I had to share these two pictures. They’re quite possibly my favorites from the past few days.

In the midst of all the jubilant rejoicing over Flannery, I also have to make sure that I continue to bring you guys the random cool stuff that makes life worth the living. For today’s installment, we’ve got the first of three commercial spots that HM Magazine recently shot with Endeavor Media. As a quick aside, you’d be doing yourself a favor to check out the work that Endeavor has done. They’ve got some truly sweet videos on their collective resume. Anyway, these spots feature HM Magazine being enjoyed by Oderus Urungus of GWAR. What a great guy. Of course, I’m slightly biased given that I’ve read and loved HM for years (and I’ve recently started contributing to them on an irregular basis). But hopefully you’ll find this good for a chuckle or two. I sure did.

Check it out! Pics of our baby…

Flannery Caroline Hunt burst onto the scene at 12:27am this Saturday morning! April ended up having to get a C-section, after two days of contractions and hard labor. Mom and baby are doing great, resting and relaxing after all of their tough work.

Flannery weighed in at 8lbs, 11oz and measured 21 inches long. A hefty kid! She absolutely beautiful, thankfully taking after my better half. We’ve snapped a ton of pictures and some video, which I’ll upload later after getting some rest. For now, we’re just thrilled and overjoyed to have our little girl with us.

What up party people? Here’s the latest from the womb of April. After the doctor’s appointment today, we’re scheduled to go to the hospital tomorrow afternoon. She’ll be admitted then and they’ll start the induction process. That probably means Flannery won’t be born until Thursday or Friday (depending on how long her labor lasts once it starts).

And that’s about it! We can’t wait for her to get here and it’s just a few days now. We’ll keep you all posted on any further news.

Ah, Indiana Jones. Purveyor of relics, searcher of awesome old stuff, archaeologist extraordinaire…divider of friends and destroyer of souls? Apparently so.

As most people are well aware, the latest adventure of Henry Jones, Jr. (in and around a kingdom of crystal skulls) is now in theatres after a 19-year disappearance. The fan world has been abuzz with hype and expectation, wondering if Indy can bring the awesome like he did in the past. I finally had a chance to see the film last Friday night…and I loved it.

Now I’ve seen a lot of films lately that I dig (old and new), but I felt I had to speak up about this one, simply because I’ve seen so many people, including my fellow film/comic/music geek Nathan Rouse, absolutely disparage Indy 4. Fair warning…from here out, I’m going to be discussing various plot points and elements of this movie…so if you haven’t seen it yet, leave now!

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Okay? All those people gone?

All right. Here’s my question for the people who hated it. What’s the big deal? Almost every negative review that I’ve seen talks about the unbelievable nature of this film or the cheese-factor being too much to handle. Did the 19 years cause amnesia in everyone? We are talking about the same film series that featured a magical box of face-vaporizing ghosts, heart removal without surgical tools and a wooden cup that heals bullet wounds, right? How about that part where Indy and crew dove out of crashing plane in an inflatable raft that somehow managed to remain upright enough to land on a snow-covered mountain, tube down said mountain and then head straight into whitewater rapids in India? And did I mention that no one died? Or how about that train of zoo animals, including that car of nothing but snakes?

Yeah, I guess the negative nancies are right. A crystal skull, aliens and a UFO are completely out of the realm of Indiana Jones. That’s just taking it too far Spielberg and Lucas.

See here’s the thing: I think for a lot of folks, this bad boy was just too hyped beyond comprehension. Expectations were so high, there was no way this could meet people’s hopes. That and the fact that, for most of my friends, we were all kids (or early teens) when the first three came out. We were different people and we saw the world through different eyes. The whole character of Indy is an amalgam of serial heroes, James Bond and other miscellaneous adventurers. Obviously we’re going to perceive a guy like that in a different way now than when we were kids (especially in a world of Jason Bournes and X-File agents).

Not only that, but Dr. Jones is in a different place in his life. Fortunately, the filmmakers didn’t try to wedge this in too soon after The Last Crusade. They placed this story in the late 50’s and in some ways, Indy himself doesn’t fit in this world. We’re used to a young, robust guy, kickin’ ass and taking names. That happens here too, but there’s a weariness to him…and a bit of awkwardness. This is a new world, filled with Cold War fears, atom bombs and sock hops (well, sorta). It makes sense that Indiana would be a bit of an anachronism. There’s actually a very poignant quote from the dean of his college: “We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away.” Indy is now stepping into the role that his dad played in Crusade.

So here’s ultimately what I think about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: It’s a blast. It’s a fun ride through the Indy universe once again. You’ve got the globe-trotting, the witty retorts, sweet action scenes and brushes with the supernatural. Oh and if you’re still hung up on the jungle swinging scene, get over it. Yeah, it’s cheesy and rather stupid, but Spielberg and Lucas are legends of the homage. Shia’s Mutt character tips his hat to Marlon Brando, Errol Flynn and Johnny Weissmüller…all in one film. Not to mention the self-referential scene at the beginning of the movie. American Graffiti anyone? It’s what these guys do. They’re lovers of the medium and this one is an ode to the 50’s b-movie/early sci-fi flicks.

And there you have it. The reasons why Doctor Jones still rocks. If you can’t wrap your head around it, that’s cool. Charlie Kaufman and the Coens have new movies out later this year. Take the summer off from film and wait for them. I’m sure they’ll be awesome for you.

Ah Weezer…how good of you to show up and make this month awesome.

So Flannery Caroline has not shown up yet, despite her mother’s best pleadings. Apparently we’ve already got a stubborn kid on our hands. I was one buttheaded boy growing up, so it’s only just that God should return the favor in kind.

At any rate, Babywatch ‘08 continues with great anticipation. Hurry up little girl! We can’t wait to kiss and hold and love and rock out with you!

What a great commercial. Love it.

One of the best things about my job is that I am surrounded by a bunch of amazing people. My coworkers are an awesome and hilarious bunch. Our lunch conversations often leave me in stitches…and today was no different. We’re not all the same age in our department, but our ages and media knowledge are close enough that we all usually stumbled across the same stuff at different points in our lives. We somehow got on the topic of old Christian children’s entertainment. Psalty the Songbook, Superbook, Patch the Pirate…the list goes on. I tracked down a bunch of clips and shared them with the group. I figured some of the House readers might get a kick out of this peek into my childhood.

First up, here’s a Psalty video. I remember listening to this song constantly on a tape, but this is first time I’ve seen it on video. Something about a dog with giraffe appendages is slightly disconcerting.

Next, we travel to the magical place where Jesus and anime meet. Yes, I’m talking about that awesome amalgam, Superbook. I loved this show growing up…though at the time I had no idea what anime was and I wondered constantly about why all the characters had no noses and mouths that were either coin slots or massive chasms of teeth.

I’m not sure if Patch the Pirate ever did any TV shows or videos, but I had a ton of his tapes and a record or two (Patch the Pirate Goes to Space!!!). So this is one of Ron Hamilton, the man behind the Patch, singing one of his songs.

Remember McGee and Me? I sure do. I loved this junk. So much fun…

Anyone ever watch Davey and Goliath? I thought this was the jam back in the day. Gotta love stop-motion animation.

Finally, here’s a random clip from The Wiz. We watched this on laserdisc constantly when I was going up. I loved it then. I love it now. No apologies. Oh for the days when Michael Jackson had a nose and was still black.

PS: I looked high and low for another show that I watched growing up, but I couldn’t find any clips anywhere. You guys remember The Gospel Bill Show? Another terrific bit of nostalgia for me. And here’s a fun fact: April’s youth pastor (and the pastor who married us) is now the Associate Pastor at Church On The Move, Willie George’s (Gospel Bill himself) massive church out in Tulsa, OK. Small world, eh?