One Faith, Many Paths: Charity L. Martin

This month, I’m interviewing one of the Leaders at Autistic and Aspie Amino, a community on the Amino social media platform. She said on her profile that she is Christian, so I thought she’d be a perfect candidate for this project. By the way, if you haven’t downloaded the Amino app, do so! It’s a great platform. Anyway, on to the interview:

1. What was your childhood like?

I had a wonderful childhood. I have wonderful parents and wonderful siblings

2. When were you diagnosed with autism? 

I was professionally diagnosed at the age of 9 with Asperger’s Syndrome.

3. Were you raised Christian, or did you decode to become Christian as an adult?

I was raised in a Christian home, and I was saved at the age of 7.

4. What is your occupation? 

Part-time retail.

5. What evidence can you give for God?

John 3:16-17 and Genesis 1 gives the Biblical proof of the existence of God. In my personal life, I’ve seen him protect him from various situations and the fact that I’ve seen miracles in my life.

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40 Years of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

The Phantom Menace, despite what people said about it, actually did well at the box office. This is why I say Star Wars can do no wrong. They can make a movie that is almost universally considered one of the worst movies ever, and it can still make great returns.

In the original trilogy, Empire Strikes Back was darker than A New Hope. Temple of Doom is the darkest of the Indiana Jones movies. That pattern continues here as well. And it seems George Lucas learned from his mistakes in The Phantom Menace. I could see why he wanted total control over these movies. Even though his name was still associated with the original trilogy, Lucas had people that would tell him if his ideas didn’t work. Here, he doesn’t have to worry about that. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but I’m saying I can see his reasoning.

One thing I like about this movie is that Jar Jar Binks is barely in it. He’s not the overbearing klutz he is in the previous movie  He still makes mistakes, but it’s more frightening because Emperor Palpatine doesn’t even have to use Jedi mind control to coerce him. In fact, a lot of the deception that Palpatine weaves is done through his own charisma, not mind control. That’s why he’s such a great villain. He knows when to use his powers and when not to.

I like that the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin has matured to the point where they’re now trading witty banter. I especially love the scene where Kenobi laments to Anakin “Why do I have the feeling you’ll be the death of me?”

Jason’s Jukebox: Pink Floyd

1967 was an excellent year in Rock history.  Jefferson Airplane released their landmark album Surrealistic Pillow. The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. And two forces that would change the genre forever debuted: Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. This time, I’m ranking all 15 of Pink Floyd’s studio albums.

The five members of Pink Floyd are:

• Roger Waters–vocals, guitar
• Syd Barrett–vocals, rhythm guitar
• David Gilmour–vocals, guitar
• Richard Wright–bass
• Nick Mason–drums, percussion

Of all the five members, Nick Mason was the only one who appeared on every album.  Roger, Syd, and David each had solo careers in addition to their work in  Pink Floyd.

Couch Potato: The Return of Duck Tales

This August, an old favorite cartoon of mine is getting a new lease on life. Duck Tales is returning to TV on August 12, and will start on September 23. I thought this would be a good time to introduce the cast. The show was based on comic books created by Carl Barks, who originally created Donald Duck’s nephews while working at Disney’s animation studio. However, he eventually branched out into what he is most famous for–creating comics featuring Donald Duck and his family. All the characters live in the town of Duckburg.