Starfleet Chaplain

Each week, we share about someone on Twitter who embodies the connection between nerdiness and faith that would make them a prime candidate for Starfleet Chaplaincy (if they weren't doing something else already). It's like a nerdy/spiritual/Monday version of Follow Friday.

This week's Starfleet Chaplain: Jonathan Acuff

Not only is he funnier than all get out, he also can geek out on comic books (and who knows what else!?) with the best of them, apparently. Or so he tweeted last week:

He pretty much doesn't need an endorsement after that. Go read his blog Stuff Christians Like...and buy the book. We're not saying that just so the Starfleet Chaplaincy Corps can get onto the back of his next bestseller....

Well, last week's Friday fun was...I belive...a hit for everyone involved. Let's try it again! First up, the Lord's Prayer in ELVISH. I mean, how more nerdy could you get?! This isn't the best part. The best part is provided for us in the description:

Recorded at midnight, on the first hour of Good Friday. The Quenya translation is by J.R.R. Tolkien (published in Vinyar Tengwar #43).

And then he graciously provides said translation, plus a few human ones for good measure. I mean, the Lord's Prayer ON GOOD FRIDAY!?! Epic, epic liturgical-nerdiness, with elvish-nerdiness slathered all over it.

(Thanks to Liturgy & missional for the tip.)

...and if you didn't have enough 80s Firefly fun last week, this brings you the sequel to io9's work of, well, sheer geniusness. Did you wonder why Simon Tam wasn't featured in the remixed credit sequence? We're glad you asked. It's because in this JJparallel80s'verse, Firefly became such a hit, Simon Tam MD was spun off. You have to see it to believe it...

So clearly I have way too much time on my hands, and like Photoshop a wee bit too much. I created these 2 wallpapers to go with my iPhone 4 (complete with JJ Abrams lens flares), but they should be compatible with older iPhones and maybe other smartphones too. I use the insignia+text one for the lock screen, and the blank one for the home screens. If this goes well, maybe we'll develop some other things along these lines. Anyway, if you want to use or share them, great: just (a) comment below to let us know how you're using them, and (b) tell others where you found them!

(download)

Click here to download:

starfleet-chaplain-iphone-wallpapers-tpAyomfnpbEyvkhBGanb.zip (849 KB)

We're proud to feature our first honorary Starfleet Chaplain who was there at the start of it all: Leonard Nimoy.

His tweets have reflected a profound gratitude -- the basis for all true faith -- for what has happened to him in life, and he demonstrates both a great sense of humor as well as respect for those he interacts with on Twitter.

The kicker, of course, is that he signs all his tweets with LLAP: "Live long and prosper."

Even here at Starfleet Command, Fridays get a little more casual. So we decided to share a bit of Friday fun with you too, in the form of teh interwebz videoz!!

First up, for the Battlestar Galactica fanatics among you, an epic music video that compares the original show's camp to the angst of the newer version. Lorne Greene or dark-and-twisty? You decide!

And for all you Browncoats, our next video (from the disembodied brains at io9.com) re-envisions the Firefly opening credits...80s-style. Pretty sure Richard Dean Anderson snuck in there somewhere.

What's your favorite scifi fan video or mashup? Share 'em below!

Can the imaginary fire someone's life so that they accomplish enormous things in the real world?

...who said science fiction wasn't real?

Here's an account from a NASA engineer & leader of how encountering Star Trek and other larger-than-life tales -- not to mention meeting the visionary Gene Roddenberry -- was highly influential on his life's work...

Wayne Hale's Blog: Meeting the Great Bird of the Galaxy
http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/blog/waynehalesblog/posts/post_1276890972685.html

By Peter Wallace

About ten years ago, I had an unbelievable dream of mine almost come true. Even now I can hardly believe it came so close to happening.

In my book Out of the Quiet, I wrote about the impact Stan Lee had on my life. Stan, you may have heard, is the co-creator of such comic-book superstars as Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil, and a plethora of others. When I was about eight years old, my big brother Greg gave me a couple of issues featuring Spidey and another favorite of mine, The Mighty Thor. I was entranced. I became enamored of Lee’s senses-shattering tales of derring-do and do-gooding. I honestly believe that Lee’s philosophy of helping others (as in Spider-Man’s motto, “With great power comes great responsibility”) and living by the Golden Rule, which infused his tales, made a mighty impact on my life and faith.

As a kid I used to hole up in my bedroom and write and draw my own comic books. I had big dreams of following in Stan Lee’s footsteps. Someday, I thought . . .

Well, dreams die hard. So ten years ago or so, I heard a rumor from a friend that Stan Lee was thinking about writing, of all things, “Christian comic books.” What a perfect opportunity for me! I wrote to Stan’s halcyon headquarters and offered my services as a writer, since I was both an utter comic book geek, a lifelong Stan fan (even a Permanent Marvelite Maximus!), had a theology degree, and had even had some serious books published.

To my utter amazement, I got a call from Stan’s right-hand man, the VP of creative development, who gave me an idea of what Stan had in mind. He wanted to create some super-heroes with a Christian orientation—and by that he meant positive, heroic, self-sacrificial, living a life of positive morality. He felt kids today needed good moral examples.

Stan’s man kept in touch over time, and before long we were talking about developing a whole line of comic books featuring such heroes, which might spin off into video games, motion pictures—and I would be writing them under Stan’s direction. I was so jazzed. I couldn’t believe it!

A few weeks later they sent me a two-page summary of a super-character Stan had created, with a description, background, supporting characters, and possible plot lines and story ideas. I was told that in the next few days we’d set up a conference call with Stan himself to talk through all this and then I could get started writing the first story.

Can you imagine how my inner geek was feeling?

But then I heard nothing. E-mails went unanswered. And before long I learned that Stan’s dot-com company, Stan Lee Media, was out of business—shut down in the technology bust of the late 1990s.

There came crashing down my lifelong dreams of comic-book stardom. I was heartbroken.

Stan was back at work soon after in other venues, but the line of “Christian comic books” never figured into his new plans for movies and TV shows. Ah well. He continues to be an encouragement to me and never fails to respond to any e-mail I send him within the hour. He’s that kind of guy. I even got to meet him in person at his office in LA a few years later.

I’ve moved on as well, now doing something I enjoy more than anything else I’ve done in my life. So it all worked out. God has healed my broken heart. And I have a good story to tell to boot.

[Excerpted/adapted from Connected: You and God in the Psalms (Morehouse Publishing, 2009)]

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Visit my website at www.peedub.com

This made me begin to wonder about how many other folks are making connections between theology and faith on the one hand, and science-fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other marginal cultural expressions.