September 25. I heard on the radio today that it's the birthday of Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamil. Happy birthday! You know, when I was a kid, I always found Mark Hamil to be a beacon of hope. See, I, too, am named Mark, and I always found it to be such a painfully average name. But then, here was Mark Hamil! And he was...a Jedi Knight! I spent the rest of my childhood convinced that Marks were destined to become Jedi.
But, Mark is still a painfully average name. There are no great TV characters named Mark. I mean, the only one I knew of was Mark Albert, a character who was briefly on Ally McBeal. He didn't do much. He had a crush on Ally. He dated a transsexual. He had a fling with Elaine. And then, he just disappeared. That was my only namesake on TV. But then, while in Japan, I started watching ER, mainly because it was one of the few shows on in English. And there, I was introduced to the rock of the ER, the man who provided its moral centre, the eye in the hurricane, Dr. Mark Green, as played by Anthony Edwards. And I thought, "OK, he's cool."
I still think I should drop my first name and go by my middle name; something I've toyed with since junior high. You've got to admit, there aren't many "Sladens" in the world.
What else is in the news...I heard this on the radio on the drive to school. A church in Athens, Georgia, was celebrating Random Acts of Kindness week by having the kids make boxes of candy and leave them around the church grounds for the parishoners to find. A few enthusiastic kids, however, crossed the street and put some of these boxes on the front steps of City Hall. A few city workers spotted these strange boxes on the steps, and called the police. The bomb squad came down and destroyed the boxes of candy. The church leaders have decided to use this to teach the kids a lesson in how good things don't always go off as planned.
Next issue...Enter Sladen!
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