No Content Monday:  Deep Thoughts by Nomadscout

Mondays usually have some kind of real content, but not this time! ...OR AREN'T THEY?

I usually try to do some kind of gallery and review for Mondays, mostly because I have more time to prepare such content over the weekend. However, I have nothing new to review (there's something on the way pretty soon), and I didn't feel like digging up an old item either.

This probably qualifies as content, although as usual, I couldn't be bothered with making a graphic for the article, so once again, you get The Logo.

You may have noticed a steep drop in original content on Banthaskull over the past few weeks/months. It's hard to do original content daily. Between Chris and I, we did it that way for a long time - probably several years - before finally giving up on the weekends. But for various reasons, we've given up on daily weekday content as well, and now we struggle to get even 2 things posted each week. Thanks to CJ's heroic efforts, we've managed to keep the front page moving a bit more than if it were up to just Chris and I.

*And before I go further - this is NOT any kind of announcement. We're not going anywhere (not yet), this is just me typing out my thoughts on why things have been...different...for me lately.

A few things have happened that have contributed to my recent aloofness from Banthaskull. Having absolutely nothing to do with Star Wars, I have been completely consumed by the Knicks over the past 2-3 months. It's been 53 years since the Knicks have won a title, and I was born one month (May) after they did so (April) in 1973. I've been a fan my whole life, and this is as good of a chance, if not better, for them to finally end the drought than I've ever experienced. Living in Phoenix now, I rarely get too sentimental about not being back home in New York, unless I feel like eating a bagel. But being away from The City right now is a bit jarring. When it comes to sports in NYC, there's nothing like the Knicks. The Giants/Jets and Yankees/Mets split the population along battle lines in their respective sports, but the Knicks are nearly universally beloved. I see videos of large crowds gathering in the streets celebrating each playoff win, and I think back to how much instant energy there was at my place of work when the Knicks acquired Amar'e Stoudemire and then Carmelo Anthony. It was a huge shot in the arm after more than a decade of clown-like irrelevance. I get kind of emotional about this for a bunch of reasons, but I really don't have room in my soul right now for both the Knicks and Star Wars.

But that's more superficial, and definitely temporary. What is less temporary is that my passion for Star Wars has definitely waned of late. For media, I used to consume just about everything that appears on screen. The one exception was Visions. I watched one episode of the first season, and thought it was the worst thing I'd ever seen - and I didn't even make it to the rock concert episode. But if I can take that as an exception due to the nature of it not being canon, I have recently let some other things go unwatched. This is not because I don't want to watch them, but because it isn't how I want to spend my free time right now. When I watch TV, it's almost exclusively what my wife and I watch together. She has been amazing throughout our time together, putting up with every bit of my Star Wars nonsense, but I didn't even feel like trying to convince her to watch Maul. Again - I do want to watch it, and I'm sure I will. It's just not a priority. I also never watched the Cad Bane arc of the recent Tales series. It's like less than an hour to watch the 3 episodes or whatever it is, but I just couldn't seem to be bothered to make the effort to squeeze it onto our list of things to watch.

And now we have The Mandalorian and Grogu. Neither my wife nor I have been to a movie theater since COVID (unless I'm forgetting something - which is possible). I thoroughly enjoyed all of The Mandalorian episodes, even the much maligned 3rd season. I happily buy all of the TVC figures and toys sourced to the show. I very much do want to watch the movie, I just haven't enough interest to get me into a theater seat. It's very possible I may never go to a theater again. If I can watch a film a mere 3 months after it debuts in the theater from the comfort of my own couch on an 80" 4K TV, why would I bother going to a gross theater?

For the record, I've been to every single Star Wars film on Day 1 since Return of the Jedi, which will forever be the greatest and most impactful movie experience of my life. While I did not see ANH and ESB on opening day, I did catch a double feature before ROTJ came out. That includes TPM, which I waited on line for 10 hours with about 20 friends to see - and ended up seeing it 5 times, including one time BY MYSELF!, The Clone Wars movie (which cost next to nothing to make), RO, Solo, and of course the other episodic films. The Rise of Skywalker was the first film that I didn't go see at least a second time. My wife even asked me to go, and I said, "nah."

Well, count TM&G as being the first ever Star Wars film I'll not see in theaters. And that kind of makes me sad, but not really all that sad. I mean, I'll pay whatever premium price D+ charges when it comes available on streaming, I just couldn't bring myself to go see it in the theaters. At every single opening night experience I've had, the crowds have been raucous and energetic - going back especially to that night in 1983 when Darth Vader heaving The Emperor over the Death Star rails nearly blew the roof of my theater. But after the last 2 or 3 films, I felt there would be zero chance I'd experience such rowdiness at TM&G, and a big part of me simply didn't want to witness the lack of such magic at a Star Wars film. I think it would really ruin me.

And that brings me to my last point. Not only did I voraciously devour all the on screen stuff because I wanted to, I did it because it helped me operate Banthaskull. I mean, it's hard to review figures and toys and have Star Wars discussions unless I'm fully up to date on the latest releases. And the films/shows and toys go hand-in-hand in bringing me the joy that fuels my engine to do this. There's obviously something of a disconnect between the joy that the hobby brings me and joy that watching Star Wars media brings me.

Hopefully when the Knicks season is over, and I get past either the delirium or the heartache, I'll be able to get back into the swing of all things Star Wars.

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