Yo welcome back to the My Pal Sammy newsletter.

Let’s take a “Kit Kat break” from connecting pop culture and instead focus on fresh and fun updates.

A number of cool My Summer Lair guests have been doing some really cool things so let's get into them, shall we?

➡️ 2 Documentaries:We got photography with Henry VanderSpek aka Culture Snap. His Toronto based exhibition On Notice opens on May 24 as part of the Contact Photography Festival.

He joined me live on Twitter Spaces to discuss his dope exhibition, the photography festival as well as share a happy handful of #PantsWorthy recommendations to check out over the next couple of weeks.

From Henry's exhibition On Notice to Tyler Mitchell to Ajani Charles’ exhibit Project T Dot on Toronto's hip hop history there's something special for everyone and anyone. Oh Culture!

That Twitter Spaces conversation is attached: running for the month of May in Toronto (and sometimes into June) the Contact Photography Festival features photography based exhibitions, installations, talks and more. Oh Snap!

Next is Bruce Mau who told me when we talked: “The way we will change the world is by leadership, by design and by inspiration.” Yo: fresh!

To get a sense of what leadership, design and inspiration he is talking about; he is featured in the documentary Mau now playing at TIFF Lightbox.

Highly recommended viewing for anyone who practices or sells creativity. Or honestly for anyone who longs to ah…redesign their whole life. (Check the link above; he’ll be in town talking about the doc.)

➡️ #HiddenGem: The first of 2 excellent Billie Jean covers; this one is by Kodaline.

The piano is a soulful touch: the song is now less a cautionary tale and more “sound” counsel...the kind of lesson schools should be teaching but often fail to: Cause the lie becomes the truth, kids.

➡️ 2 Sci-Fi Offerings:We got Cosmic Dawn now streaming on Crave: “After witnessing the alien abduction of her mother as a child, Aurora joins the UFO cult The Cosmic Dawn.”

This was the only My Summer Lair guest (so far!) who had some sort of X-Files experience. That’s what inspired this UFO cult movie (MGMT does a big chunk of the soundtrack).

Perhaps it was extraterrestrial. Maybe it was just bright lights. I dunno. Here’s the director of Cosmic Dawn; Jefferson Moneo explaining what he saw…what do you think he saw??

And we got Alex Mallari Jr. on Netflix’s The Adam Project.

With Alex being from Scarborough and Ryan Reynolds from Vancouver I naturally opened that My Summer Lair interview curious about Canadian trash talking.I believe Ryan Reynolds has earned a Scarborough welcome; don’t you! (You can also see Alex on CBC Gem in Hello (Again) a time loop/time warped TV series.

➡️ #HiddenGem: The second excellent Billie Jean cover; this one by the late Chris Cornell.

Like Cash’s classic Hurt cover Cornell owns this experience. Billie Jean clearly boiled his rabbit; she did him wrong.

And today: May 20 is a streaming Classic Comedy Battle Royale!

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Season 4 is on Netflix.

The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks a 2 part documentary is on Prime Video.

George Carlin's American Dream a 2 part documentary is on HBO Max.

#SetTheVCR for true: what will you watch? Or will you watch em all?

From #PantsWorthy photography to strange lights in the sky to a documentary and a Scarborough welcome there’s lots of goodies to make Contact with this weekend and beyond.

I’m touched we made Contact today,Sammy Younan-28-

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