18 Years

Last week I visited with my old friend Mike. We've known each other since Grade 7 and despite a few fallings-out, have managed to retain a lot of what we shared in common as teenagers - which is now "tempered", I suppose, by our fledgling adulthood.

One of those things we shared was an absurd sense of humor, often realized in ridiculous short videos with outlandish characters, excessively strange dialogue, and lots of extreme violence (mainly as an excuse to perform dangerous stunts).

The need for violence has tapered slightly over the years, but the absurdism remains. So before departing from Mike's climes last week, I convinced him to revisit two of our earlier characters.

As it turned out, we were able to work fast and fun and FINISH what is, I think, our only completed video together (as in: fully edited, titled, scored, and exhibited to a theoretical audience - via YouTube, Absent Canadian and now, Mini Nerd).

It only took us 18 years to pull off, but it was worth the wait.

Regular readers of this blog may detect mention of the Magic Cactus. Maybe not as readily, they'd see it as a metaphor for fulfillment - a realized goal, a closed circle, a healed wound. Dmitri Pablos El Grapos, in this video, is aggressively pursuing his Magic Cactus. Big Nose Barney found his last year. Presumably, Barney's departed lover Agnes is still out there searching for hers.

Me and Mike? We found one of our own, in making this silly short: