Howdy! A stupid virus tried to pin me down for a minute, but I’m (mostly) back in fighting shape, hoping to see Priscilla, carve a pumpkin and visit a bagel shop made of felt this weekend. What shenanigans are up your sleeves?
new minicomic & open studios
Thanks to all the locals who came out for Gowanus Open Studios last weekend, where Dean Haspiel, Jason Goungor, myself and hundreds of artists opened our doors and showed/sold our wares. Shout-out to Geoff and Kerry, two former Pop Candy readers from Canada who stopped by my studio on their way to see Depeche Mode! (Guys, if you’re reading this, let me know where you decided to eat dinner before the show.)
I was psyched to debut my third annual collection of Diary Comix, a 24-page minicomic with my favorite adventures from the past year.
All paid Substack subscribers are getting this minicomic in the mail! If you become a paid subscriber by Nov. 1, I’ll send one to you, too.
how to with john wilson
I can’t believe it took me so long to watch HBO’s How To with John Wilson, a show I gulped down while I was sick and fell harder for with every passing minute. The documentary series is so New York, and it also feels very ‘90s — maybe because it reminds me of some of the quirky lo-fi docs from that era, like The Cruise and American Movie and Fast, Cheap and Out of Control.
How To also makes me miss some of the weirder stories I got to cover as a reporter, like the time I talked to clashing Johnny Cash fans, or my trip to Scranton, Pa., for the first (and last) The Office convention or CandyExpo, where I tried a lot of new candy and somehow avoided throwing up. It’s funny (but not) that publications still ask if I’d like to recap TV shows or basically churn out mindless content, but few really value these kinds of human interest stories anymore, even though they’re way more likely to stick to a reader’s brain.
Through John Wilson’s eyes, we visit a meeting of vacuum cleaner collectors, a contentious dinner full of New York City referees and so many other places that, even if we encountered them, we still wouldn’t see them in quite the same way that he does. I’m eager to find out what he’ll make next; over at Vimeo, you can watch several of his early short films that didn’t air on the series.
george and tammy
If you’re not a George Jones/Tammy Wynette fan, I won’t direct you to this six-episode Showtime series starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. But if you are, check it out — if only for the scenes where Shannon busts out a Donald Duck voice and inhabits “Dee-Doodle,” George’s bizarre drunken alter ego.
Here’s the story behind the duck voice, as told on Mike Judge’s animated documentary series, Tales from the Tour Bus:
the elephant 6 recording co.
Am I suddenly writing a documentary newsletter? Let me hit you with another one — it’s The Elephant 6 Recording Co., directed by Lance Bangs. The film explores the ‘90s psychedelic DIY collective that included The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power and a bunch of other bands. In the scene below, they discuss the phenomenal, massively influential Neutral Milk Hotel record In the Aeroplane Over the Sea:
No filmmaker is more qualified to make this movie than Lance, who was entrenched in the scene and has probably directed/worked on several of your favorite films, TV shows and comedy specials. His resume of music videos alone will make your eyes roll back in your head and includes R.E.M., Pavement, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire and Death Cab for Cutie.
One of Lance’s first videos was for one of my favorite Guided by Voices songs, “Game of Pricks.” If my math is correct, he was only 23 years old when he made it.
doc nyc
I might as well continue this unplanned Doc Talk by mentioning the lineup for DOC NYC has been unveiled, and most of this year’s documentaries are also screening online next month. I already have a ticket to Chris Wilcha’s Flipside, which bears the tagline “The existential Gen-X movie we didn’t know we wanted.” I might also see the Merchant Ivory doc and the one about the Star Wars Holiday Special. Whatever your pleasure, you’re guaranteed to find it here, and you don’t have to come to New York to see it.
That’s it for now — thanks for reading! I hope you and your loved ones are doing all right, and I’ll see you again next week. Say hi anytime at whitmath@gmail.com.
quack quack,
whit