Faulkner

On what would have been Amy Winehouse’s 39th birthday:

Y&R: I don’t buy Stafford’s Phyllis and Amanda as friends and never will. They make NO SENSE as besties, and only exist because GT’s Phyllis and Hilary were so popular as Genoa City’s Bad Girls Club. (And also to make Phyllis more sympathetic and palatable as a “girl’s girl.” GH has done something similar with LW’s Carly, making her friendly with female rivals she once despised like Liz and Sam.) MiMo and MS have anti-chemistry.

Squirrel daddy 🐿

Sad about Jesse Powell. He had a nice string of hits in the late ‘90s. Like Tevin Campbell, he read as unmistakably gay, even though he was shown in videos romancing women. I don’t think he ever got a chance to come out like Tevin did recently. 51 is far too young.

Tori from L.A. 🇺🇸

Well…

This guy from Dubai 🇦🇪

Just an FYI to subscribers of Criterion Channel. These are the Godard films available for streaming there: Breathless Vivre Sa Vie Le Petit Soldat Contempt Masculin Feminin 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her Weekend Tout Va Bien Every Man For Himself

She got the shaky cry voice so you know it still stings. I get it, though. That’s lowdown and dirty.

Two great dance scenes from the master in Vivre Sa Vie and Band of Outsiders:

The NYT obit for Godard, which I assume has been ready for quite some time given JLG’s advanced age:

I saw St. Vincent open last night at Madison Square Garden for Roxy Music (one of my favorite bands—they were great). I’ve always liked her, but seeing her live gave me a new appreciation for her musicianship and star quality. And I’d buy a full album from her backup singers. Incredible vocals at 4:43:

Paulo from Brazil 🇧🇷

With Godard gone, that’s it for the great French New Wave directors. He was the greatest of them all.

Love.

Harry Styles’s “As It Was” holds at No. 1 for a 13th week. His “Late Night Talking” jumps to No. 3 following a sales push. “Super Freaky Girl” looks to be Nicki’s most stable and organic hit in ages. Kate’s RUTH is finally taking a tumble from its Top 5 perch, and Morgan Wallen is back in the top 10:

More of Gabriel from Brazil 🇧🇷

Birger from Norway 🇳🇴

Well played by Alcaraz. Major champion at 19 and youngest-ever ATP No. 1. With a pair of Masters 1000 titles and a Slam title, he’s backing up a lot of the hype. (Still the Russia/Belarus ban and the decision to not award points at Wimbledon make this year’s rankings a bit wonky.) That third set tiebreak was an absolute shocker from Ruud. He just doesn’t have *it*. At least not yet. Deserves credit for making two major finals this year, though. All that said, social media chatter feels really drowned out by the NFL. Much more so than usual. This sport has a lot of work to do.

Scary stuff.

This is funny: