These are just a few things I’m enjoying this week that I wanted to share.
Music:
Public Service Broadcasting‘s The Race For Space came out in 2015 but I think since we’re fast approaching the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, now is definitely a good time to revisit it. The album incorporates historic audio samples covering, well, the race for space, into moody, atmospheric music. It’s cool. Go put on the NASA Channel and listen.
Comics:
I’m finally getting around to reading Maggy Garrisson (Self-Made Hero, 2019) by Lewis Tronheim (words) and Stéphane Oiry (art) and translated by Emma Wilson. It’s so much fun and I only stopped reading it today because I had to change trains going to work.
Oddly, we are really lacking in realistic* fictional comics that are about adult women. This is not to take anything away from the awesome abundance of autobio comics and sci-fi/fantasy comics about adult women, but I just want comics to be about everything.
*Maybe it’s not quite right to say Maggy Garrisson is “realistic” but close enough.
Books:
Wait, comics aren’t books? Well, you know what I mean.
After watching the dull film adaptation, I did purchase a copy of Lois Duncan’s Down a Dark Hall and it’s certainly an easy, escapist read so far.
I do question this new-ish trend of updating older YA novels to include things like the Internet and cell phones or whatever to make them somehow more relevant. Even as a small child reading Beverly Cleary, I could read copyright dates and understand that some things took place in the past.
Still, even if that movie was bad, I’m glad it brought this book into my life.
Movies:
I’m currently listening to Suzanne Ciani’s recently (re?-)released Flowers of Evil, based on the work of Charles Baudelaire (some write-ups have claimed this is “unheard” so I don’t know if it ever got a proper release when she first recorded it. Who cares? It’s still great). And that reminds me that everyone needs to watch A Life in Waves because it really illuminates how much she’s done as a musician. All that music and sound effects in ’80s commercials? That was her, more or less, and those things went far to shape a certain sound and certain aesthetic of a culture. She’s also just so funny and cool in the documentary that’s it’s impossible not to like her. It’s also from the team of Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason, who are two of my current favorite documentary filmmakers.
(It’s available on Hulu or for a couple of bucks on your other favorite services.)
One last thing:
I love Little My from Tove Jansson’s Moomins books and comics. I mean, yes, everyone loves Little My, but I love her so much I have a tattoo of her.
For a variety of reasons (the main one being because it’s fun), I scanned a bunch of images from the Moomins comics and had them printed out and clipped them to wire frames that are now a part of my bathroom decor.
This image is one of them and I find it very inspirational. I always manage too.
