LDS Geeks Podcast #72: Friends Throwback

Listen to Episode 72 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Show notes:
00:30 - Introductions
01:30 - The Legacy of Friends
04:43 - Who would you want to hang out with?
18:29 - Memorable episodes, characters, and moments
41:53 - Why Friends is still relevant
48:25 - Recreating Friends
52:40 - Alternate couples

Who is Chiron?

For any teachers, students, or parents read this, happy back-to-school season. I grew up with a teacher father so I always respected teachers, but my respect has infinitely increased since marrying a teacher. Y’all, teaching is insane. So every year I feel the need to write about the great teachers (see also Mr. Feeny) and the not-so-great (see also Snape). This year, as Russell and I begin our Riordanverse podcast series I thought I’d spotlight the original teacher and mentor of the Percy Jackson series: Chiron (aka Mr. Brunner).

Long before teaching Latin to Percy at Yancy Academy, the centaur Chiron trained heroes like Hercules and Achilles. Granted immortality to train heroes, the son of Kronos set his home base at Mount Pelion. This would become the precursor to Camp Half-Blood. Even among mortals, You love to teach. During this time at Yancy, he was Percy’s favorite teacher (By the way, what did  those kids think the sword was through the mist?).

As portrayed by Glynn Turman in the Lightning Thief movie

By the time Percy Jackson came onto the scene, Chiron had long since established Camp Half-Blood as his base of operations. The camp had been established in America generations before (at least to the time of George Washington, son of Athena). Luke and Annabeth were among Chiron’s veteran pupils when Percy arrived with Grover. 

Other than the time that Olympus removed him from Camp, for suspicion of poisoning Thalia’s tree, Chiron mentored our heroes as they navigated the Great Prophecy (even during that time he helped a bit via Iris Message). And during the adventures of the Argo II, Chiron helped to prepare the camp for the oncoming attack of Camp Jupiter. 

Chiron (as Mr. Brunner) as portrayed on Disney Plus

After the reconciling of the two camps, he was seen substitute teaching (as Mr. Brunner) in New York City. Just for the love of teaching. Though I'm sure he was still subbing periodically, Chiron was present during that school year when Lester (aka Apollo) arrived at Camp Half-Blood with Meg. However, when they returned to Camp months later, Chiron was off meeting with representatives of the Egyptian and Norse pantheons. But he made it back for the Battle of Nero's Tower and was present to mentor Nico in the months during the expedition into Tartarus and the mission to Camp Jupiter.

I look forward to seeing Chiron's involvement in the upcoming Camp Half-Blood series and maybe the final Senior Year Adventures book. And maybe we'll get another Nico book? Bottom line, Chiron is the golden teacher. Regardless of whether he's teaching mortal pupils or demigod heroes, he does it for the love of teaching. Those are the best teachers (again, I'm biased because I married one of those). Even after millennia of tragic heroes and disappointments, Chiron wasn't jaded by his past. Though the events of the Riordanverse take place over fifteen years ago, I'm sure Chiron is still training future heroes. Only question is how many of Rick Riordan's heroes are alive and how many of them met tragic endings, like the heroes of legend.

As shown in the graphic novel

11 Narnia Tracks for Your Workout

Ever since I was a freshman at BYU, I've been a bit obsessed with The Chronicles of Narnia (see also all my previous Narnia posts). The score was one of my favorites to do homework to and now I'll often use it while I'm documenting my treatments at work. In addition, some of the tracks also work well for exercise. Some don't (like "A Narnia Lullaby") but others have great energy for keeping your workout going. So here's my ongoing playlist of Narnia (and Narnia-inspired) tracks for getting pumped up!

PS: I can only hope there's decent score for the supposed Netflix adaptation (if that ever happens).

The Battle (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
Any Narnia workout mix would be lacking without the epic battle music from the first film.

Return of the Lion (Prince Caspian)
The tracks introducing Aslan into battle are always powerful. Same kind of idea when Aslan is resurrected in the first movie.

Voyage (Scott Krippayne)
It was never on the Dawn Treader soundtrack, but it was inspired by the book/movie. It does a great job pumping me up and not just at the gym.

Market Forces (Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Rescuing the captives on the Lone Islands was the first battle of the movie. And I love the clever track name.

To Aslan's Camp (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Not exactly a warm up song, but it would be a perfect track for right after your warm up. Like arriving at the feet of the Lion.

Open Up Your Eyes (Jeremy Camp)
It wasn't on the soundtrack exactly, but it was part of "Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia". I've thought for years that almost any Jeremy Camp track is a good exercise song.

Duel (Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
It's literally a training song for while Caspian spars with Edmund. Weight training. Sword training. Same idea, right?

The Blitz, 1940 (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
You might not be sheltering in place during your workouts, but it's technically battle music. A great tempo for exercise if nothing else.

This is Home (Switchfoot)
The credits version from Prince Caspian is a lot more calming. But the track released by Switchfoot has a great pacing for a cooldown.

Prince Caspian Flees (Prince Caspian)
The opening scenes of the first sequel are intense, with Caspian fleeing his uncle by horse. Perfect for cardio.

The Painting (Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
This one could be another post-warmup track, entering your workout, as the kids entered Narnia.

A Case of Mistaken Identity: Avatar Aang

I’ve mentioned before that because I didn’t grow up watching Avatar (Michael and I did a whole podcast episode about it), the franchise misses the special nostalgia that many geeks my age have. But when a guy in my ward invited some of us over to watch the new movie, I figured I could use a guys night. Why not?

The deeper themes of the movie were probably lost on me, compared to someone who has binged the series multiple times over the course of life. However, since my spiritual pondering always seems to lead me to insights about divine identity, I latched onto Aang’s internal struggle as the “last airbender”. Naturally this is your spoiler warning for Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.

Bridging the gap between Avatar and Korra, this movie shows the formation of Republic City, as a symbol of unity. However, at the same time Aang grieves the loss of his people and the inevitable loss of the Airbender culture; the only element not thriving in Republic City is Air Nomads. So when Team Avatar finds Tagah, an airbender frozen just like the Avatar, Aang gets excited. He's not the last airbender anymore!

All the while, his true love Katara tries to get him to understand that he isn't alone, because he has his family, Team Avatar. Tagah tries to get Aang to believe the Fire Nation could never be redeemed, just as he cannot forgive the Earth Kingdom to destroying his people. He wants Aang to accept his air nomad culture as his primary identity. In his quest for revenge, Tagah uses Team Avatar to retrieve the staff of Sonam, the Avatar of his time, to create a new breed off airbender from the Denied, a disgruntled group of non-benders. 

Talk about conflicted! Aang wants to preserve his culture, but he cannot agree with Tagah's methods. If franchises like Divergent have taught us anything, it's better to be a diverse portfolio of a person. By the end of the war, Aang was more than the Avatar or an airbender. It's not healthy to identity with a single label, especially one that is limiting. President Nelson said, "Labels can be fun and indicate your support for any number of positive things. But if any label replaces your most important identifiers, the results can be spiritually suffocating."

Airbender is a notable label, especially for the Avatar. I'm not sure what the comparable labels would be in the Avatar world, but President Nelson stated that our most important identifiers are child of God, child of the covenant, and disciple of Christ. Even within these three labels, you're limiting yourself if you only pick one of them. All of them matter. Any good identifier is insufficient if it's the only one (even "child of God" or "disciple").

Avatar. Airbender. Mentor. Team Avatar. Husband. Father (eventually). All of them are part of Aang.

And there's more to you than what you think.

“Make no mistake about it: Your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become.”

LDS Geeks Podcast #71: Animorphs Re-Read (14)

If we weren't in the endgame before, we are now! No slowing us down as we approach the end of the Animorphs series.

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 71 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent content: click here

Check out Russell's recent content: click here

Show notes:

00:12 - Introductions
02:03 - Spencer's Recommendation: Hidden Figures
        Available for streaming on HBO Max
05:50 - Russell's Recommendation: The Other Side of Heaven
        Available for streaming on BYUtv
09:25 - #49 - The Diversion
23:20 - #50 - The Ultimate
33:16 - #51 - The Absolute
41:48 - #52 - The Sacrifice