Memories

As excited as I was to see Indiana Jones 4, I was also equally worried. Even though I knew it wasn't some cheap remake handed on to another director, it still had that "no matter how hard you try, I'm gonna be compared to your childhood memories" attitude floating about it.

It's kind of like when something is real good and has the potential to continue to be so. And yeah, you might take your chances and go for more, but there's always the looming possibility of ruining anything additional plus whatever came before. My most recent experience of similar relation is gambling at the casino. My most relevant experience is a childhood memory, and I think it relates to my overall consensus of Indy 4.

When I was ten years old (maybe younger) I remember going to the pet store to pick out a fish for our new aquarium. "Wow," I remember thinking-- "I get to have my very own fish!" I was initially excited about this new prospect, because hey, getting any fish you wanted was pretty cool. The excitement of this is similar to seeing the first Indiana Jones many years ago. I was thrilled.

So my mom took me to the pet store and looked for a fish. To my dismay, I had trouble finding a fish. Time was running out and I began to worry-- if I left without a fish, the whole day would suck. But then I saw it: an underwater lizard (a newt). It was in my allowance price range and it would fit inside the aquarium at home. The idea of buying a newt totally kicked the ass of the idea of buying a fish. So, I bought the newt. This is the second Indiana Jones movie in my mind.

Of course, my brother was with me as well. He was initially set on getting a fish, but not to be outdone, he got a newt as well. In fact, he picked one that was twice as big as mine. I had no problem with this, in fact I was even more excited. When I'm happy and everyone else is happy, my overall mood is heightened. I guess it could be described in an equation:

My Overall Happiness = (My Initial Happiness) x (Anyone Else's Happiness)

But back to the point. Basically, this happiness is the third Indiana Jones movie, which is my favorite of the four. After getting home, my brother and I put our newts in our own tanks and called it a day. Boy, was that awesome.

A week later my brother had a particularly awesome idea. He said we should put the newts in the same tank so they could hang out together. At first I was skeptical, but I gave in. Maybe they'd be friends. That'd be really cool.

So we brought my brothers newt from his tank over to my tank and plopped him in. My brother's newt, who was twice as big as mine, proceeded to waddle over to my newt and bite him across the midsection, paralyzing and eventually killing him. This was Indiana Jones 4 for me.

Now, proportionally, this doesn't reflect upon my disappointment of the fourth movie. It's just the sort of feeling I got after watching it. I grew up enjoying Indiana Jones, creating adventure scenarios in my backyard with friends, going on hikes to discover new areas, etc. I just couldn't relive it again after the fourth. It tried too hard to be too much, and as I remember, if you try too hard to squeeze the last bit of enjoyment out of something you might end up with a dead newt. Or a ridiculous receipt for a $13 movie, $5 coke, and a bruise on a childhood memory. But that's life, and I'm cool with that.

'Roo Nights

Pictures and Words

Prior to arriving in Australia, I was pretty excited about seeing a kangaroo. In fact, I'm not sure I'd even seen one of these marsupials in person before coming here. I eventually saw one at the zoo (previous post) but at that point I had no idea I'd be eating them—especially on a weekly basis with a side salad, mashed potatoes and a pot of beer. All for a low price of $10. With all things considered, I'm probably actually making money by eating 'roo every Monday night. And I haven't even mentioned how delicious it is.

I took my camera on this trip for a few reasons. Firstly, after this week's trip to the Croft Institute, Dro awoke my inner paparazzi by taking tons of photos (which is for the best, since I just realized how little time I have left here and how much there is to photograph). Another reason for me to bring the Powershot was the fact that I feel that this weekly trip is going to be one of those memories that stays with me. I mean, after I'm back home for a couple of years, I can always reflect back on my time abroad with Pete, Meg, Matt, Brian, Dro, Courtney, Lamya, Joe, Tom, and whoever else has joined us for these dinners and say, "remember that time we ate kangaroo?"

Interestingly, the whole concept of eating kangaroo in Australia is relatively new. Apparently, it's only recently been popularized by restaurants and food establishments over the past decade, so there are quite a few Australians who find it strange to eat the meat. Me, being a naive American, find little (if anything) wrong with eating it. It's damn delicious. However, the reason for consumption is not actually because the steaks complement mashed potatoes, salad (and now carrots!) so well-- instead, it's because the bouncy little guys have become a pest (i.e. knocking down fences on farms, eating crops, etc.). So, we're actually doing Australia a favor by eating them.

But I do understand why some Australians may find this absurd. Imagine one day, back at home, the government was like "damn, we're really having an issue with squirrel overpopulation." So yeah, you see where I'm going with this. Maybe the Australians would be the ones who find squirrel steaks delicious, who knows.