Don’t light yourself on fire

Are you proud to be an American?? I'm not!

As always, we've included things coming in the upcoming month, and a look at what's happening on our Patreon (which you can join for ~as little as a dollar~) & Discord which is open to all!

Now for something completely predictable: t h e   f e e l i n g s

STELLA:

I’m so flippin late to this, but omg have you seen the documentary The Last Dance? It’s SO good! I’ve been feeling full of 90s nostalgia for some reason lately and a whole documentary about Micheal Jordan and The Bulls was exactly what I needed. And the soundtrack absolutely fucks.  I also rewatched Space Jam and it holds up! God, I miss good animation. 

Currently obsessed with Sabrina Carpenter's new music video for Manchild. It’s so brilliant and plays with feminism and cultural expectations and is filmed in this avant guard feminist theater kind of way? Ugh so good and looks like it was so fun to shoot. I love how she is this tiny hyper feminine performer who is just constantly dunking on men in all her catchy ass songs. And yeah, I do like her new album cover. I think it’s really clever and people are stupid and have no sense of irony or media literacy. 

The current IDW Star Trek comic series by Jackson, Kelly and Cantwell has come to an end and I am DEVASTATED. Like sobbing reading it at work kind of devastated. I know I have talked about this series a lot but it’s so fucking good and literally has something for every star trek fan. And I’m happy to say it remains good for the whole series. The three writers crafted an incredible story that fits into canon!! AHHHH PLEASE READ IT! 

Screaming. Crying. Throwing up. 

I found this article about working a video game convention during the midst of the ICE protests in LA absolutely fascinating and really prescient. Like how do we just go about our lives during the fall of an empire? How do we have joy? How do we protest and fight and live our one wild life to the fullest? What is the difference between ignoring what is going on and navigating around what is going on while still participating? 

I’m not done with this book but I am LOVING Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry. It’s the perfect read for pride month and horror fans. I cannot recommend the transfemme Medusa story enough! (#WWMD by jaye simpson)

ERIN:

The 4th of July is rapidly approaching so naturally I’m thinking about how my neighborhood lit up like it was the end of the world in 2020. It was the first time i really understood what “reminds you of a warzone” means, and it went on for hours and hours. And, as someone who loves colors, it pains me to say that fireworks done ad hoc on the 4th are Bad, Actually! Hire a professional! Have a designated and safe place to light them! Never hold a lit firework in your hand, ever!!! Be aware of the falling, smoking carcasses of your pretty color machine and understand that those can burn shit to the ground! If you live in a desert - don’t do it!!!!!

Okay, so OTHER than that.

I'm absolutely obsessed with the Instagram account @taggedbeautyy  - Taylor Ann Gallow, Miami by way of New York, walks you through full face beat makeup for bad skin. I'm FASCINATED by it, as i wear zero makeup in my day to day life. I tried her tips at the last plan 9 show and did legit feel more confident about my makeup looking like actual makeup and not whatever it is i normally do. I highly recommend her videos.

Do you remember magazines?? Think back to a time when there were approximately 400.000 magazines on the shelves. Where anyone could watch you pick up anything. A time when certain magazines had to be hidden in dark paper like a booze bottle in a state with open container laws. I’m all about a magazine right now. I subscribe to four at the moment (Wired, Vanity Fair, Vogue, National Geographic) and The Onion’s print copy — which I highly recommend! I’m enjoying just carrying one around with me since I’m still in a historic reading slump and at least I’m doing something with my hands that isn’t on my phone. I use them for collaging after I finish reading through them, so I’m killing two birds with one stone by also encouraging more non screen time with art. Also, they are still glossy as hell and it does still feel pretty cool to nonchalantly flip through one.

My birthday was last month. Time passes.

PRODUCER BOBBY

I have moved. I am moved. I move. 

It’s worth it to try and make your life more comfortable and keep making positive changes instead of trying to shrink. I’m too happy and it feels bad to be happy right now so I’ll stop talking about it (but not feeling it). I got a little workshop that I can’t wait to start making noise with. 

RECOMMENDATIONS (It’s all music!)

To watch: 

We lost Sly Stone in early June and if you’ve never, you have to watch Questlove’s documentary Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) (trailer) that came out earlier this year. Great music, great message, great interviews. Also, if you have more music and musical documentaries in you to watch, Bad Religion have been releasing their Decades series (Episode One) on their Youtube channel. Live performances and interviews spanning their 40 years as a band. Half the $5 words I know are because of Greg Graffin. Hooray For Me... (And Fuck You).  

To hear: 

Blood Vulture - Die Close (Genre: Grungesludgegothic Metal)

I have been a fan of what Jordan Olds makes for years. Most known as Gwarsineo Hall, the positively delightful host personality of Two Minutes To Late Night, he has created some of the funniest and most joyful content the metal media community has had to offer in a long time and we will take what we can get! As it evolved from a late-night metal talk show to a place where musicians could make ridiculous covers during the pandemic to interviews and podcasts and more, his genuine love and witful awareness of heavy music and its culture also showcased his own clear musical talent. So it shouldn’t have been so surprising that his first serious album, Blood Vulture’s Die Close, would be good. But I didn’t know it would be THIS good. The Alice In Chains vocal harmonies and Soundgarden driving grind are obviously there but layered over current goth, hardcore, and extreme tones. It’s somehow both heartfelt and about post-apocalyptic vampires. Heavysadbeautiful. For someone who is every metalhead's friend he kept the guest appearances tidy and impactful. The fact that I’m talking about this when one of my favorite bands for decades also put out an album (the new Katatonia is fine, but it’s JUST fine) is very telling of how totally “my shit” this is. And I’m just really happy for him. 

Grey Mourning 

Die Close: Finale

Things coming this month:

• Our Xtra episode on Supernatural is up! Same show crew is same show crew. 

• 2 X-Treks episodes this month on 7/4 and 7/18

• New Not Your Demo drops in the later part of the month because Erin is going on vacation! 

• Will we still be on Instagram in the August newsletter? Only if the Bluesky alternative isn’t up yet! Until then at @nydproductions you can get show announcements, hilarious clips, and general revelry. 

• Tumblr! Interact with it! (That’s a note to us mostly)

• Our Bluesky exists! @nydproductions is where you can be like seriously guys use your damn Bluesky.

Exclusive to our Patreon (it's only a dollar!) and open for all Discord!

• Join the book club in July! Discord has all the (virtual, do not worry) meetup information!

• Xtras on the Patreon include:

  • Show notes - Our watch-along notes. Stella & Erin’s first reactions to the episodes as they watch them for the first time. Stella transcribes Erin’s handwritten notes, somehow. 

  • Scripts - Listen sometimes we just don’t want to talk about something in that moment. This is where you find the left behinds. 

  • You may not know this but Producer Bobby’s scripts and notes are also in there! Filled with a ton of useful information!

  • Episode outtakes - the things poor Producer Bobby has to sift through (sports) to get to the good stuff (on topic).

Unofficial Channels episode is actually on its way, we’ve dragged it up from the depths of soap opera hell (positive (maybe??? Depends on if you like fish)).

And in the Discord generally, come hang with us. We’ve got lots of cool little internet rooms.

• Bring us all of your most intense TTRPG thoughts in our dedicated channel! Have you ever rolled 3 nat 20s in a single game?? We want to know!

• Do you still want to talk about how good Sinners is?? COOL US TOO

• We’re planning nerd related outings and hangs! Again, more Spider-Man!

• Erin is liveposting fanfic once a month in Stella’s Link Lounge and documenting it on our Instagram highlights! Maybe more if you’re nasty (in like a consentful, respectful way).

We’ll figure it out.