My Summer Lair Chapter #171: Is Just Me Or Does The Astronaut Remind You Of Gary Larson’s Far Side?
This conversation with astronaut painter Scott Listfield opens with Scott describing his painting called Glitch:
Scott Listfield “Glitch”
That’s right: on this episode, I’m joined by a painter: a visual artist. So tuck in that shirt; and spit out that gum it’s company manners time. Scott’s work is remarkable: his 500 plus paintings often fuse pop culture elements with corporate debris and overlooking all of that mainstream mess is a solitary astronaut. We’ll reveal more about the astronaut as we talk.
On September 13 he posted this on IG: “I began working on this series of paintings while the world was in lockdown. Cities were empty, buildings boarded up, coyotes inhabited downtown. I began to hear from people that the real world was looking more and more like my art. This gave me pause. It’s always good to feel like you’re in the zeitgeist. It’s another thing entirely to get the feeling that you’ve predicted a bleak present. I was struggling with what to do with this knowledge, and what I wanted to say about the present we find ourselves in.”
This is the thinking that prompted Quarantine his second solo exhibition at Spoke Art. (Click on the link to see the show. Fantastic opportunity to enjoy art without pants. Classy yet comfortable.)
Even just from Glitch, the viewer can highlight the competing aspects pushing for space on the canvas because it’s all wonderfully absurd and stunningly surreal. It’s understandable why Killer Mike recently gave Scott IG love.
I dig the guy’s work as you can tell and so this was a treat to finally talk to him about sci-fi movies and books, painting, and that lonely judgmental astronaut who echoes Marvel’s The Watcher. We even get into The Far Side Gary Larson’s fantastic comic which is always fun that guy doesn’t get enough recognition.
This fall TV season is unfolding during a contested political cycle but never no worries we got laughs and we got stories for you…you will not be stuck watching the debates. I am Sammy Younan and I approve this message.
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170 | Sarah Scoles (They Are Already Here)
My Summer Lair Chapter #170:Have You Ever Looked Up At The Night Sky And Seen An Unidentified Flying Object?
A powerful moment during his Inside the Actors Studio appearance in 2006; Dave Chappelle said: “The worst thing to call somebody is crazy, it’s dismissive. “I don’t understand this person, so they’re crazy,” That’s bullshit. These people are not crazy, they’re strong people. Maybe the environment is a little sick.”
Dave Chappelle is right: “The worst thing to call somebody is crazy, it’s dismissive.” Welcome science writer Sarah Scoles to My Summer Lair; her book is They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers. Indeed: a non-fiction scientific book on UFO culture.
I dig books and documentaries like this: curious, questioning and searching for truths. There’s no value in being right and certainty is foolishness. On page 8 she writes:
“Nestled among the unhinged conspiracy theorists and those who believe every UFO report like it’s biblical resided people I could identify with: logical, dedicated, skeptical. Many of them didn’t necessarily “believe” in UFOs at all, and most didn’t take the extraterrestrial connotation for granted. Nevertheless, in their spare time—between litigating court cases or teaching middle-schoolers or running planetariums—they scoured declassified government documents, Wayback-Machined old webpages, interviewed witnesses, and wrote up self-aware analyses of their findings. I undertook this project because I wanted to understand why these people spent so much time on a phenomenon that they weren’t even sure was a phenomenon—at least not one beyond the human brain.”
Absolutely fascinating. Our conversation convers the recent American government revelations, the distinction between aliens and UFO culture and Blink 182 front man Tom DeLonge who recently won an award for UFO Researcher Of The Year. Ummm yup.
Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter so we can have some fun…checking out the stars!
170 | Sarah Scoles (They Are Already Here)
My Summer Lair Chapter #170:Have You Ever Looked Up At The Night Sky And Seen An Unidentified Flying Object?
A powerful moment during his Inside the Actors Studio appearance in 2006 Dave Chappelle said: “The worst thing to call somebody is crazy, it’s dismissive. “I don’t understand this person, so they’re crazy,” That’s bullshit. These people are not crazy, they’re strong people. Maybe the environment is a little sick.”
Dave Chappelle is right: “The worst thing to call somebody is crazy, it’s dismissive.” Welcome science writer Sarah Scoles to My Summer Lair; her book is They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers. Indeed: a non-fiction scientific book on UFO culture.
I dig books and documentaries like this: curious, questioning and searching for truths. There’s no value in being right and certainty is foolishness. On page 8 she writes:
“Nestled among the unhinged conspiracy theorists and those who believe every UFO report like it’s biblical resided people I could identify with: logical, dedicated, skeptical. Many of them didn’t necessarily “believe” in UFOs at all, and most didn’t take the extraterrestrial connotation for granted. Nevertheless, in their spare time—between litigating court cases or teaching middle-schoolers or running planetariums—they scoured declassified government documents, Wayback-Machined old webpages, interviewed witnesses, and wrote up self-aware analyses of their findings. I undertook this project because I wanted to understand why these people spent so much time on a phenomenon that they weren’t even sure was a phenomenon—at least not one beyond the human brain.”
Absolutely fascinating. Our conversation convers the recent American government revelations, the distinction between aliens and UFO culture and Blink 182 front man Tom DeLonge who recently won an award for UFO Researcher Of The Year. Ummm yup.
It’s the Fall and for all the changes to our TV landscape TV is heating up with new returns and new shows. The more things change…right?
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169 | Ryan North (Slaughterhouse-Five)
My Summer Lair Chapter #169: If You Haven’t Read The Book Will You Be Willing To Read The First-Ever Graphic Novel Adaptation Of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five?
Typically I write a shows notes book review combo. However this time I’ll just share what Ryan North has written about adapting Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five one of the best anti-war novels:
“I wrote this book, but I think it’s really good! And I can say that because comics is a collaborative medium, and my script was only a small part of it: Albert’s beautiful art and graphic storytelling sensibility took what was there in my script and turned it into something incredible.
And of course Vonnegut’s original prose novel is timeless and one of my favourite books of all time. The book itself is the result of all theses talents and more, and I can say without ego that it’s something really special.
If you’re curious about this version of Slaughterhouse-Five, let me tell you that our goal with it was to make it feel like it was written as a comic first, to make it feel at home in the medium. This isn’t the prose novel crammed into boxes with some pictures added, but rather a version of the same story that lives within comics, that does everything it can to tell the same story – and make you feel the same sense of sorrow and loss and hope and love – in this new medium.
If you’ve read Slaughterhouse-Five before you’ll feel at home with this graphic novel and hopefully discover something new and wonderful about the book you love… and if you’ve never read it, or Vonnegut, I can promise you that you’ll find in him a unique, powerful and above all sympathetic and humanist voice that you can carry with you for the rest of your life.”
Ryan does a better job explaining Vonnegut’s complex novel than I could. This adaptation is fantastic: get your whole face into this graphic novel.
Lots of documentaries this week proving yet again for all the CGI and the bright spectrum of talented actors at our disposal: Life is stranger than fiction.
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NBA Playoffs 2020: Game 7!
It’s the second Game 7 of the NBA Playoffs!!
How Sweet It Is.
Though as we saw with the first series: Nuggets vs Jazz the ebb and flow/momentum of a playoff series in the Orlando Bubble doesn’t unfold smoothly or traditionally. It partly explains how a team that was .5 away from being up 3 is now facing a Game 7.
And of course, there’s no home court so the psychology of players and how players feed off energy are all gonna be affected. It’s all weird.
Ultimately Celtics vs Raptors will be determined by the Might of the Midgets: whichever deeply undersized guard shows up will be favoured by success. One Shall Stand; One Shall Fall!
Great way to kick off the weekend. So getting a large meat lovers pizza for this.
