So it’s only been 40 years…
Any Star Wars fan, and I am not just any ordinary Star Wars fan, would only need to take a glimpse at my Darth Vader shrine in my office at school to know that I am hardcore. As a child of the 80s, I saw Star Wars 4 times in the theater. My mother was willing to do that as she was (is) a tremendously patient woman. I digress.
The first 3 Star Wars movies, 4,5, and 6, came out in 1977, 1981, and 1984, respectively. Spaceballs came out in 1987 and was truly one of the great parodies of its day. I can still quote lots of part of that movie.
Mel Brooks is right out of a Monty Python movie, and his humor is just as good. He does absurdist as well as anyone. I watched an interview he did, and he is looking pretty old, but his comedic mind is still rocking. He is not trying to reinvent anything; he is just leaning hard into absurdity, meta jokes, and franchise satire. ( I am making these assumptions based on the trailer madness.) It seems very on-brand for Mel Brooks, and honestly, that is the best thing about it. The tone feels so very right.
The teaser trailer just works. The meta humor is sharp as ever: The whole
“non-prequel non-reboot sequel” joke is just telling us that Mel and company see how truly ridiculous Hollywood is right now. Parody needs awareness to land.
The target has been updated - it doesn’t look like it is just repeating old jokes. The original mocked the Star Wars universe. This movie looks like it is going after cinematic universes and all of the cash-grab reboots we are inundated with. The formula is exactly how a sequel survives — all new targets, but the same snarky spirit.
Rick Moranis's coming back lends a whole lot of credibility to the movie. Moranis was making movies at a decent clip in the late 80s, but his wife died, and he stepped away from Hollywood to parent his children. He wanted to be totally present for them. In my mind, this makes him a really honorable man. So, it is not just nostalgia; his return after decades away is a huge emotional hook.
There are some worries. The trailer feels like a concept, not proof that this movie works. A lot of comedies can nail the premise in a 2-minute trailer, but are unable to sustain that vibe for 90 minutes.
I think parodies are also much harder now. Parodying Star Wars in 1987 felt fresh. Now? In the age of social media, everyone is just so damn aware. Hell, Marvel has already made fun of themselves in their own movies, so the bar to really make a parody that is fresh and resonant is far, far higher.
I hope that it does not lean too hard on the nostalgia that I am feeling while writing this post. It’s a fine line between something that is “for fans“ and “only works if you’re already a fan.” If it does not hit with the same verve as 1987, it will be seen as more of a relic than a revival.
Final thoughts? The vibe I am getting is that this is a love letter to all of Mel Brooks’ fans, especially those of Spaceballs, as well as a roast of present-day Hollywood at the same time.
This is exactly what it should be.
And honestly? The fact that it even exists 40 years later—and still feels tonally close—is kind of wild.
I can’t wait to see it.
Spring Break 2026 - Scottsdale
Let’s start with how this trip almost didn’t happen. It was 2 weeks before my own spring break, and I always thought people who leave early were turds when we are given 10 days - take your vacation then! But this opportunity came up to go to Arizona, and I know Kyle will be leaving before too long - so hypocritically, I went, and it was the very best decision. Props go out to my tremendous wife - she did the planning and bought the tickets, etc.
We left on Friday, March 20th - flight leaving at 830pm. With all of the TSA madness, we knew we had to get there early, but surprisingly, it went pretty quickly, unless you take into account my full tube of toothpaste I lost before they would let me onto the concourse. Details.
Our flight was delayed, so we knew it was going to be really close when we tried to make our connecting flight out of Las Vegas. The flight attendants told us they were going to try to make up some time in-flight, so I guess they had us zooming up there because we made our connection to Phoenix with no problems. Well, maybe some problems.
When we landed, we were subjected to airport tram hell. Long waits, having to get off the tram before we wanted to, just to experience more long-wait fun. All this with the knowledge that it was 2 am or so Indianapolis time - I know I wanted to claw the eyes out of someone’s face. But we eventually went to the hotel and bedded down.
It was a rough wakeup - Kyle decided to get up early, turn on all the lights, and blast Joe Rogan while showering. It was totally delightful. Keep this in mind, because it will come back later in our story. (Not the Joe Rogan, the lack of sleep stuff)
Ate breakfast at this cool little place next to the hotel, but our ‘issue’ today was that we were not going to be able to get into our VRBO till 7 pm. So, there was a lot of time to burn. We headed towards Scottsdale to see what adventures we might get into.
First of all, I had to get used to a totally different color palette. Brown, just brown. And there were some really cool vistas.
Blue skies, lots and lots of blue skies. In fact, it was noteworthy when I saw a cloud. We were told at one point that it had not rained in over a month. Seems like we don’t go for more than 5 minutes between rain in Indy.
We strolled around Phoenix for a while. Went to a Japanese garden with koi ponds (Kyle really liked the fish) and pretty flowers. After that we went to this really cool little bakery where Kyle and Jason stuffed themselves with great bread and pastries.
We drove to Scottsdale. Not far - in fact, there was hardly a time when we got in the car where the ride was more than 20-30 minutes. When we got to Scottsdale, we just started driving around trying to get a feel for the place. The feel, understatedly, was crowded. Lots and lots of people. We tried to go to one of the malls and drove forever looking for a parking spot. Annoying.
While experiencing this little endeavor, the boys were showing how tired they were. They did this by acting like asses. Look, I get it - I am tired too, but have to suck it up. Managed to go get dinner and some small groceries, and then headed to the VRBO.
The house was amazing. There were so many things for the boys to do there that we really didn’t have to worry about taking them anywhere. It was just such a nice place and big enough that we all had our space if you needed to get away for a few. The kitchen in particular was really nice. It made it easy to make food for everyone.
We went to bed early so we could get a good start on going to the baseball games. It was my first time seeing a spring training game in Arizona, and boy, did it not disappoint.
It was so great watching games in March. The one mistake I made was that I chose to watch the Cubs. It has come to my attention that there are Cubs fans literally everywhere. So there were tons of people at this game. Not the most relaxed situation for sure.
The A’s/White Sox game was far more relaxed. Fewer people, less chaos. This was great, though - at one point I looked up, and Kyle was sitting right behind the plate - something that would not have been possible at the Cubs game. Even better, Jason was able to get a ball after trying for 4 innings or so. Overall such a really good time.
On the way home from the game, we stopped at this go-kart/video game place where we played in a huge virtual reality game. Oestreichs and Boyds teamed up against zombies. Was really great…expensive, but really great. That night we went home and hung out together, made dinner, swam and lazed around.
The following day, Libby and Jason went horseback riding while Kyle and I played golf. Golf in AZ can be tremendously expensive, but I found a course that was not that bad. He and I rented clubs and went hacking. Surprisingly, Kyle played really well and was beating me through the first couple of holes. I was patient, and when he slowed down a little, it allowed me to pass him up and eventually win. But it was far too close for comfort.
Of course, I won.
Overall, it was an amazing trip. I would go back in a second.
Scottsdale, AZ
Desert Sunset - CLICK HERE
Scottsdale Hiking Tour - CLICK HERE
Phoenix Indoor Skydiving - CLICK HERE
After Dark Desert Tour and Navigating the Night Sky - CLICK HERE
Scottsdale Horseback Riding - CLICK HERE
Kierland Commons - CLICK HERE
Scottsdale Rodeo - CLICK HERE
Chan’s Letters to the Church
Chan is an interesting guy. He comes off as someone who truly, deeply cares about people getting to know Jesus. At times, this truly, deeply comes off as outright militant, which for me can be a turn-off. The question for me is whether I am looking at this the wrong way.
The following is neither a condemnation nor an endorsement. It is just a place where I am putting my thoughts, and also a battlefield where I will wrestle with some of Chan’s concepts.
Pros/Stuff I vibe with:
Chan frequently talks about "What the Bible is really saying" and “Are we really living our lives that way?"
He is not scared of calling out the lukewarmness of Christians.
He wants to know if we are really making disciples.
He questions whether or not believers are as involved in the community as they should be.
He loathes feeling comfortable versus doing what Jesus asked us to do.
Maybe he is meaning to be prophetic. (not procedural)
There have been many instances of times in the OT in which prophets called people out on their stuff. This is a good thing. They pumped up being repentant and showed people where they had gone sideways.
Maybe he is just asking hard questions
Are churched prioritizing what they want over the mission of the church? Maybe we all need to get our heads out.
Is using the OT church all that bad of an example??
I don’t know how we do it, but maybe we should all take a hard look at whether or not today’s church resembles the church in scripture.
He is not wrong that the church has become a consumable for many (me?)
We attend Sunday ready to rock out and enjoy spending time with God. We should be more like a family and a community of people who want to share our walks with Christ.
He calls for personal responsibility
He is not a hypocrite - seems like he did most of the stuff he wants other people to do.
His book causes people to take long, hard looks at what their church is doing.
Chan is asking whether we are the passionate, devoted, mission-focused church that Jesus wanted.
Cons/Stuff I don’t agree with/am not sure about:
Chan oversimplifies to a large extent.
Everything seems to come down to house churches in the NT and modern churches.
This feels unfair. The early church had plenty of conflict, leadership issues, and whether or not people were following the bible correctly. (Ephesians) Large modern churches are not inherently unable to do this. They can be biblical, passionate, and faithful - effective. A church’s size/structure/format doesn’t seem like it should automatically mean they are spiritually weak.
Chan seems to romanticize the early church
Looking online, I found lots of issues with the early church. Divisions - 1 Corinthians. False teaching - Galatians. Leadership disputes - Paul. Lots of moral failures. Seems to me that Chan focuses on only the strengths of the early church. This creates an unrealistic comparison.
His tone comes off urgent at best, and confrontational at worst.
You will see Chan’s passion at number one on the Pros/Stuff I Vibe With list. BUT he can make it seem that the church is compromised, which is not going to attract new Christians. BTW - I do not see why the attraction of new people can ever be seen as a bad thing. (Chan would ask about why they are attracted, but we will look at that in a little bit.) It’s like he is saying that traditional churches are all missing the real point of Jesus - I do not see how that could be true.
Churches are all so different.
Rural church vs. Urban. What about churches that are in the mission field? Small church vs. Megachurches. Every single one of these can be biblical and do it right.
His ideas on leadership are…interesting.
Chan - Every believer and church member must be contributing, have shared authority (I would love to see that go over at an FCC Elders meeting), and gatherings just happen on their own, organic, not regularized meeting times. Doesn’t this make the role of pastors inconsequential? Theological accountability is tough. And no one would know who is in charge.
How are we supposed to do all of this?
Gatherings are not communal, as the entire body does not meet together. How do you tell people not to come and go find a house church? Are we going to take churches of 500-5000 to this house church model? If so, how do we do that?
How do you maintain accountability as well as make sure that the correct teachings are being delivered/studied?
Chan makes it sound like were not really supposed to have fun, but be more in awe of what is going on at church.
I struggle with the idea that we do not want to use other things, whatever they might be, to make people come to church. I feel like it is placing a limit on God - maybe the bounce house is what got them there to start, but His glory is hard to dismiss.
I thought there were lots of scriptures that speak of the fact that we are not what brings people to Christ. So I dug around while I was supposed to be working at school:
John 6:44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day".
John 6:65: Jesus reaffirms that no one can come unless it is "granted him from the Father".
John 6:45: "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me".
1 Corinthians 3:6-7: Paul explains that while people may plant or water, "God that giveth the increase".
Isaiah 41:9: God declares that He has chosen, called, and not rejected His people.
Biblical scholar, I am not, but this seems to me to be that it is not up to us. So why does it matter why they come to church? If we need to make balloon animals to make people get a peek into all of the amazing things that come with a walk with Christ, shouldn’t we?
Maybe it’s not Jesus exactly that gets people to come at first, but it will undoubtedly be why people stay.=
20 Ways to Slow Down
I just finished The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and it was an impactful read. I know this because it irritated me as I read, irritated because it called me out on all my crap. No one likes that, but after I was able to get over myself, the truth of what he was saying became clear to me. So much so that some of the things he was saying we should be doing, I found that I had begun doing them without conscious thought.
As Comer lists these 20 practices, he speaks with grace and allowance. This is his list - it does not have to be my list. While some of them are existential - if texting while driving is a common practice for you, perhaps you should question your life. Comer tells us to change the list any way that we like; make it our own. Just do something.
So that is where I am, trying to figure out what I am going to do, ergo, I am going to go through the list here and parse out what I am going to do about eliminating my hurry.
Drive the speed limit
This one is hard, but I am going to give it a shot. First, this means that I am going to need to get my crap together and not be late leaving anywhere. Second, it is just a habit, and those are hard to break. But there are some positives. I have come to like my drive to work and home (1.5 hours) because it allows me time to listen to all kinds of media. Listen to the bible app? Check. Baseball podcasts? Absolutely. Great stories? Those podcasts are everywhere.
2. Get into the slow lane
This one is easily harder than #1. This is the lane where people who do not even do the speed limit hang out.
Painful.
Upsides? Maybe I can save money on gas and listen to even more podcasts.
3. Come to a full stop at stop signs
This one goes hand in hand with #4 - this one could save lives.
Also, having pulled out in front of someone in the past still causes me some stress when I cross a country road, so going slower will give me the time to process.
Oh yeah, obey the law too.
4. Texting and Driving
I could sit here and tell you all of the bad things that can happen to you and other people, but you know that.
The whole idea of being present and being present while hurtling down the road at 70 mph seems like a pretty good idea.
5. Show up 10 minutes early for an appointment without your phone
This one I do already after a sort. For example, my lovely bride always tells me that she will check me/us in when we go to get haircuts. I tell her that I will just show up and go from there.
Now the part about the phone is harder. I have sat there with my phone getting to the end of the internet while I wait. I should be reading, or praying, or just examining the world around me.
6. Get in the longest line at the grocery store
Impossible. Nigh impossible. Why would anyone want to do this? After fighting through aisle after aisle, dropping money as if I have lots of it, you want me to spend even more time there? I become totally frenetic at this point. If I am with the boys, it is when I become the most curmudgeonly. I do not want to interact with the checkout worker while I toss endless items onto a moving belt designed to efficiently take me to financial and emotional ruin. I WANT TO LEAVE!
Yes, it has occurred to me that this is the very reason I should do it. Learn to deal with who I am in this moment.
7. Turn your smartphone into a dumb phone.
JMC tells us to take away some of the things that make the things so dang alluring.
Remove:
Email
Social Media
Anything that does not truly make life easier/better
Social Media and Email are to be done on the computer at set times of day for set periods of time.
He speaks of changing the color to a gray scale; pretty much makes it gross looking.
This actually makes sense to me because it is the object that is more likely to stop me from being present in any given moment.
There are some apps he keeps and uses on the phone - Instagram and Twitter, but Comer believes that Facebook is the worst, a terrible place where conservative Christianity goes to play, and it should never be used.
8. Parent your phone; put it to bed early and have it sleep in
I talked to a ton of people at work, and this one is tough. When I brought up the idea of leaving your phone in another room, it did not go over well. There were lots of reasons. From it’s my alarm to that’s what I do before sleep - there was lots of pushback.
I am going to try this one - to the right you can see the alarm clock I am considering getting.
9. Keep your phone off until after your morning quiet time
This one is both easy and hard. If you have a routine that you follow in the morning, not as hard to leave the phone alone. If you don’t really have a consistent routine, it is probably going to be a more difficult task not to check feeds right off the bat.
Its a good time to read your bible, or just read while enjoying a cup of coffee.
10. Set times for email and social media; do not check them randomly
This one. This one is pretty sucky. I say this because I find myself caught by this one a lot. Ashamedly. Walking down the hall for 10 seconds - what’s on Insta? After reading, I am now at least noticing it. But it’s worse; when I do catch myself and leave my phone in my pocket, it is uncomfortable. So I am so addicted to the dopamine hit that it feels bad when, during a 100’ walk down the hall I can’t take my phone out?? Pitiful.
Now, when I am walking here to there, when I think of it, I put the dang phone back in my pocket and just be present.
11. Take a regular day off each week
This is another one that is really, really tough. I know what we are told to do, but I am losing on this one to the world. There are so many things we do on the weekends that I often look forward to Monday because that is when I can slow down. When I start to feel worn out by this, I try to remember that my children are not going to be here forever and that someday I will look up to a really quiet house. I do not want to regret any of my time now and how I spend it.
12. Take up journaling
This one I already got beat. I have journaled extensively over the last 3 years. I use my iPad and a handwriting app to detail my little existence. I really like it because I can add pictures, which really makes it look cool and helps me remember all of the moments that go by so darn fast.
13. Experiment with mindfulness and meditation
To be honest, I am not always sure what being mindful is. Is it being aware of certain behaviors? Is it being aware and then changing behaviors that are damaging? Work in progress there.
Meditation - I have started messing with this again. I say messing because I have done it before…and promptly fall asleep. But from this book, I have a new tactic. I think of Jesus the entire time. The gifts, the forgiveness, just…Him. Doing this, I am trying to hear Him speak to me. In the quiet.
Still not good at it, but as with all things, it is a work in progress.
14. If you can, take long vacations
According to JMC, your relaxation peaks at day 8 of a vacation…I cannot even come close to remembering what that is. I mean, I have summers off, but they are busy as all get out now. I know I have never taken a vacation that long with Libby, for the usual reasons: money, time, blah-blah. This is something I will probably be able to do someday, but not today.
15. Cook your own food and eat in
This is one I am willing to do a lot more of. I feel like we can do a nice meal for $50, and that is about half of what it costs us to go out. I understand that you have to cook it and then clean it up. Totally get it. But I like to do it. Maybe I need to just tell Libby that I will both cook and clean. I know she hates that - not that I blame her, just think it would make sense both nutritionally and financially
16. Eat more slowly
This one seems like a no-brainer. You feel full before you have thirds on the mashed potatoes, and you get to enjoy the company of your family for a longer period of time.
I am one of the worst at this, and I need to work on it. When dinner is done, I am out of there and on to what’s next.
17. Single Task
I have seen data that multi-tasking is a myth, yet I sure give it a go more often than not. I always say that when teaching, I have to be able to have 7 conversations at once and do 3 other things. I know that my quality of work improves when I only focus on one thing, but it is surely a tough habit.
18. Walk Slower
I was able to do this at one point in my life, so much so that people complained about it. Now, I seem to motor on just like everyone else. When I am going from one class to another, I am pretty much zooming. I need to mosey more often. This is a time and place thing, though. If I walk slowly in the hallway, I will be run over by 23904523 sophomores.
19. Take a regular day each month for silence and solitude
This would be great! I already have it planned out. I get up early and drive to a state park, such as Turkey Run. Go for a nice long walk. Stop somewhere to sit and listen.
20. Take up a hobby just for the fun of it"
I am a teacher, which means I am not rich and will never be. With that being said, however, I am gainfully employed, so we do not have to worry about food. So my fishing hobby is ultimately for no reason at all, and I am totally in love with it.
Look, I do not know how this is going to all turn out. There are a lot of things on this list that I think seem really obvious and easy to do. Others seem really difficult at this point in my life. Comer makes it clear that you do not have to do all of these things - just do something. So that is what I am going to do. Stay tuned.
