Levi Stahl

It’s so much fun.

There’s some Lurhman-style editing at the start & end, but otherwise he dissent overly intrude. And in some ways he helps—there’s a lot of performances stitched together, and that stuff works.

Well, @jayinwrigley.bsky.social and @dodgyboffin.com and I just saw EPIC, the new Elvis concert doc from Baz Luhrman, and, man: Go, go, go. If you have any appreciation for Elvis at all, get out and see it in a theater. It’s about how much he loved performing, & what a gifted performer he was.

Oh, that is lovely.

We bought it in London at least 20 years ago when we wandered into a show of new engravings. The detail is exquisite.

A wood engraving in a dark wood frame with a gray matte. The engraving shows a man pushing a rowboat out to sea from a pebbly beach.

Howard Phipps, Chesil Boatman.

A frame with three small cartoon images of a small, chubby monster. In the first two it’s pink. The middle one shows it sitting on a bunch of candies. The third shows it green and looking unwell.

Jenny Arthur.

A large, cartoon-style painting showing Abraham Lincoln stringing a sword to cut in half a raygun held by one of two aliens who are recoiling in concern. A ufo hovers in the background near the White House.

I cannot for the life of me remember the artist on this one, but a friend knows; I’ll append it when I find out.

It makes me happy every time I walk by it.

A small painting in a white frame depicting a white wood-frame single-story building on a small-town street corner. A man in jeans and a red t-shirt is holding the front door of the building open for two people who are coming up the walk.

Eric Larson, Corner Coffee, New Harmony, Indiana.

A diptych of two square paintings on wood in simple wooden frames. Both feature a red, blue, and yellow pattern, like wallpaper, while the one on the right has a space of bare wood at the bottom. Crossing the border between the pattern and the wood is a detailed pencil drawing of a man in Edwardian clothes sitting in a chair. Behind the chair is a crocodile.

Amanda Sibrel, Man’s Best Friend.

A tall, black number 7, taken from a gas station price display, framed in a simple wooden frame against a brown background.

Brent Houston.

A large brass sculpture of a bird sitting on a perch like in a cage, hanging in the opening st the top of a stairwell. Its feathers are represented by individual overlapping scales of brass.

Sergio Bustamante, late 1960s or early 1970s.

An oil painting of a wood-frame two-story hoist with a porch. The scene is clearly evening, as the house is lit. But the sky is unusually light, with urban light pollution bouncing off the clouds.

Darren Oberto.

A beige-white dog with tall, pointy ears and a broom tail.

This good boy has a home now.

For about 18 hours we had an extra dog in the house*, as friends from out of town brought up a dog who had wandered into their yard. About an hour ago, an acquaintance who wanted a dog came by, met him, and took him home with her.

*Jenkins and the cats did not approve.

The nighthawk may be my favorite bird, so this was a really lovely gift Stacey got me.

A painting of a nighthawk, seen from below in midflight. The painting is on an old envelope that has been mailed.

Diana Sudyka.

A small pencil sketch of a finch perched on a person’s hand.

In the face of it all, I’ll just share some art from our house today. This sketch, “Tame Finch,” is by Alice Elizabeth Soper (1905–1990).

I actually don’t know, sorry. The audio rights aren’t held or managed by Chicago, so we don’t have any involvement. My assumption would be there there’s some weird rights situation, but I don’t know. (Also; Hi!)

A detail from a panel from a 199” Peanuts comic strip showing Charlie Brown, wearing a winter cap and coat, walking. He is saying “There are too many things these days to worry about.”

Good morning, friends!

lol, literally the exact thought I just had. (Though for me it’s ink $1500, because the other $1500 belongs to Donald Westlake’s family.)

I love this record so much.

Text from The Complete Guide to Prime Time Network and Cable TV SHOWD, 1946–Present: MR. MERLIN Situation Comedy FIRST TELECAST: October 7, 1981 LAST TELECAST: August 18, 1982 BROADCAST HISTORY: Oct 1981-Jan 1982, CBS Wed 8:00-8:30 Jan 1982-Mar 1982, CBS Mon 8:00-8:30 Jul 1982-Aug 1982, CBS Wed 8:00-8:30 CAST: Max Merlin ... Zachary Rogers Leo Samuels. Alexandra. Barnard Hughes Clark Brandon Jonathan Prince Elaine Joyce What better cover for an ageless sorcerer than running a garage in a run-down section of San Francisco? Who would believe that crusty old Max Merlin in his greasy coveralls was the same Merlin renowned in the days of King Arthur's Court? Fifteen-year-old Zac Rogers certainly didn't take Max seriously when the old man offered him the opportunity to become an apprentice sorcerer. But when he found out that this was no joke, Zac figured that learning magic could solve all his problems—with girls, with money, with his grades at school, and with just about anything else. Max believed that Zac could become a responsible sorcerer, and spent an entire TV season trying to train him, despite the troubles that Zac got into-casting the wrong spells, partially casting spells that got out of control, misusing potions, alienating Max's superiors, almost revealing his newfound magical powers to normal people, etc. Leo was Zac's best friend, who often got caught up in the disasters caused by his buddy's imperfect magic, and Alexandra was the beautiful liaison between Max (and Zac) and the all-powerful sorcerers to whom he was responsible.

So who else out there in 1981 read two novelizations of episodes of the unsuccessful 22-episode sitcom Mr. Merlin? (The most salient fact about the past is that there was nothing to do.)

Can’t fault it.

TIL, from Elizabeth Jane Howard’s memoir, that the writer Elizabeth Taylor and her husband would go separately to different pubs in the evening to sit quietly by themselves.

A photo of a kitchen counter. On it is a pair of scissors and a thank-you card. The “you” in “thank you” has been crossed out and replaced with “me.” Next to these is a cut-out newspaper comic strip, today’s issue of the comic strip Speed Bump, which in its top panel shows a woman saying to a man, "Why can't you use the brains God gave you?" The bottom panel shows God looking at a small object in the palm of His hand and thinking, "Shoot, I think this is Bob's."

Y’all thought I was kidding.

Today’s issue of the comic strip Speed Bump, which I’m its top panel shows a woman saying to a man, “Why can’t you use the brains God gave you?” The bottom panel shows God looking at a small object in the palm of His hand and thinking, “Shoot, I think this is Bob’s.”

I am totally going to clip this out and mail it to my friend Bob like it’s 1985 and I’m his grandpa.

Taste is nearly always comparative and identifies itself by the vast absences surrounding it.

—Elizabeth Hardwick, "Things"

He ain’t the one catching my eye in that photo, though.