When “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was first released, I was still in grade school. I remember sitting in the back seat of my mother’s old (yes, even old by that day’s standards) Volkswagen Rabbit and being told that while she and Dad would be seeing the new movie in theaters, my brothers and I would not. I guess there were scenes which might have frightened us – like when Toht’s face melts away and Belloq explodes when they open the Ark. Yeah, that was kinda spooky.

I do believe I was given permission to watch Raiders when it ran on television (under adult supervision, of course). Certainly, I had seen the first Indiana Jones movie before the second one (“Temple of Doom”) came out of Hollywood. A group of boys from school and I went to see it together with my mom acting as chaperone. Can’t say I was all that impressed with the Indy sequel, though. There were certainly a few exciting parts – like the white-knuckle mine cart chase – but I wouldn’t say that it’d be my type of adventure movie. The corresponding MAD Magazine parody (“Inbanana Jones”) was funny, though.

Then, there was “The Last Crusade.” I wound up seeing this in theaters a few times, actually – it was easily my favorite of the three Indiana Jones movies that had been produced to that point. I enjoyed the score, the characters, the plot, and the mythology. It was a bit depressing to think that this would be the last time I’d know anything of Indiana Jones on screen.

I did catch a good part of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles when it ran on television (but don’t remember seeing every episode in the series). To me, Harrison Ford was Indiana Jones – young or old. And older he certainly is in “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

Ancient astronaut theories continue to tickle the imagination – and though the Skull plot would seem far fetched for some, I was one of the few who liked it. The Indiana Jones characters seem to live in a parallel universe, anyway – their history unfolds much like ours, but who can say whether or not this piece of their history is closer to our truth? The Nazca Lines exist, the Mitchell-Hedges skull exists, and we certainly did nuclear testing in the southwest.

Well, let’s hope that LEGO exists in Indiana Jones’s universe, too (even if his own brick likeness does not):

Thanks for taking a small bite out of my Amazon wish list! Later, I happened to receive a rather stark (no gun, no whip) Indiana Jones, Mutt, and an Irina Spalko minifig – though recording a separate video for them seemed to be a bit odd after I did this one.

At least I can say I’ve held a crystal skull… made of plastic!

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of LEGO Minifigs

Decided to ride around Ohau with my new friend, the ReThink Bunny. We had tons of fun with other Twitter friends – including @alohayaling, @alohabruce, @elliottng, @mikeprasad, @rickyli99, @dodeja, and @kaiserkuo (a Chinese rock star)!

Our first stop? Food! I loved the haupia – which was a jelly cube comprised of rice and coconut. They had to cut me off. Apparently, if you eat too much of it, you’ll not be able to walk for two weeks.

Our next stop? The Pali. None of us would be here if it weren’t for the fantastic [re]Think Hawaii conference. I certainly wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for an amazing travel deal through Hawaii Vacations (who put me up at the Outrigger Hotel).

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We drove around Oahu in style – in a limo, courtesy of @alohabruce!

Adventures in Hawaii