Jessica Jones (2015-Present)

Jessica Jones is one of my favorite Marvel Netflix TV shows, though (like Daredevil) I didn’t enjoy the second season quite as much. It wasn’t until Kilgrave’s guest appearance in season 2 that I realized how much I missed Kilgrave (played brilliantly by David Tennant). Though he was an evil, oppressive person, I loved all the scenes with Kilgrave in both seasons. (maybe because it’s funny to me seeing the tenth Doctor acting evil). Though I really like the character, one of the scenes that stands out to me the most is when he dies. Jessica tricks him into thinking he can control her again, and then she snaps his neck. It’s an awesome moment for Jessica, and a good death for Kilgrave.

Luke Cage (2016-Present)

Overall, this was a pretty good show. The acting and the music were especially good. Weirdly though this show (one season so far) was split in half, story-wise, and in my opinion the first half was better. My favorite moment in the show comes at that halfway point, when Mariah Dillard kills Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali). Cottonmouth was the presumed season-long antagonist, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Mariah rise up and kill her cousin. I assumed this meant that she would be the main antagonist going forward, which I was ready for, but then Diamondback showed up and took that role. Diamondback was not near as impressive a villain as Cottonmouth was, or as Mariah would have been. I hope that Mariah will be more of a main antagonist in season 2.

Iron Fist (2017-Present)

I didn’t think this was as bad as everyone says it was. The pilot episode to me was pretty bad, but the rest of it I actually enjoyed, even though Danny Rand can be pretty stupid sometimes. I liked most of the characters in the show, but my favorite was Colleen Wing. To me, she was a much more interesting character than Danny, and she needs to have her own show with Misty Knight from Luke Cage (who she teams up with in the comics). One of my favorite moments in the show is when Colleen fights in an illegal cage match as “Daughter of the Dragon”. The dialogue at the beginning is great (“You sure you want to do this honey?” “Call me honey again, I dare you.”) and the fight is awesome. I also like her fight later against two people.

Defenders (2017-?)

Defenders: the Avengers of the Marvel Netflix shows. I really enjoyed it, maybe more than all the other Marvel Netflix shows. The first episode had some cool lighting design, assigning each Defender a color scheme. It felt like four different shows in one, which was cool. But my favorite moment was when they first all came together at Midland Circle. First just Danny Rand was there, then Luke Cage, then Jessica and Matt. Pretty soon they were all fighting together in the hallways of the building. Eventually they all end up in an elevator together and Danny asks “Who are you people?” It was awesome seeing these TV heroes interact with each other. The chemistry between all of them was great, especially between Jessica and Matt. I know it’s difficult to make crossover shows like this, but I really hope they make another season.

Punisher (2017-Present)

I struggled to watch this whole show. Eventually I made myself sit down and finish the last few episodes, but I think this may be my least favorite of all the MCU TV shows, aside from maybe Inhumans. Although, as with the other Marvel Netflix shows, the cast was good. It was fun seeing Ben Barnes (who I know as Prince Caspian) play a bad guy. One of my favorite aspects however was the unusual partnership and later friendship of Frank Castle (Punisher) and Lieberman (Micro). This may be because I had spent most of the show thinking that Micro was one of Punisher’s arch enemies in the comics (not sure how that idea got in my head). I was pleasantly surprised that they became unlikely allies, and even friends. It was fun seeing them go on their mini road-trip early in the season, then later taking care of each other. Maybe I’ll enjoy the second season more, but I still like the other shows better.

Runaways (2017-Present)

I really didn’t know what to expect from this show, but I actually really liked it. The story was interesting, but hard to follow at times. The main aspect I liked about this show was the cast. If there’s anything Marvel’s great at, it’s casting. The kids were all believable and had great chemistry, but I think I actually liked their evil parents more, especially Gert’s parents. It was hard to believe that these quirky comic-relief scientists could be part of an evil child-killing organization, but their motivations actually make sense for the characters. My favorite moments in the show are when these two try to hide things from their kids or the other parents, despite being amazingly bad at keeping secrets - secrets like “there is a raptor in the basement”. I also like how the last episode of the decent season one sets up for an even better season two - one where the kids are actually, finally, runaways.