Ratboys, landlubbers, gorgeous Legos

You shouldn't have asked - you should've just done it

It’s Friday, it’s raining, let’s eat candy corn for dinner. This week I’ve been busy celebrating my kid’s 11th(!) birthday and hopping Amtrak trains to/from Virginia, but I suppose I’ve had time for a couple more distractions:

A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.

only murders in the building

If you don’t like this show, go sit on a log. The third season wraps soon, and I’d never give away a thing — but I will say the latest ep features a brief-but-memorable appearance by Marylouise Burke, the octogenarian actor I raved about a few weeks ago because of her performance in Annie Baker’s new play, Infinite Life. (The play runs through Oct. 14, and I’m trying to scrape up enough pennies to see it again.)

I hope folks keep getting whacked at the Arconia for years to come (as long as it’s not Jackie Hoffman).

ratboy

Last week Tarik Davis hosted a late-night screening of the 1986 film Ratboy, and I’m a different woman now. I’m not sure I recommend this movie — it make no sense and gets more puzzling and insane by the minute — but if a stew of terrible ‘80s ballads, statement belts, creepy Bill Maher, Mr. Belvedere and a petite lady wearing rat makeup sounds appealing to you, check out this bizarre drama starring and directed by Sondra Locke. (Thankfully, Robert Townsend and Louie Anderson are there to save the movie; the rest of the laughs/groans are unintentional.)

one piece

Each time someone whips a beloved comic into a TV series there are like 80,000 diehards ready to rail against it on social media, but One Piece seems to be a welcome exception. I loved the first season so much I started reading the manga by Eiichiro Oda — and there are more than 100 volumes, so I’ll probably be clapping my dentures together by the time I finish.

The story follows young underdog pirates searching for treasure. That’s all you need to know! Hop to it!

queer eye legos

This deluxe Lego set has entered our tiny home, and yesterday I awoke to find my child wearing a headlamp and deeply immersed in early-morning assembly. Tiny Tan France has the most gorgeous plastic hair I’ve ever seen.

david lynch’s dune

Congrats to Max Evry on A Masterpiece in Disarray, his new oral history of David Lynch’s Dune! This is a beautiful book — this week I talked about it in a video for paid subscribers.

Max includes tons of interviews in this sucker, including … one with my dad and I. As some of you may know, my dad is a massive fan of Dune and watches it every year on his birthday.

Here’s a little peek. Buy it now wherever you like to buy things with pages!

cairo

Patti Smith’s beloved 22-year-old cat, Cairo, died this week. I cried thick tears when I read this beautiful remembrance by her daughter, Jesse Paris Smith.

An excerpt:

Cairo’s most disliked experience in life, even more so than a vet visit, was to watch my mom pack her suitcase to go on tour. Cairo seemed to learn what this meant over the years, and sometimes it looked at though she was crying little tears watching the shirts and toothbrush get packed into my mom’s carry on, this strange box that for her symbolized my mom leaving, maybe forever. Near the end of Cairo’s life, my mom took to packing her suitcase downstairs, where she couldn’t watch, though she still always seemed to sense it somehow, knowing that frantic energy of packing and preparing to leave, and the anxious worry of saying goodbye to her. They were so deeply linked, both existing and connected in another realm of reality, and I am sure that Cairo could feel it all.

and also—

• Oct. 1-7 is Banned Books Week. Here are some ideas for how we can celebrate our freedom to read and help defend books from censorship. In recent years there has been a sharp increase in book bans, and many of the banned/challenged titles are written by authors who are people of color, LGBTQ+ and/or feature characters from marginalized groups. Sending love and appreciation to all librarians and booksellers and NO LOVE AT ALL to the people near my hometown who have been removing books from school libraries for decades.

• Speaking of books I wanna read, Miranda July just announced that she has a new novel coming out next year.

• Longtime reader/cool guy Chad H. told me that Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy are hitting the road to play R.E.M.’s Murmur. I wanna attend every show.

• I can’t listen to the Handsome podcast while I’m trying to fall asleep because it makes me giggle too much. In the latest episode, Fortune Feimster talks about Cherie Berry, and now I want the T-shirt.

Red Hook Community Cinema will be showing FIVE films by myself and Dean Haspiel on Oct. 7 from 6-8 p.m. Come out, say hi and watch Continuity Errors, Denny Barracuda, There Is No Try, The Tip and Prelude to the War of Woo for FREEEEE!

I’ll be moderating a sexy panel called “For Mature Readers” at New York Comic Con on Oct. 13 at 9 p.m.

Dean Haspiel, Jason Goungor and I will be opening our lil’ studio to the public Oct. 21-22 as part of Gowanus Open Studios. Come say hi and buy some comics.

That’s it for now. Stay dry and stay gold.

lifting you up,
cherie berry