Hitting The Links: 3/17/24
Some schmoozing at a comics festival, a bonus episode of the podcast, a whole ton of links, an accidental selfie, and more
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
MOCCAMECCA
Things are kinda hectic, so I’m afraid no stab at profundity today. I’ve got a 4-day pharma conference in NYC starting tomorrow, where I’m currently lined up for 31 meetings bet. noon on Monday at 3pm on Thursday, along with a trip to the Pelicans-Nets game in Brooklyn, which may make it difficult for me to get back to my NJ-side hotel. (Don’t judge; I’m tired of staying in NYC, and the views of the sunrise through/over Manhattan are amazing.)
I spent Saturday in NYC, too. I had a podcast to record (coming in a few weeks), then went to the MoCCA Festival to schmooze with comics pals: past guests, future guests, listeners with no interest in being on the show, etc. I had a great time, but it was kinda exhausting. I was carrying my pod-gear bag around with me (~10 lbs.), and then started getting loaded down with comics and books. Some were comps, but I also bought 3 full-sized books at the Fantagraphics table, at which point I asked for a bag, so I could at least balance out the weight. I can complain, but it was just wonderful to talk to people, to get in the schmooze with this part of my life before I go into 4 days of heavy business-schmooze.
And I bumped into Dean Haspiel (2018, 2020, 2023) and we decided to record a bonus episode of the podcast about his new Kickstarter, THE RED HOOK X DEAN HASPIEL! We recorded this morning, here’s the episode, and you should go check out the Kickstarter & toss in some moolah (it closes March 28, 2024)! The project looks fantastic, and Dean’s a heck of a cartoonist, so I can’t wait to see it!
I didn’t take any pictures during MoCCA, but Dean posted this nice one of us with his studio-mate, Whitney Matheson.
Some weird shit went down on the subway earlier in the day, where I wound up being a Good Samaritan for a couple of hooligans, but there’s a whole race element to the story, on top of other stuff, so I’m not gonna go into it. All I’ll say is, I reacted instantaneously to a situation, managed to help people, and got a laugh from the people around me in the subway car.
*
This email setup runs $29/month, so if you want to help out with it or otherwise Contribute To The Cause, you can support the Virtual Memories Show with a contribution of any size. You’ll get my thanks & one of those hand-painted postcards.
And now, let’s hit the links!
Links & Such
Recent Virtual Memories Show podcasts: David Small • Brad Gooch • Japan, a monologue • Scott Guild • Aaron Lange • Donald J. Robertson • Elizabeth Flock
RIP Dorie Ladner . . . RIP Karaoke King Shigeichi Negishi . . . RIP Paul Alexander . . . RIP Eric Carmen . . . RIP Gerald Levin . . . RIP Dan Wakefield . . . RIP Steve Harley . . .
Sebastian Smee explores Keith Haring’s art & his commerce vis-a-vis Brad Gooch’s great new Haring biography, Radiant.
Rhonda Garelick wrote about John Cena’s naked Oscar presentation and the craziness of women’s gowns.
Speaking of gowns, boobs, etc.
Speaking of hot & saucy pizza girls, etc.
Phillip Lopate (2013, 2017, 2020, 2023) wrote about the essays of Robert Louis Stevenson. (I’m pretty sure this is PL’s way of passing the time until Opening Day.) (haha)
The giant redwoods of . . . England?
I’ve got a couple of Todd Snyder pieces (of clothing) and like ‘em. Didn’t know much about his story before now. Maybe I’ll hit the Rockefeller Center one while I’m in midtown this week, see how those higher-waisted gurkha pants fit. Not that I’d have much occasion to wear them.
Another one of those goddamned “every great American novel you should blah blah blah”. I’ve read 3 dozen of them, I think.
Current/Recent Reading
Aristotle’s Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life - Edith Hall
Reading Shakespeare Reading Me - Leonard Barkan
“It was strange how all large trees had their own personalities, expressed through their unique forms and the aura created by the combined effect of the trunk and roots, the bark and branches, the light and shadow. It was as if they could speak. Not with voices, of course, but with what they were, they seemed to stretch out to whoever looked at them. And that was all they spoke about, what they were, nothing else.”
—Karl Ove Knausgaard (tr. Don Bartlett), My Struggle: Book 3
Fractured Body, Fractured Mind
Still only doing my modified morning routine, haven’t risked weights or plank/pushups yet. Haven’t done my yoga routine for a while either. I know I need to get back into that routine, but I’m scared. On the plus side, I went out for walkies with The Guys twice last week. I'll bring a yoga-mat with me tomorrow so I can do my routine in the hotel room all week.
If you wanna look at me, here’s an accidental selfie I took after Saturday morning’s podcast (I was trying to take a quick pic of the guest, but the phone was still in selfie-mode from our earlier pix together). I trimmed my beard/facial hair this morning, in advance of a week of pharma-meetings:
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Wednesday with a new episode and some art, and on Sunday with links, books, & non-workout craziness, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.
Today I saw a man / With a flaming 8 ball tattooed on his arm,