Happy Birthday Indiana Jones

I was just a little kid when I first saw "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark". But I absolutely loved the series and this may have been where I developed my love of all things 30s and 40s related.

The idea that a teacher, a professor no less, could jet off to places hot and sandy and dig up ancient artifacts really impressed me. I used to think most of my teachers just magically appeared at school or slept there. Either way seemed plausible because I never saw them outside of school. Besides, that would be kind of, weird.

But Dr. Jones was the first teacher I thought was cool. I have to say though, if I had to pick between Han Solo and Indiana Jones I don't know if I could do it. I mean, Han's got awesome ship and a Wookie for a friend. But, the ship needs some work and Chewie's a little hot-headed.

On the other hand, Indy goes on some cool adventures to exotic locations that always seem to involve secret passageways and hidden rooms. But he's also constantly running, fighting, punching and bleeding on Nazis and those secret passageways seem to involve booby traps more often then not.

On the whole though, I think I'd take Indy over Han and Darth Vader. That man has scary powers. As well, I don't have to worry about the oxygen being sucked out of a room and my blood boiling due to the vacuum of space.

My reason for this post is that it's Harrison Ford's birthday today. And while I'm a little worried about the fact that an Indiana Jones 4 is being made with Harrison participating at the ripe age of 65 (the man's just officially become a senior!) I hoep that this movie is good.

Now I have nothing against 65 year olds. Mr. Ford probably has another 30-40 years to look forward to. But I can't see him running around with his bullwhip, discovering ancient artifacts and committing general tomfoolery at that age. At the same time, I don't know if Shia LaBeouf, playing his son, will be able to, as they say, "carry the day". There's a certain expectation that comes with this movie that I desperately want it to meet. So here's to hoping it all works out and a Happy Birthday shoutout to Mr. Ford. Don't let me down.