Gil Roth & his Virtual Memories Show

@vmspod.bsky.social

1287 Followers 201 Following

I make a weekly podcast feat. talks w/writers, artists, cartoonists & other culture-making people, at https://chimeraobscura.com/vm Also: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-virtual-memories-show/id531173075 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VMSpod

Selfie of white man in his mid-50s, with very long, curly hair, and a trimmed beard that's going white. He's smiling, and the natural light is pretty good

Postcard for the Criterion edition of Joan Micklin Silver's movie. CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER, showing an A-frame house, a red car, and a man in a winter coat but no hat in the foreground of a snowy day

Selfie of white man in blue button-down polo w/white trim, and white woman w/honey blonde hair, green tank-top and silver necklace with her head on his shoulder/chest. She’s smiling, but he suspects it’s a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Cover of poetry collection by Ali Trotta: OFFERINGS FOR ORDINARY GODS, feat. a cover painting of a woman wearing a red hood, her lips exposed and parted, her hands before her with smoke rising before her

Photo from the waist up of a seated white man in a gray suit and light-blue dress shirt, holding a mic and looking angry while speaking

Cover of R Sikoryak's CONSTITUTION ILLUSTRATED, showing a series of comics characters in 18th century garb

Cover of R Sikoryak's DECLARATION ILLUSTRATED, showing a series of comics characters in 18th century garb

Black chapter-card from an episode of Frasier, reading, “WHY GIL? WHY NOW?”

Selfie of white man in blue button-down polo w/white trim, and white woman w/honey blonde hair, green tank-top and silver necklace with her head on his shoulder/chest. She’s smiling, but he suspects it’s a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Photo of grave marker in grass with a flower-holder in front of it containing a purple orchid; the marker reads, “ANDREY ROTH, Feb. 21, 1938 - July 10, 2025,” with an empty slot beneath that and then the inscription “TOGETHER FOREVER,” because I thought it would be funny to Rickroll my dad

Pen drawing of the face of an old man with a beard, a few minutes after his death. His eyes are closed and his mouth is open

B/W photo of white man in work-shirt at desk typing into laptop, with a mid-century lamp in foreground; behind him, pages of a book are taped to walls

Selfie of white man with long, curly hair, wearing black T-shirt, with black Ray-Bas hanging from the collar

Photo of rear of Volvo with New York license plate "MOHEL II"

Cover of Colin Asher's book THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL: The Secret Prison History of American Music, showing yellow/sepia images of Johnny Cash, Ike White, Tupac Shakur, Huddie Ledbetter, and Elmo Hope

Photo of grave marker in memorial park, with a big tree behind it.

Photo of poetry collection OFFERINGS FOR ORDINARY GODS, by Ali Trotta, featuring art by Katelan Foisy of a woman wearing a red hood, her mouth exposed, and her hands conjuring up some smoky magick

double-selfie of white man and woman: he is in black T-shirt and the light from his right side puts an insane glint in his eye; she is in a patterned shirt, wears glasses, and has blue streaks in her dark hair. Behind them is a framed piece of art: 28 tiles spelling out the alphabet and 2 characters, each painted with a different Hollywood figure.

Photo of LA warehouse fire smoke plume, with an Amazon Prime freight car in the foreground

Ink drawing of the face of a bearded old man minutes after his death. his mouth is open and eyes are shut. Text reads "2/21/1938 (or 1937) - 7/10/2025"

selfie of 3 people: left, white man with silverfish hair and hunter green ringer T-shirt; center, Latino man with dark hair and black sportsshirt; right, white woman with short-pixieish brown hair a blue dress with flowers, and red lipstick making a kiss-face at her husband (center)

b/w photo of old man sitting in dim room awaiting an eye exam, hands together between his knees, fingers interlaced, looking down, with a shock of white hair, sort of like Samuel Beckettt

photo of cutest little dog in the world, dozing with his head on the arm of an upholstered chair

Full-body selfie of white man in cream linen pants & black T-shirt, with navy shirt-jacket over his shoulder.

Photo of crowd before Knicks parade

Knick fan in orange t-shirt standing atop a subway entrance sign, looking at his phone.

Selfie of long-haired white man in Knicks jersey on the top deck of a ferry filled with many Knicks fans

photo of sunset outside MetLife stadium after World Cup game, with a sky that is (mostly) orange and blue

Photo of Brazil & Morocco’s flags laid out on the pitch at MetLife stadium before their match

Selfie of white man with goofy long hair in the stands before the Brazil/Morocco World Cup game at the Meadowlands

photo of white man in blue suit and pale yellow polo shirt, sitting at a silver table on which stand a pair of microphones and a digital audio recorder; he's gesturing toward the camera as if to say, "Take a seat and let's talk."

TEXT The company this month plans to start publishing short stories in Drafting, its ad-supported Substack about culture and fashion. The prose will be aimed less at the high-falutin readers of literary magazines and more at young people with an interest in the cultural zeitgeist.

photo of mural by Quentin Blake of people walking across a bridge and waving; it has blue watercolor wash

Selfie of silver-haired white man in dark denim shirt standing next to a graffiti-covered sign that reads SAINT GIL

photo of grave in a memorial park with new earth and grass growing, and a big tree in the background; it's such a beautiful day.

Photo of mid-50s white man in navy suit standing at a lucite lectern giving a presentation; he has one hand open toward the audience, palm up; in the background, "CDMO LIVE EUROPE" is projected on the purple-lit wall

Comic panel of an incredibly nervous figure trying to write his name but splattering ink everywhere

Photo of Babel, by Cildo Meireles, a round tower of radios, boomboxes and other audio speakers, all playing different tracks at the same time.

Photo of circle composed of flint, an artwork by Robert Long

Selfie of white man in glasses lying on the floor and hugging a gray Aussiedoodle

Selfie of 50something white man in green base layer shirt, sitting in an airplane

photo of Thames river, Blackfriars Bridge, and lots of construction crains from the south side of the Millennium Bridge at sunset, with wispy clouds in the sky

Photo of wool-covered sheep in shade, with an orange 53 painted on its hind.

Painting by Edwin Landseer of sleepy dog with its head on its paws and a puppy next to it with its tongue sticking out slightly

photo of Poussin's painting A Dance To The Music of Time in a gold frame against gold patterned wallpaper

Photo of white man in Amsterdam hotel room, with canal visible through window. He’s wearing cream pants, a green base layer and a navy Harrington G9 jacket and is maybe smirking at the camera

Screen-cap of Simpsons showing the character Gil leaving a dry cleaner with his red jacket on a hanger, saying, "Ol' Gil's back on track."

Photo of plate featuring 5 kinds of sashimi, 3 pieces each.

selfie of bearded white man smiling and sweaty in front of of the gates to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo

selfie of bearded white man with long hair, smiling and sweaty in front of of the gates to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo