The Book Lightwalker Files

Today’s article is my December blog chain entry on “Christmas Scents/Sense.” We could blog about one homophone or the other, or both if we can. Normally “Christmas scents” brings up such things as the aroma of the Christmas turkey, or the fresh smell of a Douglas spruce decked out with lights, tinsel, and garlands. The sense of Christmas could entail family get-togethers, banquets with friends, and church potlucks. Or we could focus on the origin of Christmas: a ...

For the most part, I like Majel Barrett as an actress. Her Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Trek was a comfortable presence in the show, though she did show starry-eyed affection for the impossible-to-reach Mr. Spock. Her offering him plomeek soup in “Amok Time” demonstrates her compassion. Eventually Majel married Gene Roddenberry, and in every movie he made apart from Trek, she was there. You can frequently hear her voice in the computer, especially on...

As I mentioned last week, the book The Neverending Story follows the adventures of Bastian, a boy whose life on Earth is tough because his mother has died and his father is hypercritical of him. However, the movie of the same name covered only half the story. The second movie, The Neverending Story II: the Next Chapter, concludes the adventure, with all the philosophy of the first movie still in place—obviously. The message is still clear that when people stop using their ...

I remember reading a book many years ago, whose drop caps of all 26 chapters had stylistic designs starting with A, and running through the alphabet. In addition, the book had a creative frontispiece that announced the story in intricate scrollwork detail. The book’s title: The Neverending Story.

So when the movie came out, I just had to see it. As with most movies from books, there are significant differences. But here I will talk only about the movies...

I didn’t realize it when I chose Wednesday as my weekly blog date, but I get to comment on the very first Leap Day since I started this website. It helped that my CW blog chain gang decided to make “Leap” our theme for February. It’s also unusual I should submit the last entry of the month; usually I gravitate toward the middle. Therefore, it seemed a great idea to review the Evil Leaper trilogy of Quantum Leap episodes in its fifth and final season.

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Seventh Star Trek pick: “The Conscience of the King.”

The Enterprise is diverted from another mission to visit Tom Leighton, a top scientist who claims to have discovered a new food concentrate, but it’s a false alarm. Instead, he invites Captain Kirk to see the Karidian Company of Players put on William Shakespeare’s MacBeth. Leighton insists the actor who plays the title character is Kodos the Executioner of Tarsus IV, who beca...

Third Star Trek pick: “Shore Leave.”

Last June, in connection with the month’s blog-chain theme “Fresh Air,” I talked about the Enterprise’s visit to a verdant, restful world that’s never given a name. But it orbits the star Omicron Delta, designed by an advanced race for running and playing and doing anything they please. For the crew who doesn’t understa...

Today we come to the end of Dorothy’s journey down the Yellow Brick Road: the Emerald City and the wizard himself. I don’t think either L. Frank Baum or Oz producers meant anything more than the destination of a long fantasy trek. But viewing it through Christian eyes, I see it as a shadow of our own destination, Heaven.

For instance, as soon as Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion catch sight of it, they are struck with awe. “It’s beaut...

Part 5 of 6 on The Wizard of Oz.

Though Halloween was two days ago, I consider this my Halloween blog for 2011, simply because I’m talking about witches. Specifically I’m looking at Glinda, the Good Witch of the North; and the unnamed Wicked Witch of the West at the center of the story. Personally, I think calling Glinda a witch is a gross misnomer, for her role in the story is more like a guardian angel.

First, let’s look at what...

Part 4 of 6 on The Wizard of Oz.

Lions make such great fantasy characters. Among cats, they are among the largest and certainly most uniquely designed felines on God’s Earth. No other cat has such a magnificent mane. No other cat has quite the regal bearing, which is probably what earned him the nickname “king of the forest.” His presence can strike fear in most creatures, though realistically not in the same sense as a human king.