25 distractions, comforts & delights
Heard any good jokes lately?
Man, this has not been one of my best weeks ever! I hope you're doing OK--I'm still in Brooklyn, trying to balance work, childcare, anxiety and all the rest.
BUT I will keep going and making newsletters and putting on pants (probably). We have to. So in that spirit, here are a few things I hope might distract, entertain and/or comfort you during this crazy time:
1. Seeing Michael Stipe sing a bit of "Underneath the Bunker" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" put a little pep in my homebound step.
2. It's also so wonderful to hear Patti Smith reading poetry on Instagram.
3. Last week I mentioned Drew Droege's hilarious Chloe Sevigny videos. This week he brought her back.
4. My friend George O'Connor, author of the popular Olympians series of graphic novels, has been doing Instagram Live videos where he talks about gods and goddesses. My daughter LOVES them, and next week he's going to continue doing it.
5. Debbie Allen has been posting dance videos on Instagram to keep us hot 'n' moving.
6. Our friend Ben Model, silent film accompanist extraordinaire, is doing a live performance on Instagram Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
7. Here's a trailer for a new documentary about the wonderful comedian Eugene Mirman.
8. And here's a trailer for the new Beastie Boys "live documentary."
9. Sure, I'd watch a campy new vampire flick called GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE BLOOD.
10. There's also a new clip from THE TRIP TO GREECE with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. I love these movies so much! It releases digitally in May.
11. I watched the season premiere of WESTWORLD on Sunday. I couldn't summarize this show if you paid me in toilet paper, but wow, it's lovely to look at.
12. Are you watching DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE with Jason Segel, Sally Field and Andre Benjamin? I dig it.
13. Todd Haynes' SAFE is on the Criterion Channel, but that may hit too close to home right now. (It's one of my all-time favorite movies, though.)
14. Our friend Bob thinks marble racing is the sport of the future.
15. Longtime reader Kevin W. has been listening to NEWCOMERS, a funny podcast where Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus watch all the Star Wars movies for the first time. (Yep, they know nothing about Star Wars! It's quite refreshing. And goofy.)
16. Matt B. recommends ENCYCLOPEDIA WOMMANICA, a 5-minute podcast that spotlights an important woman from history every day.
17. Our friend David Daley has a timely new book out this week called UNRIGGED: HOW AMERICANS ARE BATTLING BACK TO SAVE DEMOCRACY.
18. Our friend Boaz Frankel only has a few days left on his Kickstarter to support his kazoo museum. (Yes, he has a kazoo museum.)
19. Chris M./BIG BUSINESS told me one thing that always makes him laugh is Mitch Hedberg's club sandwich joke.
20. Podcaster Bryan Safi is helping me get through these times with THROWING SHADE and ASK RONNA, which I've been raving about for weeks.
21. Thanks to the friend who made me smile by sending this clip from THE SKELETON TWINS. I love a Jefferson Starship moment.
22. Austin Kleon pointed me to the Internet Archive's nostalgic VHS Vault.
23. My friend Dean cheered me up with the O'Leary Car Ride. I'm totally going to be that mother in a few years.
24. Do you know this Har Mar Superstar song? It seems appropriate right now.
25. Several people have asked who made the artwork in the background of my video newsletter. It's Chris Lawson.
And finally, in the midst of all this, many of our Tennessee friends are still trying to recover from devastating tornado damage. We can help them by donating to the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund.
'Til next week ...
That's all for now--please take care of yourselves and feel free to reach out anytime at whitmath@gmail.com. We'll get through this!
Your island in the stream,
Flo Castleberry
P.S. I've been making comics to help cope. You can see others on Twitter or Instagram, and I'm planning to post everything on Patreon as well.