Ridiculous Opinions #254
Oh, hi! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
Well, I’ve been busy.
We are on the final leg of our literal journey around the world and I found myself with time to say a couple of words in this here newsletter. So, hello!
There’s something to be said for momentum when it comes to writing. Since the middle of June, I have taken some time off from my usual activities. Maurice the Beaver went on a month-long hiatus, and this newsletter’s hiatus might be longer than that (I can’t remember).
Those breaks were good, but it has been a bit of a struggle to get back to things. For a creative person, you have to schedule regular times for the muse to visit. If you confuse her (and it is always a “her”), then she gets lost on her way to see you. Thus, I have been coaxing her back in my direction so that I can start creating things as I have in the past. Slowly but surely, the gargantuan wheels of my creative burden are starting to roll again.
Usually, when it comes to my Maurice comics, I work ahead. As you can see from the image above, my character has been running for President, and I wrote several strips where Maurice was in a debate with Biden and Trump. I was all set to do my thing in those strips and rip into both of those candidates, but then that whole assassination thing happened, Biden dropped out of the race, and I came to realize that the Maurice comeback wasn’t to be, as I now had about twenty strips that had absolutely no meaning any more. That’s the problem with writing a current-events-based comic. Sometimes, those events are too current.
Now, I’m a bit lost in regard to what to do, but I’m sure I’ll get back on track.
I’ve occupied myself in other ways over the last few weeks as well. Travel is, of course, one of those ways. Japan was incredible and it always recharges my heart to hang with my oldest daughter. Then, we drove across the United States, from Los Angeles all the way to Florida, seeing old friends along the way and running into several “new” friends (someday, remind me to tell you about my new “friend” Kevin in New Orleans…shudder…and the MAGA idiots that came out of the woodwork). I am expecting proofs on Maurice Book 3 in the mail, and Maurice Book 4 will appear before you know it. I have also been making Muppets with Abbey and I’m looking forward to showing you what I will do with those as well.
But there’s also the very real notion of just living a life that I’ve been engaged with. I got to spend some real quality time with my mom. I spent time with my sister and brother. I’ve eaten a lot of good food and seen some very interesting sights along the way. I’ve done some reading and tried to figure out the next step along the path that I call this life that I lead. It’s all very exciting and rejuvenating.
So, not a ton to say.
We did go see Deadpool and Wolverine yesterday and I absolutely loved it. I have seen three films in a movie theater since January: The Fall Guy, Horizon: An American Saga, and this new one. Not a lot to rekindle my interest in moviegoing, and in all honesty, times are pretty bleak from a creative perspective in Hollywood, as the enshittification that festers in anything corporate has certainly crept into the mix there as well.
So, I’d forgotten what it was like to sit in a theater and enjoy a movie. I would dare say that I hadn’t enjoyed a film in a theater since Avengers: Endgame.
Deadpool and Wolverine changed that for me. We saw it yesterday morning in a half-full theater at Disney Springs at 10AM. I knew next-to-nothing about the movie going in, as I had avoided all spoilers in the run up to its release, and let me tell you that that is the best way to see a movie. Practically everything in it was an absolute surprise and the audience would (literally) cheer at certain moments in the movie. The cameos were superb and very well done.
Did the movie have problems? Sure. Absolutely. But seeing movies nowadays is a personal experience. I think that we are all desperately looking for things that make us feel alive, that surprise us and move us and make us think. Ryan Reynolds doesn’t always move the needle for me, but Hugh Jackman was superb. I will single him out for just a moment, because Deadpool and Wolverine will never win Hugh an Oscar for his acting because it’s a comedic farce. But there are a few scenes in this movie where Jackman was absolutely acting his ass off. He grounded the film in a way that is rare for this type of movie, giving a performance that was much better than the source material. His acting was a revelation and I admire the crap out of him for his commitment to what he was doing. There is a scene that he has in a car with Ryan Reynolds that is acting at its finest. You may not believe me, but it’s true. Very few people in this day and age can make something like that believable, especially when you’re acting opposite someone in a CGI mask.
But judge for yourself. You could very well be a student of “serious” cinema and think that Deadpool and Wolverine is an abomination; a sign of the apocalypse (and the fact that every trailer that played before it was a sequel, a remake, or an adaptation of other material could very well be a sign of something frightening). To those who feel that way, kudos to you! You are a much more serious person than me.
But for me, I’m at a point in my life where I’m looking for simple pleasures. I don’t enjoy many movies anymore. I look for little things I enjoy: listening to newly-released demos from The Police’s Synchronicity; reading Paul Theroux’s reflections on his travel through Mexico; eating the best meal I’ve had all summer made by my very own wife last Tuesday night; being proud of my oldest daughter for finding such joy in her life in Japan; and picking my youngest daughter up from her shift at work at Disney World. All of these things are what gets me jazzed at the moment.
And Deadpool and Wolverine made me happy as well. I hope that you find things to be happy about in this last month before the next school year begins. I’m going to keep looking!
