1. Lovely friendo David Cormack has spent the last few years as a columnist for the Herald, representing “the entire left side of politics”. He, with many others, was shed by the paper as it tries to cope with events. Now Cormack has jumped on Patreon, and you can get his funny & smart reckons for spare change: https://www.patreon.com/davidcormack
2. MAD magazine’s film parodies were essential culture for decades, and Mort Drucker’s instantly recognisable art was a huge part of their success. The WaPo gave him a great obit: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/mort-drucker-artist-who-drew-humor-from-life-in-mad-magazine-dies-at-91/2020/04/09/e1a1dda0-7a6a-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html
3. The Comics Journal goes deep into Drucker’s art style, using his Invasion of the Body Snatchers parody as a starting point. I loved this. He was a huge part of my childhood. (Before home video, you’d relive films by reading the MAD parodies…) http://www.tcj.com/carnival-knowledge-on-mort-drucker/
4. Curt Smith of Tears for Fears plays Mad World with his daughter Diva. Gave me chills.
https://youtu.be/NEpfvTdR5-U
5. The last paragraphs of this Ray Bradbury interview are getting shared around for good reason – they are majestic. But the whole thing, an interview from the late 70s and the early 10s, is excellent. https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6012/the-art-of-fiction-no-203-ray-bradbury
6. Which is a good excuse to link to Rachel Bloom’s extremely horny and not works-safe song about lusting after Ray Bradbury. This 2010 clip was instrumental in getting Crazy Ex-Girlfriend made. Bradbury, then 90, liked it. https://youtu.be/ZG38VcjE770
7. Adam Schlesinger, taken much too young by COVID, was best known for cheeseball (& horny) chart-topper Stacy’s Mom, but he was also the secret songwriting weapon behind Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Rolling Stone gives the whole picture. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/adam-schlesinger-life-death-obituary-981333/amp/
8. This has been shared all over the place because sax man is just that iconic: The True Story of The Lost Boys’ Sax Man https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/04/the-true-story-of-the-lost-boys-sax-man/
9. In the last few years there has been a surge in Pākehā learning te reo Māori, signalling a deep transformation in how New Zealanders see the language. But this interest brings with it many new concerns, writes Dr Rawiri Taonui: https://www.waateanews.com/waateanews/x_news/MjQxMzY/Opinion/Dr-Rawiri-Taonui-%7C-Pakeha-Re-colonisation-of-Te-Reo-Maori
10. Another notable death this week was mathematician John Horton. This Guardian longread about him (dating from a few years back) is absolutely fascinating. (Via Trond) https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/23/john-horton-conway-the-most-charismatic-mathematician-in-the-world
11. Lea Thompson sharing this stay-home message makes it 1.21 gigawatts more compelling https://twitter.com/LeaKThompson/status/1248399737927024641
12. This did the rounds just pre-pandemic, but if you missed it, this episode of podcast Reply All about a man who tries to reconstruct a song he remembers from his youth – a song no-one else can recall – is surely one of the best podcast episodes of all time. (Via Kirsty @eliterate) https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2h8bx
13. Bloopers from old Hollywood are, it turns out, tremendous fun https://twitter.com/lumi_1984/status/1249451641457324032?s=20
14. And finally, the opening credits to Twin Peaks, but made entirely out of paper https://youtu.be/lTkDlfuhlVA