Ridiculous Opinions #287
It’s been a while since I have written a newsletter (around a month, based upon my calculations), so I figured it’s high time that I add one to the list, considering I have a bunch of seniors who have graduated and are now on the mailing list. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my latest newsletter…
I have been offering workshops for Sandstorm Comics over the last year or so; mostly to students at various libraries around the city, but lately I’ve been offering workshops for adults as well. It’s an interesting endeavor and they seem to be a success. Right now, the focus is on writing for comics, but as with most lectures from Randall P. Girdner, they end up venturing into various other topics, mainly about creativity and how to engage with it.
You see, that’s one thing that I consider myself an expert on. Just as a bit of a humblebrag, I would venture to say that I am one of the most creative people on the planet. That’s right! I said “the planet”. Part of that is being creative, but the other part of that is knowing how I work and what that means in relation to my day-to-day. I maintain a rich and vibrant creative life outside of my day job, which is a hard thing for a lot of people to understand. I have been able to create a management system for getting various things done and completing tasks that works very well for me and when I deliver my little lectures, I have a tendency to focus more on getting things done and having a thoughtful and productive creative life. People seem to really respond to this messaging and there are times when I think I should wander the Earth as a self-help guru, collecting consulting money from wayward souls who are lost in this age of artificial intelligence and distraction.
It goes back to what I have preached here for a very long time, but is more prevalent now than ever. We are lost, folks. All of my life, the future has provided us with a direction, but now that direction is murkier than ever. A lot of that has to do with our approach to the world as consumers rather than producers. The reason my little lectures hit is because they focus on the latter and offer people the opportunity to think of themselves in a different way. Everyone can be creative. It’s simply that you have to choose to be.
I’m paraphrasing Brian Eno here, but I agree with him when he says that art is meant to get us in touch with our feelings. It awakens a part of us that grows numb with every website that we read, every job that we do, and every bill that we pay. We engage with art because it makes us feel like we are human beings again.
Creating art instills that in us as well, so it’s important that we engage with it as much as possible. That’s what my workshops are about and the message that I give to people seems to resonate with them. Look for me on my tour soon! 😀
Media Diet
We saw Mission: Impossible 8 last weekend and let me just say that I loved it. Oh, it was bad, but there was something about the whole thing that just made my brain switch off and enjoy it for what it was: Grand Spectacle.
I spend a lot of time looking at things and scoffing at them. Seen it before. That’s been done. Nothing new here. Those are the thoughts that go through my head when I’m watching something. And most of the time, I’m actually right!
But there was something about Mission: Impossible that I thought was phenomenal. During the first thirty minutes, I was literally thinking to myself, This is one of the worst movies I might have ever seen… But then, and I don’t know exactly when it happened, something changed in my brain and I bought into it fully and completely. I think it was the format in which I saw it. When you see a movie in IMAX, there’s no way that you can’t fully invest in what you’re seeing. The screen is so big, the sound is so loud, and the whole thing is so incredibly bombastic that the sensory overload of what you’re experiencing takes over, almost on a visceral level. There isn’t a lot of room for a brain to sit back and say, “This sucks and here are the reasons why…” It’s almost primal the way you shut down and just experience the movie. It worked like that for Sinners, it worked like that for Interstellar, and it worked like that for Mission: Impossible for me. It’s like you don’t even have a choice.
So, I loved it. I know that if I watch it at home on a smaller screen and with a lesser sound system, I will probably change my mind, but as of now, it was spectacular. And let’s not forget that, though it’s hard to comprehend, the Mission: Impossible series is one that’s been with me my entire adult life. I saw the first one when I was living in Phoenix, Arizona in 1996. I was twenty-three years old and Tom Cruise was more popular than ever. I was a cinephile at that time and prided myself on my love of movies. And at that point in my life, I loved it! Now here I am, almost thirty years later, and I’m still going to the cinema to see these films. It’s been quite a ride.
So, if you’re going to see this movie, then see it in IMAX. See it on the biggest screen possible and just allow it to bombard you with its cosmic rays. Buy into every single bit of this movie and don’t deny yourself its joys. Is it dumb? Sure. Is is full of cliches? Sure. Does everyone speak in short, declarative sentences using their spy talk voices? Absolutely. But it also pulls you through the whole thing in a fury of adrenaline that is designed solely to entertain you.
Plus, it could be the last movie you see from Tom Cruise before he just fully shifts into a stuffed, embalmed corpse hanging from a European Space Agency rocket to get that one realistic shot for Mission: Impossible 9. Enjoy Tom while he lasts, folks. He can’t keep doing it like this.
Sunday Comix
For those of you who don’t know, I also produce the Maurice the Beaver comic strip. Last week, we produced a very special issue of Sunday Comix that featured only me and Maurice! There are a couple of storylines in the comic and a fun little interview with me about creating the comics. Well worth your time! And you can subscribe to Sunday Comix here!
In the End…
I’ll try to be more regular with my newsletters over the summer. It’s the end of the year, so I have to get my summer groove back. Don’t hesitate to reply to this email and let me know what’s happening with you! Life is full of changes!
