Ally's Favorite Characters

Hello hello hello! It's Ally, and *gasp* I'm doing my own post! Now most of you have heard from Josh, and now you get to hear from me, joy, huh? As you can tell from the title, I will be talking about my FAVORITE ODYSSEY CHARACTERS! Let's go!

First off, I just want to say I love most of the Odyssey characters, because they can all relate with different people, and it shows how God works in their lives in other ways. And I love a lot of them...but I would have to say my all time favorite characters so far are: Connie Kendall, Whit, Tom Riley, and Bernard Walton. What are the reasons why these are supposedly my favorites? I'll tell you why, and how they relate to me as well, and how they influence or inspire me. Here we go!

CONNIE KENDALL

Everyone has to love Connie. She's funny, spunky, has a true heart for God, and makes us laugh. We hear from her almost every episode; she's played the lovable and talented Katie Leigh. I mean, hey Connie's been a teen for like twenty years! Imagine that! That's gotta be kinda cool. 

Now, personal application. Well, both Connie and I are both really curious (like in Album 44 where Whit was acting strange and something was going on?), and sometimes a little unbearable. We both have a lot of friends at different ages (like Whit, Tom, Mandy, Bernard, Eugene, Penny), which might seem kinda crazy to some of you. But honestly, it's not! Connie influences me to keep up my relationship with God, and even when things happen that make us wonder and wish we could go back to change it, there's a reason for it, even if it's bad, and it hurts. She stands up against others who mock and tease Christians and her fellow Odyssians. I liked how we got to see how she was before she met Christ to show us how our old self is gone, and how we must show how our faith has changed us to share the gospel! 

WHIT

Yes, everyone loves Whit, well, all of them, but I really like the Paul Herlinger Whit. To me he sounds the most grandfatherly, and again his belief and trust in God is something I wish I had. Plus Whit is so brilliant, with all of his inventions, and ideas to help kids out. He strives for the truth, and has the best place ever, Whit's End!

Whit is almost like a close grandfather to me. My paternal grandfather died when I was four, and my maternal grandfather (Gung-Gung) lives near LA, while I live near San Francisco. So I've never really had someone elderly just give me advice from a grandfather side. Whenever I hear Paul Herlinger's Whit, it just makes me feel comfortable, like I can just ask him anything and he could be able to give me any advice possible, even though I can't, sadly. 

Just like Connie, Whit inspires me because of his faith in the Lord, his willingness to defend his beliefs, and his ability to always go to God for everything. The way he treats everyone with compassion, being so friendly to everyone (like to Shawn Walker in "The New Kid in Town"), and helping others with an open heart is so loving!

TOM RILEY 

I was so sad when I heard that Walker Edmiston passed away, not being able to hear thoughtful Tom, who's kinda giddy with Bernard (another elderly person I'd love to hang with). He's such a good teacher to the kids, and relates so well with Whit. His country, laid-back, sweet personality made Odyssey what it is. 

Tom sometimes is kind of slow at understanding things (in Album 44: "A Most Intriguing Question" when Tom doesn't quite get Connie's plan of action to talk to Whit), and I too can have a hard time understanding. We both believe that prayer is a very important part of the Christian faith and for anything. Mr. Riley inspires me to keep firm in God and to keep reading my devotions daily to grow in my spiritual life. He showed me how to be able to forgive the people who hurt you so much (Richard Maxwell during the Novacom Saga). 

BERNARD WALTON

I honestly miss Bernard so much. He has been one of my favorite characters for such a long time! I enjoy the way he tells stories, and his ability to be so sarcastic, which makes me crack a smile. In "I Slap Floor", the way Bernard made up that whole story was hilarious. I listened to that episode for days after I found out what the whole episode was really about, just to hear Bernard tell that crazy conundrum of a story. 

Bernard and I have so much sarcasm it's not even funny. Okay, maybe it is. Honestly, that's one of the characteristics that make me love this janitor so much. He enjoys company with others and jokes around so much, especially with Eugene. We have a friend who's super intelligent, where the sarcasm and joking around comes in a lot. AND WE BOTH LOVE STORIES, MAN, HE'S SO GREAT AT TELLING THEM (BTV and telling bible parables/stories to the Odyssians). 

Bernard inspires me to stick by your friends (Eugene Returns when he, Tom, and Connie sneak into Whit's End to find out why he's been acting so strangely). He's always checking on others (Eugene's Return, visits to Whit's End numerous times), and he always uses the same squeegee for his windows until he changes it (Eugene's Return). 

These aren't all of my favorites total (too much to count!), but they are some characters that I keep a place for definitely in my heart. Heck, I love these guys so much because of what the actors put into them and how the writers wrote them to become. Their passion for God, adventure, and excitement is anyone's dream. Wouldn't it be awesome to just have a Wodfamchocsod with Whit, go to the food mall with Connie, join Tom in fishing and devotions, and lose at chess continously with Bernard? 

EDIT (4/14/13): One score minus five years ago, Ally Ko came into the world! Take a moment and say happy happy birthday to her! - Josh

Our Camp What-a-Nut Experience

Red=Josh, Black=Ally

"Today I took a long walk in the woods and tried to pray like I've never prayed before. And I did. The woods were so quiet and the sun was so bright that I felt like I was praying for the first time. It's like my faith was real for the first time. My dad told me it would be like this, but I didn't think so." 

-Tom Riley reading Timmy's diary in Malachi's Message (Album 32: Hidden Treasures)

This past week, I had the opportunity to go to CBM (Chinese Bible Mission) camp in Forbestown, California. It was an amazing week which encouraged and fired me up for Christ. In short, I had a Camp What-a-Nut experience.

Hey this is Ally, here to tell you about a camp I went to called Chinese Bible Mission or CBM in Forbestown, CA (about two weeks ago) where lots of, well, Chinese churches (about 95% of the camp) go for a week journey about Christ.

Let me first say that when I was on the bus, I wasn't really thinking about learning about God as much. Sometimes I only pray to God when I'm worried about something, not all the time. Going to public school made my relationship with Jesus go off a little. I guess the reason for going to CBM was more of meeting new Christian friends, and having fun. Maybe it was a start, but I was still a little excited about going. 

Camp did not start off the greatest for me. I went with my friend Micaiah, the tall Asian kid in our Odyssey Nerd video, and we arrived four hours late since we came right after I finished my film class. We didn't get to stay in a building made of gray bricks like Donny McCoy (Camp What-a-Nut, Album 2: The Wildest Summer Ever), but we did get to stay in a "cabin" made up of termite-infested 2x4s with screens for windows and holes in the walls. The bathroom was flooded. Turns out we had the honor of staying in the only non-renovated cabin since the camp began in the 50s or 60s. Fantastic. After an ice breaker, it was time for Canteen, where we could purchase items from the camp store (Sour Straws for 60 cents...WHATTTT). However, by this time, it was dark, and it was hard to see. We stumbled around for nearly half a hour, lost, lonely, and a little sad. Were we ready to experience 5 days of loneliness at a Christian camp? Thankfully, we kept walking and eventually found a couple people to talk to and introduce ourselves to.

My friends Ethan and Nathanael were the only friends I had from my church since we were the only ones to go to the Junior High Camp. But I kinda knew some other kids that I met previously at a Sacramento church, so I wasn't all too worried. Yet still I was a little worried about the camp, if I would enjoy and benefit like how others did. 

The next morning, I woke up at 6:20, forty minutes before designated wake up time. I started praying: "Lord, I'm really lonely. Could you bring someone to be a friend to us? ...if it's in your will?" And meal by meal, God brought us to different tables where we met completely random people and had wonderful conversations with them. In fact, during free time on day 1, our lunch friends found us and introduced us to more people, and so on and so forth.

Once we were at camp, I met a girl who I've heard about from my friend, and she was so friendly, introducing me to her friends and just hanging out with me. Plus all the counselors and directors were just overall friendly, fun, and had such a strong faith with a heart just rejoicing God. Their willingness was so inspiring! 

Throughout camp, I had the opportunity to meet lots of Christians who were hilarious and interesting, yet on fire for Christ. It was really encouraging to see. Two campers had even emailed me the week before to see if I had any questions; they also encouraged me to hang out with them if I ever needed someone. I loved the diversity of campers; we had non-Christians, funny people, insightful people, pessimistic people (When are we leaving?), and oddballs. Hey, it's like Odyssey!

The theme of the camp was a reBorn Identity in Jesus. Our guest pastor, Pastor Alton To, on the first day taught us that we need God to tell us what our identity is. We looked at the story about the Prodigal Son. The younger brother is mostly like us, since we walked away from our Father (God), we rebel against him, sometimes wishing he is dead because other things are more important. But once we've "spent all our money on arcade games (The Prodigal Jimmy, Album 4: FUNdamentals)" we realize we need to go home, that's where we find our identity, in the redemption of the son, Jesus. The older brother had an identity in religion, disrespecting the Father and not going into the party of his brother coming home. But God wants to be with and keep us forever. Pastor Alton told us both were distant with the Father in different ways. Which brother are you more like? How can you change your ways? When I heard his message, I was excited and felt like this was God telling me "Hey, you should talk to me more than you do. I'd really love to listen to my child more often" the inspiration and the want kept growing afterwards. 

Our speaker, Pastor Peter Wang, spoke about putting our identity in Christ instead of in other things. He was very insightful, and I took lots of careful notes on what he said and the Odyssey references that related to them (which will be up in Sunday Morning Scramble Schools in the near future). On Friday night, we had a special guest speaker, Eric Chow, who preached an in-depth sermon about the Gospel. It was called "the Greatest News You Could Ever Hear," and we'll go over that in another post.

We later learned from him about showing God's love to others so they know you're a Christian, we are children of God (first born as children of Satan but now changed because God adopted us to be His!), what is our desire (the condition, how are we to desire, and what's our goal), who are we (our purpose, greatest problem, and how it is made right), and finally how can we keep our identity in Christ? (it's the gospel!) Our pastor was so true and you could tell he really wanted us to understand and to know by the info he gave us. His passion for Christ was so inspiring. 

Life is like a dramedy. That's why I love Odyssey; it's so much like real life, mixing drama and comedy. CBM was that way too. On one hand, we had silly staff challenges, cabin decorations, chaos ball (extreme dodgeball), funny skits, Courageous, Texas Hold 'em, Steal the Bacon on a tarp covered with water and detergent, dot hunting, and Rock Paper Scissors Capture the Flag. But we also had serious discussions about God in our lives and what we want in a future spouse. The Bay Area is not necessarily a Christian hotspot, so to be able to talk and laugh with them; it was really encouraging to meet Christians from other parts of the state.

We were able to watch the movie Courageous, which I've seen many times, but understanding how the movie related to the theme and laughing at everyone laughing at every funny moment was great. I took workshops on God's will and dating (more SMSS posts to come!), making new friends as I went. My favorite part of camp was singspiration. Singing with 200 other people-or peers-to Jesus is a fantastic experience, and lots of fun as well.

At CBM we also had a chance to talk one on one with a counselor, just talking about life and our spiritual journey. That was one of my favorite moments, because I could get advice and just unleash all those worries and wonders? My counselor spent a lot of time with me, and did her best to answer my questions. It was so cool! 

Life walks were great because the opportunity arose to just talk about anything about my life and ask any question I had. It was my first Whittaker moment, and it was very exciting. While my counselor is probably in his low 30s, he was knowledgeable about the Bible and life, and shared life stories and Bible passages to help me with questions and life directions. If you're looking for your Mr. Whittaker, try looking in your church, or ask your pastor if he knows of anyone that could mentor, disciple, or be there for you! That's what the church family is for.

On the last full day, we had campfire/ sharing for everyone. Lots of people shared, and it showed a lot of bravery, for jr highers to go up in front of almost a hundred kids (well to me, I'm a shy person) and just hearing kids share about their testimonies to others they don't even know? Wow. But just hearing people was so encouraging and you could see how God has worked and will work in their lives. 

Our campfire session lasted for 2 1/2 hours because there were so many people who shared. This was one of my favorite events because you could tell that people shared from the heart. It was very moving to see how CBM, through Christ, had impacted them in their lives. People shared about depression, problems with abuse...there was even a non-Christian who shared that although she wasn't sure if she believed in God, she could tell that Christians were different. 

Now that I'm home, back into the world, I feel like my faith has grown, and that it won't ever stop growing. Theres so much you can learn about God! I just pray that we will light up the world to show them who we are: children of God! If you got any more questions, comment! And I'll do my best to answer! 

After being blessed with a great week of fellowship and worship, it was time to come down the mountain and return to daily life. What did I share at the campfire? While I'm not going to recap it word for word, I'm posting a quote from Jennifer from Three O'Clock Call (Album 46: A Date with Dad) which should explain why I enjoyed camp so much this week, and am looking forward to sharing more with you through SSMS.

"God is our Father. And that a father would not give his child a stone if he asked for bread...God, our Father, gave us bread! You, you are his face. He works through you. He is a good Father."

-Jennifer

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

CBM Camp

Camp What-a-Nut - AIO Wiki

Buy AIO from CBD (today we talked about Albums 2, 4, 32, and 46)

Read the first Sunday Morning Scramble School on Idolatry

COMING SOON:

Sunday Morning Scramble School on...

• Intellectualism
• Worship
• Our Father
• Attitudes
• Community
• Evangelism
• Prayer
• The Gospel
• Music

Reviews on...

• FP3: The New Kid in Town
• Taken by Brock Eastman

 

FP 1: Whit's Visitor

Well, howdy everyone. So glad you could join us today for another Adventure in Odyssey!

Oh wait. It's not. WHATTT? That's right; today we're listening to Whit's Visitor, the pilot episode of Family Portraits, pilot series to AIO. It first aired January 5, 1987 on the flagship show Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson himself! And now to our adventure...

(NOTE: Notes on episodes are split into two parts: The Odyssey Times and Episode Review. For more on how reviews work, see this post.) 

THE ODYSSEY TIMES (Notes on the episode):

-Haha, I'm enjoying this groovy synthesized 80s sound for the Focus on the Family theme. -The opening theme for Family Portraits is obviously different than Odyssey since it wasn't composed yet, and the announcer was Mike Trout from FOTF, but I really enjoyed the opening.

-And the narrator welcomes us to the town of Odyssey, Ohio. WHATTTT? So what that they never mention it again...Odyssey could be in Ohio! How do I know this? Well, Mike Trout says that Odyssey's a "small midwestern town in Ohio" and the Odyssey Scoop clearly states that Odyssey could be in Ohio. Ethan Daniels, I didn't have to make a cross-country road trip to discover Odyssey (although you did have to for your McAlister Park, and we thank you).

-The narrator calls Family Portraits  a place where people "face the same experiences that you and I do, and through their reactions, maybe we can learn to cope a little bit better." Odyssey slice-of-life in a nutshell.

-Jimmy, you sly dog. According to AIO Wiki, he returns in a later Family Portraits called Bob and then returns in A Member of the Family as Jimmy. We can call him the Chad Ochocinco of 1987.

-Whit doesn't pay Jimmy that much? My goodness, I believed Whit was a little generous, but he doesn't seem to be the powerful, wealthy, but still lovable and Godly Whit we know today.  So maybe this isn't Odyssey canon.

-Whit moved to Odyssey in 1971.

-Doc McAlister owned a drug store even though he wasn't a doctor, and it was he who came up with the town name (see it dramatized in A Class Reenactment, Album 50)

-Jenny made great coffee and apple pie.

-When Whit mentions that he came to Odyssey and didn't know what to do, so he created a bookshop/coffee shop/conversation place...called Whit's End, this makes me realize that this is not Odyssey canon. AIO Wiki says it best: "These episodes were an experiment so no clear long term mythos was planned out. While many facts of Odyssey that started in Family Portraits remain true, there were some points that were re-written or dropped."

-Tom has a cat named Rosie...and she's had triplets three times.

-Elements of the Robert Louis Stevenson chat between Whit and Tom were incorporated in the first part of Promises, Promises (The Adventure Begins, Album 1)

-Davey Morrison - first kid we meet in Odyssey

-Whit's doggy door - Sherman, you sly dog. You disappeared and hid out until 1991 when a lucky boy named Dylan Taylor found him in The Knight Travelers. (Video Series #1, 1991)

-Whit mentions that he's watching the kids at the playground at the school. There's definitely not a school across the street, unless it was torn down.

-Whit was married 33 years with Jenny.

REVIEW:

The first thing I notice about the intro to Odyssey is that it already feels like a place we know. In fact, this episode has a Welcome to Whit's End kind of feel. In that episode, Chris hosted, and in this one, Whit hosts. The episode begins with a monologue from Whit as he introduces himself and the town. It's a combination of conversation (a la Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street) and monologue (a la Aaron Sorkin). Most of the times, it would not work and be a snoozefest, but Hal Smith manages to pull it off, captivating us and pulling us into a small town called Odyssey. I love it when he introduces himself by saying, "I'm John. John Avery Whittaker. But most of my friends call me Whit." So that's where they get it from! Although I've owned Album 9 for a while (the album this episode is on, as a bonus feature), this is the first time I've ever listened to it, and it feels like a treat.

The episode, however, is not meant to feel like one. It tackles a difficult topic for its first show-divorce. The brave thing about this is that no other children's show on TV was tackling issues like this, and it took a Christian radio show to do the groundbreaking. While the episode is mostly Davey Morrison (a kid who lives across from Whit whose parents may get a divorce) talking to Whit, Steve Harris's writing makes the characters feel genuine and real. The acting was also top-notch. I loved what Whit ended with as he sent Davey home:

"I wish I could tell you that there's gonna be sunshine and birds singing and everything was just going to be the way it should be, but I can tell you two things. First. whatever happens, your dad's always gonna be your dad. Even if he does goes away, you'll still be his sonAnd he'll still love you. And your mom's always gonna be your mom. And they'll be there for you no matter what. And the second thing's even more important. God's gonna be there for you. We don't always get everything we ask for from God. Sometimes people we care about go away even if we ask God to make them stay. But God's real good at taking the situations that look just terrible to us and turning them into good. I don't know how he does it, but he does. What you gotta do is trust him no matter what."

This is the first time we see Whit share wisdom with the children of Odyssey, and it's a real nice moment. In fact, there are many "real nice" moments throughout the show, and the first appearance of Tom Riley is one of them. It's interesting that Tom is played off a little less intelligent in this episode, but maybe that was to express a different view about divorce. Surprisingly, the episode ends with Whit commenting on how sad he is about the state of marriage, with "half of these school kids coming from broken families."  Today, this is still a real issue, and half of all marriages end in divorce. This episode was groundbreaking 25 years ago, and it remains that way today. The ending is powerful, especially since I'm sure much of the audience was not expecting a melancholic ending to the pilot episode of a kids show. But the ending helps the episode make its point; it's the "period of the sentence."

While I loved this episode, some people might be put off by the slow pace of the episode, so it will receive a 90/100, and a

A-

NOTE: Dental Dilemma is FP#2, but since it's also an Odyssey episode, we'll come back to it. The next review will be FP#3: The New Kid in Town. Please comment and let us know how our first review went and what can be improved! Thanks!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Focus on the Family

McAlister Park

Get a copy of this episode as a bonus feature when you buy Album 9: Just in Time