Here’s the other video. Enjoy!
The annual tradition returns! This year’s song is a little different, though. Normally I sing what I like to call “hopeful songs of longing for love,” but this year I decided to go with a classic ’80s ditty that describes my love life to a tee. I’m sure it does for many of you, too. Enjoy!
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New Video: NERD RAGE! Episode 2: Fifty Shades ANGRIER!
Since I haven’t posted in a while due to time and illness, I decided I would share with you the two newest videos on my YouTube channel. These include an overdue second episode of “NERD RAGE!” (wherein I once again dare to rant about a certain book/movie trilogy I hate) and my annual Valentine’s Day Karaoke video. Here’s the first. Enjoy!
Hosted by Nathan Marchand
It’s been a while since I posted an episode of “NERD RAGE!”, so I decided it would be appropriate to make a sequel to my infamous #FiftyShadesOfGrey rant since that stupid movie has a sequel opening this weekend. I don’t get as crazy this time around since nobody got the joke the last time or chose to ignore it. #FiftyShadesDarkerSo bring it on, trolls! Bring. It. On!
Digression 13: Valentine’s Day Karaoke 2016 – ‘Gotta Be Somebody’ by Nickleback
Performed by Nathan Marchand
Digression 9 & 9.5: ’50 Shades of RAGE!’ and ‘V-Day Karaoke 2015’
It’s been a while since I posted a Digression–and boy, is this one a doozy! I go on an angry rant about why I hate “Fifty Shades of Grey” and I’m boycotting the film adaptation.
Agree or disagree? Leave comments below!
The annual tradition returns!
This year for your listening (dis)pleasure, I sing the classic “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey–and learn that I should never sing tenor ever again! I freely admit I’d be an “American Idol” reject. I hope you find it funny and sing along.
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Digression 8: Valentine’s Day Karaoke 2014 – ‘If’ by House of Heroes
I’m a day late, but not a dollar short! I’ve decided to make V-Day karaoke videos an annual tradition. This year, I sing one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. Sadly, I re-learn why I shouldn’t sing tenor. Let’s just say I thought I should start a band called American Idol Rejects. While I didn’t have a specific girl in mind when I sang this, I identify with several lines from the song. Enjoy!
(Please pardon the typo in the video’s title).
Washing Feet
Despite my disdain for Valentine’s Day, I’ve decided to post something today. No, it’s not a bitter rant.
I’ve attended many Christian weddings (I’m a Christ-follower, after all), and a common thread throughout them is the couple selecting a Bible passage for the occasion and having the presiding pastor give a short sermon on it. These are usually 1 Corinthians 13, Genesis 2, Ephesians 5:22-33, or a portion of Song of Solomon/Songs. These are great choices, but when I get married, I don’t plan to use any of them.
I’m going to use John 13:1-17.
You’re probably thinking, “That passage has nothing to do with marriage or romance!”
No, but it has everything to do with love.
Ever notice how most romance stories are about big and grand acts of love? Knights rescuing maidens from dragons. Heroes saving heroines from villains. An elaborate profession of love (like drawing a heart on the side of a building). We all love dragon slayers and want to be like them, and with good reason, but in real life, love usually finds expression in the small things. Sometimes that “dragon” is the dishes that need washed, the diapers that need changed, or the special date that is remembered.
Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, the Creator of the Universe, humbled Himself to perform the most menial of tasks. Washing feet was work relegated to slaves. It was undignified for a rabbi like Jesus to perform such a task. But He did it despite Peter’s objections. It was an example of servant leadership. It’s easy to be served, but love’s nature is to serve others. It may mean doing thankless, disgusting, and/or embarrassing things. It is agape (unconditional) love. It isn’t a feeling; it’s an act of the will. Any lover can die for his beloved. But to live an unglamorous life in service to his beloved? That requires true love. Keep in mind that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet hours before he was nailed to a cross to die for mankind’s sins. That was His greatest act of love. But this humble act anticipated it. In other words, the little things husbands and wives do for each other adds significance to the big things.
Jesus went on to say, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). One of God’s purposes for marriage is echoing His love for the church. So, by loving each other even in these small, seemingly insignificant ways, a husband and wife broadcast God’s love in Technicolor, especially in this age of rampant divorce.
I want a marriage like this. I want to be the kind of man and husband who will “wash feet” for his wife.
I pray you want the same for yourself, True Believers.
Never Forget Your Singleness
I’ve made it no secret that Valentine’s Day is my least favorite holiday. In fact, I, like many people, euphemistically call it Singleness Awareness Day. This will be my 30th V-Day in a row without someone special. I’ve had a few girlfriends, but never on this holiday.
What annoys me is whenever singles—especially in Christian circles—lament their singleness in any way, they get tired platitudes (“It’ll happen when you’re not looking,” “Jesus is your boyfriend/girlfriend,” etc.) instead of sympathy. Or, worse yet, heartless lectures. These Christians, despite their good intentions, succeed in only denigrating marriage and singles’ desire for it. They cite Bible passages like 1 Corinthians 7 and make it sound like singleness is the godlier lifestyle. They even accuse singles of either desiring marriage so much they blind themselves to it not being God’s will for them or idolizing it to the point of defying God in seeking it. The worst part is these come from married Christians 99% of the time.
I believe these people have been married for so long, they have forgotten what it was like to be single. Or their time as a single was comparatively short and/or easy. In other words, they’ve lost their frame of reference, if they even had one. They are unable to sympathize. How can a person understand someone who is 30 years old, single, and desiring marriage if he married in his early twenties? Any struggles he had as a single are distant memories. Marital bliss has made him callous. He runs off with his sweetheart on V-Day, forgetting his single friends—if he has any—are alone at home.
I, however, won’t forget my singleness when I get married. I’ve spent too much time struggling with singleness to do so. I’ve watched friends hook up and get married while I was passed over, wondering if something was wrong with me or if I was unworthy of love. I’ve battled lust and a bottled-up sex drive. My hopes have been shattered and deferred. It gets harder to say, “It is not good for man to be alone,” with each passing year. I’m constantly told I’m a great guy, yet no woman seems to like me for long, if at all (unless they’re desperate).
I say all of that to say that I will be a countercultural married. I won’t forget singles or their plight. I’ll seek them out, talk to them, pray with them. I’ll validate their desires and advise them on how to fulfill them. Valentine’s Day won’t be a day where my wife and I go on an overly elaborate date. It will be a day where I invite all the singles I know to my house for a party, and we will serve them. We’ll prepare food, play games, and talk about the struggles of single life. Why? Because I want them to know there’s at least one couple out there who wants to redeem this so-called “romantic” holiday and include singles in it. They won’t be forgotten because I was once one of them, and I wished the couples I knew wouldn’t leave me by the wayside.
Couples, will you do this for the singles you know, especially if they’re your friends, this Valentine’s Day?
True Romance: Amy Pond and Rory Williams
(Don’t forget to read yesterday’s post).
I’m a little late in posting this, but it’s still Valentine’s Day in half the country right now.
If you haven’t watched any of the new Doctor Who series on BBC America—what’s wrong with you?! It’s one of the best shows on TV!
And Amy (Pond) and Rory Williams, the Doctor’s latest Companions, are two of the reasons why.
There’s a lot I could say about these two: how they met the Doctor, the adventures they went on with him, etc. (they’re my favorite Companions), but I will instead focus on their relationship.
These two met while in secondary school (which I think is the British equivalent of high school). They were best friends, but timid Rory always liked her, taking Amy’s teasing remarks in stride so he could spend time with her. Their other friend, Mels (who was their time-displaced daughter, River Song—don’t ask, it’s too complicated to explain), helped her realize Rory loved her. By young adulthood, when Amy began working as a kissogram and traveling with the Doctor, she and Rory were engaged. In fact, her wedding was the day after she met the Doctor. However, she wasn’t sure she loved him.
After a trauma-induced flirting session with the Doctor, the Doctor brought Rory onboard the TARDIS to join them. Later, the three of them were put into a dream world by a Dream Lord, who forced Amy to choose between Rory and the Doctor. Rory died in this world, but Amy realized she couldn’t live without him. Upon finding him alive, she finally told him that she loved him back.
Sadly, their story took a tragic turn when a crack in the space/time continuum erased Rory from existence and Amy’s memories. This came to a head when, in ancient Roman times, Amy, the Doctor, and River Song met a robot duplicate of Rory dressed as a Roman centurion in the service of an Alliance of the Doctor’s greatest enemies (again, a long and complicate story). At first, she didn’t recognize him, but gradually her memories returned. The Alliance activated their robots, and Rory couldn’t resist his programming and shot Amy. Thankfully, the Doctor traveled back in time to right before she died and had Rory place her in a device called the Pandorica, which was intended to be the Doctor’s prison. This kept Amy alive, but it couldn’t be opened until 2,000 years later.
Rory guarded it the whole time.
He waited 2,000 years to see his beloved’s life saved!
Yeah, Rory takes the cake for patience and longsuffering. That’s true love, people!
Anyway, the Pandorica was opened, the Doctor saved the day in a rather complicated fashion, resulting in a “rebooted universe,” and Amy and Rory got married.
But unlike most romance stories, which end at the wedding, their story continued.
After a long series of adventures with the Doctor where they had a daughter who eventually became the Doctor’s wife (again, a long and complicated story), the two started living a (mostly) normal life in London.
But their marriage turned sour. Amy kicked Rory out and filed for divorce. Both of them, along with the Doctor, were captured by the Daleks (the Doctor’s oldest enemies) and sent on a dangerous mission. During this, Amy was infected with nanites that were transforming her into a Dalek by “subtracting love.” Rory insisted that she use a protective device to slow this down. “Let’s face it—I waited for you for 2,000 years. I have more love.” Distraught, Amy confessed she was divorcing him because she had been rendered unable to have children during a previous adventure and was giving him up. This reignited their passion, and they decided to stay together.
Their story came to a bittersweet climax in a recent episode called “The Angels Take Manhattan.” Amy, Rory, and the Doctor visit present-day New York only to have Rory whisked away to the 1930s by the evil Weeping Angels, who feed off the time energy they steal from victims by sending them to the past. Realizing what had happened, Amy and the Doctor travel back in time as instructed River Song in a paperback novel based on her encounter with Rory in the past. Once there, they discover the Angels have taken over a hotel where they keep their time-displaced victims—and Rory is among them. The Doctor says there’s nothing they can do to stop it, but that if they did, thereby creating a paradox, it would “poison the well” and kill the Angels. Rory runs to the roof of the hotel with Amy. There he says he will jump off the roof, creating the paradox. Amy, unsure if it will work and unwilling to live without Rory, grabs his hand says something that puts every romantic line ever said in chick flicks to shame:
“Together or not all!”
They both jump.
They succeed.
When the temporal dust settles, Amy, Rory, River, and the Doctor find themselves at a graveyard in present day New York. But their celebration is short-lived. Rory discovers a gravestone with his name on it dated a hundred years ago.
Then a surviving Angel touches him. He vanishes.
Amy, tears streaming down her face, says goodbye to the Doctor, saying she will join Rory. The Doctor warns her that if she does this, it will create a fixed point in time that he can’t alter. He’ll be unable to visit them again.
She lets the Angel touch her. Her gravestone appears next to Rory’s.
Thankfully, the Doctor reads in River’s book that they lived long and happy lives.
What can I say? Here is a love that spanned time and space. A love that overcame insurmountable obstacles. A love that made both lovers into better people. A love characterized by self-sacrifice, patience, and longsuffering.
Honestly, I find myself running out of words to describe their love story. I’ve rarely seen one this powerful. A story like this makes me want to fall in love, to find a woman who will share an adventure like this with. It gives me hope that true love—true romance—still exists.
Happy Valentine’s Day, True Believers!
Digression 4: Valentine’s Day Karaoke – “Send Me an Angel” by The Megas
(Wondering where “Digression 3” is? Watch it here).
I may dislike Valentine’s Day, but it won’t stop me from doing a karaoke video to celebrate it! Not only to do you get to hear me sing (badly), I posted the lyrics so you can sing along.
I chose the cover of Real Life’s “Send Me an Angel” recorded by the Mega Man tribute band, The Megas. Why? First, it’s an ’80s song (I love that decade). Second, it was covered by The Megas, one of my favorite bands. Third, I’ve yet to hear a song that so perfectly expresses my own longing to one day find a special girl.
Special thanks to:
Real Life, for originally recording the song
The Megas, for this amazing and nerdy cover
Jarod Marchand, for making a cameo
Sergio Garza, for providing the microphone prop
True Romance: Kenshin Himura and Kaoru Kamiya
(Be sure to check out yesterday’s post).
Rurouni Kenshin is a popular manga (Japanese comic book) written and drawn by Nobuhiro Watskui in the mid 1990s. It spawned two equally popular anime TV series, a theatrical anime film, two animated OVA films, and most recently a live-action film produced by Warner Bros. (which has yet to receive a wide release in America, unfortunately).
(Note: This blog will focus on the original manga. The adaptations are different. For one thing, the manga has a happier ending).
(SPOILER WARNING!)
Set in 19th century Japan 10 years after the Meiji Revolution, the titular character, Kenshin Himura, is a young swordsman with cross-shaped scar on his face who has been wandering Japan (rurouni is the Japanese word for “wanderer”) since the war’s end, righting any wrongs he finds as atonement for the atrocities he committed. He has sworn never to kill again and carries a sakabatou (reverse-blade sword) that allows him to fight without killing anyone. He goes to Tokyo and meets Kaoru Kamiya, a young woman running her deceased father’s kendo dojo, and decides to stop wandering. As time passes, he meets several other “rough” characters he helps reform and battles several powerful villains.
A subtitle for the series is Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, which describes it very well. The series’ theme is redemption, but its heart is the romance between Kenshin and Kaoru. In true Japanese fashion, it is an understated and subtle romance—at first. Kaoru begins to fall for Kenshin after a few adventures, but Kenshin never seems to reciprocate. He treats her with respect as a friend, always calling her “Kaoru-dono” (a formal Japanese honorific title usually translated as “Ms. Kaoru”). Several times Kaoru has to pull Kenshin from the brink when he slips into the violent ways of Battousai, his dark and violent self from the war. She gives him a home when he was wanderer.
Until one night when, surrounded by fireflies, Kenshin comes to her—and only her—and says he must leave to go fight a deadly enemy in Kyoto. She is the only one he says goodbye to. There’s no farewell kiss, no sappy sweet nothings. Kenshin simply thanks her for everything she’s done for him and hugs her. It’s a powerful scene, one that I’m man enough to admit nearly made me cry when I watched it on the anime. (You can watch it here).
Kaoru at first wallows in her sorrow, but her friends chastise her and say that if she cares about him so much, she should go after him. She does. She catches up to Kenshin before he battles his nemesis. Her love helps strengthen Kenshin in the ensuing battle. But she learns afterward that Kenshin’s body has been so badly battered over the years that another severe injury may kill him.
In the manga’s final storyline (which the anime excludes), Kaoru is captured by Enishi, a psychotic young man, with a grudge against Kenshin. She learns from him that during the war, Kenshin married a woman named Tomoe, who died tragically at his hands. That’s why he was closed off, why he refused to reciprocate Kaoru’s love: he didn’t want to lose someone like that again. Enishi says he is Tomoe’s brother and will avenge his sister’s death.
Kenshin is pushed to his physical, mental, and emotional limits. Enishi fakes Kaoru’s death. When Kenshin finds her purported corpse, he yells her name without adding “-dono” for the first time. Kenshin is overcome with despair, during which he sees Tomoe in his dreams. She is smiling because she says Kenshin has learned to smile. She tells him to save her brother, who is still stuck in the past, and rescue Kaoru, who wants and needs his smile most. Kenshin awakes and goes to confront not only Enishi but the demons from his past. He defeats the young man and spares his life.
Finally, Kenshin and Kaoru get married and have a son named Kenji.
This is a romance full of longsuffering, patience, acceptance, and forgiveness. Kaoru loves Kenshin despite his violent and dark past. Kenshin learns to open up and love again. Kaoru gives Kenshin the wanderer a home. They complement each other perfectly. Kenshin’s calm demeanor is great counterbalance to Kaoru’s feistiness and Kaoru’s goodness pulls Kenshin from his inner darkness.
This also shows that a romance can be subtle. Often love stories are sappy and overdone, but this one is so understated that the reader has to connect the dots. I can’t recall either of them ever saying “I love you” to each other, yet the reader knows they do. It truly is an example of “less is more.”
Their romance blossomed slowly, often in dark times. Both Kenshin and Kaoru made sacrifices for what they thought was the good of the other. It was never easy for them until the end.
I neglected to mention that both the manga and original anime (I haven’t seen the new one yet) are also quite funny. In fact, I’d even go so far as to classify them as romantic comedies at points.
I could go on for hours about their story. This was one of the first romances I truly loved. As fantastical as the series was, their love felt real and authentic. Many romances in mangas/animes tend to go (for lack of a better term) unconsummated: the couple never gets together. It was refreshing to see a happy ending for a change.
NEXT TIME ON “TRUE ROMANCE”: A trip across “the Pond” for a love that spans time and space!