Sometimes it feels like all I’ve done in the last week is work, make mediocre dinners, battle 4 a.m. insomnia, wait in long lines, reply to endless texts, transport my child, sign permission slips, pay bills and occasionally wash my hair.
BUT then I realize that, yeah, maybe I did see a couple interesting things along the way — including the new Basquiat x Warhol exhibit, which blew my wig off:
The show just opened at The Brant Foundation, a high-ceilinged, well-lit space in the East Village with lots of rarely seen works. I got to cozy up to “Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper)” for the first time:
It must take superhuman strength for two visual artists to collaborate without murdering each other. Whenever an editor hacks my writing to shards, I spit curse words into my keyboard and silently vow to never work with them again.
Walking through this show, I kept thinking of this scene from Basquiat. “I can’t even see what’s good anymore!”
The exhibit runs through Jan. 7. I’ll probably see it again, so maybe we’ll run into each other next to the bananas.
micky dolenz + r.e.m.
Micky Dolenz has recorded a new EP of R.E.M. covers. Everything about this is pure joy — especially seeing the recent photos of Dolenz with Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Bill Berry in Athens, Ga.
Listen to his version of “Shiny Happy People” and marvel at how he transforms it into a Monkees song. Those chords! That jaunty rhythm! The video is pretty adorable, too, and incorporates a bunch of his old home movies:
Dolenz Sings R.E.M. also features covers of “Radio Free Europe,” “Man on the Moon” and “Leaving New York.” (And yeah, I dunno where our pal Mike Mills is, but I feel like if all four of them reunited for a photo, it would overshadow Micky’s grand achievement. He’s 78 and sounds fantastic.)
boss interlude
This week I was listening to the Springsteen podcast from Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman and was struck by “Downbound Train,” a track from Born in the U.S.A. that might be one of my new favorite Springsteen songs. I don’t know how this one passed me by in the ‘80s, but it landed at the right time.
and more:
Covers are in the air: Cat Power just released Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert, and it’ll make you ache just like a woman.
I’m eager to hear the four-episode podcast “The Kids of Rutherford County” for a few reasons: One, it’s hosted by Meribah Knight, an incredible journalist and friend who moved to the Volunteer State around the same time I did; and two, it takes place in the same Tennessee county where I lived for several years. The podcast is a production of Serial and the New York Times.
Marc Maron’s new conversation with filmmaker John Wilson mentions Henry Cartier-Bresson, Ross McElwee, Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels, Stan Brakhage, Nathan Fielder, Court TV, toilets and so much more.
My favorite song on the new Rolling Stones record is the one sung by Keith Richards.
I was charmed by Barbra Streisand’s honest chat with Terry Gross. (And yes, she does mention Elliott Gould and says they still keep in touch.)
If you’re in NYC this weekend, my friend Dean will be exhibiting at JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience on Sunday.
The other day I found a copy of Women in Clothes (which is out of print), and I can’t wait to read it. Edited by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton — what an all-star crew! — it contains thoughts and drawings about style from more than 600 contributors.
If you like these diary comics, you can see more on Patreon or by becoming a paid Substack subscriber.
And speaking of paid subscribers, THANK YOU to everyone who has signed up recently. I will be hosting a Zoom for paid subscribers on Nov. 19 at 3 p.m., so if you’re interested, get in on it!
See you soon, and say hi at whitmath@gmail.com.
putting it in the ground where the flowers grow,
kate pierson