Getting unexpected mileage

No I'm not talking about my spiffy little Ford Fiesta that I have way too much fun buzzing around in - I'm talking about this blog. It's amazing how much mileage you can get out of your thoughts when you're disciplined enough to take some time to write them down everyday for public consumption. I just returned from the Access 7 studios in Estevan where I filmed a segment for Living Hope Presents (a local cable access show hosted by another one of our local pastors) where I had the opportunity to tell the story of this blog and what God is showing me through this experience, last week I got to re-work one of my posts into an article for the "Focus on Faith" segment in the Estevan Mercury, I've managed to use the blog as a forum for elaborating on some pastoral thoughts that I don't have time to be as detailed about on Sunday mornings and this Sunday, the message is going to feature my Lenten journey as an important illustration for what I think God wants to teach us. It's very cool when God brings so many things together in synergy.

I'm taking a break from working on my sermon at this point to share this with you so I'm not going to spend too long going much further but I do owe you a Transformer for today and in keeping with the theme of a Grimlock-a-day I present to you Classics Grimlock.

Now this marks the beginning of the purging of a very sepcific (and beloved) subset of my Transformers collection that I did not plan on divesting myself of when I began this journey. The Classics/Universe/Generations line of toys are modern re-imagining of the classic figures from my childhood with more contemporary designs and engineering that puts the original figures to shame both in quality of build and cleverness of transformation. Grimlock is notable not only because he was one of the original figures in this line (further cementing his special place in Transformers lore) but because his transformation was not simply a modern adaptation of his original design (for an example of that Google "masterpiece Grimlock" and see what a modern take on a classic design looks like) but instead he was a completely new approach to this figure.

Firstly he was designed to reflect contemporary understandings of Tyrannosaurus physiology, being much more lithe and agile in his appearance than the original statuesque Grimlock. Secondly in robot mode he's lost his signature "wings" that are formed by the split chest plate of the dinosaur and has done away with the tail in transformation all together instead detaching it and wielding it as a weapon. Rather than wielding an blaster AND a sword he now wields a sort of bayonet style rifle that can be attached to his dinosaur mode as a sort of cannon on his back. The reaction to his new form was mixed when it was released but he always held a special place in my heart. Farewell Grimlock. Unless God ups the ante on me again as far as what I need to part with I think this will be the last toy bearing that name that I will be divesting over Lent.

Chris