Parker Posey, Pee-wee & punk nuns ♥
No input = no output!
I constantly remind myself of Joe Strummer's input/output philosophy -- the fact that inspiration and productivity go hand in hand. Sure, I can sit in a tiny room all day cranking out words, but if I wanna stay inspired and interesting, I gotta take a break sometimes to feed my head.
With that in mind, here are a few ways I've been satiating the ol' noggin...
1. I'm catching up on Netflix's LOST IN SPACE reboot in preparation for the final season. Parker Posey plays a mad physicist and Molly Parker holds the whole shebang together as Maureen Robinson. Also, robots.
2. The 2011 film KILLER JOE is based on a Tracy Letts play and stars Matthew McConaughey as a killer for hire, Juno Temple, Emile Hirsch, Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon. It's electric, bloody and disturbing, and I couldn't look away. (It's also light years from the family-friendly LOST IN SPACE.)
3. I didn't realize you can play the game Codenames online, and it's just as fun as the physical version.
4. Alex in Ontario knows how much I adore Steve Coogan and told me THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE is back with new episodes. Watch this one before it disappears from YouTube.
5. I'm digging Charles Bukowski's THE CAPTAIN IS OUT TO LUNCH AND THE SAILORS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE SHIP because a) it's a compilation of journal entries he made near the end of his life; b) it includes illustrations by R. Crumb; and c) how great is that title? Thanks to Dean for recommending it.
6. I'm eager to see INSIDE THE MET: LOVE AND MONEY, which premieres tonight on PBS. I gotta get to that Alice Neel exhibit!
7. The "Little People, Big Dreams" series of children's books just released titles about Andy Warhol and RuPaul.
8. I can't stop thinking about this nun (and Dead Kennedys/punk fan) who's trying to revive the practice of memento mori, or thinking about your own death.
9. I appeared on the CINEMENTAL film podcast to discuss two very different movies I love, A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE and PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE.
10. Tonight I'm planning to watch TOGETHER TOGETHER, which stars Ed Helms, Patti Harrison and Julio Torres. You can rent it via all the rentable places.
11. Podcast-wise, Tina Fey & Jeff Richmond are on Busy Phillipps's podcast. Post-Credit Podcast has Zack Snyder. Maron talked to musician/personal hero Kristin Hersh. And longtime friend/reader Melissa Joulwan released a wonderful Hollywood-themed episode of A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE, the podcast she does with her partner in life/world travel, David Humphreys. They always have fantastic book recs!
AND ONE MORE: Writer/illustrator and all-around great person Brian Floca just released KEEPING THE CITY GOING, a beautiful children's book about the people who worked hard and heroically through the pandemic. Brian used to have a studio next to mine, and I know he worked many late nights on this!
My last newsletter prompted Jim R. to send this pic of when he met Marilu Henner a few years ago. "Marilu walked up (to me) ... It looked like we had coordinated outfits," he says. "A couple of weeks later, 60 MINUTES ran a story about Marilu being the seventh person in the world found to have autobiographical memory. At a personal level, the gratifying part is that when everyone else in the world has forgotten me, Marilu will still remember." Ha!
Here's a diary comic I drew the other day after an emotional weekend! See more at patreon.com/whitneymatheson.
So long for now! Say hi at whitmath@gmail.com. Keep your teeth real clean and your dreams real big.
Betting on the muse,
Wanda Wilcox
"I'm the Southerner who's very Southern in that she left
to move to New York."
- Parker Posey
Reach out! Find me on Twitter, Instagram and at whitmath@gmail.com.