Friday recs: A Joker, an Alien, an Iggy & me
Intergalactic greetings!
Hey, hey! I'm feeling much better this week -- I think my gross cold was a byproduct of all these camps (i.e. germ factories) my kid attended over the summer. Shout-out to anyone who's in the same snotty boat.
I gotta confess something, too: Lately I haven't been absorbing tons of TV/podcasts/stuff because a) I'm taking lots of freelance work so I can pay for these dang camps; and b) I've spent the last few months writing a play. I don't know what'll come of it, but since it's almost finished, I feel like maybe it's OK to mention. (Also, if I tell you about it, I'm less likely to shove it into a drawer and pretend it never happened.) Anyway, you gotta have input in order to have output, and I guess I'm in Output Mode* at the moment.
But let's exchange a smidgen of input, shall we? Hold on to your hair gel ...
* Output Mode = also the name of my solo synth project
What I'm into right now:
TV: This week I caught up on BASKETS, which aired its series finale last week. I adore Zach Galifianakis, but, ultimately, the series belonged to the magnificent Louie Anderson, who never stopped taking risks and surprising us. I'll miss Christine Baskets as if she were my own kooky, lovable aunt.
TRAILERS: Ooh, that JOKER trailer looks good, right? It also makes me wanna rewatch THE KING OF COMEDY. ... Last week I forgot to mention the two MARRIAGE STORY trailers -- I'm eager to see this, too. ... The new documentary MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN tells the story of one of the great sci-fi flicks of all time. ... And I probably won't see CLOWNADO, but I did forward this trailer to several folks.
MUSIC: I mentioned the John Waters-approved band Baby Shakes last week; dig their new fast-and-catchy punk track "Love Song in Reverse." ... "Vancouver-via-Brazil" shoegaze band Palm Haze has a song called "Second Round" that'll put ya in a trance then make ya dance. ... And The Cretins are a band of teenage Brits that channel '60s British Invasion sounds for the cool song "Haven't Got A Clue." Feel it!
READING: I mean, nothing beats this story about a controversial dog park from the Washington Post. If I still taught journalism, I'd put it on the syllabus! ... I also dug this story about women who were (early) music bloggers. ... The New Yorker's Amanda Petrusich talked to the wonderful Iggy Pop. ... And I wanna read this Chris Ware comic on MoMA's website, but dang, it's super-hard to read on a desktop or a phone. Is there a way I could download it into my brain?
MISCELLANY: I took my daughter to see THE IRON GIANT last weekend. I hadn't seen it in 20 years, and man, I'd forgotten how great it is. All the adults in the audience were bawling by the end.
What you're into:
MUSIC: Our trusty pal Herman C. lets us know that "OMD is celebrating their 40th anniversary with a new song that sounds as good as the rest of their catalog." He adds that "nobody does modern '60s psychedelic songs better than Temples, and you can immediately hear it on their new single, 'You're Either On Something.'"
COMEDY: From Joey O.: "Comedian Jonah Ray was a musician before getting into comedy and just released an EP called YOU CAN'T CALL ME AL because ... it’s made up of 'Weird Al' Yankovic covers (and one song from the Netflix MST3K, which of course, he hosts)! They’re all super-short and punky -- in fact, the whole EP clocks in at just over seven minutes. He also made a pair of great videos: 'Welcome to (Amish) Paradise' takes place at a house party but the 'Frank’s 2K TV' video is all Jonah being green-screened into scenes from UHF. This is all very much up my alley and I assume many of your readers’, too."
COMICS: Chris says he's late to THE UNSTOPPABLE WASP but "enjoyed Jeremy Whitley's writing about The Unstoppable Wasp having bipolar disorder. It's in the collection called VOL. 1: FIX EVERYTHING. Check it out."
INSTAGRAM/COMICS: From longtime reader Jenn P.: "I had to share how delightful I find @seattlewalkreport. Seattle Walk Report was an anonymous Instagram comic where the author/illustrator would take incredibly long walks around Seattle and draw comics about their walk. They blend in interesting historical tidbits and the hilarious and random tally of the items they saw on the walk. Last Tuesday, their book, also titled Seattle Walk Report, came into the world and their identity was revealed to be Susanna Ryan, a Seattle native and Seattle Public Library employee. I have found the comic to be such a ray of sunshine and am excited there is a book in the world."
CONCERTS: Ron O. saw Squeeze at Pier 17, "a rooftop on South Street Seaport (in New York) that is about as gorgeous a view in the city as you could ask for." Search YouTube for highlights from the evening, like when they played "Pulling Mussels From a Shell."
PODCASTS: Inspired by Robyn Chapman's last week, Matt suggests we check out TODAY IN TRUE CRIME, a daily true crime podcast.
YOUR TURN: Send your recommendations to whitmath@gmail.com or leave a text/voicemail at 929-515-1988. They may appear in a future newsletter!
Shout-out to longtime reader Jodi G., who saw this in a storefront window in St. Louis Park, Minn., and sent it to me, asking, "Isn't that you??" (For the record, I'm more of a white wine drinker, but I do love stripes!)
Notable new releases:
TV: PBS airs BIG FAMILY: THE STORY OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC (Aug. 30) ... THE DARK CRYSTAL gets a Netflix series (Aug. 30) ... Cartoon Network airs STEVEN UNIVERSE: THE MOVIE (Sept. 2) ... MAYANS M.C. debuts on FX (Sept. 3) ... The '90s-set drama WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA debuts on Hulu (Sept. 4).
MUSIC: This week's new record releases include albums from Lana Del Rey, Bon Iver, Common, Jesse Malin, !!!, Whitney and Tool.
RAD BIRTHDAYS:
Aug. 30: Robert Crumb, Cameron Diaz, (Also, Kitty Wells would've been 100 today.)
Aug. 31: Richard Gere, Gina Schock, Glenn Tilbrook, G. Willow Wilson
Sept. 1: Lily Tomlin (pictured), Barry Gibb, Zendaya
Sept. 2: Walt Simonson, Tony Alva, Keanu Reeves, Salma Hayek, MC Chris (Hal Ashby would've been 90 today.)
Sept. 3: Steve Jones, Malcolm Gladwell, Noah Baumbach
Sept. 4: Kim Thayil, Ione Skye, Beyoncé, Kyle Mooney
Sept. 5: Bob Newhart, Werner Herzog, Michael Keaton, Dweezil Zappa, Rose McGowan
This week you can hear me on SCENE BY SCENE WITH JOSH & DEAN, the terrific podcast that breaks down the film AMERICAN SPLENDOR. (If you haven't seen it in awhile, I recommend a rewatch -- it holds up.)
Here I am with hosts Josh Neufeld (right) and Dean Haspiel (center), accomplished cartoonists who both worked with the late, great Harvey Pekar. In the episode, we chat about REVENGE OF THE NERDS, Pop Candy memories and, of course, Harvey. Stream/download wherever you get your podcasts!
It's YOU I like!
Send email to whitmath@gmail.com and texts/voicemail anytime to 929-515-1988. Also email for my mailing address or if you want to hire me as a writer/editor/speaker/hand model. My thumbs will bowl you over.
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Touch you once/touch you twice,
Amazing Larry
"I can't imagine working without an audience."
- Bea Arthur
Don't forget to read my kids' book, WE MAKE COMICS, on getepic.com!