Indiana Jones and the sound of the Ringing Tills...

Since "Raiders of the Lost Ark" hit our cinema screens in 1981, Indiana Jones has been a strong and consistent income for Messers Spielberg, Kennedy et al. Furthermore, we the film goer have never been the same...

Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. is a fictional adventurer, OSS agent, professor of archaeology, and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, The Last Crusade in 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992 to 1996, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. Alongside the more widely known films and television programs, novels, comics, video games, and other media also feature the character. Jones is also featured in the theme park attraction Indiana Jones Adventure, which exists in similar forms at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.

Jones is most famously played by Harrison Ford; he has also been portrayed by River Phoenix (as the young Jones in The Last Crusade), and in the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles by Corey Carrier, Sean Patrick Flanery, and George Hall. Doug Lee has supplied Jones's voice to two LucasArts video games, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, while David Esch supplied his voice to Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.

Particularly notable facets of the character include his iconic look (bullwhip, fedora, and leather jacket), sense of humor, deep knowledge of many ancient civilizations and languages, and fear of snakes.

In 2008, Indiana Jones was ranked as the 6th greatest movie character of all time by Empire magazine.

Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, was first introduced in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, set in 1936. He is portrayed as an adventurous throwback to the 1930s film serial treasure hunters and pulp action heroes, with an alter ego of Doctor Jones, a respected archaeologist at Marshall College (named after producer Frank Marshall) - a fictional college in Connecticut. In this first adventure, he is pitted against the Nazis, traveling the world to prevent them from recovering the Ark of the Covenant (see also Biblical archaeology). He is aided by Marion Ravenwood and Sallah. The Nazis are led by Jones's archrival, a Nazi-sympathizing French archaeologist named René Belloq, and Arnold Toht, a sinister Gestapo agent.

The 1984 prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, set in 1935, took the character into a more horror-oriented story, skipping his legitimate teaching job and globe trotting, and taking place almost entirely in India. This time, Jones attempts to recover children and the Sankara Stones from the bloodthirsty Thuggee cult. He is aided by Short Round and hindered by Willy.

The third film, 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, set in 1938, returned to the formula of the original, reintroducing characters such as Sallah and Marcus Brody, a scene from Professor Jones's classroom (he now teaches at Barnett College), the globe trotting element of multiple locations, and the return of the infamous Nazi mystics, this time trying to find the Holy Grail. The film's introduction, set in 1912, provided some back story to the character, specifically the origin of his fear of snakes, his use of a bullwhip, the scar on his chin, and his hat; the film's epilogue also reveals that "Indiana" is not Jones's first name, but a nickname he took from the family dog. The film was a buddy movie of sorts, teaming Jones with his father, often to comical effect. Although Lucas intended at the time to do five films, this ended up being the last for over eighteen years, as Lucas could not think of a good plot element to drive the next installment.

The 2008 film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, became the latest film in the series. Set in 1957, 19 years after the third film, it pits an older, wiser Indiana Jones against Soviet agents bent on harnessing the power of a crystal skull discovered in South America by his former colleague Harold Oxley (John Hurt). He is aided in his adventure by an old lover, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), and her son—a young greaser named Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), later revealed to be his biological child Henry Jones III. There are rumors that LaBeouf will take over the Indy franchise. This film also reveals that Jones was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (a predecessor department to the CIA) during World War II, attaining the rank of Colonel and running covert operations with MI6 agent George McHale on the Soviet Union.

From 1992 to 1996, George Lucas executive produced a television series named The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which was designed as an educational program for children, spotlighting historical figures and important events, using the concept of a prequel to the films as a draw. The show featured a standard formula of a 93-year-old Jones (George Hall), wearing an eye patch, introducing a story, and then an adventure with either a 17-year-old Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) or a 10-year-old Jones (Corey Carrier), and even a baby Indy (Neil Boulane). Historical figures featured on the show include Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Leo Tolstoy, Pancho Villa, Charles de Gaulle, Elliot Ness, Ernest Hemingway, Patrick Pearse and John Ford, in such diverse locations as Egypt, Austria-Hungary, India, China, and the whole of Europe.

One episode, "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues", is bookended by Harrison Ford, reprising his role as the character. Indiana loses one of his eyes sometime between 1957 and when the "Old Indy" segments take place.

The show provided some backstory for the films, as well as new information regarding the character. He was born July 1, 1899, and his middle name is Walton (Lucas's middle name). It is also mentioned that he had a sister called Suzie who died as an infant of fever, and that he eventually has a daughter and grandchildren who appear in some episode introductions and epilogues. His relationship with his father, first introduced in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was further fleshed out with stories about his travels with his father as a young boy. A large portion of the series centered around his activities during World War I.

In 1999, Lucas removed the episode introductions and epilogues by George Hall for the VHS and DVD releases, as he re-edited the episodes into chronologically ordered feature-length stories. The series title was also changed to The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.

Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile

Romancing the Stone is a 1984 American action-adventure romantic comedy. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The film was followed by a 1985 sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. The film was a respectable hit and earned over $86,572,238 worldwide in box-office receipts and an additional $36 million in video rentals. This film also helped launch Turner to stardom, reintroduced Douglas to the public as a capable leading man, and gave Zemeckis his first box-office success



The Jewel of the Nile is a 1985 romantic adventure film, and a sequel to the 1984 film Romancing the Stone, with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito reprising their roles. Directed by Lewis Teague, the film sends its characters off on a new adventure in a fictional Middle Eastern desert, in an effort to find the precious "Jewel of the Nile."

Filming locations included Veracruz, Mexico (Fort of San Juan de Ulúa), Mazatlan, Mexico and Manila, Philippines. The scene where Turner and Douglas get separated on opposite banks on a whitewater river about 2/3rds into the movie was filmed on the Rio Antigua near the town of Jalcomulco.

This was the first Zemeckis film to feature a music score by composer Alan Silvestri; Silvestri has scored each subsequent film Zemeckis has directed. The novelization of this film was credited to Joan Wilder.

Although, upon its release, comparisons to Raiders of the Lost Ark were inevitable (Time magazine called the movie "a distaff Raiders rip-off"), the screenplay for Romancing had actually been written five years earlier. It was written by a Malibu waitress named Diane Thomas in what would end up being her only screenplay; she died in a car crash shortly after the film's release. Though Thomas received solo writing credit, several uncredited script doctors helped to refine the film's screenplay.

Turner later said of the film's production, "I remember terrible arguments [with Robert Zemeckis] doing Romancing. He's a film-school grad, fascinated by cameras and effects. I never felt that he knew what I was having to do to adjust my acting to some of his damn cameras--sometimes he puts you in ridiculous postures. I'd say, 'This is not helping me! This is not the way I like to work, thank you!'" Despite their difficulties on the film, Zemeckis would go on to work with Turner again, casting her as the voice of Jessica Rabbit in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Studio insiders expected Romancing the Stone to flop (to the point that, after viewing a rough cut of the film, the producers of the then-in-the-works Cocoon fired Zemeckis as director of that film), but the film became a surprise hit. In fact, it ended up being 20th Century Fox's "only big hit" in 1984. Zemeckis later stated that the success of Romancing the Stone allowed him to make Back to the Future. The film's success also led to a sequel, 1985's The Jewel of the Nile, without Zemeckis at the helm but with Douglas, Turner and DeVito all returning. Though it performed respectably, its success didn't match that of the original. A second sequel called Crimson Eagle was planned but never got past the development stage. Another film, The War of the Roses, again reunited Douglas, Turner and DeVito

• Michael Douglas as Jack Colton
• Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder
• Danny DeVito as Ralph

Jason Bourne...

Jason Charles Bourne (real name David Webb) is a fictional character in the novels of Robert Ludlum and subsequent film adaptations. He first appeared in the novel The Bourne Identity (1980). This novel was first adapted for television in 1988, and then adapted on film in 2002 under a title of the same name.

The character has been in seven sequel novels (the last four of which are written by Eric Van Lustbader with another novel due to release in 2010). Along with the first feature film, The Bourne Identity (2002), Jason Bourne also appears in two sequel movies The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Actor Matt Damon stated in November 2009 that no script had been approved (for a fourth film) and that he hoped that a film would begin shooting in mid-2011. The next month however, he said that he would not do another Bourne film without Paul Greengrass, who announced in late November that he had decided not to return as director.

In the recent films, the character of Jason Bourne, portrayed by Matt Damon, is a much simpler character than the one described in the novels. The background story omits the Vietnam War and the character of Carlos the Jackal.

In the film, Bourne was born in Nixa, Missouri. He joined the Army, eventually volunteering for Special Forces, becoming a Green Beret and attaining the rank of Captain. His dog tags identified him as being Catholic. It was here that he was offered the opportunity to volunteer for Operation Treadstone, under which he endured behavioral modification, involving sleep deprivation, repeated submerging in water, gagging and binding. His final test was to kill a man, after which he was informed that his transformation into Jason Bourne was complete. He initially refused to shoot the unknown man, but after persuasion he capitulated and killed the subject.

Bourne was highly trained in the CIA's protocols and trade crafts. His skills include expertise in hand-to-hand combat, firearms, knives, and explosives, handling numerous vehicles, and speaking fluent English, French, Russian, German, and Spanish. He may also speak Arabic, Dutch and Hungarian. Although he has never shown speaking Portuguese, he holds a Brazilian passport as Gilberto do Piento and a Portuguese passport.

Once his training was complete, Bourne was deployed as a covert assassin. He completed his missions mechanically, without knowledge of his subjects' identity or the crimes they had allegedly committed. On a job in France, he had a sudden attack of conscience when he saw his target in the company of his children. Bourne aborted his mission, and was shot in the back twice while attempting to escape. He awakens with his memory gone.

The character of Bourne in the films is a very quick-thinking, linear type of person who moves quickly and brutally towards his goal. He gives the impression of someone who has been severely traumatized and who is suffering from paranoia. He is tormented by fragment memories of his past. He is highly adept at hand-to-hand combat. He also shows an immediate ability to utilize lateral thinking to solve problems. He sometimes uses improvised weapons, for example using a pen to stab an assassin in The Bourne Identity and using a book and a towel in The Bourne Ultimatum. He is shown using tactical improvisation such as using a fan, torch light and tape to fake his location (The Bourne Ultimatum) and gas, a toaster and a magazine to cause an explosion (Bourne Supremacy). He is also proficient with firearms, explosives, electronics and evasive protocols — for moving, driving, and the like.

The Bourne franchise consists of several novels, movies, and a video game, all featuring one of the several versions of the Jason Bourne character.

• Novels:
  • The Bourne Identity (1980)
  • The Bourne Supremacy (1986)
  • The Bourne Ultimatum (1990)
  • The Bourne Legacy (2004)
  • The Bourne Betrayal (2007)
  • The Bourne Sanction (2008)
  • The Bourne Deception (2009)
  • The Bourne Objective (2010)
  • The Bourne Reality (2011)
• Movies:
  • The Bourne Identity (1988 TV film)
  • The Bourne Identity (2002)
  • The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
  • The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
  • Untitled Jason Bourne Project (TBA)

The Back to the Future Trilogy

Back to the Future is a comedic science fiction film series written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by Zemeckis, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The plot follows the adventures of high school student Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and scientist Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) as they use a modified DeLorean automobile to time travel to different periods in the history of Hill Valley, California.

The first film was the highest grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films which were filmed back-to-back and released in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Though the two sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular after nearly a quarter century and has yielded such spin-offs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios Theme Parks in Universal City, California (now closed); Orlando, Florida (now closed), and Osaka, Japan. The film's visual effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic. All together, the trilogy was nominated for five Academy Awards, one of which (Best Sound Editing) was won.

• Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, Marty McFly, Jr. (son of Marty), Marlene McFly (daughter of Marty), and Seamus McFly (great-great-grandfather of Marty).
• Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown
• Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen, Griff Tannen, and Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen
• Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines and Maggie McFly
• James Tolkan as Mr. Strickland and Chief Marshal James Strickland
• Claudia Wells and Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker
• Crispin Glover and Jeffrey Weissman as George McFly
• Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton

Back to the Future

17-year-old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955 in a time machine built from a DeLorean by eccentric scientist Emmett L. Brown, also known as "Doc". Upon arriving in 1955, Marty inadvertently causes his mother (Lorraine McFly) to fall in love with him, rather than with his father (George McFly). This begins to cause what Doc Brown later describes as a paradox that would cause Marty to disappear from existence. To make matters worse, Marty did not bring back any additional plutonium to power the time machine, so he must find the 1955 version of Doc Brown to help him reunite his parents and return to 1985. Biff Tannen, the antagonist, further complicates Marty's efforts to return to an unaltered 1985. Marty successfully causes his parents to fall in love and simultaneously ruins the future of Biff Tannen, who in the end is an auto detailer instead of George McFly's boss. Marty learns in the end that his family situation has improved because of the way his parents' relationship was changed by his intervention in the past. However, in the film's final moments Doc Brown and the DeLorean appear and Doc tells Marty that he has returned from the future, and that Marty must come back to the future with him.

Back to the Future Part II

Doc Brown travels with Marty to the year 2015 where he has discovered Marty's family is in ruins. Marty buys a sports almanac containing the outcomes of 50 years worth (1950–2000) of sporting events. However, Doc catches him and throws the almanac in the trash, where the aged Biff Tannen finds it. While Marty and Doc are at Marty's future house, Old Biff steals the DeLorean time machine and gives the book to himself just before he goes to the dance at the end of the first movie. When Doc and Marty return to 1985, they find that Biff has used the almanac's knowledge for financial gain, which allows him to turn Courthouse Square into a 27 story casino, "own" Hill Valley, get away with the murder of Marty's father, and later marry Marty's mother. Marty learns that Biff was given the book by old Biff on November 12, 1955, so he and Doc go back to that date in order to steal the almanac from Biff before he can use it to destroy their lives. They accomplish this in a complex fashion, often crossing their own past-selves' paths. When the duo are about to travel back to 1985, a lightning bolt strikes the DeLorean and scrambles the time circuits, sending Doc back to 1885 and leaving Marty stranded in 1955.

Back to the Future Part III

After finding out that Doc Brown is trapped in 1885, Marty sets out to find the 1955 Doc to help him fix the DeLorean (which has been waiting for him in a mineshaft for 70 years) and restore it to working order. Learning that Doc gets shot in 1885, Marty travels back in time to save Doc (who becomes a blacksmith) and bring him back to the future. Unfortunately, Marty rips a hole in the fuel line, rendering the DeLorean immobile. Furthermore, Doc falls in love with schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and considers staying in 1885. Marty must convince Doc to come back with him and find a way to get back to his time before it's too late. After several dramatic action scenes involving a speeding locomotive, Marty returns to 1985 in the restored DeLorean. It appears on a train track as planned, and Marty jumps out just in time to see the DeLorean time machine destroyed by a modern train. He worries that Doc has been lost in the past forever, when suddenly Doc Brown appears in a new time machine, modeled after a locomotive. He introduces Marty to Clara (to whom he is now married) and his two sons, Jules and Verne. When Marty asks if Doc and his family are going to the future, Doc replies that he's already been to the future. The locomotive flies across the sky and disappears, and the trilogy ends.

The Office Prequel Mixtape (2009)

Jonah Sorrentino, better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from the United States. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac," a name which he later described in one of his podcasts as "horribly cheesy." "52" (which is pronounced "five two", not fifty two) is a reference to the Biblical story of Jesus feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish. He was awarded the Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year for "Never Look Away" and Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards of 2007. On July 28, 2009, KJ-52 released "End of My Rope," which is the first single for his album "Five-Two Television."

In 2002, Sorrentino released his second album, Collaborations. The album's title referred to the numerous contributions made to the album by guest artists, including Ill Harmonics, Pillar, John Reuben and Thousand Foot Krutch. Collaborations also represented his first nomination for a Dove Award, for "Rap/Hip Hop/Dance Album of the Year" in 2003.

KJ-52 has won four Dove Awards, three in the "Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year" category. He took the 2004 award for It’s Pronounced Five Two, the 2006 award for Behind the Musik, and the 2007 award for Remixed. He received an additional honor in 2007, for "Never Look Away" from Behind the Musik, in the "Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song" category. KJ never tried out for American Idol, but suggested such in his song "Fivetweezy".

On October 2008, he released his album, The Yearbook: The Missing Pages, a re-release of his album, The Yearbook. It comes with the original record with a slip over cover that has a code to download the 13 songs.

2009 Dove Awards Another productive year for KJ-52 as he was awarded with RAP/HIP HOP RECORDED SONG of the year for “Do Yo Thang”; The Yearbook; KJ-52; Jonah Sorrentino; BEC Recordings/Uprok

1. The Office (Intro)
2. Welcome Back (Interlude)
3. Keep On (Freeverse)
4. Monday Night Football (Interlude)
5. Flava In Ya Ear (Freeverse)
6. Sermon On The Mic (Freeverse)
7. Wack Emcees (Song)
8. Shut Ya Mouth (Freeverse)
9. Michael Scott Rap (Interlude)
10. Roc Boyz (Freeverse)
11. Grinding (Freeverse)
12. Pass That Mic (Song)

General Motors Sequel

The Sequel is a hydrogen fuel cell-powered concept car and sport utility vehicle from General Motors, employing the latest generation of HydroGen3 technology developed by Opel. The Sequel uses a drive-by-wire system. It has a range of 300 miles, and its only emission is water. It debuted at the 2005 North American International Auto Show and was shown at the 75th international car show in Geneva, Switzerland. GM chief and chief executive Rick Wagoner suggested it will be over a decade before it goes into production.

GM announced September 11, 2006 that their Sequel all-wheel drive fuel-cell vehicle will be a Chevrolet. The next-generation hydrogen car was unveiled at the Detroit auto show in 2005 and at that time was called the “GM Sequel;” the redesigned version of the crossover was unveiled by Larry Burns, GM’s vice president in charge of R&D and product planning.

This vehicle can accelerate 0-60 mph in less than ten seconds. Additionally, it provides a high level of control on bumpy terrain, snow, and ice. Increased torque and quicker deceleration when braking are additional benefits of some of the new technologies used in the Sequel.

A new challenge...

I've just agreed to 'ghost write' the David Wilson blog for my old school mate, Dave 'Snooks' Wilson. The URL is http://thedavidwilson.blogspot.com/ and although I have a free hand in what I report, I have been given strict boundaries including a must inclusion of Aston Villa at least once a week. As we, along with Phil Finney and Richard (1099) Phillips were the only Villa fans in our year at school, then that shouldn't be too hard.

in reference to: Bob De Bilde (view on Google Sidewiki)