30 Day Challenge: Day 6: Favorite Super Hero

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the Power Rangers. I have discussed that fact in the past on this blog. It was here that I set my goal to meet the original cast of  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As much as I love Tommy Oliver (the beloved Green, Iconic White then also red (twice) and black ranger), my FAVORITE superhero is the Pink Ranger. We have 27 years of Power Rangers and 45 years of Super Sentai. Super Sentai is like Power Ranger’s daddy. Of all those years of the seasons I have watched I have a top 3 of my FAVORITE pink rangers. 

3.) Kat (MMPR, Zeo, Turbo) 

So honestly it took adulthood for me to be able to understand that Kat was a good person. In her storyline she comes in as a pawn used by Rita Repulsa to weaken the power rangers, Kimberly the original pink ranger in particular. In the end she ended up helping the rangers once she realized she was being used. It was the end of an era as we end up saying goodbye to Kim and Kat filled in as Pink Ranger. It wasn’t the first time we had a switch-a-roo, on the show but this was a big one for me. BUT when I discovered her on the ZEO season I fell in love with Kat. She ended up fitting in very well for the show.  OHHH and Catherine Sutherland is the sweetest person. (The pic gives me Olivia Newton John vibes) 

2.) Jen (Time Force) 

Time Force was the first season I watched without “Tommy” that was mind blowing (for me) and the storyline was more mature as much as it could be for a kids show. First off she is technically the “leader” as she is in charge of the crew from the year 3000, she watches her fiancé die only to go to the year 2000 and find a dude that looks like the dead fiancé. LIKE WHAT??? NUTS right? But seriously I always have to put Erin Cahill on my list because she is the NICEST most down to earth celebrity. Like her smile and the way she greets you is like she actually appreciates your existence as a fan. She does Hallmark and Lifetime Movies and its Christmas time so you will see her. 

1.) Kimberly

Ironically when I first started watching Power Rangers I actually really identified with Trini, she was really calm, and peaceful. When Trini left Kimberly was my stability. (Don’t question my state of mind I was a kid.) As time went on I realized I was as much of a mall rat and valley girl as Kimberly. I mean as Valley as a girl from Dover, Delaware can be. Also the Tommy and Kim thing sold it too. I was like OMG I want to be the the gymnast who gets the black belt. (Not so much for Princess of DE) I haven’t met Amy Jo Johnson, I hope that I do one day. 

Ok so Sentai... 

Ahim de Famille

*Gokaiger honestly helped to make me value Power Rangers more. The season is basically a bunch of randoms (space pirates) who just want to find the “the greatest treasure” in the universe and don’t have much care or respect of the power they hold, but as they go on they start to see what they have.... they were badass... and Ahim was a badass even though she exuded that love vibe that pink rangers give she was still a G. 

*Rin

After watching Gokaiger and realizing Power Rangers had some explaining to do I watched Gosei Sentai Dairangers and most of the continuity questions I had about Season 2 of Power Rangers were answered. Dairangers was another out of this world season with badass rangers and ridiculous bad guys. And the pink ranger was sweet but tough.

Ok so Honorable Mentions: 

Cassie- Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers in Space

 Sydney- Power Rangers SPD

Mei- Zyuranger

Ok so I can’t do this post without mentioning Shelby from Power Rangers DinoCharge 

Me cosplaying as Shelby in my ex’s backyard 

Honestly the character mean everything to me because this was the first time a pink ranger was an African American. I mean I dropped a couple of tears because I waited 20 years, for someone to realize African American women can be soft, sweet, kind and a Boss (or a freaking valley girl that just wants to shop all day), not to say that all the African American Yellow rangers weren’t great cause Karan, Nakia, and others are amazing, but let’s keep it real why did it take so long (aside from a couple of times they didn’t have a pink ranger)? BUT unfortunately the actress who played Shelby is... living the Hollywood (but in NYC) life and I feel shuns Power Rangers. And that’s cool boo do you I get, but sometimes you have to appreciate your past/fans of the fandom. Just saying.  

P.S:

Shameless PLUG... I am a superhero too... let’s put it like this, I had colleagues come into my classroom and a gentleman was looking at my stuff and said: “You really are the Pink Ranger.” I was like... “Yeah.” No one refutes it so.... 

 

Its Not Just the Power Rangers...it's Fam...

May 2012 I actually published a blog about my bucket list (before I turned 30). My top goal was to go to an anime/comic/power ranger convention and meet the power rangers.  As it is now known I did in fact meet actors who played the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. 

Squad 1

Squad 2

I found out about Power Morphicon (Power Ranger Convention) and wanted to go, but it was in California and for a chick in Delaware it seemed to only be a dream. ESPECIALLY since at that point in my life I didn't travel out of state unless it was in a car or on a greyhound. Also Power Morphicon is every two years (I actually really like that about the con). So in 2012 when I made the goal I looked for cons that were fairly close. Otakon is in B-More (although it will be moving to DC in 2017), and Anime USA is in DC.  

So I met Jason David Frank who played Tommy.

JDF VIP Otakon 2012

 Now JDF is sort of a fan favorite, as in, someone says: "hey remember the power rangers?" and the response is: "Yeah I always liked the Green Ranger or Tommy or the White Ranger." JDF or better yet "Tommy" is that guy.  I kind of got to the climax before even hitting the exposition (Smh I am such a teacher its ridiculous) But really it was just the beginning of the story.... and then I found Lexington 2013 and 2014.... that's right Lexington, Kentucky.

And things really took off with my goal in 2013: 

Walter Jones Original Black Ranger

Karan Ashley 2nd yellow ranger of MMPR

David Yost blue ranger 

Catherine Sutherland the 2nd Pink Ranger (season 3 of MMPR)

   

Jason (Skull) Narvy and Paul (Bulk) Schrier

In 2014 I met Steve Cardenas, he was the 2nd red ranger on MMPR and regrettably I didn't get a pic with him like HOW? So instead I will just promote his business called Force Balance Brazilian Jiu Jitsu....

After 2013 and 2014 things went real crazy and I actually met a lot of other rangers from all sorts of seasons.... But still needed 4 more of the originals...sadly Thuy Trang who played the original yellow ranger passed away in 2001. The original pink ranger Amy Jo Johnson, limits her appearances, at this point Austin St. John had been under the radar having been overseas working as an EMT, and so I kind of let the hope of meeting them go (although technically I was in the same vicinity as Amy Jo while in Lexington during a party so I have that as my keep sake of Amy Jo.) This leaves Johnny Yong Bosch who was the 2nd black ranger of MMPR. He has made a name for himself in the Voice acting world and in the indie music world. I began listening to his band, Eyeshine  and also allowed that love of Asian men out and found out that for me meeting JYB would be a better climax than meeting JDF (SAY WHAT!!!!!) By the time I was meeting Bosch many things in my life had changed, I was a teacher, a girlfriend, I was 30, I was wiser (I suppose).  At this point the friends I had acquired in the ranger world was crazy... so many including artist... Daniel Coney, Cosplayers... Tony Ray... and just the homies everywhere across the United States (across the world really), both male and female (although males are predominant).  I was dabbling into cosplay myself... 

Civilian Cosplay, Joe and Luka Super Sentai Gokaiger

 

That was 2014 so when 2015 rolled around I thought oh I will go to rangerstop, or lexington again. And I didn't...2016 gets here and again I didn't...between teaching, being in a grad chapter of a sorority (was also a dream come true) and being a girlfriend (still yay!!) The cons just weren't happening, BUT WAIT 2016 is a Morphicon year and honestly I was just going to let it go again. I mean me and my boyfriend discussed going, but the likelihood was so slim. Until...I won a ticket to go...I was on Facebook and a contest came up on my timeline from a group called Ranger Live Chat . I usually don't win ever, so I entered thinking no way I am going to win. Time passing and I forget all about it until I get a message from the group saying I had actually won. I really thought it had to be a joke, but soon I received a message about the tickets being processed. So I was like ok I am definitely going.  BUT let us remember life has changed; now I am not going to say power rangers isn't important to me, but at this point with all the responsibility I had gained since making my goal in 2012 I wasn't really showing the excitement. I had a classroom to figure out for summer school/upcoming school year and now I was house shopping with my boyfriend, like wait a minute am I Adulting???? BUT the time comes and I was going to California. Visiting California is a dream come true in itself. Only when I get there NO LUGGAGE!!! I didn't panic... YET... I left my claim and went to Pasadena. (Mind you I was alone. The loner that I am is crazy but that is another blog). Get to Pasadena check into the hotel, go to the convention center get my badge for the con and then I call the airport again. The bag is of course in Baltimore and allegedly on the next flight to LAX and I would get the bag by 8am the next day. I am just like smh. I am still not outraged as there is nothing I can really do. So I go to enjoy the con.  If I don't have my luggage I don't have any clothes by the way and I always try to travel light so the only thing I have in my carry on is a binder of autographs of the people you see above.... *insert crying laughing emoji* I go enjoy Friday night of the con... as much as I can. I decide that I better buy clothes (and underwear) so I find a Forever 21 in walking distance (In my Miss Sofia voice, I knew de was a God).  Now remember I dabble in Cosplay... for Saturday I had an awesome cosplay put together so I could meet...             

  Camille Hyde the first african american to play a pink ranger. This was also a dream come true as I always saw myself as the pink ranger, but it appeared that Saban only could see black girls as a sassy yellow ranger. In the probability that I would not get my bag I searched Forever 21 for a pink tee and found a really cute jean skirt, not an elaborate outfit, but pink.  Go back to the hotel, call the airport, they say something to the effect of it will take 24 hours to get the luggage which means I would get the bag late saturday or sunday; the day I am leaving. So I am so ANGRY. I am burning angry and hungry. SO sulking I go down to the hotel restaurant and partake in Pasadena crab cakes (are they known for that... why would a person from the east coast eat west coast crab cakes)? Now get this... There are power rangers walking all around me, White ranger from Dino thunder is there, Blue Ranger from dino thunder, time force red ranger, black from mighty morphin...come to find out there was a VIP party going on and more and more people started to come thru and I was just sitting there sulking like, Who cares???? I didn't even try to figure out how I could sneak in I just went to my room and called the airport again who just gave me more and more dismal answers. I even made a point to called at 4am when they said they would be open they didn't answer until about 5:30am (i kept calling back) at this point the bag had never left, and was on a flight from baltimore in which it would be at LAX at 9:22 am. Seems like there was hope...nope... knowing airplanes it might land at 9:22 but the bag wouldn't be seen until 10 something and the people at the airport probably wouldn't notice no one was getting it until 10:30...and no one would be calling until 11:00am.  I know what you are thinking well Danielle you are a faithful person so you know God would work it out... yup you are right I knew it would work out but not with that bag. See Pasadena is a good 30 minutes away from LAX if you are just talking distance but the traffic in LA will make you late to your funeral so really its an hour + on a bad day, that would have been both ways, and I wasn't driving I was catching an uber which was going to cost $40 each way. So at 5:30am my eyes were sweating and to keep from calling my mom with a shaky cry baby voice I attempted to call my boyfriend which at 5:45 am in LA means it was about 8:45am on the east coast but he wasn't awake so I called my mom... Won't ya momma make you feel like you can conquer he world??? She was like: "well you bought a pink shirt, well you wear that, you will still look like her!!! and you let the airport know that you had a performance and needed your costumes and everything was cancelled." LOL!! After talking with my mom putting on that simple outfit wasn't so difficult. I thought to myself I can be any pink ranger. 

So I walk over to the convention center and several fellow ranger fans say: "Nice Shelby Cosplay!" I kid you not... $5 shirt $5 skirt, no name brand white sneakers from target, no planning and straight hair with a little  pink lipstick... I was Shelby... It probably helps that I am black and she is black because no one said: Nice Kimberly cosplay or Nice Kat cosplay...It didn't matter... I was on cloud 9 at this point. So God did work it out. I told the airport to keep the bag til Sunday I mean what would be the point in trying to get it. I got to meet Camille Hyde had a great Saturday and by Sunday I didn't want to leave.  I had just met people I knew for years, I met new friends, I met more power rangers, like one I didn't think I had a chance to meet: 

Austin St. John the original red ranger 

The beginning of this trip really made me want to let all of it go. I was really ready to retire the con life. I mean I am not as deep into it as some of my friends but I was really about to retire. I was really about to be like cosplay is over, cons are over, I am never traveling again, I am stupid...etc...etc...etc... parts of me feel like this is only the beginning, again or I am about to begin the sequel... because in a weird way we are family, we are a family of adopted misfits... Our Parents or better yet our God Parents are the actors of Mighty Morphin, Zeo, Turbo (Episodes 1-19 except Blake Foster he is my age). Our Play Aunts and Uncles (like the cool Aunts and Uncles) are the seasons after the originals...we start getting play cousins around Dino Thunder (now they are like the same age as me at least Kevin Duhaney is lol) I mean they are forever using 20 somethings to play teenagers so after Dino thunder you have a mix of play Aunties and Uncles and play cousins and really you have little brothers and sisters because I am older than most of the most recent cast members...(including RPM like really)... but the fans, the adoptees don't just love the rangers, we love each other. And that is why by Sunday I was sad it was over.  After con blues.... so we look forward to the next one... everyone says see you in 2018... or see you at Ranger Stop.... 

I technically made my quota of rangers... and the other crazy thing is they remember me... Catherine Sutherland in that beautiful Aussie accent says: "It's Danielle, right?" Walter Jones, recognizes me and says: "What's Up?" Johnny Bosch pretends to smash my head in a Facebook live video. It's like one of the most interesting communities where everyone is accepted... every race, sex, education levels, disabilities, gay/straight/unicorn, cosplay or not, geek, nerd, dork, cheerleader, frat dude, sorority girl...we are in this community.... The cons are our family reunions. 

A new friend shared a video and I think it further expresses the FEELZ of morphicon.....

OH and damn you Alaska Air!!!! 

"Don't Let Evil Rita Put a Spell On Your Mind"

Yeah...Yeah...Yeah... I know I ought to be blogging a lot more especially coming from a blog in which I probably could publish a new post twice a day if not more. Of course that was when I was blogging on many random topics such as my many gripes of life to my favorite artist.

Sometimes I get in a funk and can’t make myself blog. I am a positive person or I like to send out positivity and when I am in a funk it is hard to stay positive, therefore I tend to ignore my blog duties. I just don’t like sending bad vibes into the world because there are already enough bad vibes.

Luckily I moved out of my “feelings” and on to my life and have been able to make some of my resolutions happen for real. And yet another unfortunate twist of events occurred as I put these resolutions into action and I got sick. The flu… it took over for a week.

While everything sat on hold again I took time to watch one of my favorite shows... the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.Hey we all have our “things”…my thing is MMPR. When I am bored and feel like I need a break, MMPR gives me that break. It’s something from my childhood that sends me back, and takes a load off my shoulders. 

So in the midst of my sickness and in the middle of my MMPR overload I had an epiphany if you will…in the beginning of this show the enemy was Rita Repulsa who wanted to bring the rangers down …right…well I thought to myself Rita never gave up. She would have Finster create a monster send it down to Earth and the rangers would have to figure out how to beat this monster. Rita would lose and try again... always. 

So I thought to myself evil never gives up…but neither does good. I have probably seen every episode during the course of MMPR and there were times I can remember clinging to the edge of my seat as a child watching as the rangers took one step to victory and made three giant steps back. 

The command center has been destroyed, they have lost Zordon, Alpha 5 has had viruses, their zords have been destroyed, they have been under evil spells, they have lost members of the team, they have lost their powers, parents have been kidnapped, Rita was kicked out and Lord Zedd, a more evil sinister ruler showed up, later, Rita and Zedd got married to be evil together, and in the end the Rangers through the power of goodness have always beat them. 







Now I am sure you are saying, "Well Dani that is the way the show was built, good vs. evil and good will always win"…sure but that doesn’t stop this completely fantastical adventure show from teaching faith. MMPR was not known for its great acting and lines for the characters, but something they would say all the time is: “Come guys, we can’t give up.” The Pink Ranger might say: “It looks like Rita got us this time.” And the Red Ranger the leader would say: “No way, there has got to be a way to get this monster.”

Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

I think that sometimes I have got to start looking at life like the Power Rangers and when I am feeling some sort of way like my personal Rita is ruining my life and there is no way to win I might need to say “come on I can’t give up, I’m a power ranger” or something to that effect. How many times have we been in a similar situations as the power rangers…instead of our Zords being destroyed maybe its our bills are over due and we need gas for our car and instead of being stuck in the command center we are stuck in our beds and instead and watching Rita’s monster destroy everything on the viewing globe, we are "viewing" everyone else’s life move by on the Facebook "globe". That’s when you need to sit up and say: “Come on, I can’t give up.”

(Fan made "I Will Win" music video, music from Power Rangers)

James 1:3: because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

Now I can take it one step further and show the similarities in the Zords to Jesus (as they were also resurrected) because the Zords were always there for the rangers when they needed them … *in preacher's voice* and when it seemed like they were destroyed or lost, they would always return good as new, (they had risen from their tomb) or when Lord Zedd arrived and appeared to be worst then Rita, the rangers didn’t think they could handle him, but were proven that they wouldn’t be given a challenge that they couldn’t handle...

...but I am not sure if people are quite ready for the ideas that boggle my mind.   

BUT.....

I Corinthians: 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it... (NIV)

Isaiah 54:17

 But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper...

and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord. (AMP)

You know what is interesting is that some ranger fans are atheists or just don't have such beliefs, but are still inspired through the show understanding that there is good and evil and that having perseverance pays off in the end....
The impact of the show is astounding and many of the fans have similar stories, the overall message:      It took me out of a dark place when...It made me feel better when... I am not going to apologize for seeing Gods work in that....