Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

So, yeah, being the ultimate super nerd that I am, I went to see Indy 4 at midnight. Now, before I get into the gory details (I will leave out all spoilers) of my impressions of Indy 4, I need to give a basic understanding of my appreciation for the past movies.

The Indy trilogy (although it can no longer be referred to as such) held a special place in my heart since I was a kid because I was basically addicted to the movies. I even remember that the first jigsaw puzzle I put together was some friggin abnormally huge poster for Last Crusade. Now, my love for the movies came from the Nazi/Penkot palace guard beating, witty, gritty action sequences. One of the things I loved about these movies is that if there was any special effects, they would only be near the end of the movie so that it did not interfere with the action sequences. I greatly appreciated that regardless of whether or not it was because of the year the movies were created. Indy, to me, doesn't scream big special effects box office mega-movie. Now, this is why I entered the movie worried. I was worried that I would go see Indy but receive a 21st century action/special effects movie. Additionally, I was worried bout Transformers boy. Indy's sidekicks were awesome in the past; I mean, who didn't like Short Round or Henry Jones Sr. But this kid, I dunno, I had my doubts. In essence, I entered the theater excited yet wary.

In all honesty, it is hard to give my criticisms of the movie without giving away certain plot lines, so, if I am cryptic, forgive me. However, I guarantee you that if you see it, you will understand. Anyways, in regards to my initial worry that too much CG would be used, yeah, there was a good amount used. BUT, surprisingly, it was tasteful enough that I partially accepted it. That is until the end of the movie. That was just a giant clusterfuck due to the absurd plot.

Speaking of plot, before I forget... WTF? Im cool with replacing Nazis with Commies, but these crystal skull deals, wow. I never expected Indy to be mixed with that plot EVER. I truly feel that the plot took a great deal away from the authentic Indy feel. At some points (near the end) I felt like I was watching a different movie and not an Indy movie.

Another thing that was hard for me to accept was some of the visual scenes placed into the movie. Lets just put it this way, Spielberg had some wild hair up his ass that made him want to film Indy standing dramatically in front of absurd things. I wish I could tell you one of them, it was so damn absurd, but I will leave well enough alone. So lets sum this up by saying the following: Negatives - Plot didn't feel like an Indy movie, Indy in STRANGE scenes, CG got a bit overwhelming near the end and in the jungle (you will see), and overall, there was just a bad taste in my mouth when I left, something I just couldn't put a finger on.

Now, in all honesty, for what it was, it was not a bad movie by any means. I left the movie feeling like I saw an Indy movie due to the actors witty charm and sharp yet cheesy humor. Harrison Ford did a damn good job for his age and it seemed so natural for him to play the role that, unless he took his hat off and you saw all the gray hair, you forgot about his age. Shaya... surprisingly, wasn't horrible. I still don't like him, but, he kept up and played a decent sidekick.

Really, this is a movie that a new generation will probably love because it has the feel of a more modern movie, whereas, fans of the original trilogy might feel upset by the movie's unorthodox feel, yet glad that they didn't change Indy's character. Either way, I feel it is definitely worth a shot. I mean, Indy lover or not, its a good action movie that deserves some respect. And yes, as a fan of the original trilogy, I will accept it as a new addition is opposed to the many who (I am sure) will think its blasphemy and a blemish on a good trilogy.

Overall:
Indy Super Nerd - 1.5/5
Indy Fan - 3.5/5
Fan of action movies (not necessarily Indy) - 4/5
Me personally - 3/5

St. Augustine Lighthouse

As some of you might know, I walk the line when it comes to believing in ghosts or hauntings; I nether believe or disbelieve. However, I can say this... In order to make me believe, I would have to literally see something inexplicable occur directly in front of me. So, in the effort to solidify my stance, Erock, Brian and I all went to the Dark of the Moon Lighthouse tour in St. Augustine this Saturday. For those of you who do not know, this lighthouse is apparently notoriously haunted and houses a number of spirits. It was even featured twice on the Sci-Fi Channel's "Ghost Hunters" where they found interesting results both times. Here are the results from their first visit:



So, with these things in mind, we set forth to the lighthouse. Firstly, I would like to say that I was a tad bit disappointed with the fact that there were roughly 30 people on the tour (even though they split us up so no more than half were in one place at one time). Anyways, as the first group entered the lighthouse, our group entered the lightkeeper's house. Upstairs I felt absolutely nothing. If anything, it was comfortable and peaceful. Downstairs the air did feel a bit more heavy but that is probably because the upstairs had a dehumidifier running. Finally, we enter the basement where most of the personal accounts from the house are reported. In the basement, I am listening to the man giving the tour, however, in the next room, I repeatedly saw something moving past one of the two windows (on level with the ground) which was covered with some kind of drape (so I saw a shadow). I brushed it off as someone outside. We enter into this second room, I am looking around, and Brian tells me that he saw the legs of a figure walk by in a long jacket but not walk by the window which was less than a foot away from the other. Now I was intrigued. I begin watching the windows, I tell Erock, and we begin watching both. Then, literally out of nowhere, something FAST goes by the first window without us seeing it in the second.

Now, we were REALLY curious. During some free time, we headed outside to determine what the hell it could have been. We head over to the windows, and take a look around. We simply walk past one window to check see if the curtain was heavier on the second but we did see our shadows in that window as well. Then, standing in the tiny space between the windows, we tried to figure how something could get up to the speed that we saw it go by without getting a head start. Honestly, not much we could come up with. On top of that, nothing at all explains the blatant trench coat we saw the figure wearing. Nobody that evening had one on. In fact, they would have been crazy to have one on seeing as it felt like 90 degrees.

Now, it was our turn for the lighthouse. I was so frickin excited about this. In the beginning of the night, the tour guide had told us all to pay attention for the smells of cigar or pipe tobacco around the grounds because apparently one of the ghosts likes to smoke or some shit. I walk in this lighthouse, make it up 2 stories, BAM there it was. Except, it was SO damn potent that it seemed staged. Up two more stories, AGAIN, same thing. We later decided that if this was recreated by the tour guide, she would have needed some kind of technological equipment to release the smell at either increments or upon movement. However, during quiet, free time later, we went back up in the lighthouse alone and smelled absolutely nothing.

As a side note, apart from paranormal experiences, the view from the top of the lighthouse this late at night was UNBELIEVABLE. Absolutely gorgeous. That alone was worth the 25 dollars in my opinion. You could see all of St. Augustine, the ocean, and the powerful beams coming from the lighthouse.

Now, as I said before, during our free time, we made it back into the lighthouse when there was nobody there. We were very lucky for this because of the sheer number of people on the tour. It was at this time that we went up about 2 stories, paused, I kept looking up and analyzing everything around me. Then, just like in those damn Ghost Hunters findings, ZOOM, a friggin shadow goes moving by about 2 stories up. I make Erock and Brian came over and tell them to watch where I saw it as I walk up further to try and force it to move. They watch, I make it up pretty far, and they see nothing move. They come up to where I am, we sat, relaxed, and watched everything for a while. We decide that it's about time to go, Erock starts leading the way down the stairs, he happens to look up and friggin AGAIN. This time he sees some shadow move by real fast on these stairs. He calls me over, I start looking and again nothing.

Overall, I guess you can say, our night was an interesting night of personal experiences. But, sadly, nothing that can convert me to being a believer. I am still VERY intrigued in some of the improbable occurances which took place last night, and, in all honestly, I am going to try and make it back there. I thought that the tour itself was not the highlight of the night. I truly enjoyed myself during the quiet, free time when nobody was there to bother us or hinder our experiences. I would recommend this tour to anyone who would actually take it seriously. Nothing ruins a night more than immature people visiting who want to make noises, scare their significant other, or talk loudly and destroy the atmosphere. In fact, if you would like to go, let me know, because I would jump at the chance to go again.

Once a skeptic, always a skeptic... until you can prove me wrong.

Musings Over Determinism

ITS ME BITCHES!!! So here is the deal, I have brought out a bunch of the Philosophy books because I feel like I have gotten too rusty. And in the spirit of amusing yet informative syllogisms, I present you with an oldie but a goodie that I came up with. I like to call it:

YOUR REFRIGERATOR DON'T WORK FOR SHIT!!!

PS - For those of you who are philosophically inept, determinism is the belief that every single action, behavior, decision, thought, event, etc is causally determined by prior occurrences. Enjoy.

1. If determinism is true, then the temperature of food in my refrigerator is caused by the conjunction of past states and the laws of physics (as defined by the consequence argument of Van Inwagen) before the refrigerator was made.
2. My refrigerator has no control over circumstances that existed before it was made, nor does it have any control over the laws of nature.
3. If the conjunction of past states and the laws of physics before the refrigerator was made cause the food to be cold, and the refrigerator has no control over past states and the laws of physics before it was made, and the conjunction of past states and the laws of physics before the refrigerator was made is sufficient to cause the food to be cold, then the refrigerator has no control over the food being cold.
4. Therefore, if determinism is true, the refrigerator has no control over the temperature of the food within it.

Trust me, I know this has holes in it like swiss cheese, but its always funny when I take a look back at it. Expect some more posts soon.