Indiana Jones' retirement

Warning, there be spoilers.

Let's start with a disclaimer: with a slight embarrassment I confess to being a fan of the Indiana Jones movies, so everything I write here should be seen in relation to that. Besides, I've always had a soft spot for Indy and Han Solo. OK, so now you know my dark secrets, let's continue.

Due to spending most of the summer either abroad or in our summer home away from the silver screens it took me this long to go watch the last Indiana Jones. After waiting for at least a decade and after all the disparaging comments I had heard about the movie from those who had already seen it, my hopes were not high. Therefore it was maybe easy to be pleasantly surprised. Not by the twists and turns in the movie, which could be foreseen easily enough, and combined every trick ever seen in the previous three movies put all together - catacombs, waterfalls, pits, skeletons, snakes and other creepy-crawlies, not to mention lots of very bad shooting by the bad guys.

While watching the movie I got the feeling that old friends had just gathered together to have some fun. But in my opinion the movie was quite entertaining, and when you get to the bottom of it, that is what Indiana Jones movies are about (although in the beginning they had managed to put in a few jibes at the present rule of the US). And honestly, folks, if you want to watch a French art film, you don't go to watch Indy, do you?

The best joke of the movie was probably unintentional. :)

The young guy says to Indy : - So you're a teacher?
And Indy replies: - Part time.
So even if you are Indiana Jones, you only get a part time job!

Btw, it was somehow very disturbing that the commie doctor spoke in the voice of Lady Galadriel. Cate Blanchett seems to have certain mannerisms.

I also noticed that there will be a new Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser (who is not half as sexy as Harrison Ford) and Jet Li, coming later this year. Apparently the terracotta army comes alive! This is a must!

Rafting on the river of Hades

Time flies, one week has already gone past. We work from the break of the day until the sunset, except for a four hours break for siesta in the afternoon. My job here is pretty boring to be honest, just augering to get soil samples. When I tried to show more interest, immediately after we came here, I was told (not quite in these exact words, but the message was this) that it is not my work here to think. Oh, great. Can you hear my motivation soaring?

So, instead of thinking, I went rafting on River Acheron today with some people from our field team. As you may or may not know, Acheron is the river of Hades. We managed to avoid the three-headed dog (well, actually he only had one head and looked pretty lame) and were safely back on the shore when I realized Kharon had extracted a payment for the trip, after all: my phone in its presumably water-tight plastic bag was dripping wet. I hope the ferryman will enjoy it as much as I did, in case it does not miraculously return to life.

But in case you try to text me, here is the explanation to why your messages are not getting through.