Indiana Jones Connecting Generations

This was originally published on The Bearded Trio Website September 25, 2020

A few weeks back, I sat down to introduce Raiders of the Lost Ark to a new generation of my family: my thirteen-year-old daughter.  While I have seen the film probably a couple dozen times in my lifetime, I haven't watched it myself in probably 10 years.  So, I was excited for another viewing after quite some time, and I was excited to see the film with my daughter who was experiencing it for the first time

I had forgotten how wonderful this movie is with the cinematography, the music, the story, and of course the acting.  But, what really made this movie for me during this viewing was one moment.  The moment is in the scene where Marion is taken while she is hiding in a basket.  Indiana is running through the street trying to follow her screaming voice.  A great moment when Indiana runs into the market and sees all the same baskets, but that wasn't the moment. It is the set-up for the moment.  I really wanted my daughter to experience the moment the crowd splits to reveal the "swordmaster" the same way I did when I was her age.  This moment captivated me as a kid.  The moment Harrison Ford shows Indiana's exhaustion for one more obstacle in this chase then reaches to his side to easily draw his pistol to eliminate the "swordmaster" who is swinging that sword around so dramatically, just caught me off guard with pleasure and theater fun. Who in the theater didn't laugh and clap?  

As the moment approached in the movie, I kept watching my daughter's face to see if she was following the tension of the chase as I had as a kid.  She smiled and rolled her eyes when he runs into the market with the hundreds of other baskets just like the one he was chasing with Marion in it.  She saw the humor in that, I thought.  I was on the edge of my seat as Indiana comes around the corner to the crowd splitting.  I saw her eyes focused on the opponent who was swinging the sword around so threateningly.  The moment I'd been waiting for, Indiana Jones reaches for his pistol and fires.  I held my breath as she smiled, chuckled, and started to laugh at the moment.  She looked at me to see me smiling and laughing right along with her.  Success!!!

I was relieved.  The movie had pleased her in that moment just as it had me at the same age.  I was so happy, that I sat and watched the rest of the film in complete satisfaction.  She enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, just as I had.  

These are the moments that we parents look for when raising our children.  The moments we get to share; the moments that connect our past with the present through our children's experiences.  I am thankful for Indiana Jones and all the other stories that help to make those connections between generations.  

Top 5 Comics I look forward to reading each month

This is a list that will change frequently, I am sure.  These are the Top 5 comics, both print and digital on Marvel Unlimited, that I look forward to reading each month.  

5. Star Wars (print) - cruising right along I am just enjoying it

4. Aero (Marvel Unlimited) - hanging on to see where this goes

3. Fallen Angel (Marvel Unlimited) - the X-titles are grabbing my attention

2. X-Force (Marvel Unlimited) - I've always enjoyed this title with Cable or without him

1. Amazing Spider-man - the build-up to issue 850 is captivating if not a little dark and scary

Obviously, these are all Marvel titles.  I have always been a Marvel guy, but not because I have anything against DC or any other company.  Marvel just seems to captivate me and always has.  In fact, an honorable mention would be IDW's Star Wars: Clone Wars title.  

What are you reading that has you looking forward to a visit to your Local Comic shop each month?  Leave a comment of your Top 5 or a few of your "can't wait to get your hands on" comic titles.  

When things seem uncertain...

A couple weeks ago, we were shocked to look out on the back patio where we have a hanging basket of flowers to discover that the flowers had died.  We swore that we had just watered the hanging basket, yet the entire basket had dried up. 

Alas, I put the basket on the ground to await the next garbage day.  It was nearing the end of the summer and even though the flowers were sure to have several weeks to continue offering beauty, it was a nice basket of flowers for the majority of the summer.  Well, I forgot about the basket of flowers when garbage day came, and it wasn't until the next week that I remembered to head back to the patio to pick up the basket and toss it.  To my surprise, two flowers had, apparently, revived themselves and had two flowers and several buds going.  I was shocked!  So, I hung the basket back up and we are now enjoying the hope that something beautiful can come from something that was so hopeless.  

I will take this reminder with me as I head into the remainder of this year.  Even though so much has gone wrong and so much is not the way it was supposed to be, we can create newness and beauty.  It is possible to move forward when so much seems uncertain.

Top 5 List: Top 5 Colors

Hi everyone it's Kaleigh from Sistercast! If you don't already know who I am, I have a YouTube channel with my sister and we call it Sistercast. Come check us out!  

In my opinion, colors are what make the world beautiful! Colors are important for so many different things! Some things that I do every day where colors are important are arts and crafts, knitting, painting, gymnastics, etc.

Arts and crafts:

Colors are super important when doing arts and crafts, because when doing an image collage (like in the picture), I had to think about what colors would look good together and I had to decide 

how I needed to space the colorful pictures and the simpler pictures.  

Colors are extremely important in painting because when you might be blending colors together to make like a sunset you would need to know the color wheel and warm and cool colors to know which colors would mix well and which colors would not turn out so great. 

Now lets actually get into my top 5 colors! Here is my Top 5 Colors list:

1. Pink

2. Yellow

3. Blue

4. Purple 

5. Green

Pink and yellow are my all time favorite colors because they both give me a happy feeling, like yellow reminds me of the sun and summer. Pink gives me a happy feeling. Yellow and blue also somewhat connected to each other because they both remind me of a summer day. The blue is the bright  sky and the yellow is the amazing sun! Purple is on my top 5 because it reminds me of plants and flowers that are really pretty. The color green made it on my Top 5 list because it reminds me of plants and growth. I also really like to go on hikes with my family in the forest.  

What are your favorite colors and why?  Leave a comment below and check back next week for our Top 5 List!  

Top 5 List: Top 5 Baseball Players

This list challenge of Top 5 Baseball players was given to me by my daughter, and she would not really put parameters around it.  So, I went with my Top 5 Baseball players I would have watched in my lifetime.  So here is the list:  

1.  Greg Maddux

2.  Mark Grace

3.  Dave Winfield

4.  Jack Morris

5.  Anthony Rizzo

It is a tough list to make because as I'm typing I keep thinking Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Mitch Williams, Brett Saberhagen, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammel, Ichiro, Charlie Hough, Tim Wakefield, Will Clark, etc.  It really isn't fair, but that's my list!  Greg Maddux is by far my top pitcher and player.  Even though I saw him lose many games, I always knew the Cubs or Braves had a great chance to win when he was on the mound.  He was a pitcher that didn't rely on the heat, but rather he relied on cunning and outsmarting the hitter with amazing movement.  You rarely saw Maddux shaken on the mound and late in his career, I enjoyed watching him in the dugout mentoring young pitchers.  

Mark Grace and Anthony Rizzo have protected first base at Wrigley field the majority of my time as a Cubs Fan.  They both are amazing at defense and while Grace is an overall better hitter, in my opinion, I like their approach at the plate.  Grace was more about the extra-base hit where Rizzo is more about putting the ball in play with an eye to helping the ball exit the park.  

Dave Winfield was just impressive.  Besides being a great guy with a great attitude, he was an amazing athlete.  Coming out of college in Minnesota he was one of six players to ever be drafted by three major professional sports teams (Minnesota Vikings NFL, Atlanta Hawks NBA, San Diego Padres MLB).  I liked Winfield's presence on the field and his home run hitting power.  He was also aided in longevity in the league because of the designated hitter rule.  Winfield lasted a long time and slowly crept up many statistical record lists.  

Jack Morris was an amazing pitcher.  I will never forget the pitching performance he made in game 7 of the World Series for Minnesota.  He pitched a 10 inning complete game to close it out for the Twins.  He was the kind of pitcher who didn't look for the best ERA or pitching stats.  Morris wanted to put his team in a position to win a game.  It didn't ever seem to matter to him whether it was a 1-0 win or a 11-10 win.  He pitched to keep his team in it.  

So, there you have it!  The first Top 5 in my Top 5 series.  What do you think?  Who are your Top 5 Baseball players?  Do you have some other Top 5 topics you would like me to rank?  Leave a comment.  

The Top 5 Series (Intro)

So, my oldest daughter and I have started to challenge each other by asking random "What's your top five..." questions.  Stay tuned here for our topics and lists with some explanation I'm sure.  If you have a Top 5 list for us to do, post it in the comments.  

Review of Broken Bear by Frankee White and Adam Markiewicz

I enjoy attending small, local comic conventions because it gives me the opportunity to meet and talk with

local authors, artists, and vendors.  I recently had the opportunity to meet with Frankee White, an author from the Chicagoland area, and we talked about his debut graphic novel, Broken Bear.  He very quickly sold me on the book when he told me there were lots of monsters in the story.  I like monsters. 
The story is about a girl, Selm, who is squire to a legendary hero.  As they enter a swamp, Selm becomes tempted to power by a swamp hag.  When Selm takes the bait to a fast rise to power, she discovers that sometimes choices like these, lead to a longer path.  She goes on a fantastical but lonely journey and discovers who she has become.
Frankee White did not disappoint when he said there would be monsters!  There are a lot of monsters both good and bad and some in between.  The story moves along quickly while giving the necessary detail.  The art and story match up well to make for a really solid fantasy read.  This is a fun book that I recommend for any reader who enjoys a good adventure which includes monsters and pretty cool fantasy settings.  And the last page (seen right) sets up what appears to be even more "fun" creatures.  Broken Bear is told by Frankee White and Adam Markiewicz, colors by A.H.G. logo and design by DC Hopkins, cover by Adam Markiewicz with color assists by Melanie Darling.  Broken Bear is published by Caliber Comics. 
I also might note that Frankee White has a comic series, 20 Fists, that issues #2 and 3 are currently on Kickstarter.  Check out 20 Fists, a comic "about fistfights and bad romance" written by White, art by Kat Baumann and lettering by DC Hopkins.