There are many great things I like about the early Spring.  The beginning of baseball season,  gearing up for the Blackhawks (and sometimes the  Bulls) playoff runs,  my wedding anniversary, and Easter Sunday are just a few of them.

For the past 3 years Judson University's Imago Film Festival   has become one of those great things I associate with the beginning of Spring.  I came home  just a few hours ago from the fifth and final evening of the 12th annual festival and want to relate my experience of the event.

The Mission statement for the festival states that  they showcase independent films that deals with faith issues that emphasize image and story. I attended each night of the festival this year and the 15  

official selections that were screened certainly met the missions statements criteria.  

Terrence Wandtke stated several times in festival literature and at the festival itself, that many of the years selections dealt with themes of love and loss.  He was certainly correct in that assertion, and the 4 winning films all dealt with that topic in one way or another.

My favorite film of the 4 winners,  Not the End,  won the Audience Choice award.  

The 2nd runner up as decided by the Judges was Speed Dating.

The 1st runner up was Persimmon.

'

Best in Show was the Oscar Nominated short, We can't live Without Cosmos.

$2,000.00 was divided unevenly between the winning 4 films.

I am sure you will be able to find all 4 movies on line at some point, if you have interest in viewing them - perhaps even at Imago's You Tube Channel.  However, my week at Imago reinforced my belief in the importance of the communal experience of watching movies.  I encourage any of you in the Chicago area to come to Elgin next year to experience Imago 2017 with me.  

If any of you were wondering why it took me 2 hours after coming home before I wrote this review, It is because after all that film watching I wanted to do some more.  I just finished watching my first full length feature on someone else's blog post.  From time to time someone will put a link to an entire movie from you tube on their blog. On Friday I saw a link to the movie Angel and the Badman, a 1947 John Wayne film.  I had not seen it before so have been watching it after the festival for the past 2 nights.  It is a film that deals with faith issues and emphasized image and story.  So it was a perfect post Imago activity.  Perhaps soon, I'll review it here.   Before that happens, I plan to screen the film for an audience, my family.

A to Z Challenge Simulpost B

Superheroes A to Z
B is for Beast

Full Name Hank McCoy

First Appearance X-Men #1 1963

Notable team affiliations: X-men,Avengers and Defenders

As I mentioned yesterday, I did not choose the obvious choice for a superhero that begins with the letter b.  To show how obvious it is I filmed this impromptu piece with my family.

   

Bisquick Man notwithstanding, Batman seems to be the obvious choice for superhero today.  If you know anything about me, know this - my choices are not obvious.


I like Beast because he brings humor and pathos to situations sorely in need of it.  Besides that "Oh my stars and garters" is one of the best superhero catchphrases ever.

But wait a second did my wife really guess Barney b4  she guessed man.  Let's see about that ...


nd
For more A to Z blogging click here.

A to Z Challenge Simulpost A

Today is the beginning of A to Z challenge 2016.  This is the first time I am participating from YBD as YBD hardly existed last April.  My theme is the one I planned to use at HSD this year.  The theme is comic book characters.

A is for Alfred

Full Name:  Alfred Pennyworth

Occupation:  Wayne Family Butler and aide to Batman

First Appearance:  Batman #16 (1943)

Cover from first appearance of Alfred

I chose Alfred rather than a hero for several reasons.  Antman and Atom kind of cancel each other out and I have never been a big fan of aquaman.  Alfred is what my Father-in-law used to call a secret hero, the character in a show that is the glue that holds everything together.  I am also including him here as I am not including his employer tomorrow.  Batman is one of the mainstays of comicbook lore and since I am not featuring him tomorrow, I am going out of my way to make room for other members of the "Batman Family" in my list.

For more A to Z blogging click here.

ADDED BONUS.

A few years ago my kids absolutely fell in love with the book Super Hero ABC by Bob
McLeod

Click on the image to get the book from Amazon.

As I run through the letter of the alphabet I will try to show pages from this fine book as well

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal

A week from today all the fun begins at Blogging from A to Z.

This past Monday I was supposed to reveal my theme, but I did not quite get to it.  My theme this year will be Superheroes.

I will go through A to Z with 26 characters from superhero comics.  I will have 13 from the DC universe and 13 from Marvel.  I still plan on reverting back to my Home School Dad blog on May 1st so I will be simulposting all of them there.

To check out other themes for those taking the challenge click here.

See you on April 1st, it should be Super!

Simulposting from YBD

Statement by Dr. Ben Carson on Leaving the Presidential Campaign Trail

I was looking forward to voting for Ben Carson later this month in the Illinois primary.  He dropped out of the race last week.  Here is the statement he made regarding dropping out.  The entire statement can be found here.

I have lived a blessed life and achieved more success than I ever dreamed was possible. Running for President was never on my bucket list, and when I was drafted by a grassroots movement asking me to do so, it was not a decision that I made lightly and saw as an act of service. 

However, I believed that my values, life experience and common sense solutions put me in a position to help get our nation back on track for the sake of our children and grandchildren. This grueling endeavor would not have been worth it for any other reason.

When I began exploring a run for President as a private citizen detached from the political class, I had neither a political team nor a national network of wealthy donors standing by waiting to support me.

We had to build a grassroots campaign from scratch by reaching out to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible and through every means possible, resulting in indisputable success. This movement consistently outraised the entire Republican field, got onto every ballot and built a 50-state, bricks-and-mortar campaign infrastructure to share my story, values and solutions. It was an historic feat, and I’ll be forever grateful to my team and my incredible supporters, financial and otherwise, from all corners of America, on behalf of the best interests of the American people.

I hope my presence added a measure of civility to the race, raised issues that would not otherwise have been discussed and had an overall positive impact. While our political efforts must come to a close, gratefully, the grassroots movement that has given new voice to “We the People” and inspired millions will continue. 

I may be departing the campaign trail, but I will not be departing the scene.  Instead, for the rest of my life, I will continue to work tirelessly to do everything I can to save America for the next generation. 

I will be working on a number of initiatives, including serving as honorary chair of My Faith Votes, a non-profit organization dedicated to mobilizing the 25 million Evangelicals who didn't vote in the last election. The twin pillars of faith and family are under attack, and I will endeavor to strengthen our nation by preserving them both.

I have committed to not endorse a specific individual, but rather “We the People.” Though many today are making decisions based on fear and anger, I trust their judgment to logically examine the candidates and make the right decision by looking at:

whether they have demonstrated significant accomplishments over their lives and careers; 
if they have ideas that are clear and policies that are easy to find; 
how they treat their family and others, as that is how they will lead the country; 
what they have done to improve the lives of Americans; 
the people they are with, what they are saying and how they collaborate with others; 
their ethics, because what America needs is “Trickle-down ethics.” 
Conservatives should not be embarrassed by capitalism, but must couple it with compassion, to lift people out of a culture of dependency and provide ladders of opportunity for all Americans to be a part of the fabric of society.

People need to understand this is a most important election, in which we are deciding whether we allow the government to dictate our rights and take care of our needs, or whether individuals will rise up and take responsibility in an atmosphere of opportunity for all.

The bottom line is, “We the People” are the ones making the decisions; but in order to do that, we must become active and informed, not manipulated by the political classes and media.

Along with millions of patriots who have supported my campaign for President, I remain committed to saving America for future generations. We must not depart from our goals to restore what God and our Founders intended for this exceptional nation. 

Equally important, we need to understand that Republicans are not each others' enemies. We need to engage in conversation and challenge each others' positions, not fight each other. Conservatives need to unify together so that that we do not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and put another secular progressive in the White House.

Also posted at YBD #YBD=HSD

Work for your next position

9 to 5 by Harley Schwadron, March 02, 2016 Via @GoComics: One of the many great comics you can read for free at GoComics.com! Follow us for giveaways & giggles.



Also posted at YBD #YBD=HSD

News Flash: Cats Love Bacon

Two weeks ago I started posting comic strips from Go Comics each Saturday.  I call it Saturday Funnies.  The Go Comics Blog has a feature called Meet Your Creator.  The most recent installment is about Georgia Dunn the creator of Breaking Cat News.  I was really moved by the article and checked her strip out.  Here is a strip from earlier this week.

Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn, February 15, 2016 Via @GoComics: One of the many great comics you can read for free at GoComics.com! Follow us for giveaways & giggles.



Also posted at YBD #YBD=HSD

Beggars Can be Choosers

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, February 20, 2016 Via @GoComics: One of the many great comics you can read for free at GoComics.com! Follow us for giveaways & giggles.

What Republicans need to know if they want my vote in November

Six Word Saturday

My Six:



I'll never vote for Donald Trump.


Let me bullet point it for you.

•  Back in August of last year I ranked the 17 republican candidates for president. the Donald came in 17th.  
• The only reason why he comes in 6th now is that 11 of the candidates have since dropped out of the race.One of the 16 other candidates was a pro choice republican.  I am on the record of stating that I would never again vote for a pro-choice republican.  I would be hundreds of times more likely to vote for that candidate than Trump

• I don't hate Trump.  I just don't trust him.
• I don't trust anyones whose go to answer is I'll be great at it.
• I don't hate Trump.  I just don't respect him.
• I cant respect anyone whose answer to those who disagree with him is to deride them.
• I get very upset when any of the other candidates when trying to frame the discussion back to Republican versus Democrat state that any republican candidate would be better than Obama, Sanders or Clinton.
• It only takes watching 1 debate (and I have watched all but 1 of them) to see that Trump does not have the character to lead this country.
• When he is booed which is often. He assumes  The people booing are wrong.
• In the last debate he took a pot shot at Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who had been out of the race for some time.  When booed he attributed it to donors who back Jeb Bush.  The truth is he was attacking Graham in a debate in South Carolina, a week before the primary there.  
• I feel there are many people like me who will never vote for Trump.  
• But I am afraid there are more people who are willing to go along with who ever secures the nomination.
• I will not be among them.

For more six word saturday click here.



Also posted at YBD #YBD=HSD

The Pac Man Special

Frank & Ernest by Thaves, February 13, 2016 Via @GoComics:









 One of the many great comics you can read for free at GoComics.com! Follow us for giveaways & giggles.



Also posted at YBD #YBD=HSD

Songs from my cassette collection Volume I

It has been a while since I have participated in Six Word Saturday at Show My Face.  So I have two for the price of one.  

We Bought a Jeep on Monday

It has a working cassette player.

We have not owned a cassette player for sometime and once I noticed that we now did.  I pulled out my 200 or so cassettes from under my bed and have started listening to them again.  I forgot about a lot of the music down there and have decided to post lyrics from songs occasionaly here and if possible videos of said songs at Dave Out Loud.  

Today's song comes from Steve Scott a poet/musician whose 1983 album love in the western world contained this gem.

This Sad Music

The whales are dying now,
hurling themselves upon the beaches
black dice reckoned under the sun's watchful gaze

There's sweat on the preacher's brow
as he talks about damnation.
The whales are in love with no one
They wanted to die without explanation

He mops his brow and quotes Malcolm Muggeridge
on - quote -
"the collapse of western civilization"
- end quote -
and the book he waves in the air
is as black as whaleskin

He urges people to "make their decision"
and the whales have made their decision

An awful silence surrounds them
Like a ruined castle they lie
still, passive, beyond explanations

Beads of sweat on the preacher's brow
like small clear animals clinging to a rock face
or like tiny transparent whales
flinging themselves from the boiling seas of his eyes
into a slow, certain dying

The sad music in their brains, a piper's lament
from that old castle in the mist-thickened night

"FIFTEEN THOUSAND CINEMAS ACROSS THIS LAND,
DEPICTING EVERY SEXUAL ACT KNOWN TO
THE HUMAN IMAGINATION!" shouts the preacher

His voice is a door slamming shut
the sea's noise is a vast intake of breath
a gesture in a room to break the silence
now the whales have broken the silence

They are the color of the preacher's harsh words

The white foam rushes to embrace them
like mother and father
The whales do not want to know, and now

There are people sprawled on the beaches
chained together by "HUMAN IMAGINATION"
All the music has bled out of them,
drained from the ends of their fingers
splashed from the loudspeakers of their wallets

And at the end of the service, people walk forward
Perhaps it is "the collapse of western civilization"
that moves them
or the sad music of their slow, certain dying
that guides their feet

And at the end of this poem
a strange light comes off the bodies of the whales
gathering up the shadows like driftwood
and splashing them against the far walls

you would think the shadows would make
the words there hard to read
However, I find it's at a time like this
I see the writing clearest of all

(c) Steve Scott 1983

Click here to watch the video at Dave Out Loud.

Click here for more Six Word Saturday

Also posted at Home School Dad #HSD=YBD