Let's get physical (media)
Prince, Shere Hite, space, Pop Candy + more
Hey there! Today I’m packing for my writing residency in Virginia, where I’ll be liberated from laundry, email, lunch-packing, dinner-making, Zoom meetings and hustling for work long enough to be creative (I hope). I’ll be placing a sock on the door of this Substack ‘til I return. Shhhh.
Last weekend I made my umpteenth trip to the MoCCA Arts Fest, which has gotten a little high school reunion-y in that I’ve been seeing some of the same folks there for 20ish years. We’re all a little prunier, but nevertheless we continue filling our hearts and bags with physical media!
I picked up a few books, including Prince in Comics (published by NBM) for my 11-year-old, who is a diehard fan.
Fantagraphics had a display copy of Emil Ferris’ HIGHLY anticipated My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book Two, which comes out in May. The first one is magnificent, and I use this word without exaggeration.
dean’s kickstarter
Dean only has a few days to go on the Kickstarter for his superhero “mem-noir,” The Red Hook X Dean Haspiel. I’m honored to say the character I inspired, Winona Richards, makes a return appearance! Get in on it if you are so moved, because it won’t be available in stores.
shere hite
The other night I watched The Disappearance of Shere Hite, Nicole Newnham’s documentary about the sex researcher/educator who wrote the explosive 1976 best seller The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study on Female Sexuality. (It sold 50 million copies and is regarded as one of the top-selling books of all time.)
I didn’t really remember Shere until the doc reminded me of a moment when she appeared on virtually every talk show: Oprah, Sally Jessy, Maury, Geraldo, the whole shebang. Though she was decades ahead of her time, she was mocked and dismissed by so many (even Oprah) that it’s no wonder she fled the U.S. The film shows how far we’ve come — and how much I’d like to push all the dingdongs who want to take us back to the ‘70s and ‘80s into a one-way time machine.
interstellar
I missed Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar when it came out because I was unemployed and raising a two-year-old. If you’ve also been sleeping on it for a decade, don’t! McConaughey is at the top of his game, and the special effects are (will I really write this?) OUT OF THIS WORLD.
This is part of my self-imposed Space Initiative, which I started after realizing I’ve seen very few films about space. (You laugh now, but I bet there’s an entire film category you’ve bypassed. For example, I’ve also seen very few Liam Neeson movies. Look for my self-imposed Neeson Strategem coming this fall.)
pop candy flashback
Longtime supporter BIG BUSINESS (aka Chris) sent me a bunch of old photos from the Pop Candy meetup days. This is from 2007, when I held a lively gathering in Chicago during Lollapalooza. Pearl Jam headlined that year, along with Iggy & the Stooges, Amy Winehouse, Patti Smith, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem. What a time to be alive. Not sure if this pic was taken before or after I got a horrific sunburn.
And here are some pics from a Scranton meetup in 2008. I was there for the first (and last) Office Convention. It was super-fun, though I was so sleep-deprived that Ed Helms asked me if I was OK.
Thanks for these photos, and please keep sending me anything you have related to that weird, blissful time!
diary comic
I’m a day late for National Poetry Day, but here’s a poem by my friend and former teacher Marilyn Kallet.
I guess it’s time to fill my packing cubes — thanks for reading! See ya real soon.
in love and space,
Joanna Lumley
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Chicago was the first of a few Pop Candy meet ups I attended. Whitney definitely knows how to throw a cool shin dig, it was always fun to chat with “The Whit”, I was also impressed and had a blast talking with fellow readers. It is an amazing group of talented, cool, and funny people. What a great experience. I am grateful to have those memories and I treasure those roadtrips. Thanks.