Voyager 1 and Our Infinite, Intimate God

This week NASA announced that Voyager 1, the space probe that was launched back in 1977 to explore and study Jupiter, Saturn and the outer planets of our solar system, had officially left the solar system and was now the first man-made object to enter interstellar space. The still-working spacecraft has sent back evidence that it has left the heliosphere, the vast magnetic boundary that separates the sun, the planets (including official non-planet Pluto), and solar wind from the rest of the galaxy.

According to its official odometer at the NASA website, Voyager 1 is now 11.6 billion miles and counting from Earth. To let you know how old its onboard technology is compared to today, the data it records is measured in kilobytes rather than terabytes. Up to 69.63 kilobytes (just a little over the maximum RAM of a vintage Commodore 64) can be saved on its digital tape recorder, an 8-track tape actually, and its computer can make about 8,000 decisions a second, compared with over 10 billion per second with the iPhone you may be reading this on. Its transmitter has a power of 23 watts, the data sent back to Earth takes 17 hours for it to be received by NASA... and just like its contemporary the Atari 2600, it's still working just like it did 35 years ago. It's scheduled to shut down around 2025, when the nuclear fuel cells powering the craft will finally run out.

Our sun is just one of billions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy, and beyond that there are billions and billions more galaxies in the universe. I think of the opening words from the theme song of the old PBS children's series Big Blue Marble: "The earth's a big blue marble as it floats about in space" or something like that. Compared to the rest of the universe, this Big Blue Marble we sit upon isn't even a grain of sand. It can make one feel insignificant. And as I look at how it all seems so beautifully designed, the first word that comes to mind is "intelligent". I simply cannot comprehend how it all could have come about from a Big Bang billions of years ago and supposedly evolving by chance into all that is today. There must be, there has to be, an intelligence behind it all. I see that intelligence as God.

Our God is intelligent and infinite, beyond what our finite, puny human minds can ever comprehend in a million lifetimes. And yet this same God is also intimate. He cares for each and every one of us. He loves each of us. He loves us so much that he became one of us, something less than a quark in comparison to all of the universe, to save us from ourselves and to be in loving fellowship with Him. He walked among us in the person of Jesus Christ. Why such an infinite God would condescend and stoop so darned low to reach out to us is something even I cannot understand. But I accept it and am grateful for it.

God is probably getting a good chuckle out of NASA going gaga about Voyager 1 leaving the solar system, as if we could do one better than Him in the heavens He created. But more importantly, He lives in and has relationship with every person who has put his or her faith in Him through the finished work of Jesus.

Pardon the pun, but that's out of this world.

Mahalo Smurfy Loa, Miss Lou

This is the first of two posts I'm uploading today. First, something that was of a shock to me when I first learned of it a few weeks ago. Lucille "Lou" Bliss, the veteran cartoon voice actress who created the voice of Smurfette for the long-running Hanna-Barbera TV series The Smurfs back in the 80's, passed away last Christmas at the young age of 96 from natural causes. She was active in animation right up to the end of her life, last working on the Nickelodeon cult favorite Invader Zim as one of Zim's alien professors. Of all the characters she voiced in her career, Smurfette was Lou's personal favorite because they both shared the same feisty personality and after so many decades of bit parts here and there, it was the permanent role she finally landed and one that she was rightfully proud of.

I guess with all the flash, glam, fuss and feathers that now dominate today's world of big-budget TV cartoons with big-name celebrities that just walk in, record their parts, take their millions and walk away, the passing of Miss Lou, who was a trouper with a career spanning 70 years, wasn't considered newsworthy, and certainly not as exciting as pop star Katy Perry, who has since picked up the torch as Smurfette's new official voice. Too bad.

With the flurry of Smurf fan art I created lately, here's my tribute to the woman who not only voiced the most beloved Smurf of all, but also the outrageous stepsister Anastasia in Walt Disney's Cinderella, the original Crusader Rabbit, and numerous Hanna-Barbera characters over the decades. In it Smurfette is asleep dreaming that she's an angel, flying with a dove who likes what he sees--a reference to her catchphrase "Like what you see?" On Smurfette's bedstand is a picture of Lucille Bliss with a daisy laid before it in loving tribute. So it may not actually be herself that our little blue friend is dreaming of.

(And if you look very carefully at my signature, there is a biblical reference to the One who gives us comfort and hope in times of grief and loss.)

As they would say in Hawaii, "Mahalo Smurfy Loa", or thank you very smurfy much, Miss Lou.

Fan Art: More of Those Little Blue Guys (and Gals)

Okay, so it's now official: based on the box office returns of the past few weeks, "The Smurfs 2" is a big blue disaster. For a film that cost well over $105 million to make with all the special effects and CGI animation, nobody saw it, and those who did were shocked at the prevalence of blue humor (pardon the pun) and sexual innuendo. I think because the first film did so well, the producers thought they could do more of the same and get away with it, but they really smurfed the shark (er, jumped) with this one. These little blue guys were nothing like the 80's Hanna-Barbera TV series that reruns on cable TV to this day, and audiences smurfed out on the disconnect.

But since I grew up on the TV series and the Smurfs were the first characters I seriously tried to copy and draw, ultimately developing my own original style, it was that cheerful, family-friendly memory that went into the below Smurf fan art I drew up the past few weeks.

Here is a part of "The Smurf Ohana (family)": From left to right, we have Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Baby, Brainy, Vexy, Husky, Sloppy and his beloved pet fly Fly, Snappy, Grandpa, Sassette, Nanny, her pet Smoogle, Clumsy, Grouchy and Painter. It's a mix of the classic Smurf characters with their newer relatives from the films. Vexy's hair was changed to brown based on other Smurf fan art I got a real kick out of.

Here again is Vexy Smurf, post-Naughtie and with change in hair color, explaining her hot temper and adventurous spirit.

And finally, little Baby Smurf ratting out Jokey, whom Vexy wants to have a little talk with after opening one of his trademark "surprises". (Personally, instead of Christina Ricci voicing Vexy, I think Gwen Stefani would be a better choice. Just looking at her CGI style from the movie automatically has me thinking of Gwen!)

This past month has been a very stressful one for me personally, as I have continued to look for work, finally landing some temporary jobs, and dealing with a lot of venting and anger from customers. Rediscovering my childhood friends has been a great creative and emotional release. I've never had this much creative energy in several years, and the ideas just keep on coming. Developing Maranappta may have been the impetus for that creativity, and now drawing these family-friendly Smurf toons has just about broken the dam holding everything back.

So until Studio Peyo of Brussels, Belgium (which owns the Smurfs) sends me a cease-and-desist letter, which they probably won't do because Smurf fan art is all over the web and is actually good publicity for them, I'll keep smurfing away, and giving credit where proper credit is due. Enjoy.