It's a good time to learn The Watusi. 💃
Can someone please check on Angela Lansbury?Â
Here we are, face to face, a couple of--oh, never mind. Sometimes I find it troubling just how much space old episodes of Silver Spoons and Gimme a Break! still occupy in my brain.
I hope you had a rambunctious week and are enjoying some sort of wild Memorial Day plans, like creating a boat-shaped fort in your living room or making a cat-litter sandcastle. Do it up!
A few recommendations:
MOVIES:
- The death of director Lynn Shelton is just the saddest thing. I loved her movies, and this week I watched her final film, SWORD OF TRUST (now on Showtime). Her work had so much heart and energy and truth, and it seems everyone in her orbit her loved her madly.
- After listening to this Peter Bogdanovich podcast, I decided to rewatch THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. If you've never seen it, it's worth your time. You can find it on Criterion along with PAPER MOON and Bogdanovich's first feature, TARGETS.
- A great tip from Cari: "I hesitate to put this on blast because I’m worried it will be shut down, but I've been thrown back into my teenage love of cult films and seeking out movies by lauded foreign directors via rarefilmm. There’s so much to explore, from films dating back to the dawn of cinema to cult '60s counterculture films."
- And finally, THE TRIP TO GREECE just came out, and I plan to watch it tonight. Steve Coogan is my everything.
TV:
- Jed K. says he started watching TRIAL BY MEDIA on Netflix. "It's an interesting examination on how folks are tried in the court of public opinion these days," he says. "The episodes are just around an hour each and self-contained."
PODCASTS:
- I love Fortune Feimster's Instagram, and the other day I listened to her recent podcast interview with SNL alum (and Tennessean!) Melanie Hutsell. It's just two Southern women chitchatting, and you can't beat that with a stick.Â
- Jackie C. recommends WIND OF CHANGE, a new podcast that sounds amazing. "It’s an eight-part series that investigates if the Scorpions’ 'Wind of Change' was actually written by the CIA as part of their effort to end the Cold War," Jackie says. I'm in.
MUSIC:
- The other day I stumbled upon this song by Love, and it knocked me down. It appeared on a 2012 compilation of previously unreleased material.
- Herman digs the new album from veteran rockers Sparks, including this song and this song.Â
- Chad points us to this music video, where "people were instructed to send in happy moments from their quarantine. ... Our little neighborhood cat that brought people so much joy ended up in the video. (We) called him Sanchez."Â
- Joey O. recommends Brandi Ediss's new release, BEES AND BEES AND BEES. He adds it's RIYL "twee indie-pop and Fountains of Wayne influences."
BOOKS:
- Adam W. admits he "hit a book wall" when the pandemic started, but a a book called KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON broke him out of it. "Everyone who was raving a few years ago was right," he says.
- Christi W. points us to Tyler Feder's new graphic memoir, DANCING AT THE PITY PARTY.
- Cari gives a shout-out to Sam Knee’s books, like UNTYPICAL GIRLS: STYLES AND SOUNDS OF THE TRANSATLANTIC INDIE REVOLUTION, THE BAG I'M IN: UNDERGROUND MUSIC AND FASHION IN BRITAIN, 1960-1990 and MEMORY OF A FREE FESTIVAL: COUNTERCULTURE FESTIVALS IN BRITAIN 1966-1986. "I’ve been an admirer ever since his first book made me saucer-eyed over all of the cool stuff British indie kids were doing and wearing when I was just discovering cool music via Rodney Bingenheimer’s  L.A. radio show as a kid," she says. "I check his Instagram every day."
KIDS:
- This week my kid has spent lots of time on Ology, the kids' website from the American Museum of Natural History. It contains lots of activities, comics, games and quizzes, and she loves nothing more than to ask me a science question that I don't know the answer to.
- We also started watching CATS the other night. About 45 minutes in, she turned to me and said, "Let's turn this off. I don't know what the story is here!" I couldn't argue.
MISCELLANY:
- Lara forwarded me the New York Times' "At Home" newsletter, which has lots of recommendations--and occasional gems like Caryn Ganz's Google doc that shows "52 places to go in my apartment." (I've never met Caryn but have admired her work for a long time. She has impeccable taste!)Â
HEY, BRIAN:
As you may recall, last week a reader named Brian D. asked us for mobile game recommendations.
- From Debi B.: "I prefer puzzle games without a lot of time pressure. Two of my favorites are Flow-Free and Flow-Free Hexes. They have a set of daily puzzles that take about five minutes to complete, so it doesn't take the whole day, but it keeps me engaged. I've been playing them for years, as evidenced by my 1400+ daily game streak!"
- From Tracy T.: "A mobile game I highly suggest is I Love Hue Too. It's the perfect relaxing and satisfying game, and it's probably even more fun for anyone working in visual arts--it keeps me sharp on recognizing colors and how they change depending on the colors around them."
Personally, I'm a word game person--my daughter turned me on to a game called Word Collect, which has an endless number of levels.
A NEW QUESTION!
This week's Q comes from Sarah C. in Charleston, S.C.:
"I hope y’all are safe and well. I’m looking for fiction, YA, sci-fi, and/or fantasy books to keep me sane during quarantine. Know anything engaging and a super-page-turner that maybe isn’t too dark but still entertaining?" Let's help Sarah! Send suggestions to whitmath@gmail.com, and I'll share some next week.
Well, it looks like Saucy Ellen Burstyn says it's time to go. Please keep in touch via whitmath@gmail.com, 929-515-1988, Twitter, Instagram or heart-shaped inflatable raft. I love the way you move.
stayin' in & wiggin' out,
Bert Convy
“My dreams are of water. And my nightmares."
- Siouxsie Sioux