Marlene Dietrich in stonewashed denim 👖
She's vaxxed and relaxed!
Yesterday I got my second Pfizer jab, and this morning I'm pfeeling pfancy pfree (with a small side order of headache).
While I'm lucid, lemme tell you what:
I LOVE THIS BOOK: I just finished a fantastic biography called THE QUEEN OF WHALE CAY BY Kate Summerscale. It tells the story of Joe Carstairs, a boat-racing, island-owning, tattooed lesbian badass who was decades (or even a century?) ahead of her time. Joe lived on her own terms, earning trophies for speedboat racing, owning/running a Caribbean island and romancing Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead and many, many others. She also carried a small man-doll with her named Lord Tod Wadley, but to say any more would ruin this electric delight of a book. (Thanks to Lisa for giving it to me; now I wanna whip it into a screenplay.) Â
PUNKY'S DOC: Please tell me you've seen KID 90, the Hulu doc made by Soleil Moon Frye, aka Punky Brewster. Soleil hung out with everybody in the '80s/'90s and always had a camera rolling. The result is hilarious, mortifying and chock full of stonewashed denim. Brian Austin Green, Jenny Lewis, Stephen Dorff, David Arquette, several skaters from KIDS, Leo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Balthazar Getty and Perry Farrell are just a few of the famous folks who pop up. Bonus: The runtime is a sweet one hour and 11 minutes.
QUICK RECS:
1. This Beck/Paul McCartney track makes me smile 'n' shake.
2. All eps of THE REAL WORLD: HOMECOMING are streaming via Paramount Plus. How refreshing to see smart, ambitious people in their 40s and 50s on an unscripted show; I suppose it's our version of Michael Apted's "Up" series.
3. Patti Smith has a Substack newsletter.
4. I dug GODZILLA VS. KONG, even though my daughter had to explain a few parts to me. I also dug the "Snyder cut" of JUSTICE LEAGUE, even though my friend Dean had to explain a few parts to me.
5. I tore through NOTHING TO SEE HERE, Kevin Wilson's Southern-tinged and -singed novel about kids in Tennessee who spontaneously combust. I related on many levels!
TONIGHT AT 8 ET: I'll be on a live pop-culture trivia show with some mighty cool folks including John Siuntres, Dean Haspiel, Fred Van Lente and Mike Norton.
COMING UP: I'm eager to watch the new Hemingway biopic from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, which is now streaming for FREE.
MORE MORE MORE:Â Wanna support this newsletter and my creative dreams? Head to Patreon (patreon.com/whitneymatheson) for more stuff, including my daily diary comics.
Thanks for reading, and don't go changin'! Holler at whitmath@gmail.com or by tossing glitter in the air and singing Cameo's "Word Up" at full volume.
Bowling for burgers,
Lord Tod Wadley
"When you lose a lover, it's like getting a bad haircut.
It grows back in time."
- Sammy Davis Jr.
Reach out! Find me on Twitter, Instagram and at whitmath@gmail.com.