#294 - The Odyssey and the Failure

I was strong-armed by my visiting niece into making her crepes for breakfast, as I did when she was little.

Both our kiddos were all for it as well.

And my wife.

It was four against one.

I managed to stay in bed until nine forty-five before Robyn started getting messages from our niece that she was getting hungry. Her entire family is a bunch of early risers, and our family loves a good lie in on the weekend and any available weekdays too.

I made my crepe mix using my ninja food processor, strained the batter through a sieve and fired up the stove. Robyn put out Nutella, maple syrup, strawberries, blueberries and bananas. I have to say the crepes turned out great and everyone had about two each.

Soon after, my brother-in-law arrived, fresh from the hotel already having had his buffet breakfast and a workout at the gym.

Our plan was to have some lunch at Swiss Chalet, return home and drop off kiddo #2 off sio he could go see a friend’s band play, then make our way to the theater to see Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

At the restaurant everyone went for the quarter chicken dinner with the exception of me with a rib sandwich and kiddo #1 with just a chicken spring roll appetizer. Lunch went faster than expected, so we headed over to the Dollar Store where our American family bought some candy bars that they can’t get in the states, namely Coffee Crisps and Mr. Big.

The Canadian contingent bought snacks for the movie. I exempted myself from the snacks but found a hat for four dollars that I will use as this year’s water hat at the cottage.

We dropped the kiddo off, and then the five of us piled into one car and headed to a theatre that is further away than our regular one but apparently had some great seating.

The theatre turned out to be a Cineplex, and it had a huge arcade and an even bigger eating area. The place was filled with people waiting to watch the World Cup match. It gave the place a sense of excitement.

Our seats were in the AVX theatre, which is supposed to have a superior sound system. What immediately grabbed my attention was the depth of the rows and the large black leather chairs. They looked like overstuffed recliners you might have at home with a swinging food and drink tray.

Once seated, I noticed there was a button that would electronically recline the seat. I was in the lap of luxury. Never have I sat in such a quality seat at a movie theater before. I was sold and I never want to go back to the theater that is closer to us.

None of the trailers left much of an impression with exception of a scary movie with Jessica Chastain called Other Mommy. The impression was I was never going to see it. I don’t like scary movies.

I don’t even remember what the other trailers were or if there were even any.

The movie started, and we all settled in. It was going to be a long movie, and I was already glad of my comfortable seating. The movie wasn’t as bad as a lot of online critics had made it out to be.

Many people were upset about the casting issues, but those actors had so little screen time as to be a non-issue. It seemed to me that certain people were cast to make sure that The Odyssey would be considered for an Oscar nomination. Without those actors in it, the Academy wouldn’t even consider the film.

My beef going into the film was the use of certain modern language that seemed unnecessary. Tom Holland saying daddy and mommy for example. But again, this was such a small percentage of the overall film it hardly seems worth mentioning. I would have used the term mother and father just to keep it feeling like a period piece.

There were a lot of impressive scenes that were wonderful. It might be a bit hard to follow for someone who doesn’t have a basic idea of Greek Gods and hero stories. Some things could have been explained better to the audience in some cases.

Case in point, some of the actions the heroes take seem silly. You sitting there asking yourself, why would he do that? I think from an ancient Greek perspective it probably made sense, and from a myth point of view it had its purpose.

The sound was very loud in the AVX theatre, maybe too loud and they had bass speakers in the lower back of the seat. I would say this is a movie people will likely see more than once. You’ll want to go back and see what you missed.

Having said that, I think this still has the ability to bring people back to theatre again. Our theatre wasn’t sold out for the matinee, but it was filled to a respectable amount.

The kids wanted to go into a store right beside the theater afterwards and then we headed back to the house where we said our goodbyes.

Robyn and I went upstairs to take a quick nap before she went to her second job and after she left, I napped a little more. I had my story to start and I was procrastinating but also getting myself ready.

I headed downstairs to my writing cave to do some research about the 1890’s in my town. I was finding it hard to find everything I needed, and it took some time. Many of the landmarks have changed names over the years and I wanted to make sure I was setting the story in a solid and historically accurate place.

I looked at maps, reports and clothing for the period. I needed to know what buildings existed back then and what the area looked like.

I stumbled upon the first use of electric lights in the town during a Temperance Rally along the lakeshore that drew over 1200 people. It seemed to me that it would make a great setting and event form my historical crime short story.

I took a short break after all the research and sat on the porch with a strong cup of coffee. The temperature outside was cool and perfect for sitting.

Robyn had gone on a walk after her work and brought me back a banana nut muffin which went great with my hazelnut coffee.

Back downstairs in the writing cave, with a coffee warming in my smart mug, I warmed up by writing this blog while listening to music of the 1890’s on YouTube to get into the spirit of things. I think I am going to need a large quantity of coffee this evening to get this story done.

It’s currently then thirty at night and I am just getting started on the prose. I’ll try to write the opening scene by eleven thirty. If I can do that the rest might be a little easier.

I’ll check back in later.

It’s now 5 AM and I have to throw in the towel and admit defeat. I did it to myself again. Waited too long to start the story and ran out of time. It’s creating too much pressure now and it’s no one’s fault but mine.

Going to bed defeated.

Tomorrow the leaf will turn over.