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Live from my parents' house ...

How's your summer? I'm spending the week at my childhood home in Virginia, where at night I can hear my old Cabbage Patch dolls screaming in the closet.

While I go peruse my folks' deluxe beverage refrigerator in the garage, please enjoy these tidbits 'n' recommendations!
What I'm into right now:

TV: No STRANGER THINGS spoilers here, but I will say I enjoyed the new season, Maya Hawke rocks, and I truly hope Winona gets 100x more dialogue in Season 4. Watching this show always makes me wanna rewatch old episodes of AMAZING STORIES (which is on Amazon, by the way).  

TRAILERS: I'm eager to see JAWLINE, a documentary about a teen YouTuber who wants "to escape a dead-end life in rural Tennessee." Sounds right up my alley.

BOOKS: I just started FEAST YOUR EYES, Myla Goldberg's latest novel about a photographer/mother that's structured like a fake exhibition catalogue. I'm not sure how this title escaped me when it came out a few months ago; as someone who loved Sally Mann's HOLD STILL a few years back, I'm eager to dig in. (Goldberg, of course, has written several good novels, including 2000's stupendous BEE SEASON.)

COMICS: On the train ride down here, I read Ines Estrada's ALIENATION, a futuristic/dystopian/semi-romantic graphic novel that wormed its way into my noggin. The story takes place in the not-so-distant future, when we have Google devices implanted in our brains and watch virtual eclipses sponsored by Starbucks.

FOOD: I don't know what's up with these limited-edition Peach Cheerios, but if anyone at General Mills is reading this, my parents would be so, so grateful if you could get them back in stores.

MISCELLANY: Shout-out to the Grids & Guides notebook from Princeton Architectural Press for giving me extra inspiration this week. ... Also, Jackie Estrada has been rocking Facebook with her nostalgic Comic-Con photos. Jackie has been attending comic conventions for 40 years and has published two books of her con photographs via Kickstarter. This week's '90s pics are worth checking out.

EVENTS: If you're gonna be in/near Brooklyn on July 21, come see me at Quimby's Bookstore, where I'll be reading my lil' essay from the recent book MOVING FOREWORD. Quimby's is a marvelous, magical place full of cool people and hard-to-find books and zines from independent publishers. Even if you can't make it on the 21st, stop by the shop sometime and indulge. 

AND DON'T FORGET: Support me on Patreon at any level, and you'll get instant access to my exclusive list of 99 graphic novel recommendations, among other features. If it sparks you to read any of 'em, I'd love to hear what you think!

This week I visited Virginia amusement park Kings Dominion for the first time in 30 years. Much of it hasn't changed, and somehow I managed to escape without getting whiplash or sunburn. Victory!  
And YOU recommend:

MOVIES/MUSIC: Ron saw THE QUIET ONE, the new doc about former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. "He has the archive to beat all archives of film, audio and images," Ron says. "And he's so self-effacing that an interview near the end left me crying." On a related note, Ron ALSO saw the Rolling Stones in D.C. last week. "Mick sounds better than in live '70s recordings. How is that possible?"

BOOKS: Rose from Minneapolis got an early copy of CHAOS: CHARLES MANSON, THE CIA AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE SIXTIES by Tom O'Neill and recommends it. "It's really interesting," she says. "This guy really went on a 20-year odyssey in completing it." ... And Leanne is the latest (of many!) readers to love DAISY JONES AND THE SIX. She says Taylor Jenkins Reid's book was a surprise page-turner and urged me to put it on my Kindle ASAP, so maybe I will.

MUSIC: Dave R. in Fair Lawn, N.J., recommend's PUP's latest, MORBID STUFF. "Rock is not dead!" he says. "It's alive, well and full of angst and struggle."


AND HEY: Shout-out to Mike V. for leaving a super-nice message on my pop-culture hotline a few days ago. Don't forget you can share your recs anytime at 929-515-1988, where I try to leave a new outgoing message every day. Email me at whitmath@gmail.com. I wanna put you in a future newsletter.

Holy moly, it's Cleveland-based reader Chris M. (aka "BIG BUSINESS") with the legendary Peter Buck! Chris ran into the R.E.M. icon shortly before he played a show with The Baseball Project at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Minutes after this encounter, Chris ran into bassist Mike Mills, who was also happy to pose for a pic. Dream day achieved. 

Releases worth noting:

TV/STREAMING:
- The doc series SHANGRI-LA takes us inside the recording studio of Rick Rubin (Showtime, July 12);
- David Harbour stars in the fun-looking "made-for-TV-play" FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER'S MONSTER (Netflix, July 16);
- The CW debuts a new sci-fi series, PANDORA (July 16);
- Viceland premieres DANNY'S HOUSE, a wacky new talk show with Danny Brown (July 17);
 - Gina Torres stars in a new Chicago-set drama called PEARSON (USA, July 17).

IN THEATERS (OUT JULY 12):
- Jesse Eisenberg leads THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE;
- Lynn Shelton directs Marc Maron in SWORD OF TRUST;
- Kumail Nanjiani is an Uber driver in the comedy STUBER;
- Awkwafina stars in THE FAREWELL;
- ARMSTRONG sheds light on astronaut Neil Armstrong;
- And LYING AND STEALING has some pretty art thieves.
 
NEW BOOKS:
- I can't wait to read THEY CALLED US ENEMY, George Takei's powerful graphic memoir with art by Harmony Becker;
- Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have a BAD WEEKEND;
- Chuck Klosterman shares RAISED IN CAPTIVITY: FICTIONAL NONFICTION;
- Ulli Lust reveals HOW I TRIED TO BE A GOOD PERSON;
- Gimme LET'S MAKE RAMEN! A COMIC BOOK COOKBOOK;
- And Drew Fortune shares NO ENCORE! MUSICIANS REVEAL THEIR WEIRDEST, WILDEST MOST EMBARRASSING GIGS.

RAD BIRTHDAYS:
July 12: Christine McVie, Richard Simmons
July 13: Patrick Stewart, Harrison Ford, Erno Rubik, Cheech Marin, Cameron Crowe, Sharon Horgan
July 14: Jane Lynch, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Fox, Brian Selznick
July 15: D.A. Pennebaker, Linda Ronstadt, Lydia Davis, Terry O'Quinn, Marky Ramone, Forest Whitaker
July 16: Stewart Copeland, Tony Kushner, Phoebe Cates (pictured), Will Ferrell, Corey Feldman 
July 17: Donald Sutherland, David Hasselhoff, Wong Kar-wai, Alex Winter, Lou Barlow, Cory Doctorow, Panda Bear 
July 18: Paul Verhoeven, Martha Reeves, Ricky Skaggs, M.I.A., Kristen Bell

Many of you dug these New Wave tarot cards when I posted pics on social media, so I'll praise them again! I know nothing about tarot, but I just had to have these in my life. Get your hands on them and other amazing stuff at Last Craft Designs.
If you want to sing out ...

Say hello anytime via email (whitmath@gmail) or text/voicemail (929-515-1988). Email if you wanna send me stuff or hire me as a writer/speaker/interpretive dancer. 

If you liked this newsletter, please forward it to a friend! Subscribe here, and find/tag me on Twitter and Instagram. (If this email is landing in spam, try this.)

Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere,
Deanie Loomis 


"People take pictures of the summer / just in case someone thought they had missed it / and to prove it really existed."
- The Kinks, "People Take Pictures of Each Other"

Click here to support this newsletter on Patreon!
Read my kids' book, WE MAKE COMICS on the kids' digital platform getepic.com. (Use the code SUMMER19 to get a three-month subscription for $3.)

Also, check out my humor essay in the book MOVING FOREWORD, and see me read from it July 21 at Quimby's Bookstore in Brooklyn!
Copyright ©2019 Whitney Matheson. All rights reserved.