excuse me, ghidorah

This episode perplexes me. My intention was to try and explore Christian perspectives on suffering using The Mist as a sounding board — The Mist being a recent film adaptation of a Stephen King novella. Instead, I end up unpacking the religious “spin” to be found in the film, given religious weirdo Mrs. Carmody and humanist everyman hero David Drayton. I guess it’s difficult for me to talk about suffering when my family is having a tough time. Sort of like a sick man talking about nausea, or a man on a sailboat expounding on seasickness. Hmmmmm…. Anyhow, I’ll keep trying. CORRECTION: I said Nick Andros, a leader among the good guys in The Stand, was deaf and blind. That is incorrect. He is deaf and mute. He is blinded in one eye in the revised version of the book. My apologies - poor research on my part.

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SHOW NOTES

1. Intro - Celebrate suffering!

2. Stephen King bio

3. Was it timing?

4. Predecessors

4. “Encroachment”

5. Our brothers and sisters in pain

A new episode - only a few weeks since the previous new episode! What gives?

Another three parter, that’s what! This time we take a look at Stephen King, focusing in particular on the question which seems to haunt the pages of his novels, supernatural or otherwise.

The question is simply this: How bad can it get?

In our attempt to sneak past the dragon and reach the Father of Souls, surely the reality of suffering is the greatest stumbling block for many, many people. The horrors of the previous century alone were truly apocalyptic, worthy of an End Times scenario. How could anything be worse than Nazi Germany and its “final solution”? And yet, as society mulls over such advances as “therapeutic cloning” new horrors loom just over the horizon. Never heard of it? Well, let’s just say that therapeutic cloning is not therapeutic for the clone. In fact, he or she is grown, God knows where or how, so that his or her organs may be harvested systematically as ready-made transplants for those lucky people, the non-clones. So here you have genocide-of-the-future which involves creating the people targeted for mass murder.

At any rate, the stumbling block is obvious: how could you possibly trust a Father of Souls who permits such horrors? Why go to him at all?

Certainly, Stephen King is asking this question. Certainly, anyone who has seen the film The Mist has this question in mind as he clicks Stop on the remote. The film goes further down the road to nihilism than King did in the original novella, but it’s a logical progression based on all that came before — especially given the role religion plays in both film and novella. But I won’t spoil it for you. Except to say not since the original Night of the Living Dead has life been portrayed in such a stark, horrific light — the film is utterly tone deaf to the hope many of us have in God. But then The Mist is also somewhat tone deaf when it comes to humor. Perhaps there is a connection.

At any rate, we don’t get so heavy-handed in this first episode of our Stephen King retrospective. Instead, we sprint through his biography and touch a bit on the origins of King’s particular brand of spookiness and horror. Dig in!

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SHOW NOTES:

• Antiques Roadshow commentary

• Origins of excuse me, ghidorah

• Presuppositions and temptation

• Whose side is the chess board on?

• Star Wars saves us from the ’70s

• Getting past the dragon

A new episode has arrived!

After many ups and downs, challenges and crises, I managed to pull off another scintillating hour or so of rambling, earnest, pseudo-philosophical monologue. This time it’s back to the origins of the podcast — long ago, in a time of magic, etc. You can download the episode by right-clicking (PC) or control-clicking (Mac) the title “Whither Ghidorah?” above or, of course, visiting iTunes or Podcast Alley.

Actually, my wife, Susan, was very ill for a while there and podcasting took a back seat to sheer panic and constant prayer. Things are better, although there is still adjusting to meds and, oh yeah, a brand new baby on the way. That’s right, Hatcher critter number 4 is in the works. The fourth child is a strange, mystical intrusion — throwing off the back seat sitting order in the car, for example. Where does the fourth kid go? If we let kid number 3 get away with anything, what will we do with number 4? All that’s left is criminal activity — and that is out of the question, unless, of course, it involves smuggling Bibles into atheistic totalitarian countries. Or hopping swimming pools at Disney World.

If one of this podcast’s loyal listeners happens to be a publisher or agent and happens to feel one of the various trilogies is bookworthy, please get in touch with me at borderlinevoodoo@mac.com. I particularly think the Commodification trilogy and the Kitsch trilogy combined would make a great book, examining the wreckage of commodification and how graces still manage to shine through.

Finally, this here podcast blog is moving over to podbean.com. For a preview, take a look at http://linthatcher.podbean.com/

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Well, here’s an odd podcast for you. A careful accounting of the books on my side of the bed. Just sit back, relax, and listen to the titles… the authors… the various bookstores… ah, yes, it’s all coming back to me…

Just click on the download button below or use one of the links on the right to listen via your favorite podcast delivery thingee. Don’t forget to swing over to my odd little site: ChristianHalloweenFan.com. It’s a Halloween Hub for people who love dried leaves skittering across the sidewalk in a chill Autumn breeze and kids running around in spooky costumes. Much content to peruse. And don’t forget that you can really dive in to the Halloween controversy by purchasing my book, The Magic Eightball Test: A Christian Defense of Halloween and All Things Spooky. With all that money you’re not spending on gas. I hope you will find this episode amusing. It’s not the usual thing and is rather goofy. But I am worn to a frazzle and have to take a break from the usual Sturm und Drang. (The image by the way is by Howard Finster.)

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Love theme parks? Then you must listen.

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Love Ed Wood and spooky, weird, psychotronic culture? Then you must listen.

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Do you get high on low culture? Do you love the cheesy, the tacky, the schmaltzy, the whimsical, the goony? Bad movies, roadside attractions, miniature golf, vintage high school instructional films, black velvet paintings, underoos? Then give a listen!

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Oh, the pain! Pt 2 of OCD Tips & Tricks.

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“Tonight…on a very special…excuse me, ghidorah…” Lint shares his experience with OCD, including Stupid OCD Tricks like adding “with Ethel Merman” to the end of each intrusive thought. If you don’t get help from excuse me, ghidorah, please - get help somewhere. Sniff.

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Our Halloween spooktacular commences with an excerpt from a new book, The Magic Eightball Test: A Christian Defense of Halloween and All Things Spooky (read by the author)! Also, details on the Fundamentalist Christian backlash against the book. Sounds too scary? What a wuss! (No, we didn’t forget about part 3 of Infinite Crisis. Just hang in there!)

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