Monday, January 12, 2009

I was just thinking the other day...

I was just thinking the other day, what if my blogger pals were cartoon/fictional characters? Who might they be? Because I realize that this series of posts will be scrutinized by one blogger in particular (who shall remain nameless, but you'll figure out soon enough if you read the comments because she's a bit on the chatty side, bless her heart). I have given the following representations probably WAY more thought than I should have. But like my dad always told me, "Anything worth doing is worth doing well." (Actually, I believe his exact words were, "IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING HALF-*SS, DON'T DO IT AT ALL!" But tomAto, tomotto, whatever...

Without further adieu, I give you my humble attempt at blogger characterization with artistic license:

I'll start with the pastors who read this blog, which is both flattering and perplexing simultaneously. I get that Jeff reads, but mostly because he needs to know how to pray for me on any given day...being the shepherd of my particular flock and whatnot. But I digress...

For reasons I will not expound upon here because I think it's been covered in numerous comments between blogs, the first image that came to me for Matt at the Church of No People was this one:
(you're welcome). But Christmas underwear blog posts and comments aside, I don't think Tommy Pickles from Rugrats is really representative of Matt. So how does one represent a pastor who is artsy, funny, irreverent, and has the spiritual gift of sarcasm? This proved to be quite difficult. The best I can offer is some weird morphing scenario of the following three characters: Bart Simpson, Napoleon Dynamite and Legolas from Lord of the Rings. (Don't ask -- it just kind of gelled in my head that way.)



Next up is super duper mega-church pastor Pete Wilson from Without Wax.
If I'm being honest (and I am, btw) the first image that popped into my head was this one: Freddy from Scooby Doo. "And I would have gotten away with it too! If it hadn't have been for you meddling kids and that DOG of yours!"
My sincere apologies, kind readers. My computer was suddenly and viciously ripped from my lap by Old Man Jenkins! But fear not, he is in handcuffs as we speak and is being lead away by the cartoon version of Don Knotts.
Now...where was I? Oh, yeah! And seriously -- check out the stance -- except for the position of the right arm, it's nearly identical! (Okay, I just got incredibly lucky on that particular google search.) Even though I would consider this high praise (as I was a big Freddy fan back in the day), I don't want to be disrespectful to Pete by comparing him to an ascot wearing, mystery solving cartoon character who likely hung out with a bunch of stoners with the munchies all the time. (Not judging here, I'm just saying.) So my pick for Pete is Wesley/the Dread Pirate Roberts from "The Princess Bride".
Because I think he has a great sense of humor (which is incredibly fortunate for me), and because he is a brave hero in some very unconventional, outside the box kind of ways.

For some unknown reason, author and Presbyterian mega-church pastor Dr. Timothy Keller has yet to find his way to my humble little blog. But since I'm sure it's only a matter of time, I will share with you what I believe to be somewhat of a dead ringer comparison: Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation


For the record, I would not be opposed to a certain wax-free mega-church pastor (wink, wink) casually mentioning my blog address at the next relevant pastors luncheon /meet-and-greet. (I just wanted to put that out there.)

And just for grins, I have two more well known pastoral comparison:

Vince Antonucci: Pastor, Church Planter and author of "I became a Christian and all I got was this Lousy T-shirt" (which, incidentally is a GREAT book. I'd give you a copy but I bought a case of them and have since given them all away. But once again, I digress...) AHEM!
Vince Antonucci and Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinnie". (I realize that many of you may not know who Vince is, but I saw him at a church planting conference last summer...and you're just going to have to trust me on this one. Furthermore, in case you haven't noticed, I write this blog primarily for my own amusement. And just in case you haven't noticed, I crack myself up.



And last but not least...



(Oh, shut up. You know I'm right!)

And now for my very favorite pastor, Jeff Hogan of Convergence Christian Church

I'm going to have to throw this one out there for a few reasons, but the chief one being that Jeff does a pretty stirring rendition of "The Cheeseburger Song". Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, Mr. Lunt from Veggie Tales

While this comparison is accurate for me in many ways (The moustaches are uncanny aren't they?), I cannot leave it at that. Even though I am hopelessly sarcastic most of the time and joke around with him on a regular basis, I also consider Jeff to be just below God, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, the apostles, and my husband Ron on the list of my all-time spiritual heroes. Furthermore, my involvement in ministries that he has led is probably why I set the bar so very high for other pastors. For those reasons, my comparison for Jeff is William Wallace: because he is driven by the love of his life (Jesus Christ), fights for what is right -- sometimes against seemingly insurmountable odds, will not be bought or influenced by fame or titles, and truly is a Warrior Poet. If you know my affinity for the movie Braveheart, you will understand how big of a deal that is. Incidentally, I would crawl across broken glass for Jeff and his family.

And since featuring Jeff without Tamara would be like talking about Salt without Peppa (the rap group, not the seasonings), here is my comparison for my lovely and talented friend Tamara:
Why Ariel from The Little Mermaid? A few reasons: First, she is somewhat clumsy when out of water and, like Ariel she is a bit of a non-conformist rebel willing to buck the status quo if necessary. But the main reason I chose this comparison is that when Tamara sings, her voice is so hauntingly beautiful that it literally moves me to tears at times. She is also a bit on the shy side, very humble, and will probably cringe as she reads this. But it's true. Her voice might not technically be considered among the all-time greats, but passion and soul cannot be measured in any quantitative way. Unfortunately, she does kind of suck at American Idol for Wii - mostly because she keeps trying to sing harmony instead of lead. So, currently I am the reigning American Idol of my family room and am appearing nightly upon request.

I know I said I would be posting everyone from my blog roll plus some others, but once again I have bitten off more than I can chew. I could not possibly fit everyone into one blog post without giving up the little luxuries I've come to enjoy like sleep and personal hygiene. I will be featuring some more of my favorite bloggers tomorrow and on subsequent posts after that. I will say for the record that I will not be writing about one particular group of bloggers until a certain geeky church planter chick gets back from her Internet sabbatical. I just wouldn't feel right about that. I hope I haven't kept anyone awake at night worrying about what kind of horrible manifestation I would come up with for them. I really am trying to be nice here! (Well, the Joel Osteen one wasn't very nice, but what can I say? He probably had that one coming.) Stay tuned...

19 comments:

Pam said...

You crack me up too! Loved Pete's pic... I knew I recognized him from somewhere.... see ya in the funnies!

Helen said...

Cheeseburger Song. Almost as good as the Bunny Song.

Annie K said...

Brilliant Katdish, brilliant.

Stephanie Wetzel said...

My favorite was Pete's pic too. Uncanny resemblance!

My contribution, posted here instead of on my blog because I want my husband to keep his job:

John Maxwell = Foghorn Leghorn

Okay, minus the southern accent. And he actually has important stuff to say. But otherwise...?

WV: blecuc
How John Maxwell as Foghorn Leghorn would say "bless"

"Leadership is influence. I say, Leadership. Is. Influence. May God bleCUC (flaps arms) you and keep you."

(PS I totally LOVE John Maxwell. He has bleCUCed my family for almost 15 years. I'm not a hater. Just a dork.)

Christy said...

You didn't disappoint. ;0)

jasonS said...

Good stuff! Just wanted to say thanks too for your Shepard Smith story the other day. I used it in my sermon on Sunday!

As we relaunch our church and go after God's best, I saw the powerful truth that the Church has stood in the way of people getting what they need as they argue over right way/wrong way and all that crap. We need a perspective on the suffering...

Check out my blog if you get a chance, and thanks again!

Also you left out which cartoon character you would be. Hmmmm...

katdish said...

Steph - I am also a HUGE fan! (of Foghorn Leghorn, that is). But I'm sure John Maxwell is cool, too. Incidentally, you should probably say John C. Maxwell, because there is another John Maxwell on youtube that didn't remind me at all of Foghorn Leghorn. Favorite quote from Foghorn Leghorn: "He's a nice enough boy, he's just a little on the DUMB side."

Thanks, Christy. You're on the roster for tomorrow...

Anonymous said...

Bahahaha!
Just for the record...I totally agree with the Richie Rich reference!

Mary Ann said...

You are so gifted...
;)

Stephanie Wetzel said...

katdish,
How do you know my husband doesn't work for THAT John Maxwell?

Okay, it's John C Maxwell.

;)

katdish said...

Jason S -

I am still researching a character to represent me. It is a difficult endeavor. This character must posess a fair amount of random weirdness, short attention span, lack of physical coordination, and a certain, how you say, "je-ne-sais-quoi"! Because as Mare has so observantly pointed out, I am all kinds of gifted!

Anonymous said...

First, I'm really flattered you took the time to do this! That's awesome. And Tommy is not the most unflattering cartoon character to be compared to.

Truth be told, when I was in high school, my friends and I all came up with cartoon aliases for one another. Someone mentioned 'Doug' for me and everyone got a big kick out of that. I still mention that and people still laugh knowingly. Doug's just a 'nice guy,' a little wimpy and lame, and that pretty much sums it up.

Anonymous said...

That was a very funny post!

Thanks for brightening my day.

I found my way here from Matt's blog and I have to say as soon as I saw Matt's picture and the rugrat next to him it just clicked for me. I don't even know Matt but somehow it just felt right.

Sorry Matt!

Anonymous said...

I am so lovin' this! Yeah, you captured Pete with that Freddy image. It's all in the sweater.

And the Richie Rich? Yep.

Can't wait to see more!

Stephanie Wetzel said...

Katdish,

Oooh, oooh! I have one for you!

Have you seen Horton Hears a Who?

You're Katie the ... um ... I'm not sure what she is.

Perfect!

katdish said...

Steph -

I don't get it. Are you trying to tell me that in your world, everyone's not a pony and they don't poop butterflies?

(Yeah. I think you pretty much nailed it.)

Stacy from Louisville said...

Brilliant. I'm a little scared of what you come up with for me. But I trust your sound judgement and soft-spoken nature.

Yeah.

Anonymous said...

Okay. I have two things. The first is a lighthearted correction and the second is a serious complaint.

1. Cartoon Joel Osteen appears to be *giving* money to someone. I think that was a very slight mistake. But, still a great comparison.

2. > I < AM THE LITTLE MERMAID!

Anonymous said...

*snicker* Love what you did with Joel Osteen!

You are so creative, love this!