No. 25: Karen O, Frida K., Miranda J., Bonnie B. & more!
Greetings, fellow earthlings!
How's your week? Are you eating your greens? If you're a new subscriber, thank you so much. I try to keep it positive here, and I hope you find something useful to see/hear/do or talk about at your next social gathering. (Or you could just sidle up to that cactus in the corner, which is what I usually do.)
Ready? Buckle up, it's all happening ...
What am I into right now?
The votes are in, and most of you prefer the new format, so we're sticking with it! A few things frying my pickles right now:
HULU: Man, I love BETTER THINGS. Pamela Adlon captures the chaos and exhaustion of life in such a funny and sincere way -- and this season's top-shelf guest stars warm my nostalgic heart. One scene features Bernie Kopell (THE LOVE BOAT), Mary Jo Catlett (FACTS OF LIFE) and Glynn Turman (A DIFFERENT WORLD)! I mean, what else do you need? Sharon Stone? ('Cause she's on the show, too.)
NETFLIX: That barbecue sisters ep of QUEER EYE made me a) cry my eyes out; and b) rush to see if Jones Bar-B-Q sauce is sold online, which it is. Yes.
HBO: Notably, the HIGH MAINTENANCE finale featured Tim "Speed" Levitch, the one-of-a-kind soul from one of my all-time favorite documentaries, Bennett Miller's THE CRUISE. Good to know he's still cruising, philosophizing and finding the beauty in skyscrapers and flowers.
PODCASTS: The wonderful Miranda July talked about life and creativity on the latest AMERICAN MASTERS podcast. And I dug Marc Maron's chat with Amy Sedaris, in which she explains, among other things, how her former at-home cheeseball business led to a mouse infestation.
ART: I took my daughter to the Brooklyn Museum's inspired and lovely Frida Kahlo exhibit. Maybe now I'll start wearing more colorful outfits (though, honestly, I'm probably more likely to have a pet monkey).
MOVIE TRAILERS: I'm curious about Olivier Assayas' NON-FICTION, which stars the Juliette Binoche and arrives in May. ... The teaser for Noah Hawley's LUCY IN THE SKY looks intriguing/perplexing, with Natalie Portman as an astronaut who feels out of place on Earth. ... I've heard nothing but raves for the documentary AMAZING GRACE, which chronicles the making of Aretha Franklin's 1972 AMAZING GRACE album. (It's out April 5.) ... And I'm cautiously optimistic about Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, which *looks* light and funny based on the teaser but could be too Manson-y for my taste.
YOUTUBE: As someone who lived for BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, I can't tell ya how psyched I am about this new movie! ... And John Early and Kate Berlant made me laugh with their latest video, "How Have You Been?"
MUSIC VIDEOS: Karen O and Danger Mouse are just the medicine I need right now. I love the new stuff, including "Turn the Light." ... And it's no surprise Stephen Malkmus' GROOVE DENIED is on my playlist. (Pitchfork gave it a 7.2, if we care about such things.) Here's his lyric video for "Come Get Me." ... Also, did you know Danny Elfman composed his first violin concerto? ELEVEN ELEVEN comes out today; sample it on Spotify and hear it performed live in select cities.
COMEDY: On Tuesday I saw a big comedy show with David Cross and Aparna Nancherla, but the real treat (for me, at least) was Julio Torres, who closed the show with a funny, odd and captivating set that included his deep thoughts on various types of curtains. Julio is a writer for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and has an HBO comedy on the horizon called LOS ESPOOKYS. Can't wait to see it.
Some recs from ... writer Bonnie Burton!
Bonnie Burton is an L.A.-based writer and pop-culture enthusiast whose work you may have seen in bookstores -- her books include THE STAR WARS CRAFT BOOK, CRAFTING WITH FEMINISM and J.K. ROWLING'S WIZARDING WORLD MOVIE MAGIC: AMAZING ARTIFACTS -- or on CNET, where she's a regular contributor. I've admired her taste and writing for years, so I had to ask what she's been into lately. Her picks:
BOOK: DAILY RITUALS: HOW ARTISTS WORK by Mason Currey. As an author and journalist, my daily schedule is sporadic and has no real rhyme or reason to it. I wake up, check email, scan social media, drink coffee, write, question my life choices, drink more coffee, write more, eat, write, procrastinate, drink more coffee, decide everything I write is horrible, watch TV, read, eat, and go to bed. But for most successful authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers and scientists - their daily rituals can mean everything from taking long morning walks to composing music while wearing pajamas. Non-healthy habits included Jean-Paul Sartre chewing on speed tablets and Mark Twain puffing on cigars. While many of the luminaries in this book had impressive schedules, it’s rather fun to compare your own daily habits with the likes of Mozart, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Freud and Agatha Christie. And it probably won’t shock you to discover that almost all these legends drank their weight in coffee.
TV: The unsettling sci-fi TV series DARK on Netflix explores a mystery of why kids start disappearing from a small German town.. The series is a kind of time-warping fairy tale that takes place in a forest that surrounds a sinister-looking cave that makes weird sounds. The show feels like a cross between STRANGER THINGS and TWIN PEAKS. The soundtrack is a great mix of ‘80s German hits, too.
TV: THE KETTERING INCIDENT on Amazon Prime Video is another sci-fi mystery involving missing kids, this time in the forests of Tasmania, Australia. When Anna Macy was 14, she and her best friend were cycling through the off-limits forests when they saw strange lights in the sky. Eight hours later, Anna was found alone, terrified and covered in blood. Years later when Anna is an adult and returns to her hometown, she’s blamed yet again when another young girl goes missing in the same way. But there’s more to this mystery than the usual crime thriller. There’s weird insect activity, teens start acting oddly and there’s a hint that aliens might be involved.
Thanks for the excellent recs, Bonnie! For more, be sure to follow her on Twitter and/or Instagram. Her latest kids' book, LIVE OR DIE? SURVIVAL HACKS, is on sale now.
And YOU recommend:
A few things you're watching/hearing/into right now:
TV: Lisa says she usually hates dating/reality shows, but Netflix's DATING AROUND is miles better than what you expect/have seen before. ... Alex wants us to know that Steve Coogan is back as Alan Partridge in THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE -- and even though it hasn't aired in the U.S. yet, if you search, you *may* find some eps online. ... Several of you are watching I'M SORRY on Hulu/TruTV, Pete Holmes' CRASHING on HBO (R.I.P.). and new eps of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT on Netflix.
MUSIC: Will gives us a heads-up that R.E.M. is releasing a "Bingo Hand Job" show from 1991 on Record Store Day. Over at NoiseTrade, you can download their performance of "Radio Song" from that show. ... Herman lets us know that Stray Cats have a new single/album out, "and it sounds like old Stray Cats." ... A very kind reader left me a voicemail praising Weezer's BLACK ALBUM, and a few of you have said you now dig Sunshine and the Rain, thanks to a reader's recent recommendation.
MOVIES: Jerilyn says Ricky Gervais fans will dig AFTER LIFE, his new Netflix film. "It’s funny and sad and has some familiar faces from his past shows," she notes. ... Joanne saw GRETA last weekend, "and I'm still thinking about the amazing Isabelle Huppert. Would love to see the play she's currently starring in."
BOOKS: Leanne is a few chapters into SUNBURN by Laura Lippman, partly because Roxane Gay named it her No. 1 book of 2018. "It's about a man and a woman, and you're hearing their innermost thoughts. They don't know what the other is thinking, and they're kind of both psychopaths," she says. "Anyway, I just want to read it, because I can't wait to find out what happens." ... A few of you also emailed me to say you bought Abby Denson's COOL JAPAN GUIDE after my recommendation last week. Yay!
BECAUSE YOU ASKED: Mike in Texas left a nice message about songs he's always glad to hear on the radio, like Talking Heads' "And She Was" (solid pick). He asked which songs I still haven't tired of hearing -- there are SO many, but the first one that comes to mind is "Drive" by The Cars. I've heard it thousands of times, but I think it's just perfect from start to finish.
CALL ME ANY, ANYTIME: I've been leaving longer messages on my pop-culture hotline -- it's kinda like a mini-podcast. Tell me/us what you're into anytime via email or text/voicemail at 929-515-1988. I'll share your recs in a future newsletter.
I'm sad to report that longtime reader/supporter Fred Hardcastle passed away last week. Fred was a big fan of Pop Candy and loved the community; we shared a fondness for pop culture as well as the great state of Tennessee, where he lived. I'm grateful to have received Fred's encouragement over the years, and my heart goes out to his daughter, Robin (pictured here with her dad). We'll miss you, Fred!
You never know when you're gonna stumble upon a sweet mural in this town. (This one is close to the Brooklyn Museum, hence the Frida bag.)
Every time you go away ...
See ya in a week -- until then, email me at whitmath (at) gmail or call/text 929-515-1988. Subscribe and peruse the archive here. If you like this email and wanna show your support, please spread the word via social media and real-life interactions!
Hanging out in the donut shop,
Hoops McCann
"This man is the bee's knees. ... He is the wasp's nipples. He is, I would go so far as to say, the entire set of erogenous zones of every major flying insect of the Western world."
- Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
"I think math is the cat's meow."
- Danica McKellar, actress and mathematician