What’s better than people sitting around talking? Not a thing. Replace every big-budget action sequence with the old lady from Errol Morris’s Gates of Heaven, and I’ll be just fine.
Replace all CGI, AI, UTIs, etc. with Wallace Shawn discussing the nature of reality, and the world makes a little more sense:
Speaking of, last weekend I won front-row tickets to see the new play What We Did Before Our Moth Days. Written by Wallace Shawn and directed by André Gregory, it forces us to turn off our phones and give up (or embrace?) reality to watch four people sit and speak for three hours. It is glorious and, to borrow a Shawnism, almost inconceivable that it could be produced at the same time as a $25 million show with flying vampires. I could’ve watched Hope Davis, Josh Hamilton, Maria Dizzia and John Early yap ‘til dawn, and I regret to inform you it closes this weekend. (I know I gave similar compliments to Peter Hujar’s Day and Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, but can you blame me for finding no grander escape right now than humans engaged in thoughtful conversation??)
When I got sacked by USA Today 100 years ago, my friend Carla told me it was better to go out with a little controversy than on my own terms. Ditto for Colbert, who is now free to do whatever he does/doesn’t wanna do without the soiled fist of Standards & Practices. He’s a good listener with a big brain, two things that scare the crap out of tiny men with big pockets. Just thinking about this moment makes my eyes water:
Late-night shows might be fading and the talk-heavy independent films of the ‘90s seem to be in short supply. But at least we still have podcasts, Richard Linklater movies and Annie Baker plays* to help fill the gap.
Speaking of speaking, I’ll be at Onur Tukel’s event on Tuesday, where some of my work will be performed by actors and read by myself:
Also, thanks to Mariam for buying THE FEELING last week! Get it via Venmo/PayPal or Etsy.
*Annie Baker’s latest play, Infinite Life, arrives in bookstores next week:
Rolling Stone ranks the 100 best punk albums.
A Jackson Pollock painting sold for a record $181 million.
It has been discovered that a prize-winning short story was written by AI.
Xiu Xiu have made an album based on David Lynch’s Eraserhead.
Mike D (yep, that Mike D) has released a new song:
Kurt Vile went on The Adam Friedland Show this week to talk about anything and everything:
Here’s a chilling list of endangered historic places.
And Courtney Love and Ivy Wolk went on Interior Motives, “the game show where you show us your bed and we guess who’s been in it.” Naughty hilarity ensues.
I’m out! And about! Enjoy the holiday, flash a belly button, steal a glance.
with love and whiskey,
not willie nelson
email me | text/call (929) 515-1988
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