Posted in Wednesday Warriors

Owen

Hunter. Trainer. Soldier. Owen fulfills the roll of the every-man. He leads by instinct and deals with problems in a way that is reminiscent of Indiana Jones. His only flaw is he cares too much, which leads him into situations that may cost him his life. That is a good thing.

Chris Pratt as Owen in Jurassic World
Chris Pratt as Owen in Jurassic World

Today’s Wednesday Warriors highlight is Owen (Chris Pratt) of Colin Trevorrow‘s movie Jurassic World. Spoiler free.

Years ago, when the idea took hold that science could spawn a dinosaur from DNA preserved in amber, it seemed like the most extraordinary Peter Pan fantasy anyone could ever devise. However, when John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), a rich investor, took the notion a step further and built an island off the coast of Costa Rica, giving birth to the lofty creatures, a dream evolved into reality.

That dream soon became a nightmare once life, in all its primal form, turned against its creator and transformed the island into a feeding ground. The Tyrannosaurus Rex reigned as the dominate beast and the food chain that sat dormant for millions of years awakened. Humanity was no longer at the top of the mountain.

Jurassic World's Owen
Jurassic World’s Owen

In 2015, John Hammond’s dream of a park that would spark the imagination of children everywhere comes to full realization. No longer should anyone fear the dinosaurs running amok among the people. Fences are up. Controls are in place. And millions of dollars pour into the pockets of the park owners. Only this time, there will be no mistakes to jeopardize human life.

This is where Owen makes his appearance. He lives alone, away from any form of civilization, preferring the comfort of jungle life. Rugged. Strong. He’d rather fight with the terrors of a Jurassic jungle than to get into a spat with a woman. At least, he knows he can win a few against prehistoric beasts.

Owen is also the voice of reason. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park’s delegated leader, may have a problem no one else can fix, but Owen knows level-headed decisions are the only way to go when things don’t make sense. In spite of resistance by others, and an overwhelming sense of duty, he doesn’t allow those in positions of authority to influence his natural inclination to get involved. He sees ten steps ahead before it’s too late.

Owen’s only flaw is his inability to step aside. It has nothing to do with courage or being a hero. He simply sees an opportunity to lend aid and can’t prevent himself from jumping in. It’s within his nature to do so, much like it is for carnivores to hunt and kill for food. They can’t help themselves.

And this is how Jurassic World begins—as a place fit for the whole family that soon looks to Owen for help.

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Have you seen Jurassic World? What do you think about the main character Owen?

Posted in Women Who Wow Wednesday

Wyldstyle

I grew up with LEGO. I love LEGO. Can I make it any plainer? Now that I’m older, and maybe somewhat wiser, I play the LEGO video games. Yes, I’ve played them all. The incomplete list includes Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, and Batman. I say incomplete because if I were to list them all, we’d be here all day. Thank me for sparing you the inconvenience of my prattling on to infinity and beyond.

The LEGO Movie's Wyldstyle
The LEGO Movie’s Wyldstyle

All right, enough with the introductions. This week’s Women Who Wow Wednesday focuses on Wyldstyle, the female character extraordinaire featured in The LEGO Movie. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil the movie if you haven’t seen it. Know this, though, I’m a massive LEGO fan, hence, keeping tightlipped about the movie may prove to be a challenge for me. Nevertheless, I will not spoil it. I promise.

Where do I start? It’s an awesome movie. How’s that for a beginning? Really, it’s that good. I dare the skeptics to prove me wrong. The story’s awesome, the characters are awesome and it’s hilariously awesome (you didn’t think I’d pass up another opportunity to use the word awesome again, did you?)

Wyldstyle's funky hairstyle
Wyldstyle’s funky hairstyle

Let’s talk Wyldstyle. Who is she? What does she do? In a quick summary, she’s one of the movie’s lead characters with a funky hairstyle. When I mean funky, I mean two streaks, magenta and cyan running across her bangs that fall just above her right eyebrow, and a cool ponytail dancing from the left side of her head. What’s more? She sports the darkest hair and leathers that would stop a construction worker in mid thought.

Wyldstyle rocks the house
Wyldstyle rocks the house

There’s more to her, a lot more. She sees the potential in a situation without getting excited about it—understatement. Actually, when she finds something that works, she’ll keep at it until she exhausts every available means at her disposal to make things right.

Wyldstyle is headstrong, confident and never minces words whenever she’s in a tight spot with guns blazing overhead. She’s a true friend as well, keeping a confidence and being honest with whomever she meets. If an idea seems bad, she’ll say it’s a bad idea. She doesn’t hold back and she doesn’t hide her feelings like other tough girls. If she sees it, she says it.

Overall, Wyldstyle has her issues, like not following instructions, but if anyone were looking for a best friend, she fits the role to perfection.

If you haven’t caught her at the theater in The LEGO Movie yet, now’s your chance. Have at it and prepare to laugh like never before.

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Have you seen The LEGO Movie yet? What did you think of it and Wyldstyle?

Posted in Women Who Wow Wednesday

Marion Ravenwood

If there were a word to describe the dark-haired beauty Karen Allen played in Raiders of the Lost Ark, it would be feisty. I could have chosen fiery, but fiery gives the connotation she has a temper, something I’d attribute to any Molly Ringwald character from the ‘80s. No, feisty’s more like it. Besides, what better way to add another entry to my Women Who Wow Wednesday series than to feature the feisty love interest of Indiana Jones?

Indiana Jones' Marion
Indiana Jones’ Marion

The first time we meet the character Marion Ravenwood is in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones, the adventurous archeologist, visits her in Nepal. Before he enters the scene, she has her hands full in an all-out drinking game. There must have been at least twenty or thirty shot glasses on her side of the table. Whatever the amount, she easily out drinks this burly beast of a man who passes out as a token to her win.

When Indiana Jones shows up, the smile on her face couldn’t be bigger. Long lost love. Past moments. Regrets. This is how it all went down:

Indiana: Hello, Marion.
Marion: Indiana Jones. I always knew some day you’d come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So, what are you doing here in Nepal?
Indiana: I need one of the pieces your father collected.
[Marion surprises him with a right cross to the jaw]
Marion: I’ve learned to hate you in the last ten years!
Indiana: I never meant to hurt you.
Marion: I was a child. I was in love. It was wrong and you knew it!
Indiana: You knew what you were doing.
Marion: Now I do. This is my place. Get out!

Feisty much? Never one to fold, Marion digs her heels.

Indiana: I can only say I’m sorry so many times.
Marion: Well, say it again anyway!
Indiana: Sorry.

Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood

Unfortunately, her bar goes up in smoke when a firefight breaks out between Indiana and the Nazis looking for the same artifact. Seeking payment for the destruction of her place from her former lover, Indiana becomes her new partner.

From there they travel to Tanis, Egypt where Marion finds herself threatened by a knife-wielding hood, is captured by the Nazis, attempts to escape, gets interrogated, is left for dead in an ancient Egyptian tomb with Indiana, fights a brood of snakes, escapes again (this time with Indy), and manages to thwart the transport of the ark to Cairo by single-handedly commandeering a plane and firing its machine guns on the Nazis. Whew!

This girl never lets up! Marion can find herself in the worst possible scenario, and no matter what, she’ll find a way to make it all better. Nothing seems to throw her in the dumps. She’s a fireball of energy. A spitfire of a maiden. A true-to-form overcomer. If anyone needs help, it’ll be the other guy because she’s the one who’ll cause the trouble.

Indiana Jones, you’ve met your match.

Ever see Raiders of the Lost Ark? What did you think of Marion?

Posted in Freedom Friday

Games I Loved Playing

I’m an avid game player. I thought for Freedom Friday I’d treat you all to some of my favorite games of all time.

Monopoly - The Canadian Edition
Monopoly – The Canadian Edition

When I talk about games, I’m talking about video games. I enjoy playing the good board game with my kids and others, like The Game of Life, Monopoly and chess. But I get personal satisfaction when I vanquish invading Martians attempting to colonize earth in a no holds barred slugfest for my PSP.

Not that there’s anything wrong with loving our family game nights when we play a good round of Risk with ample snacks and drinks to carry us through the night!

Nonetheless, here are my über-favorite video games I’ve played over the course of my life. Maybe you might recognize some, maybe not.

Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64: Doesn’t Mario ever die? You know it’s rather awesome walking into my local Best Buy store and talking with the employees who grew up with Mario. “I love the part where I hit the block over the head and all the coins come out, one after another.” Yeah, it’s those scintillating conversations that make my trip to my nearest retailer something to look forward to. I mean, really. Hasn’t anyone not heard of Mario? I remember playing this game thinking, wow, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this. The game features bright, primary colors. The reds, greens and blues flood the screen, giving the gamer a wonderful and immersive experience. Boy, I wish I had kept the old Nintendo 64 console.

Donkey Kong 64
Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64: This is another one of those Nintendo 64 games that kept me entertained for hours. It belonged to my older son, but I played tons of it late night, into the weekend. I enjoyed racing through the quests and grabbing keys along the way. My favorite part was to change into the various apes to perform feats of wonder and magic (actually, a player couldn’t get to a particular part of the map without transforming into one of the apes with special abilities). This game truly caused me insomnia.

Duke Nukem 3D: How can I describe this game as anything short of “action game crack”? It was the first game that featured a rich 3D environment in a cartoon-like setting. The storyline was over-the-top, the characters—lovable, and Duke’s quotes—hilarious. Here’s one of my favorite lines in any game, ever…

“Time to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I’m all outta gum.”

Duke’s a gun-toting, muscle man is reminiscent of Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator characters. I’ll never forget playing multi-player for the very first time with this game. One of my friends had his place wired with networked computers and we wailed on each other, flying through the levels in hysterics after killing off one of our opponents. Fun times!

SimCity 2000: Well, included in this, is any SimCity game, really. But I can’t tell you how much time I’d wasted building the absolute perfect city. Balancing residential, commercial and industrial zones to achieve that all-so-glorious-and-mighty, top mayor score. I still have screenshots of my cities I’ll peruse occasionally, admiring my handiwork. And of course, being the responsible player I was, I never let hurricanes, floods, tornadoes or alien invasion harm my cities. Or did I?

FIFA 10: I have almost all the FIFA Soccer games. I began playing them on the PC then moved to my PSP. I think FIFA 10 had the right balance between game play, music, aesthetics and sheer fun. I burned through all the tournaments, creating my own player and training him to score at will. I’d gotten so good on the hardest level that I think even the goalies were afraid of my Frankenstein monsters I’d created!

LEGO Batman
LEGO Batman

LEGO Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter: I’ve played them all. Completed each level. Collected all the bonuses. And found all the secrets. These games are awesome. I have yet to play some of the newer titles, but I’m sure I’ll get to them soon. The wonderful part about these games are the puzzles. I loved working through a level a few times to see if I could find every item. Most of all, I adored, yes, adored having the ability to play the various levels as different characters. This is what makes these LEGO games so addictive (not to mention blasting away anything into a big pile of collectable bricks).

Do you have any games you like playing to pass the time? What platform do you use to play your games (ie. phone, tablet, laptop)?