KBBBLOG MIX THREE!
Be Good 2 Yourself, Jonathan Richman's nasally voice, More than you needed to know about the Monster Mash, Blue is 50, Legally Blonde is 20, and a rock with a lot of eyeballs.
Mix Number Three is named after the Johnnie Frierson song “Have You Been Good To Yourself?” and whenever this song plays in Outlet, both Leland and I start getting defensive thinking that he is calling us out for NOT being good to ourselves, because it’s so easy to be self-critical jerks. But TRUST that I am not calling you out by including it as part of the 20 songs that I selected for a listen this week. BE GOOD TO YOURSELF!
This mix includes quite a few summertime bops and just a warning that it’s going to be hard for me to not include a Jonathan Richman song on every single one of these little weekly missives I put together because it’s hard for me to resist his delightfully confident nasally charm.
Hank’s (my almost three year old) number one requested song is included in this mix because I am pretty sure I listened to “Feet Up Pat Him on the Po-Po” more than any song this week. And I have no one but myself to blame. When I was little I had a this 1977 Monster Mash record and it was FILLED with amazing novelty songs like, well “Monster Mash” by Bobby Boris Pickett and “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean and a terrible ear worm called “Feet Up Pat Him on the Po-Po”. I had a moment of weakness and wanted to play it for Hank and when I did it was ALL over. It’s his number one and has been for the last month or so. I think I am going to have him listen to “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavor On the Bedpost Overnight?” next. Do I need to buy this album off ebay? I think I need it back in my life.
And here is a bonus playlist to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Joni Mitchell’s Blue. I had put this together a few years ago, but with so much Joni being in the news lately, I though it was a timely share. It’s not ALL Joni, but it’s heavily inspired by the music that I would listen to along with Joni in my 1993 White Chevy Grand Prix when I was living in Omaha, Nebraska and would make the drive home to Vienna, Missouri in the early 2000s. LOTS of solo car singing would happen on those trips and usually all pretty nostalgia tinged selections from my mom’s record collection combined with Elliott Smith, Belle and Sebastian and some Bright Eyes, of course.
I am still figuring out my way with this blog/newsletter/whatever, but I also want to slowly start chipping away at documenting the work that my grandparents Nan and George Pollard created during their 60 plus year career in illustration. My uncle shared a link to this article that was just written in the Kenosha News which gives a pretty good introduction to their lives as illustrators living in Kenosha, Wisconsin from the late 1940s until they passed away in 2008 and 2012.
I talk about grandma in almost every public lecture I have ever given. I mean, I should at LEAST put together a zine about her, even though I have wanted to work on an actual book for years. The above photo shows her at her drawing table which is the table that I draw at currently at Outlet. I had it shipped to Portland after she passed away in 2012 and it’s my number one favorite object in the world. It also weighs more than a tank. Okay, watch this space for more Grandma Talk™
Today I watched Legally Blonde for the first time. When it came out in 2001 I was pretty resistant to its charms and thought it was way too mainstream (please insert huge eye roll at 24 year-old-self for denying me of its pleasures). The tipping point for me pushing play (it’s currently on Netflix) was the NYT oral history in today’s paper.
Also, JENNIFER COOLIDGE IS IN IT. and yes I am watching it now as I type these words and it’s very enjoyable. Although you probably all know this because everyone in the world has watched this movie except for me. Also Elle Woods was way ahead of her time with her video application to Harvard since TikTok just launched a new pilot program to help job seekers apply online with video resumes to appeal to the Gen Z.
And to conclude, please watch my favorite Jennifer Coolidge clip from the 2000 classic Best in Show.
My favorite twitter account of the week goes to GUMBY SCREENS. Just screen grabs from Gumby. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
My favorite movie of the week goes to Clockwatchers. Unlike Legally Blonde, I have no idea why I didn’t watch this when it first came out in 1998. It stars QUEENS Parker Posey, Toni Colette and Lisa Kudrow as bored office temp workers. It’s sort of slow (but in the best way) and the downtime gave me a chance to really analyze the pre-internet office set up: so much beige! phones with cords! ample office supply cabinets! typewriters! carbon paper!
Fun fact: Alanna Ubach plays another restless office temp worker and she is also in Legally Blonde. FULL CIRCLE. or something.
It’s also John Early’s favorite movie and that’s how I first heard about it in 2021 instead of 1998 like I should have!
This week I gave my first in-person workshop with a bunch of teens and we made zines at The Bodecker Foundation and it felt FANTASTIC. So excited to have more IRL teaching in my future. Also, Hank and I have been going to a tremendous amount of playgrounds. It’s been a good week.
Thanks for reading :)
KBB