Sunday Meditations by JB Minton

Happy Mother’s Day, You Mothers!

I am fast approaching fifty years old. If you count time in the womb (and we should always account for time in the womb), I've had a mom for half a century. My mom loves me fiercely, and I feel the same about her. Being a young mother must have been hard to do by herself, even with the help of friends and family. My mom also had a lot of support from friends and family.

Zooming out, the most remarkable thing about America is our gratitude. I know gratitude hasn’t shone out from America over the past ten years. Still, Americans are generally grateful for the privilege and honor of being alive and responsible for carrying the burden of our collective government forward to another generation. But like the single mother trying to do it alone, that load is challenging to manage over time without friends and access to all the right resources. Strength only gets one so far, and the levee will break if it doesn't stop raining. I heard that in a song.

So here’s to all the mothers who don’t break when it rains for days. As broken as our world seems, it wouldn’t work half as well without the good women raising good children. Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, wife, family, and friends, and to every good mother those people know, the mothers who bring joy and nurturing into our world.

Here’s my Mom and Dad in the long-ago days before Star Wars. Olan Mills photos ruled!

My Twin Peaks Book is Nearly Done, and Every Lover of Cinema Should Own This Book

The 2nd Edition of my book A Skeleton Key to Twin Peaks, which is nearly 139,000 words long, is complete. This was a complete rewrite; a book-length course was added for each episode. A Skeleton Key to Twin Peaks, 2nd Edition, and Twin Peaks Class will be available in a single volume hardback in color, printed on high-quality paper. This second edition will be a valuable heirloom worth its cost. 

Every Twin Peaks fan should have this book on their obsession shelf, and every lover of good art should own it and consider using it if they ever undertake the challenge that watching Twin Peaks: The Return presents to the bold and adventurous voyeurs who meet it where the art writhes.

My purpose in writing and publishing this book is to provide artists and fans with the only comprehensive advanced education in one of history's most complex works of cinematic art: Twin Peaks The Return.

Because this book will be expensive (possibly >$100), I’m considering bundling a signed copy with annual paid subscriptions to this Substack. I was hoping you could email me back and let me know your thoughts on bundling a beautiful hardback signed copy of A Skeleton Key To Twin Peaks, 2nd Edition / Twin Peaks Class with a paid annual subscription to this Substack.

I don’t want to sell this book on Amazon, and I won’t have to if enough people support this Substack and still get the book. Forget these corporations. We can buy directly from the artist now, and I’m offering you a chance at a revolution in the marketing and sale of ideas.

So, please consider a paid subscription but for now, GET YOUR ASS TO TWIN PEAKS CLASS!

Why Is Everyone On About The Star Wars Show Andor?

The short answer is that it’s the most important Star Wars show ever made. It explains the WHY behind how R2D2 ended up with the Death Star plans and crashing on Tatooine for a fateful encounter with a dusty-haired farmer’s boy who just happened to be the son of the scariest mf in the galaxy. While what happened to Luke may have been fate, behind that fate lay thousands of sacrifices and close calls necessary to retrieve those plans of genocidal madness from the Galactic Empire.

I hope you can read my analysis of the first season of Andor and understand that when you watch the second season, now airing on Disney+, you are participating in a necessary cultural rebellion through commercial art. You’re considering things from the perspective of the angry oppressed who aren’t going to take that shit lying down. I’d rather grasp this viewpoint through art than witness it play out in the streets. Art can serve as a pressure valve, and regardless of your politics, if you’re a Star Wars fan, then we are automatically friends as long as you don’t believe your untested opinions are reasonably argued facts.

The cornerstone of excellent critical analysis is presenting an argument based on what is seen on screen and heard in the speakers. Deferring to the Director’s opinions and oral history measures those who have relinquished their ability to think independently.

Let me give you an example of what I mean by “New Criticism.” You won’t find a single interview with a creator in the following essay, but you will discover compelling ideas about a great work of commercial art.

Until next week.