as he threw his ticket to the floor in disgust, my friend’s first words were, “that was the biggest disappointment of my life!” though i won’t say it was the biggest disappointment, i feel obliged to politely object to this movie. be aware, there are spoilers in this post…though i would not call them “spoilers” simply because they’re not spoiling the plot…lucas and spielberg did a good enough job of that!

harrison ford is a legend. there is absolutely nothing he can do to fall from grace in my eyes. there’s just something about him that brings a smile to my face when i see him on the big screen. i need to say that up front so that it is understood that the following remarks are in no way directed toward him. mr. ford, you are a genius and i apologize if what i have to say offends you in any way. i have failed you.who has failed me and the global population? whoever’s brain child indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull was…this is directed at you! why?! why did you have to do this? indiana jones was a perfectly good trilogy…why would you do this to us?

as my coworkers know fully well as of this morning, i am very displeased with this movie. i had high hopes that it would be as awesome as the first 3, but the bottom line is that it wasn’t. very few movies would i consider to be a complete waste of my money and time, but this movie falls into that category.

first of all, who the heck is that kid? and who does he think he is? shia labeouf, you are not the successor to the indiana jones legacy. you try to touch that legendary hat one more time and i swear i will never watch a film you star in again. you hear me?! back off little boy! when harrison ford speaks to you, you say “yes, sir!”

secondly, aliens? really? come on! did you even try to be creative? not that any of the other three movies were actually believable, but give me a break! this movie wasn’t even on the charts of believability. this was their chance to weigh in on the much debated “city of gold.” this was their chance! they could have done anything! what did they choose to be the answer to this ancient riddle? aliens. give me a break.

the last thing i’ll comment on (however note that i’m trying to limit myself here…i could go on for a while) is the rediculous stunt/action sequences. like i said before, it’s not believable. indiana jones is a human. never in the first three movies did he pass into the “superhuman” or “superhero” realm. i liked that about the movies. it was different. he was more believable. this new installment attempted (but miserably failed) to bring indiana jones to a superhuman level. oh yeah, they tried to bring the shia guy to the same level. first of all, shia, know your role. secondly, i find it sad that the writers felt a need to make dr. jones into an unbelievable superhuman character. that isn’t in line with the series and that bothers me a great deal.

on a positive note, there were a few cute parts…shout out to the previous movies…witty one liners. would i say these few scenes made it worth watching? heavens no! don’t waste your time. wait for some of the clips to show up on youtube.com and safe yourself 9 bucks and two hours of pain and torture.

i will conclude with these final parting remarks. my issue with this movie stems from my complete and utter respect for harrison ford and the indiana jones movies. in my opinion, indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull disrespects the legacy the first three movies built. if you’re going to add a name to a movie, at least bring honor to what that name has stood for. add to the legacy. respect the past. what this movie represents is the lackluster state that hollywood is in. i feel bad for harrison ford. you’re so talented. why did you have to go and support this movie? you’re so much better than this! in my mind, this movie is completely divorced from the first three. this is a separate movie with little to no ties to the previous three. viewing it this way, i will be able to sleep at night.

1 out of 5 nalgenes (the 1 attributed to the fact that harrison ford was in the movie)

today is the first day it really hit me that my senior friends are leaving. yesterday, my girlfriend, liam (the tennis star), and i went to baltimore for the day. because of this, we weren’t on campus yesterday to pack our rooms up or watch others pack their rooms. we weren’t here to take part in the senior festivities (them, take part…me, tag along). though i have watched my fellow classmates leave, it is different. i’ll see them again, so there’s less “good-bye” talk going around. but those who are my senior friends…who knows?!

one of my good friends (liam, the tennis star) just got an apartment. i’m happy for him, but that means he really ISN’T going to be here next year. he really ISN’T going to be helping messiah’s tennis team win another mac championship. what the heck?! i don’t agree.

to all you seniors who somehow stumble upon my blog…may i appeal to you in the final hour? don’t leave. stay another year. please? what if i sneak stuff out of lottie for you? all i’m asking for is one more year. is that too much to ask?

no more good-bye’s. and i’m sticking to that!

the reason for the tardiness of this post is simply due to the necessarily long recovery process. writing term papers usually causes missed nights of sleep with a side of grumpiness sprinkled throughout. i do not envy those who surround me during the closing weeks of the semester. i’m sure my neighbors are convinced i’m going insane. insanity, however, is the best cure for writer’s block. but i digress.

all semester i avoided the dreaded research paper in my biblical backgrounds class. don’t get me wrong, the class topics were everything i had hoped for. no joke! i had been waiting to take a class on the formative texts for our canonical authors. i was born for this class! the subject matter was not at all the issue.

the issue was fear. starting as a first year student in intro to bible i was struck and captivated by the author of our text. the insight drew me into the field of biblical studies and has proved to be foundational for my subsequent studies. the author? you guessed it…my biblical backgrounds professor! since taking intro to bible, this professor has achieved legendary status in dan custer’s professor hall of fame. to actually take a class by him was…well…scary! i have the utmost respect for him and now looking back on this past semester find evidence for this. his teaching has encouraged me to reach higher and search harder in my studies.

you can understand my fear then. in my mind, writing a paper in this class would result in nothing more than inadequate words on a page. don’t get me wrong, he is a gracious professor…as is evidenced by my current grade (minus the final research paper…which i’ll find out about tomorrow). my fear was that i would finally prove to this distinguished professor that my work is inadequate. this fear kept me from writing my research paper alllll semester.

you can only avoid papers for so long though, right? with each click of the keys, the anxiety drained from my mind, into my fingers, and onto the screen in front of me. who knew writing could be therapeutic! the semester long research paper, reduced to a weekend of insanity, ended last thursday as i hesitantly slid my 10+ page paper on the comparison between the scriptural exegetical methods of the dead sea scroll and new testament communities under my professor’s door. all done. subsequently, if you’re interested in discussing the interpretive methodology of the dead sea scroll (at qumran) or the new testament communities, let me know!

oh, and i learned how to do footnotes…hence the website about footnotes in the background.

that’s right…i used hebrew in my paper!

that’s at 10 inches if you can’t see that close!

i apologize for the less than spectacular photography above…i took them at 2 am after i finished writing my paper.

HAPPY SUMMER!