Welcome to Love Letter Events

This weekend marked the beginning of a big event. This event so big and monumental that it might bring people together to celebrate the past and potential future.

I am of course talking about the theatrical release of “Deadpool and Wolverine”…

…and the Paris Olympics.

Let me explain…or at least gush.

I’ve been in a funk the past little while and a doctor’s visit hasn’t helped much. So, Friday night, I got home from my evening walk and realized that the Paris Opening Ceremonies were going on. I missed maybe the first half hour (which is fine, I can look up what I missed). I thought the big performance was over and I could watch the barges (an experiment this year with mixed results) with the athletes make their way through Paris.

And then I saw the parkour Assassin’s Creed* cosplayer carrying the Olympic torch and realized that the performance was still going on throughout the parade of athletes. Lady Gaga then took stage right on the river and performed admirably as it started to rain. 

All of the performers did an amazing job. They weren’t able to do a full dress rehearsal on stage due to the secrecy around the performances, which is an amazing achievement, but then they turned it up by 1000x because it poured. And those performers didn’t bat an eye (well I’m assuming they didn’t), they kept it up and put on a great show dedicated to the history and culture of Paris.

The choreographer and director clearly wanted to write a love letter to Paris and France and they succeeded. 

My personal favorite was the transition from Les Mis to the screaming beheaded body of Marie Antoinette  which heralded the start of a heavy metal opera mashup that I was not expecting. It was fabulously camp with just a hint of tasteful gore.

I also really liked the love story section in the library that ends with an implied threesome. It just was nowhere near as amazing as an entire building with shrieking beheaded Marie Antoinettes. 

Surprisingly, the Paris Opening Ceremonies paired well with “Deadpool and Wolverine”as a double feature. (Technically, I watched them on two separate days, but it’s my life so I’m counting it.)

I’m going to do my best here to NOT spoil “Deadpool and Wolverine”, but I can’t help you if you read past this sentence.

You have been warned!

“Deadpool and Wolverine” is a love letter to the 20th Century Fox era of Marvel comic book hero movies. It accepts that that era of movies is over, but it goes out with a bang. It is a fans dream gift wrapped in references, cameos, and so many Deadpools.

Yes, there are other references. The Avengers get a shout out and there are some questions that are left unanswered (if you know, you know). Also, I loved the montage of Wade trying to find a certain someone for very noble reasons and messing it up.

Do you need knowledge about everything Marvel to understand the movie?

No.

But knowing that certain things that happened in other movies helps. The ending of “Logan” (2017) might be required background knowledge, but it’s not necessary. Wade in all of his Deadpool-ness knows that the audience may not have seen everything Marvel in the past 30 odd years (oh man…when did that movie come out?). He’s also aware that some people have, and read all the comics, and can quote every cartoon that popped up on Saturday morning, and all the video games…you get the picture. 

Wade is good at balancing the wink, wink nudge, nudge with the “I have no idea what’s going on”. He’s like the commentators at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies trying to explain everything we’re seeing. They might not know everything, but they know more than the average viewer and might also admit when they too are confused.

Is it a perfect movie?

No.

There were a couple of cameos I was hoping for that didn’t happen and there were a few things that were left open that I didn’t think needed to be. Plus not enough of Wade’s main team.

But it is a solid mood lifter and I’d watch Deadpool fight with Wolverine against the TVA any day (if you know, you know). I also liked that Deadpool and handle the ridiculous, mix it with the dramatic, and spit out God’s Perfect Idiot. 

Definitely stick around for the credits. You can tell that the film makers grew up with the 20th Century Fox movies and wanted to give them one final send off. It was a total throw back for me.

So go watch “Deadpool and Wolverine” if you want and check out the Paris Opening Ceremonies performances if you feel like it. I’m not going to tell you what to do.

But if you do watch both or one or the other, please let me know what you thought. Because…

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

*I don’t actually know if they were cosplaying Assassins Creed, that’s just what it looked like to me.

Welcome to Assateague Beach

There isn’t anything better than going to the beach on a sunny summer day. 

Unless you happen to be in the path of five galloping wild horses being herded away from beachgoers. Then you might feel time slow down while you debate the best way to get out of these beautiful yet massive animals’ way. My response was to freeze and hope the horses chose to not go into the waves.

Assateague Island is part of the National Parks as a National Seashore. It’s one of the barrier islands on the east coast of the United States - especially it runs from Ocean City, Maryland to Chincoteague, Virginia. The island is divided by the Maryland State Park, the Maryland side National Seashore, and the Virginia side National Seashore.

It is also most famous for its wild horses. 

About 300 horses live on the island. Most are allowed to roam freely (on the Maryland side), while the Virginia side horses, or ponies as they are sometimes called, are behind fences as they are “owned” by the Chincoteague fire department. Last year, in April, I went to both ends of the island for the first time and wrote a post (which you can view here).

This year, my sibling decided to come visit me and go on a bit of an adventure. We stayed at a historic and supposedly haunted hotel in Berlin, Maryland - “the coolest small town in America”. The movie “Runaway Bride” had been filmed there and we stayed in the room Richard Greer had stayed in (sadly 1999 Richard Greer was not included). Another movie, “Tuck Everlasting” had also been filmed near the town. There’s a mermaid museum in town that I would call quaint and the book store is run by a woman who used to be an undertaker…and wrote about her experience as one. Ocean City, Maryland (not to be confused with the far superior one in New Jersey), is about 20 minutes away. 

We did not see or experience any ghosts on the trip.

Unfortunately, it rained most of the trip. So we explored the town and enjoyed the different restaurants. Though today was nice and sunny (and I got a bit crispy). Which is why we ended up going to Assateague Beach. 

Sure, Ocean City is also close by, but if you want something a little nicer, so to Assateague.

Plus you have the horses. They are really cool. Just don’t get too close as they will bite, charge, and stomp on anyone who gets too close. I saw a lot more horses (and babies) this trip than back in April last year.

The beach is very nice and decently guarded. There’s a long sandbar, so the water doesn’t drop off too quickly. Surfing is allowed, but I’ve never tried it and the east coast just doesn’t seem like the place to surf. The horses hang around the parking lot, so you’ll need to dodge the horse poo, but the actual beaches are very clean of human and animal debris. You can even bring your dog.

It was foggy when we arrived at 9:30am. The tide was coming in and you could hardly see ten feet out. The water was cold, but refreshing once the sun broke through the haze. Other than the horses, I saw deer, different birds, a horseshoe crab, and a mermaid purse (which are shark, ray, or skate eggs - depending on the species).

My sibling and I would have been happy to spend all day on the beach, but sadly we did have to drive the three hours home. 

Oh and the horses did in fact turn away from where I was standing. They ran along the water edge until they were safely away from people. It was really cool, but a bit nerve wracking to see and experience.

I’m happy to recommend Assateague beach to anyone who wants a unique beach and wildlife experience. Just stay at least 40 feet away from the horses. They bite.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a message. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Until next week.