It's the Little things...: 2014

December 5th, 6th &7th

“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” ~ Luke 2:10-11

Each year 2,000 people walk the hills and trails of the local farm, stepping back in time to “Bethlehem Revisited.” A living nativity experience that seeks to bring to life the “good news of a great joy.” It is an outreach event that invites surrounding communities to join a guided walking tour in which the group interacts with prophets proclaiming the coming One, watches as a girl named Mary learns that she will be with child, navigates their way through the crowded town of Bethlehem, observes shepherds out in a field as they become part of an amazing visitation, and stops a moment at the manger where Mary and Joseph wonder at the miracle of the Christ child. The tour continues with scenes from the life of Christ and the overwhelming truth and hope of the Resurrection.

No red carpet… just trails of hay and dirt. No dignitaries…just the residents of the stable. No gold lined crib…just a hand-hewn wooden manger that the sheep and donkeys had been eating from. Yet in the presence of these simple creatures the God of the universe was born. Guests who visit Bethlehem Revisited will experience the story that comes to life, as they trudge the paths, smell the “reality” of a barnyard, hear with their ears the crowd in the inn, the donkey’s bray . . .the simplicity of the greatest event of all times, the incarnation of our Saviour. For some, it may be the very first time that they have heard or seen this message; for others it is the first time their imaginations have been baptized with the truth of Incarnational Reality; for others it is simply a time for their imaginations to be stirred once again into a sense of worship of the One they serve. The birth of Christ is more than a historical event: it has crucial relevance for every man, woman and child.
This event includes a cast of nearly 100 costumed people, live animals, and narration played out on a farm in the Flint Hills of Kansas. It begins for the guests as they arrive at the Welcome Center in Keats Park, Keats Kansas. There they will be met by hosts who will direct them into a heated building where they will be welcomed with hot chocolate, home made cookies, and live music. From the Welcome Center guests will take a short bus ride to the farm where their guide and his assistant will lead them on their approximately forty minute walk through the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Come listen to Moses, David, Isaiah and others foretell the coming of the King. Walk through the crowded street of Bethlehem where vendors are oblivious to the momentous occasion of your visit. Come see the busy innkeeper and the young pregnant couple who were denied residence by him. Watch the angels tell good news to shepherds. Come witness the empty cross and the open tomb and hear the next chapter of the story.

Bethlehem Revisited begins at Keats Park. Keats is located 5 miles north west of Manhattan, Kansas. From Manhattan, follow Anderson west to the town of Keats.
Friday evening begins at 6:00 and will run till 8:45 pm. Saturday and Sunday evening will begin at 5:00 and will run till 8:45 pm.

“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…” Superhero comics! Comic books are one of the earliest from of entertainment for kids and adults and they are still entertaining up to today. Two comic-book companies continue to rise higher on the charts due to their media; Marvel and DC comics. Both have a wide variety of characters; they both have raked in quite the load in cash over the years and the companies’ ability to expand their content to readers and viewers of all ages make the race for supremacy a difficult task at hand.

Marvel and DC both seem to have an endless supply of characters for their numerous adventures. But the list is not endless, though very, very close. Marvel’s number of super-heroes comes to a whopping total of 776 super-heroes. Ranging from the more “well-known” heroes such as the Incredible Hulk and Captain America, all the way down to the side-kicks and, well, lesser-known heroes such as Awesome Andy or The Digitek. DC does not fall behind Marvel in the numbers for heroes. As the number of so called heroes in the DC world continue to increase, the count ranges anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 superheroes. Sorry Marvel, but DC has you beat! But do not forget the almighty villains! To each hero, there are dozens of tenacious super-villain right behind them, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Though the exact number is known only to those who work to write and develop the characters themselves, both Marvel and DC have on average between 2,000-2,500 supervillains. Though numbers are similar, Marvel’s villains take the lead for best-known. Masterminds such as Loki, The Red Skull, Doctor Doom, and numerous other re-appearing villains keep readers and film lovers highly entertained. But don’t count out DC just yet. With clever rogues such as Magneto, the Joker and many more following right behind, these villains hold their own in the battle against companies.

The intake of money contributes to the dispute of the two companies. The superhero movies made based on the Marvel characters have actually brought in 45% more revenue than the DC movies. If you stop and look at the last 15 years you are going to find that there have been Marvel properties in at least 28 of the films that have been made. However, there have only been 23 films with DC properties in them within the last 35 years. This is just one more substantial difference when you are comparing the two of them. Marvel films have grossed more than $190 million on average but the average for DC is only $129 million. The movie The Avengers helped with this. They had a domestic total that was more than $620 million. This was actually the highest of any superhero film ever made. This is not to say that DC has never had strong contenders. In fact, they did have the 2008 film The Dark Knight. This film took in more than $533 million. When it comes to the best DC superheroes to ever hit the big screen you definitely have to consider Batman. Marvel continually produces movies based on their amazing comic book heroes where DC seems to have selected a few and simply continued to make movies based on them. You would think that with all of the special effects that are out there today DC would want to take some of their larger comic book characters and try to make some money on them but that is not happening. In the end, Marvel is certainly making more money. Marvel is making a lot more movies than DC. “It is a shame because they may be able to get back in the game if they were to put forth a little more effort.” (“Dinqman”) Those that have seen the movies will also tell you that Marvel seems to be willing to remain true to their characters and the stories that they have created. They are not really moving away from the plots and the audience really enjoys this as well. Finally, one keynote to remember is the impact of 3D. These movies are on the rise and the tickets are more expensive. This could be one more reason why Marvel is doing so well.

deadpool thor hammer Deadpool Tries Out Thors Hammer

Superhero comic books have been around since the early 1930’s. Geared towards boys and men of all ages, they took off and never slowed down. As printers and computer technology advanced, so did the stories. As the companies rose higher in the charts, the simplicity and family-friendliness levels dropped. Gone were the days were a little boy or girl could pick up a comic book and joyfully read without being scarred by images of young women whose body features had been dramatically enlarged and pronounced or scared by the intense violence. Superheros began to draw in the older crowd, leaving behind the little ones. But in the last decade, Marvel and DC comics have done things to change all that. As films for teens and adults filled the media, animated cartoons of the children’s favorite Marvel and DC comics came into existence. In the last decade, Marvel has produced over 100 different film titles. Nearly 40 of those include cartoons and animation for children. Comics specifically written to appeal to the younger crowd left the shelves as quickly as they were filled. DC also stepped up the game and introduced a line of cartoons and comics for children. When internet-gaming and e-reading came into play, this introduced a new dilemma. If a child wanted to look at Batman or Wolverine online, whether playing games, reading digital comics or watching videos, both Marvel and DC Comics offer a website specifically designed for kids that can be found on their main home pages. Both offer straightforward domain names – marvelkids.com and dckids.com – but which one is more appealing to kids? MarvelKids is the slam-dunk winner to DCKids in content. Marvel offers games, puzzles, coloring pages, mazes, videos and links to downloading recent animated superhero episodes via iTunes such as Wolverine and the X-Men. Each superhero, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, The Thing, Captain America, X-Men, Silver Surfer, Avengers, Iron Man and Spider-Girl, has a webpage that offers a brief bio, a different fun fact when you refresh the page, wallpapers, and digital comics. Meanwhile DCKids offers links to comics, books, toys, and stuff. The comics’ link led to a simply designed product page of a Looney Tunes comic. There is a price for the comic but you cannot buy it which makes sense if kids were on this page. For the books and toys sections, there are no images of products, just a long list of links to each product as if it had been slapped together in 1996. For the stuff section, DC offers just two digital comics and two online games. Missing are graphics and information about Batman, Superman and other DC superheroes. Kudos goes to Marvel for providing a rich, interactive experience for kids. As for DC Comics, what does this say about how they deem their young fans? The president of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson said, “Our fans are parents too and we want to give families the opportunity to create new memories by sharing the DC Comics experience in a fun and family-friendly environment” Both companies have worked hard to include audiences of all ages.

Thor Hammer Catch Fail Thor Fails to Catch Hammer (The Avengers)

Many factors rule into the battle between the companies. Whether it be the Characters the introduce, the money each company has drawn in, or to which crowd they seem to attract, Marvel's and DC's fight to be the best can only be determined by preference. With no final answer of whether one is better than the other, the final decisions are up to the fans. Each person is entitled to preferences greater than can be explained; favorite heroes/villains, number of comics, films and many more factor into ones decision. Whether you favorite hero be Batman or Spiderman, the choice, my dear reader, is left solely up to you