Between the Panels

"Marian! Don't look at it! Keep your eyes shut!"  Now you might be perplexed at this moment and say to yourself, "Mike what on earth are you quoting?" For some of you who are big fans of Indiana Jones , you likely have this very scene running through your brain (I am there with you). This quote is from the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark , a classic movie that everyone should see at least once.  What's happening in this scene is that the Nazi's have found the Ark of the Covenant and are wanting to test it as a super weapon for their use in World War II.  So they decided to open it up, which they find nothing but sand and are left a bit confused.  It's the next part that gets intense, as suddenly spirits are flying out of the Ark and start melting people as well as weird lightning that hops around person to person who is looking at the Ark and zaps them.  Meanwhile, Indie and Marian are strapped to a light as prisoners of the Naz

Big explosions, rapid gun fire in the background, people freaking out as they are being blown away, and the cold resolve of a man on a mission. This was my introduction to Rambo as a young adult and to be honest, I didn't know how to take it all in.  To be fair to the series, I was hopping in the middle of it by watching a later movie rather than starting with the first one (my bad crew...).  The story behind it is great, it is a one man army standing against major injustices that are happening with a whole lot of butts to kick.  How could I not want to watch this kind of film?  Look at Braveheart , 300 , the Taken series, or Gladiator .  In all of these movies are intense fight scenes, but all of them have a point: these are people who are standing against tyranny, evil, and wrong doers that need to be taken out. Back to Rambo though.  As I watched one scene that was hyper focused in intense, detailed justice that Rambo was dishing out to the bad guys, I started to feel a sourne

I have been sitting in the book of Judges, if you haven't noticed from the last two articles, and I found one spot that gave my head a tilt.  You know, that moment you are seeing or reading something that makes you think a little bit extra. Yeah, that's the one! Reading through Judges in a bigger perspective, you see the swirling downward quality in the judges/rescuers of Israel and the shortening of the times of peace that followed after them.  But then you get a rest from it in Judges 13 .  There is this guy Manoah who has a wife that has been unable to have a child, which an angel of the Lord (potentially Jesus popping up in the OT) and says they are going to have a son who is going to be a Nazarite (basically a hardcore devoted person for God living differently than others).  What I love most is the response from Manoah; he simply asks " When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy's life and work? " Judges 13:12 . Did you see that? In

Whether you are a huge fan of LOTR ( Lord of the Rings ) or you have watched the series only once or twice; you will likely remember the character Boromir . Boromir is 1/9 members of a team that are on a quest to take the Ring of Sauron ( The One Ring ) and throw it into Mount Doom, the only place it can be destroyed.  This ring needs to be destroyed because of two reasons: it is the essence of Sauron/the big bad and would be used to bring him back and who ever has the ring or tries to use it gets corrupted, eventually becoming the big bad on a small scale.... In short, this ring is bad news and needs to get wrecked.  Now we bring it back to Boromir.  Boromir has a problem with this plan; his theory is that the ring can be used to fight back the forces of evil that are looking for it .  To be fair to Boromir, his home is on the doorsteps of Mordor which is Sauron's HQ and have been facing wave after wave of baddies trying to break out into the rest of Middle-Earth: he's despe

Do you have a nerdy tradition? A thing that you do each year that is centered around a certain time of year, but focused on nerdy content/context. Our family has a couple of these nerdy traditions.  Every April we watch the Lord of the Rings (due to our annual Walk to Mordor Fundraiser), in May we try to watch through the Star Wars Saga (the main nine + Rogue One), and in November we watch V for Vendetta . Why V for Vendetta? Well it all comes from the little poem that film/comic is in reference to. " Remember, remember the fifth of November. The gun powder, treason, and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot. " In the movie, the character "V" is attempting to wake up Britain from it's own subjugation to parliament overreach and bring back freedom/choice.  He is doing this by destroying key historical structures and eventually blowing up parliament (just as Guy Fawkes attempted to do) all the while wearing the iconic Guy Fawk