Mr. President
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Podcastery
This week, I posted Episode 562 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. the return of cartoonist Leslie Stein. With her wonderful, hilarious & heartfelt new graphic novel, Brooklyn’s Last Secret (Drawn & Quarterly), Leslie brings us the story of Major Threat, a getting-over-the-hill indy band on tour. We talk about how she mined the raw material of her own rock & roll tour experiences (and those of her friends) to make a comedy about touring life, why she started it during COVID lockdown in 2020, and how serializing it on Instagram served as an antidote to doomscrolling. We also get into the evolution of her cartooning style and how she finds new modes to work in, the expectations vs. the reality of artistic life, the experience of going viral with a comic about Nirvana T-shirts (and her time playing in a Nirvana cover band). We also discussed going back to cons & festivals, why it’s important to be an entertaining panelist, the role of music in art-making, why it’s best not to open up emotionally to your bandmates when on tour, and more. Give it a listen! And go read Brooklyn’s Last Secret
Last week, I posted Episode 561 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. a conversation with cartoonist Josh Bayer. With his new graphic novel/memoir, UNENDED (Uncivilized Books), Josh explores family trauma, memory, art, and more. We get into how he spent five years trying to adapt his late father’s unfinished play into a comic, the ways it did & didn’t help him come to terms with his father’s life and his mother’s death, and why he blurs out his character’s face on the page. We talk about the influence of punk on his writing and art, the systems he uses to pull him out of storytelling morasses and how he learned to teach them to his students, coping with ADD, studying at SVA in his 30s, and why he pursued comics over fine art. We also discuss mental health and treatment and how we deal with our father-issues, Josh’s recent stint working at Carol Tyler‘s Ink Farm, why it’s tough to be Rollins, the question of whether he’s forgiven his dad, and a lot more. Give it a listen! And go read UNENDED
Recent episodes: Adam Sisman • Lisa Morton • Daniel Clowes • Rachel Shteir • Patrick McDonnell • Keith Knight
Push the Sky Away
I’ve gotta host a meeting of my Board of Trustees in 90 minutes, and am putting the finishing touches on my President’s Report for them, so there’s no time to write anything even semi-profound for you this time. Sorry, but duty calls.
Instead, here’s a view from my walk with The Guys this morning. They came up to my neighborhood, and I took ’em to The Cliff so we could take in the autumn landscape. It was cool & breezy & clear, and the sky just went on.
Would it be slightly profound to say, “Get out with friends & take in the world”? If not, come back Sunday and I’ll try to do better.
Art
I didn’t make too much art last week, but I was happy with what I made. First I made a postcard of the seagull who hopped up on the terrace of our hotel room in Barcelona as we were getting ready to check out. Started w/Micron, then watercolor pencil, then brush. By the time I was done, he looked kinda menacing, so I added those words. I didn’t lay out the text in advance, so it looks disjointed, but sue me. After that, I started yet another study of the statue of Montaigne in Paris. I’d like to make that the cover of the next Haiku for Business Travelers, but we’ll see. I was really happy with how I got the drapery of his cloak going (another Micron 01 on sketchpad). I feel like I could do something with this, but it’ll take real time, and not just sketchpaper. But maybe I’ll have time & focus soon. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & workout craziness, and Wednesday with a new episode, maybe some art, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.
You can be the President / I’d rather be the Pope,
—Gil Roth
Virtual Memories
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