God, sacrifice, and Yoda

The other week I shared on here that I had put my beloved Yoda puppet signed by "Weird Al" Yankovic up for auction on eBay.  It was something I had never, ever thought I would find myself doing.  I had outright declared that it would never happen.  When I asked Weird Al to sign this, it was always with the intention that it would be just for me, a real treasured prize for both my Star Wars and Yankovic collections.

 

But real-life circumstances had forced me to make some difficult decisions.  It was compelling me to betray myself and go back on what I had promised to never do.

 

Since posting about that, there have been a number of developments.  Some things transpired and, well... let's just say that for once, I have been seeing the hand of God at work and I am not doubting Him, that He provides even when all seems hopeless.

 

So yesterday I had my smart speaker set to the "Weird Al" Yankovic station.  And one of the first songs it played was "Yoda".

I took that as confirmation that I should de-list the auction for the Yoda puppet.

 

Maybe I merely needed to be ready to sacrifice it, like Abraham had to prepare to sacrifice his son (recorded in the Book of Genesis, chapter 22).  Now a forty-some year old toy signed by a musical artist is NOT the same thing as one's own child.  But I think God sometimes asks us to be ready to sacrifice something precious, so that He can make something wonderful of that.

 

In my case I learned a little bit more to trust in Him.  I think He knows what value this puppet has for me: it's something Mom bought for me when I was going on seven years old.  I like to think she was a Yoda fan too and delighted that I was crazy about the character.

 

But unfortunately that is one of the few truly happy memories that I have about my mother.  She and I had a very difficult relationship.  It was absolutely monstrous at times.  Along with the bipolar disorder, what happened between Mom and I is something that has demanded its own strategy in counseling.

 

This puppet is one of the few tangible reminders I have left that Mom could be a good person, too.  That she wasn't always consumed by the kernel of cruelty within her.  It took me a very long time to be able to forgive the memory I have of her.  That finally happened this past year.

 

I guess, maybe God knows that.  And knows that my faith in things isn't really based on anything a person can own.  But sometimes God winks at you, and maybe the provision He's made in so many ways is more appreciated because I was ready to give up something.

 

Just some thoughts I'm having this evening.

 

So, I've de-listed the puppet.  I'm confident now that things are going to work out in my circumstances.  And God has taught me some things from this particular side tale of the larger episode of late.  I can and will be thankful for that.

 

Besides, if I really did have to sell Yoda, I did NOT want him going to someone I didn't know.  I'm gonna try to "keep it in the family", with someone from among my many friends.

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My Yoda puppet signed by "Weird Al" Yankovic is now listed on eBay

Well, I'm now a liar and worse.

A little over ten years since I vowed that I would never, EVER do it, I am indeed selling my much-loved Yoda hand puppet signed by "Weird Al" Yankovic.

It's really out of my hands (no pun intended).  For reasons which I don't care to disclose publicly, some financial resources have come to be required.  That's just the way things are right now.

So last night the listing for "1980 Star Wars Yoda Hand Puppet Signed By "Weird Al" Yankovic went live on eBay.

Mom bought me the puppet in 1980, a few months after The Empire Strikes Back came out in theaters.  I was six years old and distinctly remember that night at the toy store.  Long story short this puppet - which has maintained PERFCT condition despite the years and miles traveled - went with me to a book signing by "Weird Al" Yankovic in June of 2013.  Al's eyes lit right up when he saw it!  And he was very glad to sign it.

It's Star Wars.  More to the point it's Yoda.  And it's been on the hand of and signed by the greatest parodist in the history of the arts.  For those reasons and more, it's a very precious possession of mine.  And now I'm prepared to let it go.

I thought long and hard about how much I'm asking for it.  This is such a unique item, and it really does matter to me that this will go to a good home.  In the end I had come up with a substantially larger figure.  However eBay's system doesn't think I'm a "power seller" just yet and it's restricted me to bidding starting much smaller.

So if any of this interests you, click on the link above and learn more.  If you would like to bid on it, I wish you all the best.

 

 

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"Weird Al" Yankovic played with my Yoda puppet (and signed it too!)

This past Friday evening saw musical parody genius, pop culture icon and now bestselling author "Weird Al" Yankovic come to Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of his seven-city book-signing tour promoting his just-released children's tome My New Teacher and Me!...

My New Teacher and Me! is the follow-up to Weird Al's acclaimed 2011 children's book When I Grow Up (available as a standard book and as a newfangled iOS app for your iPad!).

I arrived at the store about three hours before the signing (incidentally, Quail Ridge Books is a really nice independent bookstore: I'm gonna make it a habit of swinging by there any time I'm in the Raleigh area) and bought a few copies to get signed.  I wound up reading My New Teacher and Me! in the interim and found it to be a delightful and well-crafted (and funny) sequel to the first book.  I hope Al continues with young Billy's story and gives him at least a trilogy!

Well anyhoo, 7 p.m. arrived and Al Yankovic (that's how he's billed in literary circles, not as "Weird Al", so I'm gonna try to respect that for the rest of this post) came out and began signing and posing for photos.  I don't know how many came to Quail Ridge Books on Friday night but there had been over 800 at his previous stop in Cincinnati the day before.  If I had to guess, I would estimate at least 400 people and maybe even 500.

It was a little after 8 when my turn came to approach the table where Al was situated.  And along with the two copies of My New Teacher and Me! I had something else that I was hoping he could sign: my vintage Yoda vinyl hand puppet, bought all the way back in 1981.  I figured that since his big finishing song at the end of every concert is "Yoda" - and since he had the same kind of puppet as a prop in his very first MTV special - that it might have been worth a shot.

Well, as soon as I walked to the table Al saw my puppet standing atop my books and he said "Hey, I used to have one of those!"  I gave it to him and he put it on his hand and started playing with it... yes, "Weird Al" Yankovic himself (I know, I slipped from established protocol there but I couldn't help it) started playing with my Yoda puppet!!  He put it on his right hand and began talking like Yoda and then he said "Or you could play with him like *this*" and started punching Yoda like a boxer.

This has to be among the top five most kewlest moments of my life...

And yes, he signed it...

Don't even think of asking to buy this from me!  You will never, ever, EVER find this listed on eBay.  Not as long as I'm alive... and I'm planning on being alive for a heap long time.  That lil' Yoda puppet had sentimental value before, and it's got even more now.

Thanks to Al for coming to Raleigh, and thanks to Quail Ridge Books for hosting him!  And I heartily recommend My New Teacher and Me!: a fun lil' book for children ages 6 to 600.

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BEING BIPOLAR: Video Log 7 - God, Happiness, Yoda, ATLAS SHRUGGED, Weird Al, and Charlie Sheen

And I hope to have Part 6 of Being Bipolar up by the weekend :-)

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The Star Wars classroom at Monroeton Elementary School

It all started a little over a month ago, and the very strange tale of how we wound up with a life-sized statue of Yoda in our home. Bear in mind that Brian Hodges wanted it to go in his new office at Mercer University and since he's teaching cello, he was going to replace Yoda's lightsaber blade with a cello bow. But he didn't have enough room and so Yoda came back to North Carolina from Atlanta (after already coming up from Florida) and ended up in our "foster care".

The thing is that even at life-size, Yoda takes up considerable space. Lisa and I didn't really know what to do with him. But then an idea came to us. Or to be more accurate, the notion came to mind to "adapt" Brian's original idea...

Let's put Yoda in Lisa's music classroom at school! That way Yoda would have space, would be used to promote music and would get to be enjoyed by lots of people, especially young children.

And that's what we did. Well, that's where it started anyway. Because Lisa said that other teachers usually have a "motif" going on in their room about something they enjoy (like some teachers have their rooms decked out with their favorite NASCAR racers). So we thought that we'd put some of that collection of mine to good use and give her classroom a Star Wars theme.

We put the finishing touches on it this week. And it's already proving to be a huge hit with the kids! And with the faculty and staff too (and word has it that it might have even been oggled by a few school board members).

So here ya go: Mrs. Lisa Knight's "Star Wars"-themed music classroom at Monroeton Elementary School in Reidsville, North Carolina...

Even before entering the classroom, you'll find a hint of the magic and myth and music within.

Immediately to the side of the door as you enter the room, there's this board with Yoda's instruction that "Learn music, we will!"

It's a pretty spacious classroom, as this next picture indicates. Monroeton Elementary also serves as one of the election precincts and whenever elections are held, Lisa's classroom is where they set up the voting booths! So I have to wonder if we had put all of this stuff in her room last year, would it have helped or hurt my chances at getting elected to school board, considering that TV commercial that I'd ran?

The commanding centerpiece of the room (after the teacher, hopefully), Yoda!

There hasn't been a day that's gone by so far this year that Lisa hasn't told me about how delighted the kids are with him. Yoda has become a very welcoming and friendly presence for the children. And I've heard a number of especially great stories about how it seems some kids - who might otherwise feel shy or withdrawn or somehow intimidated by being in school for the first time in their lives - really "open up" with Yoda around. This is something that the kids, heck everyone can relate to in a positive way. Which I think is the very purpose of mythology to begin with. It's awesome to be able to actually apply that in such a direct (and fun) fashion!

Here's another pic of Yoda, showing more of his size and the "Music: The Force That Binds Us All Together" sign.

In case anyone's wondering, I removed the blade from Yoda's lightsaber for sake of safety. We'd thought of putting a conducting baton in the saber hilt and make Yoda look like he was leading an orchestra, but that might not be completely safe, either. In the end, we decided he looks good and inspirational just as he is even without it.

On the far wall from the door, there is a series of portraits depicting "Great Musicians of the Star Wars Saga". The first is of The Max Rebo Band from Return of the Jedi:

Followed by Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes from A New Hope:

And finally, Augie's Great Municipal Band from The Phantom Menace:

Here's Artoo Detoo! Actually it's an Artoo-Detoo cooler:

'Course you can't have Artoo without Threepio being around somewhere to complain about things (even if he's just an action figure case):

After Yoda, the biggest "celebrity" in the room is this almost-life-sized cardboard stand-up of Chewbacca. Considering that Chewie is (a) a Wookiee (b) fiercely loyal (c) enormously strong (d) eager to rip arms out of the sockets of people that he doesn't like and (e) in possession of the only gun on public school premises, I think it's pretty safe to assume that this is the safest classroom in Rockingham County!

Here's one of the bookshelves, filled with music books. On top of the shelf there are Star Wars picture books that during the occasional free period the students are welcome to look through and enjoy. The students are not welcome to put on the Darth Vader mask: have you any idea how uncomfortable that thing is? No wonder Vader is so cranky all the time! But they still think it's a pretty neat thing to behold.

Knowing that the younger children would really dig these, we've got two of the Star Wars Mr. Potato Heads on display (seen here guarding a metronome).

And now, something that I wish we didn't have to show you, but even here there was a bit of fun to be had. It's a reality of life that part of a healthy childhood is coming to understand the concept of self-discipline. And it's very necessary for a teacher to promote and maintain that discipline in his or her classroom. Hence the system that Lisa has chosen to use in her classroom: a discipline board. Except that this is no mere "discipline board"...

You've heard of a Dark Lord of the Sith? Well that's nothing compared to the abject terror brought on by The Dark BOARD of the Sith!

I know: this is probably the only elementary classroom in America that instead of pictures of George Washington and Abe Lincoln on the walls, there's pictures of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. Just like it's a sure bet that this is the only music classroom anywhere that has Figrin D'an and Max Rebo rather than Mozart and Beethoven. Maybe we'll get lucky and score a special guest visit from John Williams at Monroeton :-)

And as you are leaving class, there is this traditional tiding of good fortune as you go on your way...
So ends the "virtual tour" of the music classroom at Monroeton Elementary. I gotta say, it's a terrific feeling knowing that more than it being just fun eye-candy, but that the kids seem to really be moved to engage themselves in learning by all of this Star Wars imagery around them.

And in case you are wondering: No, Lisa does not refer to her students as "younglings"! Not yet anyway :-)

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Life-sized Yoda statue is in our foster care

Look at what wound up in our living room earlier this afternoon...

This is a life-sized statue of Yoda, made of industrial-strength plastic resin. It is heavy and despite his realized stature it is positively huge! Without a doubt it's the biggest Yoda collectible that I've ever wound up having in my possession.

Here's the statue along with my vintage Yoda vinyl hand-puppet (circa 1981) and a "Star Wars Buddies" Yoda that Lisa gave me for Christmas a few years ago, to give you a sense of appreciating the scale of this thing (and that's an Artoo-Detoo cooler that Lisa got me for Christmas before last too, in the background)...

Not even these pictures can convey the full sense of how massive this statue is.

How did this thing come to be under our roof? Well, my good friend Brian Hodges AKA Darth Larry brought it over today. He's about to start a new job as a music professor at Mercer. A few weeks ago a friend of his from Orlando, Florida gave it to Brian, after her brother won it in a raffle. They didn't have anywhere to put Yoda so they let Brian have him. Well, Brian's original intent was to put Yoda in his office at the university and since the lightsaber blade pops out, Brian wanted Yoda to be wielding a cello bow instead. And that would have been terrific... except Yoda is so big that there wasn't room for him! So Brian asked me if I'd like to have it. I told him yes, on one condition: that it be understood that I am not taking permanent possession of this Yoda statue. Brian loves this way too much and I couldn't bear for him to relinquish total ownership of it. For the time being, Yoda is simply in our "foster care" until Brian can take him back for good.

In the meantime, life-sized Yoda is dominating our living room and I'm trying to figure out exactly how to give him bed and board. Brian's idea to give him a cello bow led me to come up with the idea of putting Yoda in Lisa's classroom (she teaches music at the nearby elementary school) with a conducing baton in his hand, and put up a little sign next to him reading "Music: The REAL Force". No doubt it would be a big hit with the kids!

So ummm... anyone else have other ideas about how to wisely use Yoda while he's here? :-)

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